When we get in our cars and turn the key, we expect the engine to start and if there is a problem, we’re likely to hear it. We can  decide to fix it now or wait for the next scheduled maintenance check. Houses have problems too but rarely can we can hear the problem, and there is no manufacturer telling you how often to inspect your home. Few home owners have the skills to thoroughly inspect their home, so they rely on home inspections typical when selling and/or buying a house.

Can You Tell How Safe Your Home Is? READ MORE

Owning a small business is challenging. Few owners have expertise in marketing so they look for effective ways to spread the word about their business. There are many business directories online, similar to traditional yellow pages. Service Magic dominates the web but you need to look at how they do this, and learn to be cautious. New technologies are making it easier for mega companies to own the business directories.

A friend recently shared an email solicitation from Service Magic but can’t recall ever giving them permission, and yes there are new companies selling email addresses. One of my roles as the founder of the Association of Women Home Owners is to be a consumer advocate, helping you understand the best way to find your home professionals. READ MORE

We spend many hours at home, so it’s important that we learn about the safety of the air we breathe and the water we drink. While food manufacturers must list all ingredients in their products, it takes a chemistry degree (my husband has one) to decipher the list of ingredients.

Cleaning products are only required to list the active ingredients. When buying cleaning products, the more “signal words” there are on the packaging, the less safe the product. One article I read suggested never buying a product with more than one use of the word “caution”. Once you bring the products home, review the label carefully and follow the instructions. READ MORE

It’s true that kitchens, bathrooms and the right number of bedrooms are key to buying a house. However, there are other features like decks, views and great landscaping that make a house stand out from the crowd and influence buyers. These features become even more critical when it’s a buyers market with more houses for sale than buyers.

We might not count decks in the square footage of a home’s living space today, but the concept of creating outdoor living spaces is gaining popularity. Maybe in the future outdoor living space will be included in house listings similar to the way unfinished/below level or basement space is included today. READ MORE

New products are introduced to your home professionals each year at their respective trade shows. Here’s a peak from the 2010 Kitchen & Bath Industry Show in Chicago, from Amy Hoak at Marketwatch. She does a nice job talking to many different exhibitors at the show who share their views including an emphasis on budget sensitive ways to upgrade your kitchen.

What’s fun is you’ll  feel like you’re right there at the show, talking directly to those home experts who were interviewed in the video.

You’ll learn that people are spending less on kitchen remodels and that’s a good thing. Remember too, that you don’t have to do everything all at once. You can replace your countertops this year, put new hardware on your cabinets next year and the year after, add a tile backsplash to give your kitchen a finished look. Any one of these updates will make it feel like a new kitchen, i.e. when we replaced one home owner’s countertops to get the house ready to sell, she felt like she had a new kitchen and wondered if she was making the right decision to move. READ MORE