Should you hire a house cleaning service?

Cleaning up around the house isn’t a task that a lot of people enjoy. It can be especially harrowing if you have a big family or just have a schedule that seems constantly packed. There are probably times when you’ve thought that it would be so much easier to just hire somebody to come in and do the cleaning. And you totally can! There are a number of cleaning services that can provide you with the cleanliness and sanitation you require. The question is, should you hire someone?

There are several factors that can go into the decision to hire a cleaning service. If you’re not sure whether you actually want to call in a cleaning service or not, here are a few things to consider.

How Much Cleaning Is Needed?

The first thing that you should consider is exactly how much cleaning there is to be done. If you only have a small amount of cleaning that’s needed at any given time, there may not be much of a benefit to not just doing it yourself. If you need more cleaned up, though, the benefit obviously grows with the workload.

How Often Is Cleaning Needed?

Another factor in how much of a benefit there is to hire a cleaning service centers around the frequency with which cleaning is needed. If you find that you really only need things cleaned up once every month or two, that probably isn’t an insurmountable task and there’s relatively little benefit based on frequency. If your home could use a good cleaning every week or possibly even a few times a week, however, there could be a huge benefit to hiring it out.

Of course, this should also be weighed against the amount of cleaning required; needing a significant amount of cleaning once a month might still provide a strong case for hiring a cleaning service. Even if cleaning amounts differ, such as one large cleanup followed by periodic maintenance cleaning, the overall benefit could still be substantial.

Do You Have Time to Clean?

The amount of free time that you have can affect the degree of benefit you’d see from hiring a cleaning service. If you’re constantly busy and have very little free time, having someone else do the cleaning would provide a significant benefit. On the flip side, if you find yourself with hours of time in which you don’t have anything to do, you could put some of that time toward cleaning tasks; this would reduce the benefit of hiring a service.

Can You Afford a Cleaning Service?

After you have an idea of how much benefit there is from hiring a cleaning service, compare that against the cost of bringing cleaners in. Look up prices or request quotes from some cleaners in your area to figure out how much of a financial burden the cleaning service would be. You might even want to develop a few different cost models, figuring out how much it would cost to bring them in weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or even on demand.

Should You Hire a Cleaning Service?

Once you have both your approximate benefits and costs figured out, it’s time to compare the two and make sure that there’s enough benefit to justify the cost. If the cleaning service would cause you a financial strain, then there would obviously have to be a substantial benefit for you to hire them. If it would be easy enough to fit their services into your budget, however, the requisite benefit to make it worth your while will be much less. Comparing these two factors will make your decision much easier and can provide insight into how often and to what degree you’ll want their services as well.

Finding the Best Cleaner for Your Needs

If you decide that you do need a cleaning service, you’ll obviously want to get the best one in your area. HomeKeepr can help! Sign up for a free account today and find a cleaning service that will do a great job for a great price, based on the recommendations of people just like you.

Sub-4% Interest Rates? Really?

Yes! Really!! On Friday of last week, we saw for the first time in decades interest rates below 4%!! This is for 30-year fixed, conventional, conforming mortgages. One client recently remarked, 'That is almost like free money!'. Unfortunately, due to the weak global economy and the significant action the Fed is taking on monetary policy, mortgage interest rates continue to drop. How low can they go, you say? No one knows, but if you are in the market for a house, rates like this literally can't get much better. Take some time to talk with a reputable and local mortgage consultant to show you know much more house you can buy with these low rates. Of course, I am not encouraging you to buy a bigger house than you need, but if you have been dreaming about a bigger/nicer/better location house, this might be THE time to seriously look into it.

Interest rates--How low can you go?

3.99% fixed rate conventional 30-year mortgage with no points. Seriously? Yes, I saw one of my lenders offering that last week. Crazy!! It is unlikely that they will go much, if any lower, but then we thought that was the case at 4.375% last month. The effects of the housing tax credit expiring are being felt in the Indy market and throughout the country. As an example, here are some stats from July 2010 compared to July 2009:
29% decrease in homes closed
23% decrease in pending home sales
9% increase in average sales price-yea!
1% increase in price/s.f.
6.6% increase in homes currently available for sale
11.26 months of inventory currently on the market vs. 7.48 months in July 2009

Aside from values increasing, we are seeing some sobering numbers come in. The best markets as far as lowest months of available inventory is, believe it or not Decatur Township with 7.47 months of inventory and Carmel Clay Township with 7.88 months of inventory. The worst is downtown Indy with 24.73 months of inventory!!!

What does all of this mean? Well, with such low interest rates and higher inventory and a trend of increasing housing values, this is a great time to buy a house!! Not to sound too salesy here, but we are seeing values recover, but super-low interest rates and lots of choices. If you are thinking your window of opportunity has closed, think again. Conversely, if you already own your home and you have a 30-year interest rate of 5% or more, do yourself a favor and talk with a reputable lender about whether or not it makes financial sense to take advantage of these crazy low interest rates and save some money. E-mail me if you would like some names of good lenders in the area.

4.375% interest rates?

Who would have ever thought that we would see a 30-year fixed conventional mortgage interest rate at the 4.375% mark? Well...we are seeing it right now. What is your current mortgage interest rate? Is it 5% or higher? Do you know what it is? If not, it would merit checking. Reducing your interest rate by around 1% could save you hundreds of $$$$ each month. It might make sense to talk with a mortgage lender and see how these low rates could positively affect your monthly payment.

Indianapolis is in the recovery mode, however we are still short of buyers out there relative to what we usually see at this time of the year. If you are thinking of buying a home, these great prices of homes coupled with the super-low interest rates could be a big win for you with being able to afford more house than you would have otherwise been able to afford, or further reduce your mortgage payment. Either way, you win!!!

Activity Picking Up

Goodbye 2008 and welcome 2009! I don't think many people are sad that 2008 is behind us. Unfortunately, it holds many records, which no one wanted to see, however 2009 is here most experts are predicting the housing market nationally should have started to recover by 3rd quarter 2009. Indianapolis is still predicted to start its comeback in the spring of 2009.

Personally, I've seen activity marked pick up already this year for the first time since the fall market. Interest rates are lower still with a 30-year conventional fixed rate with no points and 5% down of 4.75% on Thursday of last week.

Clearly, these are unprecedented times. First-time homebuyers are getting unbelievable deals with some of the largest inventory, very motivated sellers, and low interest rates--all at the same time. That is typically unheard of. If you are a first-time home or move-up buyer, this is the time to get in the market and take advantage of a market most-likely none of us will see again.

What Just Happened?

Just when we start to see a bright spot in the housing market the stock market goes in the dump and we are getting pretty dim reports about the economy as well. What gives? While the stock market around the globe has taken it on the chin lately, there are still some silver linings out there. Houses are STILL selling. That's right, there is still a housing market out there. Depending on where you live, it is in a different state of recovery, but Indianapolis is still looking good.

Dr. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist of the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) in a presentation in Carmel, IN a couple of weeks ago shared with real estate agents that he, Alan Greenspan and over 800 economists around the US feel the housing market will have begun its recovery by early 2009, if not sooner. Indianapolis' Pending Home Sales Index actually is up for the 2nd straight month and there is evidence of much pent up demand as buyers are waiting on the sidelines for even better deals and the bottoming out of the housing market. Many signs are pointing to Indy being at the bottom now or just pulling out of it.

As long as you have decent credit (650+), 3 1/2% to put down and aren't drowning in debt, there is plenty of mortgage money out there. For FHA, your down payment can even be in the form of a gift letter from a blood relative. Sellers are giving great deals and inventory is going down. Builders are seeing the fewest new home starts in over 60 years. That really helps our housing market.

Dr. Yun predicts that within the next few years there will actually be a shortage of homes on the market turning the tide, once again to a seller's market and homeowners seeing gains in equity once again. If you are a homeowner, are thinking about buying a home or moving up and are planning on staying in your home for at least 5 years, this could be one of the best times in history to buy a home. Interest rates are still very low (6.5% for a 30-year conventional, conforming loan) and sellers are anxious to sell. Take advantage of this historic occasion and if you are considering buying a home, this could be one of the last times to get such favorable conditions--especially from builders who are giving away unbelievable incentives.

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