If you like the durability and variety of granite but prefer a less shiny look, consider a leather-finish style for your counters. Fabricators use diamond-tipped brushes to produce granite countertops that have a matte surface with the texture of leather, and contrary to what you might expect, they require no more care than polished granite.  (As a bonus you'll find they are a real conversation piece with visitors.)

Anyone who has ever ripped apart a smoke alarm because the battery was chirping knows that a detector designed to be less annoying (and therefore less likely to be deactivated) could be worth its weight in gold. 

The Nest Protect is a smart smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) detector that gives you a "Heads Up" alert via spoken voice and text message when it detects low levels of smoke or CO.  This means that if you burn the toast you'll have a chance to dismiss the Heads Up warning rather than being jolted out of your pajamas by a screeching alarm.  (And a low battery is indicated by a yellow light, not a chirp.)

The Nest Protect currently costs $99.  Here's a link to more information about it.

Glide-out shelving is ultra-convenient, space-saving, and still in few enough homes that it is usually considered a perk.  If your kitchen didn't come with it installed you have plenty of choices, ranging from companies who take care of the entire process to some do-it-yourself options that appear to get good results.

Here are some of the do-it-yourself resources:

If you're not thinking of selling, anything goes; however, if you are, it's helpful to know that many of the online lists telling you the best door colors for a home sale are at least partly wrong.  (Beware of articles written by 'artistes' and not real estate professionals! :)

Door colors that are typically safe for selling?  Deep cranberry red is popular, as well as white as long as the main house color creates a strong contrast.  A dark sage green can also be very attractive.  Some home design sites will tell you that orange, grey, and lime green doors are good options, but be aware that in reality these are likely to have a smaller target market.


Tip:  Many door colors are more appealing when they have a touch of warmth.  Be cautious with cool light or 'hard' bright colors.

Avoid the rush and call your heating specialist now to service your heating system.  Many contractors offer pre-season discounts.

How long has it been since you checked your home for loose or degraded water fitting attachments?  A worn out $3 hose in a laundry room or kitchen can cause thousands of dollars in damage, so it's worth spending 20 minutes to do this every six months or so.

It's a good idea to have your dryer duct cleared of lint at least once a year in order to prevent a laundry room fire.

One DIY solution, the Cyclone dryer duct cleaning kit, has gotten many good reviews on Amazon.  (You need to use it with an air compressor, but according to most of the comments it appears to be very effective.)

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- U.S. home prices rose 9.3 percent year-to-year in May, according to a recent S&P/Case-Shiller report.  They rose 7.5 percent year-to-year in June, according to CoreLogic, a data and analytics company.

 

(As we move forward, expect the rate of price appreciation to continue to drop.  This is not a bad thing, it is indicative of a more sustainable market trend.) 

   

- The national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is in the 4.25 percent range. 

 

The Pending Home Sales Index dropped 7.3 percent year-to-year in June, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

 

Note:  Housing statistics based on closed sales typically reflect market conditions of two or three months ago.  To find out what's going on right now in our local market, please call us directly.