Helpful tips Archives | Page 11 of 11 | Jeff Howard's Las Vegas Area Real Estate blog

The Summerlin Council Patriotic Parade – Only 1 Week Away

It’s really hard to believe that July 4th is only one week away – this year has just flown by. My family and I love the Summerlin Patriotic Parade so much. It has become a tradition for us to get up early on the 4th of July and find a perfect spot up front on the parade route to set up our little shade structure. In fact, a few times Nicole & Emma have gotten up even earlier to run the Firecracker 5K run (this year it is the evening before at 7:00 pm for some reason). I don’t run ☺

We always have a great time and besides watching a great parade we get to meet other families that are as excited as we are to see the pageantry float by.

This year is very special as the Summerlin parade celebrates its 20th year. There are 70 bands, balloons and floats – the parade gets better every year with additions to the festivities. This year there will be a float for the Las Vegas Golden Knights to show how beloved they are in the community.

The parade travels along flag-lined streets from Hillpointe Road and Hills Center, then south on Hills Center Drive concluding on Trailwood Drive at the entrance of the Trails Village Shopping Center. Arrive early to get a prime viewing area along the route.

You get to see neighbors wrangling the big balloons and marching bands keeping in time. Some of the floats are aimed at young children with their favorite stories as the theme of these floats.

The feeling you get watching everyone taking great pride in our country and our city is pure joy and how proud we all are to be in this incredible country. There is nothing quite like it. For parade details, just go to: http://summerlink.com/patriotic-parade

I want to wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July. And please be careful if handling fireworks. The air is extra dry and you can easily start a fire, or get hurt. Maybe you just want to let the professionals handle it and watch the fireworks at Red Rock Casino or at Green Valley Ranch Hotel?

Do you have a need for commercial / industrial / retail space? Are you ready to buy or sell a home? We can help you with that… just call us at 702 SELL NOW or click on this link to my website http://www.702SellNow.com

Choose to have an amazing day…..Jeff

When I was about 3 or 4, I drowned.

Most drownings are preventable. If you spend any time around water recreationally, please keep reading!

Obviously, I lived, but here is what happened; we were having friends over for a family BBQ and someone put my pool float on me incorrectly (they don’t even make that type anymore, probably for this reason) and I started to go under. Someone was watching me, and I got scooped up. It’s one of my earliest memories. This incident went much better than it may have. They don’t all end well. A couple of years later, we had friends who lost their 4-year-old daughter at the ocean.

Its summer, now, and we all know what that means – hot weather and relaxing in the swimming pool or at the lake, river or ocean to escape the heat and still be outdoors. However, water safety is a must for all, especially if you have children.

That is why I am giving out FREE Water Watcher cards on a lanyard. These cards are a clear reminder of what our responsibilities are and who is responsible at any given moment. Quite simply, whoever is wearing the lanyard agrees to be responsible to keep their eyes on the water without distraction. If there are several adults around, (maybe a BBQ with friends) the Water Watcher card can be passed every 15 minutes or so to another adult that will be responsible to actually watch the kids in the water.

When you have a backyard pool, if you have small children, you should also install a separate fence around the pool that surrounds all sides of the pool and be at least four feet tall. The opening gate to the pool should be self-closing and self-latching. The Health District in Las Vegas also advises putting an alarm on the gate.

It’s wise to take a class in what to do in an emergency – learn CPR and water rescue skills – this can help in saving a life. If you have children I strongly suggest enrolling them in swimming classes. As the saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure”. When I was 16-20, I was a lifeguard in the summer at camps and I am currently CPR certified. I’m not trying to brag, I’m telling you this is an important subject to me, because I don’t want to read about your little one.

The Water Watcher is not only for a backyard pool. Be a Water Watcher whenever your family is having water fun.

If you have toddlers in the home, make sure all bathtubs are empty of water – did you know a baby can drown in an inch of water? Also get into the habit of putting all toilet seats down so curious toddlers do not get into them.

Water safety also means dealing with monsoon rains and if you are taking out a boat on Lake Mead – those topics are for another blog.

Please contact me anytime for a FREE Water Watcher card and take care of what is most precious in the world – our children.

Choose to have an amazing day…..Jeff

Inspiration for Your Home Interior Decoration

Are you moving into a new home or updating your existing one and looking for ideas on home furnishings? Inspiration for décor can come from a variety of sources like nature, looking at home magazines, various homes you visit, or a designer showcase home.

We often ignore what is right in front of us in our everyday life. The colors around you in nature like a flower or different trees can inspire wall colors or theme of a room. You also visit furniture stores and look at the vignettes on display. This can help you decide if you want your home to be modern, contemporary, transitional or traditional. When you visit friends homes look around there may be a design aspect you like, an arrangement of furniture or a grouping of artwork.

Recently over 60 designers gathered in New York’s Metropolitan Pavilion for the annual Design on a Dime event sponsored by Housing Works. Everything was for sale and the proceeds benefit those affected by homelessness, HIV and AIDS. In Las Vegas there are show houses with rooms created by local interior designers. To find out where and when contact the World Market Center https://www.wmclv.com/

Inspiration is not always the latest objects – while new items may be appealing there are many vintage looks that you can mix with contemporary looks to give you a warm eclectic feeling in your home.

Keep your camera ready when you walk into a hotel or restaurant – if you see something you really like snap a picture of it. If you see it in a retail store it is most likely available to purchase it. And remember you don’t have to redo everything at once especially large pieces of furniture – buy a sofa, live with it and then add the pieces to compliment it.

Are you one of those people (like me) who find inspiration, but then you feel like you don’t know how to complete the concept? Consider hiring an interior designer just as a consultant – someone who just guides you, instead of designing the whole thing. It’s really pretty affordable. I actually work with 2 whose information I would be happy to share with you. Just call or email me.

Choose to have an amazing day…..Jeff

A Laundry Room Can Be Office Space As Well

Many homes come with a large laundry room with a lot of wasted space – in today’s world we all multitask so why not have rooms that have multipurpose. Adding a desk, whether built-in or free-standing, can be a great way to maximize that space.

Besides washing clothes you can use the space as a bill-paying area, computer room and a cleanup station when entertaining in the nearby kitchen. If you don’t want the area to look boring add some color to the white walls in this space. You can paint one wall a lively color or use wallpaper in a graphic print to give the room character.

Also adding a few small souvenirs from your trips or adventures will add character to the area. To make the room have a “warmer” room add a desk lamp and an area rug that works with the color you have added to the walls.

Depending on the space you may be able to add a chair and desk for your work at the end of the room and you can add cabinets if you don’t have them already along the wall to keep the room neat and have storage space for detergent, iron and other cleaning supplies as well as space to keep files and papers.

You can always add cubby holes, if there is room, for each member of the family to leave their school books, sports equipment etc – making the area a drop zone as well. The laundry room is often near the kitchen so you could do your work and keep an eye on any food you are preparing.

If you laundry room is really small and you still want a part of that space for an office, you could always get a stackable washer and dryer that will open up more space.

Are you ready to buy or sell a home? Do you have a need for commercial / industrial / retail space? We can help you with that… just call us at 702 SELL NOW or click on this link to my website http://www.702SellNow.com

Choose to have an amazing day…..Jeff

It ain’t sexy, but let’s talk about water heaters for a minute (seriously).

My first question for you is do you know where to turn off the water at your house so when the water heater begins to leak, it does not continue to leak and ruin everything? Many people don’t. This is kind of important for 2 reasons; one thing that insurance companies consider when reviewing claims is did you make a reasonable effort to prevent additional damage after the initial discovery and, in many cases, the water will be going into your house through the walls and ruining things you love that can’t be replaced!

About 2 years ago my water heater died. If you have not had this happen yet, the bottom rusts out and the water leaks out and into the drywall surrounding the unit. We were home fortunately and saw it happening and got the water turned off before it had a chance to do much damage.

I don’t know if there are exceptions to this but above the water heater should be 2 metal water lines – one is for cold water coming in and one for hot going out. If you are lucky, they are marked with colors somewhere (blue/cold and red/hot). That cold water line should have a valve and if you turn that off, it should stop any more water from entering the water heater. Then you want to hook up a hose to the front of the water heater and empty it out to the street (remember that water is hot). Now, do you remember where I said it “should stop any more water from entering the water heater”? Well, if that valve is “worn”, it may not. In many houses, there is a whole house water shut off valve (sometimes in the garage – take a few minutes today to find yours). The downside of this is that it turns off all the water inside the house – the good news is, it will keep that water heater from continuing to fill and continuing to leak through the walls and all over your stuff! And if you can’t find that, you can go find the metal water meter cover in front of your house and remove that lid and turn it off at the street (if you live in a multi-unit building like a condo or apartment, ask where the shut off is for your unit).

Now, I have seen many water heaters with these cool pans underneath and assumed (be careful when you do that) that when they installed the new one 2 years ago, they would put one of these under it. They did not – they didn’t even offer. This made me sad, and there was really no reasonable way to put the pan under afterwards, so I just continued with my life and figured it was likely to be about 8 years before the new water heater failed (that is the average in Las Vegas I’m told). Fast forward 2 years, it happened again, and this time, we did not discover it so soon, so water traveled through the walls and underneath our beautiful laminate floors…. ruining them. This time, I went to a hardware store and bought the pan for them to install underneath, and it has the ability for me to attach pieces of PVC pipe and guide water where I want it to go next time it leaks, (instead of just letting it seep under my laminate).

This is not a story designed to have you feel sorry for me… it is supposed to inspire you to protect your belongings before what happened to me happens to you. Hopefully you’ll take the time to learn where your water shut-offs are, and if you have a water heater installed for any reason, make sure you get one of those pans (that goes for washing machines as well – I’ve heard some pretty bad stories about those too).

Choose to have an amazing day…..Jeff

Backyard Fire Pits – Perfect for Las Vegas

About month ago I bought a fire pit for my backyard and my family and I love it! It’s a great place for the family gather or to entertain friends. There are so many options from a fairly inexpensive DIY to a full on work of art.

If you have limited amount of space in your backyard you might want to look into a fire pit/table combo, like we did. This two-for-one arrangement allows you to use your table for eating and you can cover up the fire pit when it’s not in use. Then when you are ready for a cozy fire to sit around you automatically have a designated area. We also were not in love with the not so decorative rocks that came standard in the kit, so we are going to buy some of that cool glass that you find in some fire pits.

Another option that is budget friendly that will create a fun and intimate area in your backyard is the portable fire pit. Just find the right spot and space the chairs around your fire pit in a circle to create a nice conversation space.

If you’re thinking of starting a large-scale backyard renovation, and you’re lucky enough to have a pool, consider adding a fire pit to the pool area and while you are renovating you can easily add elements such as gas to your fire pit. This solution works really well in Las Vegas where hanging out by the pool is an almost a year-round option.

The in-ground fire pit is also a great option although it will require a bit of renovation. Figure out where you want it placed, digging it out and replacing the stones or patio tiles once the fire pit is in and cover the spot when not in use. You night need a permit from the city for this option so make sure you check into that.

A concrete fire pit along with a bench is ideal for a more modern home. This kind of space can be customized to work in small or large backyard and can be hooked into already existing gas lines.

Do you already have a spot in your yard with built-in seating or benches? Consider adding a fire pit as the perfect outdoor centerpiece.

Whatever type of fire pit you choose I’m sure you will enjoy it and wonder “Why didn’t I do this years ago.”

One word of caution – – – it’s fire, so please be smart about it. Make sure you choose a smart location in relation to buildings and overhangs, and don’t leave it unattended. If you are going to use wood instead of gas, make sure you can touch the coals with your bare hands before you go to bed. I’d hate to read about your firepit as a news story instead of a blog post!

Choose to have an amazing day…..Jeff