Buying a lake house can be a great investment, regardless of whether you intend to use it as a vacation property or a year-round residence. With that said, you shouldn’t rush into buying a lakefront property just because it’s available. As with any house, there are some things that you should think about before you sign on the dotted line. Here are a few specific considerations you should keep in mind when looking at a lake property that’s for sale.

Smart homes and smart home tech are becoming increasingly popular these days. Various smart home devices, sensors and more can add new functions to a home, automating some tasks and even increasing your home’s security. Unfortunately, some homeowners run into problems with smart home devices that have to be on the same home network to interact. Traditional WiFi extenders sometimes create separate but overlapping networks, meaning that devices outside of the range of your wireless router might not work correctly.

There are ways to get around this, however. One option is to set up a mesh network within your home. Unlike traditional WiFi extenders, mesh network extenders create a single wireless network that all your devices can attach to. If you’re considering adding smart home devices and have signal problems within your home, a mesh network setup is definitely worth considering.

One of the biggest problems that many homeowners face is finding enough room to store all of their things. Some seek to solve this problem by adding a shed or other external storage solution, but not everyone has the room to add another building to their property. Others tackle the issue by renting a storage unit, but that means you have an ongoing cost and have to actually leave home to access your stored belongings.

There is another option, however: the attic. Whether you need additional storage space or could really use an added office space or bedroom, partially or fully finishing your attic could go a long way toward solving your space needs. If you haven’t considered converting your attic into usable space before, here are a few things that you should keep in mind while planning your project.

Whether you love mowing the lawn or hate it, it’s a job that needs to be done. As with most things, though, there’s a difference between doing it and doing it well. If you find yourself wondering why your neighbors have an amazing lawn while yours looks all the worse for wear, it could be more than just a matter of perspective; it’s possible that the grass really is greener on the other side.

This doesn’t have to be the case, though. Part of the problem might be how you’re caring for your lawn. If you haven’t put much thought into the specifics of yard care, here are a few things to think about. Changing how you think about mowing the lawn can have a big impact on the lawn itself, and your grass will thank you for it.

When you own your own home, there are a lot of small repairs and similar tasks that you’ll have to do at some point. You may also want to tackle some DIY projects or make some changes around the house from time to time. Regardless of what’s going on, you’re going to need some tools to get things done.

Which tools should you get, though? A lot of homeowners opt for basic premade tool kits but find that they don’t always contain everything that they’ll need for various home repair and improvement tasks. Whether you’re thinking of getting a kit or wanting to build your own tool collection from scratch, here are some of the basics that you should make sure that you have.

When it first hit the market, the Ring doorbell system seemed like a great way to keep your home safe. Not only do the cameras on the doorbell let you see who’s at the door, they also let you check to see who has come to visit when you aren’t at home. You can even use the video recorded by Ring to see if a missing package got delivered or to try and figure out who put that pink flamingo in your yard.

In the past few years, however, there have been some concerns about the safety of these video doorbells. Some reports suggest that the doorbells can be hacked, and certain groups have raised privacy concerns centered around how the doorbells operate. If you’re wondering how legitimate these issues are and whether Ring is safe for you to use in your house, here are some things to consider.

As spring turns to summer, more and more focus is shifting to outdoor activities and enjoying the wonderful summer weather. Unfortunately, not all of the weather is going to be so wonderful. Depending on where you live, you may face several severe storms during the summer as well as the usual summer storms and rain. Now is the time to prepare for storm season to make sure that you aren’t taken by surprise when bad weather hits.

Virtual home tours and showings are increasingly popular in real estate. They allow prospective home buyers to view the property on their own time, reducing unnecessary contact and helping them to avoid homes that they aren’t really interested in. A greater focus on virtual viewings can be a double-edged sword, however; still, photos and walkthrough videos don’t always capture the heart of a property the way that being there in person can.

Proper staging can go a long way toward fixing this problem. The rules of staging are a bit different when planning for virtual visitors than they would be if you were prepping for an open house or other in-person tours, though. Here are a few things to keep in mind when staging your home for a virtual tour to help ensure that online home shoppers are suitably wowed by your property.

It’s well known that the housing market is heavily influenced by the economy — especially local economies. When the economy is strong, people have more money for large purchases and investments in real estate. When things are tighter, though, a lot of prospective homeowners may start to ask whether they’re really ready to take on such a potentially large debt.

If you’ve been thinking of buying a home, you might be wondering about this yourself. How will economic problems, or even a recession, affect your home purchase? Will the local housing market all but grind to a halt? While it’s good to keep questions in mind so that you aren’t taken by surprise, the chance of a recession or other economic downturn having a profound effect on your home purchase is relatively low.

Throughout the years, the construction industry, and the trends that it follows, have changed significantly. While some key elements in construction tend to stay more or less the same, in other areas the industry needs to be adaptable to keep up with the changing wants and needs of consumers and other clients. So if you’re considering a change, but aren’t really sure what you want in your home, here are a few of the recent and upcoming construction trends to keep in mind.