Q: What Are Some Ways I Can Protect My Home?

Here’s how to keep your property well-monitored so you can sleep easy.

There are four great tech tools you can employ to make your home safer:

1. Home security system. In this day and age, there are so many options available. There are portable devices available on the market, as well as systems that get fully wired into your home. Perhaps most convenient are the systems you can manage through apps on your smartphone. Since there are so many different options to choose from, consumers can find a decent security system for a relatively low cost.

2. Smart locks. Gone are the days you needed to have a physical key in your hand at all times. Now, you can set complex number and letter combination codes to unlock your door. If you’re at work but forgot to unlock the door for a scheduled appointment with an exterminator, for example, you can unlock your door remotely via your phone, and lock back up when the job’s done.

3. Smart lighting. Maybe it’s a late night at the office, and you don’t necessarily want to advertise that you’re still not home yet; you can once again use your phone to turn on all or some of the lights in your home. It adds a level of security, but also convenience—no one likes fumbling around for keys or light switches in the dark.

4. Security cameras. Whether it’s a Ring doorbell so you can know who’s knocking no matter where you are, cameras around the perimeter of your house, or anything else that can help you record activity on your property, investing in security cameras is such a fantastic thing to do.

If you have questions about these security measures or anything else concerning real estate, please call or email us. We would love to speak with you.
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The Top Home Improvement Projects for ROI

The four best home improvement projects to save money when selling.

When you’re updating your home, your money will be better spent on certain projects over others. So what are the best updates to do if you’re trying to avoid overspending? Here are my suggestions:

1. Adding a stone veneer to the exterior of your home. This can change the look of your house in a way that is attractive. By doing this, you could get a 96% return on your investment. That means if you spent $10,000 on this update, you could add $9,600 to the overall value of your home.

2. Garage doors. If you spend the money to replace your garage door, you’ll typically get around a 95% return.

3. Minor kitchen improvements. This could include small projects like painting cabinets or changing countertops—doing so will get you around a 77% return.

4. Replacing your siding/windows or adding/replacing the deck. This project could bring you a 75% return.

Look at some of the other houses in your neighborhood to see what they’ve improved.

 When you’re making upgrades to your home, I recommend doing these types of maintenance projects first before you spend money on strictly cosmetic items. The home improvement projects that will bring you the lowest returns are typically over-expenditures on bathrooms and kitchens, where you’ve spent your money outside the market.

If you’re going to remodel, look at some of the other houses in your neighborhood to see what they’ve done. If everyone else has a $100,000 kitchen in their home, you probably need one too. Of course, reach out to a real estate professional for their expert advice about what projects would most benefit the value of your home so that you don’t overpay.

If you have any further questions about which home improvement projects are the best or how to increase the value of your home, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to hear from you.
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Q: Do You Need A Survey When Buying a Home?

So you’re thinking about buying a home—do you need a survey?

I personally always buy a survey when I purchase a property. For one, I want to know if I’m paying for the right property. We can’t just assume that the description of the property is what we’re getting; it’s important to verify that information with a survey, particularly if you’re purchasing outside a subdivision. If you’re buying a property that comes with land or acreage, you’d want to know where the corners are, especially if, for example, you wanted to put up a fence.

Speaking of boundaries and corners, you want to ensure that there aren't any sort of discrepancies or arguments over the house or adjacent buildings. Through the years, I’ve had many houses where, in the process of doing a survey, I’ve found out a portion of it that I liked (a storage shed, for example) was actually located on the neighbor’s property. Be sure to determine whether all parts of the property you expect to get are actually on the property.

I wouldn’t recommend buying a home without a survey.

 Similarly, make sure that the property is properly zoned. If you’re thinking of adding a building or constructing a duplex, you’ll need to know if the zoning is correct before you do so.

The bottom line is that I wouldn’t recommend buying a home without a survey. If you’d like more information to put surveys in context, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d be glad to hear from you.
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