Seattle Real Estate News

Freelancers, the self-employed and those who depend on tips or commissions can have a great-paying month or a bad one which leaves us vulnerable. The best advise is to plan ahead as much as possible. Here are some tips for managing money when paycheck fluctuates:

Step 1 - Build an emergency fund.  First, fortify your finances to make sure you are prepared for a disaster. Even before paying down high-interest credit card debt or chipping away at student loans.  If you have been able to save a little cash over the past year, your emergency fund should be your top priority.  The rule of thumb is we should save nine months's worth of living and health care expenses in an emergency fund. If Covid-19 in 2020 has taught us anything, it's the importance of saving an emergency fund.  It's more than the standard recommendation of three to six months' worth to cover expenses in a month we don't get paid as much.  One program to help jump-start a savings habit is saverlife.org.

Step 2 - Tackle high-interest debt. This is not the most glamorous path but it is the one that will offer by far the highest returns.  Consider paying down or off any extra money toward debt with interest of around 6% or higher.  Carrying high-interest debt makes the magic of compound interest work against you. The more money you owe, the more interest you owe.  

Step 3 -  Budget what you spend. Irregular income means that we must live below our means. Because we don't know our income for a given month, we must construct our budget around baseline/necessity spending such as housing, utilities, food, insurance and transportation and a monthly amount for annual bills such as property taxes. As app that tracts spending such as Mint or Personal Capital can help us estimate.

Step 4 - Create a steady paycheck by setting up separate accounts for deposits and spending. Deposit paychecks into one account and pay yourself a "salary" that covers expenses. 

• May 24: Commanding 10.5% seller premium.
• May 31: Commanding 10.7% seller premium.
• June 20: Commanding 10.6% seller premium.
• June 28: Commanding 10.8% seller premium. 

1. Don't point your camera at neighbors. If your doorbell is located in an awkward place, you can try to use wedges to angle the camera toward your door. Some cameras let you mark zones to limit recording only to action that's important for your home. Also let people know that they're on camera and put up a sign to flag that you're filming might also deter a burglar. 
2. Share footage sparingly. Some people love posting clips of "suspicious/looking characters" on social network app. But are you actually an expert in what counts as "suspicious"? Sharing on these sites can help fight crime but also perpetuate racial profiling of actual crimes. 
3. When police get involved, it should be voluntary. Police should only access to your footage on a voluntary basis. Law enforcement doesn't have  aright to the footage without a court order. 
4. Delete old footage. The more you have the more vulnerable you are. You should only keep your footage for two months. You can always download and save the ones you want to keep. 
5. Keeping hackers out is a serious responsibility. Make sure that you update software, using unique passwords and taking other security protections. 
6. Facial recognition is not a product feature, it's a super power. The ability to keep tabs on a person's whereabouts by reading their face is a super power that we don't have yet the legal or ethical framework to handle. Initially, our cameras will offer to flag family members faces. Next, they'll link to a few public databases such as a terrorist watch list, missing kinds and sexual offenders The real question is who gets to make those lists and how accurate are the systems flagging people? 

• The No.1 regret across all generations was buying a property that was too small. 
• The second most common mistake was not saving enough money before buying their first home. Most buyers anticipate the money the'll need for their mortgage, homeowner's insurance and taxes but they don't always budget for home maintenance and repairs. As a general rule of thumb, most financial experts suggest saving at least 1 percent of the home value annually for repairs. 
• Homeowners spent the most money on new appliances (16%) during their first year followed by replacing the roof (13%), replacing a furnace or air conditioner (11%), landscaping (10%) and replacing flooring (9%). 
• Nearly half said they spent more than their budget during the first year of home-ownership.