Homeowner Tips Blog

Tips for Homeowners

Visit our new partner site offering tips whether you’re buying, selling or just owning a house.  Check back often for news and helpful tips at Tips 4 Homeowners

Could you live in a 247 square foot home?

Designed by Coudamy Architecture, the Red Nest apartment, is a 247-square-foot apartment into a cozy home for two. It centres on a storage unit that shifts to reveal a bed and offers more hidden storage than most houses!

Read the full article and view the pictures.  Could you live here?

Easily draw out a room with your iPhone with RoomScan

RoomScan draws floor plans all by itself - just touch each wall with your phone! 

To get the best from the app, please have a look at these demo videos: http://locometric.com/demo 

 "It's incredibly simple, but seems to work really well." — HUFFINGTON POST "

"You can trade your tape measure for this slick app called RoomScan" — GIZMODO 

The free version of RoomScan is great for scanning single rooms, and RoomScan Pro is available with more advanced features. 

 • The floor plan appears in seconds, with approximate wall lengths and floor area. 
 • RoomScan can draw floor plans of L-shaped and complex rooms just as easily as small rectangular rooms.

We tested it out on an iPhone 4 and it seems to deliver.  Read more about the app from Locometric here

Insider Knowledge on Using a Mortgage Broker

Here are some valuable tips from Moneysense Magazine when you're thinking of using a mortgage broker for your next home purchase:

1. Commission is my friend. As a borrower, you don't typically compensate your broker. It's lenders who shell out commissions and finders fees. A conflict of interest? Could be, especially if one lender pays more than another and that monetary temptation results in a worse deal for you, says John Andrew, a professor of real estate at Queen's University. "If there's even a 0.1% difference in the interest rate you get, that can have huge implications for the total cost of your mortgage."

2. Um, I don't actually negotiate with 40 lenders. Despite what some brokers claim, it's usually more like three or four, says Rob McLister of CanadianMortgageTrends.com. And for good reason: there are learning curves, volume minimums, and some lenders simply don't pay as much in commission. In fact, a number of the big banks use their own salespeople and closed down broker channels years ago. "So if they're not going to get paid, the average broker is going to think, 'Why spend the time on them?'"

3. I'm a newbie. In the brokerage business, experience matters. Although anybody can track and negotiate interest rates, it takes a seasoned pro to handle trickier situations like shaky credit history or self-employment, and to know which mortgages have deal-breaking loopholes.

4. The fine print matters. Most borrowers focus on getting the best rate but brokers know it pays to delve deep into a mortgage's terms and conditions, says Andrew. Can you increase or decrease monthly payments, or throw lump sums at the principal? How costly would it be to break the mortgage? These concerns are just as critical as rates.

5. I'm not a miracle worker. There's only so much a mortgage broker can do for you if you walk in with a credit score of 600 and a trail of unpaid bills. Lenders see you as a high-risk proposition and no broker will convince them to give you a rock-bottom mortgage rate reserved for triple-A clients. Be realistic.

Source: http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/5-things-mortgage-broker-isnt-200000448.html

Tips for Easier and Better Housecleaning

Cleaning the house is a necessary chore, but let's face it—some of us might not mind it, but no one really loves it. Still, like many chores, it's usually bigger in our head than it is when we set in to do it. Here are some ways you can streamline the process, make sure you have the tools on-hand when you need them, and never wonder what you should do next. 

Read the full post from Lifehacker

13 ways to deal with ants in your home

Ants are making their way into homes this time of year. Thankfully there are natural pest control methods to help you cope with and eliminate the problem. Plus, many of the solutions use what you already have in your cupboard!

Read about home remedies for ant invasions

One important tip that could save your home from fire

It's scary to think that keeping one very important fire safety habit helped contribute to the house fire that ravaged this man's home. 

You have to watch this video to see the crucial mistake he made that almost killed his entire family and all his pets too.

Home Improvements that are worth the money

Yahoo Fiance reports that the top-ranking home improvement is s new front door, which on average adds 96.6 percent of the amount you spent to the value to your home, according to Remodeling magazine's annual Cost vs. Value Report for 2014.

But "it has to be the right front door," says Steven Aaron, owner of the Steve Aaron Realtor Group at Keller Williams Beverly Hills and one of the protagonists of the HGTV series "Selling LA." Keep in mind that sometimes painting the existing front door provides the same payoff. 

Find out what other improvements are worth the investment.

10 Tips to Keep your Dishwasher Running Smoothly

If you're lucky enough to have some (mechanical!) help with your dishes, how's your helper doing these days? Winter cooking can be tough on the dishwasher. All those goopy soups, milk-crusted mugs, and baked-on casseroles can overload it; perhaps you're feeling like things aren't running so smoothly or smelling as good as they ought to in there.

Well, we're here to help, with ten tips for making your dishwasher run its best.

Some of these tips came from Amy Wood of Mr. Appliance; she shared a few dishwasher efficiency tips after an earlier post on 7 Kitchen Crannies To Clean Before The Holidays.

Are these tips familiar to you? I had already been doing several of them, but a few were new, so I thought they might be to you as well.  [Read more from thekitchn.com] or visit Tips4Homeowners for more homeowner and homebuyer tips.

5 Reasons why you should lower your thermostat today

Lowering the temperature of your thermostat can do more than reduce your energy bill (although we think that benefit is so awesome that it still made the list). Dropping temps just two to five degrees can also help you lose weight and provide a better night’s sleep.

If you’re not ready take the temperature plunge 24/7 this winter, consider only dropping household temps at night or while you’re at work. Tests show that lowering your home’s temperature for at least four hours a day will make a difference.

Here are five ways that lowering your thermostat can improve your life:

[read article from BrightNest]