Real Estate Blog

When it comes to keeping your home comfortable in the summer, there are a number of ways to accomplish your goal without breaking a sweat over your cooling costs. Believe it or not, the price of heating and/or cooling a home often accounts for more than 50 percent of a homeowner’s energy bill. What does this mean for you? As a budget conscious individual, it’s time to cut your cooling costs with these money-saving tips.

Sunblock

When the sun is up, consider pulling your shades down. Close your curtains, blinds or whatever window treatments you use to keep the sun’s rays from heating up your home. This will help to keep the interior of your home cool, which can help to cut your energy costs by not making your air conditioner work harder simply because the sun is causing excess heat. Solar screens for your windows and a radiant paint barrier for your attic are effective ways to block much of the sun’s UV rays.

Coolness Counts

If you use an air conditioner to cool your home, make sure that you adjust the temperature when you leave the house. Otherwise, you are just wasting energy on a home when no one is there. Additionally, you can also turn the unit down at night when the temperatures typically tend to cool off. This is true whether you are using a window unit for an individual room or a central system that’s used to cool the entire home.

Maintaining Your Cooling Unit

It’s important to clean your filters and/or replace them as recommended by the manufacturer. In addition to possibly resulting in dust and other allergens being circulated into the air, neglecting your filters could prevent the cool air from properly getting into your home. Have your air ductwork inspected on a regular basis for leaks and clogs to insure your system operates at peak performance.

Keep The Air Moving

Not every summer day is a hot one, which means you can often take advantage of the temperatures by using a standard fan instead of your air conditioner. The latter uses a great deal more energy than a fan, so consider your needs on a daily basis when choosing how to cool your home. You can install a ceiling fan for added air circulation, or you can use a standard rotating fan.

Cut Back On Cooking

Your kitchen oven can heat up your home in a hurry, which can make your air conditioner work harder to keep your house cool. This, in turn, results in higher cooling costs. Instead of using the oven, consider popping something in the microwave or on the outdoor grill for a change. While this may not be possible every day, it’s certainly something to consider on those sweltering summer afternoons.

There is nothing like fresh fruits and vegetables from your own garden to give your health and taste buds a treat. Starting a kitchen herb garden is a great and easy way to give your food the fresh taste of summer all year round, and it is easy and inexpensive, too!

Pick A Spot That Gets Good Light

Most herbs require a good amount of sunlight to grow, so choosing a spot where they get direct light is important to making sure your herbs flourish. If your kitchen doesn’t get sufficient light, consider moving your herbs to a room that gets better light or purchasing an indoor herb garden kit that has a grow lamp.

Choose A Good Selection Of Herbs

While there are great herb garden starter kits that offer a useful selection of herbs, if they are not herbs you use often in cooking they are probably not the best choice. Also be sure you choose herbs that are compatible with the kind of light available in your space.

Know The Right Conditions For Growth

As mentioned, herbs need a considerable amount of sunlight, but they also require rich moist soil to grow to their full potential. Having your indoor herb garden by the kitchen sink is ideal. Also, making sure the soil gets proper drainage by planting herbs in pots with draining holes and adding stones to the bottom can make a big difference.

To Fertilize Or Not

There are a number of resources on indoor herb gardens that recommend you use fertilizers to give your herbs the maximum growth potential. However, there are many great natural choices that will not affect the taste or nutritional value of your herbs, and are better for the environment.

A kitchen herb garden is a great way to boost the nutritional value and taste of your food, and will bring some of summer’s taste and feel into your home all year!

If you’re selling your home, there are a number of things you can do to improve your property’s potential value and appeal. Creating curb appeal is one of the most effective and easy ways to accomplish this and to increase the interest of potential buyers in your home. Here are some simple and inexpensive ways you can increase your home’s curb appeal.

Use Color Effectively

Color can be a power tool in attracting people to your home. If the exterior of your home could use a fresh coat of paint or a new door, this is a great opportunity to add some points of interest to your property. Always remember, however, more is less—choose colors that are similar to other homes in the area. You can infuse more vibrant and interesting colors through accent features and flowers or plants.

Create An Inviting Entrance

Making the entrance to your home attractive and inviting will give potential buyers an instant sense of welcome the moment they walk through the door. Make the door the focal point of the exterior of your home, and think about elements such as lighting and color to make it as attractive as possible. Also think about details such as including a nice welcome mat on your front step, some flowers in attractive pots or urns flanking the entrance, and even consider adding a chair with a small table if you have a larger porch area.

Landscaping Is A Must!

Making your lawn and yard attractive, free of clutter and debris, and nicely landscaped can really make all the difference in adding curb appeal. First remove all weeds, fix any areas on your lawn that need repair, and mow it carefully. If you have any unsightly items or clutter in the yard, remove it and replace it with well-placed flowers and plants. If you have a large front yard with no trees, consider planting one or two to add interest and value to the property.

These are just a few of the many ways in which, with a little effort and a small amount of money, you can increase interest in your home.

Selling your home can cause potential anxiety about your personal privacy. With your doors open to a nearly constant stream of strangers through your home, you may worry that your personal information is at risk. Protecting your personal information is a top priority. Here are a few tips for protecting your privacy while your home is on the market.

Ask Your REALTOR® To Accompany Potential Buyers And Other People Entering Your Home

Some REALTORS® allow buyers to walk through the property on their own. If you are concerned with allowing strangers to tour your home unaccompanied, let your agent know ahead of time.

Remove Your Mail And Financial Information

Don’t leave mail sitting out. You don’t want your personal information made public, and you would be surprised what thieves can use to steal your identity. Also remove all checkbooks and banks statements and place them in a secure filing cabinet or lockbox.

Remove Personal Effects

From diplomas to wedding photos, don’t provide potential buyers with any personal information about yourself or your family. The adorable pictures of your children that you have on your mantle, remove them and replace them with decorative items. Depersonalizing is also an important part of successfully staging your home for sale, so removing these things will allow you to accomplish two things at once.

Don’t Leave Your Computer On During Showings

A professional identity thief can access personal information from your computer in only a few moments, so shut your computer off before buyers arrive.

These simple tips can keep your privacy secure while selling your home.

When you start shopping for a home, you probably have a very specific image of what you would like that home to look like. You probably also see the perfect neighborhood surrounding that perfect home. Every buyer sets out with an image of the house they want to own, but in reality compromises are often necessary in order to stay within your budget.

Compromising On The House

There may be certain things that are non-negotiable when it comes to your new home, such as the number of bedrooms or a two-car garage. But as you take a look at the homes that are within your budget, you may discover that it is not likely you will get everything on your wish list. But the great thing about owning a home is that you have the power to remodel it at any time. Once you are in your new home, you can renovate or even add on if necessary to create the home you really want. And if you have managed to stay below your budget, you will even have the extra money each month to make some of those changes.

Compromising On The Neighborhood

So you’ve found the house of your dreams, but the neighborhood isn’t precisely what you were hoping for. Too much traffic, some houses that are becoming run down, or many other issues can mar the area your house is in. In most cases, you will have to accept that you cannot change the neighborhood, and this means that you have to decide if the problems are things you can live with or not.

In some cases, buying in a run-down neighborhood can be a strategic move. If many people are buying up the houses and improving them, then your home might one day be worth a lot more. However, you must realize that this is a risk and it might not work out that way.

Another thing to bear in mind is that if you choose to buy the nicest house in the neighborhood, you may have trouble selling it down the line. If other houses in the area are available for less, why would anyone buy your expensive house to get into the area?

So Which Matters More?

In the long run, when it comes down to choosing between the right house and the right neighborhood, you should choose the right neighborhood. While you can change your house for the better, you can’t count on your neighborhood changing; in fact, it might get worse. So choose the best neighborhood you can afford even if the house there isn’t perfect.

It’s nearly time for autumn, and that means that the holidays are coming! Are you ready to welcome visiting friends and family into your new home? It might seem like you have a lot to do, but relax; I’ve included a handy list of things to take care of before your guests start arriving!

Make space: Clean out the dressers and closets in the guest room(s) to ensure that your friends and family will feel comfortable and at home.

Plug it in: Make sure that all of your appliances are in working order. The last thing you need with a house full of guests is a broken dishwasher or washing machine!

Baby-proof: If your house isn’t already baby-proofed and if small children will be coming to stay or visit, take a little time to ensure that electrical outlets are safely covered, sharp edges are padded, and that valuable knick-knacks are out of harm’s way.

Light your fire: Make sure that your fireplace and chimney are clean and in working order. Gathering around the fire with friends and family is a cozy way to spend time reminiscing and chatting.

Knock knock: Take a walk through your home and inspect all doors and windows. If the doors, hinges or latches are sticky or squeaky, make any necessary repairs before your guests arrive. This will ensure privacy for them AND for you!