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5 Tips For Keeping Your Home Safe While On Vacation

When you and your family are getting ready to take a vacation, it is important to remember how to properly lock up your home and keep it safe. As a homeowner, it is your responsibility to protect all of your belongings and prevent a bad situation from happening while you are away. While you go on vacation, take the necessary precautions. Here are a few tips on how to keep your home safe while you are away.

1. Properly Lock Your House

The first thing any homeowner must do when leaving their home, is lock all of the doors and windows. You can use deadbolts, locking pins or dowels in sliding-glass windows and doors. It’s important to set up a reliable alarm system before you leave home. Test it and make sure it works before you set it and leave on your vacation.

2. Hire A House Sitter

You need someone to watch over your house. Even if it’s just for a couple of hours a day, its helpful if someone is constantly checking on your house. It can be your close friend or a relative.

3. Make It Appear That Someone Is Home

Even while you are away, it’s important that you keep a couple lights on. The objective is to make it appear that someone is home or that someone is coming home later. This easy tip differs thieves from breaking into your home.

4. Hold Your Mail

If you know you’ll be away from home for a couple of days, it is recommended that you contact your local post office and request that they hold your mail until you are back. It’s important that you inform them of the dates that you will be gone. If you don’t, piled up mail on your doorstep and newspapers on the driveway will alert bystanders that no one is home.

5. Tell The People You Trust To Watch Over Your Home

Generally, it is a good idea to give the people you trust a heads up that you are going out of town. Whether its family, friends, or close neighbors, its important to have people watch over your house. However, it’s important to not be overly broadcasting that you are going out of town; especially to the people you don’t trust. You don’t want to expose yourself and let strangers know your traveling plans.

For more information regarding real estate tips, visit Kathy McCarthy’s website or Facebook page!

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5 Tips for Renting After Getting Evicted

Have you recently been evicted from your apartment? Are you concerned with how the eviction can damage your rental and credit history? Getting evicted from your apartment isn’t the end of the world. If you follow the proper steps, you will get back on the right track to renting a new place.

Here are a few tips to help you get back to renting after getting evicted:

1. Make Things Right

Always make the necessary amends with your landlord and offer to rectify the situation. It never hurts to try and make things right. You never know, your landlord may be willing to remove the eviction from your credit history if you make the proper payments. Ensure to document the agreement for your future use so as to be on the safe side.

2. Restore Your Credit

The first thing landlords look at when considering a tenant is their credit history. Work on improving your credit in a way that shows you are a potential tenant who is reliable and can meet your payments on time. This means paying any pending credit debt you might have and once it has been cleared, make sure it is removed from your credit report.

3. Make a List of Good References

References are a big part of renting. Some landlords choose to contact all of your references, whereas other landlords don’t contact any and look at other aspects. Even though you have been evicted from one apartment, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have good relationships with other landlords. Make a list of people you make a good impression on and list them as your references. The more reliable the reference is, the better it is for you.

4. Choose Your Landlord Wisely

Make sure you look out for hospitable landlords since there are landlords who will not be willing to rent an apartment to a person who got evicted. Look for rental housing that doesn’t require a background check or credit report. Some landlords only require proof of employment, references, or make your security deposit higher.

5. Always Keep Searching

It is important to remember that getting evicted from an apartment isn’t the end of the world. It may require some damage control, but it doesn’t mean that you can rebuild your credit and get renting again. By remaining positive and persistent to rebuild yourself, you will prevail in finding a new place to rent.

For more information regarding real estate tips, visit Kathy McCarthy’s website or Facebook page!

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