Mortgage Lowdown

–By Sagar Satapathy

Welcome to the third edition of the Carnival of Home Improvement. Here are the posts that have been featured this week. We don’t have any particular piece that we can term the best among all. All the posts have been given equal importance. Without further ado, here are the posts in the order they were received.

Joshua Dorkin presents Establishing a Partnership for a Real Estate Deal posted at Real Estate Investing For Real. If you don’t take the time to work up a formalized agreement and purchase a property with partners, you can get yourself into some real trouble.

Tracy Coenen presents Have you been taken by mortgage fraud? posted at FRAUDfiles. Read about a mortgage fraud.

Praveen presents 4 Red Flags For Home Repair Fraud posted at My Simple Trading System. The Illinois attorney general’s Consumer Protection Division listed construction and home repair improvement fraud as the third most common consumer complaint, after identity theft and credit-related issues.

Matthew Paulson presents How to Reduce Your Home Electrical Usage posted at Getting Green. A lot of people rarely ever think about all of the energy that they are using in their home, and as a result they pay a much higher energy bill than they need to. By taking a few simple steps, you can easily reduce your electric bill by anywhere from twenty to forty percent. Consider these ways to cut your home electrical usage.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Dog Days Of Roofing posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog. "Our roofers must enter your yard, But their access is blocked by your guard".

Steve Faber presents Housing Values Throughout the Country - What $300,000 Will Get You posted at Debt Free. Obviously, the affordability of a home in your area has a huge impact on your standard of living. It varies widely throughout different areas of the united states.

Sara Goldstein presents Home and lifestyle advice: the best of The Bargain Queen. » The Bargain Queen blog posted at The Bargain Queen blog. In a year of writing about home improvement on a budget (among other things), these are the absolute best posts I’ve come up with. Enjoy!

Clint presents 5 Home Improvement Projects That Will Raise Your Home’s Value posted at DIY Disaster Avoidance. In talking about recouping home improvement costs there is one room that should be held above all others: Kitchen. The kitchen is the single best place to remodel in order to raise the value of your home.

That concludes the third edition of the Carnival of Home Improvement. Keep submitting your posts to the future editions of this carnival. Thank you for your support and contribution.

–By Sagar Satapathy

Greetings! Welcome to the second edition of the Carnival of Home Improvement. We are really glad to receive a good number of entries to this carnival. We have selected 10 posts to be featured on the current edition. Without further ado, here are the posts that made the cut:

Paul Michael presents Secret lawn tonic recipe from golf course groundskeeper posted at Wise Bread - Living large on a small budget. Amazing recipe for a green lawn, cheap and easy.

Nala presents How to Stay Relaxed During a Big Move posted at The Abundant Life. Our homes provide security. They shelter us from the elements and from the outside world. When we make a move, we are giving up known levels of security and trading them for unknown security ? It may take us weeks or months before we feel safe in the new environment.

Frugal Strategies presents Do’s and Don’ts of Hiring Contractors posted at Frugal Strategies Blog. The writer had like to share some things that helped us — and a stupid mistake that really hurt! — during a recent minor home improvement that required an electrician.

Ybother presents 10 Reasons Why Smart Homes Can’t Get Into Your Home posted at A Top Ten List Everyday to Jumpstart Your Knowledge. Smart Homes have been touted as the Next Big Thing. However they have been around for decades and any futuristic movie is sure to showcase their potential. But why ain’t our homes like those in Minority Report? Read on to find out.

Maureen presents 11 Features of Our Ideal Retirement House. posted at Empty Nest. What do you want in your retirement home?

Arvind Devalia presents Arvind Devalia ? Sometimes you just have to laugh? posted at Arvind Devalia. Sometime you just have to laugh! An example of house building gone wrong.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents A Steal? The Former Boss’ House Is For Sale At A 35% Discount posted at The Digerati Life. House prices have been sliding precipitously in some areas, especially in the super luxury markets. Read on…

Julie Bonner presents Find It Friday - Oh, That Kitchen Counter posted at Declutter It!. Is your kitchen counter a mess? Is it piled high with papers, recipes, school work and bills? If so, then you need Find It Fridays! This particular article is about clearing off that kitchen counter hot spot and turning it into a useful and organized space.

John Peter presents 7 Common Mistakes you Need to Avoid when Selling your Home posted at Business School. Before you take the plunge, make sure you read the following common mistakes of ordinary FSBO/Private home sellers. If you’re not (FSBO home seller), make sure you read this too - it could still help you sell your home. These mistakes are a result of observations and feedback from customers and clients using the online private sale method. Knowing what not to do, can save you present and future heartache and dollars. I hope you can learn from them.

Investments & Loans presents Simple Living - best buys for DIYs posted at Investments & Loans. For anyone interested in DIY (do-it-yourself) the main benefit lies in keeping your costs down.

With this, the Carnival of Home Improvement is concluded. Keep submitting your posts to the future editions of this carnival. I thank you all for your continued support and contribution to this carnival. I would appreciate your comments and feedbacks.