Hickory Dickory Dock...

   Don't forget to change back your clock 

November 2nd! 

This is also a great time to change batteries in your smoke detectors! 

How to Prepare Your Home for Winter

Winter is coming, and with it comes the hazards of cold and some home owner tasks. Here is just a small list of items that you will want to do before the first snow falls. 

• Take the snow blower out of storage and be sure to have it serviced
• Check for extra gloves, hats, snow shovels
• Drain outside houses and cover faucets 
• Have your furnace inspected
• Have your fireplace cleaned and inspected
• Check smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors
• Check and clean gutters and inspect chimney
• If needed, add additional insulation to walls 
• Caulk and weather-strip doors and windows
• Install storm doors and cover windows with plastic from the inside
• Insulate any water lines that run along outer walls
• Install easy-to-read outdoor thermometer. 

If finding a new home is on your winter to do list, contact me today. We can have you home for the holidays. 

INCREASE YOUR MOOD BY BRINGING NATURE INTO YOUR HOME

Did you know that flowers can boost our moods and can help reduce stress?  To see what all the hype is about, start with some easy ways to surround yourself with fresh blooms, plants and nature. Here are some simple and cost-effective ways to bring more nature into your home.

Start a Container Garden

Whether you're short on space, or just want to infuse more greenery and flowers around the house, you could start planting a container garden. Grab an old wine crate and line it with newspaper or burlap before planting herbs, lettuce or your favorite flowers. Place your plants in the window or on the deck or rooftop apartment.

Plant Blossoms for Butterflies

Head to your backyard or rooftop garden and plant a garden with butterflies in mind. Choose flowering plants and blooms native to your geographic region, to help butterflies get the nectar and foliage required to blossom into adults. Color matters to butterflies, much like humans. They're usually attracted to red, yellow, pink, purple and red. To keep butterflies around, stagger your plants so that when one stops blooming, another one starts.

Create a Greenhouse

It doesn’t take much space or supplies to put together a small greenhouse. Buy a kit at your local hardware store, or you can always make one yourself. Use PVC pipes and clear plastic sheeting and place it in a well lit room. Put glass shelves in a window frame and place your plants on the shelves for a simple and easy-to-remove greenhouse.

Build a Home for Bees

Another idea you could do is to plant a garden for bees, similar to how you can create a garden for butterflies. To create a space with clean water in a shallow container with pebbles for bees to land and drink when thirsty. Like your butterfly garden, pick native flowers and also select single flower tops like marigolds. Double flowers are harder for bees to draw pollen. Designate an area of your garden in a brightly lit spot for bee burrowing with extra soil. But not all bees like to nest in the ground. Pile pieces of wood and bamboo sections for your wood nesting bee friends.

Start Composting

Now that you’ve brought more green and colorful blooms into your home, what should you do with them once they die? Start a compost bin and throw in your old stems, blooms and leaves along with discarded fruit, coffee grounds and grass clippings among others. Use the compost to add to your gardens and indoor plants and watch them flourish.

Creating Your New Home Wishlist

Before your new home search begins, let's take a moment to sit down and go over what you are looking for in your next home. It is important to sit down and decided your features vs amenities. These two factors are important to helping you find your next home. Your features are you needs and amenities are more of your wants.  It helps to know what you are looking for in your next home so that together we can find your perfect home. Contact me and together we can go over your new home wishlist. 

To help clarify features vs amenities, I have created a short example list of both. 

Features 

• Age of the Home: Do you prefer a historic home or a newer construction?
• Style: Do you want a ranch, bungalow or another style of home? 
• Bedrooms: How many? 
• Bathrooms: How many? Do you want them updated? 
• Kitchen: How big? Updated? Open to other rooms in the home? 
• Square Footage: How big do you need your home to be? 

Amenities

• Fireplace
• Pool
• Patio,Deck, Porch
• Sprinkler System
• Security System 
• Workshop/Studio

Stage your home, including the garage!

"The garage can become sort of an after-thought when putting your home on the market, these days it really shouldn't be. More often than not, these days, the garage can be a pivotal point for buyers. Buyers look beyond the garage as something to park cars, they can double as home gyms, storage space, home offices, workshops.

We have all the home listings where sellers simply use the garage to store all their stuff that they plan to take with them or get rid of. While that might be convenient for the current homeowners, it's not very enticing for potential new buyers. If buyers can barely walk into the garage, they'll likely skip it entirely and may feel a bit cheated.

Square footage counts and many people have plans to use that extra garage space for things you might not have thought of. A good-looking garage will attract buyers.

Do what you can to improve your garage but start with the basics. If your garage door is in shoddy shape, replace the hardware. Nothing worse than a buyer taking a look at your garage just as a spring breaks on the automatic garage door! Make sure to sweep out the garage as well. Taking the time to show that you take care of the garage, well also reflect on how well you take care of the rest of your home.

Then take a look around and see what things you can get off the floor and into shelves or cabinets in your garage. The less you have on the floor, the more spacious the garage will feel. If the new buyers have big cars, ample space for cars as well as storage space for household items will be very important.

A garage may not always be the main attraction like the kitchen or master bedroom, but it definitely has its own appeal especially when it's staged to sell."

Are you interested in buying or selling your home? Go ahead and contact me so we can get together and work on your real estate dreams. 

Team work makes the dream work! 

Did you know....

When listing your home with me and NP Dodge Real Estate, I can provide a great service to you while your home is listed. I know that you deserve the best and that's exactly what you get...the 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty. the nation's leading provider of home warranties for over 30 years. Here at NP Dodge, we understand the importance of having comprehensive coverage and protection available for what may be your largest investment...that is why we offer the exclusive 

2-10 Home Buyers Warranty. We are proud to have partnered with 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty. 

Complimentary seller's coverage is provided during the listing period with a seller's commitment to purchase buyer's coverage at the time of closing. Complimentary coverage will begin upon notifcation of seller's commitment to purchase buyer's coverage to home warranty company, and will continue for a period of one year or until the home sale closes, whichever comes first. 

So let's sit down together and review what I am able to provide to you when you list your home with Kristi Creger.

Contact me today so we can get your home on the market tomorrow. 

DIY Fall Decorating

Harvest table

An easy grouping of seasonal items and colors brings autumn to your tabletop.

Orange and white pumpkins plus yellow chrysanthemums in a sunny yellow container create an eye-catching centerpiece. Elevate some of the pumpkins for added flair. Go ahead and get creative with the fun fall colors. This is perfect for your next fall gathering.