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Ways to Renovate on a Budget

Most home owners are under the impression that they need a huge budget just so they can get a renovation project underway. Truth be told, however, it is entirely possible to renovate on a budget. Here are some tips that can help you do just that.

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Tips To Avoid Encroaching On Your Neighbours

In general, buying or selling property is a fairly drama-free affair. That is, until your neighbour claims that you have encroached on his property. That is where all the fun begins. Actually, a friend has actually experienced this. He had a fence built around his newly bought house, only to find out later that his fence to the right actually sat on his neighbour’s property.

Lucky for him, it was just a simple fence. If the encroaching structure was anything bigger than that, it would have been a pretty costly proposition. You can only imagine how much of a hassle it would have been for him if the encroaching structure was a veranda or eaves that cross into the airspace of his neighbor. Even worse would be if the encroaching structure was a swimming pool that he has poured a lot of money into.

The thing is, property encroachment can actually be avoided before it happens. If you want to avoid encroaching on your neighbours, we’d like to share some tips in that regard.

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Smart Ways to Boost Home Value

ways to boost home valueLet’s say you’re planning to sell your home in the future, and you want to make sure you get a good price for it. So you start planning all these major renovations that would, in the end, cost a lot. However, you actually don’t really need to spend a fortune on renovation just to boost home value. There are smart ways of boosting your home’s resale value, and by smart we mean inexpensive.

These simple and cheap changes can certainly help increase your asking price, and potential customers will be more than willing to pay it. Here are some of the simple and inexpensive ways to boost your home’s resale value.

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Turn Wasted Home Space Into Something Functional

No matter the size of your home, there will always be wasted space. There’s that space under the staircase, rooms that aren’t really being used, basements and attics that aren’t being maximised and cabinetry that wastes precious corner spaces. Whether your house is big or small, you need to reclaim whatever wasted space there is and make it useful.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of ideas on how to turn wasted home space into something functional. Here are some of them.

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How to Make Your Relationship Survive a Renovation

For couples living under one roof, the idea of initiating a renovation project for their home together seems like a very romantic idea. After all, what could be more romantic than making your dream home come true by working with the person you love on it? Alas, a renovation project is not that simple. Exciting, yes, but easy, no. As a matter of fact, renovations could prove to be so stressful it’s not uncommon for couple to get into arguments or fights over the way they’re going. Some relationships may even suffer so much strain with the renovation that they eventually fall apart.

However, don’t let the preceding paragraph scare you if you’re a couple planning to get some renovation work done. Far more couples have survived a renovation than those that broke up. Here are some tips that we hope would help make your relationship survive a renovation project.

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Why Proper Attic Ventilation Is Important

When it comes to making our homes more energy efficient, we often bury ourselves in doing things like installing ceiling fans, changing light bulbs to more efficient ones, installing programmable thermostats and sealing and insulating our homes that we often overlook the attic, which is one part of the house that is actually an essential part of the overall energy profile of your home.

Many home owners actually don’t realise that attic ventilation is so crucial to keeping your home warm during colder months and cool in the summer. In addition, attic ventilation also helps deliver fresh air throughout the home, giving us a lot of comfort and allows us to save money as well.

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Inexpensive Cosmetic Fixes For Your Home

inexpensive cosmetic fixes for your homeIf you look around your home a little more closely, you are likely to notice peeling paint, a very tiny crack in the walls, or something that is just unpleasant to your eyes. Naturally, you’d want to immediately work on those cosmetic defects, but you don’t have the budget for it. Here’s a news flash for you: such small problems can actually be dealt with even with a shoestring budget. Here are some inexpensive cosmetic fixes for your home that you can get done quickly and easily.

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Australians Love Renovating

If you’ve been doing some channel surfing lately, you’ll see that programs that deal with home improvement are becoming quite popular. Their popularity clearly shows how everyday Australians are becoming more interested in renovation. An article written by Cameron McEvoy for RealEstate.com.au talks about this love for renovation among Australians and more.

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Renovations to Create Instant Equity

renovations to create instant equityHaving a home you can call your own is perhaps one of the best feelings in the world. However, there is one word in the world of real estate that somehow brings a euphoric home owner back to earth, and that word is equity. It is the one word that reminds home owners that they only own the value of what they have already paid for the house against its fair market value. That means for a home that has been appraised for, say, $200,000 with the owner still owing $125,000.00 on its mortgage, the equity is $75,000, and that is what the home owner actually owns of his/her home.

Of course, the natural way to increase your equity would be to pay off the mortgage, but unless you have lots of cash lying around that will help you pay for it immediately, that would take a really long time. There are ways that you can create instant equity to your property, and making renovations on your home is at the top of that list.

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How to Keep Your Lawn Fresh and Green During a Drought

maintain your lawn during a droughtYou take a lot of pride in your lawn, and you can’t help but feel your chest swell with elation when you see passers-by drive by or walk just a little bit slower so they can fully take in and appreciate all the greenery right in your front yard.

Keeping that greenery fresh and green, however, is another story, particularly when one of those all-too frequent drought hits Australia. Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to keep your law looking as plush as ever even when there’s no rain and all sun. Here are some ideas on how to maintain your lawn during a drought.

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