PDX Renovations

Author: joseph

  • Winterizing your home

    Winterizing your home.

     

    Your greatest investment is your home. Not only financially, but emotionally. After all, it’s not just a house, it’s a home and you’re proud of where you live, or at least you should be. Treating your home as your greatest investment means maintaining everything, in all seasons. With the weather turning icy, it’s time to think about winterizing.

    Winterizing goes far beyond cleaning up the yard and putting away the summer patio furniture. It means taking a look at pipes, hot water heater, hose bibs, insulation, furnaces, etc.

    A good winterization list to follow, thanks to  About Home.com

     

    • Heating system check. Turn on your thermostate and set it to 80 degrees just for testing. You should hear the furnace turn on and start to blow within a few minutes. Schedule a seasonal furnace maintance check with a certified professional to check your system, clean your filters, ductwork etc.

     

    • Have your chimney swept and inspected, check the flue damper operation.

     

    • Insulate your exposed piping

     

    • Insulate your hot water tank with an insulating blanket, you can find one at the hardware store. Insulate outlets and switch plates as well.

     

    • Check windows and doors for air leaks and broken seals

     

    • Have your sprinkler system winterized if you haven’t already.

     

    The weather in Portland seemed to go from nice autumn to freezing within a month, so make sure you go through your list and get your home protected for the next big freeze.

     

     

  • Avoiding Christmas Debt – Our Tips To Help You Keep A Budget

    Avoiding Christmas Debt

    Christmas Bills leading to Debt

    Did you know that this time of year is infamous for getting consumers into debt?

    No surprise, huh?

    Many of us feel pressured to buy presents and overspend our budget, sometimes by thousands of dollars. Consumers go into debt an average of $1,500 each Christmas and then spend most of the new year trying to pay it off (

    When credit card companies charge upwards of 25% interest, consumers will be paying hundreds of dollars in interest. So here are some things to think about for the upcoming year. If you haven’t already done your shopping, think smart. The Christmas spending cycle has to stop somewhere, so why not make a change this December and give yourself a break this year?

    Here are some helpful tips from financial planners on Christmas spending.

    • Budgeting and planning ahead is the number one key to success. Set an attainable goal of what you put away each month for the following Christmas. Budget out what to spend and when and you’ll avoid costly Credit card bills later.
    • Cut back on Christmas spending. Make a reasonable list and stick to it. Don’t fall for “Black Friday” deals on things you really don’t need.
    • Make your list early and start before the Christmas rush. Keeping on a budget is much easier when you have plenty of time to plan.
    • Don’t spend more than you have. This is an easy one, but Consumers fall into the spending trap each year because of TV advertisements, special incentives from stores, and credit cards. The entire season has become about “spending” When in fact, we should be “spending” TIME with loved ones and friends.
    • Change your perception of the holidays. It’s not all about the presents. It’s about the joy of the season.
    • Think of homemade gifts or special things you can do for someone without breaking the bank.
    • Random acts of kindness can be worth so much more than a wrapped present that most likely will sit on a shelf gathering dust or adding to the Christmas “10” lbs Americans on average gain each Season.

    Spend wisely and save yourself the horrible January bills.

  • Fixing up the house on a fixed income

    Fixing up the house on a fixed income

     

    Seniors who live on fixed incomes often have a difficult time with upkeep in their homes. On average, a homeowner spends nearly $350 a month on minor household repairs, upkeep and cleaning depending on the size of their home. That can be overwhelming for someone on a budget so what happens then? Things begin to fade, maintenance is overlooked, problems get neglected and suddenly things are just unmanageable and sometimes the home can become unlivable. No one wants that for their parents or grandparents.

    It’s inevitable. We all get older. We age and need to think about the future. We all think about retirement and how much we’ll need to actually live on when we get to a certain age and because women outlive men by seven years, a lot of elderly home owners are women. Widows, divorcees as well as single independent woman are becoming more of a buying force in the real estate market, which is admirable, as long as there’s a small stipend each month set aside for repairs and problems that arise. Owning a home can be spendy and there’s not a handy man or maintenance man that stops by when you pick up a phone and make a call.

    At some point, we all end up helping out someone we know who can’t quite make ends meet or needs help around the house. Whether it’s a loved one, parent, uncle, aunt or neighbor, we’ve all bee there. So what happens when the house just can’t be saved. There’s no allowance for updates and repairs and the house needs to be sold. This is where PDX Renovations comes in. To help out with the transition and make it easy to cash out. If you know of someone in this situation, lend a hand, or let them know about us and what we do.