Real Estate Insights

The cost savings and gratification of do-it-yourself (DIY) home repairs often motivate homeowners to tackle projects ranging from laying hardwood floors to fixing a squeaky garage door. Here are some resources to help you with your next DIY project:

Check your library or bookseller. Most libraries offer various DIY titles. Besides multi-volume series on home improvement, clients can find single titles on specific jobs, such as plumbing, windows or kitchens. For clients who prefer to purchase their books, a vast selection of titles is available online. Barnesandnoble.com offers more than 8,000 home repair-related items, while amazon.com has more than 9,000.

The Internet. The web is full of how-to reference sites, blogs, podcasts and discussion groups. By simply accessing their favorite search engine and typing in a few keywords, clients can pinpoint DIY information and either print it out or add it as an easy-reference bookmark. Four great sites are onthehouse.com, doityourself.com, ehow.com and hometips.com.

Home improvement and hardware stores. Aside from having a great selection of DIY books, most retail centers employ home-repair experts -- and some even offer training courses on household projects, from easy to complex. Check out their websites for more how-to information.

Some final advice: If you don’t have much DIY experience, such as many first-time homeowners, you should consider starting with novice-level projects, and work your way up to more complicated jobs as you acquire new skills and knowledge.