Blog - Tips

Common Problems & Solutions for New Homeowners

You sign what feels like hundreds of papers to agree to a thirty-year relationship with a house … it may feel like signing your life away, but that’s just how buying a home feels - it’s not reality! In reality, you can sell. You can rent. You can move. However, what doesn’t change - is that for the time you do own your home, it is your very own. That means the maintenance and upkeep are all on you. Thankfully, you are not alone, and many of the problems new homeowners face are common - which means well-known solutions! Here is a round-up of some of the most common problems and solutions:

HVAC Issues 

If you’re a new homeowner you may think that the HVAC system takes care of itself. After all, it’s expensive, and more or less out of sight.…

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Best Ways to Personalize Your Home

After the flurry of activity surrounding the purchase of a home, the long and luxurious process of making it one’s own may be the best way there is for a new homeowner to unwind. Today, we’re highlighting ten of the best ways to personalize your home!

No matter your budget, DIY skill level, or artistic ability, we hope these tips will guide and inspire you to have fun while you accomplish beautiful flourishes of self-expression throughout your home.

1.) Re-Make an Entrance

The entrance to your home is your first opportunity to set your home apart. A brightly-painted door, a quirky statue, a hand-shaped walkway, or bold landscaping: are any of these common approaches right for your new home?

If you’re moving into a home that has a Home…

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Protecting Your Credit During COVID-19

Your credit plays a key role in financial opportunities, today and in the future. Understandably, the current pandemic environment is making it more challenging. But still, there are actions you can take to protect your credit. 

Here are tips that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau suggested for protecting your credit during these trying times.

Request A Free Copy of Your Credit

Did you know that you're entitled to a free credit report every year? Unlike the hard credit inquiries that creditors do when you apply for credit, this free annual report does not negatively affect your score. 

Additionally, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian (the three nationwide credit reporting agencies), also provide you with a free credit report…

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5 Ways to Stay Busy at Home

As the nation works together to face the threat of Covid-19, it’s become clear that, in many urban and suburban regions alike, staying home is the best defense. If you are one of the millions of US citizens currently under “stay at home” orders, everyone at Parks thanks you for doing your best to remain home.

If you’re like our upbeat team members here at Parks, you’re battling boredom and loneliness during these months of isolation. To help, we're sharing 5 ways to stay busy at home! Once you’ve prepared every meal in your favorite recipe book, scrubbed your home until it gleams, and organized the garage three times over, it’s time to work your way through our favorite fun, time-consuming activities.

1.) Upskill with the help of colleagues,…

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Top 10 Indoor Plants

There’s something about bringing the outdoors in that really finishes off a space. Between the simple aesthetic upgrade (which also happens to be SO in right now), and the health benefits - adding some indoor plants to your place is always a great idea. While there are always the people that “can’t keep a plant alive for more than a day”, we’re here to tell you that with the right indoor plants chosen for this very purpose - you absolutely will be able to have a little thriving indoor oasis with minimal effort. Here are our top ten suggestions for indoor plants.

Snake Plant

Snake Plants gets its name from the rigid leaves that grow straight up with a little meandering around in different directions. Known for being able to survive droughts…

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Staying Safe from COVID-19 Scams

It’s unfortunate, but familiar - crisis makes people more vulnerable to scams. And with this unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, scammers are sure to be lurking close by.

Five Potential COVID-19 Scams to be Aware of

Phone Scams

Fraudsters may call pretending to be from an official public health agency stating they have urgent COVID-19 test results. They may ask for you to share personal and financial information to “authenticate” your identity before they share the results. They may also say that the person has tested positive, and they need financial information so that you can pay for a prescription.

Stay safe tip: It’ is best not to answer calls from unknown numbers. But if you do, don’t share nor confirm any personal or banking…

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Steps for Avoiding Spring Allergies

Just as the sun starts to spend a little more time overhead, and we can’t wait to get outside, those allergies are back at it. It’s hard to believe how unfair nature can be sometimes, but it’s important to do what you can to not let allergies stop you in your tracks from spring fun! Below are some of our favorite ideas on how to avoid spring allergies broken down into what you can do for your own body, as well as steps to take with your home.

FOR YOURSELF

Monitor Pollen Count

Check with your weather channel or app to find the daily pollen counts. On days with high pollen counts keep your windows closed, and take more precautions with outside activities. On high pollen count days, it is best to avoid outside in the morning when pollen counts…

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How to Get Your Stimulus Check ASAP

Brought to you by Legacy Home Loans.

We sincerely hope that you and your family are doing well. Although we’re not out of the woods yet, the government is providing us with some relief over these next few weeks. Please save and share this brief guide to ensure you receive your stimulus check as soon as possible.

And please, if there is anything else we can do or any answers we can provide, let us know. We’re ready to support you in any way possible.

Steps to Ensuring You Receive Your COVID-19 Aid Package

The most critical thing you can do to get your check fast is to make sure that you’ve done your 2018 and 2019 taxes. The government is looking to direct deposit checks over the next weeks and will use the direct deposit info they already…

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Tips for Organizing Your Garage

It’s easy to see why a semi-outside, storage-like area that’s big enough to fit cars in there, DOES in fact, collect things. There are lots of daunting tasks when it comes to homeownership, but cleaning and organizing a garage seems to oftentimes be at the top of that list - and it’s easy to see why. 

Thankfully, as with anything - things get a whole lot easier with a plan. Here are our favorite tips on organizing your garage:

Set Aside a Weekend

To avoid exhaustion by trying to fit everything in within a single day, and to be sure you have time to actually finish the project - set aside a full two days of a weekend to truly dive into organizing your garage - and the right way at that. 

Remove, Sort & Decide

Before you can begin…

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Tax Savings for Homeowners

Tax season isn’t always met with positivity. But when you’re a homeowner, you tend to view tax season differently because of the tax benefits. With tax season soon upon us, we wanted to share some of the lesser-known tax benefits of owning a home. 

Did you miss out on the tax breaks for 2019? Not to worry! You can still benefit in the coming year! Come to think of it, the sooner you purchase a home, the longer you can rake in those benefits! 

Interest Paid on Your mortgage is Deductible (in most cases)

Generally speaking, if your mortgage is not greater than $750,000, then you can deduct the interest paid on the loan. This is the most significant benefit of owning a home and claiming it is relatively simple. At the end of the year, your…

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