WHY CHOOSE AN ALL ELECTRIC HOME

There are a number of choices available to you when it comes to how you heat and cool your home. While many people choose electric means of cooling, heating is often a different story. The heating options for your home include things like gas heat, wood-burning heating, and even ambient heating solutions that use steam or hot water to pump heat through pipes in concrete flooring. Some homes even use a combination of these methods to heat different rooms in the house.

If you’re considering how you want to heat and cool your own home, however, there is something to be said for using an all-electric solution. While electric heat and air might not be right for every home or every homeowner, it’s at least worth considering if you’re in the market for a new home or are planning out a new construction project. If you’ve never really given an all-electric home much consideration, here are a few things that you should think about.

Rising Home Heating Costs

It seems like every year, the cost of heating your home is going up. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is fluctuations in the cost of heating fuels such as propane and natural gas. Depending on where you live, using these fuels as a heat source can be pretty expensive over the course of increasingly harsh winters when you’re going to have to run the heat a lot. Supply issues can also make it difficult to get refills of fuels like propane when you need them, and if you are able to secure a refill for your tank, then the increased demand could drive prices even higher.

While the cost of electricity also sees periodic increases, electric power isn’t as prone to wild fluctuations as some other fuels are. This can create more price stability over the course of a season, even in the event of severe winter weather that might drive up demand and pricing for some other fuels. Given that your home is already wired for electricity, it also offers the convenience of giving you a single bill for your heating and cooling needs without the requirement of scheduling refills or making other provisions to secure fuel.

Harnessing Solar Energy

Another big potential advantage of going all-electric is that you can use solar energy as a means to offset or even eliminate your heating and cooling costs. By installing solar panels on your roof or near your home, you can offset your use of grid power, or even charge batteries that your home will draw some or all its power from. Depending on the size of your solar setup, this can result in a significant decrease in the amount that you pay to heat and cool your home (and run everything else, too) throughout the year.

The savings from going solar can extend beyond just your heating and cooling costs, too. Installing solar panels at your house may qualify you for certain tax breaks or other benefits, saving you money when it comes time to pay your taxes as well. If you have a large enough solar setup, you may even be able to produce more power than your home uses. Depending on where you live, this could give you an opportunity to sell some power back to the grid, actually making money off of your home’s power setup.

Choosing an All-Electric Home

There are several ways that you can go all-electric, from buying a house that already has an all-electric setup to have a new electric unit installed to replace previous heating and cooling equipment. If you’ve already got an all-electric setup, you can also look at options such as solar to reduce your costs even more. 

If you are in the market to buy or sell rural property, give the Rural KC Team a call.  We would love to help you.  913-837-0760 or 913-837-0411.

BUYERS: HOW TO PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD

                                

Housing prices continue to climb, inventories continue to remain low, demand for housing is intense, and there’s absolutely no relief in sight. It’s a hard time to be a homebuyer right now! Despite that, you can still find a house that you’ll love; it may just take a little extra polish and shine as you head into your home buying adventure. Cash is still king, but you can be more competitive by putting your best foot forward with your offers.

Here are our best tips for buyers trying to secure a home in this busy and tight market.

Bring a Pre-Approval Letter From Your Lender

It’s one thing to think you’ll be approved for a loan, and yet another to know it. In today’s competitive market, your seller doesn’t want to wonder; they want to be certain that the contract they sign is one that will be able to close. This is doubly a concern for sellers who are faced with multiple offers in a short period since sometimes they all look pretty good on the surface.

Going to your bank and making it as far as your loan approval process can go without a house gives a seller confidence that they won’t be back in the same place in a month, trying to sell a house that already had a contract fall through on it. For them, that might mean delaying their own purchase or even having to sell their home at a discount, since buyers are sometimes nervous when previous contracts didn’t close.

Go Conventional!

Although many buyers can get into a home faster with an FHA loan, especially with the sometimes lower down payment requirements, sellers know that FHA and other loan programs carry additional requirements for the house itself, too. Although these are usually items most houses will already have if someone is living in them (for example, heat in every room), sellers have often heard horror stories and simply don’t want to deal with the unknown.

Rather than using an FHA program, work on your credit and choose a conventional loan. Conventional loans have far fewer requirements on the property itself, making them an easy transaction for your home seller. There’s nothing wrong with using an FHA loan if you have the time and patience to house hunt using one, but nothing says “easy peasy” to a seller like a conventional loan.

Bring Your Best Offer

Your best offer is the highest amount you’re willing to pay for the property in question, not an ideal price that you’d like to pay. In a different market, where buyers get their picks of the litter, you can feel out a seller to see where the bottom is, but in a market like what we’re still facing in most of the country, you’re far more likely to be competing with several offers at once, so the seller will probably either accept or reject yours rather than try to negotiate.

In addition to bringing your best offer, keep your list of requests short. You can (and should) absolutely ask for repairs to major items you noted when you viewed the home, but now is not the time to sweat the little things. The longer that list is now

before you’ve even had your inspection, the less likely it is that the seller will want to work with you.

Go Forth Boldly Into Your Offer

Putting in an offer on a home in this breakneck speed real estate market can be extremely intimidating, but you never have to face the unknown alone. When it comes time to move into your new home, you’ve got an entire network of friends and partners to help you patch up, paint up, clean up, and even move in!

Remember to give Rural KC Team a call with any questions you might have, or if you are interested in buying or selling rural property.  913-837-0760 or 913-837-0411.  We also have a great network of lenders. 

5 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO IMPROVE THE VALUE OF YOUR LAND

Investing in land has been shown to be a smart and lucrative way to diversify and grow your portfolio. However, just like with a traditional home, there are improvements you can make to help increase its value and curb appeal. Learn 5 simple things you can do to enhance your rural property and protect your investment.

As homeowners, most of us make it a point to become familiar with home improvement projects that offer the best return on investment. Kitchens and bathroom upgrades, for example, will increase the value of your home more than installing high-end landscaping or re-doing your garage interior.

However, when it comes to improving the value of raw, undeveloped land things aren’t so cut and dry. The reason is: different types of land serve different purposes such as hunting, farming, or recreation. Thus, there’s not a one-size-fits-all in terms of ROI on raw land improvements.

As stated by Zac Ryan of Ryan Appraisal Services: “When the improvement enhances the true use potential — and the buyer’s understanding of the use potential — of a property, that increases its value.”

That said, there are some tried and true land improvement projects that can help enhance the value of most types of raw rural land. Here are 5 ideas to help you get started:

#1: Improve Access

Access Issues can make even the most idyllic property look like a lemon to potential buyers. Although not all access problems are fixable, things like a lack of road access could be remedied by talking to your neighbor about an easement and road maintenance agreement.

If you already have road front access, do you have a functional driveway in place? If not, the most affordable and environmentally-friendly option is installing a gravel driveway, or opt for asphalt or concrete. And if you do have a driveway, in place, make sure it’s well maintained.

#2: Work on Esthetics

Unlike suburban homes, rural properties aren’t meant to look perfectly manicured or professionally landscaped. However, your property should look cared for and “picked up”. Some basic esthetic upgrades include: removing dead or diseased trees, clearing out brush and overgrowth, pruning trees, clearing out any trash, dealing with eye sores like unused oil tanks, broken down vehicles/equipment, addressing issues with ponds or water features, mending and/or painting fences, fertilizing fields and/or addressing soil health issues to improve pasture appearance, removing any hazards like chemicals or old pesticides, fixing up or rebuilding old hunting stands, and fixing up buildings in disrepair like barns, greenhouses with torn plastic or broken panes, and old worn out sheds.

#3: Plant or Clear Trees

Depending on your property, the addition of native or ornamental trees and hedges can add a sense of privacy and beauty to your land. On the flip slide, the clearing of trees can also be beneficial if it improves the land’s functionality and/or showcases an otherwise hidden spectacular view (just make sure and call in the pros for large land-clearing jobs).

#4: Add Relevant and Functional Amenities

Depending on your budget, the addition of certain amenities can really enhance your property’s appeal and value.

For example, installing a pond has broad appeal for those interested in attracting wildlife, starting a farm, living off-grid, hunting, and fishing, or just enhancing the view.

Likewise, the addition of a rustic cabin or other shelter is attractive to recreational land buyers, those looking for a weekend home, or even buyers wishing to build a more permanent home who need a temporary place to live during the building process.

Other amenities to consider based on your budget include: adding trails, building a campsite, putting in garden beds or food plots, building hunting stands, installing fencing or a gate at the front of the driveway, running utilities to the property, drilling a well, installing footbridges over creeks and streams, and building a barn, pole barn, shed, or other outbuildings for storage.

#5: Address Drainage Issues

Most properties have some areas that could benefit from better drainage. You can address this in several ways, from installing underground drainage lines to grading or planting a bog, water garden, or water-loving trees (like willows or elderberry).

When considering land improvements to increase the value of raw land, always ask yourself: will this enhance the true use potential of my property? If you’re unsure, become more familiar with comparable properties for sale in your area and/or talk to an experienced land agent to get their advice on what property features have consistently attracted buyers.

Whether you’re planning to sell in the near future, or just want to take steps to grow and protect your investment, keeping this question at the forefront will help guide you to make the best upgrades and improvements to your unique property.

As always, feel free to contact The Rural KC Team for any questions you might have, or if you are interested in buying or selling rural land.  Our numbers are 913-837-0760 or 913-837-0411.  Our website is ruralkc.com.  If you have some time, go on over to our podcast.  There are lots of interesting podcasts centered around living rural life.  https://ruralkc.libsyn.com/    Have a great day!