Upgrades and Renovations | Arizona Mortgage

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Posts Tagged ‘Upgrades and Renovations’

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Let’s Talk Hardwood: Why Converting Your Home to Hardwood Flooring Will Boost Its Value

Let's Talk Hardwood: Why Converting Your Home to Hardwood Flooring Will Boost Its Value When a homeowner makes the decision to upgrade flooring in one area of the home or throughout the entire space, there are numerous materials that may be considered. While each material option has its unique benefits and advantages, many are drawn to hardwood flooring as an option. This is a material that has the potential to boost home value, and a closer look at its benefits will reveal why this is the case.

A Durable, Long-Lasting Material

With many flooring options, homeowners understand that the material will need to be replaced or upgraded over the years. With hardwood flooring, the timeless appeal and incredible durability of the material means that the floor may be an investment to enjoy for many long decades. In fact, with periodic maintenance and regular care of hardwood floors, some hardwood floors may provide the homeowner with 50 years or more of beautiful use in the home.

Numerous Stylish Options

More than that, there are numerous style options for homeowners to consider, and this provides the ability to easily select a material that is ideal for the look of the home. In addition, hardwood floor generally has universal appeal that many desire, and this increases the desirability of the home to future home buyers. This is especially true when a more classic tone of wood is selected rather than a modern or trendy tone.

Improved Indoor Air Quality

Some flooring materials, such as carpet, may have a detrimental impact on indoor air quality, but this is not the case with hardwood flooring. The material is easy to clean, and this means that dust, dander and other allergens can easily be removed from the floor. This will have a direct and beneficial impact on indoor air quality that current owners as well as future home buyers can enjoy.

While hardwood flooring can be desirable and beneficial for current property owners, the appeal of the material will extend to future home buyers. When hardwood flooring is well-maintained by the owner, it is a true investment that will add true value to the home and that may help the owner to sell the property more quickly when the time comes.

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Four Handy Tips for Managing Your Lawn Now That the Spring Rains Have Arrived

Four Handy Tips for Managing Your Lawn After the Spring Rains Have Arrived In many areas, the spring months mean warmer temperatures, more sunshine and plenty of beneficial rainfall that your yard may thrive with. These are prime growing conditions for your lawn, but they can also make lawn maintenance a challenge. By following these helpful tips, you can take better care of your yard during this rainy spring season.

Re-Seed or Re-Sod Carefully

The spring months are one of the best times of the year to re-seed or re-sod your lawn. If you have bare spots in your yard, these spots can turn into giant mud puddles during a heavy rainstorm that can be a true eyesore. New grass seed and fresh sod both require ample water to grow, so you can take advantage of the rain to grow new grass in your bare areas.

Mow When Possible

The sunshine, warm temperatures and ample rain can all make your grass grow quickly, and it can also make your weeds grow even faster. Mowing your lawn frequently will help you to keep the weeds from spreading seeds throughout the yard and creating an even greater problem. It can be difficult to find a time when the grass is dry enough to mow at certain times, so you may need to make mowing a priority during dry spells. This will also help you to keep your yard looking neat and tidy during the peak growing season.

Fertilize As Needed

Fertilizing the yard can also be beneficial during the warm weather season. Fertilization now can give you lush, green grass for many months to come. It can also be beneficial for you by helping to get rid of weeds that may be cropping up. Fertilizer needs water, so fertilizing before a light rain storm is a smart idea.

Avoid Walking On It

Grass can easily become damaged when you walk across it after a rain storm. It can tear the blades from the roots and create a trampled upon look that is not desirable. You can minimize damage to your yard by not walking on it until the ground has dried out again.

Taking care of your lawn may be a top priority year-round, but your focus may be drawn to it after the chilly winter months transition into warmer, wetter spring months. By following these tips, you can take better care of your yard throughout the spring and beyond.

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Concrete Countertops: Learn Why Concrete May Be the Best Thing to Hit Your Kitchen

Concrete Countertops: Learn Why Concrete May Be the Best Thing to Hit Your Kitchen Updating your kitchen may be a project that you have been looking forward to for a long time. Now that the time has come to get started working on your project, you may be exploring the different materials that are available to use in your kitchen. The counter tops are often a prime focal point for a kitchen remodeling project. While there are several materials available to consider, concrete may be the best option for a number of reasons.

Endless Design Options

Concrete is a popular material that is used on patios, decorative floors and more because it can be stained, scored and shaped with almost endless possibilities. Just as the design options are limitless for other areas of the home, the same holds true when using concrete for your counter tops. You can customize the size, shape, finish, edge style and color without limits to achieve the desired look for your space.

Affordable Material

Concrete is not quite as affordable as laminate counter tops, but it is far more affordable than most other options. It also has a higher end look than laminate, and it can be poured, scored, and stained to mimic other higher end materials. This is a great way to get a luxurious look for your counter tops without paying a high price for them.

Highly Durable

Like many other materials that you may be thinking about for your counter tops, concrete will need to be sealed for long-lasting beauty and style. Once sealed, this is a material that is resistant to damage from heat exposure, staining, water exposure and more. Essentially, it is one of the most durable materials that you can use in your kitchen.

The kitchen is by all accounts a functional room, and counters will be exposed to heat, water, sharp edges and more over the course of time. Concrete is a material that holds up well in this type of environment.

It is rarely easy to select the perfect materials to use in your home remodeling project. After all, you may be concerned about style, durability and cost, and each material may have pros and cons. After discovering the benefits of concrete counter tops, however, you may have found the material you are searching for. You can request a quote for your concrete counters and review the incredible design possibilities.

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Buying a Classic Older Home? Three Upgrades You’ll Need to Make Immediately

Buying a Classic Older Home? Three Upgrades You'll Need to Make Immediately While some home buyers only want to live in a brand new home and will custom build a home to their specifications, others are drawn to the historic character and charm of a classic home. Older homes may have incredible architectural detail and special features that you simply do not want to change. These older homes can sometimes be a much better investment than a brand new home. However, there are some essential features that should be upgraded as soon as possible after you take ownership of your classic home.

The Electrical Panel

Many older homes were built at a time when electricity use was at a minimum, but the reliance on electricity has increased over the years. Older homes may commonly have an electrical panel with 50 amps or less, but your current needs may require you to have a panel with at least 200 amps. It may be good to have an electrician inspect the electrical panel as well as the wiring in the home to determine if an upgrade is needed in your new home.

Re-Plumbing the Pipes

A quick plumbing inspection will tell you if the home has copper, steel or other materials used with piping. The best material is copper because it is resistant to leaking, corrosion and rusting. Steel pipes generally should be replaced with copper as soon as possible. Other materials, such as cast iron, may be acceptable to keep in place. However, sections may need to be replaced if the pipes are more than 50 years old.

Firestops in the Structure

The good news about the structure of older homes is that older homes generally are better built than newer homes. However, most lack the critical feature of a firestop. A firestop essentially can minimize how fire travels through a home. Adding firestops to an older home can improve safety for the home’s occupants in the event of a fire and can minimize fire damage.

It is understandable that you will likely want to retain the historic character and charm of your older home. These may have been the features that you fell in love with when you bought it. However, you also want to ensure that the home has modern features that will make it comfortable and safe for you and your family to live in. These are all important improvements that you will want to make now that ultimately could improve your experience throughout the entire time you live in your home and they can also increase the value of the home.

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Thinking About a Major Renovation? Three Reasons to Consider Adding a Second Story

Thinking About a Major Renovation? Three Reasons to Consider Adding a Second Story When your home is no longer fully functional for your needs, you may be thinking about moving into a larger home with a more functional floor plan. While this is one option to consider, another option is to renovate your existing home. You could build a wing onto your home, or you could add a second story to the property. There are several reasons why adding a second story to your floor plan may be the best solution for you.

Use the Existing Footprint

When you build a wing outward from your home, you will need to pour more foundation and take up a section of the yard with the new addition. By building upward, you can keep your yard intact and use the existing footprint. You may even be able to build into an attic space without making any structural changes to the home itself.

Improve Property Value

When you add a second story onto your home, you essentially will be adding more usable square footage with finished out space. This can have a direct and significant impact on your property value. You will not need to pay moving expenses or worry about if your existing furniture will fit into a new home. You will be able to enjoy the benefits of a larger and more functional home coupled with the ability to recoup most or all of the cost of the renovation through an increase in property value.

Keep Costs to a Minimum

By using the existing footprint of your home and by avoiding pouring more concrete for the foundation, you will be able to keep costs to a minimum. In some cases, such as if you build into the existing attic, you will not need to adjust the frame or roof to find the additional space you need. You may still need to add drywall, HVAC ducts and other features inside the frame of the home to take advantage of this space, but it generally is more cost-effective to build upward rather than outward when renovating a home.

A major renovation is one that can improve the style of your home, but it often will improve the function and increase value as well. If you are thinking about renovating your home, you may research how beneficial it can be to add more space upward on your home rather than to build outward. Talk with your mortgage professional today to see what financial options you may have available to you for renovating your home.

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Pre-sale Painting: Color Combinations to Use – and Avoid – when Painting Your Home

Pre-sale Painting: Color Combinations to Use - and Avoid - when Painting Your Home One of the more common steps that homeowners will take when preparing to list their home for sale involves repainting the walls. Walls can easily give the home a worn, drab look when they have visible signs of dirty, smudgy fingerprints and other unsightly blemishes.

While repainting the walls can have a whitewashing effect that instantly makes the home look cleaner, brighter and more appealing, the color combinations that you choose for your home should be considered with care. You have a rainbow of possibilities for your space when preparing your home for sale, but you want to choose colors that will have broad or universal appeal to buyers and that will showcase your home in the best possible light.

Neutral or Muted Hues are Ideal

Many homeowners love to paint their walls stylish or trendy colors, and they may dislike the banal look of beige walls throughout their home. While this may or may not be what you prefer for your home, keep in mind that you are trying to transform your home so that it has broad appeal to the buyers. The colors you choose should not reflect personal taste or preference. Instead, they should be selected based on colors that may be more likely to appeal to most and that may go well with the color of furnishings most already own. Neutral or muted hues are ideal. These lighter colors can also make smaller rooms seem larger, and they can make your entire home seem cleaner.

Avoid Bold, Dramatic Color Combinations

You may have some colors on your walls that you absolutely love, and you may be sad to see them go. However, when you have a bold, dramatic color combination in a room, a buyer may instantly be taken aback by such an intense color scheme. The buyer’s attention may then be focused on your interior design efforts rather than on the home itself, and this is not beneficial to your goal of selling your home. In addition, some may love your bold choices, but many may not. They may think about how those colors would not go well with their furnishings, and they may instantly start thinking about how they would need to work hard to repaint the walls after moving in. The last thing you want is for a buyer to think about your home as needing work.

If you are preparing your home to list for sale, repainting one room or several may be at the top of your to-do list. When you are selecting your paint colors, lean toward neutral hues that may have better appeal toward a larger group of home buyers.

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Looking for a Fun DIY Project This Spring? How to Plant Your Own Vegetable Garden

Looking for a Fun DIY Project This Spring? How to Plant Your Own Vegetable Garden When spring arrives, many people want to spend more time outdoors enjoying the fresh air and warmer temperatures. While you could lounge in a chair with a good book, you may find it more enjoyable to plant your own vegetable garden. This is an on-going project that will require you to spend time outdoors regularly, and it can be quite enjoyable to watch the fruits of your labor spring to life. More than that, you may love to sample and even share the tasty treats that you have grown on your own. If you are ready to get started planning and planting your vegetable garden, follow these preliminary steps.

Choose the Plants That You Want to Grow

As a first step, think about the types of plants that you want to grow in your garden. These should ideally produce vegetables that you and your family will enjoy eating. They also ideally will be suitable for growing in your climate and with the type of soil that is present on your property. Additionally, enough space should be available to accommodate the full grown size of the plants. This up-front effort is critical for the next few steps in the planning and preparation process.

Select a Suitable Space in Your Yard

Each plant species will have special growing requirements. Some plants may prefer to be in full sunlight, and others may prefer partial sunlight or mostly shaded areas. Some may prefer soil that is mostly dry or that is regularly moist and wet. Different areas of your yard may be more accommodating for some plant species than others. For example, plants that prefer more moist soil may thrive in a lower area of your yard that receives more runoff when it rains and that takes longer to dry out after a shower.

Choose the Best Time to Plant

A final point to consider is the best time to plant your crops. Some will thrive when cooler temps in early spring are still common, but others may not tolerate a freeze at all. These may need to be planted after the risk for a late spring freeze is gone. Think about how long it takes plants to grow and what the temperatures in your area may be when the plants are fully grown and ready to produce vegetables for you.

You may be able to complete much of this preliminary planning and research during the last few weeks of winter from the comfort of your own home. Keep in mind that you can get outdoors and begin to prepare your garden area before you are ready to plant your crops. These steps will pave the way for a truly enjoyable do-it-yourself project this spring.

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Get Rid of Wi-Fi and Cellular Dead Zones in Your Home with These Easy Tips

Get Rid of Wi-Fi and Cellular Dead Zones in Your Home with These Easy Tips It can be frustrating to deal with dead zones with your wireless and cellular coverage while you are out and about. However, overcoming dead zones in public areas may be as simple as relocating to a different area in a building or walking to a new location. Dead zones may also be present in residential homes and apartment buildings. If you have a dead zone in your home, this issue can easily cause you considerable frustration on a daily basis, and you may be wondering what steps you can take to overcome the problem.

Invest in a Better Router

If your router is not hard-wired and receives a wireless signal, it can be difficult to connect to the Internet or to use your mobile devices in your home. Your router may not be strong enough to pick up a wireless signal, and you may benefit from investing in a better router. You may also consider repositioning your router or placing it in another location of your home. For example, you may get a better signal when you place it near a window on one side of the home rather than in the middle of the home.

Purchase a Wireless Repeater

Another idea is to invest in a wireless repeater. This is a special product that is designed to pick up weak signals and to magnify, strengthen and expand them. A repeater can give you far superior coverage inside your home, but keep in mind that there does need to be at least a small signal available for it to pick up. If your carrier or service provider does not offer coverage over your home area, this will not be a suitable option for you.

Think About a Wired Connection

Another idea is to consider a wired connection. Your goal is to bring the wireless signal into the home, and you may be able to do this through cable. Then, your router can give you wireless coverage inside the home through the hard-wired connection.

Nobody wants to deal with dead zones inside their home. After all, most people will use a wireless connection numerous times a day from morning until bedtime, and you want to enjoy this convenience inside your home. When you are dealing with a dead zone, you can consider following some of these tips to see an improvement in your coverage or signal strength. If these ideas do not work, you can always reach out to your service provider for additional assistance and support.

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Spring DIY Projects: How to Build a Treehouse That the Kids Will Love

Spring DIY Projects: How to Build a Treehouse That the Kids Will Love If you have children, no home is complete without a treehouse. Besides the fact that treehouses provide kids with hours of entertainment, they can also confer ancillary benefits that are hard to quantify. For starters, treehouses can improve property values by boosting curb appeal. When building any type of treehouse, keep the following tips in mind.

Location, Location, Location

Before you head off to Home Depot and get all the necessary supplies, you need to spend some serious time storyboarding the build process. Pick a tree with low, sprawling branches such as an oak or a maple. Furthermore, consider issues like wind, shade and privacy before you start to nail up supports.

Choose Your Materials Wisely

A treehouse built with subpar materials will fall short in the longevity department and disappoint the kids. Pick out stout oak 4×4 posts for the structural elements and top them off with pressure-treated pine for the floors and railings. Use quality plywood for the interior walls and seal it to avoid rot.

Make Multi-Use Your Mantra

Treehouses that are simply shacks suspended above ground will quickly bore youngsters no matter how well-built they may be. Incorporate elements such as swings, rope ladders and even zip-lines to get more from your treehouse. As long as you’re putting in the effort, you might as well add all of the bells and whistles.

Bake Safety Into the Recipe

You don’t want the kids to get hurt when they’re frolicking among the branches. Make sure to bolt handles and permanent rails into the truck so that adolescents are less likely to slip and fall. If you want to go all out, add a few safety nets around the edges.

Heed Aesthetics When Designing

An unadorned treehouse quickly turns into an eyesore over time as it’s battered by the elements. Shingle the roof and paint the exterior walls so that they match your home. Kids will naturally gravitate towards a treehouse that looks appealing and your neighbors won’t complain about a shoddy structure in your weeping willow.

It’s More Than a Treehouse

While many young kids will no doubt love a full-featured treehouse, it’s usually the improvement in home value that will appeal to adults.

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Three Unique Upgrades That Will Drive Your Home’s Resale Price Through the Roof

Three Unique Upgrades That Will Drive Your Home's Resale Price Through the Roof If you are a homeowner, you should always be thinking about ways that you can boost the resale value of your home. Whether you are planning on putting the home on the market, or simply want to be prepared for the future, there are upgrades that can make your property more desirable. Give your home the attention it deserves and you’ll be prepared for whatever may come down the line.

Go Solar With A Home Solar Installation

There’s no doubt that solar power is big in today’s housing market. It’s an excellent resource that will save you money on your utility bills. You could even find yourself in a situation where the power company is actually buying energy from you. It’s also a move that is environmentally-friendly. If you feel a responsibility to the world around you, you will have the peace of mind that comes with reducing your carbon footprint. As energy becomes scarce, solar power is something you can count on. Future buyers will benefit as well.

Install An HVAC System That Does It All

When it comes to your heating and cooling, install a system that will meet all of your needs. Keep your home at a comfortable temperature throughout the year at the touch of a button. Choose an energy saver model that uses the most feasible type of energy source in order to trim costs. When you have a modern system with automation capability, you should see a difference in your utility bills. You’ll also have a huge selling feature to show off when prospective buyers come knocking at your door.

Make the Most of Your Existing Space

Take the space that you have and make sure that you utilize it to its full potential. Whether you create an attic bedroom or a finished basement, making better use of your space will increase your home’s appeal. When it’s time to sell, buyers want to see possibilities and appreciate it more when the work has already been done for them. Give them options and let them make the space their own.

Turn to the Experts for Advice

Call your mortgage professional today to further assist you with questions and solutions when considering an upgrade to your home. You’ll be able to tap into a vast store of knowledge about what works and what doesn’t before investing in any upgrades.

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Posts Tagged ‘Upgrades and Renovations’

Let’s Talk Hardwood: Why Converting Your Home to Hardwood Flooring Will Boost Its Value

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Four Handy Tips for Managing Your Lawn Now That the Spring Rains Have Arrived

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Concrete Countertops: Learn Why Concrete May Be the Best Thing to Hit Your Kitchen

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Buying a Classic Older Home? Three Upgrades You’ll Need to Make Immediately

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Thinking About a Major Renovation? Three Reasons to Consider Adding a Second Story

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Pre-sale Painting: Color Combinations to Use – and Avoid – when Painting Your Home

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Looking for a Fun DIY Project This Spring? How to Plant Your Own Vegetable Garden

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Get Rid of Wi-Fi and Cellular Dead Zones in Your Home with These Easy Tips

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Spring DIY Projects: How to Build a Treehouse That the Kids Will Love

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Three Unique Upgrades That Will Drive Your Home’s Resale Price Through the Roof

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