HotPads Daily :: The Official Blog of HotPads.com

HotPads Chill Mini-Mix

Just wanted to let all you people trying to drive traffic to your site loyal readers know that this is going to be my last post for a while, as HotPads is giving me the boot. Not really, I'm just a college intern and going back to school.  Luckily though, they don't know that I have access to all their passwords!

At HotPads, we love music and have listened to everything from Wilco to Miley Cyrus to Les Misérables. Music is kinda my thing (I run the music blog, Indie Muse) and I thought I'd put together a chill HotPads mix before I leave, that you can enjoy over the weekend.

1) Wilco - Either Way

2) Andrew Bird - Measuring Cups

3) Josh Rouse - Rise

4) Fruit Bats - Rainbow Sign

5) Josh Ritter - Girl in the War

6) Eddie Vedder - Guaranteed

Ciao!

Tips for First-Time Homebuyers.

Get Rich Slowly has a great list of 11 Tips for First-Time Homebuyers.

Three of the tips we really like:

1) Don’t buy the perfect house. If the house is livable and you have a good life, then you will be happy with whatever home you end up buying. If you spend more money on a “better” house, then you will quickly get used to it and will be no happier than if you had bought an “average” house. To me, a house is just a house. The people inside are what make it special.

2) Know your market. It’s critical that you know the market you are looking in. The asking prices for houses are often not indicative of their true value. The only way to be able to estimate value is to look at as many houses as possible. Take notes and find out what other properties have sold for.

3) Be careful of flip properties. There are people and contractors who will buy a house, fix it up quickly, and turn around and sell it for profit. The problem with these houses is that they tend to look very good on the surface (nice paint, trim, granite counters, etc.), but deep inside they may be ugly (substandard electrical, insulation, etc.). If you are interested in one of these houses, then make sure they have closed permits, and check with the inspector to see their inspection notes. Better yet, just don’t buy one.

For the rest, visit this Get Rich Slowly article.

This Pad is Hot

Here at HotPads, we are known for our awesome homes for sale and apartments for rent that can only be described as "Hot Pads."  In fact, we even have a whole channel for the Hottest Pads on HotPads where you can see the most expensive and lavish homes for sale on our interactive maps! 

However, none are quite as hot as this hotpad:

Check it out for yourself here: Google Maps

As you scroll around, you can see exactly how far the smoke is visible, and can even see the stream of water from the fire hoses!

*Credit where credit is due-- saw it first on The Big Picture