Going Green: Hardware

Going green! No, I’m not talking about going vegetarian or vegan. I’m talking about making your home eco-friendly
and energy efficient. In the long term it saves you money and honestly, it’s the way of the future. Everyday renewable
energy alternatives and energy efficiency is becoming easier to obtain, more sought after, and more necessary.
Objectively, the green way is a better, less expensive way to live in the long run. So, without jumping straight into
the deep end here are a few things you can do to make your house more energy efficient by switching up your hardware.  

Simplest thing first, switch out your lightbulbs. We have an entire article “How to Choose Lightbulbs” all about energy
efficient lightbulbs. I’m not telling you to individually hunt down your less efficient lightbulbs and actively pulling them
out of their fixtures replacing them with better lightbulbs. Let your current lightbulbs die natural deaths and when you
replace have energy efficient bulbs on hand to replace them with.

Older appliances aren’t as energy efficient as new appliances. That’s just a fact. Those appliances weren’t made with
energy efficiency in mind and honestly, we’re just better at making just about everything.  Everything plugged into an
outlet in your home is using energy whether it’s on or in use or not. Since every home hooked up to the powerplant
contributes to the strain on the powerplants ,having specific appliances could even earn you rebates or credits from
your utility company. Thus, upgrading appliances brings down your energy bill.

Solar panels! This is what you think of when you think about clean and efficient energy. The cost of efficiency
has gone down significantly over the past couple of years. Meaning they’re becoming more accessible to have
for residences. They are meant to work in all climates. They generally work best on south facing roofs with a slope
between 15 and 40 degrees.  Yes, the size, shape, and slope of the roof are all factors. Your likely going to need
a professional to help you install solar panels but if you can’t get panels for your own personal residence due to
one reason or another that may not be the end of the line. You can look into getting a solar grid shared between
you and your neighbors. For more information go to the government's energy website. There’s an entire web
page dedicated to solar energy and procuring solar panels.
https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/homeowner-s-guide-going-solar

Going Green: Climate Control

Going green! No, I’m not talking about going vegetarian or vegan. I’m talking about making your home eco-friendly and energy efficient. In the long term it saves you money and honestly, it’s the way of the future. Everyday renewable energy alternatives and energy efficiency is becoming easier to obtain, more sought after, and more necessary. Objectively, the green way is a better, less expensive way to live in the long run. So, without jumping straight into the deep end here are a few things you can do to make your house more energy efficient and improve your ability to control the climate in your house.  

First you need to access how energy efficient your home currently is (a.k.a how energy efficient your home currently is not). What does that mean you need to do? Honestly, I’m not a hundred percent sure. You’d need to find air leaks, leaky (drafty) windows, basement or attic that are not properly insulated, cracks are crevices somewhere on the structure. Can you do this yourself, I’m sure you could. I don’t know how but I have more faith in you. If you’re like me and want help you can get an energy auditor. You can google it, the US Department of Energy made a video explaining what an energy auditor does. The price range for that service typically ranges form between $200 and $630 but could cost anywhere from $99- $2,000. So… ya’ll might want to look up finding air leaks. YouTube can teach you to do just about anything.  

Other than that, a lot of the fixes you can make are super simple and easy to do yourself. To get rid of air leaks you can get caulk and seal up any of those leaky gaps. This links to a pretty thorough How-Cast video that should walk you through the process. https://youtu.be/KRfxfRFLc8Q

Next, you need to install installation wherever it is lacking. This process is pretty simple. Here’s another how to video from the YouTube channel Owens Corning for instructions on how to DIY this. https://youtu.be/tuW033vM-xA

If you’re from Georgia I will assume you have A/C. If not… I’m so sorry, how’s the summer going for you?  This fix is a bigger step. Installing a smart thermostat. You can still do this yourself. I’m not going to tell you what kind brand of thermostat to get since I don’t know anything about that, I don’t do the upgrading in my house. If you’d like an article on the topic leave a request in the comments and I’ll be happy to do the research for you. A smart thermostat will learn what temperature you like the house to be and adjust accordingly, never using more air or running up your air bill be cooling or heating unnecessarily. Here’s a video about installing smart thermostats from the YouTube channel; This Old House https://youtu.be/cR8DXH_R2Vc

So, here’s a quick taste of what you can do to get you on the path of going green. The next article in this series will be about appliances! Stay tuned, eventually, we’re going to get into the big stuff like solar panels!

Turning Up Your Curb Appeal

Your home has served you well in the times you have occupied its walls and dwelled under its roof… or maybe it hasn’t and your happy to leave dust trails on your way out. Either way you’re moving out but before you can leave, at least if you don’t want to be paying two mortgages, you need to sell your house. Which means you need to prepare your house to be sold. No matter how fabulous the inside of your home maybe it won’t get sold unless you can get prospective buyers through the front door, and you definitely won’t get the best deal possible unless you get as many people as possible through the front door. Which means it’s time to work on your curb appeal.

Let’s start with the obvious. Get rid of the trash! I’m not saying you have actual trash in your yard. I mean no shade if you do (a little shade if you do) but there’s going to be some stuff that you don’t want visually cluttering up the lawn and thus the presentation of your home. This could mean fallen leaves and branches of trees to larger things like old yard equipment, old broken things you never got around to getting rid of.  At least get it out of the front yard so that the inside has time to speak for itself before people see the disaster area in the back.

Make some fixes! People like things to feel new, especially when they are buying it. There’s a certain charm about old or antique things however that charm dissipates when it looks like it may fall apart. So, the next step is to fix up anything that looks broken or raggedy overly worn on the front of the house. Loose gutters, beat up shutters, noticeably messed up blinds in the windows, anything noticeably broken and obviously not cute. Go across the street and really look at the house, try not to creep out your neighbors.

Spruce it up! A new coat of paint makes a world of difference. Things can be in perfectly good shape but still look old and dilapidated. Time and wear can make things look gross and dirty. All of that can be easily fixed with fresh paint, helping buyers see past the worn color and bring out the quality.

Pay attention to details. You want the property to look cared for. When something looks properly cared for it’s a signal that it’s in good shape and worth spending money on. That well maintained look we’re going for is achieved by looking at the details. Trim your hedges, maintain your garden, if you don’t have those maybe you should put in some hedges and throw in a plot of flowers. Tamed foliage in your yard says to people looking at it that you care. Fix cracks in your driveway and walkway, clean the windows, power wash the façade and front porch. Make people want to approach the house.

Putting You into Your Home STEP THREE: Details

When you’re trying to personalize your space it’s good to know the big picture, nail down the aesthetic you’re looking for and use that image to anchor you to your idea. Having one central idea in mind and expanding from there is important. However, what really pulls your vision together into one cohesive whole, are the details. When you first move into a house many of the elements of the house are generic, that was probably by design. The goal is to make a house as bland as possible, so potential buyers would have an easier time imagining what they want in that space. Meaning everything is generic.

The first thing that is often bland or generic and easily changed is the walls or the paint/wallpaper on them. After you’ve finished visualizing what you want, you should choose your paint scheme. You can look at the first article in this series about the painting your space to make it yours or our “choosing your paint” series. The next generic things you can replace are the doors, especially the front and exterior doors. For personal rooms, it may be

cute to paint the doors. It could be a nice transition from the design schemes from the communal spaces into personal spaces. Changing doors can really customize the presentation of the entire space, so imagine what you can do with exterior doors. Nice or painted shutters would also have a similar effect. Also, consider replacing the garage door. It’s on the front of the house, it says almost as much about the house as the front door. According to Remodeling Magazine replacing the front door ranked high on cost recuperation, so if you have the money it would definitely be worth it.

Next, Flowers! Usually, homes for sale try to present a nice landscape to entice buyers inside. However, that landscape is often just a tidy average suburban house sort of presentation. Don’t get me wrong plants are nice. Inside they provide fresh air and color… they do that outside too, but yeah, they’re nice! Plants outside the house are a great opportunity to prep visitors for the general aesthetic inside the house. You need to plan this out strategically, plants can easily get expensive and arranging flower beds is no walk in the park. Know what colors you want, remember that plants need a specific amount of sunlight and shade, know what season your plants thrive in. You’re going to need to do research. Also, consider getting plant boxes. They can be a lovely addition to a house and the pop of color would draw the eye further up the house.

Then there’s lighting. We have articles extensively going over lighting and the how to curate the lighting in your home. Check out the second article in this series and our article “Choosing Your Light Fixtures”. Light fixtures are often one of the most generic things in a house and changing the lighting is one of the best ways to personalize a space.

Finally, Home accessories. I know how vague that is, that can mean a lot of things. When I say home accessories I mean things like the metal balls you can put in glass bowls to decorate a table. I mean candles and the types of candle holders you might want. I’m talking about wall art and tabletop sculptures. These pieces should be more thematic than most other items in the house. This brings us back to visualization, it’s one of the reasons it’s a good idea to have actual visual references to go back to.

Delana Cotton servers the north east Atlanta region that includes Dacula, Winder, Lawrenceville, Buford, Snellville, Conyers and surrounding areas. Delana treats every transaction as if she were you, the buyer or seller. If you have a real estate transaction on the horizon, meet Delana for a no pressure chat over coffee.

Flood Insurance

Flooding is one of the most common causes of property damage in the US. Water damage is difficult and expensive to fix and devastating to your property, and potentially a significant health risk. It can weaken the foundation of your home, cause mold to grow in your walls, cause your paint to bubble and peel, make your drywall crumble and none of it’s covered by homeowner’s insurance.

Homeowners insurance will typically cover water damage from another source. Burst pipes?Covered. Overflowing sinks or bathtubs? Usually covered. Rain damage? Should be covered. Damage caused by sewage backup? Gross, but your insurance company probably has your back. However, flooding, which someone could easily assume would be under the same umbrella as storm damage, is not covered.  

Which means flood insurance is its own separate entity. Flood insurance is administered by the federal government. That means You can only get flood insurance from insurers that are a part of the National Flood Insurer Program (NFIP). Your insurance provider may not participate in the NFIP program if it doesn’t you may need to either contact an NFIP center for a referral or do a google search.

The rate of flood insurance is also set by the government and not by insurance providers. The rate varies dependent upon risk. This means that the rate of your flood insurance would depend upon the flooding risk inherent of your geographic location. The premiums for low risk areas cost around $405 annually, there are some variations depending on whether or not the property has a basement; there’s also a surcharge that changes depending upon whether the property is a primary or secondary residence. In high risk areas, the same coverage can cost around $2,500. There are government run websites that can give you an estimated rate.

You also can’t just buy flood insurance for that single nasty looking storm or hurricane that all the weather channels are talking about. There is a 30-day waiting period in the majority of cases. So technically you can buy it for a nasty looking, incoming storm season.

So, now for the real question. Should you get flood insurance? The decision might actually be out of your hands. Some mortgage lenders might require you to buy flood insurance if you live in a special flood hazard area. Which at least means that if the structure of your home is damaged by flood water, your utilities are affected, if your appliances are damaged, if your flooring gets messed up, any installed or built-in fixtures get damaged, if secondary structures on your property incur damage, or anything happens to valuable personal items worth up to $2,500, you are covered for that. You can get extensions for other items added on your insurance to cover more valuable items.

If flood insurance isn’t mandatory for you, first congratulations, mandatory anything is usually unpleasant. However, like I said at the beginning, flooding is one of the most common causes of property damage in the US. According to the “Insurance Information Institute,” more than one-fifth of claims for flood damage are from moderate to low-risk areas, areas not required to buy flood insurance. So, it is at least worth looking into.

Delana Cotton servers the north east Atlanta region that includes Dacula, Winder, Lawrenceville, Buford, Snellville, Conyers and surrounding areas. Delana treats every transaction as if she were you, the buyer or seller. If you have a real estate transaction on the horizon, meet Delana for a no pressure chat over coffee.

Beginners Guide to Homeowners Insurance

What do I know about home insurance? Do you know what types of policies there are? Do you know what type you need personally or can afford? I mean you hear the term home insurance and you think, I get the drift, it’s insurance… on your house. Yes, but home insurance policies can be extremely varied depending on a bunch of different variables such as the possibility of risk based on personal information, geography, the fiscal value of the property and/or home, etc. In a market full of different insurance providers, varying policies, and the differing needs of clients.

Most homeowner policies cover these basics. These basics do not include things like flooding or earthquakes. That’s a different type of insurance that we’ll go over in part three of this series. Basic homeowner policies should include you’re home (Dwelling coverage). Dwelling coverage pertains directly to your house, meaning the structure itself. If your home is majorly damaged in some way out of your control, accidents, acts of nature (yes flooding and earthquakes don’t count but fire, tornadoes, and storms do it depends on your policy. Make sure you know what your coverage is). You should be able to make a claim, there will probably be a deductible (a fee) as a deterrent from making excessive or false claims. However, if your home is somehow entirely destroyed you should be given enough money from the insurance company to recover the amount of money you took out in the loan to purchase your house. You should be able to rebuild the house with the money you claim from the insurance company.

 Basic Policies should also cover personal property (Personal property coverage). This insurance focuses on the items inside your house. This insurance focuses on the personal items inside of your house due to damage to the structure of the house, someone breaking into the house, or something else outside of your control pertaining to the dwelling itself, that should be covered by personal property coverage. If any of those things occur, you should be able to file a claim and get reimbursed for the item or items that were damaged or taken from you.

Other structure coverage: Structure on your property that isn’t your house, a shed or something, fences, I don’t know I don’t go outside.

Loss of use coverage: Something happened and now you can’t stay at your home until the problems are solved. This coverage covers your cost of living outside of your home. There’s a cap, they’re not going to give you more than necessary. If you run out of money before you can move back into your house, you’re screwed.

(Personal liability coverage): Covers accidents that could happen to people who don’t reside on your property or damage on someone else’s property that occurs due to something on your property. Literally an oopsie, that wasn’t on purpose, but it occurred on or due to something on my land insurance.

Finally, there is Additional Coverage: It’s exactly what it sounds like. It covers optional things you choose to add to your coverage because you’re just that ready. These are things that won’t apply to most people in most situations but like I said in the first part of this series, shit happens. It’s best to check for things that could happen in your area but aren’t covered by general policies because they’re not concerns for the population on mass.

These are the types of policies that can be a part of your homeowner insurance. Check out our next article in this series where we talk about insurance not covered in general homeowner insurance FLOODING. 
https://thecottonhometeam.blogspot.com/2018/08/flood-insurance.html

Delana Cotton servers the north east Atlanta region that includes Dacula, Winder, Lawrenceville, Buford, Snellville, Conyers and surrounding areas. Delana treats every transaction as if she were you, the buyer or seller. If you have a real estate transaction on the horizon, meet Delana for a no pressure chat over coffee.

What is insurance?

Have you ever wondered, what do I know about insurance? Specifically, what do you know about home insurance? It sounds pretty simple, first you understand the concept of insurance, and then you apply it to a residential property, home insurance. Well, is it that clear? Can you clearly define to yourself what exactly insurance is? Could you do it? What exactly do I actually know about how insurance works and how it applies to real-estate?

 Insurance is basically a contract defined by a specific policy, where individuals or entities as an individual pay for

protection. These protections defend clients financially from damages either big or small covered by the client’s policy, or from liability for damage or injury of a third party. Meaning clients pay for a policy each month, giving
payments to be put into a pool of money to be paid out on the occasion that an incident occurs that is covered by a client’s policy.  This allows the client to save money by paying a smaller amount in the case that there may be more damage than the client would otherwise be able to pay directly out of pocket at one time. Home insurance policies can be extremely varied depending on location and possibility of risk based on personal information, geography, the fiscal value of the property and/or home, etc. Insurance companies make their money in the hopes that many of their clients will never need to claim the money they're owed in the case of loss or damages. ominous but eventually, something will go wrong, and your insurance is there to cover you. Most of the time the cost of your insurance is much smaller, in comparison, than the amount that the insurance company will need to put out to cover your losses.

That begs the question? Why have insurance if the point is to pay for something that everyone, including yourself, are hoping you’ll never need or use? Especially when you consider the fact that the price of your insurance could go up based on risk factors outside of your control. It sounds like a waste of money.  The thing is, and excuse my language, shit happens. Shit will eventually happen, no matter how careful you are, no matter how much effort you put into prevention of damage or loss, something will eventually slip through. Your home protects you, your stuff, and your family from the outside world and that protection means the wear and tear that your home protected you from will be deflected onto your house. This sounds

The next article in this series will go over types of home insurance. What types you may need and how much it may cost you.
https://thecottonhometeam.blogspot.com/2018/08/beginners-guide-to-homeowners-insurance.html

Are you ready to buy a house?

Are you ready to stop renting? Renting has its many benefits. Consistent reliable housing without a long-term commitment, the flexibility (within reason) to move without steep financial implications, the ability to live in places you don’t otherwise have the finances to buy in. Then there are the cons of renting like, you know, rent, fluctuating prices, lack of control, loss of any investment you put into improving the property. The question is, are you ready to let go of one set of burdens for another?

First things first, do you have the money? If you’re holding onto any large amount of debt, you may be in danger of missing payments if you enter into any large financial undertaking. Missing payments could severely affect your credit score. Acquiring more debt, like a mortgage might not be the answer you’re looking for either, you want to keep your debt to income ratio as low as possible, what that ratio is will be up to you and how much debt you’re okay with occurring. Do you have the funds put away to even think about buying a house? What kind of housing situation can you afford? It’s a good idea to make sure you have a budget in place and have your household running on a predictable financial calendar before you buy a home, so you know how much you can afford. It’s also a good idea to save up a down payment so you get the best possible mortgage. Just because you qualify for a mortgage, does not mean you’re ready to buy a house.  Then there’s the chance you won’t qualify. You don’t need to have all the money upfront to buy a house, but you do need a good to have a good amount put away if you're going to buy a house. You can’t just put it all on credit cards even if you are comfortable with the debt. Check out our article about the myths of home buying for more information on the financial requirements being approved for a mortgage and how much money you may need for a down payment.

The second thing you need to think about is stability. Job/financial security is important. You need to know that your source of money isn’t going anywhere before you commit to a big monthly bill, like a mortgage. Where are you in your career? How sure are you that you won’t get transferred? That you won’t seek an opportunity in a different location? Are you settled enough to want to put down roots in your location? That’s what a house is roots, a long-term commitment to your location and the people surrounding you. You’d then have a neighborhood, a local school system, a community. All great things to have but only if they’re wanted and relevant to your situation.

This may sound silly but are you emotionally prepared to buy a house? Think about the commitment? A home is an investment that you will need to maintain, a responsibility to upkeep. If you think the process of finding a place to rent is tough, buying is way more tiring, and a thousand times more stressful. Are you in the right place mentally to buy a house? If so, then by all means proceed. This article isn’t meant to scare you off, I want to caution my readers to thoroughly contemplate buying a house and everything that comes with it. There’s nothing worse than buyer’s remorse on a large investment, especially if you live in it. If this article hasn’t put you off or even made you take a moment to reconsider buying a home then you already know your answer and are ready for the next step.



Delana Cotton servers the north east Atlanta region that includes Dacula, Winder, Lawrenceville, Buford, Snellville, Conyers and surrounding areas. Delana treats every transaction as if she were you, the buyer or seller. If you have a real estate transaction on the horizon, meet Delana for a no pressure chat over coffee.

A/C Breakdown Fixes

Y’all, it’s hot outside. Thank god for climate control. There’s nothing much better than A/C in 90 plus degree weather, in the gross humidity of GA. But what are you to do when your climate control stops working? You could… suffer or you could fix it, but how? And when I ask how I mostly mean how much will it cost you and is there anything you can do to circumvent some of these costs?

FIX ONE: Did You Reset It?

I know. Look, I know what you’re thinking It’s not like your laptop, or a game system it’s an A/C. Yes, it’s not a common electronic, but it is an electronic. I know air conditioner units are this big block of thing sitting in a closet or your basement, that you don’t identify as being at all like your computer but there are indeed computerized parts in there. So, turning it on and off will help? Maybe, won’t hurt. Doing this… will take some work. I’m not going to be able to explain it to you but luckily Google exists. Look at your air conditioning unit, figure out what model it is, look it up.

FIX TWO: Replace the Filter

Yes, I’m saying the obvious things, but have you them? When you’re A/C is working it’s cycling air pulling in the warm air, cooling it, sending it back out.  Which means the airs running through the filter, picking up dirt and dust particles. Eventually the dirt will clog the filter completely and hinder the flow of air through the system.  This may happen before or after the label on the filter pack said it would (before). The moral here is, check your filters if your air unit isn’t working correctly. Even if your filter isn’t so dirty that it has developed a life of its own, maybe you don’t want it to get that dirty and you should change it before it gets there.

FIX THREE: Get on the Condensation Line!

Hah, this one wasn’t so obvious! And the subtitle didn’t make much sense, let’s move on. The condensation line is the small pipe that sticks out of your house by you’re A/C unit that drips. It’s getting rid of the moisture and condensation that your A/C collects from the air in the line of duty. This can get clogged. This can cause a variety of problems, but they will all lead to you’re A/C losing functionality, AND WE CAN’T HAVE THAT! So, you need to get that cleaned out. There are easy instructions on how to do that around the internet.

None of those worked… well, it’s time to call for help. We’ve done just about everything to get it working by ourselves. You can rest assured that your not calling and spending money on a nothing problem you could have fixed yourself.  Now, you need help. Don’t fiddle around with the insides of the actual unit, a HVAC technicians’ job is a lot of work and pretty specialized. At this point it’s time to leave it to the professionals.



Delana Cotton servers the north east Atlanta region that includes Dacula, Winder, Lawrenceville, Buford, Snellville, Conyers and surrounding areas. Delana treats every transaction as if she were you, the buyer or seller. If you have a real estate transaction on the horizon, meet Delana for a no pressure chat over coffee.

Reduce the Cost of Remodeling

Maybe you just moved into your new place and it’s a bit of a fixer-upper. Maybe you’ve decided that your just tired of the way your house looks and are ready for a change. Maybe a lot of things happened, I don’t know your life. Maybe all those maybes mean it's time to remodel. Maybe remodeling means you need to find money to pay for the remodeling and you don’t know where that money will come from? How much is it going to cost? A lot. Probably more than you think, you know like everything cost more than you think it’s going to or should. Especially if you live in an old house. Old houses like to surprise you, sometimes it’s a beautiful hardwood floor under the carpet (why did people do that?), or maybe it’s truly horrifying underlying problems that you didn’t know about but have to take care of now… either of those things could happen. So, here’s a few ways to save money while remodeling:

1.      Just Paint It

I know you're tired of your cabinets, your baseboards, other innumerable features of your house. Just take a second, really look at them. Do you like the style of them? The placement? You could just paint them. If it is a paintable material, it’s possible that giving it a new color and just sprucing up what’s already there could make the old stuff like new.

2.      Go Bargain Hunting

DO IT! If you like shopping then this is just fun. Clip coupons, get online and use Craigslist, Facebook has a marketplace now. Some retailers get things in bulk and are trying to get rid of the excess or send them to Discount material stores. Warehouse sales are totally a thing. Slightly damaged things are sold at a discount and usually it's just some surface injury that’s not all that noticeable or you can cover up. Get out there!

3.      Get Creative with Materials

Hey, that thing you don’t want it that room… would you like it in a different context in another room? Keep that, remove it carefully, reuse it. Look for recycled materials that you might be able to repurpose into something else. DIY some stuff! Make sure it’s structurally sound, but yeah get crafty with it.

4.      Try Not to Relocate Certain rooms

Look, do you need to move the bathroom to the other end of the house? If the answer is yes than fine, do what you need to do. Just remember plumbing is a thing and you’re going to need to move pipes and maybe rewire if you move the floorplan around too much. Even moving them around the room is going to be extra work and more money, you gonna want to hire a professional for any plumbing or electrical work.

How to finance home repair?

Whelp, shit happened, as it always inevitably does. A storm blew in over the horizon, now that nice tree in your backyard is a part of your house. So, now what? Well… how are your savings looking? I hope you had money put away cause now your gonna need it. I mean insurance exists, but then there’s the deductible and you still have all your regular expenses, you know those things you need to survive like food. How does your wallet feel? I bet it hurts. 44 percent of Americans can’t cover a $400 emergency without borrowing from elsewhere, it hurts us all. The real question is, what are we going to do about it? Apparently, there are loans and grants for this kind of stuff, who knew?

Loans: This is your most likely source of funding. There are several varieties of loans, you will eventually end up paying this off, but there were going to be stipulations or drawbacks eventually. However, these are some sources that will provide you with funds to help with problems like major home repairs.
	Pros	Cons
Home equity loans	- There are two types of home equity loans, the original home equity loan and HELOC. HELOC is more like a credit line. - Both have okay interest rates. - have the longest terms and thus the smallest payments.	- You generally can’t tap more than 80 percent of your home’s total equity, so if your mortgage is already taking up 75 percent of that, you may not have enough money for your repairs.
Personal loans	- Since there isn’t any collateral, they process much faster than a home equity loan. - don’t risk losing your home if you miss a payment.	- difficult to qualify for. - likely going to be paying a much higher rate than you would with a secured form of credit and the term will be much shorter
401(k) loan.	- Depending on how much of your funds are vested and how your specific 401(k) is set up, you can likely either take a loan out against your retirement fund or take a tax-free withdrawal based on a hardship exemption	- literally stealing from your future (70 year old you will not be pleased).
Borrowing	- won’t foreclose on your house - might not ask for interest - if they do it won’t be a lot.	- asking for money from friends or family. - you know what the cons are - if you do this you need to make this formal, so… you need to figure that out.

Grants: These are more difficult to qualify for since they are meant for the elderly, the impoverished, and people doing worthwhile work that nobody wants to pay them for (scientist and artists).

Pros - Free money.

Cons -Slow process (time investment). You don’t know how long this could take.

Warning signs of roof damage?

So, the best way to avoid roof damage is prevention. Getting up on the roof and having it inspected regularly is the best way to avoid tragedy. However, things happen. There are storms, branches fall, you can’t completely thwart nature, you can only prevent and get ahead of damage that occurs over time. Once you’ve climbing up on your roof how are you supposed to know if there’s trouble? Unless you’re getting a professional inspector ever time how are you supposed to know what to look for?

Since 80% percent of roofs on homes are made of asphalt shingles in North America we’re going to focus on those. So let's start with the fascia. Fascia is the sideboard of the wood paneling that trims the roof. Start there and check for signs of water damage such as:

Soft spots, green algae, places where the board is starting to come apart, wood rot.  If the fascia is pulling away from your house, look deeper for more damage. It may already be time to call an expert.

The next thing to check is the Soffit. The soffit is the bottom panel of the wood paneling that trims the roof, it keeps pests and vermin from getting inside through the roof while still letting in enough air for proper ventilation. That’s why the soffit has vents cut into it. Check if the vents are blocked, those can be cleaned. However, if the screens are ripped or there are other problems it might be time to get the soffit replaced.

Next we move on to the Shingles. Shingles are what most people picture as the roof. They’re the flat rectangle pieces that overlap each other and pretty much cover the entire surface. Shingles are relatively simple as far as age and damage. They’re okay or they’re not. Are they laying relatively flat? They’re good. Are some of them curling? Not good. Are they growing anything? Not good. Have some been torn off completely? Not good. The black streaky stuff you might see on a lighter colored roof? Surprisingly okay, harmless algae.

Then there’s the Drip Edge. The drip edge is that piece on the roofs edge between the sheathing and the fascia board. Basically, the space where the shingles stop there’s a thin strip of metal that catches rain from the shingles and away from other parts of the roof is the drip edge. You may have trouble seeing the drip edge if you have gutters. The only thing you’re really checking on is obvious damage and rust.

Finally, flashings. Flashings are metal strips that can be found anywhere that the roof joins something else, like a chimney or even creates a valley. This is to protect against leaks. Check for rust or oxidation (darkening). Make sure any tar is still healthy, not dried out.