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Craig Diez - Diez & Sigg Properties

SPCA DOGGY DASH RELEASHED!

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Join forces with Diez & Sigg Properties and Silver Oak Funding to help save the lives of thousands of animals at this year’s Doggy Dash Event, benefiting the Sacramento SPCA. 

The health and safety of our community continues to be a top priority so this year’s event is a VIRTUAL experience! Just because we won’t be walking side by side, doesn’t mean we can’t still walk together to save more lives! 

On June 27, walk around your neighborhood with your pup, hit a local park or trail, or get creative at home with your pooch. The Sacramento SPCA will be kicking off the walk LIVE on Facebook and you will be able to share your photos, videos and participate in activities throughout the day! You will still see some of their famous Bark in the Park games and contests to participate in right at home! They will be tracking all the fun using the hashtag: #DASHRELEASHED

Ways You Can Contribute: If you would like a Doggy Dash T-shirt, you can register under our team as an individual. Click here to view our team page. Click on this direct link to register as an individual under our team.

NEW T-SHIRT DEADLINE: June 5 is the LAST day to guarantee your shirt size!  Your registration fee will make a difference for the animals who continue to need our help during the COVID-19 crisis.

Buying That First Home

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Do you remember buying your first home? I recall that it was a very exciting yet stressful time. I had only been married for a few years. I was literally tired of paying the rent. A lot of people told us that we could get a house for less than our rent which is a total eye-opener. After we got our first house, we did our darndest to not have to rent again. Just having something that was our own was very gratifying.

Craig Middleton writes on how to make that first home possible.

Buying a home is an exciting life event that most people never forget. If you do not know what you are doing you can make some mistakes that can have major consequences. But with the right amount of information and a good head on your shoulders you will not regret your first home purchase.

Set yourself up for success by using these five tips when buying a house:

Repair and Build Your Credit

This is a step that has to be done before you start negotiating rates and looking at houses. If you have a lot of debt to pay off you will need to start paying it off or find some way to repair your credit. You want a good credit score because that will allow you to get better rates on a mortgage.

If you do not own a credit card you will want to get a credit card. You can start out with a nice credit card for beginners that will not cost you anything. All you have to do is pay off the credit card monthly. Use it for purchases that you would normally make such as gas and rent. Instead of using your debit card or cash use your credit card and pay it off on time.

Down Payment

To buy a house most people need to take out a mortgage, which is a loan specifically meant to buy a house. Most people will not be able to pay 200,000 plus dollars in one payment so they take out a mortgage and pay that off throughout the years.

You are going to need some kind of down payment to get the mortgage that you want. Typically anywhere from a 15 to 20 percent down payment is what banks and lenders are looking for when issuing a mortgage. There are zero percent down mortgages but, as with any loans, there are pros and cons to them.

Find a Realtor

You do not have to have a realtor but a lot of people do not know a lot about home buying so they hire a real estate agent. There are perks of using a real estate agent such as not having to deal with a lot of the paperwork. Real estate agents are great if you are too busy to do all of the nitty gritty work of buying a house. They are also great if you are brand new and not really sure what to do.

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5 Home Decor Projects That Incorporate Nature Indoors

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When I think of nature indoors, the first thought that comes to mind is the mud that my kids track into the house after they have been outside with nature. Then, we clean it up. My second thought has me looking around to see what plants we have in the house. Of those, which ones are faring well and which plants needed watering.

Kara Masterson passes on five home decor project ideas that bring nature inside.

When you enjoy nature, you can bring it inside your home to improve your mental outlook and your physical well-being. Here are five home decor projects that will incorporate nature indoors.

Add Plants to Your Home

You can add beautiful planters to your home for a variety of lush and green houseplants, but today, some homeowners are creating hanging moss walls that create a natural appearance in a room. Instead of hanging paintings or photographs on a wall, you will have a special material where moss or other types of plants can grow.

Beautiful Water Features

You can bring artificial water features into your home to create a natural ambiance. There are large or small water features available that you can fill with water. These devices may resemble waterfalls or fountains. Some of these water features cover an entire wall while others are easy to place on a tabletop. These water features have pumps that require electricity to help the water flow.

Natural Window Coverings

Rather than using flimsy fabric curtains on your home’s windows, choose wooden window blinds instead. You can find blinds that are made from light or dark colors of wood that will match your home’s baseboards, doors or furniture. It is possible to select a variety of sizes of blinds for different types of windows. The natural color and grain of these blinds is beautiful, giving each room a special ambiance.

Stone Countertops

If your home has an ugly old-fashioned vinyl countertop in the kitchen, then have it replaced with stone. Each piece of stone countertop is unique, but you can find different colors to create a special ambiance in a room. There are granite, slate and quartz countertop materials available, and a technician can cut the materials to fit precisely in your home’s kitchen.

Skylight Windows

You can hire a contractor to add skylights to your home in strategic locations. This will give you additional natural sunlight that will help you to feel better. Instead of installing one huge skylight, you can have multiple small skylights installed. These are especially attractive in homes that have vaulted ceilings to add lighting to spaces that include kitchens or living rooms.

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The Home Improvement Decisions that You will Never Regret

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When I think about home improvement decisions for the house, I tend to see what my wife has up next on her major home to
do list. Of course, then I check the budget to see what we have available for funds.

Lidia Staron gives us some insight on decisions we make that are just right.

When it comes to home improvement, homeowners have a myriad of options at their disposal. However, this is not to mean that all of these options are the best. While some fixes and renovations in a home can turn your home into a perfect setting, others end up causing more harm than good. Right from landscaping to wiring and kitchen renovation, home remodeling needs careful consideration to avoid future regrets.

What to Avoid
While some home remodeling options may look trendy on the surface, they may not be ideal for a long term engagement. For instance, one of the trends you would not want to get involved in is specialty finishes on hardware. While most homeowners find specialty finishes on the bathroom or kitchen trendy, their relevance does not last long. Furthermore, they are expensive to have them installed or changed. So considering their up-charges and the fact that they are a thing of the moment, it may not be worth the effort.

In most cases, homeowners would try to do all they can to improve the overall outlook of their bathroom. However, some of these additions may be unnecessary. For instance, while adding a veined marble wall to your bathroom is a beautiful endeavor, going overboard can prove overwhelming since, in a few years, it will look outdated. The same applies to graphic tiling that seems trendy at the moment. At this age, Pinterest and Instagram, soon everybody will be going for it, and it will not be desirable in a few years to come.

What to Focus on in Home Remodeling
So you have everything figured out and are set up to make your investment in home renovation. Before starting your renovation project, make sure to budget all your expenses. With a detailed budget, you will know, whether is it better to consider a personal loan for home improvement or to use your savings and pay with cash.

Where do you start? With funds ready, you ought to go for priority aspects of your home remodeling. The following are some of the notable areas to lay your emphasis.

Storage
Come to think of it; a building is essentially meant for storage apart from being home. This fact explains why one will go to great lengths to create several rooms of various storage purposes. Over time, we accumulate a lot of stuff, and it only makes sense to create enough space for the same. Consider both your current and future storage needs when creating these spaces. This applies to both the interior and exterior storage.

Infrastructure
Apart from location, the home’s infrastructure can become a make or break point for your home remodeling design. By building a custom home, you have the autonomy to decide where each of the main features will be located. This is in addition to the assurance that whatever is used under the floor and behind the walls is high quality. Some of the notable infrastructural considerations in home remodeling include electrical systems, cooling systems, siding, plumbing, insulation, and windows. Work hand in hand with your architect or designer to ensure each of these works to improve the overall performance

Rise of the Colorful and Cultural Kitchen Backsplash

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I admit to watching a lot of the flipping homes shows just to get some new ideas on changes to make to the inside of the house. One of those changes has been adding value with the kitchen backsplash. There is something about this that tends to make a home look on the high-end side depending on what kitchen backsplash is chosen. We are looking at new designs now and are all in on something that is popular for 2019.

Elliot McGowan offers up some of the different choices and varieties of kitchen backsplash.

Kitchens of today strive to be as sleek and simple as possible. They are not a room of the home that we tend to decorate extravagantly. Instead, we stick to minimalistic and monochromatic decor that modern kitchen design advocates. Muted, neutral colors like pastoral whites and creams are the go-to options and bright, vibrant colors have become taboo choices. Today kitchen designers don’t recommend anything more complex than a two-tone kitchen that contrasts a light shade with a dark shade. But that is not to say that decorative design and splashes of color should be eradicated from kitchen design entirely.

One area we predict a surge in popularity is in the kitchen backsplash — an often overlooked feature of modern kitchen design. Historically, backsplashes are an extra layer of tiling placed on walls behind worktops, sinks, and stoves to protect them from food splashes and spillages. They have always been an integral part of the kitchen but not just for their practicality and hygiene — they are also a fantastic way to inject color and character into a kitchen. Tiles have a decorative prowess and with many different styles originating from all over the world, there is a multitude of stunning options at our fingertips. Here are some extravagant backsplashes inspired by cultures around the world, from Mexico’s Talavera tiles to the Netherlands’ famous Delftware blues.

When talking about tiling and backsplashes, Portugal’s Azulejo tile is one of the first that springs to mind. Anybody who has visited Portugal may recognize the style. Tiling is extremely common in the Mediterranean as tiles don’t retain heat so help to keep places cool in high temperatures. They are also, however, an important part of Portuguese culture and identity. Azulejo tilework actually dates as far back as the 13th century and was brought to the Iberian Peninsula when the Moors invaded what is now Spain and Portugal. Azulejo in Arabic means “small polished stone” and originates in northern Africa.

The last few centuries saw an explosion in Azulejo popularity. Today, it is common to see Azulejos adorning churches, palaces, schools, restaurants, bars, and train stations, as well as regular homes. They are also used extensively in interior decoration. In the kitchen below the Azulejos inject a perfect degree of character into the kitchen. The pastel blue, beige and yellow colors are soft and modest, rather than overpowering. The mandalas are decorative but not excessive, they complement surrounding neutral walls without creating a busy effect.

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Are you a Renter? It May be Time to Own Your Home.

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In the Sacramento Bee, Vincent Moleski covers in detail rental costs across Sacramento and surrounding areas. I know for myself when I rented, I would check to see what my rent could buy me as far as getting a home and having a mortgage. If you have not checked lately, it may be that time. Read on as rent prices escalate depending on area.

Rents in Sacramento grew moderately in the past year, outpacing national trends with a year-over-year growth rate of 4.1 percent and a month-over-month growth rate of two-tenths of a percent, bringing the city’s average rent to $1,401, according to RentCafe’s most recent monthly report.

RentCafe, an online real estate service and apartment listing marketplace, analyzed nationwide housing data from the month of July using the Yardi Matrix and found that average rents in Sacramento grew faster in the last year than the U.S. average, although rent in the California capital is still cheaper.

Nationwide, the average monthly cost of rent was $1,469 as of July, an increase of 3.4 percent in the last year — a bit under Sacramento’s growth rate — and 0.2 percent in the last month, which matched Sacramento’s month-over-month growth rate, according to the report.

Some pricey Sacramento suburbs saw sharp rent increases in the last month, such as Folsom — which saw the sharpest monthly price spike in the area — where the average monthly rent of $1,873 increased by 1.5 percent, Rocklin, where the average monthly rent of $1,718 increased by 1.2 percent and Roseville, where the average monthly rent of $1,790 increased by 0.9 percent, according to RentCafe.

Elk Grove’s rent costs averaged $1,753 and grew a full percentage point in the past month, while Rancho Cordova’s rent costs averaged $1,396 and grew 0.6 percent in the past month, according to the report.

Other suburbs remained relatively affordable. Rents in Carmichael average $1,205 and grew by 0.5 percent in the last month, while rents in Citrus Heights average $1,342 and grew by 0.2 percent in the last month and rents in Fair Oaks average $1,440 and grew 0.3 percent in the last month, according to RentCafe.

Davis is the most expensive place in the state to rent in, according to RentCafe, and although housing costs increased by just $2 in the past month, the average monthly rent in the Yolo County city is $2,169 — though that still beats out Bay Area prices.

San Francisco, one of the most expensive cities in the country, has an average monthly rent of $3,706, an increase of fourth-tenths of a percent from last month, while in San Jose renters can expect to pay $2,792 per month, according to the report. The only place more expensive than San Francisco is Manhattan, where renters pay $4,222 monthly on average.

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Craig Diez

916-425-5884|Contact Craig