All posts by Teresa

Needed repairs to look out for include HVAC, roofing

38, Furnance repair, HVAC

Buying your own home, especially your first home, can be overwhelming at best and terrifying at worst. Navigating through loan paperwork, contracts, and figuring out how to interact with real estate agents, loan officers, and sellers can all be exhausting if you are not prepared or do not have any help. There are a lot of articles out there about how to be prepared to buy a house, but this is an article that has a slightly different angle. This is one that warns of possible repairs that might be needed in a home you are considering buying, and they might not be obvious up front. The seller only has to disclose certain things, so knowing the possibilities ahead of time and mitigating certain costly repairs can help you feel confident in your home purchase.

  • First, always request a sewer inspection. This is only as requested in most states, though in this author’s opinion it should be a mandatory inspection. Without knowing it you might inadvertently be purchasing a home with a sewer that is going to back up in a matter of months. Getting this inspection done ahead of time and negotiating any repairs will leave you with a peace of mind.
  • Ask to see all regular maintenance paperwork. This includes appliances such as refrigeratorheating company repairs but also extends to paperwork for regular roofing inspections, HVAC maintenance, any landscaping done on the home, or even the last time the locks were changed on the doors. This can help you determine if there were any gaps in service or any major repairs done recently to help you sleep a little easier.
  • Make sure the roof has been inspected carefully, and recently. If it has not, request that it be done. A leaky roof or a collapsed roof can suddenly really ruin a home owner’s day, and with the amount of rainfall and snowfall we have been getting, roofing repairs are on the rise.
  • Based on the results of above inspections, negotiate any needed repairs. If the HVAC system needs fixing, make sure to find an air conditioning repair company such as D.N.I. Heating to help with those needs, or suggest that the seller hire them themselves. Either way, they need to cover the expense so it either comes out of their pocket or out of the price of the home. The same goes for major roofing and sewer repairs that might be needed.

If you are lucky, you will not have to worry about any of the above problems for a long time. Moving into a home that has been well maintained and that maintenance properly documented can help ease your mind about such a large purchase. Even though it should not matter who the seller is, knowing how they have taken care of the house – or not taken care of it in some instances – can help reassure you about a given purchase. Some home owners are simply more responsible than others, and the type you are dealing with should become fairly obvious in the contracting process.

When staging your home for selling it, consider new paint, window treatments, and carpet cleaning

38, Hunter Douglas blinds, window coverings, window treatments

I have worked in real estate for quite some time. Learning the ins and outs took a while, but I am pretty confident in my ability to help people buy and sell their homes, and most importantly, I love what I do and am able to make a good living at it. Not everyone can say that about their career, but I love homes and meeting new people, so it is the perfect field for me.

I probably should have been an interior decorator, but I was also intrigued by the finance aspects of home buying and selling, and so I ended up in real estate instead. But the interior decorator in me still finds ways to be creative and artsy, mostly with clients who are looking to sell their homes. They do not know where to start, or what works, or what looks best in their homes when they are trying to show them. What you like for your own living room might not be what actually shows its best qualities when people are house hunting.

This means I get to give advice about what people can do to redecorate the interior of their homes before showing them. Anything from carpet cleaning to a fresh coat of paint to new window treatments, I give as much advice as they will take. Many clients are resistant, and do not necessarily want to spend any money just to sell their houses. But I find the ones who take my advice earlier and to heart have an easier time selling their homes and they spend less time on the market. For example, no one really thinks about the window coverings in their bathrooms. But a nice set of Hunter Douglas blinds can really help highlight a beautiful bathroom and make it more than just a bathroom.

I think some of the more resistant clients see me as just their realtor, and not their decorator. In fact, some of them do end up hiring their own decorators. But those who do let me weigh in on their design and the way they end up showing their homes are always pleased and are always able to sell their homes. I think they sell their homes even faster with my help, and I have a good track record to prove it. Because I am also fairly artsy, I know how to both stage the home and also put together nice materials for the website and flyers to make sure the home is showcased properly.

It is worth it if you are selling your home to consult with either a talented realtor or your own decorator to make sure you are showing your home in the best light possible. Even if it is empty because you have already moved out, there are ways to make it look homey and lived in and welcoming for the next family. Do not sell yourself or your home short on this point: make sure you stage it to the best of your ability.

window coverings

Braces Being Used More and More for Cosmetic Straightening of Crooked Teeth

38, braces, orthodontist

It is a much accepted norm that women are significantly more concerned with their appearance than men are, or they are at least are more obvious about it. Men can be concerned with their appearance in different ways, but women tend to be more concerned about what they are wearing, how their hair looks, and whether their make up is applied correctly or not. Even with this fact in mind, a surprising trend has begun to emerge among adults who are seeking out braces for their teeth. Women are in fact more likely to get braces, and they are also the ones more likely to be bothered by the disruption in their appearance because of braces. They have, however, come to see braces as a long term investment in their appearance – not necessarily an investment in their health – and have begun a trend of adult braces.

The trend itself is not a bad thing. Most orthodontists agree that there are many adults out there who do need braces and the help that patients can get from such services is both beneficial to their oral health and to their appearances. The root cause of the trend, a person’s appearance, is a little more concerning and does not speak highly of us as a society. You will not hear doctors or patients complain though, particularly as braces get more and more sophisticated every year. Patients seeking to make their teeth straighter or whiter can seek out a variety of cosmetic dentistry options, from professional teeth whitening to invisible braces for permanent straightening. Dental insurance even covers some of these procedures that are deemed medically necessary.

According to doctors, many procedures involving adults getting braces are in fact medically necessary. It is true that simply straightening slightly crooked teeth might not be a medical necessity to some people. But many of these cases are more complicated than just a crooked tooth, or the patient’s teeth are crooked because of a different underlying cause in their bone structure that could potentially cause problems in the long run. Extra teeth, overcrowding, or teeth that grew in sideways when they were younger all present problems to long term oral health. Braces are the most common solution to fixing each of those scenarios, as well as simply fixing a slightly crooked tooth.

Technology has made these procedures easier and more accessible than ever, and has even shortened the amount of time needed to wear braces and have the same effect. Making them less visible and more comfortable makes adult and child patients alike more likely to wear them when needed and maintain them for overall health. Particularly if they know they do not have to wear them for very long! Some do wear them for longer than others, and more serious cases require different types of braces and even retainers after the fact, but the majority of cosmetic orthodontics can be done with simple invisible braces, improving both the overall appearance and overall oral health of a child or an adult.

braces