Posts in category 'Home Ownership'

Today, the majority of American families own pets. As important members of your household, it's vital to make pets feel at home and take the necessary measures to protect them. If you're finding it difficult to find a pet-friendly house in a safe and welcoming neighborhood, our real estate agents can help you out.

In honor of National Pet Fire Safety Day, on July 15th, here are some ways you can make your home safer for your furry friends.

• Prevent Your Pets From Starting Fires
  Pets start nearly 1,000 home fires every year, making it necessary to pet-proof your home and eliminate any potential hazards, such as loose wires. Other tips include:

• • Lock or cover stove knobs. Your pet may nudge the knobs just enough to ignite the burners.
  • Do not leave candles unattended. It's a good idea to extinguish all open flames so a stray tail or paw doesn't tip them over.
  • Beware of glass water bowls on wooden decks, especially on hot summer days. Hot rays from the sun can ignite wood when filtered through glass.

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If you've been looking at some of the beautiful landscaping surrounding many Atlanta homes for sale and wondering why some of them look so much nicer than yours, it may be a simple matter of sun mapping. That may sound like the latest hack, but it's actually a tried-and-true procedure used by the most successful gardeners. It's simply a method of identifying where to place each plant according to its sunlight needs. While there are gadgets available to do the job, most are a waste of money. They do measure the sunlight accurately, but they don't create the map that you will ultimately need. Why not enjoy your time outdoors and do the job right without spending a penny?

• Sketch the area to be planted
  This may be a simple rectangle, but more than likely, there will be trees and walls that create shady spots throughout the day. These are the areas you will eventually identify and record. The map doesn't need to be exact or to scale as long as you can follow it later. One thing to consider is the shade that will be cast by the canopy of a tree without leaves. You may have to estimate.

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Few decorating moves can transform the ambiance of a room as easily and inexpensively as a fresh coat of paint. The shade we pick to adorn our interior walls provides a background on which the rest of our aesthetic choices are based on. Picking the right color, however, is no walk in the park. It's a boggling world of various shades, tints, and hues, each one just a little different from the last. Many just choose their favorite color or go all-out with the color of the day, only for it to look like a dud once it's up on the walls. To put this age-old problem to rest, our real estate agents have compiled a list of the best tips on how to find the perfect interior paint color the first time.

• Do Your Homework Before Shopping
  Finding the perfect paint color starts at home. Before you make a trip to the paint store, gather inspiration from fabric swatches, magazines, and catalogs. Pinterest is also a great place to start, so login, make an inspiration board for your room, and pin designs that catch your eye. The inspirational ideas can help you visualize the perfect space and narrow down your paint color choices.

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One of the most important decisions you'll have to make when remodeling or adding on to your home is finding the right contractor for your job. After all, you're putting a whole lot of trust into one person by giving them a lot of money and letting them and their crew in your home. You also expect them to deliver solid and satisfactory results without major confrontations. With that in mind, our real estate agents have compiled five questions to ask potential contractors that can help you find the best fit for your project.

1. Are You Licensed, Bonded, and Insured?
   A resounding yes is the answer you want to hear in response to this question. A license shows you that the contractor is qualified for the job you're looking to have completed and keeps up to speed on code changes and best practices. Having a surety bond is a security that if the contractor does not complete the job, you're protected by the surety company. The contractor should have general liability insurance and workers' compensation insurance to protect you from liability if something in your home is damaged or someone is injured while working on your property. Don't just take their word for it; ask for copies to ensure the contractor is current on credentials. If they can't provide papers, that should raise a red flag.

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With so many people staying at home during the pandemic, cooking has become a popular activity. Trying out new recipes and brushing up on cooking skills has created a surge of new cooks in the kitchen. At Josey Young & Brady Realty, our real estate agents are noticing a renewed interest in Atlanta homes for sale that offer well-equipped, functional kitchens.

One popular cooking trend that's making a comeback is bread baking. Even people with little cooking experience are baking homemade loaves of wheat, sourdough, and gluten-free bread from scratch. All you need is a few simple ingredients and a little patience. Here are 5 tips for baking the perfect homemade bread for your family:

1. Use the Right Ingredients
   When baking bread, you only need four main ingredients: flour, water, yeast, and salt. You can use white flour or wheat flour, as well as dry or wet yeast. If you're making sourdough bread, you don't need commercial yeast. You can use a sourdough starter, a live fermented culture, which acts as a natural leavening agent. All of these ingredients can be found in local grocery stores.

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