Homeowners who fail to perform certain maintenance tasks in a timely manner may face hefty repair bills in the future. Professional home inspectors shared with Apartment Therapy some of the most important home maintenance chores that owners should be doing.Clean your gutters. Be sure to check and clean gutters throughout the year to remove any debris. “Once debris is carefully removed, any dirt or grime should be thoroughly clean
You want that listing to look great and the carpets in the home to have that ultimate fluff. But did you know there are best practices to vacuuming a room?Start in the far corner of the room. This will help you avoid having to step on the carpet that you already cleaned. “Nobody wants footprints on their fresh vacuum lines,” Jamie Wilcox, brand director at vacuum cleaner company Bissell, told Apartment Therapy in a recent article offerin
Falling prey to a wire fraud scheme, he lost the down payment that took his family years to save. Now he’s helping real estate pros protect their clients against cyber scams. After a yearlong search, Aaron Cole and his family finally found their dream home in Canby, Ore., in December 2018. The seller accepted Cole’s $440,000 offer, and with a down payment of $123,000, he and his wife were ready to move in just in time to celebrate Christmas a
The living room is one of the most popular and central areas in a home. And a few easy updates can instantly transform it into an inviting space.Apartment Therapy recently interviewed interior designers to learn some of the latest trends in living room design. Here are a few trends they noted:1. Offer up a more relaxed vibe.The living room is getting less formal in its design, moving away from some of the modern straight edges that have been
1. Planting trees too close to the home.Homeowners may not realize how big a tree will grow as it matures and plant it too near the property. “Plant them several feet away from your home so their limbs won’t rub against your home,” Melissa Okabe, a real estate professional at Alta Properties in Los Angeles, told Apartment Therapy. “Overhanging limbs can also damage the roof, and spreading roots might damage the foundation.”2. Failing at
The era of real estate-focused reality television is encouraging too many homeowners to put aesthetics before function in their remodeling projects, industry experts note in a recent Forbes.com article. For example, the trend toward no-door kitchen cabinetry, which has been made popular by home improvement shows, isn’t a smart choice for a homeowner who isn’t a neat freak or who doesn’t have matching dishes.“Everyone wants a kitchen or ba
Some of today’s most popular design trends could prove to be less than ideal for your buyers. Real estate pros tell Apartment Therapy which interior design trends they believe won’t impress potential buyers—and may even make them want to pass on a home, including:Colorful kitchens. The trend toward bold colors in the kitchen, rather than just white or neutral colors, is catching on. But real esta
A termite infestation can be costly, and sadly, many homeowners don’t discover there’s a problem until these wood-eating pests have already caused a great deal of damage to a home or an inspection uncovers it during a home sale.“Termites are referred to as the hidden enemy,” says Mike Duncan, an associate certified entomologist and eastern region trainer for Truly Nolen, a pest control company. The damage can reach $7,900 or more before t
While some home features have the kind of buzz that makes home shoppers think they must be part of their next home, living with them may actually cause ongoing regret, according to a new article at realtor.com®.One of those highly desired items: an open floor plan. An open layout may actually end up a nuisance as noise and privacy become issues, but that doesn’t stop it from holding a top spot on many buyers’ wish lists.“Sounds are multipl
Color can greatly influence people's perception of not only physical spaces but those online, too. How one feels about certain colors is largely subjective, but there are some universal themes that researchers have recognized. “With the rise of the internet and the shift to online marketing and e-commerce, this reach has expanded to include web design,” notes DesignAdvisor.net, a professional website design service.The color of your website
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