There are some really exciting trends going on for color combinations this year. Here are some of the most popular: Going Green: Let's face it, the world is going green. Now-a-days it is so much easier to be environmentally conscious than it was even five years ago. It used to be the tree-hugging, granola-eating, Birkenstoch-wearing type of people who would make an effort to help our environment. But with new technology and more innovative ways, going green is not only simple, but it can be beautiful as well. Therefore, the trend of going green has spilled over into a very popular color combination. This is more of a monochromatic (one color, but in different shades) scheme. Anything and everything from deep pine greens, to sage, to your classic green-apple work well together. One thing to keep in mind when going monochromatic: it's best if you break up the color with your neutrals (black, white, and brown) and texture. Classy Elegance: Your traditional black and white is really popping up this year. Again, because there isn't much, it's best to add interest in the room with texture and one accent color. By adding texture, the room will feel very elegant and chic. And having one accent color will add drama. This color combination is best if used in the master suite or guest suite. Home Lovin': Our country is going through a lot right now. We're in war, the economy is struggling, and we're always on the go with some sort of electronic attached to us. When people come home they want to feel secure and loved. Imagine one of your grandma's cross-stitched pieces with all the deep, rich colors in it: Cranberry Red, Pumpkin Orange, Chocolate Brown, Mustard Yellow, and Hunter Green. While these colors are your typical autumn colors, they are definitely being used year-round and in all rooms. Rachel Hagen has quickly established herself as one of Utah's most sought-after young interior designers. She has been quoted in design magazines, highlighted as a speaker at women's conferences on the subject of fashion and design, and is a featured designer in the 2008 Utah Parade of Homes. Visit her website, RachelHagenDesign.com, for more information or her blog, EleganceRedefined.com, for more inspiration.

By Martin Davis If you are currently considering selling your home then there are certain things that you can do to ensure that you get that all important sale. Certainly, with the way that the economy is currently selling your home has become more difficult and it is now a buyer's market. Below we offer 10 top tips for selling your home and which should hopefully help you to achieve the price you are after. Tip 1 - Before you put your home on the market it is a good idea to do some research beforehand. The quickest and easiest way of doing this is through looking as a few property classifieds in your local newspapers or by going online. This way you can gather information regarding what prices houses similar to yours are selling for currently. Tip 2 - It is important that you find yourself a good agent to sell your home for you. Rather than going with the first one you come across spend time doing a little research into each one. Don't be afraid to ask friends, family members and work colleagues if they can recommend someone to you. The other choice is to sell it privately through the property classifieds, but if you do you need to be aware of the right procedures to follow first. Tip 3 - It is important that you first put yourself in the shoes of any potential buyers of your property and make a list of its positive features. Then think of ways that you can enhance these further and so ensure that you get a more positive reaction from those that come to view it. Tip 4 - Getting your house looking great inside is crucial but you need to make sure that the house looks great outside as well. Remember the first thing that is going to be making an impression on any prospective buyers of your home is the front area. So make sure that this area is kept clean and tidy at all times. Tip 5 - Although you may like the lived in feel to your home if you want to sell it then you need to make sure that you show it to its full potential. If you need to remove as much clutter as you can from your home and put it into storage until the sale has been completed. If there is too much in any room it can make them look much smaller than they really are. Tip 6 - Getting those little jobs done that seem like a waste of time and money to you can actually stop you from getting the price you want when selling your home. So spending a little could end up making you a lot more than you originally expected. No one wants to buy a home where they are going to have to spend money on making it liveable for them especially in today's economic climate. Tip 7 - Although you don't think your home needs it repainting the main rooms in your home in neutral fresh colours is a good idea. This way the prospective buyers will be able to see the rooms more clearly and get a feel for whether their own belongings will fit into them. Tip 8 - It is important that before every viewing you make sure that your house is clean and tidy. This is especially important if you have pets as although you may not be able to smell the odours potential purchases will. Tip 9 - Spend time on staging the rooms to show them off to their full potential. By doing this you can actually get rid of those pieces of furniture that are not required and either sell them or put them into storage. As you do this make sure that the focal point in each room stands out so if you have a wonderful looking fireplace make sure that it is not hidden behind ornaments or sofa. Tip 10 - The final 10 top tips for selling your home that you may find useful to use is to put the coffee machine in prior to any potential buyers arriving. It may seem a silly thing to do but the smell as they come into your home makes it more warm and inviting and certainly gives them the feeling of how loved the home has been. Hopefully you will find that the tips we have provided above extremely useful and should get you on your way to selling your home at the price you want. Free Classifieds | Classified Ads Article Source: Ezine Articles

By Lew Corcoran Whether you're renting a house, apartment, condominium, townhouse or even a mobile home, other than affording you shelter, your rent payment is like throwing money out the window every month. There are many reasons owning your own home is significantly more beneficial than renting, though you will seldom hear about or see the concepts presented in this report. Aside from the obvious benefits of owning a piece of the American Dream, you: 1) get a place of your own to do with as you wish; 2) achieve equity in real estate with the eventual goal to own it free and clear; and 3) never have a landlord deciding when you need to vacate the premises. Also, owning a home can have tremendous financial advantages that renting can never accomplish. Real estate is the single best route to getting rich in this country. And, owning a home is the first step to becoming a millionaire. Your home mortgage is a marvelous tool to assist in creating wealth for yourself, and the right mortgage strategy is as important as anything. Let's take a quick look at some financial benefits of owning a home before we delve into a more complicated - but effective - strategy of using a mortgage as a key financial tool in your wealth building strategy. Here are some major benefits you'll enjoy when paying your mortgage versus a rent payment: • Mortgage Interest Tax Deductibility; • Historically consistent payments; • Appreciation in your largest investment; • Ability to tap into the home's equity and accessing large sums of cash when needed; and • Tax-free gains on primary residences upon sale (talk to your CPA or tax advisor for specifics). Let's use an illustration to give a better demonstration of what a mortgage can do for you. For this scenario, we're assuming that we're renting a townhome for $1200 per month and the rental payment increases at 5% per year. We're going to compare this against the purchase of a $250,000 home using 100% financing at an interest rate of 6.875% fixed for 30 years. For our example, we're comparing the true mortgage payment versus the true rental payment excluding property taxes so as to have an accurate "apples to apples" comparison. With our mortgage of $250,000, we'll have a before tax payment of $1642. If you're in the 28% tax bracket, your true interest rate is no longer 6.875%. It's really 4.95% because of the tax deductibility of mortgage interest. Your monthly mortgage payment is now really $1182 - technically less than the rent payment! Out of your total monthly payment of $1642, $210 is actually going toward the principal of your loan (i.e. creating equity for you), leaving the $1432 as tax deductible mortgage interest. (Bear in mind that over time, more of your payment gets applied to principal and less toward interest). With mortgage interest totaling approximately $17,184 per year, and with your 28% tax bracket deduction, Uncle Sam will give you back over $4800 on your taxes!! Try getting some of your rent payment back each year! This tax deduction is about $400 per month of real money. Now, here's where the strategic part comes in: While many people will use their mortgage tax refund as a forced savings plan and consume that money yearly on vacations, new clothes, jet skis or other money draining expenditures, you should think about reinvesting that money back into your mortgage. Taking your yearly mortgage tax refund and applying it to your mortgage is the same as sending in about $400 extra dollars each month toward your mortgage principal. However, because the amount of principal that gets paid versus interest increases over time, you'll get less and less of a tax write-off over the years. Though the benefits are still huge and the concept here still works, and because your refund will decrease over time, we'll assume you were able to only send in $3960 per year ($330 per month) (even though if your income increases you may find yourself in a higher tax bracket.) By applying an extra $3960 each year towards your $250,000 mortgage, you will have it paid off in just 18 years!! Now you no longer have a mortgage or rental payment, and you own your home free and clear! Another way to look at it this: Uncle Sam paid for 12 years of your original 30 year mortgage. Talk about a tremendous benefit! Ok, so now what? You were already making a monthly mortgage payment of $1642 to the mortgage company, and even though your house is paid off, you're going to continue to make that payment - but this time to yourself. If you were able to earn a modest return of 6% per year by investing that money in that last 12 years, you would accumulate a nest egg of approximately $333,000. Conversely, by year 18, the renter is no closer to owing his home than he was when he started, and his rent payment has reached about $3000 per month! Your $250,000 home has been earning a very modest 3.5% appreciation per year, is now worth over $701,000 by the end of year 30. This figure, plus your investment account nest egg of $333,000, gives you a net worth of about $1,034,000!! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

Author: Ed Lathrop Probably the longest commitment we ever make in our lifetimes is the 30 years we commit to a mortgage. There isn't too much we can count on having after 30 years, but unless we sell our houses or hit the lottery, we can be sure we will be paying off our mortgages for a long time! Imagine how nice it would be to be mortgage free! It would, in many cases be like getting a $1,800 a month raise. It doesn't seem possible anyone would have any kind of financial difficulty if he didn't have a mortgage hanging around his neck. You could buy just about anything and go just about anywhere without needing to prepare your budget around that monthly mortgage payment. In this article, we will explain how to pay off your mortgage in double, triple and even faster time! Oh, it won't necessarily be easy, but it can be done. It has been said a person can do anything with motivation and a plan. So, here's the plan. Check your interest rate If you are paying over the market rate on interest it may behoove you to refinance to the lowest rate you can get. Here's why: A $250,000 mortgage at 8% for 30 years comes with a monthly payment due of $1,834.41. Looking at an amortization schedule for this mortgage we find on the first payment, the principal being paid is $167.74. A $250,000 mortgage at 6% for 30 years comes with a monthly payment of $1.498.88. Its amortization schedule shows the first payment's principal portion is $248.88. Why is this important? Because you want to pay off as much principal as possible while paying as little interest as possible. The early months are the most important ones With the 8% mortgage, as we have noted the first monthly principal payment is $167.74. The principal portion of the payment increases slightly with each payment. So, for payment number 6, the principal paid is $173.41. If we add the principal payments for payments 2 through 6 together we get $855.64, and if we add this amount to our first payment, we will have paid the first 6 payments of our mortgage. If we keep adding $850 to $1,000 to our payment every month for the next 6 months, we would have paid off the first 6 years already! As you can see, the early months are important in getting a good start to paying off a mortgage early. This is because in these months, the interest, which is time value, is expensive. So, by not using that time we save a lot of money. Double time and then some Now let's see what would happen if we doubled the payment every month. The payment due monthly is $1,843.41. If we paid $3,646.81 monthly, we would be paid in full in 7 years and 7 months. Now that's quick! Here's why it's important to get as low an interest rate as you can. If you had a 6% interest rate on the same amount for 30 years, the monthly payment would be $1,498.88. With this loan, if we paid a total of $3,646.81 monthly, we would be paid in full in exactly 7 years. So, we would save an extra 7 times $1,498.88 or $10,492.16. Who's got that kind of money? Of course, coming up with an extra $2,000 a month is a bit much, but this is the kind of money it takes to pay off a mortgage in a lightning quick mode. So, to get a more realistic goal, here's what to do. Look at the mortgage's amortization table and scan down to the halfway point. This would be payment number 180 on a 30-year mortgage. Take note of the principal portion of this payment. On the 6% mortgage we have been talking about, it is $607.73. If you pay this amount in addition to each of your monthly payments, you will have paid off the mortgage in full in exactly 15 years. Again, sometimes coming up with additional payments is difficult, but this method gives you an idea of how making relatively small additional payments can help you pay off your mortgage way ahead of schedule. Article Source: Article Base