Property under 20k team, Author at propertyunder50k.com

A cheap pool for your home

Summer means pool time. For many of us, a pool is the epitome of having a good time. Especially in summer holidays a pool is one of the things we don’t want to miss.

But if you usually visit a public pool or leisure centre, that might not be an option right now. On the other hand, building your own pool at your home is a big and expensive venture.

As we have around 39ºC (102ºF) right now, I happen to find myself desperately searching for a cheap pool solution. Little did I know I would find the hot trend of the summer.

What about a stock tank pool at your home?

What is it, you may ask. Well, it happens that these inexpensive farm items were originally designed to water livestock. Now, it seems people have discovered them for their own pleasure. They are appearing in gardens across the world.

It’s a great idea, inexpensive and has a certain charm to it. How can you get one?

Choose a “pool” size

First step would be to find your local farm item supplier and see what options are available. In most areas the biggest round troughs are the most popular. Naturally, they would offer the best swimming experience.

Pick the right spot

Next or at the same time you need to decide where to set it up. You will need a spot with a level foundation. This means it needs a solid, level base free of any rocks or sharp edges.

Add pumps and chlorine

Of course, you like to enjoy your pool for as long as possible. Therefore, you will need to add a few things to keep it clean and safe. I found a very detailed description on how to do it (it has very nice pictures of stock tank pools as well that might give you some ideas). Check it out at Hey Wanderer blog

If you rather buy a house with a pool, check out find cheap holiday homes.

You have a house for sale? List it with us for free.

Smart Home – what does it mean?

We encounter the expression “smart home” everywhere today. But it means much more than clever refrigerators and intelligent lighting. Smart home is when your house “thinks” and makes your everyday life as easy, safe and pleasant as possible. Thanks to a smart home, you save precious time. Smart devices organise annoying routine tasks for you. The goal is comfort, entertainment, energy saving and security.

Smart Home how does it work?

The principle can be summed up in the following; Various electrical devices and sensors are interacting and communicating with each other. Often, you can control Individual devices and even entire systems remotely. In this way, a simple and complex process can be automated.

How does the communication work?

Lying by the pool and starting the oven with a roast for dinner? Or making a coffee while still in bed with your smartphone? With Smart Home, such comforts have long ceased to be a vision of the future. At home, the devices communicate using standards such as WLAN, Bluetooth, KNX data cables or even directly via the power line.

All are proven standards and almost all current smart home devices and systems can be installed and operated very easily today – via an integrated display, smartphone, tablet or even a voice control.

Which devices can be controlled in a smart home?

In principle, every electrical device and system can be controlled smartly. Therefore, it is often possible to optimize comfort, safety or efficiency at once. Lighting, heating and air conditioning systems are typical areas of application for smart homes such as controlling canopies, blinds and shutters. Entire lighting concepts can be conveniently controlled and automated.

A message on your smartphone as soon as your laundry is finished?

Thanks to Smart Home, this is not a problem.

But it gets even better, entire home security systems can be controlled as well. While you are away, it is very easy to check that everything is fine at home using your smartphone. If someone rings at your door you can even see who it is and answer at the intercom. You simply access your intercom and cameras at home via the Internet.

Want to buy or sell your home? List it with us today.

Keep your home covid-19 free

Many things changed since the arrival of the Covid-19. This is also true when it comes to your home. Many took measures to make it easier to keep the house clean. Most important of all, many changed their behaviour of what they do first when they come home.

There are some basic procedures you should do to protect your home.

In order to do that, you need to organize the entrance of your home and observe a few guidelines. Traditionally, in some countries people already do this for many centuries.

It doesn’t need to be a big space, only large enough to be organized in a “dirty zone”, an “in-between zone” and a “clean zone”.

The “dirty zone”

There should be a space right at the front door, where we can take off your coat, leave your bag and keys, take off and put away your shoes. Ideally, you would clean the soles of your shoes with disinfectant.

In this area you always keep a rug on the floor, a hanger to hang your bag and coat, a trash can with pedal, a bottle of disinfectant or diluted bleach and a disposable paper roll (to clean/disinfect your shoes). If you like to add some comfort and you have some additional space you can put a chair as well.

The floor and the rug should be washed regularly.

The “in-between zone”

In the “in-between zone”, always keep some alcoholic gel. Here you disinfect your hands or even better, if you have the possibility, wash your hands with soap here.

The “clean zone”

In the “clean zone” you put on your slippers and maybe other comfortable clothes you only use at home. Now you are all ready to use the rest of your home.

What if you have a dog?

If you come home with your dog, you should also clean the animal’s paws every time.

Do not use alcohol or bleach to sanitize the dog’s paws as he might lick it.

Did you create different areas at your home? Leave a comment below and let us know.

Do you like to buy or sell your home. List it on www.listproperty4free.com

Make some space for microgreens

Microgreens are the new star that was born out of the covid-19 situation. They have been around for a while but got really popular now as a fresh food source that you can produce from the comfort of your own home. But what is it and how does it work? Here comes a short overview.

What are microgreens?

Basically, microgreens are baby plants, they are young vegetable greens that you can harvest 7–21 days after sprouting depending on what you were growing. Once the plant’s first true leaves arise, they are ready. You can cut them and enjoy the tender stems and leaves.

Best of all, they have a rich flavour and concentrated nutrients – some call them super food as often they contain higher nutrient levels than more mature vegetable greens.

Why should I grow microgreens at my home?

Not only are they cheaper if you grow them yourself but also a lot more convenient. Depending on the microgreen you decide to grow in your home you can really streamline the process.

Also, you have full control of the seeds, soil and water you use, you will know it’s 100% organic.

Why are microgreens so popular now?

Many people have limited their grocery shopping due to the COVID. Meaning they only shop once every one or two weeks.

Unfortunately, this means you might be running out of some fresh salads and vegetables. Growing your greens seems to be the obvious solution to this problem. Once you see how delicious they are it’s easy to get addicted.

A corner ready to grow your microgreens

You don’t need much space to grow your microgreens. You can grow them outdoors or indoors – where ever you have some space for a tray and some sunlight. Please make sure to use trays that are food safe.

There are many types to choose from

Lentils are one of the healthiest microgreens you can grow.

If you are also one of those who gets hooked on those microgreens, you better prepare a nice bright corner to grow them in larger amounts. You can get a shelve in order to have several trays in the same space.

Just give them a try

But before remodelling your house, or starting a big microgreens production – why not to grow a few different ones on your windowsill to see if you like them?

Happy growing.

If you rather like to grow something in your own garden, why not to check out propertyunder20k.com for some affordable homes with garden?

How to handle a multiple offer situation

With real estate markets heating up again after the COVID lockdown, many find themselves in a multiple offer situation. What is it and how can you as buyer or seller handle it the best way? Here is a short overview.

What is a multiple offer situation?

A multiple offer situation happens when several people make an offer on a property.

This often happens in a seller’s market when competition is high – meaning there are more buyers than there is real estate for sale. However, it can happen in any market and especially for houses within a reasonable price range or those that are a good deal for another reason.

multiple offer situation as seller

If you are a seller, multiple offers are great news. You are in a situation everybody dreams of.

Your real estate agent will probably explain various negotiating tactics for you to think about. For example, you could just accept the best offer. Or you could notify all buyers that there have been other offers to give them the chance to make a better offer.

multiple offer situation as buyer

As a buyer, how can you make sure your proposal wins when there are multiple offers on the table? Here are a few tips.

The best tactic would be to find out what the seller is hoping for. Is he looking for a quick sale, sell for the highest price or maybe he even prefers to get some more time before moving out…? Maybe he has a personal attachment to the house and is looking for someone who really appreciates it. There can be many different situations that made the homeowner put his house on the market.

Making an offer

When making an offer try to make it attractive, best a little above listing price to show that you see its value. You can also offer to pay a deposit as a down payment. Like this you show the seller that you’re really serious about closing the sale.

Some even suggest to write a personal letter to the seller.

A word of caution

Please note, it has happened that buyers were told by agents that there are other offers on a house in order to get a better price, when in fact this was not true. It has to be stated that there are severe consequences for agents who do this.

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Real Estate Market heating up

After many weeks of heavy speculations, we finally have some proper numbers to work with. This is certainly good news for real estate agents and home sellers. More and more real estate news popping up declaring that the real estate market recovered and best of all, it seems some place even have a higher rate of competition than before. This means that due to high interest a home for sale receives multiple offers. That is a scenario every home seller is dreaming of!

For buyer its not so good news – but hold on, this all depends on where you are looking to buy. Situations vary depending on the location. Some markets are still low due to the covid-19 and have not come out of their historic price drop yet. Those would definitely be perfect grounds for bargain hunters.

Where are the hot spots?

In general, most locations that were in high demand before the covid-19 pandemic are heating up again, some are even described as being on fire. This is the case for the

Toronto Real Estate Market

reported here: https://torontostoreys.com/toronto-real-estate-market-hot-june-2020/

Another report talks about “Bidding Wars” in several states of the USA with

Boston metro area

having the highest rate of competition.

Locations with a bidding-war rate above 50% are Salt Lake City, Denver, Seattle, Austin, TX, San Francisco/San Jose, Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Portland, OR. This information was found at https://www.redfin.com/blog/competition-increases-homebuyers-coronavirus-drives-housing-shortage/

It is also noteworthy to mention that offers for single-family homes faced higher competition than before the pandemic. To have your own place means more right now than ever, we can see this among all the new buyers who are trying to find a home with more privacy.

Also, the

Allegheny housing market

is picking up where it left off before the pandemic. It was part of only a few locations in the United States where real estate services were considered nonessential. Since the restrictions were lifted prices are back to where they were before with even a shortage in the housing market. This was reported here

Allegheny housing market rising with lifting of pandemic restrictions

Where are prices still low?

Some locations that were hit especially hard by the pandemic are still at a price low.

For example, this is the case for

Spain Real Estate Market

Although too early to make a certain prediction, there have been reports that are not sounding promising. As reported by ‘Bloomberg’ at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-12/spanish-real-estate-is-heading-for-its-second-crash-in-a-decade

it looks like Spain’s home market is heading toward another crash. Experts who study the property market reported that the hit to housing prices in 2020 could range from 6.5% to 15%.

If you were thinking to buy a home in Spain this seems like a good time.

Do you know of any other locations where we can find cheap real estate? Please leave a comment below and let us know.

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To maintain our real estate blog with fresh and interesting content we are happy to receive ideas from our audience. Maybe there is a real estate topic you would like us to cover. If so, please feel free to suggest a topic.

We are happy to write articles that are interesting for our readers

As we have real estate listings from all over the world there are endless questions from the buyer’s side as well as from the seller. This means there are limitless subjects to cover. Also, there might be some interesting developments on the real estate market you think our readers should know about.

If you inform us of some latest real estate news, please don’t forget to give us your source Of course, we will not publish anything where there is a chance of being fake news.

Contact us to suggest a topic

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There are some fantastic, high-quality guest bloggers out there. Therefore, if you are one of them you can send us in your unique article for approval. Please see our Real Estate Guest Post Guidelines for more details.

Thank you.

Find what you Search in Real Estate Listings?

These days, thousands of real estate listings are being scrolled in the pursuit of finding the best property deal. It is just a quick and easy way to get a first glimpse at the real estate market. Although, it’s easy to feel like you’re not getting the full picture of your possible future home.

Being just curious

For many, searching properties starts out as a curiosity. You may have heard about a great place with very cheap homes or you simply like to check out what is available in your area. Maybe you are considering to just move a few neighbourhoods away, where real estate is more affordable. This can open up new possibilities for having more space and comfort.

Online searching saves time

A lot has been done lately to improve the finding process. Especially the 3D viewings of houses are wonderful, I just love them. I think in this covid-19 pandemic I have been on more house viewings than all my life before, all thanks to the virtual viewings. They have been around for quite a while but this challenging time really increased their popularity.

It just saves so much time. Otherwise you would need to drive around all day long to see all the houses in person. It would take weeks and months what now you can see from the comfort of your own home in a few hours.

But in the end, seeing properties in person is really the only way you can find out if a property feels right and seriously narrow down your search and eventually get the buying process started. After all, there are more factors that need consideration before making a decision.

Scrolling millions of real estate listings

It can be very frustrating to see all the available listing and not finding what you are looking for. A good way to find the right deal is to sign up for search alerts on real estate portals.

This means, if you are looking for ads in specific countries or price ranges you can sign up to be notified every time a new ad is posted that fits your search criteria.

To set up your search alert on our website please visit https://www.listproperty4free.com/manage-my-searches.php

Want to sell your property?

Often people start searching properties online to try and gain an understanding of their own home’s value. Maybe this the case with you? If so, please remember that you can list your home for sale with us for free.

Has quarantine forced you to reconsider your home?

Has spending more time at home due to the covid-19 restrictions lead you to question your home? While you had a busy live away from your place before, going to work, meeting friends… suddenly you find yourself stuck in your own 4 walls. The oddities you lived with before might not be so easy to overlook when you’re trapped with them all day long, every day. Let’s see if you can fix the relationship with your place or if it’s time to move on.

Doing a makeover can do miracles to your home. This can be done even on a small budget.

Renovation is not your cup of tea

Your property might be in need of renovation or a little makeover. If you can do it yourself – fantastic. Sometimes decluttering your home and give it some new paint can already do the trick.

If you are not a handy person, and the idea of living in a dirty construction site with builders coming in and out seems unbearable to you, then it may be time for a fresh start.

You are tired of your neighbourhood

Location, location, location! That’s usually the first thing you decide when you go house hunting. Maybe the location you live in looked like a good idea when you moved there, close to work, shops, school… Maybe you changed your work since, your children left school or the area developed in a way that you had not expected.

If your neighbourhood doesn’t work for you anymore it looks like it’s time to move on.

Your home is not the right size

You may discover that your home is either too big or too small. So many families in quarantine felt the need for more space. Many parents had to work from home making it almost impossible to manage the available space to suit everybody’s needs.

Other may feel their home is too big. Maybe your children grew up and moved out or you have to cut your costs down due to some financial loss due to the covid-19 pandemic. Whatever the case, getting the size right can add a lot of comfort and peace of mind.

Moving house is always a challenge

Although it can be hard to leave your home where you have all these nice memories you may be able to simplify your life and have more time for things that matter more to you. Especially with old age it usually is increasingly difficult to look after a big place. Swapping size for more comfort can be key to find more joy living in your home.

Selling your home and looking for a new? Visit www.listproperty4free.com

First 3 steps to become a real estate investor

It all sounds easy; A monthly cash flow generated by renting out real estate. You can quit your job and live the life you always wanted. But not so quick. What sounds simple in theory is not as simple in reality. It all needs careful preparation and investigation. Careful planning is crucial. In this article, you will read 3 practical first steps for who wants to become a real estate investor.

A property offers many advantages, but the purchase of the rental property needs to be considered carefully. After all, you will be making a decision with a large financial impact – the right strategy is vital. If you consider the following steps, there is nothing standing in the way of your first property investment.

Step 1: save money

The more money you can save, the easier the later financing of the property will be. You should therefore start saving as early as possible and also improve your creditworthiness.

While you save capital on the purchase of your first property, you can of course invest the money you have accumulated. However, make sure that your assets will be available in time for purchase. Long-term investments are therefore less suitable.

Step 2: plan financing

Before you actually start looking for a property, you need to be clear about the size of the investment you want or can invest in. Will you start small with a one- or two-room apartment or do you start directly with an apartment building?

When talking to a bank advisor, you will know the loan amount you can get. Together with the money you have saved this results in the upper limit for your investment, which enables you to narrow down your property search.

When calculating, take into consideration additional costs: real estate transfer tax, notary and estate agent fees.

Step 3: object selection

Knowing your upper limit, you will now be able to decide in what type of real estate you like to invest in. You can now study a few scenarios to figure out

what type of real estate (house or apartments…)
in which location
long or short-term rentals

you should invest in to bring you the most profit.

Your time as a real estate investor

Don’t forget to take into consideration your own time that you need to spend regularly to look after your real estate investments.

Although short-term holiday rentals can be a lot more profitable, they will also need more of your attention and time.

Correctly estimate your time

It is not so easy to correct mistakes when buying a property – so make sure to take your time before you decide to buy a certain property.

And even after buying, be aware that you still need to invest time: be it to make accounts, organising repairs and renovations, dealing with your tenants… There will be always something that will need your attention.

A competitive market for a real estate investor

Generally, the real estate market has been on the upswing for several years. If you want to be a real estate investor today, you are therefore dealing with a competitive market.

A big advantage of real estate is the opportunity to generate a cash flow month after month. With rented houses and apartments, you can still make a profit after covering all costs and already collect capital for the purchase of the next real estate.

You have not much money available for your investment? Why not start small. Have a look at www.propertyunder20k.com to find cheap real estate for sale.