Entering the “real world” as a college graduate is never the most ideal situation when you’ve just finished four years of the good life, and the freedom and autonomy that comes with being a college student. But sometimes the harshest truths are the ones we must face. When the curtain comes down on your college career, you’re usually faced with a few options: move out for good, which usually means keeping the off-campus apartment or house you’re currently living in (if possible) or saving money and moving back home with good ol’ mom and dad.

As little as 10 years ago, moving back home again after college was virtually unheard of and sometimes even looked down upon. People rarely admitted to moving back home with their parents for fear of coming across as broke or unambitious, but now, in 2012, such a thing is almost commonplace. College graduates are moving back home to live with their parents at an increasing pace, and they are staying there for much longer too — sometimes well into their late 20s and early 30s. And oddly enough, this is viewed as “normal” now.

With rent prices skyrocketing in many urban areas and mortgages tougher and tougher to come by for young first-time buyers, there’s no longer any shame in shacking up with mom and dad. Add to that the recent job recession and you have the perfect storm for young college graduates in the early part of this decade.

With finals week already beginning or wrapping up for some, that’s hopefully one stress put to bed.  And from here, it’s all about bright, sunny days of summer and moving back home for an extended vacation or, for most other students, scouting around town for an apartment.  If you’re in the latter group, there are a number of factors that determine how well the search and moving process goes.

From making sure you’ve done your due diligence on finding a moving company to signing the dotted line on a lease, here are a couple helpful reminders on how to come out smelling like a rose with your new pad.

1.  Decide If You Want Roommates:  Seems simple enough, right?  Well, yes and no.  It’s easy to decide on roommates if you’re eyeing a pretty pricey apartment or home nearby campus or some other hot spot and want to ensure that your monthly finances aren’t committed strictly to rent.  On the flipside, you want to make sure you’re comfortable with your roommates and trust they’ll hold up their end of the deal with rent and utilities and just general care of the place.

2.  Find A Reasonable Place:  Landing the right apartment or home for the summer and beyond is crucial from both a comfort and financial standpoint.  On one end, you don’t want a place with thin walls or windows that are too drafty.  Oversights like these can slowly chip away at your utilities and downgrade your “play” money.

The trick is to be on the hunt early and often so that you’ve compared/contrasted numerous places to the point you’ve zoned in on a building that’s favorable towards your monthly budget.

3.  Finding A Moving Company:  Getting into the dorm room was more than likely a headache in and of itself.  Getting out of there and into an apartment can be just as time consuming if you don’t prepare accordingly.  Which is why most look to moving services for help.  Here are just a few tips on finding a mover nearby and what to do before and after.

1. Don’t Put Off The Search - Waiting until the very last days of your move to find a company can leave you at risk to where the company booked up for that day or you’re stuck with an unknown moving company to do your bidding.
2. Look Over Customer Reviews - Go online to moving reviews with sites like Angie’s List or other known properties, ask around town to friends and family on what company they’ve used in the past and weigh each searches.  

4.  Pack Your Supplies Accordingly:  If you’re not counting on the movers to pre-package your possessions, you’ll want to make sure your items are properly boxed up and ready for moving day.  Look for sturdy boxes around campus by talking with the cafeteria to see if there are any empty food crate boxes they could spare or visit a grocery store and request the same thing.  Like with the moving company tips, here are a few reminders on efficient packing.

1. Use Proper Cushioning Materials - If you’ve got a fairly large box for electronics such as laptops, cameras, radios and other delicate items, make sure they have a little extra TLC by wrapping individual items with old newspaper, line the inside of the box with bubble wrap or use any extra T-shirts.  The key is to protect your belongings for the long haul as best as possible.
2. Don’t Overstuff Boxes - As much care should be paid to how you wrap and pack, the same goes for knowing when to say “uncle” on a box.  Trying to cram one last item into an already full box can put too much pressure on other items inside.  It’s best to organize certain boxes and have enough reserve boxes to ensure every item is transported comfortably.

5. Do A Walkthrough:  While most students do this with their first apartment, there’s a select few who might just approve without seeing the place firsthand.  It’s important to go through the place, pick out your rooms and survey the living room and dining rooms to see how where furnishings will be situated and determine what else you might need.  

6.  Look Towards Classified Ads:  If you’re in need of an extra couch, chair or some other fixture for the new place, be on the lookout with  “for sale” items on the campus directory or bulletin boards before leaving or look to Craig’s List, as well.  Most of the time, you should be able to find good deals with students looking to get rid of something on the cheap.  This will help offset the costs of moving and make it so you’re not having to buy brand-new possessions at the same time.

7.  Budget For The Here and Now:  Getting your first apartment is a milestone for every student and should be approached with your present and future finances in mind.  Whether it’s leaving a little extra money for the move to having the necessary funds for rent, utilities and groceries, being prepared and having a savings fund to cover any unexpected costs is a must.

Getting settled into a new place should be a rewarding and engaging time in the lives of every student. Experiencing the freedom and responsibility that goes with living on your own is made all the more enjoyable by being ready from the get-go.  

Author Bio: Kyle is a freelance writer on moving tips and advice for college students and everyone else looking to embark on their first apartment experience and beyond and is a consultant for a local moving company in his hometown, Great Day Moving.

Photo courtesy of curbed.com

He’s movin’ out.  Yes, I’m talking about Billy Joel, the piano man, who penned such great hits as…”Movin’ Out”…and, well “Piano Man.” Billy has listed his Miami Beach mansion, seemingly satisfied with all of the property he owns in New York. Joel, a native New Yorker, currently owns an apartment in Manhattan and a piece of waterfront property out on Long Island, so he’s parting with his Florida estate.

The 8,880-square-foot mansion is located on a .67 acre slice of land on the island of La Gorce and is a waterfront, Mediterranean-style home that features seven bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms. The home is set among towering palm trees and contains a pool and spa, an outdoor kitchen, a cabana, and a dock right on Biscayne Bay — so basically, it’s the quintessential Miami home.

Billy has listed the home for $14.75 million after purchasing it in 2006 for $13.5 million. So he stands to make at least $1 million in profit from the sale, which is a pretty solid takeaway for a singer who infamously drove his car into a home on Long Island several years ago. It seems like these days Billy Joel is more inclined to sell a home than wreck it with an automobile, which is always the better option of the two anyway as far as we’re concerned — and trust me, we are very concerned.

While the mortgage forgiveness program wouldn’t completely eradicate the mortgage payments of the people who qualify for it, it can certainly help out by slashing monthly mortgage payments by up to 35%. This week, Bank of American began mailing out letters to hundreds of thousands of potentials candidates for mortgage forgiveness, and they will continue to mail letters to more and more candidates as the year goes on.

The first batch of letters being mailed out will contain some information about the settlement and about the mortgage forgiveness program, as well as some financial information explaining the eligibility requirements for potential candidates and the financial benefits of the program. The first batch of letters will also include a place where potential candidates can provide some financial information about themselves to send back if they are interested in applying for the program and beginning the process.

In order to qualify for the mortgage forgiveness, you must owe more on your mortgage than the property itself is worth. You also need to have been behind on your mortgage payments by at least 60 days on January 31 of this year. Finally, your mortgage loan must be owned and serviced by the Bank of America, or another investor that has given permission to the Bank of America to make modifications on your mortgage.

As with any other service industry, when you hire a moving company to help you with your move, you expect to have your move handled with a top-notch level of care and professionalism. However, this is not always the case. Unfortunately, there will always be people out there looking to take advantage of vulnerable people, and you’re rarely more vulnerable than you are when you are getting ready to move and are undergoing a major life change.

That’s why it can be scary to place your trust, your move, and all of your precious belongings in the hands of strangers, especially when the moving process is already stressing you out in countless other ways. However, when you hire a moving company and you see that they are ProMovers and are a part of the dependable and reliable network of experienced moving professionals, it makes your life so much easier and you can truly breathe a sigh of relief.

ProMovers are the glimmering beacon of integrity and dependability that the entire professional moving industry stands upon, and without them our lives would be a whole lot more difficult. By placing your trust and your move in the hands of a ProMover, you can rest assured that your move will be taken care of reliably and efficiently time and time again, and the comfort in knowing this can go a long way in making the other parts of your move less stressful and less complicated.

Learning new roads. If you’ve lived anywhere for a significant amount of time, you can probably safely say that you know all of the roads in the area with a very comfortable level of familiarity. This means that you can likely get to the nearby supermarket for some milk and eggs with your eyes closed if you needed to and it means you can probably find your way to work, or the mall, or the closest gas station with the same ease. But when you move somewhere new, that comfortable familiarity is gone and it’s like feeling your way around in the dark. With some time and some practice though, you’ll pick up all of the shortcuts and backroads.

Adopting new routines. Humans are creatures of habit, so having to change up our whole routines that we’ve become so accustomed to over the years can be pretty difficult. When you move, that means changing your doctor, your dentist, your favorite restaurants, your place of work, your morning coffee shop, your favorite bookstore and all of your hangout spots. It may take a while for you establish another routine similar to the one you had in your old town, but once you do, it won’t be long before your “new” routine feels just as familiar as your “old” one.

Making new friends. Depending on the kind of person you are and just how outgoing your personality is, this can either be your hardest task or your easiest. Some people make new friends wherever they go, but for others it’s not as easy. Of course you’ll probably still be friends with most of the people from your old town, depending on just how far you moved. But you’re also bound to meet new people as well, and whether they’re your next-door neighbors or people you meet at your kid’s soccer game, you’re sure to be seeing a lot of them, so it makes sense to get to know your new fellow townspeople and chat them up.

Photo courtesy of curbed.com

I’m not going to delve into Tiger Woods’ past transgressions and extra-marital dalliances as this really isn’t the place for that kind of commentary. However, I will say that the golf star and recent public pariah does have quite a lot of real estate to his name. It makes sense considering the amount of time he spends on the road traveling to tournaments all over the world.

Well, one of those properties, a condo in Newport Beach, California, is now on the market for sale. The condo is a three-bedroom, complete with a patio and a balcony. It also comes with an ocean view from several rooms, as well as a view of Catalina Island. The condo doesn’t have much in the way of decor, and it’s just about as plain and uninspiring as Tiger’s golf game as been recently.

Tiger has recently been quoted as saying that he “doesn’t use condos anymore” which makes sense because he now has a sprawling training and workout facility added on to his already massive Florida estate. Anyway, since he apparently now has no need for this Newport Beach condo, he has listed the 2,000s-square-foot property for a modest $2.495 million, which means that it’s definitely priced to sell, and sell quickly.

He originally purchased the condo for $3 million back in 2004, so he will be taking a loss on the property, but somehow I don’t think it will make too big of a dent in his wallet.

Image courtesy of Sawbuck, Inc.

If you think you’ve seen it all when it comes to real estate apps for Apple and Android devices, you obviously haven’t seen HomeSnap yet. HomeSnap is a mobile app created by the folks at Sawbuck, Inc. for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad (it will soon be released for Android devices as well) that completely revolutionizes the world of real estate apps.

The HomeSnap app utilizes the camera and GPS technology of mobile devices to give you an instant assessment of the house you’re standing right in front of, in real time. The way the app works is simple. Say you’re out house-hunting in a nice neighborhood and you come upon a home with a For Sale sign out front that looks like it could be the home you’ve been looking for. You want to know how much the house is selling for and you’d also like to have a look inside, without interuppting the family currently living inside.

Well, with the HomeSnap app, all of that information is at your fingertips, instantly. All you have to do is take a picture of the house and in a matter of seconds, everything you need to know about the property will be right in front of your eyes: listing price, interior pictures, and complete listing details for you to browse. No dialing up the real estate agent’s number that’s posted on the sign, no knocking on strangers’ doors. Just snap a picture and the info is all yours.

The HomeSnap app even has information for homes that aren’t currently listed for sale, and it can provide you with information like the approximate value of the house, it’s listing history, how many bedrooms/bathrooms there are and even what school district the area belongs to. All of this information is provided by a seamless integration with data from the Multiple Listing Service and can provide you with information for over 90 million homes throughout the country.

The HomeSnap app is currently available for download free of charge in the iTunes App Store.

Well, you can add “looking for a new home” to the endless list of things you can now do over the Internet, as popular real estate websites like HomeFinder.com, Zillow.com, and Realtor.com have been gaining momentum in the last few years as major resources where potential homebuyers go to look for new homes on the market.

A recent study estimated that almost 47 percent of people looking for homes on a daily basis are doing so on the Internet first, without contacting a real estate agent. These popular real estate websites have, for all intents and purposes, become the middle man in the homebuying process and have removed the need for a real estate agent — at least in the early stages of the homebuying process. Once the person or family has found the property (or properties) that they are most interested in, that’s where contacting the real estate agent would then come into play.

But until that point, the Internet has made it increasingly easier to go “window shopping” for new homes from the comfort of your own, current, home. I suppose that in the future we might even be able to take virtual, 3D hologram tours of our home of choice without ever having to change out of our pajamas, but of course what do I know?

Photo courtesy of ProMover.org

Happy May Day everyone! As you may or may not know, the month of May has officially been designated as National Moving Month by AMSA, the American Moving and Storage Association. All this month, AMSA aims to highlight the exceptional services of moving professionals from across the nation with special promotions and campaigns. With the summer and prime moving season approaching, AMSA wants to get everyone in the moving spirit by acknowledging the hard work done by moving companies it represents.

One of the main goals of AMSA’s National Moving Month is to increase awareness in the value of hiring professional movers. With their ProMover campaign that they plan to launch in conjunction with National Moving Month, they hope that people will see the value in the experience and professionalism of the hardworking movers they represent and they also hope that the campaign will enhance the image of the moving industry as a whole.

According to AMSA, this year’s ProMover campaign will highlight the importance of van movers and the role that they play in the moving process. An email from AMSA outlining this year’s National Moving Month promotional efforts reads, “The focus this year is to put the spotlight on the van operator — the critical link between you and your shippers — to build confidence in professional moving services by showcasing these humble, professional, and credible industry heroes.”

All during this month, we’ll celebrate National Moving Month by running a special feature in this space every Tuesday centered around AMSA’s ProMover program and this month’s feature honoree — van movers. We’ll also keep you updated on all of the ProMover campaign buzz. You can learn more about National Moving Month by visiting AMSA’s official website at www.promover.org.