So, you're finally a homeowner -- congratulations! This is an important step in anyone's life, and it's absolutely normal to feel somewhat (or wildly) unprepared for the realities of owning a place of your own. What if there's an emergency, or what if something breaks? Do you know what to do?

Here's the good news: Like so many things in life, it's not what you know; it's who you know. Some homeowners take years to get all of these names and numbers in their mental address books or their smartphones, but if you start trying to find these essential people in your homeowners' network early, then you'll have an easier time handling any problems.

An Insurance Agent
If you have a mortgage loan on your home, then you're going to need homeowners'…

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Washington, DC Metro(various colors) Condos & Coops (in yellow) In Bright MLS, the median sold price for Condo & Coop properties for October was $338,750, representing an increase of 2.7% compared to last month and an increase of 5.9% from Oct 2022. The average days on market for units sold in October was 24 days, 21% below the 5-year October average of 30 days. There was a 2% month over month decrease in new contract activity with 2,088 New Pendings; a 0.3% MoM decrease in All Pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from September) to 2,628; and a 6.6% increase in supply to 4,383 active units.

This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 0.60 pendings per active listing, down from 0.64 in September and a decrease from…

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Dogs left alone all day get bored and restless, and many find relief in barking. Some respond noisily to any and all activity. But nothing is as annoying as incessant barking, even for dog lovers. If your dog is a yapper or a yowler, please consider some of these bark-abatement ideas to keep the noise down in your area. Your neighbors will thank you!

  • Training. Always the first recommendation for any behavioral problem! Help is as close as a Google search. Training not only helps your dog, but you’ll be surprised how much it helps you, too. You may get some insight into why your dog barks so much, or what it is trying to communicate.
  • Citronella collars. A humane alternative to the electric-shock, anti-barking collar and costs about the same.…

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Years ago, when I lived in an apartment, I decided to install a water filter onto my kitchen sink. I figured a could save the cost of paying a plumber to do what I could do myself. After all, I’m pretty handy when it comes to home maintenance. So, I hit up the home depot for a nice water filter, Rodman’s for a nice bottle of wine (a red blend), and then went back home to do my Ask This Old House thing.

Two glasses in, I’ve got the filter installed, Damian Marley & Nas playing in the background, and my filtered water is flowing beautifully and tastes like purity. Another home installation in the books…

Feeling a sense of accomplishment, I go to bed that night and fall into a deep satisfying slumber. At 3:45am, I’m jolted out of my sleep and…

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