Your home is a huge investment when you buy it, plus monthly operating costs like utility bills. We help you spend less, get more value & build homeowner equity like a savings account.
You've probably never hung a door or shingled a roof. That’s why problems are scary. We share concepts, terminology so you can make smart decisions about your home ... with confidence!
With Pinterest, Houzz and so many shows about home improvements, it's natural to have a wish list. We share our ideas, your homeowner stories and support you in achieving your dreams.
Today's notice that my homeowner insurance would be cancelled due to lack of payment seemed unreal. With so many other bumps in the road, it feels like nothing is going right with this move. The insurance was paid 12 days ago, as part of the closing on my new home. So now it feels like I need a moving checklist to make sure nothing is falling through the cracks!
With more than a dozen moves over the last 40 years, [Save More…]
Do you know how often you write out your home address? Maybe you're smart and carry those cute little address stickers which save you time? What you probably don't understand is how your home address is being tracked and even sold by businesses across the US. Like many aspects of our lives, we take our home address for granted while understanding it's importance.
Even though I've moved 14 times since graduating from college, I never understood the problems [Save More…]
Completing a mortgage application is never easy, even if you've done it before! You'll have to submit lots of documents and waste hours finding the necessary documentation, scanning pages and pages so ultimately you can upload all these documents to the lender you've picked. You can fight the bureaucracy or recognize that reviewing your financial health has benefits too.
Ready to look at your financial health from the perspective of a lender? [Save More…]
Growing up, I often remember my grandmother marveling at all the “newfangled appliances” that were available to make household chores easier. She would tell tales of using a ringer washing machine where she fed clothes through rollers one piece at a time. Appliance designs were simpler and many times a homeowner would handle their own appliance repair.
Of course, she would shake her head in amazement every time I managed to wash and dry two loads of laundry, clean all the dishes from a dinner party, [Learn More …]
You want your home to be well-insulated to reduce the cost of heating and air conditioning. Equally important is the need for proper ventilation to ensure that moisture and heat can escape from your attic to avoid problems with mold and/or ice dams. Ridge vents (also called roof vent systems), working in combination with soffit vents, are the key home features that provide your attic with the ventilation you need. [Learn More …]
We all love watching birds and get excited when they visit us at home. One instance where homeowners would rather not have birds is when woodpeckers look for bugs in their fascia boards, leaving ugly holes in the wood. What I can't tell you is whether bird houses will prevent this damage (but I love them). When my handyman business repaired a fascia board (and barge boards on the gable ends), we always recommended replacing the wood with a composite.
So here are photos showing where a fascia board is found on a house. [Learn More …]
Painting is probably the most common DIY project a homeowner tackles. Painting an entire house is an entirely different endeavor. In Arizona where ceilings went as high as 16 feet (above), we decided to hire professional painters. House painting is even more challenging with a new house so you're glad that the builder is responsible for this task.
That's both good news and possibly bad news for home buyers. Using my experience running a handyman business, I discovered a ridiculous number of problems [Start Dreaming …]
Everyone who buys a new construction home needs to understand the role of the punchlist!
If you don't find problems and make the builder correct them before you close on your new home, you're going to waste money due to poor construction and/or materials. You'll spend money on higher utility bills, repairs due to faulty installation and/or materials and worst, having to replace home features much sooner than is reasonable. And I'm not talking about a couple hundred dollars. [Start Dreaming …]
When you build a house, one of the most exciting things is picking your finishes. Your big choices are cabinets and counter tops in the kitchen and bathrooms, flooring, lighting, paint colors and tile for your shower/bathtub surround. Given that I love a long, hot shower in the morning, I happily paid for my dream bathroom and then watched in horror, as the inexperienced tile installer created one bathroom shower tile problem after another. [Start Dreaming …]
