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Tuscaloosa houses are typically a good investment
whether for personal residential needs or investment rental
properties. Considering the University of Alabama has been expanding
for many years and in light of the football team’s recent national
championship will probably continue to do so – Roll Tide, there is
always a need for a safe and secure student housing.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Housing Authority for the area
is located in Tuscaloosa. This obviously makes it more accessible to
landlords that wish participate in programs such as section 8 or low
income tax credit properties.
Once you get outside the immediate campus and intercity area there
is still a very strong real estate market. The largest private
employer, Mercedes Benz, has completed more than one expansion to
their manufacturing facility over the years, creating new jobs. The
employer base is also very well diversified in both the private and
government sectors. In addition, Tuscaloosa has a small local
airport and even though it does not have any commercial passenger
air travel, it does accommodate businesses and other entities
requiring private aircraft.
Tuscaloosa also has several of new retail shopping centers. The most
notable and largest is Midtown Village which is centrally located
near The University of Alabama campus at the southwest corner of
McFarland Boulevard and 15th Street, across from University Mall.
There are other new shopping facilities located in both the northern
and southern parts of the city. The old McFarland Mall location next
to Interstate 20/59, at the intersection of McFarland Boulevard and
Skyland Boulevard, will probably see some type of major renovation
(or a flat-out ground scrape and rebuild) in the next few years as
it was bought out by the same local developer that assembled the
land for the Midtown project.
Housing Bubble
The period of time when prices of real estate rise extremely
quickly, across a large section of the housing stock without
substantial supporting economic conditions, is called a housing
bubble. These situations should be prevented because they are always
followed by a major market correction. If large enough, they can
have a global macroeconomic significance. A housing bubble was
partially responsible for the 2010 financial crisis that has
impacted practically the entire planet in one way or another.
Housing bubbles take place both in global and local markets and can
be described as rapidly increasing property value, until reaching
the level of unsustainability. Next, home prices decrease and many
owners are in a difficult situation, as their mortgage debt can be
higher than the actual value of their house. Causes for which
housing bubbles occur are complex, but they are related to the
speculative fever, the real estate market in other countries, stock
market and other factors. The U.S. began a housing market correction
in 2006, but the credit and mortgage crisis still occurred in 2007,
because many house owners couldn’t pay for their mortgages, as they
came to regular interest rates. This bubble had a great impact on
the United State’s economy and was an important recovery factor, as
a large amount of spending was fueled by it. The mainstream view of
the economics says that housing bubbles refer to a temporarily
growing wealth, followed by its redistribution. Economists have
developed some measures and ratios in order to identify such
bubbles. Housing affordability ratios are: the price to income
ratio, the affordability index, the deposit to income ratio, the
median multiple. Housing debts ratios are the debt-service ratio and
the housing debt to equity ratio. The measures for ownership and
rent are: price to earnings ratio, ownership ratio, price rent
ratio, owner’s equivalent rent, occupancy and vacancy rate. House
price indices are also used to identify housing bubbles.
The housing bubble still represents the greatest risk to the economy
of the United States, because it affects other financial levels,
leading to a huge nationwide recession. The Government is trying to
reestablish the market; in 2008, 900 billion dollars were allocated
to rescues and loans, including some quasi-government agencies.
Actually, many economists said that there was a housing bubble in
America, before 2004, but these studies were ignored for political
reasons. The boom ended in 2005 and, until 2006, some things have
happened: speculative investors became more reserved, affordability
conditions became worse, resort and trade-up buyers became less
active, confidence for home-buying ran low, mortgage rates grew with
one point, first-time buyers looked for prices that were out of the
market. By the time that some economists reported US had a problem
with the housing bubble, realtors spread anti-bubble information,
that there was no problem with the fact that a house’s price was
rising much faster than the family’s income. The housing bubble
didn’t manifest itself everywhere in the same time, but it did have
a great impact on the world’s real estate market.
At the moment, the U.S. has passed through the bubble burst and the
real estate market is going to sail on calm waters. But there are
many parts of the world market who still suffer because of the
housing bubble’s burst.
Creating a Faux Finish with Paint and a T-Shirt
Sometimes a plain paint color isn’t exactly what you want in a room.
However, you don’t want to wallpaper either. With this simple faux
finish technique you can create a unique and beautiful finish that
looks like a million bucks.
Start by picking your main paint color. Ask the paint salesman if he
will mix up a small can for you so you can go home and actually put
it on the wall to check the color. You can save a lot of grief by
doing this, even if it means an extra trip to the store. You also
want to pick out an accent color. This is the color that will go on
top of the main wall color. Ask for a small can of this as well, so
you can make sure the colors really go well together.
Before you start painting, make sure your wall surfaces are clean
and smooth. Lightly wipe down the walls with plain water, and let it
dry. If there are any nail holes they will need to be filled in. If
you don’t want to purchase spackle or mud, you can use white
toothpaste. Let it dry and sand it smooth. Gently smooth out any
other rough areas with sandpaper.
Cover the floor with a painter’s tarp. If you don’t move the
furniture out of the room, make sure it is covered completely. Take
painter’s tape (usually blue) and tape off the ceiling, windows, or
anything else you don’t want the main paint color. Paint all of the
walls with your main wall color. Let it dry completely. This is very
important. Use a roller for the larger surfaces, painting in a “W”
shape. Use smaller brushes to paint close to windows or other trim
that isn’t going to be painted.
Next, after the paint is completely dry, you will put on the accent
color. Take an old T-shirt, and cut it in half. Wad it up so it fits
comfortably in your hand. Dip the T-shirt into the accent color and
dab the walls. Try not to get the paint on too thickly, and try to
apply the accent color evenly over the main wall color. If you do
not have an old T-shirt, you could also use a towel or even a
sponge.
The key is dabbing. Don’t rub, don’t pound, just gently and quickly
dab the shirt against the wall and remove it. You can add as much or
as little as you’d like, just try to get it evenly distributed.
After you are finished and everything is dry, you can always go back
and add a little more accent if necessary.
Laying a Ceramic Tile Kitchen Floor
You don’t need a professional to lay a ceramic tile kitchen floor.
You can save a ton of money by doing it yourself. You will need the
following items from the home improvement store: tile, thinset,
cement board, screws, a power driver, spacers, grout, a trowel for
the mud, a rubber trowel for applying the grout, a tile saw, and
grout sealer.
Pick tile you love. You will be looking at it for a long time. Put a
bunch of tiles together on the store floor before you totally make
up your mind because oftentimes the look changes when you have more
than one tile to look at. If you are trying to match a specific
paint color, make sure you have a paint sample with you.
Measure your floor ahead of time, and buy 10% extra tile; you might
make a mistake in your calculations or cutting the tile. Remember:
measure twice, cut once!
Start by stripping your floor down to the subflooring. Spread the
thinset on the existing floor, and lay the cement board down. Screw
the cement board into the subfloor using the power driver. Then,
spread some thinset on top of the cement board and start laying your
tile. Start in the center of the room and work outward. Don’t get
too far ahead of yourself of the thinset will dry out. Use the
spacers it between every tile, on every side. Don’t “eyeball” it! If
you are off even slightly the floor will look totally crooked.
You will need a tile saw. If you do not have one you can rent one
from the home improvement store. Just ask an employee. You need
water to operate the saw, so you may want to use this outside, or
have a place set up ahead of time that can get messy.
After you have placed all of the tiles, let it set overnight. The
next day, mix the grout. Remove the spacers. Press the grout into
the spaces between the tiles with your rubber trowel. After grouting
a small area (10 square feet or so) wipe the excess grout off with
water and a grout sponge.
When you are completely finished grouting, let the floor dry for 24
hours. Then, wipe the entire floor down with a dry towel. This will
remove much of the excess grout and dust. To finish the floor, mop
the floor with plain water until the water is clear.
Apply the grout sealer according to the directions on the package.
You will have to wait a week to ten days before applying. This will
protect the grout from staining and fading. |
