With spring growing near, it’s time to think about some basic home maintenance. During the winter months, homeowners ensure their houses are sealed tightly, ready for the weather. Open your windows and doors, and tackle a few of these small tasks to get your Charlotte home ready to welcome spring.

Basement and Attic Checks
Check your basements and attics for moisture, mold or winter weather damage. Have mold remediation specialists review any problem, and get any damages repaired before warm weather – and the creatures that emerge with it – arrives.

Airing Out and Freshening
Early spring is the perfect time to launder your heavy linens and quilts for storage. While doing so, take area rugs and drapery to the dry cleaners, or simply allow them to air out on a clothesline. Leave doors to rooms not often used open, and allow clean air to circulate through the home. Wash and air out pillows to deter allergens, and rotate / flip your mattress. Open windows and clean out sills.

Kitchen Purging
Go through the panty and deep freeze. Discard any canned goods or stored foods that have passed their prime. Organize cabinets, storing dishes and spices you use less often during spring and summer toward the back.

Think About Curb Appeal
Although the threat of cool weather’s return sill lingers a bit, it’s good to go ahead and start thinking about your Charlotte home’s curb appeal – especially if you’re considering selling. You may need to arrange for a pressure washer. If your grass has suffered during winter, start making a plan for amending the soil. Visit local nurseries to see what flora will be popular and prolific in your area this coming spring. Consider springtime projects such as exterior painting, laying a patio or adding a porch.

Call a Professional
It’s a bad habit to wait until a problem arises before calling a professional. Guarantee your cooling unit will work flawlessly when you first turn it on by calling a professional to come and inspect your system beforehand. You’ll also want to be sure the winter freezes didn’t leave you with any leaks, and a reputable plumber could help with the inspection and necessary repairs. Roofs and siding take a beating during cold weather, so have someone take a look. Many roofing companies offer complimentary or low-cost inspections and estimates.

Spring offers plenty of opportunity to purge, organize and revive your Charlotte home. For more guidance on how to ready your home for spring, call Realtor Katie Gray at 704.560.9699.

With the trend in eco – friendly living showing no signs of slowing, it’s important for homeowners to understand what impact going green has on them, as well as on their properties. With improvements such as energy saving windows; installing Energy Star – rated appliances; using environmentally conscious building supplies; and recycling, homeowners can lessen their carbon footprints while improving the value of their homes. Also, home buyers are looking more and more toward properties that encourage green living.

One of the smallest steps people can make toward living a greener lifestyle is to recycle. This doesn’t mean simply separating plastics from paper. A multitude of things that can be recycled. In addition to bettering the environment, recycling is a great way to de – clutter a home. Removing clutter is one of the first steps a homeowner must take in readying a property for the market.

• Donate packing peanuts, boxes and styrofoam. Packing items left over from moving in or extras laying about during the move out process can be donated to UPS and FedEx stores for reuse. The materials must be contaminate free.
• Keep closets organized by ridding them of wearables you don’t, well, wear. A quick tip: if you haven’t worn an item in at least a full year, consider donating it to someone who will put it to use. Charlotte clothes donations are accepted in several places including Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army, Dress for Success and the Charlotte Rescue Mission.
• Kid’s supplies. If your children left behind school supplies, arts and craft supplies or clothes after they outgrew such things, give them to local schools.
• Donate stacks of old books and magazines to local clinics and hospitals. Kidflicks is an excellent organization that collects media donations and builds movie libraries for children throughout the nation’s hospitals.
• Best Buy and Staples locations are great resources for recycling dated electronics, used batteries and computers. Flipswap will give you cash for old cell phones and keep them from the landfill by refurbishing and recycling them.
• Your Charlotte Ikea and Home Depot will reclaim used fluorescent light bulbs.
• Cars and automotive materials can be donated to the North Carolina division of the National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Cars Program.

Donating and recycling worthy items benefits many – the giver, the receiver the philanthropic organizations in between. Plus, from a real estate perspective, ridding your home of items you no longer need or use helps keep your space tidy and clutter free. With spring cleaning around the corner, this is the perfect time to do some purging around the house.

To learn more about living green in Charlotte, contact a Realtor. Call Katie Gray at 704.560.9699.

Home buyers spend months, look at countless houses and consider endless pros and cons before selecting their perfect property. Charlotte real estate is diverse, and there’s something on the market for most any shopper. Yet, the process can become so daunting and overwhelming that it’s easy to get derailed.

Here is a collection of tips and tricks to keep you stay on the path during your house hunt.

Start Small
By small, think small area. Focus in the neighborhood or few areas that you’re sure you want to live in instead of looking at houses across a broad swath of geography. There’s enough to worry about without having to think about location, so decide on that before ever setting up appointments to see homes.

Organization
Organization is key to house hunting. Prepare a checklist before your first viewing, and include your absolute needs, your likes and dislikes, as well as your wants. Move through the house with your list in hand, making notes. Use it to compare properties later.

Also, putting together a house hunting kit is helpful. Keep an umbrella, extra pair of comfortable shoes, a digital camera, something to write on and with, maps and information flyers from different properties in your arsenal.

Find a Realtor
While it is possible to navigate the Charlotte real estate market on your own, you will save yourself time and hassle by leaving the logistics to your Realtor. A real estate agent can select houses to view based on your preferences; arrange the showing with the seller; manage your negotiations, contracts and set up your closing process. Realtors also know the area, and they’re valuable sources of information regarding the community.

Know Your Finances
It’s important to have a firm grasp on your budget before house hunting. Know how much you have for a down payment, and set up a monthly budget. Understand that extra is needed for homeowners insurance, closing costs and fees, as well as whatever original changes you want to make to the property. Get pre – approved for a mortgage loan before you start shopping so that you know what you can afford. Think about commuting to and from work and what that will cost.

Keep the Right Mindset
Some home buying errors originate from a faulty mindset. Take time to compare several properties, and don’t make an impulse buy. Let your head, not your heart, dictate your purchase. Keep in mind that your perfect house may be outside of your budget, so be comfortable with compromise. Most importantly, don’t get discouraged. Finding the right home can take months, so be patient and flexible.

Buying a house is an exciting process, but it’s also a complicated one. For more advice on effective house hunting within the Charlotte market, contact Katie Gray at 704.560.9699.