News About Properties

So, thinking about selling your home? Most likely you’re going to be having an open house with your furniture still around. Does this scare you? It would scare me! Mainly because stains on the rug around furniture are hard to clean and can often seem like a daunting task. Wanna know how to clean your rugs to prepare for an open house? Here we go!

Step one: Check for any special directions. Some rugs have restrictions on how they can be cleaned or what products should be used on them. Read over these carefully to be sure that none of the remaining directions here have the chance of damaging your rug.

Step two: Vacuum the rug. This will get rid of the standard loose dirt, dust, and grime. It’s ideal to do a thorough cleaning using a high quality device, like Eureka vacuums, to make sure that the rug has dirt lifted from the areas where it could be embedded the most.

Step three: Check for pet fur. If you have any pets, it’s a good idea to double check for any fur that might be stuck to the rug, even after vacuuming. You can remove the fur by moving your hand over the carpet in circular motions, loosening the stuck fur. If you have pets, it’s also a good idea to spray down the rug with Febreze to remove any pet odors.

Step four: Wipe down the carpet. Begin by creating a mixture of dish soap, or another gentle cleansing agent, and warm water in a bucket. Dip a sponge in this solution and wring the sponge out to prevent any excessive moisture. Using the rough end of the sponge, thoroughly scrub down the entire rug.

Step five: Do the detail work. If the rug has any tassels or decorative parts that require some care and attention, you can use a small or medium bristled brush with the cleaning solution from step four to clean them.

Step six: Rinse the rug. Empty the bucket and re-fill it with warm, clean water. Using a soft cloth or other gentle material, rinse the rug from end to end. Be certain to wring out the cloth prior to beginning to avoid any unnecessary moisture getting on the rug. If needed, scrape off any excessive water with a squeegee.

Step seven: Dry the rug. Placing the rug in the sun is the best way to dry it. You can place the rug on a clean area in the sunlight or hang it on a clothes line. If weather does not permit this or if you don’t have an area where you can put the rug outside, you can use a fan positioned so that it will blow air directly over the rug. If you place it on the ground outside or use the fan method inside, you will need to flip the rug over so both sides dry completely.

Step eight: Restore the desired texture of the rug. You will go over the rug with a vacuum one more time, not to clean it, but to restore the fluffy texture that is ideal for any indoor rug. A simple once over should do the trick.

Follow these steps and you’re on your way to having the perfect open house. Get clean and get ready to sell- and it doesn’t hurt to have a nice clean rug to sink your toes into in the mean time.

Protecting tenants in foreclosed properties

A report says that about 40 percent of the millions of property owners facing foreclosure involve tenants who are renting a house, apartment or condominium. Federal and state laws give them protection so they don’t have to move quickly.

Q:I rent a small single-family home and have made all of my monthly payments on time. However, the landlord’s bank recently sent me a letter stating that it is foreclosing on the landlord and that the property will be sold at a public auction. What are my rights in this situation?

A:It depends on where you live, because laws regarding tenants’ rights in foreclosure proceedings vary from one state to the next and sometimes even from one county to another.

Program may help some underwater homeowners in South Florida

Scott Katzer owes about $200,000 more than his Fort Lauderdale home is worth. Unable to sell anytime soon, he wants to reduce his monthly mortgage payment by refinancing to a lower interest rate.

Katzer doesn’t qualify under a government refinancing program because the value of his home is so much lower than what he owes.

Private lenders turn him down for the same reason.

And he’s ineligible for assistance from a state-run program because he has a job and can pay the mortgage.

Who’s tops in Lee County property values? [Central Florida]

Lee County may be on sale, but don’t expect to get its best properties cheap.

It should come as no surprise that the rock mines, shopping centers and retirement communities are among the biggest and most valuable properties in Lee County.

The News-Press analyzed the Lee County Property Appraiser’s Office records – 530,000 properties with 105 separate characteristics – to come up with the lists of biggest parcels and most valuable properties. We found a lot of familiar names, along with some new players and some surprises.

Most valuable of the privately owned real estate, at $204.4 million, is Shell Point Retirement community in Iona, which provides a broad array of services ranging from homes to health care to hospice for its 1,675 residents.

The Real Deal (South Florida)

In the early 1990s, Robert Van Winkle, a.k.a. Vanilla Ice, took the music world by storm with his album, “To The Extreme,” and “Ice Ice Baby,” the first hip-hop single to be number one on Billboard. But Vanilla Ice also has an extensive history in real estate, beginning with a series of smart purchases around the country in his late teens, and now a broad house flipping and remodeling empire. Now, Vanilla Ice has a new show premiering on the DIY Network this fall, “The Vanilla Ice Project,” on which he and his team of remodelers completely gut and renovate a foreclosed Wellington mansion. He also has created Car Lofts in Delray Beach, a new garage-condo hybrid concept, with garages on the first floor and loft apartments on the second, something he envisions as a national franchise. Wellington resident Van Winkle, whose record with British band Jedward rose to number one in the United Kingdom, talked to The Real Deal about his investment history, how he got into house flipping and his real estate future.

How long have you been involved in real estate?
I’ve been doing it for about 13 years, as a hobby on the side. I bought a bunch of houses when I was 16. I bought several houses, not as investments, just to have a few houses around the country — one in New York, I lived in Laurel Canyon [in Los Angeles] for a while, and I had a house in the ski slopes of Utah and another in Miami. Then I realized that that was ridiculous, that I could only live in one house. So I sold the houses when I was about 19 or 20. They were just basically collecting cobwebs. So I realized at a young age — I sold them and I made a lot of money, and I profited on all of them.

Lien on house: Convince creditor that house is worthless

Q My divorce was final two years ago, and in the divorce decree I was awarded the house. But prior to my getting a spousal transfer deed, one of my ex-spouse’s creditors put a lien on the house which prevented me from completing a short sale.

If one of us or both end up filing bankruptcy, which looks inevitable, is there any way to get the lien removed so the house can be sold and prevent a foreclosure?

A You’d have to convince the creditor that the house is worthless and there is no cash coming out of it. The creditor might be convinced by an appraisal of the property and a report that lists what other nearby homes have sold for.