Survey Says … Location Drawings are Worth It

Survey Says … Location Drawings are Worth It

What if I told you there was a major problem with the property you are about to buy?

To identify the problem, YOU would need to read and visualize meets & bounds descriptions that read something like this:

“From the Northwest 1/4 of Section 21, run South 00 37’51” West along the West line of said Northwest 1/4 at a distance of 50.00 feet to the Point of Beginning on the Southwest right-of-way of Country Club Drive … ”

Do you follow all that? You’ll need to because that is the start of a very complicated, extremely detailed, two-page property legal description. Somewhere buried in that text, you might find something that can be roughly translated to read, “Sorry, you don’t actually own your own driveway. If that’s a problem, you just have to deal with it.”

If you don’t speak Meets & Bounds, there’s another avenue. Would you feel better purchasing this property if I showed this to you like a picture that indicated everything was OK?

Well, that my friend is a type of survey we call a Location Drawing. It’s one of the easiest and most affordable ways to stop you from buying a big mistake!

A location drawing is a sketch prepared by a professional surveyor. It shows the boundaries of a particular property. It typically includes the dimensions of the house, deck, and structures, as well as the locations of fences, encroachments, easements, or rights of way.

Over the years, we’ve seen many homeowners surprised to find out that:
They did not own their driveway
There was an easement preventing planned improvements
Their house was over the property line
The neighbor’s fence was inside their yard
Some of the property they thought was their yard belonged to a neighbor

Fun stuff like that, plus a lot more complicated scenarios that we won’t even dive into on this blog.

Here are a few things you need to know about location drawings:

1) You need to opt-in. Location drawings used to be required, but now they are optional. We always make a point to ask whether borrowers want one. But you must inform your title company that you want one.

2) If you don’t get one, it is an exception in your owner’s title insurance policy. This means you may not be covered against a claim, and the cost of addressing it may come from your pocket.

3) It’s usually less than $300. Boundary surveys can be more expensive. This is when a surveyor comes out to stake or flag the property lines.

The bottom line is that if you want to protect yourself from an unpleasant surprise somewhere down the road, a location drawing could be a smart move for you.

Selling a Home with Solar Panels? Know the Numbers and Make the Case

Selling a Home with Solar Panels? Know the Numbers and Make the Case

Solar panels have been showing up on the roofs and in the yards of more and more homes in recent years. So naturally, more homes with solar panels are hitting the market.

But this raises several questions — practical and financial — that must be addressed whether clients are interested in buying or selling a home with existing solar panels.

First, let’s start with some general awareness.

Solar panel salespeople and installers will insist that solar panels add value to a home and save on energy costs. They back this up with stats from the National Bureau of Economic Resources claiming a nationwide 3.5% increase in value. CNBC quoted Zillow findings that ranked Maryland in the top 10 solar premiums with a 3.8% increase or +$11,000 for the median home value.

However, the real value — or lack thereof — can depend on many factors, such as type of ownership, cost of electricity in that area, location and mindset of buyers in that market, as well as the age and productivity of the system itself.

From there, it all boils down to three key items that agents and title professionals need to keep in mind to help buyers and sellers make smart decisions during the sales process.

Are the Panels Owned, Leased or Under a Power Purchase Agreement?
Some systems are owned outright. This will ultimately provide value to the homeowner as long as the system is in working order. However, in Maryland, most home solar panels are under a lease or power purchase agreement (PPA).

The agreements are recorded as lien/easement/agreement and can be found at www.mdlandrec.net. Under these agreements, the solar company owns the panels and sells the electricity they generate back to the homeowner. In theory, the homeowner will purchase electricity at a rate that is lower than the rate offered by the local power company.

Yet, many times, a solar company may actually be charging a higher rate.

Determine Whether Production and Rates are Favorable
The official electric shopping website of the Maryland Public Service Commission offers a look into the current price per kWh for electricity (https://www.mdelectricchoice.com/shop/). This price must be compared to the price in the agreement obtained from the solar company to determine potential savings. In some cases, the agreement price per kWh offers little to no savings. In this scenario, the seller should be advised to consider the cost of terminating their agreement and purchasing the system at the current fair market value.

If the rates are favorable, now it’s time to show potential buyers why the solar panels are a great addition to the total package.

Accurately Communicate the Value
Regardless of whether the solar panels are leased or owned outright, always be clear and direct about the arrangement and what it means for the new homeowner. It’s also important to accurately state the benefits in terms that the consumer can understand.

A great example: “The solar system currently saves the owner approximately $500 per year.”

The bottom line is that selling a home with solar panels requires a bit more research and responsibility to understand and communicate the benefits of the additional investment. But as long as you do the work and know the numbers, solar panels could prove to be an asset that helps sellers find a buyer faster — and at a higher price.

Learn more about how solar panels increase property values:

Team Member Spotlight: Linda Stearns

Team Member Spotlight: Linda Stearns

Senior processor Linda Stearns has spent 13 years with Advantage Title. So we know that she’s at her best when she’s facing a challenge. She loves to dive deep, investigate and solve problems.

If you’ve worked with Linda, you know how dedicated she is to her job. But in our Team Member Spotlight Q&A, you’ll learn a lot more about her — we did. That’s why we’ll be cranking up “Feels So Good” by Sonique whenever we want to put a smile on her face.

Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Definitely an early bird. I’m usually awake at 4. The first thing I do is get up and do chores. Then I’ll make coffee and sit down at my desk.

Sometimes I’ll wake up out of my sleep in the night and happen to remember something I forgot to do that day, so I’ll get up and do it.

What was the first thing you saved for and bought with your own money?
My first car. It was a Hyundai. I was 20 or 21. It was the bottom of the line, but I’d been driving an ’83 Mustang with a hole in the floor. So when I bought that car, it made me feel like I was doing something.

I bought my house when I was 25, and that was the next big thing.

What’s the first thing you’re going to do when the pandemic is over?
Hug my mother. My mom is older and diabetic. I go and visit her through the front door, but that’s it.

If you could snap your finger and be an expert at anything, what would it be?

The ultimate job that I would love to do would be as a child advocate. They are the voice of the children in the court system.

My daughter is living my dream. She works for a nonprofit that works with the foster care system.

What’s the best advice you were ever given?

Say what you mean and mean what you say. Don’t say it unless you mean it.

What energizes you at work?
I usually love when there is some sort of title flaw that I have to investigate — those rare things you have to really look into. Maybe you have to go back and fix a deed, find people who should have signed off a certain way or there’s an unreleased mortgage or lien.

I’ve always loved that part when you have to dig and do the research. It’s the challenge of it.

What do you do to fix a bad day?
Music can honestly change my mood quickly. Lately, I’ve really been liking LANY. I still like a lot of ’90s stuff.

I have a song that really always picks me up. It’s by Sonique and it’s called “Feels So Good.”

Common Title Liens That Could Sneak Up On You

Common Title Liens That Could Sneak Up On You

If you want to close the sale, you must have a clean title.

It’s not as easy as it might seem.

A clean title means there are no standing claims against the property and that the owner has the full legal right to sell the property. Our job as your title company is to do the digging to ensure that the title is clean and ready for a smooth transfer of ownership.

But often, it’s not smooth at all.

We often find hidden claims against the property that must be resolved for the sale to go through. Some are easily resolved. Others … well … others can be a challenge.

Here’s a brief rundown of some of the claims that we see most often:

Mechanic’s Liens

A mechanic’s lien is typically placed on the property prior to a contractor doing work to improve the property. It covers the cost of materials, equipment, and labor associated with the project. When the job is completed and paid for, it’s the contractor’s responsibility to release the lien. If that doesn’t happen for any reason, it becomes an issue to be resolved prior to settlement.

Bankruptcy Liens

A bankruptcy filing connected to someone holding title to a property is another common problem we see. When the bankruptcy situation is resolved, the lien must also be addressed. From time to time, that doesn’t happen and it takes some effort from the title company to clear the title.

Child or Spousal Support Liens

When a lien is filed for delinquent child support or spousal support, it can be still be connected to the title, waiting to be discovered, even generations later.

Delinquent Tax Liens, Fraud & Forgery

Similarly, liens related to unpaid or late tax returns can hold up the process if left unresolved. Fraud and forgery are also common in the event that one person on the title signs the name of another person on the title, typically a spouse.

This is just the beginning of a long list of issues that can throw a wrench into your sale. It’s why our team works hard to examine the title on each property that comes across our desks, all part of the work we do to bring your deal to the closing table.

Top Mobile App Development Companies

It’s the job of the Mobile App Developer to ensure mobile apps work correctly so the company can achieve its goals. It may not seem like a big deal but, at the end of the day, mobile app developers do extremely important work. Without a mobile application, many businesses would fail to reach their full potential. This is especially the case with businesses that get much more traffic on their mobile app than on their website. This is the first and most important step of the testing process in which you define the parameters, features, or functionalities that you are going to test.

  • Offshoring will help you build reliable development teams and robust products.
  • If you prefer visual to text, then go straight to the bonus infographic “App development cost in 2022”.
  • A powerful programming language developed by Apple for iOS, macOS, and more.
  • Some applications require APIs and backends, while others only need to work only with local databases offered by the platform.
  • The subject matter in mobile application development training works extremely well in online learning formats.

One more alternative to developing an app for your own product is by making use of mobile development software. You don’t even require coding, and it usually has thousands of templates to get you started. That depends solely on the reason why you are learning mobile app development. Part of zeroing in on a development platform is learning who’s using which platforms, and what other developers have to say about their work and their employers.

But they require constant effort, long hours and lots of hard work. The really motivated may be able to bootcamp themselves, so to speak; others may find the structure and access to knowledgeable practitioners worth the price of admission. Codesmith’s 12-week Software Engineering program covers the fields of computer science, full stack engineering, and mobile development. Its mobile development module teaches students how to design applications in JavaScript through the ReactJS Native framework. Students are expected to come out of the program having built and deployed a native mobile app. The University of California system’s flagship university in the Bay Area has an excellent extension school that offers programs all over the map.

This will take approximately 1-2 hours, and applicants who do not complete this step will not be admitted to the course. About your previous exposure to coding, your interest in a career in tech, and general information about you as a person. In Objective-C, a protocol is used to declare methods and properties that are independent of any specific class.

Prototyping is about turning low-fidelity wireframes into ready designs that can be shared with your teams, friends, and everyone who can use it to offer their quality suggestions and feedback. The average consumer has over 30 apps installed on their device. Over 85% of consumers prefer native apps over mobile cross websites. There are over 3.5 billion smartphone users worldwide, so there is no doubt that the industry is healthy and thriving. Stats are growing steadily, without any indications of slowing down.

In addition, you might be asked to obtain one or more certifications. Some employers prefer to hire applications developers with at least a few years of experience in programming, development, or another IT-related field. The demand for new and innovative mobile apps continues to grow.

Hire dedicated developers to build your own offshore team with our extensive pool of qualified resources. OpenXcell brings a team of developers to provide premium quality solutions and ensure complete transparency, authenticity and guaranteed delivery of results. Get highly qualified resources at reduced cost with the quick team set-up and hassle-free recruitment. Invest in experienced resources and get the quality solutions you need in minimum time. A powerful programming language developed by Apple for iOS, macOS, and more. This list will continue to be refreshed as new mobile development certifications arrive on the scene.

Featured Toptal Mobile App Publications

You will be able to convert that strategy into a step by step process that you can turn into priorities, and then group them into delivery milestones. You must also have your minimum viable product defined, which will help you cut down on costs, and prepare for the initial launch. However, you require an extensive amount of brainstorming to develop an ultimate list of features you can offer your customers. You can start with the essential elements and note down other lesser crucial features as they are revealed to you. Who knows, you might surprise yourself with ideas you never knew you could implement.

Smartphone platforms differ from all other types of platforms in many aspects, most of them related to small screen size and how the user interacts with device. Within days, we’ll introduce you to the right mobile app developer for your project. Deploying mobile applications can be a tiring task, especially if the application is multifaceted, and required lots of testing.

Mobile App Developer

The Toptal team were as part of tripcents as any in-house team member of tripcents. They contributed and took ownership of the development just like everyone else. When he encounters a problem, he identifies the essential dynamics, hypothesizes a remedy, monitors, and iterates. When the issues extend, impact, or involve others, he acts quickly, focusing on communication and the roadmap. Hugh has over 25 years of experience developing applications and solving problems across a breadth of technical and business domains.

Are You Future Ready? Building A Career In Mobile App Development

Add to this demand an average salary over $100k and a comparatively low education requirement, and pursuing a career in mobile development is a solid investment in your future. There are several factors that influence the price of mobile app development. Functionality, tech stack, integrations, operating system, team experience and expertise all factor into overall mobile app costs. Typically, depending on the scope and complexity of the app, prices range from $20,000 to $300,000. That’s a sizable amount of money and you’ll want to select the right app developer for the project.

A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or relevant field is required as well as 3 years of demonstrable experience for mobile developers. Successful mobile developers possess excellent analytical skills with a good problem-solving https://globalcloudteam.com/ attitude and are able to perform in a team environment. Rebuild your application – Sometimes when obfuscating code on Android, developers use ProGuard, which can sometimes remove code, leading to app crash.

One critical difference, however, is that mobile apps are often written specifically to take advantage of the unique features of a particular mobile device. For example, a gaming app might be written to take advantage of the iPhone’s accelerometer or a mobile health app might be written to take advantage of a smartwatch’s temperature sensor. One of several potential careers for individuals with information technology degrees, application developers can design applications for use across mobile devices and tablets. They can also create applications for use across mobile and desktop spaces, particularly design and office programs. This Oklahoma-based tech college offers degree programs in information technology, specifically software, web, and mobile app development.

Features

More experienced developers looking for a quick leg up in this game might be well served by a local bootcamp that specializes in mobile development topics, tools and languages. Other than the good pay, the reported high job satisfaction, and the fast industry growth, a mobile app developer has more reasons to take pride in this career. Before others can even know of their existence, app developers are usually the first to test the apps on the latest mobile phones, tablets, and other devices. Requirements for mobile app developer job applications vary with employers. A degree in Computer Science or Information Systems puts a candidate leaps and bounds ahead of the other job applicants. Next, dedicated mobile app developers who created applications on one platform started working on the other one.

Mobile App Developer

A creative copy must compel users to engage and interact more with your solution. Designing an application follows creating the mockups that allow getting a visual hint of the solution. Depending on the use of different visual elements, you can estimate the cost. It consists of basic features, three to four screens, simple functions, and no data storage. It’s just a function to swipe right and left for liking or disliking a particular person. Now when we are sure that you are aware that the market is growing very actively and rapidly, let’s look at what the app prices depend on.

Once the user installs the application, you should work on minimizing uninstalls, deliver the best user experience, keep up with the competition, and achieve maximum financial benefits in the long run. Regularly maintaining your mobile application to create a sustainable brand image in the minds of the users. Here’s a list of best practices for long-term app development. Designing is much more than learning how to use design software. You can learn to design your mobile application yourself or ask someone to help you. But above everything else, the design is about understanding the product inside out, and its capabilities, features, and functionalities.

Mobile Development: Courses, Training, And Other Resources

Its five-course certificate program is a great choice for students looking to specialize in the field. Through this, they learn basic and advanced coding, analysis, and testing. Of course, students complete a capstone project to create their mobile web app.

Mobile App Developer

These may require heavy customizations; the developers have to write the code for the majority of functions. Basically, the companies create a custom development without integrations or they use custom integrations with existing systems. To build such an app, you should also understand how large the customer base is; it also helps define the cost and price range. These are the applications that require data storage, retrieval from more than one database, and more synchronization. The cost will be determined based on a collection of features offered through the app.

Data Linked To You

With over a decade of programming experience and over eight years as a business owner, Lorand knows the importance of excellent communication and understanding with a client. He’s obsessed with high quality and attention to detail, and he strives to find the best solutions possible. He currently focuses on using Magento or TYPO3 in his projects. Prepare a product version of your mobile app and release it for internal testing. The strategy is the starting point of all project development.

Apple

Don’t forget to use the online network of acquaintances, mentors and friends you’ll build online to help you get those interviews – and hopefully also the job you want to land. For those who love exploring all the possibilities that new technology has to offer, a career in mobile app development can be immensely satisfying and fun. It presents an excellent opportunity to try new things and satisfy your curiosity. Glassdoor reports average mobile applications developer salaries in the United States range from $64k – $140k. Typically, the minimum requirement for an entry-level developer in most cases will be a bachelor’s degree.

What Languages Are Mobile Apps Written In?

Salaries in the United States vary depending on experience level in android and ios, type of app developed, level of education, and the software development company job openings. A mobile developer is responsible for translating code into user-friendly applications. They collaborate with internal teams to develop functional mobile applications while working in a fast-paced environment. Mobile developers develop application programming interfaces to support mobile functionality while keeping up to date with terminology, concepts and best practices for coding mobile apps. Essentially, mobile developers contribute to the design, testing, releasing and support of the application.