Charlotte Real Estate Education Center

Moving & Relocation

• Moving With Kids - Moving is as hard for kids as it is for adults.   By considering a move in three stages - before, during, and after - and thinking about your children's needs during each stage, you can make a big difference in how your kids feel about the move and how they adjust afterwards.
• Six-Week Checklist For A Smooth Move - Moving is ranked among life's most stressful events. However, with the proper planning and preparation, you can make your next move a smooth one.  This calendar prepared by Mayflower Transit will serve as your "countdown" to moving day.
• Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move - The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) regulations protect consumers on interstate moves. This electronic pamphlet provides information about your rights and responsibilities as a shipper of household goods.
• Packing Your Stuff A-Z - From air conditioners and artwork to big screen televisions and washing machines, learn from the experts how to get everything ready for the moving van.
• Official Change of Address Form - This section allows you to enter your change of address info and then print your completed Change of Address form.  Additionally, you can use the entered information to print Address Change Notification Letters and mail them to family, friends, and business associates to let them know of your move.
• The 10 Most Forgotten Items In A Move - Even the most organized person will probably not be able to remember every detail of the move - or every item.  This useful article from Mayflower Transit suggests adding these 10 points to the top of your moving preparation list.
• Moving With Your Pets - If pets are a part of your family, remember that moving, whether down the block or across the country, is just as stressful for them as it is for you. But this stress can be greatly reduced with good planning and the tips that you'll find here.
• After Your Move - Congratulations - you survived the big move!   Now what?  Here's a list of the most important items to attend to during the first week after your move.

Buying a Home

• Are You Ready to Buy a Home? - What do you ask yourself when deciding if you are ready to buy a home? The four questions explored here are among the most important when determining if you should now consider a home purchase.
• How a REALTOR® Can Help - The enormity of the financial transaction aside, finding the right home to fit our particular needs and wants is no easy undertaking. Though some people may think of using the services of a REALTOR® only when selling their homes, a REALTOR® can be invaluable when buying one as well.
• The Home Inspection and You - What is a home inspection? Why do you need one? How do you find a qualified inspector? These answers and more are addressed by The American Society of Home Inspectors®, the oldest and leading non-profit professional association for independent home inspectors.
• Realtor Provided Brochures - Download informational brochureware that may help answer questions you may have before purchasing your next home:
  • — Working with Real Estate Agents
  • — Home Inspections Q&A
  • — Earnest Money Deposits Q&A
  • — Lead-based Paint Q&A
  • — Real Estate Closings Q&A

Selling Your Home

• Choosing a Realtor to Sell Your Home - Can a real estate agent really help me in buying and selling property? The answer is YES!  Answers the most commonly asked questions about selecting the right Realtor to help you sell your home.
• Setting Your List Price - Setting the list price for your home involves evaluating various market conditions and financial factors. Learn the methods professional REALTORS® use to help determine a home's list price.
• What is Market Value? - The meaning of "market value" confuses many people. Noted real estate investor and author J.P. Vaughan's clear and informative article does a good job of defining this often misinterpreted term and the many factors that ultimately determine a homes sale price.
• Common Q&A About Selling Your Home - What are home sellers obligated to disclose? What is the best time to sell a house? Who determines what furnishings of a house stay with the home when it is sold? These are just a sampling of the many questions answered in this resource presented by Inman News Features.
• A Pre-Inspection Guide For the Home Seller - A normal part of the home sale process involves the inspection of a home by an inspection professional. Such inspections are routinely performed on homes of all ages and quality. Here is the information every home seller needs to know about home inspectors and their services.
• Tax information — Am I excluded from Capital Gains? This page will clear up any questions you have and provide you with next steps, if you owe taxes.

Home & Taxes

• Tax Information for First-Time Homeowners - Provides tax information for first-time homeowners including how you treat items such as settlement and closing costs, real estate taxes, home mortgage interest, and repairs.
• Tax Planning Guide - Let H&R Block help you understand the tax impact of changes in your life - and what you can do to prepare for your return. Just answer the questions online to get tax advice based on your life and financial situation.
• Residential Rental Property - This publication discusses rental income and expenses, and explains how to report them on your return. It also covers casualty losses on rental property and the passive activity limits and at-risk rules. This publication is designed for those who only rent out a few residential dwelling units.
• Selling Your Home - Explains the tax rules that apply when you sell your main home. Also includes  worksheets to help you figure the adjusted basis of the home you sold, the gain (or loss) on the sale, and the amount of the gain that you can exclude.

Home Improvement

• Free Expert Advice for Your Home - Don Vandervort, a regular on HGTV's "The Fix," offers free advice, buying guides, ideas and   do-it-yourself help, in this one-stop source for home repair, remodeling, home-improvement and home decorating information.
• Hiring a Contractor - Your home may be your most valuable financial asset.  That's why it's important to be cautious when you hire someone to work on it.  Finding a competent and reliable contractor is the first step to a successful and satisfying home improvement project.
• ImproveNet - Through it's exclusive comprehensive network of over 600,000 prescreened contractors and designers, ImproveNet helps its users make good decisions about home improvement projects. As a completely independent authority, ImproveNet maintains its integrity, objectivity, and credibility.
• Remodeling Projects:  Cost vs. Value - Updating and remodeling kitchens and baths will add the most value to your home. In some instances, these projects could possibly return more than 100% of the cost if the home is sold within a year.
• Energy Savers - A practical guide on how to reduce your home energy use, with tips on insulation, heating and cooling, lighting, landscaping, and much more.
• Better Homes & Gardens Home Improvement - Whether you're fixing a clogged drain, building a deck, wiring that new addition, or adding landscape to your yard--we've got the site for you. Search from more than 1,000 home improvement tips that can save you time and money.
• Kitchen & Bath Consumer Resources - Excellent online resource from the National Kitchen and Bath Association includes helpful planning checklists,  a guide to understanding the remodeling process, and tips from the pros.
• Popular Mechanics Homeowner's Clinic - You'll find the kind of concise, illustrated how-to pieces you've come to expect from Popular Mechanics. There are sections on solving household problems, how to make your house a safer, more comfortable place to live, appliance care tips and woodworking projects.

Consumer Center

• Consumer's Resource Handbook - Published by the Consumer Information Center, this site features valuable information that no consumer should be without. Also included is the Consumer Assistance Directory with thousands of names, addresses, telephone numbers, web site and e-mail addresses for national consumer organizations, trade associations, state and local consumer protection offices, state and federal agencies.
• Top 10 Scams - Bogus Credit Card Offers Still Top List of Telemarketing Frauds, Says Nation’s Oldest Consumer Group.  Here are the Top Ten Telemarketing Frauds of 2003.
• JUNKBUSTERS Guide to Reducing Junk - It's about time! This site covers what you can do about unwanted junk mail, telemarketing calls, faxes, and email. It also gives some background on direct marketing and the laws governing it.
• The Internet Consumer Recycling Guide - Provides a starting point for consumers in the USA and Canada searching the net for recycling information. The goal is to help make recycling so easy and automatic that it blends into the flow of everyday life.
• Consumer Line - Consumer Line is the online service of the Office of Consumer and Business Education of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. It offers the full text of approximately 150 consumer publications on a wide range of categories.
• The Better Business Bureau - The Better Business Bureau provides instant access to business and consumer alerts as well as many other helpful resources. You can even file a complaint online and more. This web site is provided by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc., and the BBB system of over 150 Bureaus located throughout the United States and Canada.
• Cybersmarts - The Internet is an exciting tool that puts vast information at your fingertips. With a click of a mouse, it lets you buy an airline ticket, book a hotel, send flowers to a friend, or purchase your favorite stock. Keep in mind the following tips to help ensure that your online shopping experience is a safe one.

Health & Safety

• Is Your Home a Healthy Home For Children? - How healthy is your home? Each year, many people - especially children - are injured or become ill due to home conditions that could be prevented or eliminated. Take time to read this important information and make sure that your home is safe and healthy.
• Food and Drug Administration Consumer Advice - Among the many topics include: What can I do to protect myself from food poisoning? Why shouldn't I taste a sample of cookie dough before baking it? How long can leftover food be left out of the refrigerator? Plus more advice from the FDA.
• Indoor Air Quality in Homes - There are many sources of indoor air pollution in any home. Read more about what steps to take both to reduce the risk from existing sources of indoor air pollution and how to prevent new problems from occurring.
• Family Disaster Supplies Kit - Disasters happen anytime and anywhere. And when disaster strikes, you may not have much to respond. Would your family be prepared to cope with the emergency until help arrives? This site can help.
• U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission - CPSC is an independent federal regulatory agency that is charged with keeping  families safe by reducing the risk of injury or death from consumer products. Visit this site for  lifesaving information or to report unsafe products.
• Pesticides & Food - What You & Your Family Needs to Know - This publication from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency discusses the risks and benefits of pesticide use on food and ways in which consumers can reduce their exposure.
• KidsHealth - This multi-award winning site boasts hundreds of articles and features on infections, behavior & emotions, food & fitness, and growing up healthy.

For Your Garden

• Home and Garden Information Center - Sometimes even a professional gardener needs a little help now and then. The Better Homes and Garden guide is designed to help both novice and experienced gardeners with detailed, step-by-step instructions for a wide variety of gardening activities.
• Regional Gardening - No matter where you live and garden, you will find this great resource packed with plants to start, gifts to give, and great tips for your gardening, Plant Finder when you're planning a new garden, revamping an old one, or just looking for something new and different to grow.
• Calendar of Garden Events - This calendar allows you to search its database by date, location and/or keyword. See what's going on in your neck of the woods! And if your gardening group is planning an event, be sure to add it to the calendar.
• The Whole Herb - Look here to find advice on growing herbs and explore the rich uses of herbs, from cooking to crafts, aromatherapy to natural cosmetics.
• Gardening  Q & A - Here you can tap into the expert knowledge of the National Gardening Association. Search the question and answer library or ask your own question and they will dig up an answer for you within a couple of days.
• Better Homes and Garden Plant Guide - Looking for a plant, houseplant, tree, or shrub? This database contains almost 3,000 species searchable by plant name or attribute to search for plants based on characteristics you decide are important to you.
• The Rosarian - A site devoted to roses and the gardeners who cultivate them. The Rosarian features articles  images and forums to discuss with other's this aroma pastime.