There is an old expression in real estate about "Drive Until You Qualify". Homes located further out from the center of an area cost less the further away you go. There is a reason. The further out you go, the more likely you are going to have to spend lots of time commuting in.
I came across a great website that calculates the cost of that commute as part of the cost of the home. http://www.cnt.org They have an interactive map with 330 metropolitian areas in the US. It makes sense to include that cost just as one would include the cost of the utilities. If you have to spend $120 per month to use a toll road to get to your job from your new house...well...you will want to factor in that cost.
To see how much it actually costs to own your car, go see http://www.edmdmunds.com/apps/cto/intro.do
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Getting Keys Made
If you need a duplicate key, don't take it to the grocery store or to a Big Box Store to have it made. I am not naming names but you know what I mean. We are talking about those big chain stores that have put local hardware stores out of business.
It doesn't cost more to take it to a professional, a lock smith. They charge the same price. The difference? Their keys always work. Always. Not so the keys from the Big Box Stores.
Let me tell you how many times I have had a property owner duplicate a key and bring it to me, only for us to discover that it doesn't work. I currently am working on a listing where the owner lives in another state. They over-nighted the keys to me. I drove over to the property once, only to discover that I had left the gate code at the office. I drove over to the property a second time, got inside the gates, found the unit (which is identified with a unit number not in the tax records or supplied by the owner so I got to intuitively locate the unit and hope that I wouldn't get shot in the process). The keys don't work. I am about to go back over with someone else and a a can of WD-40 just to make absolutely certain that the problem is the key.
It doesn't cost more to take it to a professional, a lock smith. They charge the same price. The difference? Their keys always work. Always. Not so the keys from the Big Box Stores.
Let me tell you how many times I have had a property owner duplicate a key and bring it to me, only for us to discover that it doesn't work. I currently am working on a listing where the owner lives in another state. They over-nighted the keys to me. I drove over to the property once, only to discover that I had left the gate code at the office. I drove over to the property a second time, got inside the gates, found the unit (which is identified with a unit number not in the tax records or supplied by the owner so I got to intuitively locate the unit and hope that I wouldn't get shot in the process). The keys don't work. I am about to go back over with someone else and a a can of WD-40 just to make absolutely certain that the problem is the key.
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