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So I’m continuing on with a quick little series to spell out some simple and easy gadgets for accomplishing your goals.  This started with an article I wrote about gadgets that you need to successfully hunt for a house these days.  After hanging out with some family members that are not as gadgetly inclined as myself, I started trying to focus on some relatively easy and where possible cheap or on sale gadgets that would fit the bill for my mother.

So this time I’m talking about, GPS system. On the surface a GPS system can seem rather intimidating.  So I wanted to find a system that was easy to use while you’re driving. Now, I use a technology called voice recognition. What this means is, when I talk my computer types of the words for me.  I have seen a number of GPS systems that allow you to type little bitty numbers on a screen, and you should have this as a fallback option. However when you are driving, it’s a whole and easier to just say a street name.

So when is looking for a GPS system, I went and looked for GPS system that had voice transmission capabilities and came across this great little whizbang gizmo. 

it’s a Magellan GPS system, and it has a long title to describe the specific model number, but if I were telling this to my mother she would start to get faint hyperventilate, and her eyes would glaze over as I listed off the model number, so I am just going to give you the link.  

here it is, the Magellan Maestro.

Now you can literally go to town while you’re looking for a house and you won’t get lost!

I recently recommended some great gadgets for house hunting that people should consider.  Now, I received a couple emails from that article, from people asking what gadgets I use specifically.  I started to respond, but realized that I am not your typical person.

I’m a bit of an early adopter gadget freak and the tools that I use are not necessarily going to be the tools that are right for everyone else.  I had a bit of an epiphany this weekend however when my family and I went to the beach.  It was my wife and three kids, plus my mother and my wife’s parents.

Both my mother and my father-in-law both used slightly different models of the same digital cameras.  Neither one of them are gadget people.  They both resisted getting cell phones for years, my father-in-law ultimately accepting a cell phone when I bought a phone for him and added it to our plan.

Gadgets and computers are not impossible for them to use, but they definitely don’t go out of their way to add another gadget to their bag of tools.

They both use a Kodak Easy Share camera (my mom with the 7 megapixel version shown above, and my father-in-law with a 5 megapixel version that’s a bit older).  They also both use these cameras a great deal.

The camera is easy to use, easy to get fantastic pictures with, and easy to get those computers onto a computer (just set the camera on a docking bay (a little holder/stand thing and it automatically zaps the computer to your hard drive without any other effort required).

Now, this camera is also pretty cheap.  I might pay several hundred dollars for a camera or more, but my mother and father-in-law (possibly wiser) will not.  This gem of a camera is less than $200 and can be found on sale for about $185 or better from time to time.

I am going to look back over my previous recommendation and see if I can tune things up for non-early adopters next.  For people that buy the latest gadgets the tips are solid.  But for people like my mom, I need to check it to find the good buys and the easy easy easy and practical devices as well.

Considering buying a new home in the near future? Do you have children and want to know how the local school districts rate? I found a great site last weekend when I was viewing homes in the south Austin, TX area called SchoolMatters.com. All you have to do is select a state, choose a town and hit search. The site will then provide a detailed list of schools and how their districts rate compared to others in the region. The website also offers a number of reviews from local parents and teachers alike. Whether you are looking for Lake Travis real estate or real estate in Austin Texas, you should definitely check out this site.

In addition to Austin real estate, School Matters offers many testimonials as well as detailed information from all across America. If you have children and are considering buying a new home, it is important to know that they will not only have a great roof over their heads, but a great opportunity to succeed when they are no longer under that roof. 

Summertime is just about ready to come to an end and much of the country, and with some or many pools will start to get cleaned up and shut down and prepare for winter. Setting up and cleaning and maintaining a pool can be a lot of work, and like a boat people don’t always get as much enjoyment out of a pool is they expect when they first install it.

New home buyers have to seriously consider whether or not a house with a pool is actually a benefit or a money pit and time waster in disguise. Pools can be a lot of fun, but you must consider whether or not it is in your lifestyle to use a pool and a regular basis and maintaining clean the pool as well. Comparing a cool for the summer season can easily take a weeks worth of work.

If you have small children you should also consider the safety issues or associate with a pool. You may have to be extra vigilant about watching young children and ensuring that they don’t fall into the pool, you may have to build or set up fences and gates around the pool to protect young children, and you may even have to rebuild additional decks or fix or repair concrete walkways and things like that on a regular basis.

All of those things are typically not terribly cheap, and that pool that seems to raise the selling price of a home in the listing, I actually make that home much more expensive to maintain his good on the road. If you look at a home’s value from an accountant’s perspective, a pool can actually be a drag on the value of the home if you consider all the money you have to invest and spend on that pool as time goes forward.

So before you sign on the dotted line, and head to the store to pick up some new swimsuits, make sure that this is the right choice for you. Maybe there’s a link in your future or a home by the ocean or even a membership at the YMCA, there are many alternatives other than buying a house with a pool.

There are a handful of gadgets that you absolutely must have when you go house hunting trip.  The obvious gadget to start things off is your cell phone, you must at least one cell phones that you can call houses, realtors or even call for directions if you need it while you’re out hunting for a house.

Some other gadgets that you may not have thought of include great tools such as hand-held cameras, video cameras, a GPS device to help you get from house to house from location to location or even city to city. A laptop computer with an air card for wireless access to the Internet can help you review prices of homes doublecheck details about a house listing or even tracked down a realtor.

Another great device that people don’t always think about, is a laser level. I recently toured a home that was very very on level. It was obvious to the eye that you can see that the house was not level, you can always tell that with some houses that are little closer. A low-tech way of checking if the house is level is to take the ball and set it on the floor and see if it rolls away. In other local house can be extremely problematic can hit that structural damage or just plain shoddy workmanship and the building of home it is very important figure out if your house that you’re considering is built well.

If you have a lot of furniture or belongings it’s also going to be important for you to figure out if your stuff will fit in this house that you look at. To figure this out you’re probably going to need a tape measure or some sort of wireless tape measure that can basically shoot a sonar like beam off a distant wall and our lack of measurement to you instantly.

If you want to get really high tech, you might even consider taking some devices to help you measure things such as radon, or even radioactivity that can occur in granite countertops. A simple Geiger counter can help you figure this out, it might ensure that you and your family move into a beautiful new home, your health and safety will not be compromised.

Many of these gadgets can be found on sale on a regular basis at Buy.com.  But regardless, when you’re making the largest investment of your life, it definitely can pay to invest a little money in the tools that will help you make a better informed decision.

Buying a home is quite possibly the biggest investment many of us will make in our lifetimes. There are a number of factors to keep in mind when buying a home, but there is one that seems to slip through the cracks from time to time; the home inspection. Hiring a professional to conduct a home inspection can potentially save you hundreds of thousands of dollars over the lifetime of your home.

An excellent way to guarantee avoidance of a major financial pitfall is to make any offer on a property contingent on an inspection by a certified professional. An inspector will give the home a thorough checkup and deliver an accurate status report on the integrity of the home as well as options for possible maintenance and repair. When selecting a home inspector, don’t be hesitant to ask around and seek references as you might for a fitness club, diet supplements or a car dealership. For more information contact HUD offices in your area, they will be happy to help.

Source: HUD

There are many factors to consider when applying for a loan. It is important for a borrower to examine their financial standing as well as ability to pay back the loan. Lenders are likely to qualify you for more than you will need, so it is up to you to determine how much you can truly afford. It is important to factor in insurance, taxes and possible association dues while calculating this figure.

Not only is it important to shop potential lenders, but it is also important to shop loan costs including interest rates, credit and origination fees as well as terms. It is vital that a borrower take their time during the application process and be able to produce documents to back up their application information. You don’t need Lasik to see that some of the greatest opportunities can bust over failure to produce a pay stub or divorce decree.

Source: Move.com

The real estate market is bursting with opportunity for first time homebuyers with good credit and a handful of cash, but without a pre-approved mortgage a buyer could be out in the cold. If you’re in the market to hire an agent and go house hunting, an agent might have second thoughts showing you property you have no way of proving you can afford. Furthermore, a homeowner might have qualms about signing an offer presented by a potential buyer who is lacking proof of financial means.

It is essential to interview with potential lenders who will verify your credit history and will give you an official preapproval letter stating how much you qualify for. The preapproval process is also a necessary process for homebuyers seeking third party finance, so buyers are encouraged to apply prior to visiting agents of making serious offers. Besides, anyone can throw numbers out there and/or make promises without being able to back them up. If you wouldn’t mess around when you are buying a multivitamin or Phentermine, why would you mess around when looking to buy a home? The only way to be taken seriously is to have a letter of preapproval from a lender.

Source: Ringsurf.com

You are looking for your dream home.  Something big, large kitchen with all the upgrades, but watch out, those granite countertops can be deadly!

That’s right some granite counter tops of many different colors have two serious problems.  They can contain radioactive particles that can be extremely detrimental for developing babies in a mother’s womb.  Plus, granite counter tops can emit radon gas.

A physics professor at Rice University is warning of a radioactive threat found in some kitchen countertops.

Some granite countertops contain levels of uranium high enough to be dangerous to humans, said Rice professor W.J. Llope.

Using a spectrometer, Llope tested 25 varieties of granite bought from Houston-area dealers. In some cases, he said, he found countertops that could expose homeowners to 100 millirems of radiation in just a few months — the annual exposure limit set by the Department of Energy for visitors to nuclear labs.

Radon gas like asbestos can cause lung cancer, and many homes these days even have radon detectors built in. 

It seems crazy, especially because you might have previously expected to pay $10 – $20 thousand dollars for an upgrade on a home to install granite countertops, but that could be the worst buy you ever made. 

We take so many precautions when we buy things today from travel insurance to seat belts to infant car seats and much much more.  We hardly expect a beautiful luxury item to contain something so dangerous as Uranium and radon gas.

Before you buy a home, you should have the granite counter tops tested for radioactivity and radon gas.  If the countertop is dangerous, have it removed before you buy!

If you are going out today shopping for a home there are a number of tools that you really must have.  Times have changed and those people that are technically savvy will benefit the most during the home shopping experience.  Here are few items that you definitely should invest in and most of them are even on sale before you make one of the biggest investment of your life in your future home.

• A Good GPS Device - You need a GPS device these days to insure that while you are house hunting, you do not get lost, you have the option of reviewing routes from a prospective home to your work, to the store and your children’s school.  Plus, it helps you to remain orientated so that your realtor does not confuse zipping in and out of subdivisions and backroads!
• A Radio - Make sure you have a good radio in your car.  Its kind of a weird item as things go extra digital, but many homes have the option at the curb that allows you to listen to information about a home.  Use this to your advantage!
• Laptops and Wireless Cards - Take your laptop with you and look into investing in a cellular air card while you are house hunting.  It will help significantly, if you can review other homes in the area, check comparables on the spot, and even find the next house to visit if necessary.  Plus, if you happen to drive by a great looking house on the way there, you can check its listing on your computer!
• Digital Camera with lots of Extra Flash Cards - Don’t be shy, take pictures of everything and Video is even better.  Make sure you snap a picture of the address or mailbox as the first shot so that you will know one set from another as you review them later!
• Cell phone – Really we shouldn’t have to mention this, but don’t forget it.  You will need it and while you are in the house check to see how many (if any) bars you have for cellular reception in all the rooms of the house. 
• Take your own car - This is not the time to save gas money.  You will need private time after each house viewing to think things over and talk with your spouse or family.  Give yourself that by taking your own car.

Looking to get a little extra juice out of the seller? Ask for a cellular repeater antenna to be installed on the house for a couple hundred bucks.  It is a buyers market and if the house doesn’t get signal this could help and make it home sweet connected home.

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