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One of the easiest ways to improve the value of your house is to de-clutter your home. A clutter free home adds living space to your residence. It also reveals carpet,wood flooring and wall space that needs repair.

Watch a tiny house television show and you’ll learn how much you can do with a few hundred square feet of housing. But, you can’t maximize your living space if boxes,clothes, shoes and household goods are cluttering your home.

Gain more living space in your current home

Picking unused goods off the floor is the first step. Chairs and end tables that you only use when company visits can be stored in the basement, garage or attic. Consider selling furniture that you don’t use on websites like eBay and Letgo. Who knows? Earning the extra money could inspire you to rid your home of more unused items.

To maximize the space at your home, take these 10 easy steps. Make it easy on yourself.Give yourself two weeks to de-clutter.

• Place five large moving boxes in the room that you are going to de-clutter.
• Approach the process as if you were moving and each unused and unnecessary item cost you $20 if you kept it.
• Drop items that you are going to donate to charity into one moving box.
• Place items that you are going to sell online or at a yard sale in another moving box.
• Use sturdy plastic containers to store books in.Libraries, churches, schools and community youth organizations might be looking for the types of books that you are ready to shed.
• Pick seasonings, cans and food boxes off of kitchen counters. It might surprise you how much counter space you actually have after you move goods into cabinets.
• Store large kitchen utensils in large, bottom cabinets, leaving more room to store smaller utensils on top shelves.
• Stack videotapes, family photo albums and journals in cabinets at the bottom of entertainment centers.
• Add good lighting to rooms. Also, open blinds and drapes to invite more natural light inside your home.
• Set a goal to leave lots of open floor space in each room.
• Move coffee and end tables close to chairs and sofas.
• Walk through your home each month and toss out items that you know you are not going to use.

Take small steps if you must

Living in a clutter free home starts with your expectations. If the home you grew up in was filled with furniture, knick knacks, decorations, end tables and photographs,you might think that, in order for your home to feel warm and loving, it needs to be filled. You may feel like you’re missing something or not being a good homeowner when you spot large amounts of empty space.

If this is the case, take small steps to de-clutter your home. Empty unnecessary furniture and knick knacks out of one room at a time. You could even start with your garage, basement or attic. Painting a room, installing blinds, drapes or another window treatment could ease the transition from a jammed packed room to a room that gives you more space to live in.

Nothing beats the warm, inviting feeling that you get when you enter your kitchen. However, failure to keep your kitchen clean can impact the quality of your kitchen. This ultimately can make a big difference in how homebuyers perceive your kitchen, along with whether they decide to submit an offer for your home.Fortunately, there are many simple ways to keep your kitchen looking great day after day, including:1. Use baking soda to clean your tile floors.Your tile floors were beautiful after they were installed. But since that time, they’ve become dirty, grimy and tough to clean.But we have a surefire solution to help you revamp your kitchen’s tile floor – baking soda and water.The combination of baking soda and water serves as a wonderful tile floor cleaner that is easy to apply with a mop. And within minutes of using it, you may notice that your kitchen’s tile floor looks as good as new.2. Eliminate wall splatters.Over the years, you’ve prepared a wide range of meals in your kitchen – everything from spaghetti and meatballs to sloppy joes. Unfortunately, not every dish has been an instant success. And as such, there have been many splashes of various ingredients that have landed on your kitchen’s ceiling, floors and walls.Eliminating wall splatters may seem impossible at first. Luckily, there are numerous viable options to help you remove them without delay.For stains on painted walls, you may want to use a wet cloth or paper towel. The combination of a wet cloth or paper towel and tough scrubbing will allow you to eliminate stains on painted walls immediately.Comparatively, oily stains may require water and dishwashing soap. This mix is powerful and will ensure that you can remove cooking grease and other oily stains.3. Disinfect the garbage disposal.Your kitchen’s garbage disposal has served you well, but bad garbage disposal odors may persist if you’re not careful. On the other hand, home sellers who focus on keeping their kitchen’s garbage disposal clean can avoid such odors altogether.Looking for a great way to clean your kitchen’s garbage disposal? Using a mix of vinegar, water and ice cubes can help you clean and deodorize your kitchen’s garbage disposal quickly and effortlessly.Dedicate the necessary time and resources to disinfect your kitchen’s garbage disposal, and you can guarantee that this disposal remains clean and performs consistently.4. Wipe out the refrigerator.In many cases, home sellers may include a refrigerator in a home sale. As such, you’ll want to keep this refrigerator looking and performing great.Wiping out your refrigerator and removing expired items regularly is essential. By doing so, you can remove the risk of bad odors from escalating in your kitchen.Of course, don’t forget to keep an open box of baking soda in your refrigerator, too. This box should be changed periodically and will provide a fresh scent any time you open your refrigerator door.Keep your kitchen clean, and by doing so, you may be able to boost your chances of a quick home sale.

Brightly colored tulips, roses and carnations sway in the wind at the front edges of some of these homes. Roofs are generally flat, exteriors made of wood or vinyl siding. Neighbors may know each other so well that they communicate on a first name basis. Stores, businesses and entertainment venues are moments away in some of these communities. What is this community? It’s a mobile home community.

What you might not know about a mobile home

Millions of Americans live in mobile homes. Demographics of people who own mobile homes range from young singles to working parents to retirees. People who grew up in a mobile home could have developed a fondness for the homes and prefer to buy and live in a mobile home similar to how their parents or grandparents did.

Price and mobility are other reasons why people choose mobile homes as their primary residence. Size, design and amenities influence the cost of a mobile home. But,it’s possible to get these homes for less than $50,000. As a tip, pay attention to interest rates, as they can be higher than longer term mortgages. Also, although the homes are mobile, they must meet local zoning regulations.

Manufacturers must adhere to guidelines established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Similar to traditional houses, it’s possible to get a custom-designed mobile home, a house that meets the buyer’s specifications.

Build options are single wide and double wide. The square footage in a mobile home can exceed 500, easily offering as much space as a one bedroom apartment. Larger mobile homes top 2,600 square feet. Larger mobile homes are designed with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Once inside a huge mobile home, you might not feel like you’re in a mobile home.

What to look for in a mobile home

There are plenty of features and build options to consider when shopping for a mobile home. If you want to have a home built from the ground up, look for a manufacturer who specializes in building mobile homes. Look for a manufacturer who knows how to construct a mobile home so that it can withstand strong winds and hard rains. However, even the best constructed mobile home could suffer extensive damage during extreme weather conditions like a tornado or a hurricane.

Whether you have your home built or buy an existing mobile home, visit several model mobile homes before you sign a mortgage. Get a firsthand feel for the different floor plans that mobile homes are built with.

Siding on mobile homes is key, as a better quality siding can protect a mobile home from mold and bacteria. Siding can also help to keep pests from entering a mobile home. Wood and vinyl siding aren’t the only options. Other types of mobile home siding are fiber cement, stone, aluminum, plywood and cedar. Some manufacturers combine two or more materials to develop a durable, quality mobile home siding.

Thick, insulated walls can keep your home cooler during warm months and warmer during cold months. If you love the outdoors, look for a mobile home that’s designed with porch or a deck. Some mobile homes have wraparound porches, similar to the porches that were built on Victorian houses during the early 1900s.

Kitchen cabinetry, living room and bedroom space in these homes can be spacious. It all depends on the total square footage of the home. There are also two story mobile homes. Shop around. Pay attention to the way the home feels, smells and looks. You just might find your perfect starter house in a mobile home.

The road to a good night’s sleep starts in your home. Proper lighting, comfortable temperatures and a clutter free house can put you at ease. This applies whether you had a tough day at work or spent the day playing with and running after young children.

Fortunately, there are other actions that you can take to improve your sleep. Each step is worth is, especially considering that millions of Americans struggle to get a good night of sleep. The struggle becoming too burdensome, many people turn to prescription sleeping pills. It sounds like a win, but all is not on the upside when it comes to taking sleeping pills.

Negative consequences of relying on external sleep aids

Dependency on sleeping pills is just one of the downsides. It’s possible to get addicted to sleeping pills within months. Start depending on sleeping pills, and even after you sleep for seven to eight hours, you might wake feeling groggy.

Your balance may feel off, tempting you not to venture outdoors for a walk or a jog. To ward off the groggy feeling, you may crawl back into bed. Lack of a clear head also makes it dangerous to operate machinery. This includes driving your vehicle.

Over time,relying on sleeping aids could find you withdrawing from social experiences.You could start spending less time with your family. At work, your performance could suffer. The same applies to school.

Alternatives to external sleep aids

Instead of relying on sleeping pills, focus on your house and your habits. To begin, pay attention to how your mattress feels against your body. Replacing your mattress could help you to sleep better, especially if metal springs are poking your back.

A mattress that’s too hard or too soggy can also hamper your sleep. Other ways that your mattress could hamper your sleep include agitating your allergies and treating you to smelly odors. Regularly washing your sheets and pillow cases helps keep your bed smelling fresh too.

Following are other things that you could do to get a good night’s sleep:

• Turn the heat on when it’s cold outside
• Raising the temperature on your air conditioner before you climb into bed
• Drinking your last glass of water at least two hours before you head for bed
• Meditating half an hour before bed
• Soaking in a warm bubble bath
• Journaling about events of the day that caused you to feel stress
• Counting your blessings
• Finishing projects before you go to bed and letting other projects wait until the following day or later in the week (If you set a deadline for when you will complete projects, you can have the confidence that you’ll get important work done. This can help you sleep better at night.)
• Eating a healthy diet
• Exercising during the day
• Getting outdoors in natural sunlight for at least an hour a day

Turning off your television and closing your window treatments are other good alternatives to using external sleep aids. You could also set a time of night that you will regularly head for bed, potentially training your brain to fall asleep at a certain time.

Let’s face it – in today’s fierce real estate market, home sellers need any competitive advantage that they can get. Lucky for you, real estate agents are available to ensure that you can maximize the value of your residence.

After you hire a real estate agent, the home selling may move quickly. In fact, the most common steps associated with the home selling process include:

1. Prepping Your House

As a home seller, you’ll want to do everything possible to ensure that your residence looks great both inside and out.

Your real estate agent can help you prep your house before it is listed on the housing market. He or she may offer tips about how you can transform your home’s ordinary interior into an exceptional one. Plus, your real estate agent can put you in touch with home cleaning companies, landscapers, painters and other home improvement professionals who can help you take your home’s appearance to the next level.

2. Hosting Open Houses and Home Showings

Open houses and home showings represent essential parts of the home selling and homebuying cycles. For home sellers, these events enable you to showcase your residence to a large group of homebuyers quickly. Meanwhile, open houses and home showings enable homebuyers to browse a wide range of properties without delay.

Your real estate agent will keep you up to date about open houses and home showings. This real estate professional will always provide you with sufficient notice any time a homebuyer wants to check out your home as well.

Hosting open houses and home showings can be stressful, particularly for home sellers who have already committed substantial time and resources to improve their properties. Fortunately, your real estate agent will set up plenty of open houses and home showings to generate substantial interest in your property. He or she also will share homebuyers’ feedback with you, ensuring that you can complete myriad home maintenance and upgrade projects as needed.

3. Responding to Home Offers

After your home reaches the real estate market, it may be only a matter of days before you receive your first offer.

Your real estate agent will inform you about any offers on your residence, and you likely will have 24 to 48 hours to determine whether to accept, decline or counter a homebuyer’s proposal.

Although you only have a short amount of time to assess a homebuyer’s offer, your real estate agent is happy to help you determine how to proceed. This real estate professional will enable you to establish realistic expectations for your home before you list your property. That way, you’ll be able to see how your home stacks up against the competition and price it properly.

Furthermore, your real estate agent will negotiate with a homebuyer on your behalf. And if you don’t feel comfortable with an offer on your home, your real estate agent will respond to a homebuyer’s proposal accordingly.

There is no need to stress when you sell your home. If you hire an experienced real estate agent, you should have no trouble accelerating the home selling process and optimizing the value of your residence.