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On the Market: DIY Repairs You Should Make Before Selling Your Home

June 19, 2017 by Mandy

Selling a home can be a frustrating process: you have to find the right agents, figure out the pricing you’re willing to settle for and spend money on repairs to make your house perfect for prospective buys.

The good news is that there are actually a few things you can do around the house to get it ready for sale that won’t cost a lot and that won’t take a lot of time to complete. These repairs can really make a difference to potential buyers, helping you sell your house quickly no matter what the market looks like. Here are three important repairs to consider before putting your house up for sale.

Make Your Home Feel Welcoming

The first thing you want to do is make your house look inviting to prospective buys from the moment they pull up to your house. This is called “curb appeal” and it’s as important as any other first impression in your life.

That means you need to spend some time on landscaping and the exterior of your home. You don’t have to go all out and plant a bunch of new trees, shrubs, and flowers, but make sure that the plants you do have are healthy and trimmed. A few annuals are a great way to add color to an otherwise drab yard and make it look more inviting.

If there are any paint or siding problems, get those fixed immediately. No one will consider buying your home if they pull up and see chipped paint or missing pieces of siding. It’s a relatively easy fix and you can find all of the tools you may need on websites like RS Components.

Update the Lighting

Once people enter your home, they will be looking for things that they like, and having outdated lighting is a big turn off. Fortunately, however, it’s also one of the easiest things to replace.

Research a few interior design magazines and find out what people like with their lighting. Then make a trip to your local hardware store and find a style that works, but don’t spend too much. Once you find a style that you think will work, it’ll only take a few hours at most to update all of the lighting fixtures in your home, creating a more up-to-date and inviting space.

Clean, Clean, Clean

You may not immediately think of cleaning as a “repair,” but it really is. A dirty or messy house has just as much of a negative impact as a cracked foundation or a bad roof. So make sure there aren’t clothes or toys or any other clutter laying around when people come over.

Cleaning is also an opportunity for you to start packing. You can start to get things ready for your move and you can decide what items you want to keep and which items you can throw away, making your move a little easier when the time comes.

These simple things will make your house sell much quicker.

Flooring Styles That Will Make Cleaning Up After Your Family a Breeze

June 15, 2017 by Mandy

Kids can create big messes, but when you combine a bunch of school age children or toddlers with pets, light colored rugs and a terribly busy schedule, you are going to get nothing short of a disaster. That’s why forward thinking moms know that it is easier to keep their home clean when the they own the perfect type of flooring. Even if you don’t like the look of linoleum tiles, you can have a flooring installation expert come in and recommend something that can quickly get wiped clean without breaking your budget. Consider how hardwood floors would work in your living room instead of carpeting that has to be vacuumed on a daily basis. This is how you can choose a suitable flooring style that will make it possible for you to keep your home clean around the clock without sacrificing style.

Different Flooring Styles for Different Rooms

Ceramic tiles almost always compliment bathrooms, but they can also work very well in other rooms in your home that get plenty of use. If your children are still making a big mess at the dinner table, you may want to have tiles installed there so that staining does not become a long-term issue. In your children’s bedrooms, you might really benefit from hardwood floors as they will only need to be refinished once in a decade or so. You can put down mats or rugs on top of them to help protect your children from tumbles as well as protect your hardwood flooring.

Minimizing Your Cleaning Schedule

With certain types of flooring, you have to really work hard to keep it well preserved. Carpets need to be stain treated, vacuumed and then steam cleaned so that they stay in great shape. If you’re an active mom, it can be difficult to find enough time just to make dinner seven nights a week, so the idea of using your spare time to scrub carpets is likely not all that appealing. You should choose a flooring style that only needs a single cleaning method. Not only will you be able to clean up dust and crumbs in a few minutes, you won’t have to dread scheduling your next deep cleaning treatment.

How Much Is New Flooring Installation?

A lot of moms deal with constantly cleaning their existing carpets merely because they anticipate that professional flooring installation is going to be costly. Now, there are some people who are pretty handy and are capable of putting down their own hardwood floors or vinyl flooring strips, but the majority are smart to go to a licensed contractor. You will need to pay your flooring contractor for labor, but you can also get a good deal by choosing discounted materials. It could be that choosing a beautiful but discontinued brand of flooring could make the entire cost of installation go down substantially.

You can use a dishwasher to cut down on much of your required housework and drop your clothes off at a full service laundromat if you don’t feel like folding the laundry. Unfortunately, short of hiring a house cleaner, the floors are going to need to be scrubbed, mopped, swept and vacuumed if you want your house to stay clean. Make things a bit easier on yourself by choosing family friendly flooring.

4 Fun Games That Turn Cleaning With Kids Into Fun

June 2, 2017 by Mandy

Do you need help cleaning? Do you want to teach your kids how to pick up after themselves? You can marry these ideas with a bit of strategy. You need to make cleaning fun for your children! Here are four fun games that turn cleaning with kids into fun.

The Sack Game

Image via Flickr by wuestenigel

Is your house a mess? Picking up is something kids hate to do, and you probably agree with them. Still, you can persuade your children to do it by turning the process into a game. Give your kids an empty sack. Tell them that the goal is to take stuff off the floor that doesn’t belong there. Then pay them a quarter for every item they have in their sacks at the end of the game.

You should also offer bonuses when your kids do a particularly good job. That way, you’re using positive reinforcement to make your children neater. They’ll earn more when they do a better job. So, it’s an introduction to capitalism, too!

Fun With Colors

Another way to get your kids to pick up their stuff is the color game. Tell them that you want to play, and then describe the rules. When you say a color, the kids have to pick up something with that color. As a parent, you can rig this game. You know which junk you want picked up, so keep saying those colors until your kids grab them. Just like that, they’ve won the game. Meanwhile, you have a cleaner floor!

The Ticking Clock

A countdown clock has a strange effect on people. It makes them work faster for fear of not finishing a task before the timer expires. You can take advantage of this behavior while teaching your kids how to clean.

Tell your kids that they have to clean up their rooms by a certain time. If they finish the job satisfactorily enough for you, they get some sort of reward. You can make it money, a treat, or something that the kids pick for themselves. Then, start the timer and watch them go. You’ve given them incentive to clean their room.

Have a Chore Draft

Something else you can try is turning the cleaning of your house into a schoolyard game of picking teams. You and your kids will write a list of chores. You should pick some that are less fun than others. Kids like things that let them interact with their toys, even when they work. They hate anything that involves garbage or the bathroom, so add those to the list, too.

Then decide who gets to pick first. As the adult, you should use your selections for the harder chores. For example, you want to take care of wiping down the walls and fans. You need to reduce the allergens in your home, so you should pick dusting. After everyone has a few chores, grade the draft to see how everyone did. Who ended up with the hardest chores as opposed to the fun ones?

You love playing with your children. You also want a clean home. Using the four tips above, you can achieve both goals!

4 Signs You May Have Mold in Your Home

May 26, 2017 by Mandy

No one wants to think about the presence of mold in their home. However, it occurs in more household areas than you may think. There are over 100,000 known types of mold. For people with respiratory problems, poor immune systems, or allergies, being exposed to it is potentially dangerous. You can determine if mold possibly exists in your house through most of your senses. Learn what the warning signs are before mold takes over your home and your health.

The Naked Eye

Image via Flickr by iBjorn

Most people can recognize mold by sight. You typically see the black substance in your shower or bathtub along the caulk and sealing. Although, all molds are not black in color. They can be white, gray, brown, or green. Mold sometimes looks like it’s orange or purple on certain surfaces. However, they all survive off a food source, water, and a dark, inactive atmosphere as long as freezing or boiling temperatures are not present. There could also be a bigger mold colony outside of the one that you see.

Pungent Smell

One of the most common tell-tale signs of mold is an earthy smell. It is musty and smells like dirt or dying leaves. Some molds have a stronger smell. It can be found living in your walls behind paneling or wallpaper. In these instances, the pungent odor may alert you before you lay eyes on it. The certainty of mold should be determined by a professional. Schedule a reputable company to test your home, including servicing your HVAC system. Then, they can assist you with any repairs or mold removal that you may need.

Illness and Irritation

Congestion, watery eyes, headaches, wheezing, and fatigue are all health symptoms associated with mold in your home. You might feel perfectly fine outside of your home, but you experience illness when you return. This might be a sign of indoor mold. Has your home ever been affected by a flood? USA Today reports that over 19 major floods happened in the United States in 2016 alone. If your home has flooded, water could have crept into unseen places and remains there undetected. You might have mold growing under your flooring or behind your built-in appliances.

Water Leaks

Image via Flickr by noii’s

Stachybotrys, a common indoor mold, thrives in wet conditions. It is found in materials such as drywall, cardboard, wicker, and cotton. Dust, lint, and lumber also harbor stachybotrys. If you see water stains or discoloration on your floors, ceilings, or walls, there could be mold developing. Is the paint cracking or peeling? Are there bubbles in the surface of the wallpaper? These are indications that a water leak has occurred and mold is underneath. When you notice a warped shelf or base underneath your kitchen sink, moisture has probably seeped in, leading to mold growth.

Even the smallest of mold patches can spread if untreated. Stop it before it gets out of control. Don’t allow it to be harmful to you and your family.

Pros and Cons of Buying a Foreclosed Home at Auction

May 26, 2017 by Mandy

Source

About a decade ago, you might have been hard-pressed to find a decent property that also happened to be foreclosed. The 2008 Great Recession created a subprime meltdown that not only increased the amount of foreclosures, but made it easier to find and purchase through the use of multiple-listing services (MLS). While the market has improved since then, banks still need to make up the losses on these each sale.

However, this does not mean the bank is simply going to sell the houses as fast as possible. To help you make the right decision, we’ve put together a list of the pros and cons for buying a foreclosed house in today’s market.

PRO: Cheaper Price Point

This is the first and most obvious benefit associated with buying a foreclosure over a comparable property in a similar market. You can get them at severely discounted prices—sometimes to the tune of 18-59 percent below market value, according to Quicken Loans. The longer these banks hold on these properties, the more they will have to pay in taxes, maintenance, etc.

Not only is the price point alluring, but if the market the home is in decides to take a dip, you won’t be upside down in a money-pit. Alternatively, if the value of the home appreciates, you can sell the home for a larger return on investment.

CON: Often a Risky Venture

Even though they are priced relatively low, compared to the rest of the market, they can still come with their share of baggage. Many banks will put money into the house to make the house appear nice so that the listing becomes more popular—however, this doesn’t mean that everything inside the home is guaranteed fixed. The more money that a bank puts into fixing the home to make it sellable, the less likely they are going to part with it quickly or cheaply.

You will also likely be forced to buy the home “as is,” which can come with no reporting on specific damage like a leaky roof, moldy interior or neighborhood crime. If you are planning on using the home as an investment or rental property you will have to pay a higher insurance premium along with stipulating that potential residents invest in renters insurance for themselves.

PRO: Potential Upgrade

The investor who likes to take a risk may be able to use the purchase of a foreclosed home to their advantage, such as buying a piece of land or house that is bigger than what they currently own. Or maybe the foreclosure is in a more desirable neighborhood than they would normally be able to afford. You can find foreclosures in all price ranges—from starter homes to luxury mansions— and from time to time they’ll be in great shape, ready for you to move in!

CON: Banks Are Much Less Lenient

When you are placing an offer on a foreclosure sale with the bank, you are negotiating with a spreadsheet. It is strictly a numbers game. Unlike a typical seller who may take personal factors like your background or family into account, the bank doesn’t. Whatever offer you place on the property is going to be electronically submitted and processed by an algorithm onto a spreadsheet where a banker is going to determine the outcome. It is not the same home buying experience you may expect from traditional sales, with a real estate agent helping you through the process.

Ultimately, the choice to buy a foreclosed home is up to you and is largely a case-by-case basis. However, arming yourself with all the facts is always the best recourse when approaching any large investment.