The Ten Day Team

Grand Forks, N.D., will be among the top 25 U.S. housing markets in 2009, according to Housing Predictor in a Grand Forks Herald article. That’s good news for apartments Grand Forks ND too because the solid market will be attracting more people to stay in or move to the city.

Housing Predictor predicts home values in the city to appreciate 1.2 percent. That would give Grand Forks the 17th spot, which is actually the lowest of four North Dakota cities on the list including Fargo, Minot and Bismarck.

In more than 36 states, Housing Predictor predicts double-digit deflation in home values. It projects that North Dakota, Montana and Colorado will be exceptions to the worst economy since the Great Depression.

“Grand Forks is an excellent example of a strong, solid market,” said Cindy Kouba, president of the Grand Forks Board of Realtors. “When we compare the number of homes listed and sold in 2008 with the number of homes listed and sold in 2006 and 2007, there isn’t much difference.”

The predictions were based on income levels, employment trends, school enrollment and housing markets. Bloomington, Ill., is No. 1 on the list at 3.6 percent. Grand Junction, Colo., and Billings, Mont., were second and third with 3.1 percent each.

Popularity: 49% [?]

Tags: apartment market, housing market

In areas such as Chicago, sometimes buying a condo is the better option instead of renting an apartment, according to homeinchicagosuburbs.com.

Obviously, one benefit to renting is you don’t have the responsibility of paying for repairs. You have to pay your rent and keep the place in good condition, but the landlord will take care of plumbing and electric issues.

Another benefit to renting is commitment. If you choose from the apartments for rent in Wahpeton, ND, for example, you will likely be stuck with a year’s lease. However, once that year is up you can move if you want. You don’t have to worry about a mortgage. If you stay on good terms with your landlord, you might even be able to get out of your lease early if you have a good reason.

But there are also benefits to owning a home. One of those reasons is you are the owner. Therefore you make the decisions about the property. You decide what remodeling the place needs, how much upkeep to give it, etc.

And although it is easier to move when you have an apartment, in areas such as Chicago, condos are high in demand. If you own a condo in a city like Chicago, it will not be difficult to sell the property and move. If you decide to sell at some point, you should have no problem.

Popularity: 47% [?]

Tags: renting an apartment, renting vs buying

A smaller apartment can be an improvement from a larger place, according to blog.apartmentsearch.com.

There are advantages to living in a smaller apartment.

One advantage is that it will encourage or require a person to live a more simple life and reduce clutter. Smaller apartments will also have cheaper bills. Utility bills, heating and cooling bills and rent will all be more affordable, especially when you are renting apartments Fargo where it’s -20 degrees all winter and you are constantly running your heat.

Although American homes and apartments have increased in size during the last three decades, more architects are designing smaller homes as the trend seems to be shifting, according to the Denver Post.

Living in smaller homes and apartments require many people to be creative when it comes to space.

Follow these storage tips to make organization easier:

- Don’t leave any space out. Maybe an entryway could be turned into a small office or storage space.

- Use lighting to create more depth. Lighting can create multiple layers and textures to areas that otherwise look flat.

- Go with a simple, clean design when you choose furniture.

- Use fewer but larger pictures and paintings on the walls rather than lots of smaller art which can look more cluttered.

- In the months and weeks before moving into a smaller apartment, get rid of possessions you haven’t used in the last year. You can throw these items away, give them away, sell them or donate them, whatever makes it easier for you to get rid of more stuff.

- Plan ahead so you can organize all your stuff in the, best way possible rather than throwing everything in boxes and trying to pile everything into rooms.

Popularity: 49% [?]

Tags: apartment hunting, apartment tips

This post is by Jennifer Walter who contributes to apartmenthuntinghelp.com.

Rental agreements usually come accompanied by lease agreements in which several, important points are stipulated. You can find there several sections regarding the conditions under which the agent can evict renters, information on how to break lease and finally, how could a possible renter be able to overcome these problems and be able to protect himself or herself against the abuses of renting agents. Therefore, renters are required to understand the stipulations in such contracts because it is for their own interest.

Contract Terms Decisions

Renters need to carefully review the rental agreement before signing anything on that document. Therefore, one needs to be careful when signing the contract; then you need to legally bind the document and give proper consideration on the topic. Also, you need to make sure you analyze all the possible aspects before entering into some agreement. Understanding the terms would therefore, be essential when needing to break some sort of contract.

Agreements regarding the rents ensure that you can then be allowed to break your contract and thus you can do so without getting any sort of penalty. Also, the penalty would mean that you have to require the renter to specify some specific amounts of money on the notice so that when the contract is expiring you can know what is expected from your part. For instance, the notice of thirty days coupled with the lease break would be included in the common penalties and thus breaking the lease, leasing agents would impose penalties which could then become harsher or perhaps less severe than before.

Consider Carefully the Breaking of the Lease

Before doing anything irrational, it is best to consider the fees associated with asking to lease. Therefore, this fee represents something about the rent paid for one month. Paying this fee might at first, seem to be a little expensive in the first place, however when considering the effect in the long term it is thus more possible to break this contract even while considering the financial parts imposed.

For instance, take the case of homeowner who wants to relocate because he or she has received a new job. Then, the homeowner could consider renting an apartment inside a new state and find that unexpected costs arise and need to be paid. For instance, if the renter signs for a twelve month contract and thus, he or she might find out that it is far easier to sell the house and then buy another, new house in the relocating state. This process can even last for a matter of two or three months, therefore a relatively small amount of time .

After that, the renter possess the opportunity to stay into the apartment only until the agreement ends and then the renter needs to go searching for a new place to live in. this option can be risky sometimes because the bidding for a house and then breaking the agreement for a reason or another might mean that you need to reconsider your approach. Therefore, you could for instance place a bid and look for a new house, break the lease if possible and efficient for you and then close in the deal and move into your new house. Another option that you might have would be to close the new deal and place the bid on something else.

If so, then the renter is placed in a strenuous position, in that he or she has to pay for the rent and the mortgage in advantage and this could even extend to over a year of debts and fees to be paid. Therefore, to ensure you are able to obtain maximum of the benefits from your approach, you need to evaluate coolly the options available. Keep in mind that the latter would amount to incredulous sums of money, because the person has to pay a fee before breaking the actual lease.

Always the Right Decision?

Is it always appropriate to choose a leasing agreement when wanting to end a contract? For one thing, emotional factors and components are a crucial part of this equation. For instance, one renter can only hold the place of the dorm and the priority are given and you want to differentiate from the plugging the depth. Rental agreements are important to study because the often tell us what to it and get over them for a while, while the user can then be relocated fairly rapidly and will thus be a able to move up in another state or town and then

Breaking a lease is something you shouldn’t have done it is therefore, important to note that the renter will need to spent the reaming months, say one to two months and then, you easily wake in the sense that you might prove what has a got.

Popularity: 54% [?]

Tags: apartment hunting, apartment hunting tips, apartment rental

This post was written by Molly Shomer, “Head Coach” of The Eldercare Team, and a dedicated advocate for those who are caring for elderly adults.

A few years ago Miranda M. became a widow. After a short time her grandson (her only available relative) persuaded her to move across several states to be closer to him.

He located a nice retirement apartment where meals, housekeeping, and transportation are provided. By using her small Social Security income, and funds left by her loving husband, Miranda was just able to afford her rent and basic living expenses.

She didn’t much like taking all her meals in the community dining room, so she continued to fix some of them in her own kitchen.

She reluctantly accepted the help of housekeeping for the heavy cleaning. But, as she said, “I need to keep busy. If I can’t make my own bed and dust around I feel like a useless slug. I intend to keep doing for myself just as long as I can get up out of this chair.”

But for one unforeseen disaster, Miranda and I never would have met, and she would have happily lived on in her sunny apartment.

You see, disaster struck because Miranda lived too long.

Both she and her grandson had counted on Miranda dying before her 85th birthday. It made perfect sense, they thought, as her family was not generally long-lived.

Her sister and brothers had all passed away at relatively young ages, as had her parents. Miranda figured she would be long gone before her money ran out.

There was only enough left to cover two more months in the retirement apartment when Miranda’s grandson called me.

What was she to do?

Her monthly income of under $900 wasn’t enough to pay for rent, utilities, food, and her medications in the least expensive apartment he could find. He asked me to find her a place in a Medicaid nursing home.

Well, Miranda certainly wasn’t nursing home material.

There was nothing wrong with her mind. She could fix her own meals, and she could keep up her apartment (with a little muscle help). She really had no medical needs, and wouldn’t have qualified for Medicaid and nursing home care even if she had wanted to.

Which she certainly didn’t.

Her only real problem was lack of money (and a grandson who wasn’t any better at planning ahead than she was).

After talking with her doctor and the manager of her apartment to confirm that she really was capable, I set out to try to find a “Section 202″ apartment.

Section 202 housing - named after the section of the federal legislation authorizing it - is rental housing specifically for people over the age of 62 who have incomes under 50 percent of the area median income.

According to HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the average Section 202 resident is a woman in her 70s with an annual income of less than $10,000.

Section 202 residences are built and run by private, non-profit groups who have received loan incentives from HUD. HUD is not involved in day to day operations. Rents are calculated according to income, and rental assistance funds pay whatever balance remains.

Luckily for them, Miranda and her grandson live in a large metropolitan area. There are always more options in a larger town. But somewhere between 20 and 25 percent of Section 202 funds have been set aside for use in non- metropolitan areas, so these apartments aren’t only found in big cities.

Hunting for a Section 202 apartment can be labor-intensive. When an apartment becomes available it rarely stays empty long. Often there are lengthy waiting lists.

The first piece of business was to telephone every apartment complex on the Section 202 list (see below for the web address to get a list). I verified that they were still participating in the program, and asked whether they had any vacancies.

Frankly, I didn’t expect a “yes” to the vacancy question, but it never hurts to ask.

Lo and behold, and miraculously for Miranda, there actually was a vacancy in an older building near downtown. Because it’s not in the pretty suburbs it isn’t as popular as some of the others. For our purposes, it was a palace and a kingdom all in one. Beggars couldn’t be choosers!

If there hadn’t been a vacancy, Miranda and her grandson would have had to visit each apartment complex and place her name on every waiting list. Sometimes the wait can be as long as 2 years or more, so I don’t advocate waiting as long as Miranda did.

Along with her application form, Miranda was required to give the apartment manager proof of her income (a Social Security statement or a pay stub). She was asked about previous landlords who could vouch to her suitability as a tenant. She was asked to provide copies of her pharmacy bills, as those expenses are taken into account when the rent is calculated. This particular apartment manager also wanted a statement from her doctor that she was truly independent.

If she had planned on visiting multiple places, Miranda would have taken along several photocopies of all her information so she could leave it everywhere she applied.

This is where having someone to come along is invaluable. The job can be overwhelming and exhausting for an older person.

If she hadn’t found this affordable place, Miranda probably would have had to move in with her grandson (NOT a happy thought for either of them), or find a little private room to rent in someone’s home, or try to find someone looking for a roommate. I was ready to try whatever it took to keep her off the street.

Because time was short Miranda had to take what was available. She has since put her name on the waiting list at two other apartments that are a little nicer and closer to her grandson. The great thing about Section 202 apartments is that you can move whenever and wherever you wish - depending of course on the terms of the lease you have signed.

To locate a directory of Section 202 housing in your state, go to hud.gov/directory Choose your state in the upper right corner. From that point on you might have to search around a little for “renting,” because the information seems to be in different places on the state pages.

Popularity: 57% [?]

Tags: apartments for seniors, senior apartments, senior housing

At some point, almost everyone who rents will have to find a new apartment to call home. There are a lot of choices out there, but smart apartment hunters know that the important thing is to find an apartment that is within your budget and has the features that you want the most. How do you strike this balance? Keep reading to find out.

Weight your wants and needs carefully. You may want an full on-site gym, cable a sub zero fridge, and parquet wood flooring but you may really need an apartment that is close to where you work, is in a safe neighborhood, and accepts pets. Set your priorities, including your top needs, before you begin searching. With your budget and top needs already determined, your search will be much more streamlined.

One of the most important things is to determine your budget. Experts usually recommend that you plan to spend 25 to 30 percent of your income to pay your rent, although this number an be as high as 35 to 40 percent in some cases. Take your monthly expenses into account as well, and set a budget before you start looking so that you will know which apartments are worth visiting and which ones are out of your price range.

Compile a list of apartments, and when you visit each one, be sure to ask the landlord the right questions, including which utilities if any are included, whether there are rules about painting and alterations, whether and how often the rents are raised, whether there is a pet policy included, etc. Be sure to take notes and write down your first initial impressions of the apartment, the grounds, the staff and anything else that you feel might help you in your decision.

If you aren’t having much luck with traditional apartment listings, try visiting some online classified posting sites. These sites are very popular because they are convenient and are updated multiple times per day. Enter in your rent limit, lease terms, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, whether you need a pet friendly home, and other criteria and most sites will filter through ads and return those that match what you are looking for.

Some apartment sites are designed for a specific city such as apartments Grand Forks ND. Sites like this are especially helpful if you are looking for an apartment in another city or state and may not have the time, necessarily, to spend your weekends hunting for an apartment on foot.

Popularity: 60% [?]

Tags: apartment hunting, apartment search, apartments

Downtown Fargo, N.D., has turned into a thriving neighborhood, according to inforum.com.

Dan Mahli, a senior planner for community development, called the area vibrant.

“There’s been a lot more happening downtown than people could have imagined,” he said. “I think it’s a success.”

Residents who live in downtown apartments Fargo said they like the bus service, art galleries, diversity and the variety of shops and restaurants.

The city’s Renaissance Zone includes the downtown’s core, and records show a net gain of 235 new apartments and condos in that area since 1984, according to inforum.com.

Outside the Renaissance Zone, the Willow Park Fargo apartments have added 20 more units. And Mahli said two low-income housing projects will create 80 more apartments to help replace lost units and to address homelessness. Thirty-seven additional units are planned along NP Avenue, and 43 units are planned along 11th Street North, he said.

Past projects had eliminated some housing, so these housing projects will add needed living spaces. For example, on Broadway, 63 rooms were turned into 15 condos.

“It’s a neighborhood now. I don’t think people were talking about downtown as a neighborhood 10 years ago,” Mahli said. “I get the sense that people are pretty proud of our downtown.”

Popularity: 64% [?]

Tags: apartment hunting, apartments downtown, downtown apartments

The Internet is a convenient way to search for an apartment. It’s a good way to compare prices, view a large selection of apartments and choose from a wider selection while saving time, according to lowcosthomenews.com.

Younger people have been using the Internet for years to find an apartment. For example, college students at North Dakota State University might search online for apartments Fargo.

If you search for apartments online, you don’t have to leave home. If you search for an apartment using the print classifieds section of a newspaper, all you get to see is a photo and a price (if you’re lucky). The Internet allows apartment hunters to see photos, locations, style and various prices. Sometimes they can even search for a specific feature or price.

The ability to save time and money is well worth it. Think about all the time you will save by not having to run back and forth from apartment to apartment. Instead, you can make a pretty good selection online and begin to narrow down your options before checking out a select few in person.

Popularity: 60% [?]

Tags: apartment hunting online, apartment hunting tips

When you’re ready to buy an apartment rather than rent, make sure you take the time to plan ahead and purchase the apartment that best matches your needs and lifestyle. Rushing into something is when mistakes occur. Here are ten common mistakes people make when buying an apartment, according to best-buy-astore.blogspot.com:

1. Not managing your money

You should know how much money you earn, what your expenses are and what you can save. When you buy an apartment you will be tied-up with loan payments for the next 20 or 30 years. So before you buy, practice paying off a loan for six months. That way you’ll be adding to your savings but you will also know you can pay your mortgage.

2. Buying what your friends say to buy

Sure, it would be cool to live close to friends, but don’t base your decision on where your friends live. They might not stick around as long as you, and they might not live in an area you want to raise a family in.

3. Choosing the first apartment that looks attractive

Look harder. It may not be the best choice. Just think over all your options carefully.

4. Buying just to say you own an apartment

You must have a budget or it will never work. When you own an apartment, you must be able to pay your mortgage on top of other regular expenses such as utility bills.

5. Buying in a poorly kept building

Pay attention to defects in the structure of the building, old appliances and stairways, etc. Just because it has character doesn’t mean older is better. If you aren’t sure, have the property looked at by a professional building inspector. Sometimes new is the way to go to avoid problems.

6. Settling for a cheap location

If you can only afford to buy an apartment in a run-down section of town, it is better to wait and purchase an apartment when you can afford to live in a better area. Remember you are stuck with the place until you sell it.

7. Failing to meet the neighbors

When you are renting, you can always give up your apartment and move to a quiet unit where there aren’t any crazy neighbors. When you own the apartment, it’s not that easy. That’s why it’s a good idea to meet some of your neighbors before you buy.

8. Forgetting to budget for repairs, taxes and other expenses

Set aside money to pay utility bills, insurance, fees and repairs.

9. Buying in an area with no public transportation

Keep in mind how far you will have to drive to get to work, whether you will drive yourself or take a bus. Many attractive apartments look nice, but once you move in you realize it takes awhile to get anywhere. You don’t want to be driving to and from work for an hour or two every day when you could be enjoying your new apartment.

10. Accepting the first mortgage proposal

Don’t take the first proposal you get right after you are approved for a loan. Obviously you will be excited, but take the time to think through everything before you decide on an apartment.

Popularity: 62% [?]

Tags: apartment buying, buying an apartment

For many renters, their electric bills are the next largest fixed expense after they pay rent. Here are some tips for lowering that monthly bill, according to blog.apartmentsearch.com:

Don’t heat when you don’t have to. When you’re in bed or under a blanket on the couch, turn the thermostat down and use a space heater.

Program the thermostat so it is lower when you are gone. You don’t need to heat your apartment as much when you are at work.

Communicate. Some energy companies offer free services to keep electric bills under control by suggesting repairs. If your apartment manager is up for this, it could save you and your landlord some money. You can also save money by using low energy light bulbs.

Get new light bulbs. Fluorescent bulbs use less electricity and they last ten times longer.

Clean your air filters. Dirty filters make the heater work harder.

Insulate. Plug holes in drafty windows with weatherstripping.

Popularity: 66% [?]

Tags: electric bills, monthly expenses