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Source: "5 Tips to Save Money for a Down Payment"

Ugh. Mold. It’s ugly. It’s tenacious. It’s the uninvited guest that keeps visiting — no matter how rude you are to it. But, unwittingly, you may be setting up the perfect conditions for mold’s return: a food source, lots of moisture, and a pleasant temperature.

“You’ve got to eliminate one of those three legs of the stool so mold won’t grow,” says Pete Duncanson, director of system development for ServiceMaster Restore. “And it’s always easier to prevent than to remediate.”

Assuming you like warm showers and a comfy thermostat setting, there’s not much you can do about the temperature mold loves. But you can get rid of mold — and permanently prevent it — by controlling the other two factors: food and moisture. Here’s how.

Starve It Out

Mold is

A messy environment is actually good for your psyche.

Breaking news: Humans like stuff. Stuff they have. Stuff they like. Stuff they need.

But stuff just gets everywhere. Hence the trendiness of uber-organized spaces, hyper-cleanliness, and Marie Kondo-like thank-your-stuff-for-its-service-then-toss-it attitudes. But living in that state of constant tidying is exhausting.

Enough.

It is not a moral failing to have a slightly cluttered home.

And you know what? Life can be better with slightly more stuff. Here are seven reasons why:

#1 A Messy Environment Is a More Creative One

Being too tidy will stifle your imagination. Science says so.

There’s a lot of research showing messy surroundings encourage you to break the rules of

Buying a home is one of the largest financial investment you will ever make.

When else do you spend around over $200,000 on a single item?

Like other large investments, it makes sense to have an expert that is looking after your best interest. Because of the complexity of real estate transactions, rising number of home buyers are using REALTORS®. In 2013, about 88% of home buyers nationally purchased their home through a real estate broker. That’s up from 69% in 2001, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

Here are a few of the ways it helps to have a REALTOR in your corner:

REALTORS® know the process

1. As your client advocate, your REALTOR® is your market expert and master negotiator in one.
2. They are more that just

It’s not just whether you pay your bills on time that matters.

Like it or not, your credit score is one of the most important numbers in your life, ranking up there with your Social Security number, date of birth, and wedding anniversary. This three-digit number is your financial report card, except there’s no getting rid of it after college.

Your credit score shows lenders just how trustworthy you are when it comes to managing your finances, and it can either save or cost you thousands of dollars throughout your life. 

If you’re in the dark about just how significantly this number can impact you and the details behind your personal score, here’s an overview of what you need to know before hitting the mortgage application process.

How Your

The Grande Open House Weekend is now a statewide event where members can showcase their best properties. Access the New Mexico Home Search Toolkit to promote your real estate business and your listings during the largest open house event in the state.

How to Participate

Participating in the Grande Open House Event is FREE for NM REALTORS®! Enter your open house in Flexmls by Friday, September 30th  so it will populate on New Mexico Home Search website.   Download this PDF for more information.

REALTOR Open House Weekend How To Video

Download Video

Grande Open House Weekend
Saturday, October 1st & 2nd

How to participate in the Grande Open House Weekend:

Step 1:  Enter your open house details into the mls by Friday, September

From finding an inspector to dealing with surprises — this is your guide to getting a house checked out.

The first thing you need to know about home inspection: You’ll feel all the feels.

There’s the excitement — the inspection could be the longest time you’re in the house, after the showing.

Right behind that comes … anxiety. What if the inspector finds something wrong? So wrong you can’t buy the house?

Then there’s impatience. Seriously, is this whole home-buying process over yet?

Not yet. But you’re close. So take a deep breath. Because the most important thing to know about home inspection: It’s just too good for you, as a buyer, to skip. Here’s why.

A Home Inspector Is Your Protector

An inspector helps you make sure a house isn’t

Three young entrepreneurs give tips on staying organized and calm while living hectic lives.

Life is crazy. Cah-ray-zee. And while you wouldn't have it any other way from 9 to 5 (OK, more like 8 to 7), the insanity should stop at your front door.

That's why you bought your home, right? To have a place to rest, recharge, and come up with your next trailblazing idea. A few inspirational ideas for your home may be all you need to put it on the path to tranquility.

Three super-busy entrepreneurs — a brewery owner, website founder, and organic farmer — know exactly how important a tranquil home is to achieving personal success. Here, they share how they created Zen-like havens in their homes to foster stress-relieving routines.

A Nook to Bliss Out

Good Neighbors are REALTORS® and Affiliates that dedicate themselves to volunteer service. They donate gifts, money, and most importantly, a lot of time to their charity.

REALTOR® Myra Herrmann has been recognized as a Good Neighbor recipient because of her contributions to Cloud Dancers Therapeutic Horsemanship Program. This local non-profit has provided hundreds of disabled individuals the opportunity to therapeutically interact with horses to address cognitive, physical, emotional, and social well-being.

Those who respond to therapeutic riding include individuals with Down Syndrome, Autism, MS, paralysis, amputations, ADD, ADHD, developmental delays, Cerebral Palsy, brain injuries, strokes, drug or alcohol abuse, hearing and vision

There are no dumb questions to ask a real estate agent.

Home buying seems simple enough: Find a house you like that’s close to work or school, tell someone you want to buy it, and move in.

But there's more to it than that. You’ll have to find and get approved by a lender who will let you borrow a few hundred thousand dollars, lock in a mortgage rate, figure out how much house you can afford, put in an offer that will entice the seller, get an inspection and an appraisal, pay closing costs and sign a whole bunch of paperwork.

Phew! We need a break just thinking about all the questions to ask when buying a house.

Your real estate agent can help you understand the process. But if you don’t ask questions or get your agent to clarify something you