Today, many services and benefits available to homeowners are heavily advertised online and on television and are often used as ‘bait’ to sell other products and services. However, since many of these services are government programs, for Reverse Mortgages, consumers considering them should always start directly at the source: www.HUD.gov and search ‘reverse mortgage’.

While mortgage interest rates have been rising slightly over the past year, today’s rates are still hovering at historic lows. In addition, although several cities in the Inland Empire have crept past their 2007 values, most areas within the region are still appreciating in value towards the prior peak.

Over the past decade, the 30-year mortgage interest rate has hit and hovered at the lowest rates in history, with the lowest monthly average posting at only 3.31 percent. The days of three percent mortgages have probably gone forever but while current rates hover in the mid-four percent range, and even as they climb in the coming years up to six percent, savvy investors will be buying homes.

While much of the nation braces for a major change in the weather as we move from the warmer months to the colder ones, homeowners here in the Baldy View Region (which encompasses the eastern portion of Los Angeles and all of San Bernardino counties) enjoy the luxury of a few extra months in which to landscape and make home improvements.

Californians choose their home based on location, floor plan, price and size. All of these items, regardless of which is the top of the list and which is at the bottom, can boil down to comfort. We need the right neighborhood, layout, payment, and space in order to be comfortable in our home. Please notice that a major component of the comfort equation was left completely off the list above, which is the environmental comfort of our home.

As Americans, we should all be thankful for those that serve in our armed forces and we should take great pride in the work they do, supporting them however we can. In the Baldy View region, we have paid tribute to and laid to rest many fallen heroes, including the first California soldier to die fighting in World War One – Ralph T. Kingery, who lived in Ontario when he was entered the service in 1917. When his body returned home, Ontario honored him with a full military funeral and a shutdown of the entire city on the day of his services.

Even though Southern California weather offers one of the biggest attractions for new residents and businesses, our weather in late summer and autumn can pose great risks for homes. Tumultuous environmental events such as wildfires, major wind events or thunderstorms can damage your home, especially if the home is not properly prepared for the change in seasons.

The decision has been made and the preliminary steps have been taken; this is the year you have decided to buy your first home. You have worked diligently over the past six to twelve months to get your credit score in order and it’s now time to start saving for the down payment.

Today is the day that you finally decided that it’s time to start down the path towards buying a home. Whether it is your first home or your fifth home, the path forward needs to start by checking and gaining an understanding of your credit score.

Spring cleaning is a great way to declutter your home but, even the most disciplined of us accumulate more each year than we dispose of. The average American homeowner moves approximately once every eight years. Eight years of extra clutter is a lot to deal with at moving time.

The Green Party may not have had the impact on national politics that it set out to achieve in 1984 but it did manage to make “going green” part of the American and international vocabulary. Today, going green is something every producer and consumer strives for, albeit at varying levels of effort and success.

If it is time to move on and provide someone else with the opportunity to fulfill their dream of homeownership, there are some important steps that you should take to maximize the value of your home before any prospective sale.

Home-buying season is in full swing. Above all else, those who are considering selling their current home need to focus on curb appeal, kitchens and bathrooms. Most surveys of potential homebuyers will list community and neighborhood among the top of their ‘must haves’ list for home shopping.

Over 60 percent of private residential water use in the Inland Empire occurs outdoors. Updating a home’s internal plumbing fixtures is important but, even the most dramatic changes that we implement indoors will not be a drop in the bucket (pun fully intended) compared to what can be saved by focusing our attention on water conservation in our landscaping.