One of the first things you should do to get that front entry looking good is to pressure wash it! It is an easy and affective way to scrub all that dirt and grim off your porch and steps. If the house needs it, go ahead and pressure wash the house as well. Once everything is nice and clean, make sure the color of your door provides a pop of color. You may have heard that red is a good color for your front door and that is correct.
Make sure your house numbers and hardware are clean and crisp and are a contrast to the color of your house. If you have painted around the hardware, make sure you clean any paint and debris off the hardware and if needed, replace the hardware all together. Two other things you can do to bring back some life in the entry is to use a nice doormat that matches your other hardware as well as use some nice plants to enhance and warm up the entrance into your home. The entry way is always a great area to clean up for the overall look for your home.
One of the things people have a hard time deciding is when to call for help once they have done everything they can and a room still doesn’t work. Many just give up and live with what they have. What you may not know is, in many cases, all you need is a little direction for color, texture and style and a little tweaking to get your room working for you.
While you may not know who to call, Realtors have a plethora of contacts that include Interior Designers and Home Stagers that could easily help you. We also know people and companies that can help you outdoors as well if you are struggling with getting your outside looking as good as you would like. While we use these people to help sellers get their homes up to snuff and ready to sell, they can also help you get your home and yard to a very livable and wonderful place to be every day. Don’t forget to call your Realtor and ask for those valuable contacts!
In the beginning of the gardening season I always have visions of gardening grandeur with several types tomatoes, squashes and beans. And, every year at about this time, the middle of September, I think if I eat one more tomato or piece of squash I might bust! So I have thought about a bunch of places that can benefit from my overage and gardening enthusiasm!
One is to share the plunder with my co-workers; even the ones I may not like. This could give me some points if I ever need them! The other is to share with my church, which I have done from time to time. Another place I have been able to give some great vegetables is to the local food bank. It’s been great once I found out that I could give fresh vegetables to those who need it most. It’s been a great experience to be able to give this food to the food bank. We have also shared with family and friends and some even call me the tomato man because I have so many tomatoes every year. I will plant more than I need next year as well because it gives us the chance to give more away.
One of the easiest and cost saving things you can do for your home is to install a tankless water heater. You can get propane, electric or gas versions for a lot less than you might think. A friend of mine just priced an electric version for less than $500! When you consider the savings in water and heating bills, it won’t take that long to make up the difference between a standard water heater and the tankless one. A standard 40 gallon water heater can run you close to $400 so you can see why a tankless one make since these days.
So let’s talk about why it makes since. One of the advantages is endless hot water since these units provide hot water on demand and as you need it. That’s why sometimes these are referred to as on-demand hot water heaters. No more waiting for the water to reheat for the next load of laundry or shower. Another is the reduced electricity costs because your unit is not sitting there all day heating water for when you need it. One more is the substantial space savings you will get in the closet or utility are that houses your current hot water heater where all the old goes away and is replaced by a box that’s about the size of your electrical panel and around 5 to 6 inches deep. So you save money, time and water! That’s what is known as a win, win, win.
My name is Bobby Berry and I am a State Farm Agent in East Nashville. Liz asked me to contribute an article and after much thought I decided to write on one of the most preventable claims I deal with as well as one of the most costly; water damage. Traditionally, water damage comes from two main sources; your washing machine and busted pipes; more specifically, frozen pipes. Since the type of damage that these issues cause can be very troublesome it makes since to do everything you can to prevent them from happening.
When it comes to your washing machine it makes since to check and change your hose every three to five years. There are also a number of water leak sensors that range from $35 to $150 that you can attach to the water source to your washing machine. These can be simple alarms letting you know a leak has been detected to units that cut off the water completely. Well worth it when you think most people have deductibles these days that are at least $500.
Most frozen pipes are caused by people lowering or turning off the heat source in the house for things like taking a vacation or a home being vacant for a portion of the year. This can happen with second homes or rental properties. If you know you will be gone for an extended timeframe, hire a company to come in and drain and dry the water lines in your home so you won’t have a problem while you are gone. For those times when you are gone from your home a short time, don’t turn the heat down so much that the pipes can freeze. The money you spend on the heat will not be more than what you will spend one the repair and cleanup.
If you ever have any questions about your policy and would like to review it, I would be happy to sit down and go over it with you.
Hello, Taylor Hill here helping Liz fill her blog with some different information that you just might need to know. If you have a business or service online and you’re not getting any business from it, you may want to consider something called SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is the practice of bringing traffic to your website with search engines; Google, Bing, AOL, etc.
While some marry SEO with other marketing strategies such as Ad Words, the reality is that most traffic is generated through people doing search queries on one of the search engine platforms. That is what brings traffic to your website. Most small businesses spend thousands on design and content elements without ever giving SEO a thought. They believe that the “pretty” website will “magically” bring people to the site and they are extremely disappointed when that doesn’t happen. On the other end of the spectrum there are internet marketers who simply throw up a site and they do the SEO work from the get go and have a slew of traffic on their websites. I personally like the middle of the road where SEO reigns supreme but the site also gives the visitor a nice experience. You can see what I mean on my ecommerce site; BevoWorks.com and can contact me through the contact form on that site for SEO.
My name is Bobby Berry and I am an agent with State Farm Insurance. Liz Davis asked me to write a few words about what is going on in the residential insurance business. I guess the one thing that is on most people’s minds is the increases in premiums that are happening across the board. The reality is insurance companies are currently paying out $1.50 for every $1 they are bringing in. If you are a publicly traded company your shareholders are not going to sit still for this type of loss.
Thankfully, State Farm is not run by shareholders but we still have to watch the bottom line. This in a nutshell is why premiums are rising. If you have rental properties you are also getting hit with higher premiums across the board for the same reasons as well as the problems in some areas due to the risk for rental properties. The bottom line is as the world becomes more volatile with climate and other catastrophes, insuring your property becomes more important and more costly across the board.
My name is Dr. John Olsen and I am a Chiropractic Physician practicing in East Nashville, East End Chiropractic in the Body & Balance Building on Gallatin Rd. Today I am writing a blog post for Liz while she takes time to heal from her recent hip surgery. For those of you who know Liz, it won’t surprise you that she is doing well and is on schedule with her physical therapy and healing plan.
Liz specifically asked me to address the question; when should you see a chiropractor? Unfortunately, most people seek chiropractic care after they are in pain, which is actually later than we would like to see you. Once the pain is there, the damage is done. It is much better for you if you seek care as a preventative measure and maintain good spinal health than to wait until the damage is done. We can help reduce pain and eliminate some damage after the fact but there is a great advantage in catching spine issues way ahead of the hurt. So with that said, the answer is; now is the best time to see a chiropractor.
Hi, my name is Beth O’Leary and Liz has asked me to write a post about my company on her blog while she recovers from hip surgery, which I am happy to do. Teacup Gardener is a Gardening and Landscaping Company that was founded in 1980 by me and my partner, Robert Edwards. Though we do a lot of work establishing gardens and planting, we also do a lot of hardscape construction that many people need before they ever put a plant in the ground.
Fall is the perfect time to expand your outdoor spaces whether it is to repair what you currently have; renovate your current space into something totally new and wonderful or; create a new space that you have been dreaming of. Call Teacup Gardener if you need someone that has experience in building patios and decks, ponds and other water features, driveways, irrigation and drainage issues or just a consultation and design information to make sure you are getting the best out of your yard or gardening situation. We have designers, contractors and a horticulturist on staff to help you with all of your landscape and gardening needs. Because we have lived and worked in the Nashville area for almost 20 years, we know what grows and works in the area and would love to work for you.
We have worked with Liz giving her listings a face lift outside to up the curb appeal of the homes and, according to Liz, have been instrumental in helping those homes sell. We would be honored to help yours as well if you are looking for this type of quick facelift to your yard.
Hello. My name is Jonathan Sanders. Since Liz is undergoing hip surgery and the much needed rest and physical therapy that will take place in the weeks that follow, she has asked me to participate in her blog posts as a guest contributor. So with that said, let me tell you what I do for Liz.
I do the Nerdy Work. More specifically, I help with the technical issues on her website, I keep her computers up and running as they should, and I enable her to network with others without interruption. As a Realtor, Liz does not have to luxury to be “down” when it comes to her computers, phone or website. I insure she doesn’t have problems in these areas.
I have helped her choose and learn about her phone, and I’ve shown her how to best use the applications for her business. I have fixed her computer after it was hit by a virus and worked with her to prevent any further attacks. I even upgraded the memory and replaced some faulty parts. I have also advised her on her next computer purchase so she stays current on technology. One of the most important things I do for Liz is keep her website up to date and working for her on an ongoing basis. I partner with a great SEO guy that likes to sit behind the scenes and between the two of us; Liz is now on the front page of Google in her preferred markets.
If I can ever be of service to you, I can be reached at 615-697-9697 or contact me through Nerdy Work.
