At Home With Valerie

Have you been inundated with telemarketers, robo calls, and scammers on your home telephone line?   Use this free service to eliminate annoying calls.   We’ve all been there. You’re just sitting down to dinner or your favorite Netflix binge and the phone begins ringing. If you’re like most people, you’ve probably gotten used to screening a lot of calls because so many are robocalls. You know the kind and you know the drill: Political ads, solicitations, scams. You pick up saying “Hello? Hello?” and then comes that eerie pause which tells you you’re about to hear a pre-recorded message.   It’s a rude waste of your attention, and yet many of us can’t just get rid of our home phone line. While you can ignore the call, often they call multiple times a day or every day of the week at the same time. The problem is widespread.   In early 2013 the FTC held a contest to combat the scourge of robocalls. The winner of that contest was Nomo...

Are you thinking about looking at homes in a neighborhood with an HOA (Home Owner’s Association)? Have you ever wondered what an HOA is or what you should know before you buy a property governed by one? This blog post is for you. If you’re a first-time buyer and are confused about what a Home Owners Association is (or does), you should definitely ask the right questions before you consider buying. Basically, an HOA is an organization which is designed to protect the quality of life and property values for owners within a neighborhood or shared building. How they do so, though, can vary widely. Typically when you purchase a residence subject to an HOA, you’ll be required to pay monthly dues which often contribute to major repairs or maintenance or the upkeep of common/shared resources. But HOAs can also have a significant impact on what you can and can’t do with your own home. The HOA’s rules are detailed in what’s called covenants, co...

Fireplaces are one of the coziest amenities in a home. But they can also bring on terrible disaster if they’re not maintained properly and used wisely. Here are some essential tips for fireplace safety. Gathering the family around a crackling fire can be one of the joys of the coldest months… or it can be a nightmare. It’s one thing to be seated cozily on the couch while the firewood glows, and quite another to be standing on the curb in the cold watching the fire department trying to save your home.   More than 14,000 fires begin each year in fireplaces, and fires are the cause of nearly $900 million dollars in property damage. Don’t be a victim because of shoddy maintenance or careless usage of your fireplace. This goes for both wood-burning and gas fireplaces.   Here are some tips to maintain your fireplace and protect your life:   1. Before the coldest months set in, get your fireplace inspected. Remember, most inspection companies will be ...

There’s an old saying: What you can’t see won’t hurt you. But, that’s not true. Less than ideal air quality in your home can result in allergies, colds, languor, and even sleepless nights. Here are some tips that can help: Let in the fresh air.  Weather permitting, open windows and doors to help circulate stale indoor air with fresher outdoor air. Change the furnace filter.  According to studies, most filters on forced air heating systems in homes do not get changed regularly. Tip: Change the filter when you change the batteries in your smoke detectors – at least twice a year. Easy on the household cleaners.  Cleaners that are tough on stains can also have the same effect on your health. So use them with care. After cleaning any surface, wipe the residue dry with a clean absorbent cloth. Keep things dry.  Mold spores thrive on moisture. So make sure bathroom fans adequately remove humidity. A fan should be strong enough so that a piece of paper clings to...

Daylight savings time ends on Sunday at 2 a.m.   Don't forget to set your clocks back one hour Sunday night before heading off to bed!   Regards,   Valerie McConville Homes and Gardens Real Estate Ltd.