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10 Spring Cleaning Tasks to Complete While Staying at Home

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10 Spring Cleaning Tasks to Complete While Staying at Home

This is a weird time right now and we all are in it together, which is a little bit comforting, but you might be starting to go stir crazy and if so, now is the time to roll up your sleeves and do a little spring cleaning. Here are 10 spring cleaning tasks to complete while staying at home.

Wipe down or spray all electronic devices, remote controls, handles, stairwell rails, windowsills, refrigerator handles, cabinet handles, and pretty much any other thing your hands touch on a regular basis. Don’t forget the underneath side.

Sweep or vacuum under all couches and chairs. This is often the place that gets forgotten a lot.

Clean out the garage and throw away or organize a lot of the clutter that fills up your garage during the winter.

Put all of your reusable grocery bags in the washing machine.

Disinfect, clean, or put your shower curtains in the washing machine.

Clean all of your cutting boards by rubbing a cut lemon all over them and sprinkle with salt or baking soda for a stronger clean, better scent, and to combat stains.

Clean out your refrigerator. Wipe down the interior and all the shelving with white vinegar.

Clean out and organize your junk drawers.

Vacuum your furniture and underneath the cushions.

Wipe down blinds and ceiling fan blades.

Reorganize bookshelves.

Wash, spray, and clean kids toys and if they are safe, put them in the dishwasher without the heated dry option.

Clean out your dishwasher and the washing machine.

More: 10 Tricks to Get the Most Out of a Small Closet

If we try to keep busy, who knows, at the end of all this will have sparkling clean homes to impress our friends… That is, when we’re allowed to see the big kid. Stay safe out there and stay home!

Related: 14 Spring Cleaning Tasks Not to Miss

10 Ways to Make a Small Space Seem Larger

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Staging a small room or home can be a bit challenging and while you don’t want to deceive buyers, you can do a few tricks of the trade to make space seem or feel larger than it actually is. No one likes to feel cramped or crowded so if you’re staging your home for sale or just want to expand your own space a little more, use these simple tips to make a small space appear larger.  

10 Ways to Make a Small Space Seem Larger

Paint or wallpaper the ceiling to make the room look taller.

You want your eyes to draw up boards, which in turn, will make the room feel larger.

Stick to light tones and colors on the wall and the floor.

Darker colors can make a room seem smaller and more closed in.

Pull furniture away from the wall.

Keeping the furniture right up against the wall can make things look and feel cramped. By pulling things away from the wall it shows that there is additional space and may give you extra room to hide things.

Read More: Home improvements that quickly add value

Make furniture work double duty.

Make use of hidden storage and double duty items by using Ottomans and coffee tables as additional storage.

Remember the rule of three.

Keep decorations and knickknacks in sets of three and keep things larger than a cantaloupe. Small knickknacks and items may actually crowd a room.

Use stripes and rugs.10 Ways to Make a Small Space Seem Larger

A striped rug can make a room appear longer as long as you orient the stripes the length of the room for optimal effect.

Use furniture with exposed legs.

Furniture that does all the way to the floor makes it look bulky and crowded.

Read More: Staging has decreased time on market

Use mirrors and glass.

You can strategically placed mirrors to create the illusion of more space and subsequently, glass items will make it feel like there is more room as well.

Use lighting to your advantage.

You can say floor space by hanging smaller lighting from the ceilings or create a sense of more space by doing away with overhead lighting altogether.

Use a larger art piece rather than a bunch of small pieces.

Always go up and out when you can to give the illusion of a larger space.

Whether you are selling your small house or condominium or just looking to make the room feel larger, these 10 tips will certainly help get you started.

What’s Your Home Worth Today?

Getting Ready to Buy? Do This First

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If 2017 is going to be your year to buy a house, whether it’s your first home or you are a repeat buyer, you can start to get your finances in order now so that when it does come time to buy you ready to go.Getting Ready to Buy? Do This First

We want all of our buyers to be comfortable when they purchase their home. Being stressed, over budget, and nervous about finances is not a good way to enter homeownership. There are three main things that potential homebuyers need to concern themselves with if they’re planning on buying this year.

#1. Understanding and getting a good grasp on their credit history and report.

Order a copy of your credit history and report from one of the three major credit reporting agencies, Experian, Trans Union, or Equifax. You can also get a copy through your local bank. Any of these reports will be very similar so you want to look for errors, mistakes, outstanding balances, collection notices, or anything that looks out of the ordinary. Clean up your credit history and report the best you can, which could take a month or two depending on the errors or issues therein. Try to increase your credit score to at least 680 by paying your bills on time, paying off debt but leaving available credit on credit card so that it shows you have additional credit available, and paying down as much debt as possible.

Read more:  5 Important Things to Know About Buying Near Water

#2. Save a little bit of money.

You will need an earnest money deposit and a down payment as well as inspection costs when purchasing a house. If you are a repeat buyer you might be able to use the equity when you sell your existing home and turn around and put it as the down payment to your new house but if this is your first time buying you’ll need a substantial down payment. FHA loans require 3.5% down and conventional loans need at least 10%. Talk to your lender about the different options when it comes to loans. An earnest money deposit is typically 1% to 3% of the purchase price of the house so you want this in liquid cash in order to hold the offer on the house. You also need money for the home inspection, which can range anywhere from $300-$800 depending on the type of inspection and the inspection agency.

Read more: A Buyer’s Agent Can Save You Thousands

#3. Try to stay calm and patient.

Finding the best house for your needs and your budget may have been in a day or it might happen over the next six months. By preparing now you’ll be ready to jump on the right house when it hits the market. Make sure you know what you want in a house, have your debt to income ratio below 43% and try to stay unemotional during the negotiation process.

Read more: How Long Does it Really Take to Buy a House?

Again, we want your home buying experience to be as stress-free and easy as possible, so by doing just these simple things you could be light years ahead of your competition. Call us today to get started or browse listings on our website for free.

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