Many areas of the country are experiencing melting snow and ice, and when it melts too quickly, it can cause costly and damaging flooding to basements and homes. Rapid melting creates more water pooling around the foundation of homes, putting basements at risk.“The best way to keep your basement from flooding is by shoveling the snow at least five feet away from the foundation before it has a chance to melt,” Lifehacker.com suggests in a rece
No home is perfect. About 86% of home inspections will find something that needs to be fixed, according to a study on home inspections from Porch.com, a home improvement website.A home inspection can cost around $300 to $500, but studies estimate it could save the buyer an average of $14,000. A home inspector will evaluate the roof, ceilings, walls, floors, windows, doors, major appliances, heating and air conditioning systems, plumbing and elect
Take your home from builder-grade to custom-made with low-cost home upgrades you can tackle in a weekend or less.Keep in mind: Price and stock could change after publish date, and we may make money from these links.Paint the Front Door The front door is usually the first thing people see when entering your home. Make a great impression with a bright, welcoming front door color. Not sure what hue to choose? Take our quiz, then follow the step-by-
Subzero and Arctic temperatures across a dozen states this week are putting homes' pipes at risk of bursting. As water freezes, it expands. That can put pressure on metal or plastic pipes, prompting them to burst and leading to costly repairs and home destruction.Homes in the northern parts of the U.S. may be at less risk for frozen pipes since many homes are built with water pipes within a home’s building insulation to help protect them from f
The home office has become an important space to stage, but certain memorabilia displayed could turn off some buyers who view the property in-person or online.“For more buyers to see themselves in that office space, you’ll do well to take a lot of ‘you’ out of it first,” Chris Haro, a real estate professional in Hilton Head, S.C., told Apartment Therapy.For example, real estate pros and stagers say college degrees and other homeowner ac
Plants can help brighten indoor spaces and may offer other mental and physical health benefits. As such, it’s no surprise indoor plants are one of the favorite accessories of home stagers.Research has linked indoor plants with reduced stress, increased productivity, and improved quality for the home’s air. Some of the most effective house plants to improve the air quality are areca palms, Boston ferns, rubber trees, spider plants, and ficus t
Photo by: Laura Amour GoodStart With Curb Appeal First impressions matter, so make your home stand out the instant buyers pull up to the curb. Some upgrades can be done in a weekend and will cost more in sweat equity than actual dollars. A few suggestions: rent a pressure washer to remove dirt and grime from your siding, roof, fascia and gutters. Paint the front door and/or shutters a bright color, but make sure it coordinates well with the rest
Disinfecting took on new prominence in 2020. Keeping bad germs out of your listings and office became critical in the pandemic. Americans learned more about the proper ways to disinfect this year.For one, cleaning may be what you have traditionally done for prepping listings prior to 2020. Cleaning is all about aesthetics and a home looking spotless and ridding it of dirt. But sanitizing and disinfecting went mainstream in 2020. This is reducing
Storage areas in a home can be viewed as a premium, particularly as house hunters have reportedly been looking for additional space since the beginning of the pandemic.A cluttered closet can make the space look small. Home stagers know the importance of organization and staging a closet to not only show off its storage space but to also improve a home's appearance.To make closets feel more spacious, leave the closet floor space open and clear of
Pantries, once simply closets or cupboards for storing a few perishables, have become much more elaborate—especially now that people are staying at home more. The walk-in pantry has emerged as the most desirable kitchen feature for home buyers in recent years, according to a 2019 survey from the National Association of Home Builders. More than 85% of homes larger than 3,500 square feet feature a walk-in pantry.“We’ve been offering
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