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Three Steps to a Healthier Home

Cleaning your home doesn’t have to be hard. There are some natural, effective ways to clean your home. If you want to drastically improve your health, your family’s health and your pets’ health, you need to implement some changes within your home, but they’re a lot easier than you think. With just three changes, you will be feeling much better.

 

Indoor Air Quality

The home’s air quality is often worse than the air quality outside the home. This is primarily caused by the lack of ventilation in the home. Allergens and other substances become trapped in the home, and they build up. The home needs proper air flow to evacuate allergens and other pollutants. That said, it’s good to open up the windows and doors every once in a while. Using a fan within the bathroom and other parts of the home helps to lift out air along with allergens from the home. If your home doesn’t have an attic fan, now would be a good time to invest in one. However, check with a contractor whether this is a smart solution for your particular roof style.

 

To avoid toxic fumes, it’s best to build a home with “green” materials. An open layout of the house helps to improve air flow. HVAC systems, ceiling fans and floor fans can also help to increase air flow within the home. Using these methods, along with opening windows, will help to expel poor air, allergens and mold. Mold growth significantly decreases using this method of air ventilation as well because it reduces humidity in the home, and it provides an exit point for mold spores.

 

Cleaning the home with natural products also reduces the amount of toxic fumes and chemicals within the home as well. Baking soda can be used to scrub the tub, remove burnt-on residue from pans, serve as a laundry booster and effectively deodorize many parts of the home. Distilled white vinegar helps to remove stains from laundry, kill germs, clean glass, and it helps to clean a variety of surfaces.

 

Professional Cleaning

Keeping the home clean helps to prevent illnesses and help boost the immune system. There are many places for dirt and dust to hide. Within dust, dust mites gather, and they leave their fecal matter behind. People are allergic to this, and they are allergic to other substances if they’re immune systems are not strong. Pets and people track in dust and debris, which get trapped in the carpet. Another issue in the home is mold. Mold spores cause numerous problems for people, and it tends to hide in porous surfaces, like grout. When people suffer from weak immune systems, they’re more susceptible to illnesses. This means that an endless supply of people walk around tired, thinking they need coffee or sugar to keep them going, when they really just need their homes deep-cleaned. Hiring a professional company for carpet cleaning, tile cleaning and duct cleaning can make a drastic difference in the home.

 

Sunlight

 

Sunlight has an amazing ability to kill microorganisms that could otherwise cause problems for the family. Some of the sun’s ultraviolet rays help to kill certain types of bacteria. Sunlight also prevents mold growth, so where you’re able to allow for sunlight to permeate your home, take advantage of it. Sunlight is also helpful in killing viruses. While you’re opening up windows, keep curtains and blinds drawn. Take advantage of the sun throughout the day. You’ll say on lighting costs as well. Certain health industries have started taking advantage of using ultraviolet light to effectively kill a host of germs as an extra step in sanitizing everything.

 

You can’t eradicate everything harmful from your home, but you can give your immune system a fighting chance by naturally cleaning your home. Implement the steps above, and take time to boost your immune system internally as well. Eat well, drink water, exercise and get full sleep cycles in to help your body stay healthy.

 

Smart Home Gadgets to Increase Home’s Value

Although most people relish the arrival of the holiday season, real estate activity tends to grow in sluggish around this happy time of year. Many prospective buyers simply have other priorities on their minds. You’ll want to make an extra effort to attract attention to the most appealing aspects of your property now:

One: De-Clutter And Simplify

When you offer your home for sale, encourage potential buyers to envision themselves residing there. Many sales experts recommend removing as much of your personal property from the premises as possible to encourage this mindset. Naturally, you treasure your belongings. Yet to casual visitors your grandfather’s worn old chair or your son’s favorite pair of gym sneakers scream “clutter”.

Consider stripping down your household furnishings to the bare minimum. If necessary, rent a storage unit as a temporary home for any unnecessary household possessions. By simplifying your interior design, you’ll inspire prospective buyers to see themselves filling your premises with their own prized possessions!

Two: Create Exterior Curb Appeal

During the holiday season, it remains especially important to dispel any sense of mid-winter gloom. You’ll want to ensure your home appears inviting from the curb. No one enjoys taking time to tour a residence situated in the midst of a cold, dormant terrain- especially during the convivial holiday season.

Fortunately, several strategies offer assistance. To “spruce up” your grounds (pun intended), place potted evergreens near the front door or along the entrance; they’ll display vibrant green throughout the year. You might also consider using colored mulch in the garden to add rich, decorative earth tones to the yard. Consider hanging a festive wreath on the front door. Most importantly, ensure your home’s exterior lights function correctly; by late afternoon, visitors sometimes require extra illumination at this time of year.

Three: Use Aroma Power

The ability to use powerful scents in your home also assists you during the holiday season. Studies show the sweet aroma of cinnamon rolls appeals to most people. Bake some in the oven before a showing to infuse your kitchen with an alluring scent.

Pine air fresheners may also prove welcome now. Remember, some visitors particularly notice pet odors. You may wish to obtain professional carpet cleaning to remove these lingering scents from upholstery.

Four: Promote Your Home Widely

The holiday season enables you to promote your home widely to your network of friends and neighbors. At social gatherings, mention you’ve placed your home for sale. Local people often know interested possible buyers.

It remains important not to monopolize holiday gatherings with your home marketing news. Yet you should share this information. Your friends may wish to help you by contributing their own friendly word-of-mouth advertising.

Five: Create a Festive Atmosphere at Your Open Houses

Make your residence appealing by creating a festive atmosphere during holiday open houses. Even if you don’t want to set up a fully decorated natural tree, you might consider locating small white artificial Christmas trees in several rooms to create a festive décor. (Just keep the decorations simple and uncluttered.)

Offering small candies or warm apple cider to your visitors confers a party-like atmosphere during open house tours. Make sure you ask everyone to sign a guest book. You can follow up with potential buyers later to see if they have considered purchasing your home.

Many Rewards

By continuing to promote the sale of your property during the holiday season, you may obtain a welcome outcome. Even if a closing does not occur until after the celebrations end, your efforts to sell your home won’t have occurred in vain. Selling real estate sometimes requires time and patience. Your prospects may discuss your property in depth during family gatherings and bring you an offer once most businesses resume their normal operations!

What I Learned Building My First House

Many people dream of building a great home. With the strong housing market, now is a great time to invest in a new home. However, building a home is more complicated than many people realize. There are many variables to consider when building a home. Working with an experienced builder is one of the most important things that anyone can concentrate on. There are many people who are excited about the possibilities in their new home. Here are some things to remember when building a home.   Building a Home is Hard Work Building a home takes a lot of careful planning. Some people wrongly assume that building a home is an easy process. However, homeowners must be willing to work hard in order to finish on time. One of the biggest reasons that homes do not finish on time or on a budget is because the owners are not organized. Before starting the building process, you need to have plans for each part of your home. Your home builder should be able to walk you through the expected cost of the home. It is up to you to get your part done in order to complete the home within the allotted time schedule.   Get a Home Warranty A home warranty is one of the best investments that anyone can make. A home warranty will protect the homeowner in the event of something going wrong. Some people do not want to pay money for a home warranty. However, with just one issue coming up in your home, the home warranty will pay for itself. There are many people who think that the home warranty cost is too high. There are cheaper options available in the market if you spend enough time looking around. However, compared to the cost of repairing a home, a home warranty is a great deal. It is risky to build a new home and not have some sort of home warranty. In fact, many areas of the country require a warranty for people who build a new home. Before you move in, getting a home warranty that covers your needs is vital.   There Will be Delays Building a home is a long and difficult process. During this process, there are going to be times when the project gets delayed. These delays can result from things like weather or simply poor planning. This is one of the reasons that homeowners should put some buffer into their time and financial budget for a new home. Working with a great builder is one way to minimize delays. Experienced builders know how to plan for things that they cannot control. Looking at online reviews is one of the best ways to make sure that you are choosing the right builder for your needs.   Staying on Budget is Difficult Staying on a budget during the building process can be difficult. When building a home, every area of the home can be customized to fit the needs of the homeowner. There are many people who end up spending thousands of dollars upgrading their new home. This is a major financial issue because getting a new loan is a difficult process. In order to prevent these issues from occurring, you need to make sure to stay on budget with each part of the home. When you get approval for a home loan, getting a little extra financing is always a good idea. This will give you some room to splurge on various areas of your home. Some people end up taking a second loan to finish their home. This can result in financial disaster if the housing market crashes.

5 Tips to Maintain the “Brand New” Look in Your New Home

Moving into a new home can be a wonderful feeling. Few things can beat looking around and seeing that everything in the house is brand new. However, it’s inevitable that the like-new feeling will fade over time. Luckily, it’s possible to keep your home looking like new for a long time to come. These are a few tips that can help you do just that.

 

  1. Have Your Carpet Professionally Cleaned

No matter how careful you might be to try to keep your carpet clean, odors, dirt and more are going to happen. Of course, you can implement a no-shoes policy in your home, and vacuuming your flooring regularly can help. However, even with all of this, your carpet can begin to show signs of wear and tear over time.

 

If you have it professionally cleaned, however, you can keep it looking great for years. Having it cleaned is a good way to get rid of deep dirt that you can’t remove with your vacuum cleaner. Plus, it can help get rid of odors and can overall make your carpet look and smell like new again.

 

Different people have to have steam carpet cleaning done with different frequencies. For many, simply having your carpet cleaned once per year is sufficient. If you have kids or pets, however, you may find that having your carpet cleaned more often is a better choice.

 

  1. Wash Your Windows

It can be easy to forget about chores like washing your windows. However, they can get dirty on both the inside and outside and will start to look older than they are if you don’t take care of them. Even though it can be a big chore, it’s important to clean your windows both on the inside and outside at least once per year. In-between these cleanings, using a little bit of your favorite window cleaner and a paper towel or old piece of newspaper can allow you to get rid of any smudges that you see as they pop up.

 

  1. Clean Your Walls and Baseboards

It might seem like a really big job to clean your walls and baseboards. However, even if you keep a nice, clean home, walls and baseboards can become dirty. Dust and cobwebs can accumulate, and you might leave fingerprints and smudges on the walls. Once per year, using your favorite all-purpose cleaner, you should clean your walls and baseboards with a clean cloth. If you have trouble reaching the higher areas of your walls, you can use a step ladder or a clean, brand new mop to get the job done.

 

  1. Clean Your Light Fixtures

Many people never think much about cleaning their light fixtures. However, your brand new light fixtures can begin to look old and dirty if you don’t take care of them. Climbing up on a step ladder and dusting them regularly is a good way to get rid of dust and debris. Periodically, you may need to clean your light fixtures a little more thoroughly in order to make them look good, however. Using glass cleaner or your favorite all-purpose cleaner can be a good solution for getting your light fixtures nice and clean.

 

  1. Get in the Habit of Picking Up as You Go

One of the things that many people love about a brand new house is the fact that it’s not cluttered with a ton of “stuff” yet and that it’s kept neat and clean. As time goes on, however, it can be easy to get into the habit of putting things in the wrong places or otherwise not cleaning up after yourself. Unfortunately, this can lead to your home becoming a lot messier than you probably would like for it to be.

 

If you and your family members get in the habit of picking up and cleaning as you go, however, you can save yourself a whole lot of work, can prevent your home from getting out of control and can help ensure that your home is always “company ready.”

 

As you can see, there are a few steps that you can take that can help you keep your home looking new for many years. If you follow these tips, you can help ensure that your home looks great for a long time to come.

 

5 Things to Look for When Buying Your First Home

Congratulations! You’re about to become a homeowner! It’s both an exciting and terrifying time, as you navigate the real estate marketing looking for an affordable home that you also love. There are a lot of factors you may know with buying a home and it’s important that you know them before making the big decision. As you take a big step towards home ownership, below are five important things to consider when buying your first home.

1. The Roof

A roof in need of repair should be among the first features to check before settling on a property. Take a look at the roof before even entering the home. What material is it? Some roofing materials last longer than others. Consider the stability of the roof in relation to the environment the house is in. For instance, if the place is windy, then you will need a very sturdy roof. Look at the roofline for deflections. Watch out for damaged or detached shingles that can cause leaks. 2. A House Is An Investment Keep this in mind when you are buying your new home because there could come a time when you may need to sell it. This is where all that maintenance will come in handy. By keeping everything in tip-top shape, the value of your home will also stay in good shape. In addition, when looking at homes, take note of what DIY projects you can do to help increase the value of your home. From installing glass doors in your home to replacing the carpet with wood flooring, you’re options are endless when you treat your house as an investment.

3. Property Taxes

Owners of real property must pay property taxes. In many cases, your mortgage lender will collect this as part of the monthly mortgage payment, otherwise, the homeowner must pay on their own. Also, find out how often the county you are moving to reassesses tax valuations and determine the last time your property was assessed in order to prepare for potential changes.

4. Is Everything Up To Code?

The ASHI Standards of Practice states that home inspectors are required to report on unsafe conditions, but you may also want to have a code inspector look at the property. If anything is out of code, then it’s your responsibility as the new homeowner to fix it. In addition, always do a home inspection. A home inspector has a checklist covering the roof to the basement and everything in between. Having an experienced home inspector can save you headaches in the future, especially if they uncover major structural issues that could make or break the sale. If you don’t mind a “fixer upper”, then this would also give you an idea of the potential work that you have ahead of you. However, if there is more work than either you or the seller can reasonably fix, then you might need to consider another option.

5. Land/Neighborhood

Don’t spend too much time evaluating the house that you disregard the land it is on. Learn the characteristic of that piece of land. Does it have a tendency to flood? If you are planning to get an in-ground pool, a rocky ground will present some limitations. Analyze the fencing and landscaping options that the land offers. Consider the parking space that you will have as well. At the same time, drive around the neighborhood to get a feel for your potential neighbors. Are there more retired couples, families or singles in the area? This is key if you have family—finding out if you live near families with kids around the same age as your own. Do some research online as well to see crime rates, registered sex offenders, etc in the neighborhood. All in all, keep these five tips in mind when on journey towards homeownership.