One GCFI may control several different outlets or rooms in your home, and you need to know where they are and how they work, because if one of them trips and you don’t know to check it, you may be paying an electrician to push the reset button, when you can do it yourself for free!

And that’s just the start. Chances are likely you know where your electrical box is, but is that box labeled properly? Do you know which breaker switch operates which appliance or part of the house? You could find yourself stumbling in the dark for hours if something happens to the power in the dead of night and you don’t know which breaker needs to be flipped. Even if your box is labeled, take an extra minute or two, and label the switches with names you recognize. “2nd bedroom”, for example, can be named “Billy’s room”. You can do this by process of elimination now, and avoid hassles later.

Also, there’s a master electrical cutoff, usually located adjacent to the circuit breaker box. That one switch cuts off all the power everywhere and that’s important to know in case of an emergency.

Make sure you know how your phone system works, and whether the equipment to operate the phone is inside or outside your home. Some modern fiber optic based systems actually don’t work when the power goes out, or if they do, it’s only for a short period of time on a back-up battery. If you’re not sure, call your phone company and find out, so you can plan accordingly during power outages.

One good idea, program the telephone and power company emergency numbers into your cell phone. It might be the only phone that works, if there’s a massive outage.

And speaking of power outages, do you know how to open your garage when the power is out? That’s something you really need to know before you have a problem, isn’t it? By the way, in case you don’t know. Most garage door openers have a red release knob hanging at the bottom of a rope in the garage. If you pull that knob, the door will be released from the motor, and you can then open the garage manually. So now you know.

Also, do you know where your water supply comes into your home, and how to shut that off? If you don’t find out, you’ll wish you had when you see water dripping from the ceiling the day that pipe breaks unexpectedly! While you’re at it, find out where all of your cutoffs are for your toilets, your washing machine, even your icemaker. That way, you’ll be able to isolate a particular problem without having to cut off the water to your entire house.

And also make sure you know how to turn off the water supply to the outside spigots, especially in cold weather states. If your outside pipes freeze up without being drained in the winter, they could burst, and cause hundreds or thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.

And finally, if you have gas, find out where that cut-off is, too. Now remember, no one should mess around with natural gas unless you’re a professional, but even so, if a professional comes to your house to do some work, they’ll appreciate it, and your bill will be lower if they don’t have to search for the gas shut off.

Even if you’re far from being a do-it-yourselfer, there are still a few things you need to know, just in case. If you’re a homeowner for any length of time, you’ll find that “just in case” happens with some frequency, and you’ll be happy you took the time to learn exactly what makes your home tick!

2. While you’re at it, change your air filters! You’re supposed to do it once a month, but do you? No, neither do I, but if we all did it more often, we’d be saving more energy and lowering our utility bills!

3. Here’s something you need to do just once every couple of years but you do need to do it! Drain your hot water heater and let all of the sediment that gathers out of the tank. You might be surprised just how much sand and grit gathers in there.

4. Clean your gutters at least once a year, and check them even if you have gutter guards. This will protect your home from possible leaks, especially in the wintertime when ice dams can form and let water inside.

5. Clean out your lint and not just the stuff hiding in your belly button! Keeping your dryer’s vent clear will save lots of energy and add years of life to your clothes dryer!

6. Clean and seal your wooden deck. This really should be done at least once every two years. The longer you wait, the less effective your cleaning job will be, and the shorter your deck’s lifespan will become.

7. Check the caulk and the grout in your bathrooms. Wet floors above make for dripping ceilings below if you give water a place to leak!

8. As we mentioned in the first hour, turn off the water supply inside, then make sure to drain your spigots outside before winter comes. This chore will take a minute and save you perhaps thousands of dollars in plumbing costs when your pipes don’t burst!

9. When was the last time you cleaned the filter on your range hood? Did you even know you have one? Clean it out to get rid of grease and grime, and you’ll find your kitchen fan works a whole lot better!

10. Check the weather stripping on your doors and windows. Can you feel a draft coming through? It’s no wonder you freeze in the winter. Put down some new stripping, and watch your savings rise as the temperature falls!

Remember, the better you maintain your home, the more you’ll enjoy it, and the longer you’ll keep the repairman from your door!

Now, if you’re one of the unfortunate homeowners who have seen your home mortgage go underwater, or, who has, heaven forbid, lost your home to foreclosure, we can certainly sympathize and understand why your current view of homeownership might be less than positive.

But that view is also woefully short-sighted. It’s more than a little ironic that the same American society that has put so much faith in smart, safe, long-term real-estate investment is now clashing with its “evil twin”, the short attention-span culture that expects and even demands a quick return on investment, or even worse, a fast buck made on no investment at all! It’s a battle of the tortoise versus the hare ramped up for the 21st century!

We’ve been so busy flipping homes and focusing on making bigger and faster profits over the past decade, that some of us have forgotten there are not only ups but also occasional downs for any type of investment.

Do you really think that underwater mortgages are just a phenomenon of the past couple of years? Homeowners have been facing the same challenges forever , they just never received the same amount of attention, because, over time, most of these situations work themselves out.

And yes, it’s clear that mistakes were made. Too many well-meaning and hard-working people were lured into making deals they had no business making, accepting the sales pitches of lenders who never warned them of the dangers of buying homes with no money down, then being saddled with monthly payments they could barely afford, even when times were good.

Those mistakes are being corrected, because the truth remains that the model still works for most Americans. Money invested in real estate today will appreciate in value over time, building equity and buying power for its owner, and eventually, a healthy return on that investment. If handled responsibly, with patience and without short cuts, owning a home is as safe and sensible an idea as it has ever been.

And to drive that point home, we’ll close with a list of 10 reasons to buy a home. In fact, the Wall Street Journal created this list as a rebuttal to our friends at Time Magazine.

1. You can get a good deal. It’s a buyer’s market.

2. Mortgages are cheap. The lowest rates ever.

3. You’ll save on taxes.

4. It’ll be yours. You want a purple bathroom? Go ahead. You own it!

5. You’ll get a better home. In many places, it’s tough to find a nice place to rent.

6. Protection against inflation. Your mortgage payment remains steady, but rents rise.

7. It’s risk capital. When the economy improves, so will home prices, and you’ll already be in the market.

8. It’s forced savings. You’re building equity, whether you like it or not!

9. There’s a lot to choose from. There are 4 million homes for sale in the US. One is bound to be right for you.

10. Sooner or later, the market will clear. The economy will improve, demand will increase, supply will fall, and life will go on.

And then, of course, you’ll really be glad you bought a home.

Studies show that homeowners are not as transient as renters are. Demographically, they are older and have larger incomes. They are more established in their jobs and better educated as well. Their children often grow up – from pre-school to high school graduation – within the same school district, and that helps them to form friendships that can last a lifetime. They get better grades, and there are even studies that suggest homeowners’ children are at lower risk of teenage pregnancy.

Homeownership matters.

It matters in schools, which are supported by the property taxes of homeowners – homeowners who make very deliberate decisions about where they buy, based on the quality of education in the neighborhoods they’re considering. Those parents are so invested in the decisions they’ve made that they support their schools through volunteer work and fundraising efforts.

Homeownership matters.

It matters that people of different backgrounds make choices to live as one community. Each family in that community shares a financial stake in keeping their homes and streets clean, attractive and safe. And with taxes being what they are, here’s one other important truth. Homeowners vote, and they do so in far greater numbers than renters do.

And when all is said and done, homeownership matters because it provides a real bond between you and your neighbors. Renters may come and go, but as a homeowner, you’ve established roots with the other owners on your block that will serve you well through the years, even if you’re not exactly the best of friends. You’ll find yourself marking time by watching the neighbors’ kids grow up. You’ll shovel out of blizzards together, share gossip at the grocery store, and grab each others’ vacation-time mail.
And it all adds up.

From your own home, and throughout your community…and all across America, homeownership provides the nation with stability, security and strength.

Homeownership matters. To people, and communities, and America.

By April of 2009, America was just starting to climb out of the trough that had been dug by the banking collapse at the end of 2008. Wall Street had hit rock bottom just a month earlier, when the Dow closed on March 9th at the 65-hundred mark. By April, it had rebounded to nearly 8-thousand mark, and just this past week, it’s been flirting with 11-thousand.

The stock markets are well into recovery because America is as well. A year ago, the jobless rate was climbing with no end in sight. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were still being lost each month. Now, the rate has steadied – in fact, it’s remained the same for the past three months, and in March, the economy actually added jobs – 162-thousand of them – the fastest pace in three years. A sure sign of better things to come.

But there’s still a lot of work to be done on the unemployment side of things…consider that overall, last March, the unemployment rate sat at 8-point-5 percent, and today, it’s at 9-point-7.

With more people now looking for work, consumer confidence is on the rebound. In fact, that index has more than doubled over the past year.

Now, there have been worries that the housing market is actually lagging the rest of the economy. And, it’s true that foreclosures are pacing the market right now and driving down prices. The national median price for a home is 165-thousand dollars –nearly two percent less than a year earlier.

Those lower prices are proving to be a catalyst to get home sales moving again. Combined with the federal tax credit and mortgage rates that remain near historic lows despite some recent increases, many Americans are not tasting lemons, but lemonade, as they enjoy the opportunity to become homeowners.

The Pending Home sales report issued just this past week suggests we’re in for a spring surge in home buying, with new contracts outpacing last year’s totals by double digits across the country. Even in a buyer’s market, all homeowners will benefit in the long run, because greater sales will drive down inventory and create a more stable housing market.

So what’s all this mean to you? Let’s take a look at that. If you’re a homeowner with no plans to move? You might benefit by possibly refinancing your home with a lower interest rate…savings that will carry well into the future.

If you’re buying…you’re able to take advantage of some of the most affordable conditions in history, Prices are low, interest rates are low, and the tax credits make a good situation even better.

And if you’re selling? Well, some areas are enjoying price gains. That’s a welcome development. Also, in many areas, it’s taking far less time to sell your home. The increases in buying activity are driving down inventory in many parts of the country…meaning you’ll have fewer competitors when it comes to selling your house.

But let’s remember that whether you’re buying or selling, we’re still in a fragile recovery and this is no time to go it alone. You’re going to need the skills, the expertise and the local market knowledge that only a REALTOR® can provide.

So as we take this Snapshot of America…it’s clear. There’s still a lot of hard work ahead. But many of us can see those green shoots of recovery in our states, in our neighborhood, and maybe even in our individual real estate transactions. And as always, all of us here at Real Estate Today wish you success…in every part of your real estate pursuits.

When we asked REALTOR® Elizabeth Blakeslee what exactly a Home Owners Association was her answer was simple: “A system of communal living.”

An HOA can take care of small things, like yard maintenance at your townhome, to big things, like paying for your subdivision’s pool, or mediating disputes between neighbors. And while we’ve heard horror stories about overzealous HOAs, they are a good thing. Without them, you might wake up one morning to find your neighbor’s house painted purple!

Elizabeth says that if you’re buying a home and are concerned about restrictions, make sure you read the rules! If you’re looking at a home in a neighborhood with an HOA, they are required to give you a list of regulations and fees associated with the group. For example, Elizabeth says in Washington, DC, you’re allowed three business days. Take a close look at their budget, as well, to see what they spend your money on. If you don’t like it, or don’t like the rules associated with it, look elsewhere for a home.

Every association has a different level of governing depending on where you are. Some associations in subdivisions watch over everything from how you mow your lawn to the color of your home to the height of your fence. They also take care of common areas, including playgrounds, tennis courts and pools. Smaller communities generally have less oversight. Elizabeth also notes that the more there is in your community, the higher your HOA fees are likely to be. Make sure you take that into account when you’re shopping for a home!

Elizabeth Blakeslee is NAR’s 2008 Regional Vice-President for the Mid-Atlantic Area, and a REALTOR® with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Washington, D.C.