Keeping your home well maintained is a great way to ensure it retains its value. Here are some easy home maintenance tips that you can do to help take care of your home.

• Drain your water heater.  Over the course of a year, hard water sediment tends to collect at the bottom of your water heater tank. The sediment deposits reduce the efficiency of your heater, costing you money. To drain your water heater, simply connect an ordinary garden hose to the outlet spigot near the bottom of the water heater tank. If possible, drain the water into a sink, tub, or floor drain, as pumping the hot water outside is likely to kill your grass due to the temperature of the draining water. 
• Sharpen and clean your garbage disposal all at once. By putting a few ice cubes into your disposal and running the unit, you are quickly cleaning and sharpening the blades of the unit!  
• Change your furnace air filter. Experts recommend changing your furnace filter once a month. Filters are cheap and can be purchased at most discount department or home supply stores. If you haven’t done it in a while, there’s no time like the present!

Just a few simple things like these will help keep your home in great shape.