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How To Make Your Home More Sustainable in 2022

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How To Make Your Home More Sustainable in 2022If you are looking for a way to make your home more sustainable in 2022, there are several options available. A lot of people are concerned about the environment, and you can do your part by reducing the amount of energy your home consumes. Furthermore, some of these home improvements are not that expensive and can actually save you money. Some of them might even increase the value of your house. Take a look at some of the top sustainable home improvements you should make below.

Install Energy-Efficient Windows

If you have not swapped out your windows in a while, you may want to upgrade them to energy-efficient ones. Energy-efficient windows can reduce the amount of heat and air conditioning your home consumes. If you combine your energy-efficient windows with exceptional insulation, you can significantly reduce the stress on your HVAC unit. This can help you reduce your utility bills. 

Upgrade Your Lighting System

You may want to install energy-efficient lighting as well. For example, LED lights use significantly less money when compared to regular bulbs. They can also save you hundreds of dollars per year on your utility bills. In addition, LED lights will last significantly longer than traditional light bulbs, so you don’t have to replace them as often, either. 

Make The Switch To Solar Energy

You can also make the switch to solar energy to reduce the amount of electricity you consume. Even though you can install solar panels on your roof, you may want to take a look at a few other solar upgrades as well. For example, you might want to use a solar attic fan, which can help you alleviate the heat trapped in your attic. You may want to install solar water heaters as well, which can reduce the amount of energy you spend heating your water.

Plant A Garden

Even something as simple as planting a garden can make your house a more sustainable place. Plants are natural air purifiers, they can improve the health of your soil, and they can attract pollinators, such as bees, that are important for our environment. Of course, if you plant fruits and vegetables, you can also save money on your utility bills.

 

The Top Trends For The Backyard This Spring

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The Top Trends For The Backyard This SpringWith the weather beginning to warm up outside, a lot of people are looking forward to spending more time outdoors. If your grass is beginning to grow and turn green again, you might be thinking about hosting a party with your family members and friends. What are a few trends you should consider embracing this spring?

Container Gardens

A lot of people are looking for ways to introduce nature into their homes. Even though you can certainly put a few more flowers and plants inside, you might want to consider container gardens outside. You might be able to grow your own vegetables, and you could grow some herbs. If you like spicy food, consider planting a few hot peppers. Then, tend to the gardens, watch them grow, and enjoy the splash of color they bring to your yard.

Living Room Furnishings

If you want to develop stronger connections with your family members and friends, consider moving the living room outside. While you can certainly go with traditional outdoor wicker furniture, consider putting living room-like furnishings outside. This could include couches, coffee tables, and even a TV. Just make sure you take care of your furniture if you decide to deploy it outside. You might want to invest in a cover you can use to protect it from the rain. 

An Outdoor Kitchen

Consider cooking more outdoors. There are plenty of ways you can create a kitchen-like atmosphere in your backyard. You might want to get a grill, a rolling bar cart, or even an extra sink. If you really want to go all-out, consider purchasing an oven or a stove you can have outside as well. This will encourage you and your family to use the backyard more often.

Get The Most Out Of Your Backyard This Spring

These are just a few of the top trends you may notice in backyards this spring. If you are looking forward to getting outside again, consider putting a few of these trends to use. Take a look at some of the sales you can use to save money, and consider who you will be hanging out with. That way, you can get the most out of your backyard during the warmer months. 

 

What Home Improvements Sellers Should Make In 2022

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What Home Improvements Sellers Should Make In 2022Owning a home is an investment, and it is important for people to treat it as such. Some homeowners are looking for improvements they can make to their house that might improve its resale value. There are a number of home improvements that seller should consider making in 2022 if they want to maintain or increase the value of their home.

Add A Stone Veneer

One of the top home improvements homeowners might want to make is to add a stone veneer. It can be expensive to replace the siding of a house with a stone veneer, but this is an improvement that can add significant value to the house over time. Furthermore, homeowners might expect the cost of the veneer to recoup almost all of its value when they go to sell the house.

Update And Remodel The Kitchen

Another upgrade that homeowners should consider is remodeling the kitchen. Styles change over time, and the needs of homeowners can change over time as well. Remodeling the kitchen can be both a stylistic upgrade as well as a functional one. People spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and a prospective buyer might be willing to pay a lot of money for a kitchen that has been upgraded and remodeled. The cost of the project could pay for almost all of itself by increasing the value of the home. 

Replace And Upgrade The Windows

Consider replacing and upgrading the windows to boost the value of the house. A lot of people are tired of spending a lot of money on utilities, and one of the ways to save money on utility bills is to invest in energy-efficient windows. This can improve the insulation of the house and reduce the load on the HVAC system. Buyers might like these utility savings, and they could be willing to pay more for the house, covering the cost of the windows in the process.

Invest In A House With These Improvements

These are just a few of the many home upgrades that homeowners should consider making. There are plenty of ways to not only improve or remodel the house but also increase its value. Work with a professional to get the most out of these improvements. 

The Top Issues Homeowners Cannot Ignore

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The Top Issues Homeowners Cannot IgnoreOwning a home can be a major investment, but it is also a significant responsibility. From time to time, issues can pop up, and it is important that homeowners do not to ignore them. Ignoring these issues can lead to significant repair bills down the road. What are some of the top issues that homeowners should not ignore?

1. Mold

Mold is a sign that the humidity level in the home is off or that there is standing water present somewhere. Mold thrives in warm, moist conditions. If homeowners do not address mold as quickly as possible, it will proliferate throughout the house, damaging the structure. Mold can also lead to significant health concerns, particularly for people who suffer from chronic respiratory conditions. 

2. A Warped Floor

If there is a warped floor present, it needs to be investigated quickly. A floor begins to warp when there is water trapped underneath it. Water damages the integrity of the floorboards, causing them to bend and buckle. The problem will get worse if the water source is not identified and rectified. Homeowners need to fix this as quickly as possible. 

3. Missing Roof Shingles

The roof is responsible for protecting the rest of the home from precipitation. If there are any shingles that are damaged or missing, they will not do their jobs. Water can get in through this area, spread throughout the rest of the roof, and lead to major damage. Homeowners need to get the roof inspected to identify and fix missing shingles.

4. Unusual Noises From The HVAC 

If there are unusual noises coming from the HVAC, it could be a sign of a tremendous amount of stress on the unit itself. This could cause the HVAC unit to burn out quickly, leading to a major bill. When unusual noises are addressed, the HVAC unit can be fixed, extending its lifespan.

Take Care Of The Home

These are a few of the many issues that homeowners should not ignore. If homeowners do not identify these issues and fix them as quickly as possible, they will simply become more expensive and cumbersome down the road. These signs need to be addressed by a major professional, and many of them can be avoided with routine maintenance. 

 

Where To Squeeze A Home Office In Your Home

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Where To Squeeze In A Home Office In Your HomeIf you have started working from home, whether you are a freelancer or running a business, having a home office in your home is very important.

It is a place where you can separate your home life and work, so that you can get “in the zone” and concentrate on the important work tasks that you need to complete. But where should you place your home office?

If you have a spare bedroom in your home, the answer is easy – but what if you don’t have this extra space? Is it possible to squeeze a home office into an already full home? Of course it is, you just have to think outside of the box. Here are some ideas:

Convert Your Attic

If you have an attic in your home, why not use that space for a quiet and private home office? It will be separate from your home and free from any distractions. If your attic is unfinished, converting it into living space can be a good investment that will improve the value of your home.

Work At Your Breakfast Nook

Perhaps your kitchen has a breakfast nook, but your family always ends up eating at the dining table and doesn’t really use it much? If this is the case, you could create a small and compact office space where you can work – while being close to the coffee maker in the kitchen!

Find An Unused Corner

Perhaps there is a corner of your bedroom or living room that you aren’t really using for much? Why not turn it into a home office? All you need is a small desk and a chair to create a workspace. If you want to separate it from the rest of the room, you can use stylish room dividers.

Go Underground

Have you ever thought of using your basement for your home office? There is probably a corner down there that you could use for office space. To combat the lack of natural light, you can use a SAD lamp that offers the same wavelengths as sunlight.

These are just a few ideas of where you could place your home office, even if all of the rooms in your home are in use. As long as you can find a quiet corner somewhere, you can create your ultimate working space.

For more tips and information, contact your trusted real estate professional today.

Popcorn Ceilings and the Trend to Remove Them

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Popcorn Ceilings and the Trend to Remove ThemDuring the 1970s, home building picked up on the idea of a cheap but effective way to reduce sound travel from one floor to the next: popcorn ceilings. Essentially, after the drywall was installed, a finisher would come in with a plaster mix and spray on the ceiling drywall for a bit of a lumpy effect. The disparate clumps and bumps not only created a texture to an otherwise flat-looking ceiling, they also helped break up sound waves. After being spray-painted in white, the ceiling texture essentially blended with the rest of the room to produce a finished look. Popcorn ceilings were such a common approach, entire home subdivisions had cookie-cutter ceiling work done by teams on new homes.

A Bad Memory From the Past

Today, popcorn ceilings are like sheet vinyl on flooring, relics of the 1970s decade and almost a trigger for a negative gut reaction from anyone who lived in that time period, particularly as a kid. Worse, prior to 1978, some of the material used to create the popcorn ceiling also included asbestos under the idea that it would improve safety and increase fire resistance ( disregarding the fact that asbestos is extremely hazardous to breathe once airborne).

Leverage for a Buyer, Vulnerability for a Seller

No surprise, anyone in modern times coming into a used home as a new buyer and owner will likely want to have the popcorn ceiling texture completely removed and redone. In some cases, during a buyer’s market, some prospects will actually want the seller to pay for the work to sell the home quickly.

Sellers should expect, at a minimum, that the issue will be used to argue for a lower price, at least in a normal market or where there is competition to secure a buyer. Only during a seller’s market will the presence of the popcorn ceiling pretty much be a non-issue for a quick sale.

While it might seem tempting to just have the owner scrape the ceilings and repaint them, it’s best to have a professional take care of the removal in a clean process. Especially if the home is older than 1978, the work could be hazardous and require specific steps for proper mitigation.