If you’re plagued with clutter and need some tips on how to get it under control, you’ve come to the right place. Some of the most common clutter issues involve incoming mail, collections of sentimental items and seasonal decorations. Many also struggle with what to do with clutter in closets, home offices and unused bedrooms. Extra furniture can be a problem, and laundry rooms and attics are clutter magnets. Some clutter involves areas that are sight-unseen, so they are easier to not address.
First, let’s deal with incoming mail. Two rules to incorporate are open mail daily and touch it only once. When you get home from a hard day’s work, open the mail. Toss the junk mail, put all bills in the bill box and all correspondence you must respond to in an envelope marked “correspondence.” If you are limited on space and pay bills at the kitchen table, create envelopes for each of the categories and keep them in one area always for quick easy access.
For attacking clutter in other areas of your house, use the “How do you eat an elephant?” method. The answer is, “One bite at a time.” Your goal will be to target the most prominent areas that everyone sees in the house, first. Work your way through the home one room or area at a time.
Begin by clearing all clutter in the room into one trash bag or box, regardless of the items. Remove anything that does not have a purpose in that room or area. Once the clutter is cleaned out, sort it into the following categories and put into labeled trash bags or boxes:
* Trash
* Charity
* Store
* Repair
Ask yourself the following questions while sorting:
* Can I throw this away? If you have no immediately use for it, toss it.
* Do I have an immediate use for this item? If so, put it use right now.
* Is this a sentimental item from generations? If so, either give it away to your children or store it in a plastic container marked family treasures.
* Is it something I can use now, but needs repair? Don’t delay, schedule a date and time on your calendar that you will either repair it yourself or take it to be repaired.
If you want to keep extra furniture that is causing clutter problems, either rent a storage unit or ask a friend or relative to store it for you. When you are finished with each room, take the trash out immediately, so that you aren’t tempted to bring it back in, again. Make it a goal to work on one room an hour every weekend until you are finished with it, then move on to the next. Get the family involved and make it a fun event. The benefits are that you could create some memories and some habits that will stick.
Donate the charity items on the way home from work, so that they don’t stick around. For items to be stored, buy plastic see-through containers and sort them into specific seasons or holidays, type of items and anything else that will help organize them. Label them, accordingly.
After finishing the entire house, determine to go through the home once a month to clear clutter. Schedule it on the calendar monthly, so that it doesn’t ever revert to its former cluttered condition. Take charge and you’ll begin to gain a sense of pride as you see your clutter disappear and order take over.
Ki lives in Austin Texas. His site provides information and statistics on Austin Texas real estate along with a graphical search of the Austin MLS. Monthly updates are posted on his blog covering Austin real estate and the national market.
Posts Tagged austin texas real estate
Last week mortgage rates matched their all time low of 4.78. This week rates fell even further reaching a new low of 4.71. To put this in some context in terms of historical mortgage rates before the last 12 months the all time low was 5.24 which was reached in the middle of 2003. Today’s rates are a full half point below that.
Although the 30 year rate is the most significant of the 4 major mortgage products the other 3 fell as well. The 15 year mortgage hit a new all time low for the second week in a row falling from 4.29 to 4.27. The 5 year arm reached a new all time low of 4.18 last week and equaled that mark this week. The 1 year arm is the only mortgage product not currently at an all time low. It did fall from 4.35 to 4.25. Below are rates from the weeks from Nov 05, 2009 to Dec 03, 2009 along with rates from a year ago.
Dec 03, 2009
30-yr 4.71 15-yr 4.27 5-yr ARM 4.18 1-yr ARM 4.25
Nov 26, 2009
30-yr 4.78 15-yr 4.29 5-yr ARM 4.18 1-yr ARM 4.35
Nov 19, 2009
30-yr 4.83 15-yr 4.32 5-yr ARM 4.25 1-yr ARM 4.35
Nov 12, 2009
30-yr 4.91 15-yr 4.36 5-yr ARM 4.29 1-yr ARM 4.46
Nov 05, 2009
30-yr 4.98 15-yr 4.40 5-yr ARM 4.35 1-yr ARM 4.47
Jun 04, 2009
30-yr 5.29 15-yr 4.79 5-yr ARM 4.85 1-yr ARM 4.81
Dec 04, 2008
30-yr 5.53 15-yr 5.33 5-yr ARM 5.77 1-yr ARM 5.02
So what is the significant of new record lows? As we can see in the above numbers rates have been low for awhile. Rates have been below 4.85 for the last 2 weeks. That said hitting a new all time low is significant because it will generate some news and headlines, and a bunch of headlines about all time low mortgage rates could generate some buyer activity.
So with multiple mortgage products hitting all time lows which do we recommend? Although the arms have become more attractive since falling over half a point over the last 6 months the 30 year rate seems like the logical choice. With rates at all time lows it’s simply too hard to pass up locking in for a long period of time.
To see the effect of the falling rates we took today’s rates and translated them into a payment on a 200k house. We did the same thing with rates from 2 weeks ago and rates from a year ago.
Dec 03
30-yr $1038.47
15-yr $1506.58
5 ARM $975.7
1 ARM $983.87
Nov 19
30-yr $1052.96
15-yr $1511.65
5 ARM $983.87
1 ARM $995.62
Dec 04 2008
30-yr $1139.34
15-yr $1616.18
5 ARM $1169.68
1 ARM $1076.08
For a 200k loan a mortgage is 9.7% less (or $100.87 a month) cheaper today than a year ago. So what do we expect moving forward? Although we keep expecting rates to move up eventually and rates keep moving down they cannot move down much farther. It’s hard to know if rates are moving up or down over the next few weeks but the general view is that we should be seeing higher rates 3 to 4 months from now.
Ki is active in the Austin Texas real estate community. He built and grew a website, which allows buyers to search for homes in Austin. His site also has a free mortgage calculator and a mortgage rate widget.
Mortgage rates fell this week with three of the 4 major mortgage products hitting all time lows. The most important of the four mortgage products the 30 year rate fell to 4.78 from 4.83 equaling the previous low. The 15 year mortgage product hit 4.29 beating the previous low of 4.32 reached last week. The 5 year arm came in at 4.18 breaking the previous low of 4.25 also reached last week. The 1 year arm stayed at 4.35. Below are rates from the weeks from Oct 29, 2009 to Nov 26, 2009
Nov 26, 2009
30-yr 4.78 15-yr 4.29 5-yr ARM 4.18 1-yr ARM 4.35
Nov 19, 2009
30-yr 4.83 15-yr 4.32 5-yr ARM 4.25 1-yr ARM 4.35
Nov 12, 2009
30-yr 4.91 15-yr 4.36 5-yr ARM 4.29 1-yr ARM 4.46
Nov 05, 2009
30-yr 4.98 15-yr 4.40 5-yr ARM 4.35 1-yr ARM 4.47
Oct 29, 2009
30-yr 5.03 15-yr 4.46 5-yr ARM 4.42 1-yr ARM 4.57
Jul 30, 2009
30-yr 5.25 15-yr 4.69 5-yr ARM 4.75 1-yr ARM 4.80
What’s interesting is that we keep waiting for mortgage rates to increase. Some have any speculated that rates could move into double digits in the next two years. But while this discussion has been occurring mortgage rates have continued to drop and reach historical lows. In addition to rates it’s interesting to look at actual mortgage payments. We took today’s rates and translated them into a payment on a 200k. We also did the same thing with rates from November 12th (2 weeks ago) and July 30th, 2009 (4 months ago).
Nov 26
30-yr $1046.91
15-yr $1508.6
5-yr ARM $975.7
1-yr ARM $995.62
Nov 12
30-yr $1062.66
15-yr $1515.71
5-yr ARM $988.56
1-yr ARM $1008.62
Jul 30
30-yr $1104.4
15-yr $1549.47
5-yr ARM $1043.29
1-yr ARM $1049.33
The payment is 5.5 percent less than what it was 6 months ago or 57.49 less a month for a 200k loan.
So what is going to happen moving forward? I have been predicting for the last several weeks that mortgage rates were going to eventually move up and they have continued to move down. But I am going to continue with the same prediction. In the short term rates might move down slightly. But in the long term there is more of a risk of mortgage rates moving up drastically. With mortgage rates sitting at historical lows there is more of a chance of rates moving up a point or two than moving down a point or two.
Although 5 year arms are at historical lows it makes more sense to look at the 30 year rate. Locking in at all time lows is simply too appealing to pass up.
In Austin, Ki organizes information on Austin Texas real estate. He writes frequently about mortgage rates. His site has multiple mortgage widgets and a mortgage calculator widget.