Light it up!

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Moving to a new house implies; not only bringing your own clothes and furniture, but also your lamps! Every house is different and the lights you had in your previous one, may not fit the new environment. Lighting is extremely important: it makes your house comfortable, enjoyable and of course stylish!

Here you have my tips for lighting!

#1 – a light for each room

The first question is ‘how do I use the space?’ the light needs to be functional.

In a kitchen the lamp should be put above the table, to avoid annoying shadows.

The living room can have different functions: you can read, watch TV, and chat with friends. There should be a light in the centre, and smaller lamps in different places around the room: you can adjust the lighting according to the moment and use.

#2 – light and color

The colors of the furniture are essential for lighting: darker the furniture, brighter the light and vice versa. If your bedroom has a dark-blue wardrobe, it is important to light it up properly: if not you will have trouble finding your clothes!

#3 – light and windows

In Texas the sun is always shining, and when placing your lamps take into account where the sunlight is! If in your kitchen there’s a big window, there’s no need to have too many lamps.

#4 – light and style

Light can also give your house personal style: do you have a beautiful picture hanging on the wall? Or a strange statue in a corner? Lighting them up, and make them literally shine in your house!

Featured Home for Sale in College Station, TX

 

Sarah Miller, your RE/MAX realtor bryan-college station can help you discover a lot of great tips for making a profitable and fast sell on your house. She is one of the RE/MAX Bryan-College Station Realtor that has a long list of the finest homes for sale in Bryan/College Station, Call her today at 979-255-1904

Making the Most of your Offer

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Finding and falling in love with your dream home is the easy part. Making an offer and waiting can be a bit stressful though. Take some time to talk to your Realtor when considering your offer, they are an excellent source for information you need. Here is a quick checklist of actions you might want to take to ensure that your offer is fair.

•  Research the neighborhood online. (Skip this step if you already live in the area, since your will know this info.) 

• Check the crime reports and rate.

• Seek out local amenities. If public pools, parks and tennis/golf courts are important to you, you’ll want to know how far these facilities are going to be from you.

• Test your commute. Unless you are extremely close to your job, you’ll want to check to see what your commute will be like to see if you’ll need to adjust your routines.

• Schedule an inspection. Your offer should include a home inspection. You will want to know upfront if there are any necessary repairs and how much they are going to cost as you’ll want these taken care of right away.

• Ask about taxes, homeowner association fees, homeowners insurance and general utility costs. Most of this information can be found with quick online research or by asking your realtor.

• Talk to the sellers. They have lived in the home and know its quirks as well as the neighbors and community. Never discount this wealth of information.

Spend a little time, do a bit of research and take the stress out of making the offer that will turn your dream home into your reality.

Featured Home for Rent in College Station, TX

Sarah Miller, your RE/MAX realtor bryan-college station can help you discover a lot of great tips for making a profitable and fast sell on your house. She is one of the RE/MAX Bryan-College Station Realtor that has a long list of the finest homes in College Station, Call her today at 979-255-1904

Tips and Tricks for Beautiful Lawns

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It’s never too early to plan out how to keep your lawn lush and beautiful. Keeping in mind the following three essentials will help you keep your lawn the envy of the neighborhood:

1. Watering. Many lawns suffer from over-watering. Most times the weather provides plenty of moisture for your grass. Keep in mind that lawns generally only need to be watered in extremely dry conditions. Also when you need to water just remember that sandy soils need watering twice a week while clay or loamy soils only need to drink about once a week.

2. Feeding. Healthy lawns need three essential minerals. These are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Nitrogen is responsible for healthy green growth, phosphorus promotes root health and potassium helps to strengthen the grass making it disease, drought and temperature resistant. Check your fertilizer or liquid feed to ensure that your lawn is getting all it needs to thrive.

3. Top Dressing. This is often the overlooked step to an envious lawn. Employing a top dressing will help even out your lawn, fill in holes and level out bumps and/or dips. You can pick up a ready-made mix or easily make your own with loam, sand and organic matter. Ideally lawns should receive topdressing once a year in the fall.

Featured Home for Rent in College Station, TX

Sarah Miller, your RE/MAX realtor bryan-college station can help you discover a lot of great tips for making a profitable and fast sell on your house. She is one of the RE/MAX Bryan-College Station Realtor that has a long list of the finest homes in College Station, Call her today at 979-255-1904

Things to do in College Station

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While College Station has small town charm, the entertainment it has to offer is definitely no small potatoes.  Here are just a few attractions you might want to take the time to visit.

• TexasA&M University.  Not only is the university an excellent place to study and obtain a degree, but it also houses several galleries, museums and memorials as well as beautiful horticulture gardens to view, visit and enjoy.  Take time to explore this beautiful campus for yourself, or schedule a formal tour.
• Shopping.  Spend an afternoon strolling through historic downtown Bryan and discovering unique treasures and hometown flavors.  Also, don’t forget the many shops geared to help you find your newest Aggie pride keepsake or sportswear.  Whatever you may be looking for, you’re sure to find it here.
• First Class Entertainment. Whether you desire a Broadway style show or an intimate evening at the symphony, College Station has your entertainment whishes covered.  From exciting nightlife to family friendly weekend activities, you’ll never suffer from boredom with everything our town has to offer.

Make sure to check out the various websites devoted to Aggieland and the surrounding area to keep yourself up to date on all the upcoming community events.  With wine tasting expos, music festivals and home football games there is sure to be something coming up that will interest the entire family or group.

Featured Home for Sale in College Station, TX

 

Sarah Miller, your RE/MAX realtor Bryan-College Station can help you discover a lot of great tips for making a profitable and fast sell of your house. She is one of the RE/MAX Bryan-College Station Realtor that has a long list of the finest homes in College Station, Call her today at 979-255-1904

New Year’s Resolutions for Your Home

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Each January, people the world over make plans to eat healthier, lose weight or be positive. How often do we make plans to better our homes?  Here are some ideas of ways to improve your home’s appearance and value while helping to ease your own mindset about your living space.

• De-clutter.  This seems like a no brainer, right?  However often times, it is one of the hardest things to do.  Take into consideration all the gifts and new things you acquired over the holidays, did they replace old things that can be recycled, donated or just thrown out if in disrepair?  This is a perfect starting point to streamlining your possessions and clearing your space of clutter.
• Safety Check.  Take a little time to check smoke detector batteries.  Install or update carbon monoxide detectors.  Check dryer vents and ducts for excess lint, which can be a fire hazard that often goes unnoticed.  This is also an excellent time to have a quick mold inspection to ensure that your home’s air is healthy for you and your family.
• Weekly Scheduling.  While you’re working out a weekly exercise routine to help keep your body in shape, consider setting aside a weekly time to spend on housekeeping.  Of course there are things that must be taken care of daily, but many chores that should be done weekly are often overlooked.  Gather your family or housemates together on Saturday mornings and divide tasks such as bed changing, vacuuming and wiping down baseboards or polishing mirrors.  This will allow weekly cleanings to be done quickly.

Try out these simple strategies to help keep your home’s health and beauty on track.  Healthy homes lead to healthier, happier lives. 

Featured Home for Sale in College Station, TX

 

Sarah Miller, your RE/MAX realtor bryan-college station can help you discover a lot of great tips for making a profitable and fast sell on your house. She is one of the RE/MAX Bryan-College Station Realtor that has a long list of the finest homes in College Station, Call her today at 979-255-1904

Closing Your Home for Holiday Travel

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One of the most stressful parts about traveling for the holidays is thinking about your home just sitting there unattended. Your mind may go to burglars, fire, or if you left on something that could raise your electricity bill. Below are some pointers to ensure your home will be safe and sound while you are away. 

Pointer #1 – Keep an Eye on it
Today, there are many different home video monitoring systems available online. You can even go to your local hardware store and find them. This will allow you to use a computer with internet access or a smartphone to log in and check out what is going on while you and your family are away. 

Pointer #2 – Stop Delivered Subscriptions and Mail Delivery
There is nothing like a big red flag announcing to thieves that you are away like newspapers piling up out front. Also, if your mailbox is overflowing or if your have deliveries at your door that are not picked up, you are telling everyone you are not home. Be sure to call and arrange for any subscriptions and your mail to be put on hold until you return. 

Pointer #3 – Unplug Everything
This may sound unnecessary, but the more you leave plugged in, the more electricity will be used and the more of a chance of a fire. Power surges can cause sparks that can very easily lead to a fire. If you are not home to call 911 or are not home to put the fire out yourself...well you could lose your beautiful home. 

Pointer #4 – Turn off the Air Conditioner
Traveling during the holidays usually means the Brazos Valley temperatures are not the usual hotter than hot. This is great, because you can turn off the a/c and not come home to a sweltering home. However, if the weather is going to be below freezing while you are away, you will actually want to leave it on, but set the thermostat to between 50 and 60 degrees. This will ensure you do not come home to frozen pipes. 

If you are going to be away for a week or more, you should let a trusted friend or neighbor know, so they can keep an eye on your home for you.  Another option would be to hire a house sitter.  Following these tips will help you feel more at ease while you are on your holiday adventure. 

Featured Homes for Sale in College Station, TX 

 

Sarah Miller, your RE/MAX realtor bryan-college station can help you discover a lot of great tips for making a profitable and fast sell on your house. She is one of the RE/MAX Bryan-College Station Realtor that has a long list of the finest homes for sale in Bryan/College Station, Call her today at 979-255-1904

Winterizing your New Home

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When you purchased your new home in the Brazos Valley this spring or summer, no one probably mentioned you will need to winterize it before the colder temps hit. If your house is not properly prepared, it could lead to costly headaches like burst pipes, fallen gutters and more. With a little work, you can avoid any winter weather issues.

Winterizing Task #1 – Clean and Protect your Gutters
Be sure you clean out all your gutters thoroughly. Clogged gutters will hold water and when it freezes, it can become too heavy and make the gutters rip away from the house. Also, any icicles caused by water spilling over from the gutters and freezing may look pretty, but can be very dangerous if they break off and hit someone. Once they are cleaned out, install gutter protectors to keep the leaves and debris out.

Winterizing Task #2 – New Filters
Replacing you air conditioner system's filter will ensure your home will stay properly heated during the colder days and night. Properly heated homes can usually avoid nasty issues like broken pipes and extremely high electricity bills.

Winterizing Task #3 – Insulate the Windows and Get Draft Guards
This can be done with a few rolls of window film and a few guards. This too will help the home retain heat.

Winterizing Task #4 – Reverse Ceiling Fans
Most ceiling fans have a switch on them so in the winter months they can turn in the opposite direction. Why is this needed? This will help to push the heat sitting on the ceiling to be pushed downward. This is a great way to evenly heat your home and is a budget saver as well.

Winterizing Task #5 – Insulate Pipes
Before freezing temperatures hit, you will want to be sure your pipes are protected from freezing. The easiest way to do this is to buy some pipe insulation from a hardware store.  Simply cut it to fit your outside exposed pipes and faucets.

These simple tasks can save you several hundreds of dollars and several unneeded headaches by having to deal with broken pipes, injuries from fallen icicles, or replacing your home's gutters. Winters in Brazos Valley are not as harsh as they are in other parts of the country, but they can be just bitterly cold enough to cause their share of property damage for those unprepared for them.

Featured Home for Sale in Bryan, TX

 

Sarah Miller, your RE/MAX realtor bryan-college station can help you discover a lot of great tips for making a profitable and fast sell on your house. She is one of the RE/MAX Bryan-College Station Realtor that has a long list of the finest homes in College Station, Call her today at 979-255-1904