Open Floor Plan in Desirable Grafton Neighborhood
This home features an inviting front porch with Craftsman style columns and brick details that remind you of days past. But inside a current floor plan will fit your needs for family or entertaining.
An open staircase and 2-story foyer adds to the brightness of this home. The open living and dining rooms enjoy views of the brick fireplace.
This custom kitchen features stainless appliances and solid surface counter tops. You will enjoy added storage in the laundry tub, plus there is a convenient was tub to compliment the washer & dryer hook ups.
At the top of the open 2-story entry is this great loft area. Will you use this space for business, homework or hobbies?
The master suite includes this spacious bath plus walk in closet. For complete details visit:
The Reddy Team Ohio-13152 Kensington
Remember we are your leader in Westlake, Cuyahoga and Lorain County Real Estate. You can view this property or any of the properties we have for sale at www.TheReddyTeamOhio.com
David M. Reddy, Keller Williams Realty GCW
On the Move?…We’re Reddy!
440-328-4438
Vacation Season is Upon US. Keep Home Safety In Mind.
Protecting Your Home: Locks, Lights and Good Neighbors
One of the crimes most frequently reported to the police is residential burglary. It’s also the most preventable. It doesn’t take much or cost much to out-smart most burglars. They’re usually not professionals, but rather people taking advantage of an easy target. Burglars may do more than steal things. If they’re surprised by someone coming home or if they choose a home that’s occupied, someone may get hurt.
Tips on Safeguarding Your Home
- Make sure all exterior doors have good locks-at least dead-bolt locks with a 1″ throw.
- Always lock up when you go out, even if only for a few minutes.
- Secure sliding glass doors with bars or locks, or put a broom handle in the door track.
- Make sure your windows have good locks, especially those at ground level.
- Make sure all porches, entrances, and outside areas are well lit.
- Trim any bushes or trees that hide doors or windows.
- Maintain your yard and keep ladders and tools inside when you’re not using them.
- Don’t hide your keys under the doormat or in a flowerpot. That’s the first place burglars look! It’s much better to give an extra key to a trusted neighbor.
- Mark your valuable property like TVs, VCRs, computers, cameras and stereos with your driver’s license number.
- Keep a record of your property in a safe place.
- Install an alarm system for summoning emergency help.
- If you park your car outside, never leave a garage door opener in the car.
When you go away
- Ask a neighbor to collect your mail and newspapers, and offer to return the favor.
- Put an automatic timer on at least two lights and a radio. Consider photoelectric sensors to turn outside lights on and off automatically.
- Tell a trusted neighbor when you’re leaving and when you’ll return. Include an itinerary and phone numbers where you can be reached in an emergency.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
There’s more to crime prevention than locks and lighting. The fact is, concerned neighbors who watch out for each other are the front-line defenses against crime.
Start by getting to know your neighbors and discussing your concerns about the neighborhood. If there isn’t one already, form a Neighborhood Watch organization. Be alert and report suspicious activities or crime. You should also discuss problems that invite crime-poor street lighting, boarded-up buildings, and vacant lots littered with debris, and inadequate day-care and after-school programs. Work with law enforcement, civic groups, schools, churches and service clubs to solve the problems.
Joining a Neighborhood Watch
Neighborhood Watch, Block Watch, Town Watch, Crime Watch-these organizations are among the most effective and least costly ways to prevent crime.They forge bonds among area residents, help reduce burglaries and robberies, and improve relations between police and the communities they serve.
A few concerned residents, a community organization or a law enforcement agency can spearhead the effort to organize a Watch. Members learn how to make their homes more secure, watch out for each other and the neighborhood, and report activities that raise their suspicions to the police or sheriff’s office.
Watch groups are not vigilantes. Organizers and block captains must emphasize that Watch groups are not vigilantes and do not assume the role of the police. They only ask neighbors to be alert, observant, ring-and to report suspicious activity immediately to the police.
They are extra eyes and ears for reporting crime and protecting the safety of your community. Neighborhood Watch helps build pride and serves as a springboard for efforts that address community concerns such as recreation for youth, child care, and affordable housing.
In most cases, involvement creates opportunity to get to know those living in your geographical area, helping to open the lines of communication with local police and better overall cooperation among residents in crime prevention efforts. Participating in a Neighborhood Watch group builds confidence and encourages residents to take an active interest in one another’s properties and livelihoods.
To find the nearest Neighborhood Watch group, contact your community association, call your local police department, or simply look for signs in your neighborhood.
Remember we are your leader in Westlake, Cuyahoga and Lorain County Real Estate. You can view any of the properties we have for sale at www.TheReddyTeamOhio.com
David M. Reddy, Keller Williams Realty GCW
On the Move?…We’re Reddy!
More Financial Gain Than Just Tax Savings with Home Ownership
For anyone considering the benefits of home ownership vs. renting The National Association of Realtors has done an analysis. Below are results of their study. Call me for an analysis of your specific situation.
Buying a home costs money. Lots of money. There’s the down payment and the monthly mortgage payment and the maintenance and taxes and the insurance and… Are you overwhelmed yet?
It might seem like so much that you just want to put off the house hunt and sign that yearlong lease with your landlord (even though he upped your rent 25% and will likely do the same next year).
But this is going to blow your mind: Even with all of those costs, you still stand to save more than $200,000 over the next 30 years if you buy right now.
“But that’s over the course of 30 years!” you say. “I’m thinking about my money right now!” you say.
Well, get this: Wait just one year, and you throw nearly $19,000 in savings down the drain. The penalties are so high because mortgage rates are forecast to increase and because home prices are rising quickly, according to our chief economist, Jonathan Smoke.
Yep, that’s right. There’s a financial benefit—and, similarly, a financial penalty—for every single day you pay your landlord instead of your mortgage company. At a national level, the 30-year financial benefit of owning today is $217,726, according to our economic data analysts, who crunched the numbers to determine the relative merits of buying vs. renting. (Their work doesn’t capture qualitative advantages such as more control over your living situation, flexibility with pets, and, generally, more options—all things many potential home buyers would argue are equally, if not more, important when deciding whether to take the plunge.)
Postpone for one year, and you’re losing out on an estimated $18,672 in savings. Delay for three years, and that figure jumps to $54,879.
“We’re at a critical juncture: Rents, home prices, and mortgage rates are all expected to rise significantly over the next several years,” Smoke says. “That means the cost of delaying homeownership will go up even more sharply, if you wait three years or even one. It’s much like the decision to start contributing to a 401(k). Delay contributing, and you lose out on the compounding returns.”
‘Financial calculus’ confirms it’s wise to buy ASAP
Smoke and his team used a lot of factors to come up with these estimates, and they made quite a few assumptions as well.* For instance, they assumed that any money saved by renters would be invested, and that the investment would enjoy a compound annual growth rate of 5% (that’s consistent with conservative long-term expected market returns).
“The financial calculus confirms it’s wise to buy—and buy as soon as possible,” Smoke says.
That’s because no matter how you slice it, you can’t deny a few key facts that make the case for buying: Nationally, it’s cheaper right now to buy than to rent, home prices are expected to appreciate, and, while renting is subject to inflation, homeownership costs are locked.
In some markets, financial ‘penalty’ is over $1M
But, as always, it depends on where you go.
For example, in Bismarck, ND, the financial benefit of buying is actually negative. That means you’d spend $12,350 more over the next 30 years to buy instead of rent. That’s because in places such as Bismarck, rents are low, and while home prices have risen dramatically over the past few years, they aren’t expected to rise much in the future. That seems like an incentive to buy, right? Not necessarily. Think about this in terms of home appreciation. Because home prices may have peaked for the foreseeable future, you don’t stand to gain much from owning a house here.
The following markets have the least financial benefit over the next 30 years:
1. Bismarck, ND: –$12,350
2. Dallas–Fort Worth, TX: $830
3. Grand Forks, ND–MN: $4,999
4. Kahului–Wailuku–Lahaina, HI: $7,965
5. Houston, TX: $8,951
But travel west to California and you’ll see an entirely different picture. In Santa Cruz, for instance, you stand to save more than $1 million over the next 30 years if you buy today. That’s because both rent and home prices are skyrocketing, thanks to strong economic drivers such as job growth, population growth, and household growth.
But it’s still hard to get a foot in the door: A median-income household in Santa Cruz could afford less than 10% of the homes available for sale there.
In order to realize a positive financial benefit from buying a house, owners have to wait for “break-even time periods”—when the transaction costs of buying and selling cancel out. Nationally, that wait time is just over three years. In markets that have higher home price to rent ratios, such as San Jose, CA, and New York City, owners normally need to wait longer—as long as six to seven years.
“From a pure financial perspective, you have to be committed to staying longer term,” Smoke says about those high-cost markets. “That’s one of the reasons why rents are also high and getting higher.”
The 30-year financial benefit of owning in the following markets exceeds $500,000:
1. Santa Cruz–Watsonville, CA: $1,006,413
2. Santa Rosa, CA: $883,068
3. San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, CA: $782,144
4. Urban Honolulu, HI: $714,748
5. Napa, CA: $712,192
So, in some places you win, in other places you lose. That kind of means it all balances out, right?
Nope, Smoke says: Nearly 90% of the markets (335 of ‘em) produce a financial benefit of at least $100,000 from owning over 30 years. In addition, almost a quarter of the nation’s markets reap a financial return greater than the national average.
We’re not exactly math majors, but we’re picking up what Smoke is putting down. It might feel challenging to come up with a down payment, but we never saw the savings spelled out in such plain language. So BRB—gotta go buy a house.
*Our data analysts used the following assumptions to calculate the relative merit of buying vs. renting:
They factored in a 20% down payment with a closing cost of 3%. Maintenance and annual improvement costs are 1%, and the opportunity cost of capital is 5% (average U.S. investors required return on equity investments).
They assumed a marginal tax of 25% and the cost of selling a house is 8% of the sale price. Capital gains tax is 15% beyond $500,000 (for married couples). Rent brokerage is 1% of first year’s rent and rent insurance is 1% of monthly rent.
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Rachel Stults oversees buying, selling, and finance news at realtor.com. A Nashville native and former newspaper reporter, Rachel loves cooking, stand-up comedy, beaches, and karaoke.
Remember we are your leader in Westlake, Cuyahoga and Lorain County Real Estate. You can view any of the properties we have for sale at www.TheReddyTeamOhio.com
David M. Reddy, Keller Williams Realty GCW
On the Move?…We’re Reddy!
Keep Your House Safe While You are Away
When you travel, do everything you can to make it look like there is activity both inside and outside of your home. By taking the following precautionary steps, you can avoid being robbed and keep peace of mind when you are on your well-deserved vacation.
1. Get a House-Sitter
One of the best ways to protect your home while traveling is by asking a trusted friend, neighbor or family member to keep an eye on your house while you’re away. They would just need to stop by your home once a day to bring in your mail, water your plants, feed your pets, etc. You should also give your house-sitter your contact information along with your travel itinerary in case of an emergency.
2. Don’t Share Travel Plans Online
Don’t post about your future vacation plans on social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter. Your profile is more than likely visible to Internet users other than your close friends and family, so why would you announce to strangers that your house will be unoccupied while you’re away? If you want to share your vacation stories and photos with your friends and family, post them after you return home from your vacation, not before.
3. Turn Off the Lights
Not only will turning off your lights save you money on your electric bill, but a house with lights blazing throughout the night may become an easier target for unwanted break-ins. Instead, purchase a light switch timer that can automatically turn your lights on and off with a programmed schedule. Criminals watching your house will notice lights flipping on and off, and will probably assume someone is home.
4. Stop Your Mail & Newspapers
A week’s worth of newspapers piled on your front porch is a sign to criminals that no one is home. To prevent this, place a “stop” order on mail and newspapers, or arrange to have someone check your mail and pick up your newspapers while you’re away. To put your mail on hold, you can go towww.USPS.com.
5. Remove the Spare Key
If a burglar finds out your home is unoccupied, it’s likely that they will check the outside of your house for a spare key. If you’re leaving your home for more than a day or two, you should remove all of the spare keys you have hidden in an outside “safe” spot. Instead, consider leaving a spare key with a trusted neighbor or friend.
Remember we are your leader in Westlake, Cuyahoga and Lorain County Real Estate. You can view any of the properties we have for sale at www.TheReddyTeamOhio.com
David M. Reddy, Keller Williams Realty GCW
On the Move?…We’re Reddy!
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