If you have been looking for a way to revamp your home, an inflatable hot tub might be the spark you need. With an inflatable hot tub in your back yard, your loved ones will get the opportunity to spend quality time together and enjoy the health benefits of the bubbly water without putting a damper on your budget.

Hydrotherapy is one of the most effective ways to reduce stress, alleviate some arthritic pain, lower blood pressure and enable a more sound sleep. Adding a hot tub makes it more fun and provides you with a social centerpiece during your gatherings with friends and family. Investing in a standard hot tub may cost you a pretty penny, but you can enjoy the taste of luxury with an inflatable one. Here are some reasons why purchasing an inflatable Hot tub might be right for you!

Affordability

An Inflatable hot tub is usually cheaper than a standard, portable hot tub. You can get the basic models for as low as $200-$300. When you consider the fantastic features, such as adjustable temperature settings, size and jet speed, that come with an inflatable hot tub along with the tremendous feeling you get when you soak after a long day, you'll get more than you bargained for without the strain on your wallet.

Flexibility

Another reason to consider an inflatable hot tub is the flexibility it offers. Unlike the in-ground hot tubs, you can easily pack and store away an inflatable hot tub when you don't need it. Moving? Don't worry; it's not stressful; it will only take 30 minutes to pack it up and take it with you.

Ease of Use

Inflatable hot tubs are easy to pack, store and set up. It will take an hour or less for you to place, inflate and fill, and it requires no special equipment or tools. All you need is the right space and access to electricity, water and an air pump if one isn't already built into your hot tub.

Wonderful Experience

An Inflatable hot tub will give you the same relaxing feeling just like a standard hot tub. You can stretch, sink and let the hot water do its wonders. Although an inflatable hot tub may have its fair share of cons like being too small for large parties and having fewer jets than its permanent and stationary predecessors, its advantages far outshine its disadvantages.

Enjoy the same soothing experience you get from your standard hot tub by buying an inflatable hot tub today.

Photo by ESB Professional via Shutterstock

If the thought of getting a mortgage and being in that much debt is stopping you from buying a home, plan to pay it off. Here’s how you can do it in just five to 10 years.

• Live well below your means. If you can keep your mortgage payment to below twenty percent of your take-home pay, you’re on your way. That means that instead of buying a larger house in an upscale community, buy the nicest one you can in the neighborhood you can afford. When you do this, you’ll not only save on the payment but your energy and maintenance costs will be lower, as well.
• Take a 15-year mortgage. Instead of the typical 30-year loan, opt for the 15-year choice. Your payments will be slightly higher, but they won’t be double. Use an online mortgage calculator to see the difference in the payment. You’ll be surprised at how much more affordable cutting the loan length in half can be.
• Use an early mortgage pay-off calculator. Try plugging in different payment amounts to see how quickly you can pay it off. Adding as little as $100 extra each month can massively reduce the years to completion.
• This next idea is easy if you get paid weekly or bi-weekly. Instead of making your mortgage payment once a month, pay half of it every two weeks. Using this trick allows you to make an entire extra payment each year, cutting months and years off your mortgage. If you do it to match your bi-weekly payments, you won’t even notice the additional payment out of your household budget.

Your Agent Can Help

When you’re looking for just the right house to put your plan into action, your knowledgeable real estate agent can find you the perfect one. Let them know what you’re trying to accomplish so that they match you to the right house at the right time.

Buying a new home can be an exciting but anxiety-inducing experience. With so many things to consider, it can be difficult to keep track of the things that matter most to you.

This process is complicated further when you discover a second or third home that you like as much as the first and you’re trying to decide which one to make an offer on.

In today’s post, we’re going to talk about how you can effectively compare houses to ensure that you’re making the most sensible, long-term decision for you and your family.

It’s all about the spreadsheet

Today, our method isn’t going to rely on any fancy new apps or paid tools. Everything you need to accomplish your spreadsheet is a tool like Google Sheets (it’s like a free version of Excel) or a simple pencil and notebook.

The columns of your spreadsheet will be made up of the factors that will influence your decision. This will include the obvious details like the cost and square footage of the home, but also finer details like its proximity to key places in your life.

The rows of your spreadsheet will be the properties you’re comparing. Now, it may be tempting to start listing every house on your radar in the columns of your spreadsheet. However, I think it’s more time-effective to only include the homes that you’re likely to make an offer on. This means doing some hard thinking and having a conversation with your family about your realistic goals for buying a home.

What is most important to you in a home and neighborhood?

Let’s turn our attention back to the top row of your spreadsheet. We want to fill that section with around 10 factors that are most important to you in a home and the location the home will be in.

In this section, you can include the estimated cost of the home and the estimated monthly expenses for owning that home (utilities, taxes, etc.).

Here’s the secret weapon of our spreadsheet, however. Rather than listing the actual cost of the home in this row, we’re going to give it a rank of 1 to 5. A score of 1 means the house is a lot more expensive than you want. A score of 5 means the house is the ideal cost. A 3 would be somewhere in the middle.

We’re going to use this 1 to 5 ranking system for all other factors on our spreadsheet as well.

Next to these costs, you’ll want to add other important factors to your home buying decision. Does it have the number of rooms you’re looking for? If a backyard is important to you, does it provide for that need?

In terms of upgrades, how much work will you have to do on the home to make it something you’re satisfied with? For DIY-minded people with time to spare, home improvement might be a welcome concept. For others, it simply would take too much time to accomplish everything you want. So, when you fill out the “Upgrades” column of your spreadsheet, make sure you determine a system for ranking the homes that suits your needs.

House location shouldn’t be overlooked

It’s a sad truth, but in today’s busy world, the average homeowner spends most of their time away from home, whether they’re at work, commuting, or bring their kids to and from after school activities.

You’ll want at least one column on your spreadsheet to be devoted to location. When ranking the location of a home, consider things like commuting time, distance to schools, hospitals, parks, and grocery stores. All of these things will have a larger impact on your day-to-day life than small details of the house itself.

Ranking the homes

Now that you have the first row and column of your spreadsheet built, it’s time to fill in the details and tally up the totals. These numbers will help inform your decision as to which house is really right for you.