With Summer here, and the kids out of school, some families are wishing they had a more functional catch-all space for the “stuff” of Summer break.  Not every home has a mudroom, and not every homeowner has the budget to add a mudroom onto their most-used entryway. Here are some ideas to turn any entry space into an organized “mudroom.” 

• There are some must-haves for a mudroom space:  a place to hang coats and bags, storage for the small stuff, and seating is nice for shoe removal.  You can DIY, hire a carpenter, or repurpose items for your drop off spot. 
• Toy boxes with a closing lid makes a perfect bench and storage area for removing and storing shoes.  Add family member-specific baskets inside so everyone’s things stay together. 
• With some inexpensive crates, stained boards and double hangers, you can easily create a pretty space for coats and footwear.  See this simple and functional corner space from A Beautiful Mess for inspiration. 

• Pick up a sturdy old piano bench at a tag or yard sale, dress it up with paint to match your decor, add cushions, put a couple of storage bins or baskets underneath, and you have instant mudroom.  The seat even lifts to store keys, gloves, or the family’s flip flops! 
• If there’s a large enough wall space, create a board-and-batten wall, add coat hooks, and you have an almost instant vertical storage area, and it looks great, too!  Learn how to do this inexpensive project from The DIY Mommy. 
• Mount some inexpensive shelving, add hooks, and you have a place to hang your coats as you come inside, and a shelf for stashing the other stuff.  Add a lower shelf with hooks for the kids’ belongings. 
• There are many clever ways to remake a closet into a mini mudroom, and even make it pretty! Find inspiration from these ideas at Farmhouse Blooms. 
• Who said that your mudroom space has to be inside?  If your family goes inside via the garage, just use the above tips to create your mudroom space.  Add plastic storage containers by the door for shoes, boots and other awkward items, and the mess stays out of the house! 

Sometimes we have to re-think our spaces, and carving out an area in our homes for a makeshift mudroom may take some thought, depending on your home’s layout.  Just focus on the area that most of the coming and going is happening, and what your family needs most for a drop-off area.  You’ll soon be a little more organized, and have a cleaner home as a bonus! 

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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Photo credit: rafaelmartinez.me

July 3, 2018

Village Center of Baldwin Park
4801 New Broad Street
Orlando, FL 32814

6:00 PM to 11:00 PM

The Village Center will come alive with nearly 100 participants and sponsors of all kinds offering lots of fun including: shopping, a showcase of artisans and craftsmen with works for sale, festival snacks/food trucks, a beer garden, face painting, balloon art, interactive activities, and more!  The event will feature a Main Stage near the lake featuring DJ BradmasterJ and live music from Baldwin Park’s very own ROOM2 BAND.

Event Website

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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Photo Credit: baldwinparkevents.com

Carbon monoxide is a silent killer you don’t want in your home but because it is colorless and odorless; you may not even be aware the deadly condition exists. The Center for Disease Control says more than 400 people in the U.S. die annually from carbon monoxide poisoning and over 10,000 require medical treatment each year.

Unmaintained furnaces, water heaters and appliances can produce the deadly gas. In addition, other sources could be leaking chimneys, unvented kerosene or gas space heaters or exhaust from cars or trucks operating in an attached garage.

The Environmental Protection Agency suggests the following to reduce exposure in the home:

• Keep gas appliances properly adjusted
• Install and use an exhaust fan vented to the outdoors over gas stoves
• Open flues when fireplaces are in use
• Do not idle car inside garage
• Have a trained professional inspect, clean and tune-up central heating systems annually

Headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and feelings of weakness or fatigue are a few of the most common symptoms. Lower levels of exposure to carbon monoxide may be mistaken for the flu.

Carbon monoxide alarms should be on every level of a home and especially, in sleeping areas. The alarms can be purchased for as little as $25 and plugged into the wall like a night light.

Regardless of the government requirements, no one would want to put their family, guests or themselves at risk for something so deadly.

By: PatZaby.com

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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June 30 – September 24, 2018 m- 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

1920 N. Forest Ave.

It’s the great fairy migration happening at beautiful Leu Gardens this summer!  Explore the 50-acre gardens to find where the fairies live. This whimsical exhibit will feature fifteen one-of-a-kind fairy doors which will inspire your child’s imaginative world of mythical forests and secret gardens.  All you must do is find these beautiful doors and let your child’s creativity do the rest!  The fairies will call Leu Gardens’ home from June 30 – September 23, 2018.

Admission to the Enchanted Fairy Doors Exhibit is included in the daytime garden admission: $10 adult, $5 children (ages 4-17 years).  Leu Gardens’ Members and all children 3 years of age and younger receive free admission.

For more information call (407) 246-2620

Event Website

Photo Credit: leugardens.org

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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June 24, 2018 – 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM

Celebrate Caribbean American Heritage Month with us through a one day festival and business expo.  Experience the Caribbean through fashion, culture, food, music and business.  You will enjoy a wonderful mixture of a Cultural Expo and Business Expo all under one roof at Orlando Fashion Square Mall.

Orlando Fashion Square
3201 East Colonial Drive
Orlando, FL 32803

Event Website

Photo Credit: Eventbrite.com

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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A principal residence and a second home have some similar benefits, but they have some key tax differences. A principal residence is the primary home where you live and a second home is used mainly for personal enjoyment while limiting possible rental activity to a maximum of 14 days per year.

Under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Mortgage Interest Deduction allows a taxpayer to deduct the qualified interest on a principal residence and a second home. The interest is reduced from a maximum of $1,000,000 combined acquisition debt to a maximum of $750,000 combined acquisition debt for both the first and second homes.

Property taxes on first and second homes are deductible but limited to a combined maximum of $10,000 together with other state and local taxes paid.

The gain on a principal residence retained the exclusion of $250,000/$500,000 for single/married taxpayers meeting the requirements. Unchanged by the new tax law, the gains on second homes must be recognized when sold or disposed.

Tax-deferred exchanges are not allowed for property used for personal purposes such as second homes. Gain on second homes owned for more than 12 months is taxed at the lower long-term capital gains rate.

This article is intended for informational purposes. Advice from a tax professional for your specific situation should be obtained prior to making a decision that can have tax implications.

By: PatZaby.com

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

Get Orlando Daily News delivered to your inbox! Subscribe here!

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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The Kissimmee Real Estate Market Trends Report for 34741 shows 63 homes sold in May 2018 down from 65 in May 2017. The average sales price was $168,552 compared to $183,713 in May 2017 and homes were on the market an average of 33 days, down from 61 days in May 2017.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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The Windermere Real Estate Market Trends Report shows the average sales price was $675,249 in May 2018 compared to $520,697 in May 2017. Homes were on the market for an average of 73 days, down from 77 days last year. Homes sold for 97% of the list price.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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The Celebration Real Estate Market Trends Report for 34747 shows 166 homes sold in May 2018 compared to 138 in May 2017. The average sales price was $335,844 compared to $281,616 in May 2017 and homes were on the market an average of 116 days, compared to 103 days in May 2017.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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