Independent Services of Virginia Inc. Blog

Christmas Decorating Tips

You don’t have to set aside an entire weekend or even an entire day to decorate for Christmas. Something here and there can make your home look much nicer.You can spend just a few simple minutes holiday decorating. Use these steps to get you started on your Christmas decorating.

1. Appeal to the senses. Light, scent and sound evoke strong feelings and spread a festive mood even without decorations. Dim the overheads and light balsam or cranberry scented candles. Put some holiday music on surround sound.
2. Spend the remainder of your time concentrating on the area where you and your guests will spend the most amount of time. Make a welcoming entrance by hanging a wreath or a bell on the front door. Throw a few holiday pillows around your living room. If you’ll be serving a meal this holiday season or you have viewable table space, set your table.
3. A few days before the guests come make sure to clean your carpets. If time is a concern, hire a professional carpet cleaning company. If you live in Virginia Beach, carpet cleaners are easy to find. Search the web for “carpet cleaning in Norfolk” or Chesapeake carpet cleaners.  They will help your place look nice and smell fresh for Christmas, something your guests will sure compliment you on.
4. Put up your Christmas tree and add lights and a topper. Try to position your tree by a front-facing window but don’t worry about decorating it; this can come later or not at all. Just having a tree with lights (especially with dim overheads and candles flickering) will send a “Happy Holiday” message.
5. If you have time leftover, place your ornaments in a glass bowl or vase. That way they are easily accessible and you can hang a few here and there when you have a minute, or leave them in the vase throughout the season to decorate a coffee table or shelf.
6. Also, decorate your tree and mantle. Wrap your presents and scatter them around the room or use smaller ones as a table centerpiece. If you have any time left, pop a bottle of bubbly and sit on your sofa and admire the view.
7. Don’t forget about holiday lighting. Professional installation may or may not be required, you can do it yourself.

Here’s How To Install Christmas Holiday Lighting

How To Cut Down On Moving Expenses

Because of rising fuel costs, the cost of relocation and moving expenses have  risen in the past few years. It doesn’t mean you can’t find the right moving company, but we all know you want to somehow save some extra money for the pizza and beer after your move.

 Here are a few simple tips that will help you save:

For Every Season: Try to be flexible with your move. Avoid June, July, and August –the most expensive months to move because of demand for Virginia Beach moving companies. And try to plan your move during the middle of the month — rates can be higher at the beginning and the end because of the large number of apartment leases with month-end dates.

1. Do You Really Need That? Because most long-distance moves are based on the weight of your shipment, evaluate the need to move heavy stuff. Check areas of your home for items that have not been used for a long time and simply get rid of them –why pay for them to be moved to a new place where you won’t use them?
2. Pack It Yourself: Packing services performed by the mover are sometimes pricey. And even if you don’t want to pack it all yourself, you can always do a partial pack, and have the moving company handle the rest. For example, items that are non-breakable such as linens and bedding can be packed easily without the risk of damage. Every box you pack yourself is money in your pocket. However, be aware that if you buy insurance for your move, the insurance won’t cover items you pack yourself, unless there’s visible damage to the box.
3. Packaging: Luggage and duffel bags are perfect for packing sheets, towels and clothing. Also, the bottoms of wardrobe boxes are great for bulky, lightweight items. Use that space. Be wary of packing tips that might save you money initially but won’t protect your stuff – for example, using newspaper instead of bubble wrap. Sure, it might save a few bucks, but in the end, is breaking something worth it?
4. Stock Up: Make sure you have plenty of boxes and materials so you don’t have to keep making trips to buy more. You’ll probably need more than you anticipate, so buy extra. If you’re buying from moving companies, you might be able to return the boxes you don’t use.
5. Is There a Disconnect? Movers in Virginia Beach, and in any other area, do not generally disconnect or reconnect appliances such as washers and dryers. It can be costly to have a third-party do it, so if you or someone you know can do it, you can save a lot of money.
6. Break It Down: Every service that a professional mover performs will come with an additional cost. If you have items that are located at a storage unit or at another location, you should try to move those items to your home to avoid extra pick-up charges. Most items that need to be disassembled, like beds, can be done by the mover. However, other items such as exercise equipment, outdoor gym and play sets require extra labor, and will cost you more. Whenever possible, disassemble and reassemble this yourself.
7. Time is Money: Color-code the boxes according to the room they belong in so they all end up in the same place, saving time for both you and your moving company.

Carpentry For Convenience

The tools of the carpenter – hammers, saws, hand drills and other tools – can work wonders in a kitchen, bathroom or any other room.With nothing more than basic woodworking tools, you can add to storage capacity, increase efficiency and improve appearance.

Carpentry calls for special care, especially when one is thinking of kitchen remodeling or bathroom repairs. Both are generally small places, crowded and short of working space, and both are likely to contain coverings on walls, floors and countertops that, while resistant to moisture and chemicals, are brittle and easily cracked. You must often create an assembly area outside a room, and when you work inside , protect surfaces with newspapers. The trick is to analyze a job beforehand, separating inside from outside work.

Installing cabinets is inside work,of course: the kitchen cabinet units come ready-made, and the jobs of mounting them and linking them into a single braced structure must be done on the walls and floors they occupy. But adding a fitted top to a set of base cabinets is something that can be done outside almost entirely. If you do not have a large kitchen, use your workshop or if necessary the garage to cut a core for the countertop, assemble it and cover it with tile or plastic laminate.

Small jobs, in which minor changes have the effects of major improvements, make easy inside work. Bigger inside carpentry jobs will take you into normally hidden areas. You may break into a wall to make recesses for shelves, or make openings in walls, floors and ceilings for electrical wiring and the ducts of a kitchen range hood. In each case a carpenter will cut off electrical circuits in the room and may have to disturb older ducts and existing plumbing. For these carpentry jobs, clear the room of obstructions and close it off.

House improvements usually lend themselves well to a combination of inside and outside work. a carpenter can, for instance, update an old-fashioned claw-footed bathtub by boxing it in with moisture resistant plywood, or convert the same tub into what looks like a sunken model by building a rim-level platform with steps leading up to it.

Skillful carpenter who can handle building repairs and/or home repairs is hard to find, but he is worth the efforts. He usually has all the carpentry tools needed and skills to handle any carpentry project.

Home Value In Real Estate Market

Home values have shot up more than 50% in many areas.If you were lucky enough to own a home already, you are now happily sitting on some nice equity. But many of you who currently rent are probably feeling a ton of pressure to jump into home owning asap. Do that, and you could be for a fall. Because even if a home of your own is the single best financial investment you may ever make, you need to handle your funds intelligently. Doing so requires understanding today’s tricky real estate market.

If you buy a house and don’t intend to move for 10 or 20 years, I’m confident you will make a nice profit. But what if you dive into the market with the goal of selling a house or refinancing in just a few years? You may be in for a big shocker. Real estate market has done so well for so long that it is natural for it to take a breather. I’m not saying the market is going to tank, but it may not grow at the 15% annual clip everyone seems to expect.

Be careful if you are considering condos or townhouses. Their appreciation rates are not as strong as single-family homes. And don’t rely on an interest-only financial loan or a no-down-payment loan. It’s best to put down at least 10% so you have a cushion. If you can’t refinance your interest-only loan in a few years because you haven’t built up equity, you will get hit with some painful payment hikes. And if you rely on a no-downpayment loan and values take a temporary dip and you need or want to move, you could be forced to sell at a loss. If an interest-only loan is the only way you think you can afford a home, then the hard truth is that you are not ready to buy.

And be realistic: Envision your home appreciating at an average annual rate of 4%, not 20%. if you can live with this modest gain, go for it. When you do invest wisely, you are in for the following long-term benefits:

• The interest you pay on your mortgage is tax deductible. If you are in the 28% bracket, every dollar you pay in interest is reduced to just 72 cents after the tax break.
• When you sell your home, the first $250,000 of your gain is absolutely tax-free. If you are married and file a joint return, the gift is $500,000. You can use this break for any primary residence you have owned and lived in for at least 2 of the past 5 years.  Any gain above these limits is taxed at the superflow capital gains rate, which is just 15% for most people.
• when your heirs take possession of the house, the IRS will allow them to claim as their acquisition cost the value of the home on the day you die. That can help to greatly reduce their tax bill when they decide to sell.
• If you manage to get your mortgage paid off before you retire, you will eliminate your single biggest monthly living expense.
• If you need more income when you retire, a reverse mortgage – a loan against your home that you don’t have to pay back until you die, sell your property, or permanently move – can generate that money while you still get to stay in your house.

For more information, we recommend to consult with your financial advisor or financial planner.

How To Weatherproof Your Home

The most common question homeowners may ask : “What exactly is weatherization?”

Weatherization , or weatherproofing, refers to many elements of your home. Any area which can be infiltrated by heat or cold, or can allow precious heating and cooling dollars to escape are affected by your home’s weatherization.

Caulking around windows and doors, weather stripping and insulating are easy ways of how a building maintenance company or local handyman can make home more energy efficient, comfortable, and less expensive to heat/cool. Soaring energy costs make good insulating practices beneficial even for homes with high efficiency heating and cooling systems.

Some companies will offer to do home energy studies. These studies will identify areas where your home can be improved to become more energy efficient. Here are a few ways you can help make your home more comfortable yourself year round and reduce your energy bills (and it’s good for the environment!).

Doors and Windows – One of the most common reasons for energy loss is directly through the seams around your windows and doors. If you have a drafty window,then this is probably the place to start. During heating/cooling season, run your hand along the gap between your door and doorjamb or around the channel/guide for your window. If you can feel the draft then you can probably start with the simplest of weatherproofing projects – weather stripping.

Weather Stripping
The function of weather stripping is simple, a flexible material is surrounds your door or window providing a barrier against drafts when closed. The material may be rubber, foam, cork, plastic, or even metal. The material itself will often be sold in rolls and usually adhesive backed although heavier duty weather stripping (such as those used for a garage door) may require nails/tacks. Your home supply store should have the type appropriate for your application and be able to make recommendations where necessary.

The process of applying weather stripping is simple. For doors and awning/casement/hopper style windows open the door or window and remove the existing weather stripping if it is worn or damaged. Cut the new weather stripping to length and apply it to door jamb/window frame making sure to press it firmly into place (it does no good if it falls off the first time you open the door/window!). When done, the door/window should close and latch with no undue force. If you cannot close them, you probably used the wrong stripping for the job.

For sliding windows/doors you may only have weather stripping on the top and bottom of the frame that may be replaced as noted above. Usually the sliding portion of the window will have a free floating material/teflon strip to help prevent drafts through the channel. These are slightly harder to replace and you may need to contact your window manufacturer if they need to be replaced.