Chic vs. Geek: Gaming the Rates

With interest rates soaring, how can buyers keep their mortgage payments manageable?

CHIC (PEARL)

If you want to reduce the burden of interest, the best thing to do is pay off your mortgage as quickly as possible. That could mean making a higher down payment or devoting any unbudgeted income to reducing your principal. Turn your side hustle from a money maker to a money saver!

GEEK (KEVIN)

If you don’t have a lot of extra cash lying around, congratulations! You’re officially the average homebuyer. But you can’t let the uncertainty of interest rates dictate when and how you make an offer on a home you want. And there’s no guarantee that rates won’t keep rising!

Chic vs. Geek: Brown is the New Green

Due to the ongoing drought, the Santa Clara Valley Water District has restricted homeowners to watering their lawns no more than two times a week. So what can you do to maintain your curb appeal?

CHIC (PEARL)

There’s never been a better time to rethink and renew your yard and gardens with succulents, cacti, and other plants built to withstand the West Coast heat with a minimal amount of maintenance – and water. But don’t dig up your lovely lawn without a plan! Contact us for tips and referrals to quality landscaping professionals.

GEEK (KEVIN)

If years of shrinking reservoirs and rising water rates haven’t convinced you to convert your lawn to hearty native plants, I don’t know what else will. So the best advice I can offer is to invest in reseeding your lawn with bermuda, fescue, or another type of drought-tolerant grass. Here’s a helpful review of the options.

Chic vs. Geek: Are you ready for a Deep Energy Retrofit?

With Earth Day approaching, you might consider doing a Deep Energy Retrofit (DER) of your home to improve efficiency. But it doesn’t come cheap!

CHIC (PEARL)

When you’re looking into a DER, the best place to start is with a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) audit. That’s when a professional energy auditor visits your house to test for air leaks and run other tests to determine your home’s energy efficiency. Based on that report, you can target the most wasteful features of your house for upgrades and get the most bang for your buck.

GEEK (KEVIN)

Doing a DER on a budget can help inspire you to think outside the box and get a little creative. There are tons of tax incentives and government programs to assist with financing the project, and a little research and extra leg work can point you to contractors who make energy efficiency pencil out as part of their mission to protect our environment and build a more sustainable world.

Chic vs. Geek: It’s go time!

The deadline to file your 2021 federal income tax return is less than one week away on Monday, April 18th. Are you ready?

CHIC (PEARL)

Buying a home is a huge investment, but it also comes with tax benefits for the homeowner. Did you know? The IRS offers a number of deductions and credits to both first-time homebuyers and longtime owners, such as mortgage interest deductions and credits for renewable energy upgrades like solar panels. Check out this list of available opportunities compiled by Investopedia.

GEEK (KEVIN)

If you want to take advantage of tax breaks, you have to be prepared to itemize your return, which could involve hiring a professional accountant. So the first thing you want to do is make sure you’d get a much better deal itemizing rather than taking the standard deduction. If it doesn’t pencil out, why spend all that time and energy when you could be relaxing all weekend?

Chic vs. Geek: King of the Castle?

The Geek loves a good DIY project. But the Chic wonders if maybe he should leave some jobs to the real professionals.

CHIC (PEARL)

As any of our clients would tell you, Kevin (aka “The Geek”) takes a hands-on approach to the work of finding your ideal home. And more often than not, that work extends beyond the final sale to making sure the house — and yard — is everything you want it to be. But sometimes I worry that he’s having too much fun, like when he recently cleared this big tree!

GEEK (KEVIN)

There is nothing on this earth that compares with the power of holding a chainsaw in your hands as it cuts through a thick dead stump of wood. Why wait around for a landscape contractor on a calendar when you can get some early prep work done and have fun while you do it? Pearl does her best to remind me to be careful, and I try to listen… most of the time.