NOVA DMV Fall Must Do Home Maintenance Tips

Simple Fall tasks can save you from more expensive repairs over the next few months and will keep your DC metro home in great shape.

1. Take care of hoses and faucets: Disconnect your hoses before the freezing temperatures arrive, because they can cause water to back up in your faucets and eventually cause the plumbing to crack.  If possibble, shut off the valves for your exterior faucets.

2. Winterize the lawn mower: Either run the mower dry, or use a fuel stabilizer to prevent the gas in your mower from degrading and damaging the engine.

3. Clean the gutters: Twigs and leaves will build up in your gutters throughout the fall. Make sure to clean the gutters before there’s heavy snow, because the weight of both the leaves and the melting snow could cause the gutters to break away from the house. This winter in Washington DC metro areas are expected to have a large snow fall accumulation.

4. Get the furnace ready: Your best bet is to call in a professional to give the furnace a tune up, but at the very least you should change the filters. Find a good company, check your county’s best of best list.

5. Inspect the roof: As snow accumulates and melts from your roof, it can cause major water damage if the roof isn’t in good shape. Look for loose shingles, rust, moss—anything that could lead to decay or water damage. It’s best to be proactive with your roof repairs can be extremely expensive—so don’t hesitate to call a roofing professional if necessary. It’s worth it in the long run!

When you are ready to sell that home in Washington DC, Fairfax, or Prince William County contact GreatDCMetroHomes.net and Find out what your home is worth for Free!

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Call me to buy a home in any Washington DC Metro area including Northern VA & Maryland,  areas including Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Fauquier, Stafford Counties, Anne Arundel, Prine George’s, Charles, and Montgomery Counties.                                     

    

Build a Fabulous treehouse DIY

Summer DIY How to build a tree house

If you have children, no home is complete without a treehouse. Besides the fact that treehouses provide kids with hours of entertainment, they can also confer ancillary benefits that are hard to quantify. For starters, treehouses can improve property values by boosting curb appeal. When building any type of treehouse, keep the following tips in mind.

Location, Location, Location

Before you head off to Home Depot and get all the necessary supplies, you need to spend some serious time storyboarding the build process. Pick a tree with low, sprawling branches such as an oak or a maple. Furthermore, consider issues like wind, shade and privacy before you start to nail up supports.

Choose Your Materials Wisely

A treehouse built with subpar materials will fall short in the longevity department and disappoint the kids. Pick out stout oak 4x4 posts for the structural elements and top them off with pressure-treated pine for the floors and railings. Use quality plywood for the interior walls and seal it to avoid rot.

Make Multi-Use Your Mantra

Treehouses that are simply shacks suspended above ground will quickly bore youngsters no matter how well-built they may be. Incorporate elements such as swings, rope ladders and even zip-lines to get more from your treehouse. As long as you're putting in the effort, you might as well add all of the bells and whistles.

Bake Safety Into the Recipe

You don't want the kids to get hurt when they're frolicking among the branches. Make sure to bolt handles and permanent rails into the truck so that adolescents are less likely to slip and fall. If you want to go all out, add a few safety nets around the edges.

Heed Aesthetics When Designing

An unadorned treehouse quickly turns into an eyesore over time as it's battered by the elements. Shingle the roof and paint the exterior walls so that they match your home. Kids will naturally gravitate towards a treehouse that looks appealing and your neighbors won't complain about a shoddy structure in your weeping willow.

It's More Than a Treehouse

 While many young kids will no doubt love a full-featured treehouse, it's usually the improvement in home value that will appeal to adults.

If you decides to buy a home with a fabulous tree or a tree house already go to GreatDCMetrohomes.org to search. If you're interested in learning more about homes for sale in your area go to GreatDCMetroHomes.org to search VA, DC, and MD areas.

DMV, DC, MD, Northern VA Climbing Real Estate Taxes

A climbing market is great news to homeowners but keep in mind, with growing sales prices comes higher taxes.  Eager buyers and motivated sellers have jump started the market this year in the DMV areas DC, MD, and Northern VA.

Homeowners be prepared and take this as a warning your real estate taxes could be should be going up soon.   Data released Monday from MRIS show that greater inventory and modest prices have driven sales from Jan to April.  Areas like DC have a lack of inventory and is experiencing more bidding wars. With all of this comes more sales, more comps, more appreciation, higher prices, and then higher taxes....

The jump you see will depend on your location and how often taxes are assessed in your area but just note you may receive a notice in the mail..  

Do not let it bother or worry you it is usually just a small jump in payment.