

10 Ways to Save on Your Gas Bills
Make the most of your energy dollar. Just follow these simple guidelines and enjoy lower gas bills this season. Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter. For each degree you raise your thermostat setting, your fuel bill climbs 3 percent. So dress accordingly. Consider slipping into a sweater before you crank up the temperature. Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month or as needed. A simple task like this and those in No. 3 could improve your system


Cut Your Electric Bills Painlessly A few simple tricks can save you a bundle
When Mom told you to turn out the lights, she was thinking of saving energy dollars, not rolling blackouts and bankrupt utility companies. Rarely have Moms words of wisdom been as fitting as they are now and not just in California. Electricity rates are going up everywhere. Besides switching off lights, there are several other painless methods to conserve energy and save money on your electric bills. Plug Ins Look for those electronic devices, especially those with digital ti

10 Steps to Home Ownership
Information To Help You Throughout The Home Buying Process 1. Are You Ready? Step 1 of 10 Knowledge and experience are the keys to successful real estate transactions. REALTOR.com® contains an enormous amount of valuable information, and such data -- combined with the expertise, experience and training of local REALTORS® -- can be the essential keys to your success. One of the keys to making the homebuying process easier and more understandable is planning. In doing so, you'l


Prepare Your Home for Sale
Your Goal: To Sell your house quickly and obtain the Best Possible Price. Now that you’re going to sell your home, you’ll want to look at it differently. Look at is as a “house for sale” through a “buyer’s eyes.” That vantage point will help you package it to sell more quickly. You don’t have to spend a lot of time or money preparing your house for sale. You may be able to simply borrow or rent the “extras” like decorative houseplants or lawn furniture to make your home memor


Quick Question: What's The Right Price?
Important real estate questions can often be asked quickly —"What's the right sale price?" or "What's the right list price?"— however, the answers may take a while. A question may be simple to ask, but the answer is usually complex because real estate is complicated. Even when the person answering is very familiar with the subject, arriving at the "right"— best fit, complete, and accurate — answer may first require asking questions of the quick-question asker, because: Contex


Taking Care of Your Investment Property. DIY or Property Management Firm?
Congratulations on your new vacation property! If you bought it as an investment, and are planning to use rental income to pay your mortgage, you probably want to be sure the house stays rented, and your tenants stay happy. We bet you can’t wait to use those owner weeks and relax in your own place. But to really relax, you need to know that the house is cared for when you aren’t around. Also? If you’ve been getting weekly (or daily!) phone calls from your tenants about everyt


The Best and Worst Value Adding Home Improvements
If you’re like most people, a lot of the work you do on your home is meant for you to enjoy--at least for a little while. But you also want to make sure you get some of that money back when it’s time to sell or refinance. So which improvements are also smart investments? Here’s what the numbers say for 2014. Stay away from... Home offices: Having your own kid/pet/clutter-free space to telecommute from seems like a no brainer, right? But what happens when your potential buyers