Florida is attracting people from all over the US. Many people move to Florida assuming the cost of living will be lower and for some, that will be true. The reality though is housing costs are much higher than many people realize until it's too late. Here's what I've learned since moving to Florida …
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For most people, home ownership is your biggest investment. Saving money involves looking at every item that goes into the total cost of home ownership. So we cover everything ... from buying a house to monthly operating expenses including your mortgage, insurance, property taxes, utilities, cleaning services, home maintenance and repairs.
Smart homeowners save money through preventive maintenance to reduce repair costs. That leaves more money for home improvements, things you can enjoy while increasing the value of your home.
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- How Florida’s Homeowner Insurance Crisis is Hurting Property Owners Who Feel Helpless
- House Upgrades for Your New House
- Why House Location is So Important
- House Features that Can’t Be Changed
- How Weather & Climate Disasters Affect Our Lives
- Why Skyrocketing Home Insurance Rates are Shocking and Scary
- Help the War: Save Energy & Oil
- How to Remove Escrow Account from Mortgage
- Escrow Accounts: What They Are? Do You Need One?
- New Building Products 2022
- Caulking Tools, Tips & Tricks
- Caulking Confusion: Too Many Types of Caulk
- Caulking FAQs for Homeowners
- What is An Egress Window?
- Tomorrow’s Housing Trends & Challenges
- Home Safety Checklist
- Plan Now for Future Water Shortages
- Read HOA Documents Before You Buy a Condo!
- Ready to Refinance Your Mortgage?
- Top 20 Spring Home Maintenance Projects
- How the Electric Grid Delivers Power to Houses
- How the Pandemic is Changing House Features
- Buying a House in Florida: Learn the Pitfalls
- Installing Curtains: Where Do I Hang Them?
- Buying a House: Know Your Country?
- What is a Mortgage Servicer?
- How the Pandemic is Affecting Housing Prices
- Why Move-In Ready Homes Sell Faster
- What’s Your Homeowner Personality?
- Setting Your Home Buying Priorities
- What is Gross Living Area (GLA)?
- Bad Appraisal or Bad Appraiser?
- Mortgage Closing Paperwork Can Be Overwhelming
- Can’t Pay Your Mortgage? Forbearance Might Help
- What is a Builder Design Center?
- Stay Safe, Stay Home, Stay Busy: 10 Easy Homeowner Projects
- Getting More House for Less Money
- How to Track Homeowner Expenses
- Electrical Building Code Changes Coming
- Replacing Baseboard After a Flood
- Understanding Smart Lighting
- Best Furniture Pads to Protect Floors
- Fun Ways to Organize Ribbon for Crafting
- What Smart Lighting Means?
- Moving Checklist: Boxes, Trucks & More
- My Home Address Nightmares
- Documents Needed for a Mortgage Application
- Which Paint Brushes Does a Homeowner Need?
- Letter to Allstate: Time to End Gender Bias
- How to Repair a Toilet: Learn Why & How to DIY
- Property Taxes: What You Need to Know
- 10 Low Maintenance Building Materials that Save Time
- How to Clean Siding for 6 Common Materials
- Housing Industry Trends 2018
- What is Net Neutrality & Why It Matters!
- True Cost of Home Ownership
- What’s the Right Down Payment on a House?
- Heart and Home: New Hampshire & New York City
- Proposed Tax Changes & Home Ownership
- Construction Jobs for Women
- Learning How to Tape and Mud Drywall
- Picking the Right House Price When Selling
- How Country Barns Have Influenced Our Lives
- 30 New Homeowner Tips You Don’t Want to Skip
- How Smart Locks Are Changing Home Security
- 5 Tips to Finding a Locksmith You Can Trust
- 7 Steps to Staging a House
- Awesome Kitchen Gadgets: Do I Really Need An Instant Pot?
- 100 Ways to Save the Environment & Enhance Your Home
- Do You Know Many Home Inspectors?
- Are You Ready to Buy Solar Panels?
- Why Community Values Matter
- Caulking Windows Inside and Outside
- 5 Ways to Check Contractor Qualifications
- Installing Wood Floors: DIY Mistakes
- How to Calculate Your Home Office Deduction
- Getting Started with Home Maintenance Basics
- How to Pay a Lower Verizon Bill
- How Immigration Crackdown Hurts Homeowners
- How to Clean a Dryer Vent
- Home Design Trends & The New American Home
- 2017 Home Color Trends to Inspire You
- 29 Ways to Stay Warm Indoors During the Winter
- How The Meaning of Home is Changing
- Save Money & Bubble Wrap Windows
- How to Buy Weatherstripping
- Fall Home Maintenance Tips
- Tile Tips for DIY
- What You Learn Visiting Model Homes
- How Smart Phones Connect Us to Our Homes
- Choosing a Home Location
- Why Your Home Buying Priorities Will Change
- Book-Addict’s Guide to Letting Go of Books
- Mid-Century Modern House in Phoenix, Arizona
- Moving is Hard: Deciding to Move is Even Harder
- Why & Where to Caulk Around Your Home
- Learning How to Caulk
- Tokyo Memories & Japanese Toilet Technology
- Fact or Fiction: Why Homeowner Fact Checking is Important
- 2016 New American Home Las Vegas
House Upgrades for Your New House
When buying an existing home, there are things you know you want to change after the house belongs to you. We've covered the things that you really can't change (location and some house features), so this article focuses on the most common house upgrades new home owners make in their first year. Yes …
Why House Location is So Important
When shopping for a home, you probably know if you want to live in a city, the suburbs or out in the country. I was born in New York City and lived in/around the city until I left for college ... so it's no surprise that I get frustrated when I don't live near a large city. When you start searching …
House Features that Can’t Be Changed
First impressions are important, especially when it comes to buying a house. In fact you'll experience several first impressions as you search for your dream house. First will be the curb appeal of the house as you approach it. Next is the feeling you get when you enter the house. Many house …
How Weather & Climate Disasters Affect Our Lives
When you move to Florida, you're aware they have multiple hurricanes each year ... but you don't really know how they affect people living there. From New Hampshire, we were grateful my son was able to stay with his college roommates mother during not one but 2 hurricanes his freshman year at …
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Why Skyrocketing Home Insurance Rates are Shocking and Scary
There are lots of websites comparing home insurance rates but few explain why costs keep going up. There are so many major events happening around and to us, it's hard to understand how these are causing homeowner insurance costs to skyrocket. This article explains the insurance company costs that …
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