What does your dream home look like?  What features matter most to you?  House hunters can have a hard time comparing different houses and deciding which home really offers the right features for their lifestyle.  But now there's an app for that!

A free mobile app helps buyers determine their Dream Score to help them decide which house is the best one for them.  Dream Commerce has created an app that helps you rank which features in a home are most important to you.

There's an app for buyers and an app for the real estate professional.  The two apps can sync together to access the latest information on properties.

Each home you visit can be added to your list of Dream Houses.  You score each feature, and you can add photos and notes.  You can share your search with friends and relatives in your Dream Group and get feedback privately within that circle.  You can even connect via Facebook.

Each property visited is ranked on each of the selected features on a scale of 1-10. The app comes with a list of preferences which can be added to, deleted or re-ordered depending on what's important to you. Each home then receives a final score depending on your input.

Each home gets a Dream Rank.  "Our patent-pending DreamScore technology simplifies your search by scoring each home you visit 1 to 100 according to your preferences." states the website. "The higher the DreamScore, the better the match!"

Do you like a property more than your significant other does?  You can set up two different accounts and rank the properties seperately to decide which is the best property for BOTH of you!

The free app is available for iPhone and iPad users and will be available for Android phones soon.

See more online at Dream Commerce. 

photo credit: Jeff_Werner

Posted in Technology And You, GenX GenY

Metro Broker Robin Wood adds a personal touch to real estate when helping home buyers and investors find the perfect property. 

Call Robin Wood Realty at 303-668-5584.

Interviewer:  Hi, welcome to Metro Brokers TV, I'm here with Robin Wood, with Robin Wood Realty, Robin thanks for joining us here today.

Robin Wood:  Thanks for having me. 

Interviewer:  So tell us a little bit about your company.

Robin Wood:  My company is Robin Wood Realty, I started in real estate about 11 years ago, and I did it to help people. I actually waited that long because my son needed to be old enough to be home alone, but I got into it really knowing that people had helped me through my different careers, and I could do that in real estate. 

Interviewer:  Wonderful, so tell us about your associate brokers that you work with. 

Robin Wood:  Right now, I have two people, Daved Portillo and Abby Lackey, we are scattered throughout the Denver Metro Area. Abby is down in Lone Tree, Daved's in West Denver. Daved speaks Spanish, which is very good for our Spanish speaking clients; they both have that same idea of helping people, that's why they joined my company. We are all very enthusiastic. We try and give back to the community and help people that way. 

Interviewer:  So your company promotes small businesses, tell us about that. 

Robin Wood:  We do, well, we do co-marketing. We do a lot of outreach which is going into the community and dropping off our information and showing people how we can help them achieve their goals. You know... buying, selling but also if they are small business owners, we'll allow them to market with us on our print material.  We also have a really great program for open houses; for sellers who want open houses- we'll invite small businesses who set up little tables around the home and invite their clients. So we get a flow of people to look at the new home, and promote other small businesses in the mean time. 

Interviewer:  That's great. 

Robin Wood:  Yeah. 

Interviewer: So do you work with investors as well? 

Robin Wood:  I do.  With technology, we can go anywhere and find information about homes in any place in Colorado, but right now it's such a great time for investors to find what they like. All we need there is some parameters, so we can go out and search for anything they want at whatever discounted price they are looking for. 

Interviewer:  Tell us a little bit about the HUD Good Neighbor Next Door program. 

Robin Wood:  Oh, actually we are going to be starting this in Daved's neighborhood, which is the Athmar Park in West Denver. Actually, we aren't starting this program- HUD has had this program for a while but it's for Police Officers, Fire Department Personnel and Teachers who are able to get into homes and half of the mortgage is forgiven after a certain amount of years that they'd been in there. I think it's a program that promotes really strong, healthy, good neighbors who move into an area and influence the youngsters that are living there or all the people there. It's just such a great program to help people buy their first home. 

Interviewer:  Wonderful, and how else do you help customers buy a home?

Robin Wood:  Oh my gosh, well we can help people who are relocating; we send them all information that they would like via internet, but we do have a lot of clients that don't have computers still, I know that's rare, so we take people out and show them anytime, anywhere what they want to see. We take people around and it doesn't matter if it takes three months. 

Interviewer:  Great how can customers reach you? 

Robin Wood:  I'm at RobinWoodRealty.com or email at RobinWoodRealty@gmail.com, and my telephone number is 303-668-5584. 

Interviewer:  Oh thank you. 

Robin Wood:  Thank you Kari. 

Interviewer:  Thank you for joining us at Metro Brokers TV.

Posted in Buyer Resources, Seller Resources, GenX GenY

Social Security will, hopefully, be there for all of us when we retire but padding your savings account, if it's not there, is a good idea.

"Are you actually saving enough to protect yourself if (Social Security) goes bust?" asks Matthew Amster-Burton on MintLife.com. "Or are you just complaining about car thieves without putting a club on your Buick?"

You can estimate how much you would get from Social Security when you retire by visiting the official Social Security Estimator to calculate your monthly payment. Let's say your benefit rounds out to be $2500 a month.  That works out to be $30,000 a year.

What if Social Security is NOT around for your retirement?

How much money would you need to have saved up to withdraw $30,000 a year, at retirement age, for the rest of your life?

"There are many ways to calculate how big a lump sum it takes to produce a given amount of retirement income." writes Amster-Burton.  "One way is to price an inflation-adjusted immediate annuity with survivor benefits from an insurance company." Unfortunately, this means you would have to save close to $1 million of today's dollars. Not good news... but enough to make you work extra hard on that retirement portfolio!

The secret to making your Social Security benefits last as long as you do:

So, if Social Security IS around, what can you do to make your benefits work harder for you?

"It's hard to beat waiting until you're 70 to begin benefits because the monthly payment is 76 percent higher than it would be if you had started to take benefits at 62 and 32 percent higher than it would be if you claimed at age 66." says Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

This strategy takes into account your longevity.  Some experts suggest drawing Social Security at the first opportunity.  "You never know when the bell will (toll)" says retired law professor and Social Security expert, Merton Bernstein.  "I subscribe to the Woody Allen principal: 'Take the money and run."

Read more at BankRate.com: 7 Little Known Social Security Benefits

photo credit: SurvivalWoman

Posted in Technology And You, GenX GenY

You've decide it's time to take advantage of low home prices and low mortgage rates and jump into this buyer's market.  Congratulations!  Now let's make sure it's a good experience.  Here are a few tips on how to avoid these 3 common home buying mistakes.

1. Don't withhold any information from your agent.  Trust your real estate professional - that's why you hired them!   Believe it or not, "there's little they haven't heard before." says Elizabeth Weintraub on About.com.  

Keep the lines of communication open.  If you are feeling buyer's remorse... don't wait, talk about it with your agent "who can help walk you through those anxieties and determine if you really need to cancel and, if so, manage the transaction so you can get your earnest money deposit back." says Weintraub.

Buyers withhold information for a number of reasons, she says, including feeling it's not important enough or worried about how they will be perceived.  Or perhaps you lack confidence in who is representing you and you are seeking information elsewhere, if this is the case... find someone else to represent you!

2. Do Not Alter Your Financial Picture in Any Way before Closing:  Your  loan is based on certain credit ratios and even what you might consider a minor purchase might change your whole financial picture causing the lender to throw out or deny your loan.

"Do not buy anything on credit and/or with a credit card once you have completed a loan application." says Weintraub. 

What Not to Buy Before Closing on Your New Home

• Automobiles
• Washers, dryers, refrigerators
• Lawnmowers or garden equipment
• Expensive electronics or computers
• Furniture for your new home

3. Don't Buy the Wrong House:  What? How could I be buying the wrong house?  Even though you may be restricted by a price range, you can still be choosy when looking for your home. Keep in mind, it is your home, not your friend's or parents or even the agent's home.  You will be the one responsible for the costs of upkeep and you will be the one living with the consequences of not waiting for the right house.  (sounds like dating advice, doesn't it?)

"The very first thing home buyers should do is to make a list of priorities and  home purchase objectives." writes Weintraub. "Figure out what features and benefits are most important and which you can live without. Before you close escrow, review this list. It's easy to overlook a major factor that could come back to haunt you later."

Home buying is a huge step in your life, trust your real estate professional to guide you through the process and help to make it a positive experience.

Read more at About.com.

Read: Tips For First Time Home Buyers.

photo credit: Jonathan D. Blundell

Posted in Buyer Resources, GenX GenY, Real Estate Trends

Moving to your new home is thrilling but can be bittersweet, as well.  You are excited about all the new memories you will be making but you are also leaving cherished memories and possibly friends and family behind.  What can you do to make the move easier?

Have a Moving Party, but not the kind you think.  Sure, you might need to enlist friends for the big moving day, but THIS moving party is one last hurrah in the "old" place to say goodbye. 

Start Organizing!   The more you do before moving day, the better off you will be.  Trim the clutter, donate or resell all items you haven't used in years and won't need in your new place.  That includes personal items, clothing etc.   This will save you time and money on moving day.

Hire the Movers: Don't put this off.   Research companies online and get a few bids.  Get recommendations from friends and ask your REALTOR®. A professional moving company has the experience and the right equipment to move your belongings safely to your new home.

Plan to spend a lot of time Packing....  Pack everything carefully, using good packing supplies and make sure you label everything neatly on the top and on the side including what room it will go into. 

Pack the Essentials for your first night in the new house.  Make sure you pack a backpack or box with all the essentials you will need to spend your first couple of nights in your new home.   Pack extra clothes, toiletries and pajamas!  Do this for every member of the house, including your pets!  Make sure you have their bowls, leashes, beds and food, to help them make the transition easier.

Create a floor plan for a faster move.  Clearly mark every room in the new house, so that the movers can put boxes and furniture in the correct rooms quickly and easily.  

Enjoy it.  Once all the boxes have been moved and the beds set up, take your time.  Everything will get put away eventually.  Enjoy your new home and don't worry about making everything perfect immediately.

photo credit: E. Bartholomew

Posted in Marketing, Buyer Resources, Ownership, GenX GenY