Just by cleaning or changing furnace and dryer filters regularly, you’ll save money, have cleaner air and clothes, protect your home from accidental fires,and your furnace, A/C and clothes dryer will last longer.

Air Conditioning - According to HowStuffWorks.com, a dirty air filter is one of the most common reasons that an AC unit will stop working. Air filters catch dust and keep it from circulating throughout your home. If the filter gets too clogged, the AC has to work harder to push the cold air through. The cold air has no place to go, so it circulates back into the evaporator coil, causing it to freeze and fail. Permanent filters are easily removed, washed outside with a hose, and reinstalled. Replace pleated paper AC filters every one to three months.

Clothes dryer -  According to JoeFilter.com, the lint trap in your clothes dryer is the first line of defense against lint buildup.  Simply pull it out, clean it, and put the contents in the trash every time you use the dryer.

Some lint may escape the trap and go into the dryer vent, the flexible silver duct that vents to the outdoors. If the vent gets blocked, it takes longer to dry your clothes (wasting energy) and could spark a fire. Clean your dryer vent at least once a year.

Angieslist.com suggests that a typical asphalt shingle roof will last about 20 to 25 years, depending on variables such as the quality of the shingles, the professionalism of the installation, homeowner maintenance over the years, and, of course, the weather.

Your roof should have several lines of defense or redundancies. If one part fails, such as when a shingle blows off, there should be other protective layers such as an underlying membrane, flashing around chimneys and sealants that prevent the roof from leaking.

Leaks through the ceiling, missing shingles, frayed or curling shingle edges, or erosion of the mineral granules are all signs that it’s time to repair or replace your roof.  Have your roof inspected by a reputable roofing contractor, who can also tell you if the roof was properly installed and maintained.

Check with your homeowner’s insurance company about whether you have coverage on roof damage. Insurance.com warns that many companies will amortize coverage according to the age of the roof and refuse coverage if the roof has two or more previous layers of roofs or if the roof is 20 years or older.   

In June 2020, average mortgage interest rates fell below three percent for the 30-year-fixed-rate mortgage – the lowest level in modern recorded history, according to Mortgage News Daily. What caused such a dip?

 

Mortgage Bankers Association’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index hit its lowest number since June 2014. The simple reason is that lenders don’t like uncertainty, so to secure those lower interest rates, borrowers are subjected to higher credit score qualifications (700 or higher per JP Morgan Chase), the temporary shelving of some loan programs (no new jumbo loans per Wells Fargo) and higher down payments (at least 20 percent). Other criteria lenders use to limit risk includes lower loan-to-value ratios and higher income-to-debt ratios from borrowers.

Yet, despite a rocky economy, President Steven Fase reports that Berkshire Hathaway Michigan Real Estate had its best July in the history of the company this year.  June mortgage applications were up a whopping 13 percent over the previous year. Freddie Mac forecasts that interest rates will remain at or near record lows and that housing prices will moderate throughout 2021.

So, what does this mean to you, the homebuyer or homeowner? If you have good credit, steady employment, and a sizable down-payment, you’re in great shape to refinance or obtain a mortgage loan. In other words, nothing’s changed except tighter qualifications for higher-risk borrowers.