Why You Should Consider Repairing or Add Gutters To Your Home

Good rain gutters are an integral part of a home's exterior. rainbow gutter Old, damaged or defective rain gutters can cause a lot of damage. When a gutter clogs, the water is not diverted properly and overflows into either the house or foundation. This can cause wood rot, foundation problems and landscaping erosion. In addition to damage to your home, a rain gutter clogged with soggy leaves and debris is the perfect breeding ground for mold and mildew, as well as mosquitoes and other pests.

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Discount Prescription Drug Card - FREE to Broward County Residents

Americans are paying more for prescription drugs than ever before. Without prescription coverage, staying healthy can come at a high price. With the Palm Beach County/National Association of Counties (NACo) Prescription Discount Card provided to you in a joint effort with Caremark, you can save money on many of your prescription purchases.

Any county resident without prescription coverage can use this program. Even if you have insurance for prescription drugs, you may still benefit from the discount card, since it may save you money on prescription drugs your existing plan does not cover.

Everyone is eligible!

No income requirements
No age requirements
Unlimited use for the whole family

The Rx Prescription Discount Card is:

Valuable. Save an average of 20% off the pharmacy’s regular price on all commonly prescribed prescriptions and an average savings of 50% on 3-month supplies of select generics through mail service. Savings are also available on high-tech and injectable drugs through our specialty pharmacy.
Easy. There are no claim forms to fill out and no annual fee to pay.
Convenient. Over 59,000 participating pharmacies nationwide, 296 are right here in the county!

More Information: Rx Card Home Page at Broward County

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Home Improvements Reduce Capital Gains Tax

By: Kay Bell - Bankrate.com

If you stand to cash in big when you sell your home it's important to remember that every dollar spent on home improvements, remodeling and renovations can mean a dollar off your federal tax bill when that day comes.

That's because money spent on capital improvements is subtracted from your profit -- if and when you sell -- and thereby reduces the amount you may have to pay as long term capital gains tax.

This is how it works: When you sell your home very often you get to experience one of the best things about the way your home has by realizing a tidy profit. That's also one of the worst things.

If you net more than the IRS exclusion amount, you'll have to share some of your sale proceeds with Uncle Sam. tax savings

Tax law allows a single homeowner to escape an IRS bill on the first $250,000 in home-sale profit and $500,000 for married couples. But some owners find that's not generous enough. This is often the case where an owner has lived in the same house for many years. Even in areas where the real estate market has softened somewhat, many sellers are still making a pretty penny on their sales.

Building on your basis
Basis, the IRS term for your home's value, begins with the amount you paid for your house. It includes settlement and closing costs and any debt. If you inherited the property, your basis is its fair market value on the day the previous owner died.

Home improvements that meet IRS guidelines can increase your home's basis. The tax agency says the property-related project must either materially add to the value of your home, considerably prolong its useful life or adapts it to new uses.

Common improvements that meet IRS specifications include putting a recreation room in your unfinished basement, adding another bathroom or bedroom putting up a fence, putting in new plumbing or wiring, installing a new roof and paving your driveway.

"If you replace all the flooring in a room, that's a capital expenditure," says Frederick M. Stein, RIA senior tax analyst from Thomson Tax & Accounting. "If you need to just replace some tiles, that's a repair. Anything that would require the old floor to be ripped out totally is a capital expenditure."

Similarly, thoroughly redoing a bathroom by taking out the old fixtures and putting in new ones or adding tiles to a wall that had been painted are capital upgrades that will add to the home's basis.

Projects that will add to your home's basis:

Additions: Bedroom, bathroom, deck, garage, porch, patio
Interior improvements: Built-in appliances, kitchen modernization, flooring, wall-to-wall carpeting
Insulation: Attic, walls, floors, pipes and duct work
Heating and air conditioning: Heating system, central air conditioning, furnace, duct work, central humidifier, filtration system.
Plumbing: Septic system, water heater, soft water system, filtration system.
Lawn and grounds: Landscaping, driveway, walkway, fence retaining wall, sprinkler system, swimming pool
Miscellaneous: Storm windows and doors, new roof, central vacuum, wiring upgrades, satellite dish, security system

If you're a single home seller and your gain is s $250,000 or less, you owe no taxes. That exclusion amount is double for married homeowners who file a joint return. Also remember that to take this exclusion, you must have lived in the home for two of the last five years that you owned it.

Documenting the work
Any time you do make a major improvement to your home, be sure to file away all the associated paperwork. You'll need it when you do sell and have to figure your home's adjusted basis and how much profit you recognize on the sale.

"It could be years between the times you make those expenditures and when you need those records, that they become important," says Stein.

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New Year's Resolutions For Your Home

By: Big Momma - AssociatedContent.com

Why not get out of the resolution rut and make different resolutions this New Year? Resolve to do something that is attainable, something that will add comfort and value to your own home.

Resolve to conserve water and electricity. With nearly a year long drought in the south, we have become more conservation conscious. Fix any leaky faucets, upgrade bathroom fixtures like the shower head or toilet with the low-flow type. This will add beauty, style and function to your home in the short term, and resale value in the long term. Stop drafts and heat loss by putting weather strip around doors and windows. If you pgrade any kitchen appliances, look for the Energy Star rating of the appliance. A new energy efficient heat pump and cooling system will pay for itself in savings in a couple of seasons.

Resolve to keep your home maintained. Make those minor repairs before they become big repairs. Keep wood painted or treated with water seal, so a deck or exterior wall won't rot over time and have to be replaced. Fix that small leak in the roof before it becomes a big leak that will require extensive repair and a new roof. Caulk around tubs, sinks and showers to prevent interior water damage. Patch the cracks in the concrete and seal any gaps in the siding.

Resolve to keep your home safe. Check the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detector. Choose dates to check the batteries twice a yearly, an easy way to remember to do this is do on the two dates a year that the time is changed. Clean and inspect your fire place or wood burning stove, check for gas leaks on all gas appliances and furnaces.

Resolve to go green. Recycle paper, aluminum and plastic. When doing home repairs or new construction, choose environmentally friendly products or repurpose things that you already have.

There is a procrastinator in each of us, we have planned to conserve energy, check the smoke detector batteries and take care of those minor home repairs, we just have not gotten around to it yet.

Make a New Year's resolution to get around to doing these things for your home this year. Depending on the size of the home projects, it just might help you keep last year's resolution to loose weight and get in shape.

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Looking to Lose Weight in the New Year?

Massage Therapy can help you reach this resolution:

Improved help due to the many benefits of therapy (i.e. improved circulation, greater flexibility, better sleep, feeling so wellness, and reduced muscular pain).
Stay on your workout plan with reduced or eliminated soreness.
Massage Therapy can prevent soreness and minor injury that would interfere with you workout plan.

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