Spring cleaning is a tried-and-true tradition — but that doesn’t make it any more pleasant. We’re already one month past the Vernal Equinox, and if you haven’t yet started your spring cleaning, you’re probably not alone. Thankfully for all of us who dread this annual task, LifeHacker has put together 10 ways to ease the burden. From using your dishwasher and bathtub to clean things you may never have considered putting in them, to magic tips for removing pet hair and cleaning those hard-to-clean items (think shower heads, ovens).

One of the great benefits of home ownership is the ability to take tax deductions unavailable to those who are renting. And that’s not just limited to your interest payment — you can often get great tax benefits from home improvements. But in order to do so, you need to understand the difference between what the IRS counts as home repairs and home improvements. Generally speaking, repairs, maintenance and upkeep, and even renovations don’t help much. But home improvements might. Don’t Mess With Taxes wrote a pretty good article covering the basics. Of course, as always, you’ll want to consult with your tax advisor before making any specific plans.

Primary Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is a payment with which most new homeowners must contend. Generally, you have to pay PMI if your equity (i.e., your down-payment on a new purchase) is below a certain threshold. For many people, that can be worth it, because in exchange for a nominal increase in monthly payment (the PMI), you may be able to purchase much more home than you could if you were required to put 20% down. But just because it can be a good idea up front doesn’t mean you should keep paying it for ever. The Iowa Gazette provides a quick little case-study that contrasts paying enough more towards your mortgage to remove PMI vs. putting more into your 401k. It’s well worth the read.

One of the great things that humans can do is make predictions. The quality of those predictions is an entirely different matter. Nevertheless, it’s fun to think about where we’ll be in 10, 20, or 100 years — and for the shorter periods, it can be fun to see which predictions come true and which don’t. Popular Science has been making predictions about The Home of The Future since 1956. Take a look at that, as well as more details on a futuristic home from 1990, and see how well predictions held up — and which didn’t. Now it’s your turn. Take a few minutes and imagine what your home of the future might look like.

Based on the success of yesterday’s post, we see there’s a strong interest in getting up to speed on mortgage terminology. Main St. provides this handy guide covering 10 terms that you should learn if you’re thinking about buying a house. They cover the basics of everything from the relationship between Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, to the various different costs. Both real-estate agents and mortgage brokers are prone to throwing this jargon around as if it’s well understood, but we understand that might not be true for you, and we want to help.

Sometimes mortgage and real-estate professionals get so caught up in things that we forget that you, our customer, may not be an expert at all of the industry lingo. This article by The Motley Fool does a great job of explaining the high-level differences between the two major types of mortgages available today. Not only does it cover the main differences between fixed and adjustable rate mortgages, but there’s a little bonus information on how you can help boost your retirement savings. Registration is required, but it’s free.

If you’re like me, you probably don’t clean your windows until you notice that they’re incredibly dirty. And maybe not even then. Did you know it’s recommended to clean them twice per year? According to This Old House, we amateur window washers hate it because the way we’re doing it is too much work — and to help us out, they’ve provided some easy, step-by-step instructions to follow that will let you clean your windows the way the pro’s do it. They’ve broken it down into 3 simple steps, with instructions for both multi-pane and picture windows, and they’ve even provided a bonus for handling extra stubborn spots.

Requirements for mortgages today make getting the money you need for a home a lot harder than before the housing crash. However, it’s also quite a bit harder to get a mortgage than before the housing boom in the early 2000s (boom or bubble, your choice). Some researchers claim that more than 4 million mortgage applications fell short of the finish line between 2009 and 2013 that would have been approved had the standards from 2001 been used. Read more about this interesting insight here.

Winters, Springs, Summers and Falls all team up to put a beating on your deck. And now that summer is approaching, you are probably getting your first real look at the condition of your deck for the upcoming BBQ season. Get your deck in shape with a good cleaning, staining and sealing that will last for years to come by checking out the video in this article. Take 5 minutes to learn from a pro here. (Enjoy the Australian accent too, mate.)

Mobile homes, or manufactured housing, are made in a central location and then moved and assembled at a specific location. The cost is considerably less for manufactured housing than for traditional on-site homes. Manufactured homes account for about 6% of all housing, but are underrepresented in the total number of loan originations. The reasons can be from poor credit to financial vulnerabilities, so what kind of mortgages are available? Read more here.