10-MINUTE HOME PROJECTS

You’re probably familiar with the idea that little things add up to a lot. But did you ever stop to think about how that can be applied to the upkeep of your home?

Homeowners know that one of the responsibilities of ownership is keeping up with regular maintenance and repairs. While it may sometimes feel overwhelming, there are simple, ten-minute projects that you can do that will make a huge difference in your quality of life at home. Fit them in between episodes of your favorite Netflix binge, and you’ll feel like you’re hardly putting in any effort at all. Here are some of the easiest projects to get you started.

Easy home repair projects

Sometimes it isn’t worth calling a handyman or your brother-in-law to come over and help. These are easy fixes you can complete by yourself in ten minutes or less:

• Fix a squeaky door – If you’re tired of the squeaky kitchen door alerting your spouse to your midnight snack attacks, spray some WD-40 on the hinges and open and close the door a few times to work it in. You can also try petroleum jelly.
• Sticky windows – Don’t let a hard-to-open window keep you from enjoying a nice summer breeze. Spray silicone lubricant (found at home improvement stores) onto a rag and wipe into the track of a plastic, wood or metal window frame. Dry lubricants like PTFE spraycan be used on a vinyl window.
• Silence a squeaky floor – While it’s not a permanent fix, sprinkling talcum powder into the cracks between floorboards will help to temporarily silence those noisy floors.
• Replace a broken toilet lever – First pop open the back to make sure the chain is still attached. If it’s broken, buy a replacement toilet lever kit. Don’t let these instructions worry you – it’s very simple and with the exception of going to the store to get the kit, it won’t take you more than ten minutes.

Easy home maintenance projects

If you want to avoid costly repairs due to negligence, it’s important to keep up with regular home maintenance chores. The following projects are so simple you have no excuse to put them off:

• Change the filters on your air conditioning unit and furnace to keep them running smoothly, especially in summer and winter.
• Replace batteries in smoke detectors once a year.
• Clean lint from your dryer exhaust with a long, flexible brush or a vacuum hose attachment.
• Vacuum the coils on your refrigerator once a year.
• Flush the garbage disposal in your sink once a month with a mixture of baking soda and hot water.
• Check fire extinguishers.
• Test your garage door opener regularly to make sure that it reverses automatically if there is an obstruction.
• Clean the filter on your stove’s range hood. It can get quite greasy, but cleaning it is easy.

Keeping up with the small tasks around your home will go a long way towards making sure everything stays in good working order. And when it comes time to sell, you’ll have much less to worry about. So hit the “pause” button on the remote and take ten minutes to complete one of these easy tasks. You’ll be glad you did!

6 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR HOME’S SECURITY WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK

You’ve spent countless hours and energy getting your home just perfect. You’ve labored over the right paint, the best furniture and even invested in some art. But have you put in enough thought about how you are protecting your home? While you can invest in a state-of-the-art system, there are plenty of ways to improve your home’s security without breaking the bank. Here are six that we recommend.

1. Install a surveillance systemWhile it may seem like it would be expensive, there are deals to be had on DIY home security systems. If you’re willing to spend a couple hundred dollars, you can outfit your home with a camera system that you set up yourself that constantly monitors your property. If peace of mind is your biggest priority and you have a little cash to spare, this is one of your best options.

2. Trim back the bushes

If your property has thick bushes or tall hedges, it offers more places for a burglar to hide. By keeping your trees and bushes trimmed        and tidy so that you can see your neighbors, it also means that they can see you if anything suspicious happens on your property.         While it’s nice to have a little privacy, don’t completely wall yourself in.

3. Light it upDon’t give a criminal a leg up by providing lots of dark places in which to hide. Strategically place exterior lighting around your home, concentrating on walkways, entrances and garages. If you don’t want the expense of installing new lighting, considering swapping out some of the bulbs with motion-sensor lights that will alert you if there’s any activity in the area.

4. Beware of dogThere are plenty of reasons why dogs are man’s best friends. One of them is certainly because they tend to be protective of their owners. Dogs will often alert you if anything seems out of the ordinary and will deter most would-be thieves from breaking in for fear of being bitten. Don’t have a dog? You can still post a “beware of dog” sign in your window or on your gate or put a large dog bowl by your back door. Sometimes the suggestion itself is enough to scare off a potential burglar.

5. Make friends with your neighborsWhile having a nosy neighbor can sometimes be a headache, use it to your advantage. Neighbors are usually the first ones to notice if something is amiss, so make sure to tell them when you are going to be out of town. It also helps to know your neighbors so if someone unfamiliar is snooping around they can be easily identified. If your community has a neighborhood watch program, join. Neighborhoods are stronger and safer when people come together and are all invested.

6. Use common senseThe best home security doesn’t cost you a dime – it’s good, old-fashioned common sense. Be sure to close your garage door when you aren’t inside. Lock the gate to your backyard when not in use. Don’t leave valuables sitting outside unattended. Close and lock windows when you leave. Stop mail and newspaper deliveries when you are out of town so they don’t pile up. The best defense is always a good offense.

PROTECTING YOUR HOME DURING HOLIDAY TRAVEL

Plane tickets? Check

Suitcase packed? Check

Wrapped gifts packed? Check

House protected? Oooops!

If you’re planning on traveling for the holidays, don’t leave your home’s protection to chance. Coming home from a holiday trip to find your home has been broken into, or that a pipe has broken in your absence can ruin all those relaxing hours with family and friends.

While this is true for anyone, it is especially important that new homeowners take steps to safeguard their home while out of town.

Here are some of the basics:

Get a little help from your friends: Ask a friend to water plants, check on your house and pick up mail or newspapers.

If you’ve met your neighbors, you should let them know you will be away. Give them you phone number and the date you’ll get back. If you are having a friend check on your home or water plants while you’re away, let your neighbor know that too so they don’t accidently call the police on your friend.

Avoid posting to social media: In a world filled with tweets and posts that go out to the wide world, you can’t be certain that your posts of being away aren’t being viewed and monitored by thieves. Save your pictures to post after you’re back home. The memories will be just as sweet.

Lights, Curtains: All the world’s a stage…

While you’re gone, to make your home not appear empty, you might think about lighting up the rooms in the evening. This does not mean leaving the lights on in all the rooms the whole time. First off, that would seem weird, and secondly, it will give you a higher electric bill. The best course of action is to get timers and connect them to lamps. Have them set to come on and go off in each room as you would normally use that room. For example, from early evening to just prior to bed time in the living areas and in the bedrooms briefly as if you were getting ready for bed. You can find timers at many retail outlets and online for less than $10.

Regarding window coverings, keep them the way you usually do, but move electronics and other costly items out of sight.

Stop the mail: If you have mail or newspapers delivered to your home, suspend delivery while you are gone. The US Postal Service allows you to sign up online for most ZIP codes to hold your mail with the use of a credit card (for a nominal charge to prove identity).

What else should you do? If you have a neighborhood watch or community association, let them know to keep an eye on your place. Make arrangements with services to sweep leaves and snow off your walkways and driveway. Unplug appliances that have LED lights (coffee pots, microwaves, televisions, etc.) so that your electric bill isn’t huge when you get home. Lastly, if there is any chance of freezing weather, leave your furnace set to no lower than 56°F to keep your pipes from freezing. If you aren’t sure how well your pipes are insulated, open the cabinet doors below your sinks to let the warmer air circulate.

WHAT TO ASK FOR THIS HOLIDAYS — A DOWNPAYMENT!

You’ve been saving for a downpayment and you’re almost there.

Almost!

You just need a little more money in that account and you can make an offer on your starter home. Now, your parents and grandparents want to give you a gift of money toward your new house.

Gifts for downpayments can come from a variety of sources. Mortgage lenders will let you use a cash gift toward a plethora of loan options as well. These include FHA loans, VA loans (which only need a down payment if they exceed the threshold), USDA loans, conventional loans and even jumbo loans. In fact, affording a twenty percent downpayment puts you in position for a conventional loan backed by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), potentially saving you money over the life of your loan.

Before you ask for that gift, however, you need to understand how it should be wrapped! If not done properly, you might just end up with a lump of coal in your pocket.

Here’s the skinny of how it works.

When you accept a downpayment gift, you cannot just deposit it into your bank account and co-mingle it with the funds you have there. You need to follow the required process for documenting the gift so that your loan isn’t denied.

1. Write a “gift letter” that notes the following:

• The amount of the gift
• Who gave you the gift and your relationship to the giver
• A note specifying that the gift is REALLY a gift and not just a loan you’ll have to pay back in the future
• The property address you intend to buy
• The signatures of the givers and the recipients
• Don’t add anything extra to your gift letter either. Make it simple and strait forward.
• Write a separate letter for each gift

2. Keep a paper trail:

The gift should be in the form of a check in the exact dollar amount you noted in your letter. (Do not just have the money transferred to your account.)

• Make a photocopy of the check
• With the check in hand, take it to your bank (the same bank your other downpayment money is in) and deposit that check alone (nothing else in the transaction) into the account.
• Make certain you get a receipt

If you receive more than one gift, deposit each one separately and get a separate receipt for it.

When applying for your loan, give copies of the gift letters along with copies of the checks and deposit receipts to the underwriter. Your underwriter will use the letters in the effort to get your loan approved and funded.

One side note: there may be tax implications for both the givers and receivers of financial gifts. Be sure to check with your tax advisor if you have questions or to find out how a gift might affect your situation.

NEW FHA LEEWAY FOR APPROVALS

Having a low FICO score usually means there is no way for you to quality for a FHA mortgage, but changes to the underwriting process August 2015 means that more borrowers may qualify. According to some analysts of the new policies, up to 100,000 new potential borrowers may now qualify if you can convince underwriters that you can make the payments.

Loans based on FICO score

Since the sub-prime meltdown, mortgage loans to borrowers with FICO scores below 660 fell below $150 billion per year overall and remain there. This lower number of loan originations, due to lenders shying away from loaning to borrowers with scores under 640 results from poor lender performance reviews for higher-than-average loan defaults.

Neighborhood Watch System

To encourage more borrowing to the subprime market, the Federal Housing Administration made enhancements to their Neighborhood Watch Early Warning System to better compare the performance of loans to borrowers with lower credit scores. The FHA hopes that more accurate assessment will improve underwriting processes to include other characteristics outside of FICO scores for determining creditworthiness.

FICO scores

The Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), a company that provides software to calculate potential creditworthiness, developed a scoring system ranging from 300 to 850 points based on their specific formula. Access to your FICO score comes via the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion and Experion). The FICO score, based on information each credit bureau keeps about you in your credit file, includes your credit history—loans and repayment, credit card usage, etc.—the age of your credit, and the types of credit you use. Your score can differ among the three bureaus depending on the information they have in their system about you.

What’s new?

Under the new system, FHA’s system for judging lenders changes to offer a more fair metric so that lenders to communities with a higher concentration of residents with lower than average FICO scores may offer loans without the fear of penalties simply because of where they focus their loan business. Borrows falling into the potential new category include:

• Younger buyers
• First-time buyers
• Minority Loftholds
• Moderate-income working families

Potential buyers recovering from job loss during the recession when they may have gotten behind on paying bills may now have an opportunity to prove their creditworthiness despite their FICO score. These are the people with a reliable income, an ability to repay their loan and acceptable debt-to-income ratios.

While some lenders may wait to see how the new metrics will work, others may begin offering loans and programs to take advantage of the opportunity. If you’re hoping to buy a Loft in the near future, but have wounds from the recession, don’t count yourself out … shop different lenders to see if you can qualify under the new underwriting guidelines.

7 THINGS YOUR HOUSE PAINTER WISHES YOU KNEW

By Jamie Wiebe via Realtor.com

With the exception of hardened DIY-types (you know who you are!), just about all homeowners will hire painters at some point—whether to prepare their home for moving in, or for a sale, or perhaps to kick off a remodel with a new color scheme.

But homeowners tend to get nervous around painters. What if they spatter the new carpeting or shatter the china cabinet window? What if the colors you’ve painstakingly selected don’t work out?

Take a deep breath. You’ve hired a professional. Here’s how to help them do their best job.

1. Painting is art—let the pros do it

Think of painting as not just a skill, but also an art: You wouldn’t hover behind Michelangelo as he completed the Sistine Chapel, fretting the whole time, would you?

Yes, it’s true that your bathroom wall will never be one of the world’s premiere masterpieces, no matter how skilled your painter, but that doesn’t make back-seat painters any less annoying.

“Painting is something that’s more subjective than objective,” says Kevin Palmer, a painter in Simsbury, CT. “A good paint job involves a lot of artistry—besides product knowledge and great prep work, you’ve got to get a guy who seriously knows what he’s doing.”

And once you’ve found that, trust means letting painters do their job.

“People need to chill out a bit,” says Ryan Benson of Benson Painting Services in Apple Valley, MN. When customers hound, it’s “almost insulting,” he says. “Let me work.”

2. Prep can take a long time

According to Benson, at least 30% of a good-quality paint job will be prep time.

“That’s where less-qualified painters lower their bids. That’s where problems come with paint getting on things it shouldn’t be,” he says.

The differences between a rushed paint job and one done properly are enormous: paint on the walls and everything else; uncleaned walls leading to a splotchy paint job; your favorite couch ruined by a misguided spatter.

“It’s easy to not put a dropcloth down. All that stuff takes time,” Benson says.

Keep an eye out for the painters that skimp on prep—the best way to find detail-oriented contractors is to ask previous customers for a reference.

3. Make sure your home is ready to paint

Don’t leave all the prep work to the painters, though—they’ve got their hands full. Things will go much smoother if you make sure your home is truly painter-ready, and Benson estimates that this could save you up to 10% of the cost.

For interior jobs, make sure you’ve cleaned all of the awkward spots, including behind the toilet, and picked up any knickknacks that might get in the way (e.g., soap containers, loofahs, and kitchen organizers). Removing the switch plates and outlet covers from the walls also goes a long way toward speeding up painting time—and painters’ time is (your) money.

For exterior jobs, Palmer recommends trimming bushes and shrubs away from the house, leaving at least 18 inches of clearance. Making sure your gutters and downspouts are in “tiptop condition” can also speed up the painting process, he says.

4. Ask for touch-ups right away

After the paint job is finished, ask for a walk-through. Most painters should offer this regardless.

“Take all the time you want,” says Benson. “Pick us apart. We want to get it all done while we’re there. Don’t be afraid to have a list of touch-ups.”

That doesn’t mean most painters are willing to provide endless touch-ups, though—especially if it’s not a result of poor workmanship. Feel free to call back about something you noticed only when the light hit the wall in just the right spot—but if you scratched the wall while moving in your heavy dresser, be prepared to pay for a touch-up.

5. Sit on the toilet

What?

Yup, after getting your bathroom painted, sit your butt down on the toilet and stare. This is something Benson says he does after every job, because it’s a great way to catch tiny, missed spots you wouldn’t see otherwise.

“What you see in a bathroom when you’re painting it isn’t what you see when you’re sitting down,” he says. “Look around in the areas where you’re going to notice stuff.”

6. Compare the specifics of the bids

It’s tough to over-emphasize the importance of hiring painters who provide detailed bids. Deciding between two or three contractors is hard enough; it’s more so if you’re relying on pure guesswork. A bid that is “scribbled down on a napkin” is “not even comparable,” says Benson.

Look at the material costs. You don’t need to go with the painter who buys the most expensive caulk, but don’t go with the cheapest, either. Since painting is an art, materials are its medium—and cheap paint shows.

“People confuse price with value,” says Palmer. If you have to repaint your house twice as often than you would with a good job, “that’s not really a great value.”

7. Don’t be scared to ask for a discount

If you’re comparing two bids and you really love the more expensive painter—but your budget just won’t allow it—don’t hesitate to ask for a discount.

Sure, if the difference is astronomical, you and your painter might not be able to find a comfortable middle ground. But it never hurts to try.

Find original article at:

http://http://www.realtor.com/advice/home-improvement/what-your-house-painter-wishes-you-knew/?identityID=8309850&MID=2015_0828_WeeklyNL_LongSL&RID=323043802&cid=eml-2015-0828-WeeklyNL-blog_3_housepainter-blogs_trends

What type of paint should you use?

Whether you’re preparing your home to move in, or preparing it to sell, choosing the right paint from the myriad choices available to day can be daunting. Paints come in up to six different finishes, so even if you’ve chosen the colors, you still have to decide on the finish for your application.
On a gradient from matte or flat to high gloss, there are both textural and visual differences in paint finishes. In texture, the gradient moves from a “dryer” feel to a “slicker” feel, but visually, it moves from less light reflective to more light reflective. Choosing the right finish for the type of room you are painting is essential for the longevity and visual pleasure of whatever colors you select. Here is a guide to help you with your decision:

• Matte Finish: Called either Flat Finish or Wall Paint, this basic paint type has a chalkier feel and is not light reflective. It also hides imperfections, cracks and bumps because light does not bounce off them. This finish works well on interior walls such as living rooms and bedrooms, but can be more difficult to clean and may mark easily. Because it absorbs rather than reflects light, a darker matte-finish paint color is perfect for a media room.
• Flat Enamel Finish: The addition of the enameling elements combines some of the advantages of flat paint with a more durable finish that holds up to periodic cleaning. This is a good choice for interior walls in homes with children. Sometimes this is called “Kids Room Paint.”
• Eggshell Finish: Slightly more durable and light reflective than matte or flat, eggshell has just a minimal amount of gloss added to it, and a deeper color saturation. It holds up to cleaning better and often works well for living rooms and dining rooms where more light-reflection is desirable but a glossier finish is not necessary.
• Satin Finish: Often used for window and door trim, or ceilings needing a more reflective finish such as a the bath area or a workroom, satin finish holds up to cleaning and resists stains, marks and smudges better than matte, flat enamel or eggshell.
• Semi-gloss Finish: Used for trim, doors, cabinets and railings, semi-gloss resists most stains and marks while cleaning more easily. It reflects and refracts light, so it magnifies imperfections or textures in the surface. When using semi-gloss, care with surface preparation is vital to the finished product. Semi-gloss can work well in bath areas too, where a more reflective surface is helpful to make the room lighter and brighter.
• Glossy Finish: When applied properly, glossy or high gloss paints have a reflective surface similar to enamel, and creates a smooth finish for furniture and cabinetry. Because of its light-reflective quality, a glossy finish reveals and amplifies imperfections, but is the easiest surface to clean. When using high-gloss paints, carefully follow preparation instructions to get the best results.

A Thank You from Lorton!

So Harry from Lorton reviewed on Zillow and Trulia giving me 5 stars.

He said "He was very knowledgeable, outgoing, and my kids loved him. He took the time to help us find the right home and went out of his way to make sure we were happy."

Harry, thank you for having the faith in me to sell your home!

Harry from Lorton gave me 5 stars!