Homeowners' Tips

Latest from Debora

What Are the Top Home Features for 2023?

Curious about home trends for the upcoming year? Zillow researched the most mentioned words on public listings to find the top trends for...

Some Things to Think About Before You Buy an Old Home

The idea of preserving the integrity of an old home is very appealing to me and I always feel so sad when I see the loss of the home's...

Doing Our Part During A Drought!

I was going to spend the Labor Day weekend up at Mount Shasta but things took a different turn when I arrived on Friday. Unfortunately, 2...

Finding Better Ways to Build Our Homes

I recently completed a small ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) on the back of a home in Pacific Grove. The home was just 638 square feet so...

Don't Forget to Take Care of Your Indoor Air Quality

Did you know that on average Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors? That's a huge amount of time so it's important to make sure...

3 Good Reasons to Get a Home Inspection

Inspections are an added expense and in a competitive market, buyers often waive the investigation contingency in order to secure the...

To Stage or Not to Stage, That is the Question!

Selling your home takes preparation. You rely on your agent to guide you through the process and sometimes, they suggest "staging" to...

Accessory Dwelling Unit - A Personal Journey!

Accessory dwelling units or ADUs are becoming increasingly popular across California. I recently completed a 638 SF ADU in the backyard...

Calculating Your Home Value Using Cost Basis

To find out how much your home has increased in value, you have to identify its COST BASIS - everything that you spent to improve value...

Wildfire Season is Fast Approaching! Are You Ready?

Wildfires used to occur in the late summer and early fall but things have changed over the past few years and it seems that fires occur...

Home Features That May Boost Sales Values

I was just reading an article from Angi about home features that are currently yielding the most profit when selling a home. They combed...

Spring is Here...Maybe it's Time for a Spring Cleaning!

I think we all reach a point when we look around and ask......"when was the last time I cleaned the washing machine?" or "how long has it...

Storage Facilities 101

Storage facilities offer a great solution when you are in transition and need to temporarily store your "stuff". If you are going to be...

What Can You Do at Home to Slow Climate Change?

If you are looking to build, remodel or redesign consider some of these energy saving ideas to play your part in slowing climate change....

Don't Forget to Budget for Expenses After You Close on Your New House!

Hooray! You've decided to buy a home, you've sat down with your loan officer and you are ready to close on the American Dream! Your...

Energy Conservation Tips for the Fall & Winter

We generally don't have air conditioning on the Central Coast so summers produce fairly low energy bills for us. Our utility bills...

Solar Panel 101

I am building an ADU in Pacific Grove and solar panels came up as an option. Here is some information that you should consider when...

What's Behind the Garage Door?

When we get ready to sell a home, we spend time staging the interior but we often use our garage as a dumping ground for all our extras....

A Periodic Check of Your Credit Report is a MUST!

Credit hacks and data breaches are becoming more regular these days, so checking your credit periodically is important. Equifax, Experian...

What's Trending in Your Backyard?

Here are some top trends for outdoor spaces this year. Google Trends data was used to compile the list. Indoor-outdoor spaces: Shaded &...