Whether you’ve recently purchased your first home or have been living in one for some time, there are few things more important than a balanced budget. Everything from increased utility bills to much-needed repairs can put a pinch on your finances unexpectedly. A solid financial plan – and the wisdom to implement it – can ensure that you have the wiggle room you need when these unplanned expenses pop up. Here’s the scoop on what you need to know about building your first budget and why it’s never too late to get started.

While the concept of a budget is simple (a plan for making and spending money), the terms used to describe a budget [...]

I can’t really believe I’m writing about gardens in early February, bundled up in blankets, with a mug of tea, watching even more snowfall on top of the 12 inches we got last night. But what better activity for a snow day? The fact of the matter is, gardens aren’t a last-minute addition to a yard. If you want to get beautifully arranged flowers, healthy veggies, or solid ground coverage, gardens take careful planning, budgeting, and a lot of elbow grease.

I’ll outline at a high level the things you’ll need to consider as you plan your garden. This is just the basic structure – get creative, adapt, revise, expand. You know your yard and what a dream garden looks like for [...]

The Academy Awards are the biggest night in Hollywood, when celebrities don their best attire for an evening of glitz and glamour. For weeks leading up to the Oscars, A-listers prepare for the red carpet fanfare with spa treatments, specialized exercise regimens, and fittings with prestigious fashion houses. After all, when they’re under the brightest spotlight of the year, every detail matters!

The same is true when you’re selling your home.

Giving your home the red carpet treatment can make all the difference between who talks about it the next day, and who doesn’t even remember it.

The Spa Treatment

Your home will feel good to [...]

Raising a family is a significant part of most people’s lives. It means having children of your own and taking on a new role: parent. Many come to find that where they chose to live as a young adult doesn’t necessarily provide the amenities that are ideal for children, and they will consequently seek out a more fitting city or neighborhood to call home.

There are a variety of factors that make an area good for families, including the cost of living, the safety of the area, school quality, and other local amenities. Some cities in the U.S. are above average in certain regards but fall short in others so it can be difficult to know, [...]

Selling your home is a complex process of communication, planning and paperwork.  Thankfully, real estate agents can help shoulder that burden and help you make the right decisions for your specific goals.

Working with an agent is not required to sell your home, but here’s some food for thought: Homeowners who list without an agent typically sell their homes for less than the selling prices of agent-listed homes, and can have a more difficult time finding a buyer. In fact, according to the 2018 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, agent-assisted sales have a median selling price 32% higher than homeowners who list on their own. With logic supporting [...]

Painting the exterior of your home is far more involved than an interior project. When you’re planning the color scheme of your living room, you don’t have to worry about the collective opinion of the entire neighborhood. If you’re unhappy with the results, or you come across an issue, it’s easy to manage and contain.

When you make changes to your home’s exterior color, your decisions are public. You want to make sure they’re tasteful and inoffensive, attractive enough to distinguish your property but not separate it from others on the block. Learning to coordinate your colors is the first step toward achieving that subtle [...]

When it comes time to sell your home, you can make a few updates to garner as much money from the sale as possible. However, moving adds stress to families, both emotionally and financially. Luckily, you can make several worthwhile upgrades to your home without spending too much time or money on them.

Here are five smaller remodeling projects to help you increase the value of your home.

Curb appeal plays a huge role in many homebuyers’ decision-making process. If they don’t like the look of your house, not much will pique their interest. You should aim to invest around 10 percent of your home’s value into your [...]

Do your plans for this year include building a deck? If so, there are several details to address to create the space you’ve always wanted.

You may have planned to tackle this project over the summer (when the weather is warmer), but there are some things you can do now. Here are a few things to plan in the short-term to ensure your deck will increase your home’s value and curb appeal.

To get the most out of your new space after it is built, you want to consider all options up front. You need to ask yourself what you will primarily use your deck for, and how it needs to incorporate into your existing home and yard. If you want to [...]