I have a client that has been a friend of mine since 2009. We often talk and hike together. He is a renter and has always talked about buying a home. After a couple of years I finally convinced him to take the plunge and buy.
He began putting in offers on houses and kept being out bid. He found one he really liked that was totally remodeled. I knew if he doesn’t get this one the Realtor will have her work cut out for her because the bar was raised due to this remodeled home. My friend called me the next day and said he didn’t get the home. Then he told me to check my text messages because there was another home he had found. It needed work and I asked him what he was thinking. He reminded me that out on one of our hikes we had spoken about renovation loans. He asked for more information and said, “I want to buy this home with your renovation loan.” He submitted a bid, found a contractor and both were quickly approved! My client put 5% down and got $70K to remodel. We closed in 45 days and the work was completed and he moved in prior to his first payment.
I had been watching the market and I shared with my client that it would be beneficial for him to refinance his renovation loan. This saved him about $400 per month. When I was doing that loan I told him if things go as I think they might we should refinance one more time… and we did. This saved him another $320 per month. He now has that house that he’s always wanted and we ended up saving him an additional $8,760 per year!
My client has bought a boat on the Colorado River, has a new diesel truck… and has never been as excited about a purchase as he was with this home. What a pleasure it was to make his dreams a reality!l
One is never truly prepared for a natural disaster but there are ways to prepare to make sure your family has what they need. One thing that you can do ahead of time, to make the disaster easier is have an emergency kit. When creating a kit you will need to think about your specific family's needs. But before customizing it for your family you will need to have the standard supplies. A standard kit has water, food (non-perishables), flashlights, battery powered or crank radio, extra batteries, first aid kit, multi-purpose tool, sanitation, emergency blanket, change of clothes and maps of your area.
From the basics you can jump off and customize these supplies to your family size, specifically for water and food. When storing water you will need to pack at least one gallon of water per day per person. Food will depend on each family and what will sustain them. Experts suggest that for evacuation supplies you should have 3-days worth of supplies and at your home you should have 2-weeks of supplies.
Many of the supplies in the standard emergency bags you can order on Amazon or at local big box stores that carry hunting supplies. Another important note to make is with the food, make sure it is something that your family would normally eat. Changing your diet drastically in a short period of time can mess up your digestive system and make you sick.
When prepping you will also want to think about more specific needs of family. Most importantly is prescription medications for at least a week. Possibly baby supplies: diapers, bottles, formula and baby food. If you have pets you will need a collar, leash, ID, food, carrier and bowl. Think of anything that your family cannot live without!
Preparing doesn't just mean collecting the right supplies. You also need to have a game plan of where your family will go if your home is no longer safe. Also, a place that your family can meet up if you are separated.
The idea of talking about preparedness is not to scare anyone but to get families talking. It is a nice thought to assume nothing bad will happen to you and your family. But if something does happen you want to be equipped to protect your family during an emergency.
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