Homeowner Archives - Page 10 of 11 - Marybeth Heckler | Blog

How to Stage Your Home to Impress Potential Buyers

Written by Marybeth Heckler on October 6, 2019. Posted in Homeowner.

If you think that selling a home is easy, think again. You can’t just throw out a “For Sale” sign and wait for the offers to come pouring in. Instead, it’s necessary to get every aspect of your home ready for the onslaught of prospective buyers who may be coming in to check out your home.

As such, you need to think about “staging” your home as if it was a set piece for a play so that your visitors can see the charm and potential you know exists in your home. Here’s how you can do just that:

Start out front — You’ve probably heard the term “curb appeal” and you cannot deny this is important. As soon as the potential buyers pull up to the house, you want them sold on why they should consider it. In order to do this, make sure that the lawn, plants, and flowers look immaculate. This means mowing regularly (and re-sodding if needed) and putting out new flowers in hanging baskets or flower beds. Also, clean the whole of the exterior, including windows and power wash the house’s walls and walkways. For a last touch, spruce up the front porch with some small lawn chairs for a sitting space and a new welcome mat to invite your visitors in.

Clean your house top to bottom — Now is the time to do that spring cleaning you’ve been putting off. You need to make sure that everything from the ceilings to the baseboards looks neat and clean. That means wiping down the walls, vacuuming every square inch of the carpet and furniture, cleaning the bathroom grout and tile, and making sure that nothing is left looking dingy. Our best suggestion here is to hire a cleaning service if you are pressed for time and want to make it really dazzle.

Clear out your personal stuff — Basically, when it comes to staging a house, you want to remove any clutter and items you keep lying around that have personal meaning to you. Rent a storage space and move out as much as possible. We aren’t saying to move out completely—keep everything you need to live while you sell the home. But personal pictures, knick-knacks, and mementos should go so that the visitors can picture themselves in this “ blank space” instead of you.

Really clean the carpets — Now that you’ve vacuumed the carpets, take a close look and see if they need extra help. If this is the case, you should hire a professional carpet cleaning company to get rid of the accumulated grime and stains that will turn off prospective buyers.

Set up the dining room — If you’re like most people, the dining room isn’t used that often except for holidays and parties. But now, you should set out place settings and make it look like you are ready for the arrival of guests for a dinner party. This will give that perfect look of inviting.

Go seasonal — Make your home fit the season of the year. If you are selling your home in the fall, decorate with pumpkins or seasonal flowers. At Christmas, have the tree up with some small, tasteful decorations that will make them see this as their permanent home. Also, set up the backyard to look inviting with a fire pit in the fall and winter and a grill in the spring and summer.

Getting your house ready for potential buyers goes a lot further than just cleaning up. You need to do some serious overhauling on your home and decorate it to look perfect for its new owners. This way, you can hopefully beat out the competition and get your house to sell quickly.

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Whether you’re buying, selling, refinancing, or building your dream home, I’m here to help you explore the many financing options available. Ensuring that you make the right choice for you and your family is my ultimate goal. I am committed to providing my customers with mortgage services that exceed their expectations. Find out more by visiting my website.

Inspiration for a Stunning Autumn Porch Display

Written by Marybeth Heckler on September 15, 2019. Posted in Homeowner.

With autumn right around the corner, many people are thinking about sprucing up their home’s exterior with a beautiful porch display for the season. Although many people wait until October to do something Halloween themed, you can find a way to express your style and creativity with a variety of porch displays throughout the season.

Here are ideas to get your brain spinning and your creative juices flowing so you can be the envy of your neighbors this fall:

Start with a splash of color — When people think of the fall, they often think of pumpkins. The big color that pops into their mind is orange. This is a great starting point for your porch color scheme. Don’t stick with just orange, instead choose decorations or items that hit an array of fall “earth tones”—brown, gold, yellow, deep crimson, and even a rich purple.If you do want to use pumpkins, consider a variety of gourds that come in a multitude of colors. Make sure that the items are on planters of varying height. This makes the eye move a little more rather than feeling like a static straight line.
It’s not just about pumpkins — Two other big hits with porch displays are hay bales and mums. You can easily find these at any nursery and the hay bales, being rectangular, work perfectly as the bases to put other items on top of.
Don’t forget the seats — Be sure to include an area of your porch for rest and relaxation. These can be comfortable chairs, rockers, or even a porch swing. Whatever you choose, make sure that they are paired closely together so that you can entertain and converse easily. You don’t want two chairs on opposite sides of the porch, where you have to yell at each other to talk. Add warm blankets so you can snuggle underneath them on cool autumn nights!
Get crafty — Another idea for creating unique planters is to use crates of varying sizes. These can give you the height differences that you want while being interesting eye-catchers. To add the fall sensibilities, you can either choose to paint these in fall colors, or you can get stencils from your local craft store and paint fall flowers or other designs on them.

This autumn, spruce up your front yard by adding something new and original to your porch display. If you follow the steps listed above, you can create an inviting and elegant feel that will add warmth and style to your home.

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Why You Should Buy a Home This Fall

Written by Marybeth Heckler on September 1, 2019. Posted in Homeowner.

Most people think about buying a new house when the spring is approaching, the weather is nicer, and the temperatures are higher. But the problem with buying a home in the spring or the summer is that it’s when everyone else is buying one too.

If you want to get better deals and more options, then you might want to consider waiting until the temperatures dip and the weather gets a little softer in the fall.

Here are specific advantages to why you should consider buying a home this autumn:

Reduced Competition — The most obvious reason why you should consider the fall for your home buying is because of the reduced competition from other buyers. This means that you have the chance to consider your options more thoroughly. You won’t have to jump at the first house because it might not be on the market tomorrow. Bidding wars are not likely during the fall months.

Sellers are Motivated — This one goes hand-in-hand with the first point. Because there’s less traffic looking at houses, your sellers are motivated and willing to accept less for the home or to offer other things, such as flexible move-in dates and assistance with closing costs.

Many of these homes have been on the market since spring and the sellers may be willing to work with you because they’re frustrated with not selling their home. And with the holidays right around the corner and end-of-the-year tax advantages slipping away, homeowners are highly motivated to be flexible so they can unload their house.

More Time with Your Agent — Another bonus of the reduced traffic is that your real estate agent is not going to be as busy as they might be during the summer. This means they can spend more time helping you search for the best house and the best deal. It’ll be easier to schedule meetings and appointments that meet your schedule rather than working you in around their other clients.

Cheaper Home Goods — Many people don’t think about the deep discounts on home goods at the end of the year. These are products from appliances to bedding and window treatments that you may need when you move into your new home.

See the House in a New Light — In the spring and summer, the neighborhood is likely to look its best and be less busy with people away on vacation. In the fall, you can see the house and the neighborhood in all its glory. If there are problems with leaky roofs or foundation issues, the fall weather will showcase these faults more readily.

Better Rates — There are many other fields that all depend on the housing industry. Banks and lenders, as well as movers and contractors, all depend on making money from the sale of homes. When business is slow, such as in the fall, you can get better rates and deals from these businesses.

Fall time is becoming optimal for buyers who are looking for motivated sellers and more individual attention from your real estate agent. The lack of traffic and the end of the year deals makes all of this the perfect time to buy a home.

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Preparing for the Fall Homebuying Season

Written by Marybeth Heckler on August 25, 2019. Posted in Home Improvement, Homeowner.

Although traditionally the warm weather months of spring and summer have been the best for home sales, many people still like to get out and start house hunting when the weather takes a slight dip during the fall.

The cooler temperatures seem more ideal for visiting and touring homes to (eventually) pack up your belongings and move into a new house. If you have been thinking about buying, but haven’t decided to make that move just yet, remember that you can still take advantage of tax breaks that are given to homeowners so you can claim them on your taxes when you file in 2020.

If you are looking to make a home purchase, here are a few things you should do:

Educate yourself

The first thing you need to do, especially if you’ve never purchased a home before, is to educate yourself. Many of the types of loans, requirements, and terms used by realtors can be quite confusing. You can find many government offices, libraries, and real estate agencies will offer introductory courses to educate homeowners on all of the intricacies of this complicated process.

Get your finances in order

The next thing you will need to do is assess your finances and determine your budget. This means that you need to check your credit score to determine if you have the credit needed to buy a house. (Generally, a score of 740 or higher is necessary to get lower interest loans.)

You should also evaluate your budget by determining just how much you can afford monthly and how much you can place as a down payment on the property. This will help determine “how much house” you can afford and help you narrow down your search later on. Once you determine how much you plan to pay on the house upfront, you need to transfer this money into an account so that you can easily cut a check or transfer the funds.

Get preapproved

Another thing you can do to help make the process even easier is to get preapproved for your home loan. This way, you can make an offer on your dream house as soon as you find it without having to play “wait and see” to show that you will be approved for the loan. If there is a bidding war for the house you are interested in, this preapproval will give you a competitive edge over the other prospective buyers.

Tour the neighborhoods

In order to find your dream home, take the time on weekends to tour neighborhoods you’re interested in. A lot of homeowners who are looking to sell will take advantage of the fall temperatures to host open houses. You can sometimes bounce from open house to open house on a Sunday with several in the same neighborhood. No matter how much you may fall in love with the first house you see, it’s important to shop around and find the one that is perfect for you.

Fall is a great time to get out and start looking at a new home for you and your family. Not only do the cooler temperatures make the house hunt more comfortable, but you can also get your family moved into your perfect home without breaking much of a sweat.

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Throwing a House-Warming Party

Written by Marybeth Heckler on May 23, 2019. Posted in Homeowner.

If you’ve finally purchased the home of your dreams, you’re probably itching to show it off to your friends and family. House-warming parties are a great way to do this.

As with any type of party, it takes a little bit of planning to pull off a successful house-warming event.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when planning such a get-together:

Don’t schedule it when you first move in—It’s going to take a while for you to get your home settled and all of the stuff unpacked. As soon as you’ve got most of your things put away and the boxes thrown out, then you can start doing some planning. For most people that will be at least several weeks.
Don’t worry about printed invites—Keep this one simple and informal with email invitations instead of going out and getting them printed up and mailed out.
Invite your neighbors—While you are working on the invites, don’t forget to invite your neighbors. This is the perfect way to get a chance to meet them and let them get to know you in return.
Register—Another thing you’ll want to do is set up a registry so that your friends can buy those items that you need to put the finishing touches on your home. Then, when the party is over, you can get a good handle on what’s left for you to buy for the new house.
Food and Drink—For a housewarming party, you are going to want to keep the food simple and not do a huge sit-down meal. Instead, take advantage of warmer weather this spring and set up a barbeque in the backyard and grill hot dogs and burgers along with chips and other cookout foods. When it comes to drinks, be sure to have a table laid out with sodas and ice and another one set up with adult beverages.
Don’t use the dishes—This is an informal, fun day, and you want to keep the cleanup at a minimum. Be sure to use paper plates and disposable cups so you can just throw everything in the trash and not have to deal with a sink full of dishes.

Now that you have a home, it makes sense that you want to show it off. Throw a housewarming party and be ready to take your friends and family on a grand tour of the new place. This will give you a chance to get to know your neighbors and celebrate your achievement with your loved ones.

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Top 10 Spring Home Maintenance Tips for Homeowners

Written by Marybeth Heckler on April 25, 2019. Posted in Homeowner.

Spring is here and that means it’s time to break out of the winter doldrums and break out the toolkit for some home maintenance work. Want to know how to keep your house looking spic and span and running smoothly for the rest of the year?

Here are our top 10 tips for getting your home in shape this spring:

Clean gutters—Leaves and debris have a tendency to clog up the gutters so break out the ladder and clear those out. If you don’t, you’ll wind up with damage to your roof.
Check your tiles—Speaking of the roof, now’s also the time to check out the roof and look for any loose tiles. If you really want to have fun with this, break out that drone you bought the kids for Christmas and fly it over and get pictures to see if you’ve got any missing tiles.
Inspect the outside—Now is also the time to do a walk around your property and check to make sure that your fencing is intact and that there isn’t anything else that needs a repair from the winter storms.
Pressure wash the outside—If you really want to spruce up your exterior, then rent a pressure washer and clean off any of the grit and grime that has accumulated over the past few months.
Repair screens—While you’re dealing with the outside, remove and inspect your screens for any holes. If you need to, replace these screens. If they’re still holding up well, then clean them and reset them so you can open the windows this spring and let in some fresh air.
Clean your dryer—It’s important to clean the dryer trap every time you use it. But some of the lint still makes its way into the vent and can clog it up. Use the hose attachment on your vacuum to clean this out.
Clean your fridge—While you have the vacuum out, clean the refrigerator’s coils. Get rid of the extra dust and it will run more efficiently.
Replace your filters—You need to do this about once a quarter, but now’s the perfect time to take care of this.
Replace smoke detector batteries—A good rule of thumb is to replace the batteries in your smoke detectors when the time change occurs. This will make sure you can keep your house safe for another couple of seasons.
Have your HVAC inspected—Now is the perfect time to have your HVAC inspected and maintained. You don’t want the air conditioning going out this summer, so get it checked while it’s still relatively cool.

This spring do a little bit more with your traditional spring cleaning. By taking care of these 10 items, you can ensure that your house will be clean, well maintained, and safe.

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Planning Out the Perfect Garden

Written by Marybeth Heckler on April 18, 2019. Posted in Home Improvement, Homeowner.

April is designated as National Garden Month and if you’ve ever considered starting a garden in your backyard, now is the perfect time to do it. But, if you’re worried that you may not have the green thumb needed to keep it alive, then don’t panic.

Check out these steps you can take to plan your garden ahead of time:

Do some research—The United States is composed of various climates, all of which are good for growing specific vegetables at specific times. Use this website to calculate which growing zone you live in and which vegetables should be grown and at what time of the year. This will help you figure out what you should begin with when it comes to growing a garden.
Test your soil—If you have never done this before, it’s a good idea to have your soil tested to see if there will be any issues with growing and to get suggestions on the best plants to grow. You can do a variety of tests on your own, but I’d suggest collecting a sample and taking it either to your local farm agency or a nursery and having them professionally test it. Then, you can order your seeds for the plants you plan to grow.
Map your garden—Measure out exactly how much of your yard you can dedicate to a garden and then map it out using graph paper. You should also determine exactly what you plan to grow and how much space you are going to need for it. (For instance, are you going to just grow one type of vegetable, such as carrots, or do you want to plant a mixture of different types?)
Create a calendar—Once you know the plants you’re going to grow, determine how much growing time you’ll need for each type to reach maturity, how much sunlight they will need, and how much watering and care you need to provide them. Then, create a calendar for your garden so you know exactly when you should water them, when you should perform maintenance on them, and when you should be ready to harvest them.
Till your soil and plant—Once you have it all planned out, go ahead and till your soil and begin planting your seeds. Be sure to follow your calendar when it comes to planting, but also follow it in terms of care and harvesting.

Once you get your garden planned out, it’s just a matter of following your calendar and making adjustments depending on weather and other conditions. When you get this started, you can experience the joy of harvesting your own vegetables at home.

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Getting in Touch with Your Inner Interior Designer

Written by Marybeth Heckler on April 11, 2019. Posted in Home Improvement, Homeowner.

If you’re many people, you probably spend a lot of time watching shows on HGTV or TLC like Trading Spaces, Fixer Upper, or Property Brothers. These shows have almost single-handedly rejuvenated the interior design and remodeling craze. But most of us don’t have the option to hire Chip and Joanna Gaines to design our homes for us.

So this month, let’s look at some tips and tricks that will let you get in touch with your inner interior designer so that you can make some major changes to your home.

Do some research (and dreaming)—One of the best things to generate ideas for your home is to start doing a lot of research. The good news is that this is easier than ever. Social media sites like Pinterest and Instagram have an abundance of pictures and infographics that can help give you ideas about how to easily transform your house. You can also check out design magazines and websites online.
Pick your colors—Now that you have some ideas about what you want your room to look like, you should pick out your color scheme. Go for a rule of three. The first color will be a neutral or understated color that will serve as the main color for the room’s walls. Then, have a second, complementary color that will be a bit bolder and will serve as the color “pop” with your furniture or possibly an accent wall. Finally, the third color should be another bold color that coordinates well with the second. This will be the color for your accessories such as pillows.
Get bold—When it comes to furniture, you don’t want to have a lot of little furniture pieces that are going to make your room look cluttered. Instead, choose one bold piece of furniture like a sofa that you can build the rest of the room around.
Use your words—One of the biggest trends in the last few years that can really add a personal touch to a room is a message. Many people are using “word art” pieces to express a simple theme in the room like “love” or “family.” Others are using wall appliques of messages that present a personal philosophy as a kind of designer mantra for your home.

These are just some of the ideas that will help you begin creating your own interior design style. The important thing to remember is that you should go with what speaks to you. There are all kinds of theories about how to properly decorate a home. But what really matters is going with what makes you feel comfortable and happy.

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Popular Home Colors in 2019

Written by Marybeth Heckler on April 4, 2019. Posted in Home Improvement, Homeowner.

One of the hardest parts of designing interiors is choosing the right colors that will define the space. And for moms, it’s particularly difficult because hubby is usually not much help with picking out colors. (You’d be amazed how many women have brought home paint samples and then complained that their husbands can’t tell the difference between four very distinct shades of blue or white. It all looks the same to them!)

When it comes to picking colors, everyone seems to have an opinion. Let’s look at some of the hottest colors of the year:

Coral—According to Pantone, the official color of the year is living coral. Coral works well with more muted and understated tones. It may not be for everyone, especially in large doses. However, this bold color definitely catches your eye and invites you in. For those who don’t want to make such a bold choice, you can instead use this as a choice for the trim or an accent color with furniture or accessories. If you want something to brighten it up and give you a more optimistic feel, this is the color for you.
Hunter Green—According to interior design influencer Becky Shea, hunter green is one of the top colors of the year. This is a great choice for those who don’t want shockingly bold colors and instead want something darker and more subdued and serious. According to Becky, one of the great things about this is how it “works beautifully with natural elements and neutral tones.” But this one is also a positive color because there is no feeling of gender definition. Hunter Green works well as a gender-neutral color for almost any room.
Hazelnut—If you want something in a different vein from the previous two, you can’t go wrong with varying shades of hazelnut. This creamy color choice has been popular for years and probably won’t go out of style anytime soon. Hazelnut is homey and comforting and, depending on the shade you choose, can also seem to make smaller spaces feel larger. Another feature that makes hazelnut great is its ability to work with almost any furniture color palette. There’s no need to worry about buying a new living room suite to match the paint.

What’s important in choosing a color for your home is simply finding something that speaks to you. By doing this, you can find something that you will be happy and comfortable with for years to come.

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When Should You Start Your Home Remodel?

Written by Marybeth Heckler on March 21, 2019. Posted in Homeowner, Remodeling.

Spring has always been a popular time to go on a major cleaning spree around the house. But what if you want to do more than just have a spring cleaning? When is the best time to do a major remodel of your home or property? Well, there is actually a system that can be followed.

Let’s look at the best season for each type of remodel so that you can make your plans for the coming year.

First Quarter (January to March)—Even though it can be numbingly cold during this time of year, the good news is that unless you live in a place that gets extreme snow, you will generally have good, solid ground that is relatively dry, as opposed to the spring when the rains come in.

Because of these conditions, it’s a good time to do additions on the house, such as a new sunroom or that man cave he’s always wanted. If you are adding a new room to the house, you can get the exterior work and frame done and then move on to doing the inside when the weather gets rainy in April.

This is also a good time to schedule a remodel because most construction companies don’t do a lot of work during this time. Since this is the “off season,” you can usually get a good deal from the company that is looking for some downtime work.

Second Quarter (April to June)—The weather is getting rainy and warmer, but this is also the #1 time of the year to build a new home. Because of this, construction companies and supplies will probably cost you a lot more. If you do want to do a spring remodel, consider a porch or patio since the ground will have thawed out enough to dig out the area.

Third Quarter (July to September)—The hottest time of the year means that your remodels need to move indoors to take advantage of your home’s air conditioning. Because of this, you will do well to complete an inside renovation such as a bathroom or kitchen remodel.

If you do need to do something outdoors, most construction companies will focus on roofing jobs because of the relatively dry weather and the higher temperatures which are needed to properly seal roofing tiles.

Fourth Quarter (October to December)—This is the right time for smaller remodel projects, like maybe a new shower or a minor tweak in your den or kitchen. Most people don’t want to completely tear out the whole house for a major renovation during the holidays, so construction companies are used to these types of smaller jobs.

There’s a perfect time for everything—from when to buy a new car to when to plant a flower garden. Remodels are no different and once you get the standard calendar down, you can begin to map out your renovations that will make the most sense for your home and budget.

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