Q. I recently moved into a rent house and would like some ideas about decorating. Of course I can't paint or do anything permanent to the house, but I really want to make it feel comfortable and like home. Any personal ideas you have or websites would be great.
A. Assuming that you already have your furniture like beds, dining and living sets, then you can do the following:
For dining table, use a nice table runner, place a bowl of fruits in the middle, or a vase of flowers. Have a rug underneathe table and chairs. For living area, add nice cushions for your sofa, have a few table lamps on side tables or floor lamp, picture frames on walls and tables, plants or flowers, carpets or rugs, candles, a few books or magazines on coffee table and a bowl of potpourrie.To add warmth to a room, have wooden furniture, wooden blinds with curtains for windows and lots of soft furnishings. If you like a room to be bright and breezy, use bright and cheerful colors. For bedrooms, choose nice colors for your bedspread, place pictures and table lamp on bedside tables, a small plant or jewelry box. For bathrooms, buy towels which have nice colorful designs or prints on it so your towels are like a decor themselves when you hang them in the bathrooms. Place all your items in basket or box on countertop. Have a nice rug in bathroom. For kitchen, buy interesting utensils that not only work for you but are decor pieces themselves. For example, I have a brush shaped in a potato which I use to clean my potatoes! Also an egg whisk that has a handle that looks like a chick. A cow shaped paper towel holder. I think you get the idea. Have colorful kitchen cloths and apron. If you have a table and chairs in kitchen, add interesting cushions with farm animal or fruit designs on them. Buy placements of same. These are all movable and personal items which you can use in your home decoration, easy and practical.
For dining table, use a nice table runner, place a bowl of fruits in the middle, or a vase of flowers. Have a rug underneathe table and chairs. For living area, add nice cushions for your sofa, have a few table lamps on side tables or floor lamp, picture frames on walls and tables, plants or flowers, carpets or rugs, candles, a few books or magazines on coffee table and a bowl of potpourrie.To add warmth to a room, have wooden furniture, wooden blinds with curtains for windows and lots of soft furnishings. If you like a room to be bright and breezy, use bright and cheerful colors. For bedrooms, choose nice colors for your bedspread, place pictures and table lamp on bedside tables, a small plant or jewelry box. For bathrooms, buy towels which have nice colorful designs or prints on it so your towels are like a decor themselves when you hang them in the bathrooms. Place all your items in basket or box on countertop. Have a nice rug in bathroom. For kitchen, buy interesting utensils that not only work for you but are decor pieces themselves. For example, I have a brush shaped in a potato which I use to clean my potatoes! Also an egg whisk that has a handle that looks like a chick. A cow shaped paper towel holder. I think you get the idea. Have colorful kitchen cloths and apron. If you have a table and chairs in kitchen, add interesting cushions with farm animal or fruit designs on them. Buy placements of same. These are all movable and personal items which you can use in your home decoration, easy and practical.
Is it as difficult to qualify for renting a house as buying?
Q. We're selling our house due to our business failing. I have a job making a small salary and my hubby is still looking. We're basically living on savings right now. We're planning on getting into a rent house until we can save up some money for a house. I've never rented a house before; is it generally difficult to qualify? Also, do most people require a 6 month comittment? I live in the DFW area.
A. God NO! When you rent a house, you are making a commitment for 1 year at the most. Further, the eviction process is fairly quick and efficient.
When you get a mortgage to buy a house, you are making a commitment for decades and the foreclosure process is costly, fraught with risk to the lender, and can take a year or more from the time that the first payment is missed.
Consequently, the standards that a potential tenant are held to are trivial compared to those that a mortgage borrower are held.
The nature of the secondary market also makes renting easier. When mortgage lenders originate FHA, VA and conforming conventional mortgages (about 80%+ of all mortgages originated) they MUST conform to the standards set by FHA, fannie mae, and freddie mac. When it comes to renting an apartment, each landlord or property manager can do whatever he or she pleases. The only constraints come from state laws and these are usually non-binding.
As for lease length, 1 year is standard for residential leases. Many if not most may give you the option of a shorter lease. However, you can expect to pay a little more becasue the property owner has to make up for retenanting costs, which are lower when they can be spread over a longer lease.
When you get a mortgage to buy a house, you are making a commitment for decades and the foreclosure process is costly, fraught with risk to the lender, and can take a year or more from the time that the first payment is missed.
Consequently, the standards that a potential tenant are held to are trivial compared to those that a mortgage borrower are held.
The nature of the secondary market also makes renting easier. When mortgage lenders originate FHA, VA and conforming conventional mortgages (about 80%+ of all mortgages originated) they MUST conform to the standards set by FHA, fannie mae, and freddie mac. When it comes to renting an apartment, each landlord or property manager can do whatever he or she pleases. The only constraints come from state laws and these are usually non-binding.
As for lease length, 1 year is standard for residential leases. Many if not most may give you the option of a shorter lease. However, you can expect to pay a little more becasue the property owner has to make up for retenanting costs, which are lower when they can be spread over a longer lease.
Where are people going to live when rent keeps going up?
Q. I live in Northern Virginia and probably one the most expensive places to live. I am a college student and think about my future a lot once I graduate. The thing is where are people going to live in the next 3-4 years from now when apartment rent, house market value, and other things just keep going up? Lately I've been hearing about foreclosures and the house market plummeting. What about the low-income families? Does anyone think about this? I know I am not the only one. Many you might say go to the politics and government sections but I thought I post my comment in this section. Can I get some feedback please. Thanks a lot.
A. Yes-we live in a high cost area. I am about 2 hours from DC and we are a satellite local for commuters-houses are selling RIGHT now for $199,000 for a 15,000 sq ft 3 bed 2 bath. We have a good bit of folks who commute to DC from our area. And rent is high in the area too.
As for the poor-honestly no one thinks about it because it is too depressing to admit many families live in poor conditions and that means kids too. I worked in social services foryears and in public housing. I worked with a lot of nice families who live pay check to pay check and will likely never get out of that. Buying a house today is a luxury that sadly not everyone will get and some people who never should have gotten a loan did and they are caught in this foreclosure mess.
I got out of social work because after 10+ years it was just to depressing. I think the notion of the American dream to own a home is going down the tubes for way to many people. Until wages are higher for lower income families or until more people are able to get into higher education and get a better job this will continue. The really bad thing is that services to help low income families with housing are beng cut at the federal level. So you have more people in competition for fewer service dollars. Not really sure what the answer is or if there is one. Maybe more college age folks like you will come up with better solutions than we have now.
If you have the means, now is a good time to buy a home. And by means I mean income level, savings, and good credit-that magic combo that not enough folks have to actually get a home and be able to also live comfortably let alone send a kid or two to college. Maybe you (being near the nations cap) could look into becoming an advocate for low income families. And try not to stress over getting a home of your own in a few years or where rent will be.
As for the poor-honestly no one thinks about it because it is too depressing to admit many families live in poor conditions and that means kids too. I worked in social services foryears and in public housing. I worked with a lot of nice families who live pay check to pay check and will likely never get out of that. Buying a house today is a luxury that sadly not everyone will get and some people who never should have gotten a loan did and they are caught in this foreclosure mess.
I got out of social work because after 10+ years it was just to depressing. I think the notion of the American dream to own a home is going down the tubes for way to many people. Until wages are higher for lower income families or until more people are able to get into higher education and get a better job this will continue. The really bad thing is that services to help low income families with housing are beng cut at the federal level. So you have more people in competition for fewer service dollars. Not really sure what the answer is or if there is one. Maybe more college age folks like you will come up with better solutions than we have now.
If you have the means, now is a good time to buy a home. And by means I mean income level, savings, and good credit-that magic combo that not enough folks have to actually get a home and be able to also live comfortably let alone send a kid or two to college. Maybe you (being near the nations cap) could look into becoming an advocate for low income families. And try not to stress over getting a home of your own in a few years or where rent will be.
How long does my landlord have to fix a water leak in our house?
Q. In our rent house the bathtub in the guest bathroom is dripping water, outside there is dripping water, and because of some plumbing problem we cant use our master bathroom. This has been going on for a month and our landlord still has not come to fix it.
A. Depends on the laws of your state and perhaps your municipality or county...
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