At Home With Valerie

Despite the fact that municipally supplied water is tested regularly for safety and quality, it’s not a bad idea to check your own water supply at least once a year. Water contamination can occur anywhere along the way to your drinking glass, even in your own water pipes. Of course, in addition to toxic or poisonous contaminants – which users of private wells are bound to monitor regularly – individuals might also be concerned about water hardness, or common elements such as chlorine or fluoride. Whether you live in a house or a condo, you should at least know the source of your water, and how to confirm its quality. To satisfy your concerns, you can buy a testing kit, or check if your public health office will test your sample for you. If, instead, you choose to purchase your drinking water, either in bottles or from a service company, make sure that it too, is tested regularly.

With their use expanding quickly, this is an opportune time to consider whether the newest “tap” or “flash” debit and credit cards are truly secure.  These cards, called RFID cards, for “Radio  Frequency Identification”, send a code to a retailer’s “reader” when you agree to make a purchase. The information is sent via an encrypted signal, which can only be reused once at most. For added security, these cards may be kept in a shield or sleeve that blocks radio waves until you take your card out. Wallets are now available with specific RFID card holders. Some security experts suggest that “tapping” is much safer than inserting your card and entering your PIN number in front of would-be thieves who want to access your information on the sly. Check with your credit card company to see if they provide RFID cards. If so, you might want to consider changing or upgrading your present card to a RFID card. It may help protect you better from identity thieves.

Internet: Do not offer personal information to anyone requesting it online. Criminal hackers can use it to rack up purchases in your name. Door to door: Never open your door to a stranger. Phony charities, utilities scams and unscrupulous employees (even from legitimate companies) can learn a lot about your security and home habits from a brief front-door encounter. Person to person: A friendly or apparently needy person can cause us to drop our guard and open our wallets. Always be suspicious of anyone asking for money or personal information. Mutual acquaintances: Just because someone claims to know someone you know, that’s no reason to be trusting. Online Phishing Scams-Don't Take the Bait! Your tax payment bounced, your account is overdrawn, there's a problem with your savings plan, or a Nigerian prince desperately needs your help. Most of us at some point have received random urgent emails trolling for financial information or asking us to click a...

Investors all over the world are placing their money in real estate. While some are buying properties for younger family members, others are using those properties for rental income.  Here are a few helpful tips for hiring the right property manager. One of the most important decisions you can make as a real estate investor is hiring the right property manage for your investment property. The difference between a cash-flow positive property and a drag on your finances can be an experienced, professional property manager. You should always interview more than one property management company when you’re evaluating property managers, but do you know what to look for in a property manager? If not, these tips will help put you on the right path. 1. Find certified property managers first. Consult the National Association of Residential Property Managers ( http://www.narpm.org/ ) to seek out property managers with certifications and designations. 2. Look for proper...

Moving day can be stressful, but with the right amount of preparation, you can avoid costly and frustrating hang-ups. Check out these 5 often overlooked moving tips. Moving is often listed as one of life’s most stressful events, but there are a few things you can do to make the transition easier. While you probably know some of the basic tips such as having a garage sale before you move, labeling your boxes by room, and filing “change of address” forms with everyone, there are some less-common tips which can save you time, money, and moving-day headaches. Here are 5 often overlooked moving tips to help make your move a smooth one: 1. Measure doors at your destination and measure your large furniture. There’s no point in moving heavy, large objects if they won’t make it in the new house or condo. Find out what won’t fit and sell it before hand. You’ll save money on the move and the proceeds from the sale will help you purchase a more reasonably sized replacement piece. ...

If someone asked you how much equity you have in your home right now, could you answer them?  Understanding your home’s equity is an important part of judging your overall financial health. Here’s a brief guide to determining your equity position in your home. The dream of home ownership is about more than just a stable place to live, exempt from the whims and decisions of landlords. For many, home ownership is a piece of the wealth building picture, essential to a future retirement or financial independence. The idea is pretty basic: You purchase a home and pay it down while hoping the value of the home increases over time. Generally speaking, this is what happens over a long enough period of time. As you go, you build what’s called “equity.” Equity is defined as “the market value of a homeowner's unencumbered interest in their real property—that is, the sum of the home's fair market value and the outstanding balance of all liens on the property.” If you were to...

Many of us don’t give a second thought to hiring housekeeping, house-sitting, or dog-walking services and often turn over our keys to these “strangers” so they can have easy access to our homes. Have you ever stopped to consider the risks? You could be liable if one of these workers is injured in your home while completing job duties.  Alternatively, your pet could become injured due to neglectful behavior by its sitter.  You may even be in a position where you suspect that something valuable is missing from your home, but have no recourse for recovering it or receiving compensation. To avoid such possibilities, experts recommend that homeowners hire such services from a professional, registered business, that can verify the extent of its liability coverage, either through the company’s insurance policy or in accordance with an agreed-upon contract that relieves you of certain liabilities. At the very least, ask that your hire is bonded to protect you, and ch...

One of the latest contemporary upscale trends in home renovations is the installation of a steam shower. Although it can be an expensive renovation, it can provide a wealth of comfort for users, including relief from asthma and dry skin, in addition to many other therapeutic benefits. Installation can be complicated, as a steam shower needs a generator to create the steam. Plus, the area needs to be well sealed during use and well vented after use, since steam and condensation can create an ideal environment for mold. Despite the fussy installation details, steam showers are a very desirable addition that can contribute to a home’s resale value.

More fires start in the kitchen than in any other room.  Those fires can be expensive; since even a minor incident, with no injuries, can result in significant damage.  That’s why it’s important to keep up with the latest in fire prevention. The most recent research tells us:             Never leave cooking food unattended. Doing so is the number one cause of kitchen fires. Make sure cooking appliances, especially deep fryers, are safety certified by the appropriate government agency. When using oil in a frying pan, always heat slowly at no more than a medium heat setting. Always turn off stove burners and other cooking appliances immediately after cooking. Never attempt to put out a grease fire with water. Use baking soda or a fire extinguisher. Never remove or cover up a smoke detector due to nuisance alarms. The one alarm that isn’t a nuisance may...

As you’re probably aware, the list price you set for your property has an impact on how quickly it sells — and how much you earn on the sale. What you may not realize is just how significant an impact it has. Consider the following examples. Example 1: You price your property well above its current market value. As a result, many buyers don’t bother to see it because it’s outside of their price range. Those who do see it are confused by the high price tag, (and may even be suspicious.) They may wonder, “What’s going on?” In this scenario, the home will likely languish on the market for weeks or even months. You might even have to lower the price dramatically to re-ignite interest. Example 2: You price your property just a couple of percentage points lower than what is necessary to gain the interest of qualified buyers. That might not seem like much of a problem. How much can a couple of percentage points matter? Those points matter a lot. On a $400,000 pr...