Even after your real estate agent helped you find your dream home, there are a few things you might want to improve such as a new deck, a larger kitchen, an updated heating system, or a new roof. For many, simply paying for an improvement isn’t possible, but that doesn’t mean your home improvement dreams can’t become a reality. There are a few options for financing your improvements.

Refinance Your Mortgage

This can be a simple way to pay for a big improvement, especially if your mortgage isn’t favorable to you in the first place. You do need to be careful if you take this route. You don’t want to refinance an improvement that will not last as long as the loan. Using the loan to replace a roof that will last a couple decades may be worth it.…

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With 2017 coming to a close, parks across Utah are set to break attendance records.

The Spectrum reported, attendance was up 5 percent from last year at Zion with 4.4 million visitors as of the end of November. Bryce Canyon was at 2.5million visitors up from the 2.4 million visitors last year. Capital Reef has already seen 1.1 million visitors. Both Bryce Canyon and Capital Reef have doubled their visitors in the past decade. Canyonlands and Arches have also past the records from last year.

Discussion about the increased visitors has focused on Zion as attendance is up 70% since 2010. The park is the fifth most visited national park in the country and is a huge part of Utah’s tourism industry.

The number of visitors in the parks has many…

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The winter holiday months are NOT the most popular time to put a house on the market. In fact, home sales are at the lowest in the winter. For some sellers, this time may be their only choice. If you are putting a home on the market during the winter, here are a few tips that can help you be successful.

Find the Right Buyers

People that are house hunting during the holidays are usually on a deadline due to a job relocation or emergency move. Targeting this kind of buyer will hopefully help you sell the house faster.

Stage a Cozy House

Winter and the holidays can be a fun time for staging your house. Some tasteful holiday decorations can help the potential buyers see the potential in the home. Be careful with the number of decorations…

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House Republican leaders proposed a tax bill Thursday that would reduce the popular mortgage interest deduction by 50%, for some households. Currently, homeowners can deduct interest payments for mortgage loans up to $1 million. With the newly proposed bill this deduction would be preserved for existing mortgages, but would limit new purchase loans up to $500,000.  In addition, the rule allowing homeowners to deduct property taxes from their taxable income would be capped at $10,000.  If passed, the bill will most assuredly have a negative impact on housing and real estate nationwide.  In a statement, National Association of Realtors President William Brown said, "Eliminating or nullifying the tax incentives for homeownership puts home values and…

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For many fall is when life gets a little crazier after a relaxing summer—school starts, schedules get busier, and the holidays inch closer. As life gets crazier, doing a beginning of fall clean of the house will help you keep your days organized. Here are a few things you should do both outside and inside the house at the beginning of fall.

Outside

-Wash your exterior windows—this can be done with a squeegee or a hose.

-Clean your patio furniture—even though you will still get plenty of use out of these in the fall, it is still a good time to clean them after being used all summer.

-Inspect your windows and doors—make sure they are all closing and sealed properly.

Inside

-Organize the closets—with a more hectic life, there is less…

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After an early summer fire burned 71,000 acres in Brian Head, the area is looking forward to winter skiing season. The fire led to a two-week evacuation of the mountain town. While the town did open for the rest of the summer, the area saw some effects of the fire for the rest of the summer.

Most summers, Brian Head is a destination for mountain biking, hiking, zip lining, and other outdoor adventures. This area’s Fourth of July celebration usually brings in 80 percent of the towns tourist revenue according to The Spectrum. This year’s celebration brought in about a quarter of tourists as compared to recent years. Tourism picked up, but the town hopes winter will bring more tourism.

Brian Head is one of the best ski options for people living in…

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Trail Tuesday took me to the Bloomington area of St. George, Utah.  I noticed that there are beautiful homes for sale in the Bloomington area.  The homes in this area of Southern Utah seem to be very unique, one-of-a-kind homes in beautiful dessert settings.  I hiked around the hills in Bloomington and ended my hike at the Bloomington Petroglyph Park.  This park is a very small park with large boulders that have hundreds of petroglyphs on them.  The area is fenced, but there is an opening so that you can walk right up to the carvings.   There is also a bench for you to sit on to view the engravings on the beautiful boulders.   

Many of the carved images represent humans and animals, as well as designs and possibly early trail maps.  I looked…

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The St. George Lions Dixie Roundup Rodeo is being held this weekend.  The dates are Thursday, September 14 – Saturday, September 16, 3017 at the historic Sun Bowl.  This is an annual event that is approved by the Professional Rodeo Cowboy’s Association.

The website boasts that “you will not be disappointed by the action and excitement of the Dixie Roundup!”  The event features professional rodeo champion cowboys that are fearless bull riders, fast paced barrel racing and an exciting mutton busters activity. 

The website also lets you know that their “famous and incredibly tasty hamburgers will be available for dinner.”   

Information

Location:

Historic St. George Sun Bowl

100 South 400 East

St. George, Utah

Times:

Gates…

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I have been reading about different hot springs located in Southern Utah.  I have always wanted to visit the Meadow Hot Springs in Meadow, Utah.   This past weekend I was travelling back to my home in St. George from a fun visit to Snowbird and I found the perfect opportunity to stop and explore the hot springs.

Meadow Hot Springs is located just south of Fillmore, Utah in the quiet town of Meadow, near Kanosh.  These hot springs are a unique, natural treasure out in an open field in the area.  The hot springs are located on private property, but the landowner has made it accessible to the public.  There is a walking path that connects three different pools.    

The pools are crystal clear with the main pool getting as warm as 100 degrees.  The…

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I am amazed at the number of Southern Utah homes that have lush, green lawns.  I moved into a new home in the Little Valley area of St. George from Farmington, Utah.  I quickly started asking how we could maintain our new existing, green lawn.  I spoke to our landscaper and my neighbors and these are the things they told me to do to keep my lawn green in this sunny, warm climate. 

  1.        Keep your grass cut regularly to prevent weeds
  2.        Keep the blades on your lawn mower sharp, so that you are cutting your grass not tearing it
  3.        Don’t cut your grass too short - removing more than 1/3 of the grass blade will stress out your lawn  
  4.        If your soil is tough, aerate it to loosen the ground
  5.        Fertilize your lawn two…

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