We may not be there yet but it's always smart to plan for the future. Responsibility for aging parents most often falls to their children. This guest post was written by Barbara Kate Repa, a Caring.com Senior Editor, is an attorney, a journalist specializing in aging issues, and the author of WillMaker, software enabling consumers to write their own wills, health care directives, powers of attorney, and final arrangements. Find out more about in-home care services that provide transportation and companionship and read consumer reviews of these providers in Caring.com's In-Home Care Direct

First time homebuyers have many questions. Make sure you get all your questions answered before buying your first Louisville home. As a first time Louisville homebuyer you may not know exactly what to expect when it comes to house prices or types of homes. It may come as quite a shock to find out exactly what you can afford and what is out of your price range, when you're just starting out. Many Louisville homebuyers have a mansion in mind when they can really only afford a quaint cottage. This is something that every Louisville homebuyer must address and it's better to tackle it f

Signs point to a favorable year for the Louisville housing market, with foreclosure numbers dropping, new housing starts up and more. This guest post was written by J.R. Diamond who writes on a host of real estate and personal finance related topics. Having earned a B.A. in Economics in 2009, J.R. is highly versed in our current economic environment as it relates to consumers. The watchwords for the Louisville housing market are “cautious optimism” for 2013. As per the home price index issued by CoreLogic Inc., home prices in the region increased by 0.2 percent in December of 2012

Selling a home that is vacant is always more challenging as many buyers have a difficult time imagining a room's purpose. Sometimes there is no way to avoid selling vacant Louisville homes. If you have had a sudden job transfer or need to leave the area quickly for one reason or another, your house may have to be vacant while you are trying to sell it. This will leave you at a disadvantage in the market, because vacant houses usually sell 30%-50% slower and for less money, than a house that is occupied. Why Occupied Homes Sell Faster When a house has furniture in it the buye

If done correctly, a real estate investment company can be a very lucrative business, even here in Louisville, Kentucky. In order to be successful in any business you need to make sure that you have a business plan put together and the same is true when you are building a Louisville real estate business company. A business plan for real estate investments is the key to making sure that your business does well and stays afloat. If you don’t have the right plan you could very well find yourself struggling, but how do you go about putting together a great strategy or investment plan fo

Purchasing Louisville real estate is one of the biggest investments you can make. Realtors are vital, but it is also essential to have a Louisville real estate lawyer look over all the paperwork to make sure that everything is has been done according to the law. Considering the cost, it really is a very small price to pay to make sure that everything has been put into place properly and nothing has been left outstanding. Liens A Louisville real estate lawyer will perform a title search to make sure that the property is completely free of any judgments or liens. This will show that the

This story was written by Angelina Brown on behalf of Mortgage Fit, which offers personalized guidance on the best mortgage programs. According to the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors (GLAR), the percentage of houses sold till now (2012) has grown up by 15% and it was exceptionally high in the month of August at 26%. Around 8,504 houses were sold by them in August, which is the largest since 2007 when 10,513 houses were sold by them in that same year. Local realtors said that Louisville market is showing signs of recovery but is has to improve more in order to prevent the abus

Every homebuyer should take a final walk-through of their soon-to-be new Louisville property before signing the closing papers. This is done to ensure that there has been no new damage to the property. It's also to ensure that everything that is supposed to be included as part of the transaction is in the home and has not been removed. This gives the homebuyer one last chance to make sure that everything is intact. This is your opportunity to verify that everything is a go at your end and nothing looks different. At this point, if you do see anything that looks different it is your opportun

More and more of today's young people are considering green products for their Louisville home. If you are going to reside your home, or if you are looking for a contractor to do the work, you might consider looking into a type of siding that is good for the environment, or at least better for it than most siding. Typically, home siding is made from either wood, stucco, or vinyl products, and many of the options for siding materials have some environmental drawbacks, either because they have a high manufacturing waste, come from non-sustainable sources, or because they are difficult to

One of the most important things that you can do when you are either buying or selling a home is to establish a trusting relationship with your Louisville real estate agent. This is the person that is going to help you buy or sell your home. The agent will be giving you helpful advice along the way and you need to be able to put your full trust into everything he says to make sure that everything goes smoothly along the way. Other People's Opinions One thing you're going to be faced with when you are buying or selling is other people's opinions. You'll find that a lot of people will

This is the third of a 3-part series on real estate myths. If you have more specific questions, we encourage you to contact the LHB Editor. Don't be fooled, the perfect Louisville home is myth. But that doesn't mean you can't find a great one! First came Top 3 Real Estate Myths for Louisville Home Sellers, where we hit the the biggest reasons why certain home owners have completely failed when it came to selling their Louisville home fast. This was followed by Top 3 Real Estate Myths About Louisville Real Estate Agents, which highlighted the biggest misconceptions (and surprising!)

When you began showing an interest in real estate and start talking to a few agents you are likely to start receiving mail, email and phone calls from agents working for your business. From open houses to new houses available in your area, each will try to provide something useful in the most attractive method possible. Even if interest hasn't been shown, you will receive some attention from agents from time to time. While you may not be interested in the properties that are brought to your attention, they could serve as excellent reference points for the properties that you are interested

In one of my light-bulb moments, I discovered that (at least here in Louisville) unemployment has proven to be a bigger factor in determining home sales activity than traditional real estate metrics. Now that unemployment has started trending lower it will be interesting just how much sales will be affected, especially considering that interest rates continue to reside at historical lows. Let's take a look at what rates have done over the past decade. Merely going back 10 years shows how attractive today's mortgage interest rates are. When have rates ever been this low? Answer: Neve

This is the second of a 3-part series on real estate myths. There are many misconceptions when it comes to working with Louisville real estate agents that are valuable to understand. If you have more specific questions, feel free to contact the LHB Editor. If you think all real estate agents are wealthy, think again. In 2010, the estimated average income for all real estate agents was $27,364. Previously, we published Top 3 Real Estate Myths for Louisville Home Sellers to help clear up a few misconceptions that many hold regarding best practices in selling your home. Today we're looki

Here are several good clips from CNNMoney.com talking about some of the same topics I posted on yesteday: 1) timing of home values drop, 2) expectation of interest rate levels, and 3) unemployment projections. Good stuff!

Tim Eyre, with Extra Space Storage, wrote this piece expressly for LouisvilleHomesBlog.com. They help residential and business customers who use self storage when they don't have enough storage space on their own. Locations include self storage units in Fort Lauderdale and self storage units in Baltimore. When nonresidents think of Louisville, images of the Derby typically emerge: the stylish hats adorning the heads of lovely ladies...the well-dressed gentlemen...the thrill of competition. Indeed, the Kentucky Derby Festival, which begins with the Thunder Over Louisville (a kind of opening

Louisville was the top city in the nation for livability in 2008. But just a year later it doesn't crack the Top 15? Makes you wonder. Each day my little electronic minions spider across the interwebs to find news items related to Louisville KY, local real estate and other assorted topics. They do their job fairly well; quite well when you consider what I'm paying them. My scouts report back with titles like Best Places to Live With the Lowest Cost of Living (Kiplinger) and Safest U.S. Cities for Families with Young Children (Sperling's) all touting the great attributes of our cit

This is the first of a 3-part series on real estate myths. There are many misconceptions when it comes to buying and selling Louisville real estate that I believe we can correct. If you have more specific questions, feel free to contact the LHB Editor. Replacing the front door on a home is still the only home improvement that surveys say will provide a greater return than the investment. Because there is so much information flooding our lives today, it's more important than ever to distinguish the truth from the myth. Whether is myths about foreclosures or myths about home improvemen

Obtaining a mortgage can be intimidating but understanding the entire process makes the task easier. There are multiple steps involved in the mortgage process, regardless of whether an individual is buying a new home or refinancing an existing loan. In most cases, home refinancing is less complicated than acquiring a new mortgage. 1. Getting Pre-Qualified and Pre-Approved Pre-qualification and pre-approval for a loan are the first steps in obtaining a mortgage. During the pre-qualification process the lender estimates how much the buyer can afford and the amount the bank may be willing

I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "perception is reality". Take the value of brands, for example. People's perception of Tylenol as a safe, pain reducing medicine prior to 1982 was sky high. It was the world's top seller, for crying out loud. Then reports surfaced that a woman died from cyanide poisoning from taking Tylenol. It turns out the medicine was tampered with after the product shipped and was on the shelves but that didn't stop a massive drop in world-wide sales. The perception was that this brand was potentially dangerous and human activity adjusted accordingly. Louisville Hom