Home Manager

Owning a home involves making decisions about improvements and keeping track of what's happening. If you're a time-starved homeowner who spends longer hours at work and less time at home and play, here's information to keep you going.

  • Planning a Yard Sale

  • Get paid to get rid of your excess stuff with a yard sale. Learn how to manage the sale and make money from your unwanted stuff.

  • Staying Cool Strategies

  • Stay cool without blowing your energy budget this summer with these easy to implement changes in the way you live.

  • Lower Home Heating Costs

  • Conserve energy by weatherproofing your house against the cold with these low or no cost improvements. Use the links to learn the cost of these project upgrades that save money and lower your heating bill.

  • Fall Home Checkup

  • Get your house - inside and out - ready for cooler weather with these maintenance chores and improvements to conserve energy.

  • Carbon Monoxide Detectors

  • Here's a primer on the dangers of carbon monoxide in the home and detectors and alarms to warn you of any problem in your house.

  • DIY or Don't DIY

  • Just because you can do it yourself, doesn't mean you should. These are repair and improvement projects we suggest to do yourself and those you shouldn't.

  • Finding a Good Contractor

  • Here's what we've learned and strategies we follow to locate and hire a professional contractor for a home improvement project.

  • Making a Home Inventory

  • Keep track of your possessions with a home inventory so you know what you have and where it's located.

  • Staging to Sell Your Home

  • How to make your house look like a model home using tricks and tips from professional designers who specialize in staging a house to sell it.

  • Simple Changes to Stay Cool

  • Save money, conserve electricity and reduce home cooling costs with energy saving tips and ideas for your home. Use these suggestions around your home to keep it cool and comfortable.

  • Saving Water Saves Energy

  • Water-wise tips to conserve water at home and save money

  • Forecast: HURRICANE Coming

  • Follow this advice from the NOAA Hurricane Center about how to prepare your home and your family for a hurricane.

  • FLOODING in the Forecast

  • Here's sound advice for homeowners who live in a flood prone area from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and FEMA.

  • Ladder Safety

  • Take precautions before you climb up a ladder and use this helpful advice when you're working on one.

  • Simple Ways to Cut Heating Costs

  • Save money and save energy heating your home in the winter by making these minor adjustments to the way you live. The payoff is lower heating bills.

  • Costs for Interior and Exterior Upgrades

  • Find the cost of interior and exterior improvements for your home and compare how much it costs to do it yourself with how much it costs to hire a contractor.

  • Checklist for a Remodeling Contract

  • Use this checklist as a guide before signing a contract for remodeling work with a professional contractor.