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Here are five things you should make sure are in order before winter.
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Today I’ll give you a few things you should do this fall before it gets too cold:
1. Daylight savings time. On the morning of November 7th, you’ll have to turn your clocks back one hour.
2. Garden hoses. It’s starting to get down to freezing every night, so make sure your garden hoses are unhooked from your outside spigots and drained out so that you don’t have freezing and flooding problems later.
3. Furnaces. I recommend that you have your furnace and HVAC serviced once a year. Have your furnace checked and change your furnace filter.
4. Carbon monoxide detector. You should make sure the batteries are good.
5. Shovel. Make sure you have a snow shovel that’s in good shape.
I hope you found these tips helpful. If you have any questions about what else you might need to do in the fall or if you’re thinking of buying or selling a house, I encourage you to reach out to me directly at 608-212-5743. I look forward to hearing from you.
The costs associated with homeownership you may not have considered.
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There are more costs associated with owning a home than the monthly payment. Just when buying the home, you’ll have to pay for closing costs, the down payment, earnest money, title insurance, inspections, appraisals, the recording of the deed, etc. You need your real estate agent to lay out those costs for you ahead of time. Then after you own the house, there are five main things you should remember to budget for:
1. Furniture. Many people buy a house and then realize they need to buy furniture, which can cost thousands of dollars depending on what you’re getting.
2. Ongoing maintenance. Things are going to go wrong with your new house, and you no longer have a landlord to repair it. It’s a good idea to set a little money aside each month so you have it when things need to be fixed.
3. Home warranty. Consider purchasing a home warranty or having the seller purchase it for you (though having the seller pay isn’t as common in this strong seller’s market). For about $450 to $550, you can cover some of the major things in your house, at least for your first year of ownership.
Things are going to go wrong with your new house.
4. Taxes and insurance. Your lender will require you to insure the property, and if you don’t pay your taxes, the government will take your house away from you at some point.
5. Utility bills. These include things such as heat, electricity, water, sewer, etc. You can search an address online to see what a property’s high, low, and average bills have been for the past year. To search locally, visit the Madison Gas and Electric or Alliant Energy websites.
If you have questions about these hidden costs or any other real estate matter, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send an email. If you’re a first-time buyer, we’d love to help educate you about the entire process.
Now that we’re into July, there are several home maintenance tasks you need to remember to do.
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Here are seven home maintenance tips that will keep your house running smoothly and efficiently this July:
1. Clean out your gutters. Additionally, make sure your downspout extensions are leading water away from your foundation.
2. Make sure you don’t have any tree branches touching your roof. If branches are touching your roof, this can not only shorten its lifespan, but it will also allow critters access to it. Once they’re on the roof, they might find a way into your attic.
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If you haven’t had your AC system checked by a professional (which you should do annually), make sure you schedule that appointment.
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3. Clean your refrigerator coils. With summer in full force, it’s a good time to vacuum these coils so that your refrigerator doesn’t work harder than it needs to and shorten its lifespan. I have a good friend, in fact, who was recently having trouble with his refrigerator because—as he eventually found out—all of its coils were covered in 12 years’ worth of dust. Once he cleaned them off, though, everything started working normally again.
4. Clean your furnace filter. Also, if you haven’t had your AC system checked by a professional (which you should do annually), make sure you schedule that appointment. Now’s a great time to do this because you may be able to get your furnace checked at the same time at a discount.
5. Check your fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. It’s good to have a fire extinguisher that’s properly charged nearby if something goes wrong and you probably haven’t checked them in awhile. Along with this, you should check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and replace any batteries if needed.
6. Clean your range hood filter. As with the refrigerator, if you clean your range hood filter, your oven fan won’t have to work harder than it needs to.
7. Make sure your ceiling fans are spinning the right way. They should be spinning in the opposite direction that you had them spinning during the colder months so that they’re pressing cold air down to be recirculated.
8. Cold Air returns. If you have a system with the stacked (high/low) cold air returns, most HVAC professionals say that you want the top ones open in the cooling season (pulling in hot air) and the lower ones open in the winter.
As always, if you have any questions about this or any other real estate-related topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.
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I’ve got a few quick tips to share with you today that will help you get your home ready for the cold temperatures that are coming this winter. Here are six of my best tips:
1. Remove garden hoses from water spigots and drain them. If you leave a hose attached, it may hold water that could freeze and end up bursting your spigot and flooding your basement.
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Don’t leave your hoses attached to the spigots.
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2. Get your furnace serviced. If your furnace hasn’t been checked in the last year, this is a smart thing to do. You should change the filter at the very least.
3. Turn the ceiling fans in reverse. This will push the warmer from the ceiling into the room and help you stay more comfortable.
4. Open the lower cold air return vents and close the upper ones. This will draw the cold air from near the floor into the furnace during the colder months.
5. Install storm windows or doors. Window insulation kits can also do a great job of stopping drafts coming through your windows.
6. Clean the gutters. Don’t forget to clean those out before the weather starts getting cold and the snow starts falling.
If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
