As we usher off a very hot (and fun) summer, it’s time to welcome the upcoming fall and the colder, wetter weather that comes with it. This is the perfect time to check off a few fall home maintenance items around your house. Then you can sit back and rest assured that your home is in good shape. Below is a quick checklist of home maintenance items you should be able to tackle in a few hours on a weekend. It’s time well spent that will give you peace of mind and prevent unwanted expensive surprises.
ROOFS & GUTTERS
1. Check for damaged, loose, or missing shingles. If you’re not comfortable climbing on ladders, this may be a job for a roofer or a local handyman.
2. Check for leaking, rusted, misaligned or damaged gutters & downspouts and clean them. Be sure the downspouts direct water at least 3 feet away from your foundation.
3. Cut back tree limbs growing on or over the roof or near any windows or power lines. If the trees are too close to the power lines, it’s best to let a professional tree trimmer handle it.
4. Check flashings around vent pipes, skylights, and chimneys. This is by far the biggest source of roof leaks. Roofing tar and a spatula are all you need.
EXTERIOR WALLS
1. Check painted wood surfaces for flaking paint. Patch and paint as needed.
2. Cut back and trim shrubbery against sidewalls. This tends to deteriorate wall surfaces and is a haven for rodents.
3. Maintain grading (soil) sloped away from foundation walls. This is a potentially significant problem during heavy rain.
DOORS & WINDOWS
1. Check the caulking around doors, windows and window sills. This is the #1 source of rot damage. Re-caulk as needed.
2. Check weather-stripping around doors and windows. This is a potential area of heat loss.
INTERIOR
1. Close crawl space vents in fall/winter and open in summer. This is a huge energy saver in cold weather.
2. Check to make sure that the damper of your fireplace seals tightly. Air loss through chimneys is very common. Don’t pay to heat the outdoors.
3. Check the basement for dampness and leakage after wet weather. There are many reasons for moisture penetration into basements, such as hydrostatic pressure behind retaining walls and improper exterior site drainage. The sooner you spot it, the less expensive it will be to fix it.
4. Replace batteries in carbon monoxide detectors and smoke alarms. Change old-style smoke detector batteries, or better yet, install newer style detectors with 10-year batteries.
HEATING & COOLING
1. Change or clean furnace filters, air conditioner filters, electronic filters as needed.
2. Clean around cooling equipment, removing leaves, dust, overgrown shrubbery, debris. The cleaner your system is, the more efficient it will operate.
3. Cover or remove the AC window unit for the fall/winter. Again, this is a potential source of air loss and moisture penetration.
PLUMBING
1. Exposed exterior water lines and drains should be wrapped with insulation. Water lines under the house, in the crawlspace, should also be insulated for energy efficiency.
ELECTRICAL
1. Check exterior ground fault interrupters (GFCI) for proper operation. You can buy an inexpensive GFCI tester at any hardware store.
2. Check any exposed wiring and cables for wear or damage. Replace as needed.
KNOW THE LOCATION OF IN CASE OF EMERGENCY (Year-round)
1. The main water shut-off valve. This should be opened and closed at least once a year to assure proper functioning.
2. The main electrical disconnect or breaker, in case you need to shut it off or reset a tripped breaker.
3. The electrical panel box for breakers or fuses.
4. All fire extinguishers in the house. You do have extinguishers, right?
Believe me, this may seem like a long list, but you can easily make this into a family affair and have the kids or your spouse handle some items while you handle the others. After inspecting over 8,000 homes, I can’t emphasize how much regular maintenance can prevent costly repairs or replacements in the future. Good luck and as always, please don’t hesitate to call or email me with any questions.
Tony Escamilla is the founder of Villa Home Inspections. He founded Villa Home Inspections 23 years ago in 1998. With a background as a general contractor since 2000, Tony has been in the construction industry for many more years. He has personally performed over 8,000 inspections throughout Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino Counties.
With everything going up in price this summer, going out to dinner with the whole family might just blow that budget right out the water! From the three fantastic blogs below, we rounded up a list of local Southern California restaurants in Orange County offering free meals and deals for kids!
Note: Details may be subject to change (we found that most restaurants have stopped deals and discounts due to the pandemic). In any case, be sure to call your local restaurant to confirm if they’re participating.
Home cooking is the best … except when the smell of your curry dinner lingers for days (or weeks?) after you’ve finished the meal.
The truth is, cooking at home can result in a potpourri of stubborn odors in your kitchen. After a while, the rich aroma of roasting lamb can curdle into the stale stench of fatty mutton.
So how can you 86 all these lingering cooking smells? For starters, turn on the range hood fan right off the bat, to ventilate your kitchen while you cook. And we highly advise against lighting scented candles, which will just add another heavy layer of odor. Instead, try one of the following methods, which have been proven to banish stinky cooking smells quickly.
1. Slow boil a simmer pot
The head chef of HelloFresh, Claudia Sidoti, combats icky odors after she cooks with a simmer pot of several aromatic blends based around citrus, which cuts through unpleasant smells.
She combines the ingredients—either 1) orange, cinnamon sticks, and cloves; 2) lemon, rosemary, and vanilla beans; or 3) orange, cranberries, and pine twigs—with three cups of water in a pot. She brings it all to a boil and then lowers the pot to a simmer.
The fresh and slightly sweet scent will cut through other smells and linger pleasantly in the room. But be careful! “Once the water evaporates, the citrus can easily burn,” says Sidoti.
2. Break out the essential oils
A great way to neutralize offensive smells is by introducing purifying essential oils in your kitchen. Use a spray bottle filled with water and about eight to 10 drops of either lemon, eucalyptus, or lavender essential oils. Then lightly mist the mixture into the air.
“Or if you want to create a DIY diffuser with what you have on hand in the kitchen, you can soak some cotton swabs in vanilla and place them around your countertop for a quick, pleasant scent,” says Dr. John Gilmer, PhD and food/cooking/nutrition expert at ActiveIron.com.
3. Neutralize with vinegar
If a cooking smell really persists, you need to step up your game and clean your kitchen cooking surfaces and countertops with vinegar, a remarkably effective cleaner and deodorizer. “Vinegar is an acid, and acid degrades the other lingering odors,” says Abe Navas, general manager of Emily’s Maids, a house-cleaning service in Dallas.
Let the vinegar soak into surfaces for 15 minutes, and then clean again with soapy water. Rinse with lots of clean water.
4. Clean up quickly before and after dinner
After you’re done cooking, cleaning up immediately is a great way to chase away odor, according to Kealia Reynolds, an editor at HouseMethod.com. “Cleaning up right away prevents smells from aging and becoming more pungent on your kitchen surfaces,” she says.
Place all strong-smelling meat and vegetable castoffs, such as onion peels, fish skin, and garlic, into a plastic bag inside a closable trash can. Take the trash outside rather than leave it in the kitchen overnight.
Rinse all cutting boards the moment you’re done with them. If you’ve cut garlic, onions, or other strong-smelling foods on a cutting board, the scent can seep into the surface and last for days if not cleaned properly—and quickly. Stick plastic cutting boards in the dishwasher for a deep clean, and use half of a lemon sprinkled with salt to clean wooden cutting boards.
And after the meal has been served, rinse and wash all the dishes as soon as possible.
5. Absorb strong odors overnight
If you are too exhausted after cooking a huge meal to do a massive kitchen cleanup, let items from your pantry work for you as you snooze.
“Leave a small bowl of white vinegar, coffee grounds, or baking soda out overnight on the counter,” says Gilmer. Each of these items are great at absorbing smells.
Another nighttime tip? Be sure to close your bedroom and closet doors before you turn in. “These rooms are full of odor-absorbing fabrics that will cause smells to permeate your home,” Gilmer adds.
6. Deep-clean the drain
Many of those displeasing kitchen smells may be coming from your sink, where odors can get trapped. “We recommend freshening your kitchen drain monthly,” says Jenn Nicken, founder of The Chef & The Dish, a global marketplace with chefs around the world via Skype. “Simply put about half a cup of baking soda into your kitchen drain, then pour one cup of vinegar into the drain. Let sit for 15 minutes, then run hot tap water for 60 seconds.”
7. Manage the microwave
The microwave is guilty of trapping odors, in the form of splattered sauce and hardened food scraps. Be sure to wipe down the inside of your microwave a couple of times a week.
“And if you have lingering smells in your microwave, use a few drops of lemon essential oil and wipe down the interior of the appliance,” Reynolds says.
If you’re raring to buy a home, chances are you’ll need a mortgage. But which kind of mortgage should you get?
Home loans aren’t one size fits all, but come in a variety of forms to suit home buyers in different circumstances. One good place to start figuring out your options is a mortgage calculator, where you can plug in various home prices and and have this sum broken down into monthly payments. Still, in addition to a home’s price, you should carefully consider the type of loan you get.
Two of the main types of mortgages home buyers consider getting are a fixed-rate mortgage and an adjustable-rate mortgage, or ARM.
So what’s the difference between these two types of home loans? In a nutshell, a fixed-rate mortgage has an interest rate that stays the same over the life of the loan. An ARM, by contrast, has an interest rate that changes over time.
Before you seek out mortgage pre-approval, let’s break down the pros and cons of each loan so you can decide which one is right for you.
Fixed-rate mortgage
According to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Area branch manager Chris Jurilla, the majority of homeowners tend to prefer fixed-rate mortgages. And for good reason: A fixed interest rate means your mortgage payments remain steady over the life of your loan.
“Fixed-rate mortgages provide more long-term stability,” Jurilla says. “And with rates still low, borrowers prefer the security of not risking a rate increase or adjustment if the market were to turn.”
If you’re a home buyer with steady employment who wants to put down roots in a community, a fixed-rate mortgage might appeal to you. This kind of loan is also advantageous to people approaching retirement, because the fixed payments make it easier to plan their finances.
The pros of a fixed-rate mortgage:
Predictability: The interest rate doesn’t change for the life of the loan, giving home buyers peace of mind.
Fixed costs: You can budget more easily as the rate and payments remain constant.
Straightforward numbers: The math involved with figuring out your loan is way easier than for an ARM.
Stability: This predictable loan is more appealing for the risk-averse.
And the cons:
You’re locked in: You won’t be able to take advantage of falling interest rates without refinancing.
Your borrowing has a ceiling: You may not qualify for as much house as you would like, because those mortgage payments are typically higher.
Adjustable-rate mortgage
An ARM starts out at a fixed, predetermined interest rate, likely lower than what you would get with a comparable fixed-rate mortgage. However, the rate adjusts after a specified initial period—usually three, five, seven, or 10 years—based on market indexes. If those indexes go up, your payment will go up, too (sometimes way up).
If you’re a more mobile or first-time home buyer who wants to keep your long-term options open, an ARM’s low introductory interest rate is certainly tempting. As long as you’re ready to move on before the introductory period ends, you’ll benefit from the advantage of making lower payments while you’re living in the home. And because your lender will be qualifying you based on a lower monthly payment, you could qualify for a more expensive house than you would with a fixed-rate mortgage.
“ARMs are best suited for investors or home buyers who have short-term ownership goals in mind,” says Jurilla. “Most opt for an ARM if they don’t foresee themselves staying in the home for an extended period of time. There are some who use it as a stepping-stone loan, a short-term solution with a lower monthly payment.”
The pros of an ARM:
Low initial rate: There are lower rates and payments early in the loan term than in a traditional fixed-rate mortgage.
You can borrow more: You have a chance of being approved for a more expensive house because your lender will look at the lower payment when qualifying you for the loan.
Falling rates: Some ARMs allow you to automatically take advantage of lower rates without the hassle and expense of refinancing.
And the cons:
Unpredictable rates: After the introductory term, payments and rates can rise substantially. However, if market indexes go down, that doesn’t necessarily mean your mortgage payments will, too. Be sure to read the fine print on your mortgage.
Complicated mortgage agreements: You’ll need to understand the complex terms of your agreement, such as margins, caps, and adjustment indexes.
Math and more math: You have to put in significantly more work to figure out the math of an ARM and how it could potentially affect your budget.
Prepayment penalty: You can’t pay off your loan for the number of years specified in your agreement. So if interest rates jump while you still have a prepayment penalty in place, you can’t refinance or sell your home without incurring a huge cost.
Choose the loan that’s best for you
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is the most popular in America, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect for you. An adjustable-rate mortgage can work well for many young or financially savvy homeowners. Still, many borrowers would rather deal with the stability of a fixed rate than the fluctuating payments of an ARM.
So, who wins? Either mortgage can—it all depends on your individual circumstances. Talk to a mortgage lender or mortgage broker to learn more about which one is right for you. And be sure you understand each loan’s terms, and always compare rates before signing onto a mortgage.
ListReports | Aug 4, 2022
“Depreciation” and “Deceleration” are two similar but different terms that you may be seeing in headlines right now.
If you follow the news you may be reading headlines right now that give the impression that home prices are going to take a dive. The reality is that this isn’t completely accurate, and headlines don’t provide a full picture into what’s going on. If you have questions about the market and current trends I’m here to help shed some light.
Leave us a comment or call us and let’s start the conversation!
Does your washer give off a stinky odor? Usually the icky smell comes from build up of detergent and moisture so mold and mildew grow. Saturating an area in vinegar is a great way to prime spaces for easier cleaning with 10 to 30 minutes of soaking. Let’s double down and add baking soda action to this!
The city of Laguna Beach California has a high concentration of named beaches along it’s nine mile long waterfront. Thirty-six to be exact! While each of these beaches are excellent places to visit some have their limitations or are just not one of “best” that Laguna has to offer.
Unfortunately (for most of us) there are beachfront gated communities such as Irvine Cove, Emerald Bay, and Three Arch Bay that close off access to their beaches from the general public. Others such as Totuava have difficult access and some are simply all wet at higher tides.
On the brighter side, Laguna is known for its stunning cove beaches such as Thousand Steps, Crecent Bay, and Victoria Beach. But the focal point of the beach scene in Laguna is at Main Beach where you’ll find grass lawns, volleyball courts, shops, restaurants, and lots of people. It’s the best people-watching spot in all of Laguna.
One section of the shoreline from Main Beach to the Keyhole Rock at Pearl Street Beach is a continuous sandy beach, but it has stairwells at each street so the city has created 12 separate beach names between these end points. Walking on the sand from Main Beach to Pearl Street is a thrill and you can return on the sidewalks of Coast Highway if you’d like. There are many shops and restaurants along this route. Of course it’s possible to turn around or loop back at any of the stairways you find on the way to the end at the Keyhole. If you do the whole thing you can cross many of the Laguna beaches off your to do list.
There are a few parks in Laguna Beach worth mentioning. The crown jewel by far is Crystal Cove State Park at the north end on the border with Newport Beach. This park has six different beaches with two of them in Laguna. You can hike the trails in the park on the bluff or walk long distances on the brown sand below. Heisler Park is another worthy stop in Laguna. It’s just a few paces north from Main Beach and is home to a large picnic area above Picnic Beach and excellent tide pools at Rockpile Beach. Finally in South Laguna there is a huge park called Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park with loads of hiking and mountain biking trails. At the bottom of this canyon is family-friendly Aliso Creek Beach.
Below is our list of the best beaches in Laguna Beach ordered from north to south. As we said, even the smaller hard-to-find beaches in Laguna are worth a visit. So if you have extra time, then check this complete list of Laguna Beaches and see how many you can find!
Moro Beach is the southern beach in Crystal Cove State Park located between Laguna Beach and the Corona Del Mar area of Newport Beach, CA. For many years this was […]
Crescent Bay Beach is a large popular beach in northern Laguna Beach, CA. The main public access is on Cliff Drive one block from where it begins at North Coast […]
Shaw’s Cove is a small sandy locals beach tucked away below homes in Laguna Beach, CA. There is a public entrance to Shaw’s at the intersection of Fairview Street and […]
Fisherman’s Cove Beach is a small south-facing beach tucked away in Laguna Beach, CA. The signage at the entrance to this beach is clearly signed Fisherman’s Cove, but locals also […]
Picnic Beach is the northern beach of Heisler Park in Laguna Beach, CA. The park above the beach offers grassy areas to spread out on and many picnic tables as […]
Main Beach is the simple name given to the main centrally-located city beach in Laguna Beach, California. Main Beach is a nice sandy beach in a broad cove that faces […]
Pearl Street Beach is located below a stairway that begins at the west end of Pearl Street in Laguna Beach. Pearl Street ends at Ocean Way just one block off […]
Woods Cove Beach is in a sandy cove that has rocky points at both ends and fancy Laguna Beach homes high above the bluff. Bette Davis lived in the English […]
Victoria Beach is a long white sandy beach south of Victoria Drive in Laguna Beach. The majority of this southwest-facing beach lies in front of the private gated Lagunita housing […]
Treasure Island Beach is south of the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach, CA. This sandy beach is the north end of the same large cove that begins at Aliso Beach […]
Aliso Beach County Park is a popular sandy beach in South Laguna Beach, CA. Unlike many of the nearby beaches, Aliso Beach has a large off-street parking area next to […]
Table Rock Beach is a locally-known tucked away beach in south Laguna Beach, CA. This is an excellent sandy beach in a deep cove with homes high above. Rocks of […]
Thousand Steps Beach is one of the largest beaches in south Laguna Beach, CA. It’s a wide sandy beach with volleyball courts, restrooms, and tide pools and even caves to […]
If you have a fruit fly infestation, take a look here! We love following @theboardhousewifepdx and she says that she’s tried a lot of fruit fly traps in her time, but this is the most effective method. EVER.
Southocbeaches.com has all the info for you to enjoy The Pageant of the Masters!
The Laguna Beach 2022 Pageant of the Masters Theme is Wonderful World.
A kaleidoscope of international art becomes your passport to distant lands, cultural celebrations and fascinating history in the 2022 production of Wonderful World.
This one-of-a-kind theatrical event, featuring live narration and original music performed live by the Pageant’s orchestra, takes place in the beautiful Irvine Bowl on the grounds of Laguna’s Festival of Arts July 7-September 2, 2022, every evening starting at 8:30 p.m.
Pageant of the Masters is at the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach.
You can check out the Festival of Arts when you are attending the Pageant of the Masters.
Festival of Arts Raffle Information Is Online
All summer long, Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters guests have the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets for the chance to win a brand new 2022 C40 Recharge Twin Ultimate (approximate retail value $60,540). On Saturday August 27, 2022, the lucky winning ticket will be pulled. Tickets are sold for $5 each or 5 tickets for $20.
It’s worth considering the many benefits of homeownership before you make the decision to rent or buy a home.
When you buy, you can stabilize your housing costs, own a tangible asset, and grow your net worth as you gain equity. When you rent, you face rising housing costs, won’t see a return on your investment, and limit your ability to save.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of homeownership, let’s connect today.
Christine Almarines @christine_almarines
Realtor DRE # 01412944
714-476-4637 | christine@carealestategroup.com
Michelle Kim @michellejeankim_homes
Realtor DRE # 01885912
714-253-7531 | michelle@carealestategroup.com
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