Fall is right around the corner and September has me dreaming of cooler weather and pumpkin carving. Whether you're a pumpkin spice or an apple cider, and whether you rent or own, there are things you can do around your home to increase safety, lower heating bills and ensure the coming cold weather doesn't create issues down the road. Check for cracks in your driveway, sidewalks, porch and patio. Any cracks or lifting you see now will only get worse with freezing and thawing over the winter. Repair them before they become a trip hazard. Renters, don't think this doesn't apply to you. Your landlord may not see your home every day, so you take a look and report your findings in order to get things repaired. This one may not apply to renters, but every homeowner knows the struggle to get your lawn looking green and lush in the Spring. Get a leg up by fertilizing now, and giving your grass a chance to grow strong roots before the freezing weather hits. Smoke detector and ca...

Every industry has their own language.  There terms they throw around like everyone knows what they're talking about but no one outside the industry really does.  In most cases it's okay.  I don't need to know what a faucet aerator or a backflow valve are as long as my plumbing works.  But in Real Estate, it's your money and your home we're talking about, so a little education can go a long way. There are a LOT of Real Estate terms, so I'll break them down by category.  Here are a few pre-house hunting terms to get you started. Realtor  (Pronouced Reel-tor) According to the National Association of Realtors, " REALTOR® is a federally registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics." In reality, a Realtor is someone who sells your home in record time, finds your dream home and solves problems you never knew exi...

When you move into a new home there are always unknown adventures awaiting. Most are wonderful and exciting, and such a happy bonus to homeownership. Others...well, others make you thankful for family and friends who come to the rescue to help you through! Sometimes when you pull the kitchen cabinet doors off and lay them out on the floor to paint, your dog decides to walk across them and decorate your floor with pretty little painted paw prints. That was my first home, and thankfully that carpet was coming out anyway! Sometimes it's the basement flooding because the sump pump that worked perfectly well during the inspection suddently went out right after you moved in. This was our current home, but it's also why you ask your sellers to give you a home warranty! And sometimes, like yesterday, you invite your parents out to celebrate Mother's Day but then 2 trees you knew were going to have to come down unexpectedly falling. Thankfully your parents still come for dinn...

We're all looking for things to do and ways to keep busy right now, so why not make the best of it and keep working on that Spring maintenance? Yard Things are turning green so make sure your grass has every chance to do the same.  Rake the dead leaves, grass and other stuff out of your yard so it doesn't inhibit new growth.  The raking will also loosen grass that got matted from rain and snow so it greens up more quickly.  It's not quite warm enough to spread grass seed yet (Fall and late Spring are best for that) but  aerating and/or dethatching  can help ensure your soil is ready when it's time. This is also a good time to spread a pre-emergent herbicide.  It won't do anything to kill weeds that are already growing but will prevent weeds that haven't come up yet, so timing is everything.  Make sure to  educate yourself  so it has the best chance at working properly. Deck/patio This one is pretty simple.  Weed in and aro...

Disclaimer: if you're a first time home buyer, do not read this!  Even those of us who LOVE homeownership, homebuying, homeselling, homes, homes, homes (!!) need to vent every now and then.  If you do chose to read, don't let it scare you.  Stuff happens. Friday morning I woke up intending to throw in a load of laundry before getting started for the day.  I gathered up my hamper and baskets and headed downstairs, only to stop dead in my tracks.  I saw water.  And not just a little moisture like you'd expect in a 50 year old home when you've had this much rain.  Standing water.  I headed back upstairs, dropped my laundry and pulled on my boots and went to the basement to assess the damage. Yes, that is the reflection of my overhead light on the rug.  How, you ask, does a rug reflect light so perfectly?  When it's covered in an inch of water, that's how. I spent most of the rest of the day getting everything off the floor and tryin...

Last week we talked indoor Spring prep, so let's move outside the house.  Don't worry, we'll get to the yard next week! Gutters and downspouts You know we're about to get the Spring rains, so cleaning your gutters is probably a no brainer, but here's something to consider, too.  If your gutters and downspouts aren't draining properly, it can cause the wood at your eaves to rot.  Leave the rot unattended long enough and you get holes.  Meaning critters getting into your attic.  Cleaning your gutters is not a fun job, but it really is important to do multiple times a year. Roof and chimney No, I am NOT suggesting that you jump up on your roof and take a walk around!  But you can see a lot from ground level.  Even without getting on a ladder you can look for lose or missing shingles, popped nails and evidence of bowing or sagging and other common problems .  If you see those things, call a professional to see if you need repairs before it gets ...

Can you believe Spring is just around the corner?  In Southeast Indiana you never really know when Spring weather will arrive, but the first day of Spring is March 19, just over 2 weeks away! That means it's time to get your house ready for Spring and all that it brings.  This has the potential to be a LONG post, so I'm going to break it up into several editions.  Since its been so rainy, let's start inside the home and give it a little time to dry up before heading outside next week. Foundation and basement Look for signs of moisture coming into your basement.  With all the rain we've had, this should be a fairly easy task, but please do take it seriously.  After all, the foundation is literally your house's home!  Moisture can be high humidity, cracks and even standing water in older homes.  Cracks tend to start from the bottom up, so look there first for signs of moisture.  While some settling is normal, cracks that look dark usu...

Thanks to late night Netflix binging we've all heard of the  KonMari  method of organizing your home.  While in no way a minimalist, Marie Kondo understands the importance of clearing out the things that no longer provide value to our lives for cleaner, simpler, more organized living.  This applies to preparing your home for selling too! You don't want your house to look bare, but a bit of tidying will make your home seem bigger with more storage and help buyers picture themselves living in, not just visiting, your home.  All of this will help your home sell faster and for a better price. My personal experience When we sold our last home I wasn't a Realtor yet so we used a family friend.  Her assistant came over and tore the place apart staging it and making me clear out every shred of evidence that a family lived there.  By the time she finished, our house felt cold and stark, the furniture layout made the living room look huge but barely functio...

When you buy a new home, you're excited to paint and move your stuff in, and who wouldn't be?  But there are a few things that, while not nearly as fun, are more important to the safety and security of your new home. Change the locks Yes, you just got the keys and they may even be newly cut.  But there's no way to know if the sellers forgot to get a key back from a friend or family member and you don't want strangers to have a key to your new home.  New locks aren't that expensive and are easy to install yourself , and the peace of mind is priceless. Check windows and doors  If you worked with me as your Realtor, you had a thorough inspection with a reputable inspector.  But it's possible something broke after the inspection.  Make sure your doors and windows are secure.  That means properly locked and not causing any unnecessary energy leaks . Replace smoke detectors and batteries When I bought my current home I found a lot of things the sell...

Yesterday we enjoyed a 63 degree, sunshiny day.  Tomorrow, the high  is supposed to be 34 degrees with a wintery mix.  Mother Nature may have multiple personalities, but I love it here, and I wouldn't leave Indiana for all the consistent weather in the world! So how do I keep our home a comfortable temperature without breaking the bank during these crazy Indiana winters?  I've got several tips and tricks to be more energy efficient.  Because going green should save you green! Install a programmable thermostat.    There's just about no way you'll keep up with the changing temperatures on your own, but a programmable thermostat will help keep your home comfortable no matter what is going on outside.  Bonus, you can set it to let the temperature drop when you're asleep or not home to save you even more. Clean or replace your furnace filter regularly.   Different filters have different lifespans so know your filter, but ...

In our home, we make a genuine effort to be green.  This doesn't mean spending a ton of money installing solar panels or driving an electric car.  It doesn't  mean being all crunchy and growing all our own food.  It doesn't even mean replacing all the light bulbs in our new home with LEDs.  For us it's all about the little things.   We recycle.  We compost.  We do everything we can to reduce the amount of waste we produce.   We turn off lights, TVs, etc when we're not in the room and keep our home cool in the winter and warm in the summer.  There are so many easy little things that add up to make a big difference. One really easy one is eliminating a lot of single-use plastics.  Instead of buying aerosol cans of cooking sprays, hubby found these awesome refillable Evo bottles (not sponsored), one for olive oil and one for vegetable oil.  Instead of buying pricey chemical cleaners in one-time-use plastic ...