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Set Yourself Up to Purchase Your Dream Home

Here’s how to maximize your ability to buy the home of your dreams. Determine how much to spend. The first step for any homebuyer is to determine how much you can afford, and then how much of that you actually want to spend. Just because a bank offers you a big...

What to Expect When Selling Your Home

Selling your house can be both exciting and stressful. Knowing what to expect can reduce tension and allow you to have the best experience possible. Here’s what you’ll need to do and need to know. Select a REALTOR. Step one in selling your house is signing a listing agreement that grants...

Time to Winterize

As the weather starts to cool, it’s a good time to prepare your home for winter. Gutters I usually start annual maintenance and upkeep before the rains come by cleaning out the gutters. It’s a lot easier to remove dead leaves and dry debris with a leaf blower before everything gets soggy...

California Law Limits DIY Work

Many do-it-yourself homeowners enjoy upgrading their own home rather than hiring a licensed contractor to do so. As long as you do the work in accordance with current building standards and acquire all the necessary permits, this is perfectly fine—with one caveat. In California, if the work requires a building...

Why is homeowners’ insurance suddenly so expensive?

If you look at the top ten most destructive fires in California history according to the Western Fire Chief’s Association, you’ll notice almost all of them occurred in last five years or so. August Complex in Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, Tehama, Glenn, Lake, and Colusa counties, August 2020: 1,032,648 acres burned, 935...

Why should a renter get homeowner’s insurance?

Wherever you live, that’s your home. Although you may not own the structure, you do own the possessions within it, and that’s what homeowner’s insurance protects. In this context, homeowner’s and renter’s insurance are the same thing. If you’re thinking, “My stuff isn’t worth much, so why would I spend the...

Should I keep renting or can I buy a house?

If you are renting a house because you believe you cannot afford to buy, you might be surprised to discover that owning a home is within your reach. An entry-level home in the Ukiah Valley can run as low as $350,000. Let’s assume, for the moment, that you haven’t been able...

Updating Your Homeowners’ Insurance Policy

When you purchase a home, lenders almost always require you to acquire homeowners’ insurance. What they don’t tell you is that they are primarily looking out for their interests, not yours. Lenders typically require you to protect against structural damage to the property up to the value of the loan...

Avoiding Scams and Winterizing Your Home

With winter approaching, I thought I’d start with a few home maintenance reminders: Caulk exterior joints around your windows and doors. Not sealing gaps where the wind and cold can seep in could add hundreds of dollars to your heating bills. Have your furnace inspected and cleaned. Annual maintenance is...