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A Guide for Buying a Home

Buying a house requires a lot of time and effort, but these 10 steps can help make the home buying process manageable and help you make the best decisions possible.

Step 1: Work with a Mortgage Banker to Select Your Loan

Lenders have a wide range of competitively priced loan programs and a reputation for exceptional customer service. You will have many questions when you are purchasing a home, and having one of our experienced, responsive mortgage bankers assist you can make the process much easier.

Every home buyer has their own priorities when choosing a mortgage. Some are interested in keeping their monthly payments as low as possible. Others are interested in making sure that their monthly payments never increase. And still others pick a loan based on the knowledge they will be moving again in just a few years.

Step 2: Start Your Research Early

As soon as you can, start reading Web sites, newspapers, and magazines that have real estate listings. Make a note of particular homes you are interested in and see how long they stay on the market. Also, note any changes in asking prices. This will give you a sense of the housing trends in specific areas.

Step 3: Determine How Much House You Can Afford

Lenders generally recommend that people look for homes that cost no more than three to five times their annual household income if the home buyers plan to make a 20% down payment and have a moderate amount of other debt.

But you should make this determination based on your own financial situation. Use our Affordability Calculator to see how much house you can afford.

To help you save for your down payment, try Discover Bank’s AutoSavers Plan, which makes it easy to put aside money each month.

Step 4: Find the Right Real Estate Agent

Real estate agents are important partners when you’re buying or selling a home. Real estate agents can provide you with helpful information on homes and neighborhoods that isn’t easily accessible to the public. Their knowledge of the home buying process, negotiating skills, and familiarity with the area you want to live in can be extremely valuable. And best of all, it doesn’t cost you anything to use an agent – they’re compensated from the commission paid by the seller of the house.

Step 5: Shop for Your Home and Make an Offer

Start touring homes in your price range. It might be helpful to take notes on all the homes you visit. You will see a lot of houses! It can be hard to remember everything about them, so you might want to take pictures or video to help you remember each home.

Make sure to check out the little details of each house. For example:

Test the plumbing by running the shower to see how strong the water pressure is and how long it takes to get hot water
Try the electrical system by turning switches on and off
Open and close the windows and doors to see if they work properly

It’s also important to evaluate the neighborhood and make a note of things such as:

Are the other homes on the block well maintained?
How much traffic does the street get?
Is there enough street parking for your family and visitors?
Is it conveniently located near places of interest to you: schools, shopping centers, restaurants, parks, and public transportation?

Take as much time as you need to find the right home. Then work with your real estate agent to negotiate a fair offer based on the value of comparable homes in the same neighborhood. Once you and the seller have reached agreement on a price, the house will go into escrow, which is the period of time it takes to complete all of the remaining steps in the home buying process.

Step 6: Get a Home Inspection

Typically, purchase offers are contingent on a home inspection of the property to check for signs of structural damage or things that may need fixing. Your real estate agent usually will help you arrange to have this inspection conducted within a few days of your offer being accepted by the seller. This contingency protects you by giving you a chance to renegotiate your offer or withdraw it without penalty if the inspection reveals significant material damage.

Both you and the seller will receive a report on the home inspector’s findings. You can then decide if you want to ask the seller to fix anything on the property before closing the sale. Before the sale closes, you will have a walk-through of the house, which gives you the chance to confirm that any agreed-upon repairs have been made.

Step 7: Have the Home Appraised

Lenders will arrange for an appraiser to provide an independent estimate of the value of the house you are buying. The appraiser is a member of a third party company and is not directly associated with the lender. The appraisal will let all the parties involved know that you are paying a fair price for the home.

Step 8: Get Prequalified and Preapproved for credit for Your Mortgage

Before you start looking for a home, you will need to know how much you can actually spend. The best way to do that is to get prequalified for a mortgage. To get prequalified, you just need to provide some financial information to your mortgage banker, such as your income and the amount of savings and investments you have. Your lender will review this information and tell you how much we can lend you. This will tell you the price range of the homes you should be looking at. Later, you can get preapproved for credit, which involves providing your financial documents (W-2 statements, paycheck stubs, bank account statements, etc.) so your lender can verify your financial status and credit.

Step 9: Coordinate the Paperwork

As you can imagine, there is a lot of paperwork involved in buying a house. Your lender will arrange for a title company to handle all of the paperwork and make sure that the seller is the rightful owner of the house you are buying.

Step 10: Close the Sale

At closing, you will sign all of the paperwork required to complete the purchase, including your loan documents. It typically takes a couple of days for your loan to be funded after the paperwork is returned to the lender. Once the check is delivered to the seller, you are ready to move into your new home!

How to Easily Maintain Your Home

Whether you are going to be selling your home shortly or years down the road, making sure you keep up with the maintenance of your property is important. A home that does not have proper maintenance will undoubtedly suffer when it does become time to sell.

When you talk to people that are successful in the sale of their homes both quickly and for a good price, you will usually discover that their success was a result of forethought.

They may have been lucky to make as good of a deal as they did, but they likely spent a significant amount of time preparing for that lucky moment as well. Making a home appealing to buyers takes work – much of which occurs before the house ever goes on the market.

There are some home maintenance items that most people do not always think about. Many of the things that make a house stand out are the result of regular maintenance, tasks that may seem a little mundane, but that do a lot to keep up the functioning and appearance of a home.

These little jobs, when performed on a periodic basis, can help you avoid paying costly replacement or repair fees in the months leading up to putting your home on the market. Unless you are planning on selling your home for a bargain to shoppers searching for a fixer-upper, keeping up with the little things is worth the effort.

These home maintenance tips can go a long way in helping that your sale goes smoothly and does not end up going south due to a failing home inspection. Keep in mind that a skilled home inspector can tell when a homeowner has not been keeping up with regular home maintenance items.

You can bet your bottom dollar that while the home inspection is taking place, they will be pointing this out to the buyer. Whether you are selling now or not, use these nine maintenance tips to keep your home running like a well-oiled machine! If you are going to be selling by following this advice, you will keep your negotiating after the home inspection to a minimum.

Vacuum Refrigerator Condenser Coils

Most people do not think of inspecting their refrigerators. They seem like self-contained units, and there is not a lot the average person can do to maintenance them. However, the condenser coils on the back of your fridge will collect dust, and this dust can inhibit its operation.

Pulling the fridge out and cleaning off the dust can help your fridge work more efficiently, and will give you the opportunity to clean behind and underneath it as well.

More than likely if you clean your coils the refrigerator will work noticeably better. Refrigerators are expensive to replace so this is an important maintenance tip for homeowners not to forget.

Change Batteries For Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Detectors

While changing the batteries is a small maintenance item. making sure that you smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are working is not. In fact, your families safety depends on it!

The last thing you ever want to go through is having your home destroyed by fire when it could have easily been avoided. Having working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors is critical.

In some states including mine (Massachusetts), they are a requirement for sale. This is a great law that is designed to reduce casualties from two potentially hazardous situations.

You don’t need to be selling your home to realize that keeping up with your local smoke and carbon monoxide detector regulations can be the difference in saving lives!

Inspect and Clean Your Furnace or Boiler

Heating and cooling systems push a lot of dust along with temperature controlled air, and this dust and possibly condensation can lead to degradation of your unit and the ducts it uses. An annual inspection by a certified service professional is always a good idea.

The service person can clean up any accumulated debris, and can verify that your system is functioning as it should. When you have a forced hot water heating system that is serviced by oil, the maintenance requirements are little more stringent.

Oil, unfortunately, does not burn as clean as gas and therefore can cause a system to be cleaned on a more regular basis. Most heating companies recommend an Oil fired heating system be tuned up once a year where gas can typically be done every two years.

Keep in mind that staying up with maintenance on your heating system can extend the lifespan by years. Also, consider that if a buyer sees you have not been maintaining the system, they may take into account offering less for your home thinking they may need to replace it sooner than expected.

Keeping up with your heating system is a maintenance tip you should never neglect as it is one of the most costly items in your home to replace.

Check Your Water Heater

Your water heater may heat thousands of gallons of water a year, and like every appliance, it can only perform well for so long.

A yearly maintenance check is recommended for any water heater, even one you just purchased.

Seals have a way of failing, and drains can clog – especially if you have hard water. If you notice even minor leaks or severe scale build up, consider contacting a plumber or water heater installation company to take a look.

It is far better to catch a failing water heater before it goes out completely than to come home to a flooded room or basement. Water heaters are an area that home inspectors will pay particular attention to. Making sure that you do not have any pipe fittings that are leaking or corroded is important.

At home inspections leaking fittings are quite common because most homeowners do not pay attention to a maintenance item like this until it becomes a bigger problem.

Maintain Your Filters

One of the more important maintenance tips for homeowners is making sure you keep up with changing your heating and cooling filters. Your central heating and air conditioning unit work hard to push air throughout your house. By changing your filters on a regular basis, you help the unit operate efficiently and effectively.

It already requires a significant amount of energy to run air through the various vents – failing to install a clean filter makes this process much more challenging, and can put unnecessary strain on your central air unit. Make sure you pay particular attention to the rating of the filter you are using.

Some filters need to be changed monthly while others are “rated” to last much longer. A quality filter can usually be bought for your system that is designed to be modified far less frequently.

Check Your Toilets and Faucets

Home inspectors and appraisers notice everything, and they are sure to see if you have any problems with your toilets or your sinks. Take a moment every six months or so to inspect your basic plumbing fixtures. Water will find any available avenue to escape, especially when under pressure, and you can guarantee that sooner or later one of these fixtures will begin leaking.

If you are handy, replace the faulty seal. If not, bring in a plumber to tackle the problem before it becomes much bigger.

An Ounce Of Prevention

Taking the time to do these things now, before you ever put your home up for sale, will make the whole selling process easier when you finally begin it in earnest. You and your family will also enjoy the benefits of a cleaner, more livable home right now.

While the above-mentioned home maintenance items are mostly considered small potatoes, there are always other common home selling issues that could derail your sale far more quickly. Things like a failed septic system, not taking out required permits for work, and appraisal issues are potential road blocks.

When selling a home, it is important to stay out ahead of the curve and pay particular attention to all the potential issues that could get in the way. A prepared home seller enjoys the benefit of not having to face those unfortunate things that can surface in a Real Estate transaction!

Spruce Up Your Front Door

It may seem trivial, but your front door is usually the first close look anyone gets at your home and is worth sprucing up on a yearly basis because of this. If you have a hardwood door with a natural look, take the time to clean and polish it. If it is painted, consider touching it up or repainting it as necessary.

Buyers like a welcoming, well-maintained front door. Have an old door handle that is very weathered? Consider upgrading to something that will be visually appealing while also offering good home security.

Keep in mind that maintaining the curb appeal of your home will pay you back when it comes time to sell.

Clean Your Exhaust Hood

Cooks working in professional kitchens are required to clean vent hoods on a regular basis. It is a dirty job, typically involving caked on grease and dust. Your kitchen vent may not be as dirty as one used in a professional setting, but it still poses a fire hazard and is unsightly when not cleaned regularly.

Take a few minutes to wash off any accumulated grime and to replace the filter if there is one. Exhaust hoods are a simple maintenance item that will stick out like a sore thumb if you do not deal with it.

Maintain Your Garage Door

Your garage door and opener also require regular maintenance to operate as intended. The chain on your opener must be lubricated, along with any exposed metal joints, and you should check to make certain the door runs smoothly in its tracks.

Most inspectors will pay close attention to a garage door because of the potential for significant injury to a child or pet. Most newer garage door systems have electronic eyes at the bottom that sense movement. These need to be checked regularly to make sure they are functioning as intended.

Home Ownership: Financial Benefits to Think About

Home is where the heart is. It’s also where a big chunk of your financial responsibility lies. Home ownership is a pillar of the American dream, and while many of those in younger generations either can’t afford to or actively choose not to pursue it, those who buy in to the housing market often see major financial benefits.

There is no doubt that becoming a homeowner is one of the biggest financial decisions you will make in your entire life. It’s also undeniable that simply getting to that point requires a certain degree of financial success. You need to come up with a down payment and closing costs (generally about 3 percent to 4 percent of the total home purchase price for buyers) before you can even turn the key in the door. But among those who take on the big task of home ownership, many see financial benefits that far outweigh their initial investment, especially during tax season. Here are 5 of them.

Positive perks

Home ownership has other financial benefits that may come in handy for you someday. For example, a mortgage is considered “good debt,” and as such, it is likely to increase your credit score, provided you always make your payments on time. It also proves your credit-worthiness for other things you may want to consider, like a business loan or a new line of credit. It can even lower your monthly car insurance payments. While perks like these should certainly not be deciding factors when determining whether or not you should purchase a home, they do add up as additional benefits if you choose to opt in to the housing market.
Home ownership tax deductions

You get a number of tax breaks for owning a home, most notably a deduction for the interest and property tax portion of your mortgage. This deduction is particularly useful for off-setting the initial financial blow that comes with purchasing your property, since in the first years of owning your home you’re mostly just paying off the interest on your mortgage, as opposed to the principal. The first year you buy your home you are also able to write off any mortgage points on your loan, which can lead to pretty considerable savings depending on how many points you claimed. And if you ever decide to refinance your home after building sufficient equity in it, you also have the option of taking out a home equity line of credit, which is itself tax deductible.

Do keep in mind: the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed in 2017, limits mortgage interest deductions to $750,000 of your total mortgage debt, including any home equity credit you take out. Previously, the limit was $1,000,000 in mortgage interest deductions plus a $100,000 for home equity credit.
Build up a stronger financial future

The recent recession threw a wrench into the idea that home ownership always builds wealth over time. But the fact remains that owning a home is one of the fundamental means of accumulating wealth as we age. The caveat: you have to buy a house that you can actually afford.
Asset-wealth is a much more secure predictor of future financial stability than income, which can—and often does, in today’s evolving economy—change from year to year. In a strong economy, home values generally increase by 3 percent to 4 percent every year, thanks to inflation and natural population growth. From 2011 to 2016, as the housing market has recovered from the bubble that contributed to the recession, home values have been increasing even higher at an average rate of 6.3 percent a year. Putting money into home ownership versus a rental is akin to the difference between putting money into an investment account versus a no-interest checking account, with the latter being only as valuable as it is in the moment while the former increases over time.
Amass equity

Every single month that you pay your mortgage you own just a bit more of your home. This is a big benefit over renting, where you’re paying comparable monthly fees without any comparable stakes. The equity in your home builds in two ways and often concurrently: (1) equity builds as the value of your home increases, and (2) equity builds as you pay off more of your loan. These two factors mean that after the first couple of years (when, again, you’re mostly just paying mortgage interest), every month you pay money toward your loan you are building up your financial resources for the future. It’s why some people refer to mortgage payments as “forced savings.”

Want to build equity even faster? Take steps to pay off your debt quicker (like financing with a shorter term loan or paying more than you owe every month) or increase your property value (think home improvements and a focus on routine maintenance).
More control over day-to-day housing-related costs

Unless you change the terms of your mortgage, you know the base cost that you’re going to be spending to live in your home every month, both now and in the future. This affords more stability than rent, which is variable and can (and often does) change over time. And control over costs goes even further than that. As a renter, you don’t have a say over whether your landlord supplies you with energy-efficient appliances that can save you hundreds of dollars every year, but you do have to pay the utility bill either way. As a homeowner, you can make better short and long-term financial decisions that are geared specifically toward your own financial goals and abilities. While this isn’t likely going to help you save for your future in the same way building equity does, it should bring you peace of mind to know that you’re saving money everywhere that you can.

But what about the financial risks?…

Owning a home isn’t all equity building and cost cutting. Aside from the significant payments that have to be made in order to own a home in the first place, there are also some financial risks that all potential and current homeowners need to keep in mind when trying to balance their budgets.

The biggest financial risks for homeowners are in terms of maintenance costs. There’s no landlord to put the responsibility on if the roof starts leaking or the heating system goes out in the middle of winter. While you’re unlikely to face major repairs like this all of the time, they do occasionally come up and it’s important for all homeowners to have savings set aside to deal with them when they happen.

Then there’s the risk of home depreciation. Ultimately, it’s your home’s land that appreciates in value over time, barring any major negative changes in your area like a natural disaster or a school or major business closing. The structure of your home, however, tends to depreciate in value as things get worn out and lived in. While you don’t have a lot of control over what goes on in your neighborhood that may negatively impact the price of your land, you do, fortunately, have some control over maintaining and increasing value on your home’s structure by keeping up with maintenance and putting in certain home improvements. Don’t let your home’s value be something that you just tacitly accept—work toward making sure your home, and not just the land it sits on, is appreciating as the years go on.

Home Value: How to Improve Your Home’s Worth

With prices for housing surging to new highs this year in many parts of the United States, you may be toying around with the idea of selling your home. After all, you could sell for top dollar and pocket the difference, then move somewhere cheaper with a lower cost of living.

Or maybe you plan to stay exactly where you are, in the home you know and love. Regardless of how much your home is worth, sometimes it’s easier to just stay put — even if your home isn’t exactly what you want.

Some improvements can make your house easier on the eyes. Others can increase your home’s utility, make it bigger or make it more comfortable for your growing family.

Whether you want to build equity or sell for top dollar, plenty of home improvement projects are worth considering. The real estate experts we spoke to said the following projects may provide the most bang for your buck.

1. Upgrade exterior doors

When it comes to adding value to your home, replacing an old front door can also work wonders, Wiedman says. He says in the late ’90s, he and his wife replaced an old, ugly door with a solid mahogany door with a frosted, oval piece of lead glass. He stained the door himself to save money, and the result was “simply stunning,” he says.

Randy Oliver, president of Hollywood-Crawford Garage Door Co., also says to remember your garage door when it comes to curb appeal.

“The front of the home is the first thing you, your neighbors and prospective buyers will see,” he says. “Garage doors often take up the most amount of space on the front of your home, so installing a modern glass panel door or a rustic wood door will dramatically improve your home’s appearance.”

2. Spruce it up with fresh paint and flooring

Paint is magic, and that’s true whether you’re upgrading the paint inside or outside your home. A fresh coat of paint can make even dated exteriors and interiors look fresh and new, and it’s not that expensive, either.

Timothy Wiedman, a former college professor and personal finance expert who has flipped homes over his career, says you should start by painting any rooms with an “odd” color scheme.

For example, did you let your then-11-year-old daughter paint her bedroom “hot pink” 16 years ago? If so, that’s a good place to start.

Rob Fountain, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Partners in Colorado Springs, Colorado, says that “everyone loves newer carpet and fresh paint.”

Very few homebuyers, he says, are looking for a fixer-upper. Instead, they hope to move right in.

“Moving and buying a house is stressful enough,” Fountain says. “They don’t want to have to touch up paint and rip out carpet before they move in.”

3. Clean and declutter

According to a 2019 survey from HomeLight, deep cleaning and decluttering can add more than $4,000 to a home’s resale value, on average. If you don’t plan to move, you can also benefit from making better use of your space, getting more organized, and having less clutter to stress over.

Cleaning and decluttering is inexpensive, but it still requires a lot of work. Go through cabinets and closets so you can make a donation pile. Clean out drawers and other storage areas of your home as well, making sure you’re not keeping anything you don’t need or want.

A deep clean and subsequent cleanings for upkeep can also make your home more attractive and more livable. And when you go to sell, buyers prefer a clean, pristine home with almost no exceptions.

4. Make your home more efficient

There are many ways to improve your home’s efficiency, and they don’t all involve tens of thousands of dollars in upgrades. Scott Ewald of Trane, an HVAC company, says installing a smart thermostat is a great way to improve efficiency and save money, for example.

“The right smart thermostat will allow a homeowner to control their home’s climate from anywhere, giving them the power to manage energy costs regardless of whether they are sitting on the couch or away on vacation,” he says. “Such investments in home tech – particularly when connected to the HVAC which is the largest mechanical system in the home – provides a strong selling point and highlights the home’s overall comfort, functionality, energy efficiency and convenience.”

Other ways to improve your home’s efficiency and value include replacing old, leaky windows, buying energy-efficient home appliances and adding insulation to your home.

5. Add usable square footage

Adding more usable space to an existing home can make a lot of financial sense, and that’s especially true in areas with limited available real estate where land and space may be finite.

Benjamin Ross, a Realtor in Corpus Christi, Texas, says that homes are valued and priced by the livable square feet they contain, and the more livable square feet, the better. As a result, adding a bathroom, a great room or another needed space to a home can increase function and add value.

Adding a separate mother-in-law suite is also a great idea, Ross says. “Most homes do not have this feature, so adding one sets you apart from the competition when it is time to sell.”

6. Work on your curb appeal

HomeLight’s second-quarter 2019 survey of real estate agents found that the exterior of your home may play a bigger role in your home’s value than you think. The survey showed that 76 percent of top real estate agents nationwide agreed that improving curb appeal is the No. 1 step a homeowner can take to boost their home’s marketability.

According to their figures, basic lawn care like cutting the grass, fertilization treatments and weed control can add $1,000 on its own. If you’re wondering how to increase the value of your home, these low-cost measures can be a good starting point.

Joe Raboine, director of residential hardscapes with Belgard, says there are plenty of other ways to boost your curb appeal. An overall landscape upgrade can go a long way, for example.

“Installing a front walkway of pavers along with stone planters, shrubs and mulching will cost an estimated $6,000, and the NAR (National Association of Realtors) estimates you’ll recover $5,000,” he says.

A new paver patio or outdoor kitchen can also add to your home’s value and make your property a lot more enjoyable when the weather is nice.

Easy & Cheap Ways to Improve Your Home

Home improvement can be a great way to feel more comfortable and happier in your home, or to be more comfortable having guests pop by. Home improvement can also help if you have been trying to sell your house, but you still haven’t been able to sell. While some home improvements require a lot of saving up (such as a complete bathroom or kitchen remodel), there are many more affordable ways to improve your home without spending a lot of money.

It’s also true that some home improvements also give homeowners a better return than others, but in the end unless you are trying to sell your home, you also need to factor in what changes will make you the happiest while you live in your house. Of course, you also need to consider the time frame that you have to make changes. Here are five cheap improvements to consider.

1. Improve curb appeal

Improving your outdoor space takes time, but you can do it for very little money (or even for free) if you are willing to put the hours in. Giving your home better curb appeal will make your home look better overall, and impress potential buyers. According to the DIY Network, painting the front door, trim, or shutters is a great way to up your curb appeal. Upgrading your mailbox, improving your lighting, and adding flower boxes can also help. It’s also a good idea to trim shrubs and unruly trees and regularly mow your grass.

Once you have your curb appeal up to par, then you can focus on your backyard. Mowing and trimming is still important, but you also need to consider the placement of flower and vegetable gardens; your best bet will be to keep both yards looking well manicured.

There are so many ways you can improve your home without spending a lot of money. In addition to painting your kitchen cabinets, if you have the time to paint other rooms in the house, this is a great way to give your home a facelift. Decorating your home in a coordinated or clear style can also quickly make your home more presentable and comfortable. You just have to choose which direction you want to go in, and you need to determine how much time you have.

2. Organize as much as you can

Some people don’t consider organization to be a home improvement, but appropriately organizing your space can make a huge difference to potential buyers, and can also make you more comfortable in your own home. Organizing your home can be affordable, and it can also be a quick job (unless your home looks like a house from the television show Hoarders). Start by organizing the space you spend the most time in, and you can move on to the rest of your home when you have time. You can purchase shelves or organizing buckets if you want, but start by completing free organizing tasks first.

Find a permanent home for things that are on several different surfaces (for example, end tables and counters). Organizing your shoes, clothes, and even your refrigerator and pantry can help. Organizing is a lot like cleaning: It’s hard to start, but when you finish you will be surprised by how much better you feel.

3. Coordinate and update your kitchen

If you can’t afford new appliances, flooring, or cabinets, there are several less expensive kitchen improvements you can complete to make your space look better. You can paint cabinet doors to give them a fresh look, and you can also replace old hardware. Be sure to properly prepare if you are going to paint: It’s important to consider the scope of the job, to remember to remove hardware and doors, clean the surfaces, sand, and apply primer-sealer before painting.

Improving your kitchen lighting will also make your kitchen feel and look more comfortable (and more efficient lighting will save you money). Although replacing kitchen floors can be expensive, a deep cleaning or refinishing can help tremendously and cost less if you do it yourself.

4. Attic insulation

According to Remodeling magazine’s “key trends” in the 2016 Cost vs. Value Report, a fiberglass attic insulation project gives homeowners a large return on their investment (100% return in 60% of markets). Although this particular renovation isn’t as glamorous as some other possible renovations, it can help you whether you are planning to stay in your home or sell it because you can cut bills. According to Realtor.com, it will cost you about $1,268, and the resale value could be $1,482 (116.9 percent cost recouped). A manufactured stone veneer, garage door replacement, steel entry door replacement, and a minor kitchen remodel are some of the other improvements with high recoup rates.

5. Update your bedroom

Your bedroom should be a sanctuary: If you plan to live in your home for a while, it is imperative that your bedroom be a place that you enjoy being in. If you’re planning to sell your home, then you will want to wow potential buyers when they walk into the master bedroom. If your bedroom is small, then proper decorating is key: It’s important to consider the size and placement of your furniture, and to have the proper flooring (wood floors can be ideal, and radiant floor heating can be a plus); decorative mirrors can also make the room look bigger, and wall cabinets can save space.

Regardless of the size of your room, it’s important that it feels inviting. Also be sure to choose paint colors that will make you feel comfortable (or appeal to buyers), try to have a cohesive theme or color, and be sure to keep your room clean.

How to Easily Maintain Your Home

Buying a home is exciting and scary. Home maintenance doesn’t have to be hard. Learn what tools you need, how to find the circuit breaker or to shut off the water.

Maintenance Tips for First Time Homeowners

Owning your first house is exciting! You can build a killer deck or paint the walls purple on a whim. When it comes to renovations and personalizing your new home, however, you may find yourself stuck trying to figure out where to begin. The solution to this quandary is quite simple. Before you fire up the cordless drill or contemplate knocking down walls, you’ll want to take care of a few preventative home maintenance tasks first. Home maintenance can be daunting for new homeowners if you’re used to calling a landlord to come fix your problems. But stick to this list of maintenance tips for new homeowners to make sure your bases are covered.

Call 811 Before You Dig

Whether you’re planting shrubs or building a new fence, you need to be sure you won’t hit any utilities when you break ground. Call 811, the national dig-safely hotline. They’ll send the utility companies out to mark the locations of underground pipes, wires and cables. Not only will you avoid expensive repairs and neighborhood-wide cable outages with 811’s help, but you’ll also ensure that any work you do on your property will be conducted under much safer conditions.

Hire A Professional To Trim Your Trees

Remove dead branches or limbs that could fall on your roof or overhead power lines. This is also a great opportunity to check the integrity of your gutters, soffits, eaves and roof vents. Because huge limbs can break and fall unpredictably, leave tree trimming to the pros.

Find Your Circuit Breaker Box

While you’re searching your closets, basement, garage and front and back yards for your main water shut off valve, be on the lookout for your circuit breaker box. Once you’ve identified it, determine which fuses control the electricity in various areas of your house and label them accordingly.

Check Your Attic Insulation

If your attic inspection reveals that the tops of your floor joists are visible, then your home is insufficiently insulated. The recommended amount of insulation for most attics is about 10 to 14 inches of material, depending on the type of insulation used. The attic is the easiest place to add insulation to improve your home’s energy efficiency. A well-insulated house can save you up to 30 percent on your energy bills, increase your property value and keep your family a lot more comfortable.

Locate Your Main Water Shut Off Valve

Gallons of water rushing out of a burst pipe can wreak havoc on your drywall, flooring and belongings. In fact, non-weather-related water damage is the second most common homeowner’s insurance claim, according to one company’s claims history. So you need to be able to cut off the flow of water into your home quickly in case of an emergency.

Find your water shut off valve. This is where the water main enters your house. It’s often — but not always — located near a street or alleyway. Next, be sure you know how to close it. You may need to purchase a special tool, such as a crescent wrench or “curb stop key”, both to access and actually turn the valve.

Check Your Foundation

If rain and melting snow drench the soil around the base of your home, pressure can build up and inflict structural damage on your foundation. Worse, if a leak springs and water comes into direct contact with your home’s foundation, it can expand any existing cracks and cause expensive problems. To prevent the weakening of your foundation, be sure the ground around your foundation slopes away from your house at least 6 inches over 10 feet. Be sure your gutters are clean and draining properly. Finally, caulk any small cracks in your foundation walls before they have a chance to becomes big deals.

Proceed Cautiously When Drilling Into Walls

Plumbing pipes, ductwork, wires and cables are hidden in most homes. Before you power up your drill, use a battery-operated stud sensor to detect studs, cables, ducts and the other vital veins and arteries running just beneath the surface of your walls. Since stud sensors aren’t always 100% accurate, avoid damage by drilling only 1 and one-fourth inches deep – just enough to clear the drywall and plaster but miss most wiring and pipes.

By following these first-time homeowner tips, you can protect your investment. You can increase that level of protection, and help reduce major costs associated with repairs and replacements in your home.