Q: What Should Homeowners Do in Year One?

What do you need to do in your first year of homeownership?

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling your home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

Call me at 303-974-9471 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

You’ve just purchased a home—it could be your first home, or maybe you’ve owned homes in other places. Whatever the case may be, what should you be doing in your first year of homeownership? Here are four things you should cross off your year-one checklist:

1. Get a home warranty. Most of the things that go wrong in a house happen within the first two or three years of ownership. Perhaps the air conditioners, furnaces, or electrical appliances were well-worn by the previous owners of the home. Home warranties only cost $500 a year, and they cover so many different damages. I have personally saved around $3,000 using a home warranty on our houses.

2. Tackle any cosmetic issues. Big-ticket items are covered by home warranties, but cosmetic issues are not. Painting, for example, is an easy cosmetic area to maintain. For a good price, you could paint the interior and exterior of your home yourself, or hire someone else to do it for you. Not only does it give your home a nice fresh coat, but it also helps preserve the wood from rodents, termites, water, and sun.

Taking care of these four areas is a great way to bulletproof your house and set it up for long-term success.

3. Invest in the kitchen and bathrooms. Even if you don’t know when you’re going to move, your best bet is to start putting money into the areas that are most important to homeowners: the kitchen and bathrooms. Updating the flooring, cabinets, countertops, or appliances would be a great use of your time and money.

4. Maintain the exterior of your home. Some decorative plants can take three or four years to mature, which is why it’s important to plant your bushes, flowers, and grasses now. Doing so will give your home more curb appeal.

Taking care of these four areas is a great way to bulletproof your house and set it up for long-term success. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Anderson Group. We’d love to hear from you.

Disclosing My Top Lawn Care Seed-crets

Keeping your lawn looking and feeling fantastic isn’t hard, but it does require action in every season.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling your home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 

Call me at 303-974-9471 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Here is a simple lawn care regimen I follow that’s sure to yield great results:

1. Fertilize in the winter. Sometimes, I even go so far as to water my grass (in Colorado, a few 60- or 70-degree days can poke through in the heart of winter) just to add a little moisture if the weather has been particularly dry.

2. Aerate, fertilize, and water in spring. I’ll rent an aerator from Ace Hardware or Home Depot and clean it before using it on my lawn. I don’t like trusting someone else to aerate my lawn because their aerator is likely hopping from lawn to lawn and spreading diseases; that’s often why you’ll see brown spots suddenly develop. I aerate the lawn, then use a simple $10 spreader to fertilize my lawn with chicken or turkey poop (it's healthier than the chemical stuff). After that, I’ll spread a hardy, Colorado-based grass seed—I’ll spread a generous amount over the whole area. 

I hope this yearly cycle can bring boons to your yard.

”

3. Fertilize in mid-summer. I’m back out there with the chicken poop, making sure that the lawn keeps its rich, green feel.

4. Aerate, fertilize, and seed in the fall. I repeat basically everything I did in spring. The following spring, my efforts are already made visible: The grass appears thick and healthy with luminous color.

I hope this yearly cycle can bring boons to your yard. As always, reach out with questions or concerns regarding this or any other real estate-related topic. I look forward to hearing from you.

A Few Ways to Get to Know New Neighbors

What’s the best way to get to know your neighbor? We’ve got a list of a few tips for you to try.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling your home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 

Call me at 303-974-9471 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Getting to know new neighbors isn’t always easy, and a lot of the advice out there doesn’t exactly make it any more simple. Thankfully, there are a few tips we at the Anderson Group like to recommend for new homeowners to try. We know that everyone likes to socialize differently, so we’ve split our list of tips into two categories: practical and non-traditional.

Without further adieu, here’s a quick countdown of our favorite practical tips:

1. Ask for a simple favor. Approaching your new neighbor to ask if you could borrow some hedge clippers, for example, is a great excuse to spark up a conversation.

2. Say hi when you’re out walking your dog. If you happen to catch your neighbor out in their front yard while you’re walking your dog, or (if you don’t have a pet) when you’re just out for a jog, don’t be shy. If you wear a smile, the world will smile back.

3. Get digital. These days, there are a lot of online social platforms available for people to get to know the people in your neighborhood. Finding and joining one where you live is a great way to connect.

4. Throw a block party. Whether you stick to the traditional definition of this kind of event and invite everyone on the block or you just ask a few people on your street to come over and mingle, getting to know everyone in a group setting can take some of the pressure off as you all make your introductions.  

If you wear a smile, the world will smile back.

”

Now, let’s move on to the remaining seven tips on our list. Each of these, while not traditional (and, in some cases, not advisable) are sure to catch your neighbor’s attention:

5. Throw a rager. If a block party is a little tame for your tastes, why not go a little more extreme? Make sure you’re loud enough for the cops to join the fun.

6. Set off fireworks. What better way to catch the attention of your neighbors than with a literal fireworks display?

7. Start a fire in your back yard. Stacking up logs and pine needles and then setting the whole thing ablaze will surely get your new neighbors to take notice of you.

8. Mow your lawn late at night or early in the morning. Your early-bird neighbors will appreciate the wake-up call, and your night-owl neighbors will be happy to hear that you’re someone they can depend on to keep the neighborhood looking sharp.

9. Let your dog “do its business” on your neighbor’s lawn. Like taking your dog for a walk, letting your dog out to “do its thing” in your neighbor’s yard is a surefire way to start a conversation.

10. Park in their parking spot. There’s no better conversation-starter than one that comes as a necessity. If your neighbor parks in the same place every day, why not mix things up and claim their spot for your own? When they ask you to move it, you’ll have the perfect opening to introduce yourself.

11. Hook up your hose to their hydrant when you water your lawn. After all, if neighbors can borrow a cup of sugar, why not basic utilities, too?

As you probably guessed, these last seven tips were just a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor. While these “non-traditional” tips will definitely make an impression, they probably won’t create the kind of impression you want to leave. We know we don’t have to tell you twice, but please stick to the first four tips on today’s list—that is, unless your idea of a party is an angry mob on your lawn.

If you have any other questions or would like to learn more about our (real) advice on how to get to know your neighbors, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

How to Fix Radon and Mold Problems in Your Home

Radon and mold are two big problems that homebuyers and sellers have to deal with. Here’s how we can help.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling your home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 

Call me at 303-974-9471 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

I just got off the phone with someone and a large portion of our conversation was about radon and mold. Unfortunately, they are pretty common in Colorado, so I just wanted to give you a quick insight about what happens when either of these problems come up in a home you own or a home that you’re trying to buy.

We once worked with a seller who had a sealed-off basement crawlspace. They never went down there. But once we had a full-priced offer on the home and had the inspection done, they found that the crawl space was full of water and we had no idea how long it had been there.  

Our high elevation causes problems with radon.

”

They opened it up and we found the sump pump wasn't working. We had to pump all the water out, find the leak, and test for mold and radon. We ended up finding some mold and the radon levels were fairly high as well. We had to put a vapor barrier over the dirt and install a radon mitigation system to make the house sellable and inhabitable.

The reason why problems like this aren’t at all that rare here in Colorado is because of our high elevation. Radon can cause lung cancer, so you’ll have to install something to fix it if there are elevated levels in your home.

As for mold, some of it is very harmful to breathe in, while some is not. Make sure you do your research if you ever have mold in your home. We had four bids for mold cleanup that ranged from $1,500 to $10,000. Not only do you have to be aware of mold, you have to be aware of hiring the right company too.

If you have any questions for me about radon, mold testing, or anything else related to buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Which Home Improvement Will Give You the Biggest Bang for Your Buck?

A new garage door is one of the best home improvements you can make in your home. Here’s why.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling your home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 

Call me at 303-974-9471 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today I’m excited to share with you one of the best improvements you can make to your home to increase its value: installing a new garage door.

I live in a house that was built in the 70s and I recently decided to put a brand-new garage door in. For the last 10 years, I’ve had old, white doors with no lights. After inserting the new door, it totally changed the look of the house. It makes the home look fantastic from the curb. People comment on how much they love the garage doors and that they’re a real eye-catcher.

We spent $1,800 on the new doors, but the actual return on the investment is going to be worth way more than that. I’m probably at at least a 110% return on investment.

If you're thinking of doing one thing to improve your home and get the biggest bang for your buck, my advice is to replace the garage door. 

I’m probably looking at a 110% return on investment.

”

I hope this tip helps you. If you have any questions about where you should go to get your garage door or what else you can do to improve your home’s value, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Rabbits and Rodents, and Bugs, Oh My!

In the sixth of my eight-part series about home repairs you shouldn’t wait to address, I’ll discuss my recommendations about pest control.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling your home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 

Call me at 303-974-9471 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

For the sixth part of my eight-part series about the most important home repairs that you should not put off until the last minute, I want to discuss one of the big ones: pests.

Pests can be a big problem for a home. I’ve had issues myself with mice, rabbits, bats, and ants. Though I didn’t have an issue with them personally, termites are also a heavy-hitter in the pest-damage department.

I recommend that you get a yearly evaluation done by an exterminator to see what you’re dealing with, if anything at all. Termites, if unchecked, can eat through wood and cause a lot of structural damage. Mice can nest in your walls and leave messes with their droppings. Rabbits can damage your lawn and other landscaping features.

“

Termites, if unchecked, can eat through wood and cause a lot of structural damage.

”

It will only continue to add value to your house to keep it clean and pest-free. When it does come time to sell, you won’t be worrying about the presence of rodents or whatever else.

If you have any questions or need any assistance, feel free to reach out. I’m here to help.

8 Home Repairs You Can’t Afford to Skip: Part 1

In this first part of our series about eight home repairs you shouldn’t avoid, I’ll go over everything you need to know about caulking.

 

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling your home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 

Call me at 303-974-9471 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

I’m excited to start our eight-part series about home repairs that you can’t afford to avoid. These home repairs are extremely important, so don’t skip them.

The first important repair is caulking. If you’re not a big home-repair person, caulking is the part that goes around the window frames, along the edges and seams of tiles in the kitchen and bathroom, around the chimney—caulking is everywhere.

Caulking prevents moisture from getting inside your property, which can cause major damage. Water can deteriorate a window, cause damage around your shower, tub, or sink, and more.

Regular maintenance and fresh caulking is invaluable to prevent you from having major repairs.

“

Caulking prevents moisture from getting inside your property and causing water damage.

”

Caulking can help when you paint a room, too. One of my friends shared this great trade secret: If you are taping off a room and using blue paint tape, add caulking along the ridge where the tape is going to define the line between colors. Caulking makes a smoother line than just using the tape alone.

So, don’t skip the caulking. Regularly update caulking around your appliances, tile, and windows.

Stay tuned for the second home repair that you should never avoid. In the meantime, give me a call or send me an email if you have any real estate questions. I would be happy to help you!