About Berkeley County, WV

Here are five recommendations for young people who want to position themselves for homeownership.

Granted, few young people spend much time day-dreaming about buying their first home. They're naturally preoccupied with academics, athletics, parties, dating and future career possibilities. Nonetheless, there are a number of good reasons to start learning early in life about the costs of buying a home and the responsibilities of homeownership. For example, a college student's misuse or abuse of credit cards can preclude his or her buying a home later on.

Here are five recommendations for young people who want to position themselves for homeownership:

1. Establish good credit habits and a favorable credit history. Get a credit card and use it responsibly. Apply for an automobile loan and make your payments on time every month. If you're renting an apartment, put your own name on the lease and the utility bills and make sure the rent and the bills are paid every month.

.2. Start saving for a down payment and closing costs. It's possible to purchase a first home in many parts of the country without much in the way of savings. But in high-cost housing areas, starting to save early can be enormously beneficial because you'll get the advantage of compounding interest and have a longer period of time to grow your investments. Open a savings account or a stock brokerage investment account and make regular deposits.

3. Read some books. Your local library and bookstore probably have at least a few shelves of books about financial management and buying a home. Take notes. Make a financial plan for yourself. You can learn a lot about real estate, budgeting and credit on REALTOR.com® too.

4. Research where you'd like to live. Many young people assume they'll continue living in their own home town when they get older, but people are more mobile than ever and chances are good you'll one day live in another city or even another state. Again, the library, bookstore and Web can be excellent resources for information about housing costs and homeownership opportunities around the country.

5. Tap a real estate agent for advice. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or older cousins that have bought/sold real estate can give you good information about the cost of housing in the area where you want to live and what it takes to buy a home.

Questions to ask a realtor:

1)Is housing affordable in this area?

2)How much money would I need to save in order to buy a home?

3)What advice would you give me about planning my financial future?

4)Would you recommend some books that I might like to read about buying a home? Don't be shy. If you have a question, ask.......Click here

Press Release: Housing Forum will be held Monday

The first of many anticipated public housing forums will be held tomorrow, November 24, between 6 and 8pm at The Living Room in Martinsburg.

The evening's event is sponsored by Marc Savitt, owner of The Mortgage Center. The guest speakers for the evening include David Hartley of the Eastern Panhandle Homebuilders Association, Stacy Lawing affiliated with Keller Williams Realty and yours truly.

The focus will be on the micro market of the Eastern Panhandle and our current economic state during these uncertain times. Is our housing market as bad as the national media portrays it? Come find out for yourself from local experts who really have a pulse on the local market.

When: Monday, November 24, 6-8pm

Where: 50 Monroe St, Martinsburg WV

Cost: It's FREE!

Wanting to know the value of your home in Martinsburg WV or the surrounding areas such as Falling Waters, Inwood, Hedgesville and more. Send me the details of your home and I will send you a FREE competitive market analysis to give you a general idea of its value.

You may be looking to sell now or 5 years fro now. It doesn't matter.

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With our convenient location to the Baltimore Maryland and Washington DC beltway areas, West Virginia's eastern panhandle has long been a popular destination for tourism and home ownership. Most are drawn by our beauty and slower pace of life as well as the economics of lower priced real estate and taxes.

Some folks decide to put their roots down while others are looking to escape the beltway bustle at the week's end and I have had the privilege to assist both mindsets.

Since marketing vacation homes has become one of my niches over the years, I would particularly like to address those second home owners about some of the pitfalls to avoid.

"5 Easy Tips" to Protect Your Investment:

1. First and foremost, always turn off your main water valve when you leave. Make it a habit to do this year round because Murphy never takes a vacation and anything can go wrong while you're away. I can't tell you how many disasters I've encountered over the years while marketing vacation homes due to water damage.

2. While staying on the topic of water since it is one of most damaging elements that you can control, hire a professional to winterize your home. Turning the main water supply off and draining through the open faucets may not cut it when the temperature drops below 20 degrees. If you are not planning to use your home over the winter, I highly recommend this investment for your peace of mind. Trust me when I say that a frosty coating of ice in your oven is undesirable.

3. Oh those trees, those beautiful trees! We are so fortunate to have an abundance of beautiful hardwoods and pines covering our mountains, but they could be your nemesis too. Look around the perimeter of your home for trees leaning toward the house and also look for nearby standing dead trees that could fall and cause damage. Trees are beautiful and a wonderful habitat for local wildlife, but sometimes they need to come down. If you are fortunate enough to have standing dead hardwood trees, save them for firewood.

4. Most likely your vacation home will have that "cozy fireplace" and of course you'll need wood to fuel that fire. Don't stack the wood against the house or on the deck just because it's convenient. In your absence, the termites move in. Leave your permanent wood stack at least 20 feet away from the house. As an added tip, burn hardwood such as oak and limit the use of pine for burning as creosote could build up in the flue and may cause a chimney fire. If you use your fireplace or wood stove regularly, you should have the chimney cleaned once a year.

5. Bugs will be bugs and they all have a job to do, but they shouldn't be confined within your four walls. The obvious pests are termites and ants, but during this time of the year there may be infestations of lady bugs, stink bugs and common flies looking for a place to winter away. Here again, hire a trusted professional to control those little pests. I recommend quarterly treatment to protect your investment and making sure that the company you hire is fulfilling their contractual agreement.

The above tips are a compilation of my many years of experience in dealing with second home properties. Although I may have injected a little bit of humor here, it's basically common sense when you think about it.

Photo courtesey zieak