Christina Moore

Home Renovations and Loans

August 8, 2013 by Christina Moore

So you want to renovate your home? Where do you start?

You start with figuring out exactly what you want to renovate. Are you doing just the bathrooms, or the kitchen or the entire house?

Are you going to put any additions on?

Renovating & Refinancing – Connect the Dots

What is the connection between home renovations and refinancing? Many times refinancing your home can be the easiest way to get your home renovations done all at once. Make sure you look for and compare the best home loan rates available before filling out any applications.

If you are planning for an upgrade or addition, then the best time to do it is when you do the renovating. This way, you will not have to worry about going through the process of finding money, contractors, or making a mess twice. It is best to take care of everything at once.

Getting an Estimate, or Several

Now you need estimates of what it is going to cost to do your renovations. You will have to contact your local construction companies or contractors and such to get the information you need. I recommend getting several estimates. Don’t take the first estimate you get at face value. Shop around for the best prices and then decide.

There are several questions you will need to ask the contractors before you chose one and they are important:

Are they licensed and insured to work in your area?
Are the permits included in the bid?
Will they give you a written estimate and contract?
Are lien wavers for suppliers and sub contractors included?
Do they have references?
What about changes? Will they be included?

You want to make sure that all of these questions are answered to your satisfaction, before you make any decisions on a contractor. If they cannot or will not agree to them, I suggest that you keep looking. Mold and mildew could be an issue when renovating bathrooms. I recommend making sure that this issue is addressed with your contractor as well to make sure that it will be taken care of and is included in your contract.

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Three Cheap and Fun Summer Home Improvement Projects

July 31, 2013 by Christina Moore

There’s no better time than the summer to take on a home improvement project. Between longer hours and beautiful weather, summertime allows those who might not otherwise be able to take on a big project the time to finally do so.

Many people believe that home improvement projects are outside of their abilities. While costs and know-how can certainly get in the way, there are plenty of small, fun projects that can not only be done inexpensively, but require little to no actual experience in home improvement. After all, you don’t have to be a contractor to change the look and feel of your home; you just need to have the ambition.

Take the following three projects into consideration, each of which is not only easy to jump into, but can help to take your home to the next level.

Take a Minimalist Approach

Sometimes home improvement is less about adding and more about taking away. If you’re looking to take on a project and don’t want to spend a single dollar, you might want to consider taking de-cluttering your home and taking a minimalist approach. Minimalism is all about getting rid of the things that you don’t need. An extremely cluttered home can be very difficult to relax in, and can turn your guests off as soon as they walk through the door. You might want to consider having a tag sale, or simply donating your items to friends or organizations such as the Salvation Army. A good rule of thumb to follow is that if you haven’t used something for more than a year, it’s probably worth getting rid of.

Update Your Appliances

If you’ve been living in the same home for a long period of time, there’s a good chance you’re dealing with dated appliances. Increasing energy efficiency in your home can be as easy as simply replacing your appliances with newer, more advanced machines. Modern dishwashers and washing machines, for example, are far less wasteful than those that were produced decades ago. You don’t have to be an expert on the details when shopping for new appliances, either, as most on the market today will already be a huge step up from what you might have. New appliances don’t have to be difficult to finance, either; credit cards, loans, and payment plans are all options. You can easily read resources like NerdWallet, among many other blogs, to learn more about the smartest way to spend. Also don’t forget to buy appliances that save you money once you know how to buy it, purchasing energy saving devices or multi-use machines are just two ways your appliances can be smarter and less expensive in the long run.

Build a Patio

If you have unused space in the front or back of your home, you might want to consider utilizing the warm weather to build out a patio. Even if you’ve never taken on such a project in the past, you can build a basic patio with little more than time, effort and a few materials. There are plenty of blueprints and plans available online, many of which can be downloaded for free. A patio will not only make your home more relaxing, but can help to increase the resale value of your home.

Home improvement projects don’t need to be out of reach if you’ve never taken them on before. With a little bit of research and a strong inclination to improve your home, you’ll be well on your way towards doing so.

Using Your Windows to Trump the Weather

July 22, 2013 by Christina Moore

Windows and Weather

With regard to the sporadic weather patterns of recent years, there is something that we can all agree on: the summers are getting hotter, the winters are getting colder and the springs and falls are much shorter than they used to be.

There are lots of things that you can do to beat the oppressive heat of the summer and the bone chilling cold of winter. You can use fans, heaters, fireplaces, your own clothes, etc. to help you regulate your body temperature and the temperature of your home. You can also use your windows.

Summer Windows

During the summer, one of the best things you can do to reduce the amount of heat in your home is to hang up some blinds (thick wooden ones, like bamboo) over the outside of your windows. When you hang blinds on the outside of your window, you keep the heat of the sun from making contact with the glass or plastic in your windows (which effectively turns your windows into giant magnifying glasses and you into an ant).

If you don’t own your home and aren’t able to put up blinds on the outside of your house, that’s okay. You can buy heat absorbing film and put it on the inside of your windows to help reduce that ant/magnifying glass scenario we just talked about.

Tip: Keeping your windows open during the cooler parts of the day and closed during the hotter parts of the day also goes a long way toward helping you regulate your home’s temperature.