Miranda Tsotsoria
Sales Associate
Rent All or Part of the House
Check with your local municipality to see if it will start allowing homeowners to have apartments within their homes. After World War II, many townships allowed financially distressed homeowners to have accessory apartments for income purposes. These arrangements ranged from one-family conversions into two-family homes to simple room rentals within the home.
Offer a Lease With Option
If your mortgage payment is at or below market rent for the property, consider offering a lease with option to purchase. Carefully choose a tenant or buyer who has the ability to qualify for a purchase loan within 24 months.
Refinance
If you have good credit, refinance the property for a longer term. If you have a first and second mortgage with payments that are choking you financially, consider an Federal Housing Administration refinance to lower your payments.
Reverse Mortgage
If you are over 62 and have sufficient equity, consider a reverse mortgage. Rather than making monthly payments, the lender pays you either a lump-sum payment or monthly payments against your equity in the home. The catch, however, is that every time you receive money from your reverse mortgage, the balance of your loan increases accordingly, with interest.
Work Out a Loan Modification
If your monthly payment is too high and you don’t have the ability to refinance, contact your lender and ask for a loan modification. Lengthening the term of your note will reduce the monthly payments, making it more manageable.
File for a Real Estate Property Tax Grievance
In areas where property taxes are high, consider contacting your local real estate taxing authority and making sure your assessed valuation is in line with your actual property value. With the recent correction of house prices, most homeowners might be very successful filling out this typically simple one-page form. Don't forget to ask about any special programs for seniors or the economically challenged. Twenty-five-percent reductions in property taxes is a very common amount for most qualified grievances.
Energy Audits
These are conducted by many professionals ranging from your local utility company to qualified home inspectors for a relatively nominal fee compared with fuel prices. Some home inspectors, such as ASHI.org qualified inspectors will even use special infrared cameras to detect heat losses, energy wasters, electrical current losses due to miss-wiring, and a host of other energy-saving tips specific to your home, including perhaps some "green" solutions.
Swap Your Home
Many Web sites allow people to post their homes and exchange with people all over the world; www.homeexchange.com charges $99.95 for a one-year unlimited membership.
