FamilyFirstRealtyBlog

You Can’t Detect These 4 Stinky Smells, But Your Guests Sure Can. Here’s How to Sweeten Your Home By:  Stacey Freed   HouseLogic.com You can’t smell your home’s odors because you’re noseblind. Here are the smelly culprits and how to eliminate them.  l Princess is oblivious to how she smells, and you probably are, too. Rout home odors you're noseblind to, so your friends want to come over again. Image:  Josh Klina Stand in your kitchen and take a deep breath. Smell that? From last night’s fish to your son’s nasty lacrosse pads (why did he leave them on the table?), you probably can’t detect any of your home’s rankest odors. You’ve got nose blindness. “You adapt to the smells around you,” says Dr. Richard Doty, the director of the Smell and Taste Center at the University of Pennsylvania. On a sensory level, your processing mechanism becomes less sensitive to the continuous stimuli. Or, on a cognitive level, you can become habituated to the smells and bas

7 Spots You Keep Missing When You Clean That Everyone But You Notices By:  Stacey Freed   You’re immune to the dirtiest places in your home. But your guests aren’t. Here’s what to do about it. Print Email Ever smell something funky in your drink after you added ice? Your ice maker probably needs a wipe down. Your guests will thank you. Image: Liz Foreman for HouseLogic Admit it: It’s easy to get a little “Judge Judy” inside someone else’s home. We notice gunk on the floor, cobwebs in the corners, and dust on the overhead fan. But guess what? Unless you’re Adrian Monk, you’ve probably got some gunky places that your friends notice, but you don’t. (Sad trombone.) This is why we tracked down a domestic guru to help us with this article. No matter how hard it is to find dirt hideaways on your own, a little expert advice can make it alllll OK. Jan M. Dougherty, author of “The Lost Art of House Cleaning: A Clean House Is a Happy Home,” rev

9 Surprising Things That Add Value to Your House Published: December 03, 2013   By:  Dona DeZube A home’s value is dependent on many things. Here are nine factors you might not have thought about. Email Being able to hoof it to school, shops, and restaurants can add as much as $34,000 to your home's value. The boost from walkability is biggest in large, dense cities. Image:  Renee Tougas What do surf breaks, Walmarts, and public transportation have in common? Being near any of them can add thousands to your home’s value. At least that’s what various university researchers have found based on their evaluation of variables that could be influencing home prices. Their conclusions might surprise you. Here’s what they found: 1. Surf Breaks Being within a mile of a surf break (a spot where surf-able waves happen) adds about $106,000 to a home’s value, according to surfonomics experts at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Reality

Buyer Cheat Sheet for a Seller's Market REALTOR.COM  /  DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, APRIL 08, 2016 In a seller's market, home buyers need to be willing and able to act fast to snag the home they want. This spring, areas across the country are facing a limited number of homes for sale. Realtor.com® offers up a cheat sheet for surviving a seller's market. Be on call.  "If you're only looking now and then when it's convenient, you're probably wasting your time," says James Malmberg, a real estate professional in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He suggests treating house hunting like job hunting. If someone calls with a lead, follow up promptly to gauge whether it could be a good fit and don't linger. Bring the paperwork.  To be taken seriously, buyers would be wise to get a mortgage pre-approval letter as well as a "proof of funds" form from their bank to show they have enough to cover a down payment. They'll be able to act quicker