July Newsletter
We hope you’re enjoying summer so far! In this month’s newsletter, we’re sharing 12 tips for keeping your home cool, the 9 golden rules of grilling, and some strategies for buying and selling a home in today’s extreme seller’s market.
12 Tips For Keeping Your Home Cool This Summer
With summer reaching its peak, keeping your home cool and comfortable is crucial. Here are 12 tips from Family Handyman for maximizing your cooling systems and conquering the summer heat.
Close the blinds. On days when the sun is shining, close your window blinds—especially on west- and south-facing windows. On lower floors, turn the blinds upwards when you close them.
Apply heat-reducing window film. This reflective film helps repel the heat that comes in through your windows (and in the winter, it helps keep warm air inside your home).
Install a programmable thermostat. You can set a cool, comfortable temperature for the mornings and nights that you’re home, and a warmer temperature for when you’re at work all day. It’s a great way to save on energy!
Use a duct booster fan. This cool contraption sits right in your existing wall or floor register and increases the airflow. (It does require a nearby electrical outlet.)
Put ceiling fans to work. Run fans counterclockwise during the summer to create a cooling downdraft.
Use a portable air conditioning unit for extra cooling. These are easy to move from room to room, so you can keep it in your home office during the day and move it into your bedroom at night.
Install a mini-split if you live in a ductless home. Mini-splits are quieter and more discreet than window units—and a lot more effective, too. They do, however, require professional installation.
Plant shade-providing foliage in your yard. It might be a few seasons until you get some ample shade from your new trees and shrubs, but it’s a smart (and pretty!) investment.
Open your windows at night, but only if temperatures drop to mid-70s or lower. The cool outside air will circulate all night and replace the warm air trapped inside your home.
Grill more. Using your oven heats up your kitchen, so why not do more of your cooking outside?
Keep interior doors open. This will allow air to circulate freely throughout your home and keep all of your rooms at a cooler temperature.
Give your A/C a yearly maintenance checkup. Use this A/C maintenance inspection checklist to make sure your unit is working at maximum capacity.
The Seller’s Market: Strategies for buying and selling a home in 2021
The pandemic has upended the housing market and created an environment where the number of homes for sale is significantly less than the number of people looking to buy. We’re currently experiencing a “seller’s market,” which means there is a lot of competition among buyers to get the home they want. And that, of course, means home prices are higher than usual.
If you’re planning to buy or sell (or both!) in 2021, consider the following strategies shared on Forbes.com.
Strategies for Buyers:
Prepare for bidding wars. You’ll likely be competing with other buyers for the same home, so you need to know how high in price you’re willing to go. Your maximum bid price will depend not just on your budget, but on the home’s value—“being the winning bidder is useless if the home appraises too low for your financing to get approved.”
Get preapproved for a mortgage. You’ll know how much home you can afford, and having a preapproval letter can give you a competitive edge in a bidding war.
Act quickly. In a seller’s market, homes will often go under contract the day they’re listed. Make sure you choose a real estate agent who can find “coming soon” listings before they even go on the market. Know exactly what you need and want in your new home so you can make fast decisions.
Keep your offer simple. Include only the essential contingencies—financing, inspection, and appraisal—and offer the standard closing period of 30 to 45 days.
Strategies for Sellers:
List your home at market value. It’s likely that your home will sell above market value, but you don’t want to start the price too high. “Buyers can be turned off by overpriced homes, and mortgage applications get denied when an appraisal can’t support an ambitious offer price.”
Choose the offer with the strongest finances. Even if it’s not the highest offer, a buyer with a preapproval letter or an all-cash offer (with proof of funds) is your best bet for a quick and hassle-free closing.
Have your next home lined up before you sell. Your current home is going to sell fast; it could go from list to close in as little as 30 days. The harder, more time-consuming task is going to be finding your new home.
The 9 Golden Rules of Grilling
There is a right and a wrong way to use your grill. Make sure you’re using the correct techniques so you can achieve perfectly grilled meats and veggies this summer. Here are 9 tips from Weber:
Preheat the grill for 10-15 minutes, or until the temperature under the lid reaches 500°F.
Once the grate is hot, clean it with a stainless steel brush. Keep the grill lid closed as much as possible. You want those grates to stay hot so you can get a nice sear.
Keeping the lid down also speeds up cooking time, prevents the food from drying out, traps in that delicious smokiness, and prevents flare-ups.
Pay close attention to your timer and thermometer to avoid overcooking your food.
Know whether to use direct or indirect heat. “Direct heat (when the fire is directly below the food) is best for relatively small, tender pieces of food that cook in 20 minutes or less. Indirect heat (when the fire is on either side of the food) is best for larger, tougher cuts of meat that require more than 20 minutes of cooking.”
When using a charcoal grill, you’ll use the top vent to control the heat inside the grill. Opening the vent all the way will let in a lot of air and create a hotter flame—but you’ll also be burning through your fuel very quickly. Once you’re at the temperature you want, keep the vent about halfway closed and keep the lid on as much as possible.
Don’t let out-of-control flames burn your food. If the flames are getting too tall, move your food to the side of the grill (over indirect heat) until the flames die down.
For the best possible sear, only turn your meat once.
Don’t use lighter fluid. Use a chimney starter or lighter cube instead.
Master these grilling techniques, and you’ll enjoy a summer full of juicy, smoky, caramelized, and perfectly cooked meals.
National Housing Market Update: Price growth slows in May, but homes are still selling quickly
Here is a quick recap of the monthly housing data provided by Sabrina Speianu and Danielle Hale of Realtor.com:
Increase in active listings: In May, there were slightly more homes actively for sale than in April, but the housing inventory still remained historically low. The number of homes for sale was 50.9% lower than one year ago—a slight improvement from the 53.0% drop in April.
As for new listings, those were up 5.4% compared to May 2020, but still down 25.2% from the typical rate of new listings seen pre-pandemic in 2017 to 2019.
Homes still selling quickly: Another metric to look at is the share of newly listed homes compared to active daily inventory, which hit a historical high of 44.4% in May (17.3 percentage points higher than last year). “This is a reflection of quickly selling homes and, for buyers, it means that while they can expect fresh new listings each week, they will have to be prepared to move quickly on desirable homes.”
The typical home spent just 39 days on the market in May, compared to an average of 71 days in May 2020 and an average of 58 days in May 2017-2019.
Price growth finally slows: The median national home price for active listings in May was still significantly higher (15.2%) over last year, BUT this was the first time in 13 months we saw price growth slow (other than in February of this year, when extreme weather impacted the market).