September Newsletter

We hope you had a great summer! Now that we’re gearing up for fall, we thought you might like a checklist of fall home maintenance tasks to keep things running smoothly in your house. In this month’s newsletter, you’ll also find 6 ideas to make your home more environmentally-friendly, the pros and cons of downsizing, and an update on the national housing market.

Your Fall Home Maintenance Checklist

In early fall, it’s a good idea to start preparing your home for the cooler months ahead. Choose a weekend to dedicate to these fall home maintenance tasks:

·  Make sure your winter supplies—snow shovels, ice scrapers, and snow blower—are still in good condition. Buy fuel for the snow blower and stock up on ice melt.

·  Shut off exterior faucets to prevent your pipes from freezing. Drain hoses and irrigation systems.

·  Make sure all outdoor stairs, railings, and walkways are safe and sturdy. When surfaces get icy in winter, you want to keep things as safe as possible.

·  Test outdoor lights and replace bulbs as needed.

·  Check safety devices: smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and the expiration date on your fire extinguisher. Consider whether you need to check for radon.

·  Dust and vacuum radiators, baseboard heaters, and heating grates.

·  Remove window A/C units. If some can’t be removed, cover the exteriors with insulating wrap.

·  Rake leaves. Gloves, handheld “leaf scoops,” and yard debris bags will make the job easier.

·  Seal gaps where mice could sneak into your home.

·  Add weatherstripping to the frames of windows and doors.

·  Clean your dryer vents (or hire a professional to do it) to reduce the risk of fire and to keep your dryer working efficiently.

·  After most of the leaves have fallen, clean out your gutters and downspouts.

·  Schedule a chimney cleaning and a heating system tune-up.

If you’re looking for more fall home maintenance tasks to tackle, check out the comprehensive checklist at Houzz.

7 Ideas To Make Your Home More Environmentally Friendly

Want to help the planet, improve your health, and save money? You can do it all at home. The Family Handyman shared some great ideas for making your home more environmentally friendly:

Try solar: Powering your home with solar energy will cut down on your carbon footprint and reduce your utility bill. If you’re not quite ready to invest in solar panels, start small with solar-powered outdoor lights..

Create a rain garden: Channel rainwater away from your home and into a low-maintenance garden full of native plants. It’s good for your home, your water bill, and the local wildlife.

Start a compost pile: Produce waste (banana peels, eggshells, etc.) and yard debris (leaves, weeds, cut branches, etc.) can be used in a compost pile. Once your compost is developed, you can mix it into your garden soil to add nutrients, retain moisture, prevent plant diseases and pests, and reduce the need for chemical fertilizers. It’s also a great way to reduce the amount of waste you’re sending to the landfill.

Recycle: Another way to reduce waste, of course, is to recycle whatever you can. Once you start sorting out the trash that can be recycled, you’ll marvel at the amount of paper, plastic, aluminum, and glass that can be saved from the landfill.

Choose environmentally-friendly paint: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the paint can be detrimental to your health. Opt for low- or zero-VOC paint to improve the air quality of your home.

Add window treatments: To save energy on heating and cooling, look for curtains and blinds that are specially made to prevent heat loss during the winter and deflect sun rays during the summer

Install smarter appliances: There are a ton of options out there for making your home smarter and more energy-efficient. Consider adding a smart AC, a Nest thermostat, or motion sensor-activated lights to your home

For even more ideas, check out the article on Family Handyman.

The Pros and Cons of Downsizing Your Home

If you’ve ever thought about downsizing your home, now might be the time to strike. Today’s extreme seller’s market has hiked up home prices, meaning downsizers can make a significant profit when they sell a larger home to buy a smaller one.

An article from The Balance outlined the benefits of downsizing, as well as a few potential drawbacks.

Pros of Downsizing

Increased cash flow: The most obvious benefit is that you’ll have more money in your bank account. When you downsize, you’ll likely have a much lower monthly mortgage payment—or, if you were able to buy the home in cash from the proceeds of your sale, you’ll have no mortgage at all. You’ll also have lower utility bills—smaller homes are less expensive to heat and cool, and you’ll have fewer appliances running up your electric bill. And when you have less space to fill, you’ll buy less stuff.

More time: A large house means more rooms to clean, more appliances that could potentially require repair, and more landscaping to maintain. With a smaller home, you’ll spend less time on household tasks and more time on the things you love.

Less stress: When you have lower monthly payments, fewer responsibilities, and more flexibility with your time, you’ll feel less stressed. Downsizing might be just the thing you need to feel happier!

Cons of Downsizing

You’ll have to get rid of stuff. If you have a hard time parting with the things you own, you might be better off staying in a larger home where you’ll have space to store your belongings.

You won’t have as much space for guests. Depending on the size of your smaller home, your out-of-town guests might have to sleep on the sofa—or in a hotel.

There will be a lot more “togetherness.” We all need the occasional break from the other members of our household. Keep in mind that it can be a little harder to do in a small home.

Downsizing isn’t for everyone. But if it’s something you’ve been considering, now might be the perfect time to move into a smaller home!

Newly listed homes are on the rise!

To keep you updated on the housing market, here are a few key takeaways from Realtor.com’s monthly market trends report:

Housing inventory is still historically low: The number of homes for sale in July 2021 was 33.5% lower than one year ago—that’s around 305,000 fewer homes. The good news, however, is that the rate of decline is slowing (the drop in June was 43.1%) so we’re moving in a better direction.

Increase in newly listed homes: In July, the number of newly listed homes on the market rose 6.5% nationally compared to a year ago. In large metro areas, new listings were up 11.1%. While new listings are still lower than those of pre-pandemic years, it’s encouraging to see the upward trend.

These new listings tend to be smaller homes: When looking at new listings in July, the share of smaller homes (750 to 1,750 square feet) increased 6.1% over last year. The inventory of larger homes (3,000 to 6,000 square feet) decreased 4.2%.

Homes are selling fast: The average time on the market for a typical home was 38 days in July, compared to 60 days a year ago.

Price growth is slowly declining: Year-over-year price growth declined three months in a row—May, June, and July—with the median national home price at $385,000 in July.