Replacing a roof is a costly endeavor. Therefore, in order to keep more money in your bank account where it belongs, it is important to know how to take care of your roof in order to extend the life of your roof. While it is inevitable that a roof will eventually need to be replaced, following these 5 tips will be sure to help you postpone this need for many years to come.

Tip #1: Keep the Gutters Clean

Cleaning the gutters on a regular basis will help prevent water overflow from causing damage to your roof. When leaves are allowed to pile up in the gutters, the water can get into the roof sheathing or even the rafters, causing rotting to occur. To prevent this from happening, you should clean your gutters at least once each spring and once each fall.

Tip #2: Wipe Leaves Off of the Roof

In addition to keeping the gutters clean, it is also important to keep the roof itself clear of leaves. If you have a simple roof with little landscaping, leaves may not accumulate on your roof. If you have a more complex roof design or if you have many trees surrounding your house, on the other hand, leaves may pile up fairly regularly. Failure to remove then will trap moisture, which will allow seeds to germinate and possibly take root.

Tip #3: Remove Moss

Moss regular grows on wood or composition shingles, particularly in the Northwest part of the country. Regardless of where you live, an accumulation of moss can cause damage because it traps moisture and leads to rotting. Therefore, if moss has developed on your roof, it is important to remove it as soon as possible. There are many products available on the market to help with the removal of moss. You might also want to consider installing zinc strips on the roof in order to help prevent moss from growing in the first place.

Tip #4: Trim Nearby Trees

If there are trees located near to your house, keeping their branches trimmed back will help prevent leaves, moss and other debris from falling onto or developing on the roof. Trimming back the branches will also help keep squirrels and other creatures off of your roof. Ideally, you shouldn’t have any branches within 10 feet of your roof.

Tip #5: Remove Snow

Removing snow from your roof between storms will help to prevent damaging ice from forming on the roof. While prying ice off of your roof can cause additional damage, removing snow can help prevent the ice from forming while also preventing any leaks from occurring when the snow melts. You can further prevent ice from forming by addressing air leaks or inadequate insulation in the attic, as these two conditions typically contribute largely to the problem.

If you are taking out a mortgage loan to help pay for the cost of purchasing a home, you will find that there are many extra costs associated with buying a home. One of these extra expenses comes in the form of Private Mortgage Insurance, or PMI. While PMI is not always a requirement, there are certain situations where you will be required to obtain PMI insurance. Whether looking to purchase Lake Austin real estate or a home in Denver, it is important to learn more about what this insurance is and why you need to have.

What is PMI Insurance?

In short, PMI insurance is a form of insurance that protects the lender if you default on your loan. Therefore, despite the name, PMI is not a form of homeowners’ insurance and it does not protect the buyer in any way. Rather, it is a type of insurance that mortgage lenders require you to purchase in order to protect their investment. If you default on your loan, the PMI will only protect the lender’s interest in the property and will not provide you with any type of assistance or protection.

Why Do I Need PMI Insurance?

While PMI insurance does not provide you with any form of protection, you will need to purchase it in order to fulfill your lender’s requirements. In general, PMI coverage is only required when the buyer has a down payment that is less than 20 percent of the selling price of the property. Therefore, you can avoid this extra expense by saving up a larger down payment and satisfying your lender’s requirements. Another way to avoid the PMI requirement is to obtain a loan through a program that is backed by the government, such as an FHA or VA loan. A third option is to obtain a piggyback loan. Also referred to as combination financing, taking out a piggyback loan involved taking out one mortgage to cover 80 percent of the loan and then taking out a second loan to cover the remaining expense.

What are the Benefits to Having PMI Coverage?

Since PMI insurance only protects the lender’s investment, the only benefit it provides to the buyer is that it makes it possible to purchase a home with a down payment of less than 20 percent. On the other hand, carrying PMI coverage does increase the buyers’ monthly mortgage payment and the cost is not tax deductible.

How Long Do I Need to Carry PMI Coverage?

Most lenders require buyers to continue to carry PMI until the mortgage has been paid down to a certain level. In most cases, lenders will allow the PMI to be cancelled after the principal balance of the mortgage loan has fallen to 80 percent of the Loan-to-Value. In other words, the amount owed on the loan must be 80 percent or less of the assessed value of the home.

About The Author – Eric Bramlett is broker of One Source Realty and specializes in Apache Shores Austin and Lake Austin real estate.

In an effort to help Colorado residents and businesses make the most efficient use out of the power of the sun, the Denver Regional Council of Governments has developed the Denver Regional Solar Map. Originally, developed to help businesses determine how much solar energy they could get from their rooftops, the tool is now available for homeowners as well.

The development of the Denver Regional Solar Maps system was inspired by the states initiative to increase the number of solar installations. By allowing businesses to easily calculate how much solar power they could harvest from their rooftops, the state hoped to provide them with an additional incentive to take the step into solar energy.

In addition to determining how much solar energy they can collect from the map, which is presented in an aerial view format, residents can also obtain projections on how much the installation of solar panels will help them save on their energy bills. While the map is not available throughout the entire state, most homeowners in the Denver area can take advantage of this tool.

Developed with the help of an $180,000 federal grant, the Denver Regional Solar Maps system is also connected to a number of solar developers in the area. In this way, homeowners can quickly and easily learn more about solar developers in their area, who can help them implement the solar panels in their homes if desired.

If you are in the market for purchasing a home, you might be caught off guard by all of the other expenses that are involved in the process. In addition to paying for the actual cost of the home, you can expect to pay a number of other fees in the closing process. As such, you might be tempted to cut a few corners wherever possible. While this may seem like a good idea at the time, cutting back on certain things may lead to disaster in the end. One example of an expense that you should not push aside is your home inspection.

Many homebuyers are tempted to forego the home inspection in order to save a few hundred dollars. This is particularly true for those who are purchasing a newly constructed home. After all, what could possibly be wrong with a home that is brand new? The unfortunate reality is that even newly constructed homes can have problems and getting a home inspection is the only means you have to protect yourself in the future. While it may hurt the pocketbook to pay for a home inspection, it will pay off in the long run. In fact, here are three money-saving reasons to get a home inspection:

• Use it to negotiate a better price – if any problems are discovered during the home inspection, you can use that information as a bargaining chip as you bring down the agreed upon price of the home.
• Avoid costly repairs – before you close on your home, you can require certain repairs to be made before the deal is complete. By getting repairs completed before you move in, you avoid headaches as well as the expense of making the repairs yourself.
• Back out of the deal – by having the closing contingent upon the results of the home inspection, you can back out of the deal without losing any money if something is found to be wrong with the house.

Even if you do decide to purchase the home without requiring repairs to be made, getting a home inspection gives you a good idea of what you are getting into. For example, while the roof may be in decent shape now, the inspector may find that it will need to be replaced in ten years. By having this information before you buy, you can start planning ahead in order to ensure your home is properly maintained and repaired in the future.

If you are thinking of putting your home on the market, you might want to consider completing a few updates first. Not only will updates help your home stand out from the other homes on the market, but they will also increase the value of your home. In fact, by investing just a few hundred dollars or so, you can significantly increase the closing price on your home. Here is a look at a few inexpensive home improvements that will pay off in the long run.

Update Your Kitchen

There are many steps you take toward updating your kitchen without spending a fortune. Here is a look at a few of the simple updates or upgrades that will be sure to catch a potential buyer’s eye:

• New water efficient faucet – appeals to the eco-conscious buyer as well as those who are looking for ways to save money in their new home.
• New tile back splash – creates a fresh, clean look while also updating the overall appearance of the kitchen.
• New sink – a new sink will be completely clean and free from scratches and nicks.
• New cabinet knobs – installing new knobs on your cabinets is one of the quickest and easiest ways to modernize your kitchen.

Update Your Bathroom

Next to the kitchen, the bathroom is the most important room for buyers. Therefore, you want to make sure it has been brought up to date as well. Some upgrades you might want to consider doing to your bathroom include:

• New water efficient faucet and shower head – once again, your eco-conscious buyers will appreciate this feature.
• A low-flow toilet – installing a new toilet is a great way to freshen up and modernize your bathroom. Make it a low-flow model to enjoy an even greater return on your investment.
• New shower curtain – a new shower curtain in a neutral color will depersonalize your bathroom while helping it look clean and fresh

Make Your Entryway Inviting

Your entryway will be one of the first things a potential buyer sees, so make sure it is both appealing and welcoming. Two ways to accomplish this include installing a new front door and applying a fresh layer of paint to the inside of your entryway. Look for an energy-efficient door in order to get the most bang for your buck and choose neutral colors for your entryway paint job. In addition, when potential buyers come to take a look at your home, make sure the lights are on or the windows are open in the entryway. This way, potential buyers will be greeted by a bright and welcoming home.

I once heard a story from a famous REALTOR® about the MLS. He said he had gone to a listing appointment and felt like it went very well. He was elated at how well he had clicked with the homeowners and thought for sure they would choose him to list their home.

After the appointment, a couple days went by and he had not heard from them. Thinking they must have just had a delay, he called to see where they were at in their listing process. To his surprise, they shared that they had chosen to list their home with another agent.

When he asked why, they told him that they really liked him, but the other agent was going to put their home in something called the MLS, and they thought that sounded like a great way to market their property. Of course both agents would put the home in the MLS, but thinking that was common knowledge, he had not mentioned it to them. So, what is the MLS and how is it used?

MLS Defined

MLS stands from Multiple Listing Service, and it is a huge database, or list, of all properties in an area available for sale or for lease. When a property is on the market it is active in the database, and when it is sold, it is archived in the database. Since the MLS is such a huge list, it has had the effect of making agents and consumers more knowledgeable about home inventory and real estate data in general.

How it has changed

Since the MLS serves an entire real estate community, but is not free, groups of agents join a board or association upon becoming licensed in order to be able to use the MLS. Different associations are usually broken down by geography. The dues that members pay for their membership are then used to maintain the database.

Years ago, the MLS was distributed to agent offices in the form of a large book that was updated once per week. From there, agents were then able to connect to MLS via a modem and the data was updated more often than once per week. Now, of course, we have leapfrogged into the information age and all the MLS data is available on the internet for agents and consumers alike. Updates are done as quickly as the agent can do them and reflected immediately.

How does MLS help home sellers?

Like the homeowners above realized, the MLS is a huge factor in marketing a property. Selling a home is all about mass marketing, i.e. how can a home be exposed to as many buyers as possible, and MLS is the driver of this. Imagine placing an ad in your local newspaper about your home. Do you think that would find it’s way to as many buyers as having your home listed in MLS and then blasted all over the internet? Not a chance! This also highlights a major downfall of doing ‘For Sale by Owner’. Without that MLS boost, far fewer consumers will know about the property, making it that much tougher to sell.

How does MLS help home buyers?

When MLS was made public via websites, many REALTORS® feared that consumers would no longer call on agents to help with their home purchases. However, having the ability to look at homes on-line does not take the place of actually viewing them with an agent, negotiating a contract, finding comparable sales data, etc.

Having access to the MLS has streamlined the home search process for buyers and agents alike. With as much data is available, consumers are able to narrow the list of properties they would like to view prior to driving around and seeing all of them in person. It is a win-win!

So, if you are meeting with a licensed REALTOR® to list or to buy real estate, the MLS is undoubtedly going to be part of the process. It is a very impactful tool that we are thrilled to use!

About The Author: Kimberley Kelly has been a  Palm Desert Real Estate  agent in Southern California for 11 years. She helps many home buyers and sellers deal with their Palm Springs real estate  needs. Please visit Kimberley’s La Quinta homes for sale website for more information.