Buying your first home? You will be amazed at the sheer volume of paperwork you will sign. There are currently 13 pages dedicated primarily to telling you, the buyer, to get inspections on the house. Obviously, the powers that be feel inspections are very important!
 
With 13-plus pages telling you about all the things you should […]

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Every so often my husband, the electrician, brings home a piece of something he removes from a job, kind of like a cat bringing home a mouse.
This week, he brought home a breaker with a melted wire attached.
Then he’ll go into the horror story that goes with it — usually having something to do with […]

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This article ran in the Chico Enterprise-Record last Friday. Dave Jones, a general contractor, had one idea to add. He says it is now code to caulk the front and sides of a toilet, and leave the back open — read on to find out why! Thank you, Dave, for helping with the accuracy of […]

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The monster storm that blew through Northern California on Friday left devastation to our crops, brought down many large trees and left thousands of homes without power.

Many fences blew over from the high winds. Some fences split from the sheer force of the wind. But, in many cases, there was something else working behind the […]

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Welcome to Part 4 of a series of questions home buyers should ask! To view the entire series, click here.
Have the sellers recently improved the home?

And the more important question: “Why have the improvements been made?”

Many sellers in today’s competitive market are investing dollars and labor into their homes to make […]

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Chico people love to share the stories of what led them to live here. Even when I don’t seek these conversations out, they come to me.
I was minding my own business in the hot tub at the gym last week, and two strangers began comparing notes on their Chico journeys. Basking in steam and chlorine, […]

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Buy low, sell high. When my grown children talk about not being able to afford kids, I tell them how I came out ahead. I would get great deals on baby-everything from yard sales and secondhand stores, clean, fix and shine it, have my kids use it, then sell it for a profit. […]

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Cool article about light bulbs, but it’s time to take it to a new level.
The latest and greatest are LED light bulbs that last for 30 years, consume one-third the power and can be dropped and won’t break. The only downside is they cost about $10 each. But, you literally buy one and don’t need […]

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My mother liked a bright house. Whenever we bought light bulbs, it was always the 100 watt four-pack.
When I moved out and bought my first home, I was a little more energy conscious, and was drawn to the 75 watt pack. Still nice and bright. I happily lit my home with 75 […]

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