Kayla Plastiak
- Dec 31, 2019

Real Estate Resolutions

The beginning of a new year always brings so much excitement and hopes, as well as what feels like a fresh start at goals. Most people attempt to accomplish those goals by thinking of New Year’s Resolutions like “I want to work out more” or “I want to drink more water”. But all of those goals pertain to you specifically. What about some New Year’s Resolutions that affect your real estate? You know what they say, home is where the heart is! So why not make your heart as happy as possible by improving your home in 2020!

Reduce Clutter

One of the easiest (and free) ways to improve your home and how you feel about it is to reduce some of the clutter inside and outside of your home! Without doing this year to year, you just continue to accumulate items and sometimes even forget what you already have! Some good tips for reducing clutter or keeping your home from becoming cluttered again include:

First, ask yourself if the item is important and if you value it. Next, ask yourself if you use that item regularly. If you answer no to either of those, then it may be time to donate or sell that item.
Use up the items that you have already bought before buying more. This will reduce the number of items you have, whether that be food, cosmetics or anything else.
Use the “one in, one out rule”. Every time you bring one new item into your house, you get rid of one unused or old item

Plan an Improvement for Each Month

Home improvements can be expensive and time consuming. But if you create a plan at the beginning of the year to improve one thing about your home each month, then you can enjoy the process more and budget better. Planning a budget for each month along with the task can help you stay on track, recognize how much money you’re spending each month and continue to improve your home all year long! Your plan, for example the first 3 months of 2020, may look something like this:

January 2020:

$100 for paint
Paint the Kitchen and Dining Room Walls

February 2020:

$2,000 for new appliances
Replace the Kitchen Appliance

March 2020:

$500 for new light fixtures and hardware
Replace the Kitchen lights and cabinet hardware

Make it Safe and SOUND

You can continue to make as many improvements as you want to your home, so it keeps getting more and more beautiful, but it also needs to be safe for those coming to look at those improvements or the individuals that you live with. By installing carbon monoxide detectors and fire detectors on each floor, you are protecting your loved ones from deadly gases and fires. Purchasing and installing these two items is a small price to pay to ensure the safety of anyone entering your beautiful home. Check out some of the following links for ideas:

Carbon Monoxide Detectors:

https://www.safewise.com/resources/carbon-monoxide-detectors-guide/

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Electrical-Fire-Safety-Carbon-Monoxide-Detectors/N-5yc1vZbmgk

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/hardware/fire-safety/carbon-monoxide-detectors

Fire Detectors:

https://www.safewise.com/resources/smoke-alarm-buyers-guide/

https://www.lowes.com/pl/Smoke-detectors-Smoke-carbon-monoxide-radon-detectors-Electrical/4294722463

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Electrical-Fire-Safety-Smoke-Detectors/N-5yc1vZbmh8

Develop a Cleaning Plan

Maintaining a clean home by reducing mess will help reduce stress and make prepping for guest so much easier and quicker. Everyone loves a sparkling clean home, but not everyone loves spending all day cleaning. This year try to avoid those dreadful days by keeping up on daily or weekly cleaning duties. Your 2020 daily cleaning duties could include some things like: