Green Residential
Smell is a funny thing. All it takes is one whiff of something and your mind can be taken to a totally different place.
For many, fresh cut grass takes them back to summers playing baseball in the backyard. Popcorn is associated with movie theaters. That one perfume your best friend wears reminds you of high school prom. There are smells you don’t even know you’ve committed to memory until you encounter them again many years later – such as your grandparent’s house. … [Read More]
Owning a home is a quintessential part of the American Dream. There’s nothing like being able to live on a piece of land and call it your own. But for most people, the process of home ownership is one that extends across many decades – even a lifetime.
A large portion of “homeowners” never fully pay off a mortgage – meaning they don’t actually own their homes. And if they do pay off the mortgage, it takes at least 30 years. But just because you have a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, doesn’t mean you have to wait that long to own your house free and clear.
When buying a house, we all have the best of intentions. We tell ourselves that we’ll be meticulous in how we care for the property and won’t let things get out of hand. Then life happens, and little issues crop up here and there. Before you know it, the house is in disrepair, there’s not enough money to fix the problems, and you just live with the consequences and hope everything will miraculously come together.
But what would it look like if you stopped being passive and actually became a proactive homeowner who took initiative and did things right the first time around? Believe it or not, you’d save a lot of money and experience far less stress and anxiety.
One of the best parts about owning a single-family home – as opposed to an apartment, townhome, or duplex – is the privacy. While you may still have neighbors on either side of you, at least you have separate structures and your own plot of land. The question is, how do you maximize this privacy for your own comfort and peace of mind?… [Read More]