Move Smart Solutions Blog

The summer season brings warmer weather and the burning desire to get out of the house and experience the nature and beauty Texas has to offer. With the large number of parks and nature areas to camp in Texas, how will you choose? We’re all about saving you time and money, so don’t hire a travel agent – check out our list of the must-see camping destinations in Texas. So get out there and enjoy the clear, blue skies and wide open country that is Texas.

1. Inks Lake State Park

A short drive from the bustling city and cozy suburbs of Austin and into the gorgeous nature of the Texas Hill Country lies a hidden gem with activities the whole family can enjoy. Inks Lake State Park is a popular favorite among families native to the area and each summer it’s filled with visitors who occupy one of the 200 campsites or 22 cabins. Spend your summer days here kayaking, swimming or canoeing in the brisk Colorado River.

What makes Inks Lake a family favorite? There something for everyone and any age! Along with water activities, you can also spend the days fishing for sunfish, catfish and bass. Swim or hike to the legendary scenic spot, the Devil’s Waterhole. Daring cliff divers flock to this stunning spot and when the Valley Spring Creek is running, head upstream to experience and explore scenic waterfalls you won’t find anywhere else.

2. Colorado Bend State Park

This destination is a must-visit for outdoor enthusiasts. Colorado Bend State Park is a prime spot for “primitive” camping – you know, where you build and sleep in your own tent. Spend time pursuing traditional outdoor activities like hiking, biking, fishing, swimming, wildlife viewing or join one of the guided tours they offer in the park. If those don’t hit your sweet spot for adventure, explore underground caves on one of the Wild Cave Tours offered. You can crawl, slide, and climb through tight crevices and experience canyons few people have visited before. Don’t be afraid to get dirty and possibly drenched on these tours – they aren’t kidding about the crawling!

If you plan to stay above ground during your visit, join the Gormal Falls Tours. A two-hour guided tour includes a 1.5 mile round-trip hike through the rugged, yet beautiful canyonlands to the stunning main attraction of the state park, where chilly water spills over a limestone cliff and into a serene grotto. It’s a quiet, one-of-a-kind spot you can’t miss!

Buying a new home is a major accomplishment for many people. While reaching a new milestone and beginning a new chapter of their life is exciting, a new home can also mean new and potentially unexpected expenses for homeowners. New homeowners, utilize these money-saving tips for both inside and outside of the home!

Spruce up old or existing furniture

Purchasing a new home incites the feeling of starting over or beginning a brand new chapter. Many new homeowners feel inspired to buy all new furniture when moving into a brand new home, but furniture can add an expensive tab on top of new home costs. Instead of adding new furniture, bring new life to your décor by opting to repurpose your current furniture. If you really desire a fresh look, you can purchase used furniture to repurpose or keep as is and still save money.  

Install energy-saving appliances

Although most brand new homes are now built from the floor up with energy efficient products, you can do even more to save on energy costs. Consider purchasing energy-efficient appliances for your new home, like energy-efficient washing machines and dishwashers. For heating and cooling, programmable thermostats help regulate the air in your home while preventing fluctuating temperature and energy cost. Additionally, installing LED light bulbs throughout your home can save on the cost of replacement as well as reducing heat and saving hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in the long-run.

Purposeful planting to lower maintenance and energy cost

When new homeowners think about saving energy and maintenance costs inside the home, they don’t often think about doing it from the outside. By using purposeful planting strategies, new homeowners can plant shade trees near sides of the home where heat often affects them the most to keep cool air in during the hotter summer months. Keep lawn maintenance and landscaping costs at bay by reducing the number of bushes and flowerbeds in your yard as well as planting low-maintenance bushes and other plants, like succulents.

Organize maintenance lists, manuals, and receipts

Thorough inspections and deep cleaning appliances or other items in your household may seem time-consuming when you’re busy. However, proactive inspections and maintenance ensures your appliances and household products are in good working condition. Keeping a record of your major appliances and how often they’re cleaned and maintained – as well as warranty information, will help new homeowners ease the burden and headache of having to repair or replace it in the future. New homeowners should also properly store manuals and receipts in a place they can easily find them. This way, when something goes amiss, owners can attempt to repair the problem themselves, instead of hiring an outside professional, which can cost a pretty penny just to diagnose the issue.

Before you dive head-first into the spiral of spring cleaning and sprucing, you should take time to evaluate the safety practices within your home. Keeping your home safe for you and your family should be at the top of your priority list. Ensure your family is utilizing the best practices for safety within your home, and make our best safety tips the first items on your spring to-do lists.

Keep items out of reach from young children

Having young children in the home requires a particular level of thinking and planning in order to stay ahead of keeping them safe and away from breakables and household products that could harm them. Examples of basic safety tips to keep your home family-friendly:

• Keep your medicine in child-proof bottles and away in high cabinets
• Turn off and unplug hot tools – this includes hair styling tools in the bathroom as well as cooking tools in the kitchen that may remain hot after use
• Store heavy tools and hardware in the garage – if you can’t store it in the garage, at the top of a closet or cabinet could work
• Be cautious when storing cleaning products under the sink or any place where children and pets can find them

Safety on the staircases

For children, adults and even household pets, the staircase can become a hot spot for mishaps and accidents. A good precaution to take is to install small night lights that illuminate each stair step at night. If there are railings on the staircase, it’s also a good idea to measure the space between the rails and spindles so that a young child or pet cannot squeeze through them. If you want to keep children and pets off the stairs altogether, you could invest in a small gate that stays secure and locked at the top and the bottom of the staircase.

Backyard and pool

When spring time rolls around, you and your family will find yourselves spending more time out in the backyard. The warmer weather tends to bring uninvited guests to your yard, such as weeds and insects. In the front and back yard, you may be using products to eliminate pesky weeds and insects. If you have pets or small children that like to roam free throughout the yard, make sure you read the instructions and safety warnings on the product you use if you need to keep pets and children away.

If you have a pool in your backyard, you should follow proper maintenance guidelines for keeping it clean and chemically balanced. If you have children or pets you’d like to keep out of the pool when you’re not around, you could install a barrier or gate around the pool.

Spring is just around the corner and that means breathing some new life into your home. It’s the perfect time of year to clean out, freshen up, and do a little bit of redecorating. With so much to do it can be daunting figuring out where to start. Luckily, we have all the tips you need to help you prepare your home for spring!

Start Spring with a Clean Slate

Start by doing some simple cleaning around your house. Mop and vacuum floors, dust shelves and counters, declutter bookshelves, tables and desks. Take the chores you do throughout the year and add a little extra time and attention for a good start to your spring cleaning.

Spring cleaning is the perfect excuse to take care of semi-annual maintenance tasks as well! Here’s a quick checklist to help:

• Replace or clean HVAC filters
• Clean out your gutters
• Wash your windows (inside and out)
• Touch up any cracked or peeling paint
• Replace smoke detector batteries

Go through and see what on the list needs to be done, and make your home fresh and clean!

Decorating a house is an important part of making your home feel like, well, your home. When kids come into the picture, it gets harder to keep your home looking as nice and stylish as it once was. We have a secret to tell you: There’s no need to sacrifice having a fantastic looking home just because of the little ones. There are several ways to make any room look stunning while still keeping it kid-friendly! We’ve picked out some of our favorites to give you an idea of how to decorate your home while keeping those loveable mess-makers in mind.

Get Creative with Seating

If you’ve got a toddler wandering around, too-high seating areas and pointy edges might be a cause for concern. Considering replacing it with poufs or even a storage ottoman. These will be easier on the little one if any accidents happen. As your toddler grows, the poufs can provide extra seating for them and any playmates they might have over, freeing up couch space for the adults. And a storage ottoman can be great for quickly clearing toys off the living room floor before guests arrive. Poufs and ottomans are easy to move around, and can make great accent pieces to any room.

If you’re a DIY kind of person, you can take your old, rectangular coffee table and turn it into an ottoman with this handy guide!

Use an Outdoor Rug Indoors

Outdoor rugs are incredibly easy to clean, but they don’t just have to be kept outside. Find one that’s stylish to add a nice touch to your dining or living room. When the kids get messy during meal time or rowdy at play time, your floors will be protected and you don’t have to worry about an expensive rug being ruined!  These are also great to throw down in other high-traffic areas of your home, in case of muddy footprints or spilled drinks while your family moves about.

Camp Out Under the Christmas Tree

The night after you’ve finished decorating the Christmas tree, let the kids camp out on the living-room floor with the tree lit up. This will really get them in the Christmas spirit!

Make Reindeer Food

Cookies and milk are the classic Santa snacks, but he’s not the only one working hard Christmas night! Help your kids make sure the reindeer get fed too by mixing oats with glitter and sprinkling it out on the yard, the sparkle makes it easy for the reindeer to find.

New Year’s Prediction Jar

Are you prepared for Santa? If not, no worries, we have some great ideas to bring some Christmas magic into your homes and hearts!

You (and your parents) know that it is time for a smaller home. However, it does not make it any easier. You probably grew up in their home and have a lot of fond memories. They spent even more time in their home! It can be quite difficult to leave the home where they raised their family, even if they have an empty nest and want to downsize into a smaller house that is much more manageable.

Here are some tips to help your parents downsize to a smaller home.

• Give them time. It took them a lot of time to accumulate their things so it is not going to be sorted through in a weekend, especially with all of the memories. It takes time. Do not rush them (too much). You can help by going through their possessions with them by making 3 piles. One for items that they must keep. One for items that can be sold/gifted/donated. And another pile for junk/trash. Get rid of the junk pile first as this will make things easier during packing. Then, little by little, get rid of the 2^nd pile. Anything that remains from the 1^st pile can now be safely boxed and stored away for moving time.

• Help out as much as you can (or they will allow).Don’t make them pack up the house all by themselves. Help as much as they can, though some parents won’t want much help. They will want to do as much of the work as they can. Leave the heavier things for yourself and a friend or hire a professional moving company. All that will be left are the smaller items that they, or you, can handle. Make sure the boxes are appropriately labeled for each room the items will be in.

• Support them in their move.Some parents will want to stay close to their children while others will want to move to a retirement community in warmer weather. Though you may not like it, support your parents in their decision to move wherever they want to.

Maybe you have been thinking about selling your house for several months or maybe even a year. Maybe you just started thinking about it. You could be spontaneous and are just going to put your house on the market today because you feel like it. However, most people are not like that. They prefer to sell their house if they know that it is going to sell in a decent amount of time. They don’t want to waste their time and energy.

So, how do you know if it is good time to sell your house?

•   If you are interested in selling your home, then it may be a good time to sell. If you are serious about selling your home and moving into a better home, you should try to do it. No matter what the market is doing, if you are ready to move, you should try to sell your home.

•   If you meet with a Realtor, they will be able to tell you how the market is going. A Realtor will be very helpful when the time comes to tell you whether or not you should try to sell now or wait a little bit.

When it comes to the size of home on your wish list, don’t apologize for wanting a spacious home with a lot of bedrooms and bathrooms. According to a recent report by wsj.com, a lot of new construction homebuyers want larger homes even though some feel fascinated by the “tiny home movement.” While first-time homebuyers tend to buy the older, smaller homes in an affordable price range, move-up buyers long for at least 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms to accommodate a growing family. Commerce Department data cited by the Wall Street Journal also indicates a growing number of consumers rather own a home with a 3-car garage.

Making room for mom and dad

While some homebuyers want larger homes to make room for babies, there is also a multi-generational household trend. Many homebuyers in their 40s and 50s desire new construction homes with dual master bathrooms and extra living space for their aging parents. Because there are several generations living under one roof, it’s essential to have several bathrooms and a 3-car garage rather than the standard 2-car garage. If you live on a golf course, the extra garage room is likely used for golf carts.

Enjoying the indoor-outdoor flow

Another trend in new construction is to increase the living space with more outdoor areas. Especially in the warm-weather states, builders tend to build homes with patios. Whether you want an outdoor kitchen or just an area for gathering outside, capitalize on the building trend as a consumer. You can choose a floor plan that includes French doors that open from an eat-in kitchen and kitchen area to a covered patio. If you don’t have it in your budget to include a swimming pool now, check to make sure the community allows individual pools or other outdoor features that could interest you in the future.