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If you’re overwhelmed by the cost of your mortgage or the amount of time you spend cleaning and maintaining your home, or if your kids have moved out and you have more space than you need, you may be thinking about downsizing. While there are many advantages associated with moving to a smaller house, there are some potential disadvantages you need to be aware of before making a final decision.

Reasons to Downsize
Most people who downsize do so to save money. There is no reason to make high monthly mortgage payments for a house with rooms that sit empty. Moving to a smaller home can help you dramatically lower your mortgage payments and save money each month. A smaller house will also likely have much lower utility bills. The money you save can be used to invest for retirement, take vacations, pursue a hobby or help others in need.

Downsizing can save you time. Fewer rooms means less cleaning. If you move to an apartment or condo, your landlord or management company will likely handle maintenance, landscaping and repairs, which can save you even more time.

If your current home is cluttered with possessions you have accumulated over the years, downsizing will force you to get rid of things you no longer need and to become better organized. If you often spend too much money on new clothing and household items, you’ll be less likely to do that if you move to a smaller home because you simply won’t have enough space to store them.

Downsides to Consider
If you enjoy hosting parties or large holiday gatherings, you won’t be able to do that as comfortably in a smaller house. Think about whether that is a change you and your family would feel comfortable making.

Some people find a smaller home cozy, but others feel cramped. Downsizing generally means having significantly less storage space. That means you’ll need to eliminate unneeded possessions and buy less when you go shopping. You can save space by using furniture with built-in storage and digitizing important documents, photos and even your music collection. Even if you prefer the greater simplicity and organization of a smaller space, it will still take time to get used to the change.

Many people take pride in having a large and impressive home. If that’s important to you, you may feel a loss of prestige if you downsize. Even if your family and friends love your new house, you may be tempted to compare your home to theirs and experience negative feelings.

Is Downsizing Right for You?
Moving to a smaller home is an excellent way to save money and to simplify and organize your life. Downsizing is also a major adjustment. Before you make the decision to find a smaller home, think about the many ways in which your life would change”and consider how you and other members of your family would feel about your new lifestyle. If you decide that downsizing is right for you, it can be the beginning of a rewarding new life.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

First-time homeowners are faced with many realities of being “an adult, and one of the things that comes with owning a new home is making sure you have proper insurance. But not all insurances are the same.

Just because you have insurance on your home doesn’t mean you’re protected from everything that could happen. In fact, often with homeowner policies, there are some very common occurrences that might not be covered.

Homeowners insurance differs from state to state, so to avoid making costly assumptions, it’s important to understand what’s included with your policy.

Typically, a policy will cover the actual dwelling and some of the other structures on the property, such as a fence, garage, patio or driveway. Personal property is usually covered as well. This includes the contents inside the home, although you may need to pay a bit more in premiums for high-value items like jewelry or paintings. You’ll want to make sure this is covered in your policy.

Homeowners insurance policies typically include coverage for injuries sustained on your property where you are liable. So, if someone slips on your driveway or falls while doing repairs to the roof, you’re covered. However, this coverage is usually limited to a certain dollar value, so you need to know how much coverage you have and exactly what’s included.

Natural disasters are the one area that can cause some problems, as not everything is covered and you often have to buy separate flood, hurricane or earthquake insurance”especially if you are in an area that is highly susceptible to these disasters. You also may be able to lower premiums by better protecting yourself against damage, such as adding storm shutters, reinforcing your roof or buying stronger roofing materials.

If items are stolen from your vehicle while it sits on your property, that may or may not be covered by your insurance. Normally, this is covered by auto insurance but there are some homeowner policies that will include these items, so it’s good to know if yours will.

Many first-time buyers think they need insurance to cover the entire cost of the house, but the land under your house isn’t at risk from theft, windstorm, fire or other perils covered in your homeowners policy, so it’s not necessary to include these when deciding how much insurance you should buy. Talk with your REALTOR and determine the best number so you have enough coverage but not too much, and that you’re not paying premiums for what you don’t need.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

HGTV star and professional property flipper Johnathan Scott is well accustomed to making design dreams come true for homeowners who have champagne taste on a beer budget.

In a recent interview with lifestyle editors at PureWow.com, a lifestyle destination focused on everything from beauty to recipes, Scott offered four tips for adding luxury touches to even the most ordinary kitchen:

Embellish prefab cabinets. Create the illusion of custom cabinets by starting with inexpensive prefab cabinets. From there, add stylish hardware pulls, install a light rail underneath the uppers or add crown molding details around the edges. Each creates the illusion ofcustom cabinetry”even if you bought those puppies on closeout at your local home improvement store.

Adopt a two-tone color scheme. A two-tone color scheme can infuse your kitchen with upscale vibes. (Think black cabinetry with a glossy white island.) It’s a simple and sophisticated color palette trick that lends creative vision and instant design cred to kitchens of any size or configuration.

Pick a correlating backsplash. Check out backsplash ideas at your local home store. While they can run the gamut from minimalist to elaborate, stay on or under budget by selecting a simple backsplash that adds a touch of quiet elegance and complements your two-tone color scheme.

Install statement lighting on the cheap. Lighting is one area where there can be huge price differences between fixtures that basically look the same, especially when it comes to glass globes or kitchen chandeliers. Instead of shelling out big bucks for designer lighting fixtures, trust that the “copy cats” will add the same look of luxury to your kitchen despite their lower price tags. For a touch of added glamour, install dimmers.

These tips can help you increase the value of your home for an affordable price, giving you long-term benefits for when it’s time to sell.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Knowing that you’re ready to buy a home can be an exhilarating feeling, except it’s often followed by panic. While experience is the best teacher, there are some things you can do to regain control of the home-buying experience. One of them is getting accustomed to the terminology, especially when it comes to the various types of mortgages available.

LearnVest offers the following list of mortgage terms any first-time homebuyer should add to their dictionary:

1. Adjustable-Rate Mortgage (ARM). An adjustable-rate mortgage is a home loan with fluctuating interest rates. ARMs are very much a game of chance, starting off with a period of 3 – 10 years of low fixed rates, followed by an adjustable roller coaster-rate period. In short, your interest rate will reflect whatever is happening in the market. This might be highly anxiety-inducing if you’re not planning to sell by the time the rates adjust higher, but there’s a chance that you will end up paying less if market trends are in your favor.
2. Fixed-Rate Mortgage. This is the total opposite of the ARM. Instead of offering a fluctuating rate, you sign on for the same rate throughout the course of your mortgage loan. There are no surprises here, but the downside is that you must pay the same fee even if the market rates drop. There is some wiggle room thanks to refinancing, but fees and potential hassles come with it.
3. Assumable Mortgage. This is a wild card that only becomes possible once in a blue moon. For this kind of mortgage, you take on the sellers mortgage loan instead of taking out a new one for yourself. This helps when the market rate is higher than what the seller had it fixed at, plus it cuts some fees in the process. Yet, be aware that the sellers lender must give you the green light, as well. The other curve ball is that the home-selling price might surpass that of the mortgage balance.
4. Balloon-Payment Mortgage. This mortgage option is like playing a game of “Super Smash Brothers” in which you’re given 5 to 7 years of low monthly payments followed by a sudden death knockout match where you must make a giant final payment. Homebuyers tend to pick this type of loan because they expect to sell their home before the final payment while enjoying low interest rates during their ownership years. Another solution is applying for a new loan, but, of course, whos to say youll get it? And thats where the sudden death part comes in: the balloon may just explode.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Attic fans, also called full house fans, can be an effective and cost-efficient way to cool a home. They bring in cooler air from outside through vents and push the hot air outside. Doing this means less reliance on your air conditioner, particularly in late spring and early summer when nights are still relatively cool, resulting in lower energy bills. During the hot, humid summer days, youll need to use air conditioning because the outside air is warm and wont cool the home.
An attic fan can be a nice selling point, but only if its fully operational and well maintained. It doesnt require much maintenance, but following these steps will lengthen the lifespan of your fan.

Check the vents. Ventilation is required for attic fans to work effectively so that the hot air can escape your home. Make sure the soffit vents in your attic arent blocked and are clean to allow air flow. In particular, make sure there isnt any insulation blocking the vents.

If your attic has blocked soffit vents and is not properly sealed from the rest of the house, attic fans will extract cool air out of the house and pull it into the attic. This will use more energy and make your air conditioner work harder, which will increase your utility bills. Installing rafter vents”which create a channel for air to the soffits”can help with this issue, especially if your attic floor is covered with insulation.

Attic fans are essentially a hole in your ceiling that needs to be sealed to protect against outdoor exposure, especially rain. In fact, if you have a leak and cant determine the source, have the fan area checked and make any necessary repairs. Proper sealing will also ensure that cool air flows through your home.

If your attic fan has oil ports to help the motor run, they need to be cleaned every few years. The same goes for vents and blades”clean blades will make the fan more effective. If youre selling your home this is a good time to make sure everything is in the best condition possible.

Published with permission from RISMedia.