At Home With Valerie

You don’t have to freeze in the winter or start reading by candlelight to reduce your electricity bill. There are many simple ways to use less power with little, if any, impact on your lifestyle. A good place to start is with your electronics.  According to the David Suzuki Foundation, “Any gizmo that has a clock, digital timer, remote control or standby mode is sucking energy when it’s not being used (it’s called ‘phantom electricity’ — and it’s scary how much of it there is).” So keep them unplugged as much as possible. Also, unplug charger cords for phone and computers when not in use. Even when not connected to the device, they still suck power. Another easy change to make involves your lights. Switching to compact fluorescent (CFL) or LED light bulbs can save you a lot of energy. They’re 75% more efficient. Finally, the old-fashioned method of insulating doors and windows can work wonders for lowering your electricity bill. In fact, some particularly drafty home

Are you preparing to move? Are you worried the sheer number of properties on the market will overwhelm your ability to decide? Here’s how to “check your buying temperature” and make an offer on the right home. When you’re house hunting, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. You’re making a big investment. You want to find a place which is “just right” for you (and your family). You can even get a little addicted to touring houses, always convinced the perfect home is just about to hit the market. Sometimes inability to pull the trigger on a house can cause serious shopper’s remorse. You could miss out on a home that, in retrospect, was ideal.  So how do you know a home is “the one”? Here are some useful ways to check your buying temperature and know when it’s time to make an offer: 1. The home fundamentally meets your needs. There’s plenty of compromise in home hunting, so when you find one that has the basics covered, take note. 2. You’d co

Why does one home stand out over others in a market? Sometimes it’s the tiny things which sway a buyer’s interest. Here are a few clever design upgrades to gain an edge in your neighborhood. What is it about a home that catches a buyer’s eye? Why is it when two homes are comparable to one another, buyers go with the one that just “feels right”? Sometimes the difference is so small, they don’t consciously notice. Little touches can give a home a major edge in the market. In fact, here are five clever design upgrades which can provide your home with that indefinable feeling that it’s of higher quality than the competition: 1. Light switch plate upgrades. Homeowners always overlook their own dirty, chipped, or cheap-looking switch plates. If you spend a few bucks to swap out switch plates, any room in the house will seem a tiny bit fresher. Better yet: In the bathroom and kitchen, match the color of your new switch plates to the tile. Look at

Are you thinking of a home renovation project? Why not pick one which has the highest rate of return when you go to sell your home? This list of renovation winners may surprise you. If you’ve been kicking around the idea of some home improvements, but aren’t sure which ones make the most financial sense, don’t miss “The Renovations That Will Pay Off the Most for Your Home in 2017” published by Realtor.com.  While some renovations sound like they’re a home run for your home’s value, in actuality big-ticket projects recoup far less than some of their simpler counterparts. For example, adding fiberglass insulation to your attic has an astonishing estimated return of 107.7% compared to a bathroom addition, which averages only a 53.9% return.  The report compares the average cost of the project to the expected value at the time of resale. Here are the top 10 projects and their ROI percentage: Fiberglass attic insulation (107.7%) Steel