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Tips For Avoiding Bad Home Contractors

tips for avoiding bad contractors

Tips For Avoiding Bad Home Contractors

When the home is a castle making sure that home is in tip top shape or looks great is essential for both keeping the occupants happy and for retaining the value of the home. Homes require routine maintenance and updating to keep everything in good working order.  Deferred maintenance can quickly turn a great home into something that is unlivable.  Using the wrong contractors can result in overpaying for a job or worse having the contractor create more problems than what were to be fixed  This article provides tips for homeowners to find the best contractors to keep their home in tip top shape.

Search More Than Traditional Sources For Information On Contractors

One tried and true source of information on contractors is reviews on various review and social media sites.  Facebook, Google, Yelp, Better Business Bureau and more have reviews for contractors.  Keep in mind though those reviews should not be the first and only stop when researching a contractor.  Positive reviews can also unfortunately be bought by contractors to make themselves look better when in fact they have a poor track record.  Reviews also can be left by family and friends who have only seen the contractor’s best quality work and may have not seen the other clients they left hanging by not completing the job they were hired to do.

Contractors may even offer referrals from past clients as a way to show that people are happy with the work they do.  While past client referrals can be helpful they also can be faked or the contractor can pick from the...

Things To Consider When Looking At Long Term Vs. Short Term Rentals

What to consider when buying short versus long term rental property

Long Term Rental Vs. Short Term Rentals

With the popularity of sites like AirBnB and VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) real estate investors have some options when it comes to considering how they want to operate their residential rental units.  Short term rentals offer benefits such as faster and more frequent payment of rent but have downsides such as the requirement to fully furnish rental units and very frequent need for cleaning due to high tenant turnover.  Long term rentals give investors the ability to ensure a steady stream of income with the right tenant and only having to do maintenance when something within the investors control needs repair.  There are other considerations to take in mind between short term and long term rentals as this article explores.

Which One Will Make More Money?

The answer to that question is it depends.  Real estate is all about location, location, location and the location dictates the price and rental rates for real estate.  In locations where there is high demand for areas that tourists like to visit and stay near the demand for long term rental may not be as great.  Long term renters want to avoid the hustle and bustle of tourist areas unless they happen to work for one of the tourist attractions and want a short commute.  On the other hand tourists may not be willing to pay value going upas much if their location is farther away from the sights they want to see.  As a result investors will need to consider location as part of their purchase...

Advanced Security Tips For Protecting Your Home

advanced security tips for protecting your home

Advanced Tips For Securing Your Home and Personal Identity

A home is a person’s castle and protecting the home is a top priority.  Beyond just protecting the home physically homeowners should also look at protecting their home and themselves from digital thieves who don’t even need to enter a home to steal.  A lost credit card number or worse a social security number can lead to long term issues.  This articles provides some advanced tips for securing one’s home both against physical intruders and against those who want to steal your information.

Home Alarm

Having an alarm installed is one great way a homeowner can protect their home especially if the alarm is monitored.  A monitored alarm means if the alarm is triggered the monitoring company will first call the homeowner to check if everything is ok or if they are not able to reach the homeowner they will call the local police department.  The police will then come out to check on the home to see if there is an issue.  

Home alarms can also be unmonitored where the only warning they provide is in the home through the use of a siren and/or lights.  Monitored home alarms systems usually require a monthly fee for the monitoring service and with monitored service the homeowner may be eligible for homeowners insurance discounts.  There are many do it yourself (DIY) home alarm kits like Ring, Simplifi, and more where installation of the security devices and keypads are easily done by the...

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