Auston Woods Apartment Homes Blog

We all need a place to call home but even with the real estate downturn, many people continue to think that buying a home is a good investment and a way for them to build wealth. When times were good, this was not really the case for most people. Wherever you choose to live, make sure it’s for the right reasons. Owning a home can be rewarding. Renting an apartment home with Auston Woods can also be very rewarding. Don’t just take our word for it - check out this article on Yahoo Finance - Why Your Home is not the investment you think it is. In recent months, the housing market, interest rates and the economy have been the focus of many news stories and are key issues in the political arena. Consumers have been inundated for years with visions of the American Dream and why homeownership is a great investment.

As seen with the recent housing crisis, homeownership may not be right for everyone.

• If you bought in Rochester, N.Y., in 1980, you would have seen only a mediocre 4% annual growth for the next 25 years.
• If you bought in Dallas in 1986, as the oil boom went bust, your home wouldn’t have appreciated at all before 1998.

It is also important to look at the “net appreciation”. Most people do not subtract all of the interest paid to the banks, maintenance, decorating costs, closing costs, taxes, and insurance from the appreciation. In many cases, especially if you do not own your home for more than a few years, there is not true appreciation and in more and more cases, there is negative appreciation. Many do not realize the real financial and practical advantages HHHunt residents experience every year when they decide to rent an apartment home at one of our communities.

There are just a couple of points to consider and think about. Renting is a long term investment and very rewarding. Especially in the North Carolina area we are a respected and very diverse community. Be sure to take a look at our communities and our activities we have to offer. Our unique apartment homes at Auston Woods combine convenience, comfort, and technology for today’s lifestyle in our apartment homes. Our beautiful interiors are designed to optimize the way you live, work, and play. Contact us today to learn more about renting at Auston Woods, or feel free to stop in and take a tour of our community.

Apartments in Charlotte, NC

Take a look at The 2011 State of the Union Address…

President Obama speaks about moving forward to create jobs,
out-compete in the global economy by investing in innovation and education,
and win the future for our children and our country. January 25, 2010.

Have you ever heard the expression “People hear what they want to hear?” For some reason, most people seem to immediately believe their friends and family when they are told that they should “stop throwing their money away on rent and buy a home.”

• First of all, the majority of money that you pay towards a mortgage is mortgage interest (especially in the first few years of a mortgage) and all of this money goes directly to the bank (not to the principal). On most 30 year mortgage loans, it is not until year 19 or 20 that you are paying more towards the principal than to mortgage interest. I am a home owner and have yet to hear anyone tell me that I “should stop throwing all of my money away to the bank.”
• Secondly, there is a lot more money “thrown away” on closing costs, maintenance costs, insurance, property taxes, landscaping, and decorating. For those that are continuing to choose to rent an apartment home at Auston Woods Apartments don’t be so quick to believe those well-meaning friends who tell you to stop throwing your money away. Most of you are throwing away much less money than those home owners and have a maintenance-free life!

Well, ultimately you have to make your own decision, so do your research . Check out our Facebook page and stay connected with us.

I found this movie clip from Coach Carter to be very inspirational. I just hope that it touched you the way it touched me.

While driving in my car the other day, I heard a radio commercial for a really popular home builder in this area.  As someone who has rented an apartment, owned a home, and had a father who constantly taught fiscal responsibility, I tend to see the flip side of any type of new and exciting financial obligation (such as buying a home or car).  This particular commercial touted that you could own a home for just as much as you pay in rent.  This is almost always a misleading statement and I really can’t believe that builders and sometimes realtors can tell people this with a straight face.

Here are three things to consider where renting apartments and buying houses are concerned:

First of all, the monthly mortgage that they typically advertise does not include property taxes and insurance.

Secondly, it does not include HOA fees which can be anywhere between $50 per month to $300 per month, depending on the neighborhood.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the advertised monthly price does not include the yearly maintenance (usually 1% of the home value per year) and decorating costs.

Obviously, you don’t have any of those costs when you are renting an apartment home at our community.   I know that many of you have owned a home and understand the financial responsibility of home ownership.  For those who haven’t, keep this information in mind when listening to one of those commercials!

Clowns Without Borders stir up laughter and share smiles with many children among the temporary hospitals in post-earthquake Haiti.

“Now child without a smile,” They say… “We send laughter around the world!” These Clowns take off the limits and really use laughter as a medicine to change desperate situations.

Clowns Without Borders offers laughter to relieve the suffering of all persons, especially children, who live in areas of crisis including refugee camps, conflict zones and territories in situations of emergency. They found themselves in Haiti surrounded by beautiful children who’s spirits seem to be lifted with every laugh.

I have always enjoyed the presence of a clown and the good feelings that they bring with them. Clowns Without Boarders had been over to Haiti previously; nearly a year earlier. But they were invited to come back so they decided to do it.

Leah Able from PRI’s Here & Now says, “Once there, however, Abel believes the clowns made a difference for the children, many who lost family members or were seriously hurt in the earthquake. Citing studies show how people need laughter:”

Google

November of 2009 is when Google first introduced its “text-to-speech” feature called eSpeak.  This can really allow for consuming information over the internet to be faster and more effective.

In combination with seeing the words on the screen as you read them you will also be have the ability to hear them.  Similar to an audio book this may help with the pronunciation of words and perhaps you may catch something that you didn’t get before.

From November of 2009  till now, less than two years later  Google translates web-pages in for over 30 different languages.
Including Haitian, Creole, French, Italian and German in recent months.

Today’s announcement adds text-to-speech functionality for Afrikaans, Albanian, Catalan, Chinese (Mandarin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Latvian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese and Welsh.

Google is continuing with its effort to become the one-stop online-shop.  To Lear n more about Google Translate and how it works click here

Photo by: Alain Bachellier