Anything that affects a dryer's airflow can cause the appliance to fail and possibly create a dangerous fire hazard, warns Doug Rogers, president of the Mr. Appliance repair chain. And when it comes to washing machines, the leading cause of costly home damage is hose failure.

Here's a list of maintenance tips to keep your washer and dryer running smoothly and safely:

            •Replace vinyl dryer exhaust ducts with metal ductwork to reduce fire hazards.

            •Before every dryer load, clean out the lint filter.

            •Every three months, wash the lint filter with detergent to remove invisible chemical residues that can restrict airflow.

            •Every month, visually inspect the dryer exhaust duct for crimps, obstructions, and unnecessary bends.

            •Yearly, remove and clean out the entire exhaust duct line from dryer to exterior.

            •Replace rubber washing machine hoses with braided-metal ones to reduce the risk of bursting. Expect to pay about $8 per hose.

            •Monthly, inspect washing machine hoses for tight fittings, bulges, cracks, and leaks. Tighten loose fittings. Replace damaged hoses.

            •Always ensure that the washing machine is level and on firm footing.

            •Always use the proper type and amount of detergent for the machine and load.

            •To prevent washing machine odor in front-load machines, always allow the interior to dry before shutting the door. Families with small children, however, should not leave the door ajar. Instead, use products specifically intended to eliminate odor-causing residues.

Douglas Trattner has covered household appliances and home improvement for HGTV.com, DIYNetworks, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. During the 10-year stewardship of his 1925 Colonial, he's upgraded almost every household appliance. After lengthy deliberation, he recently replaced an aging top-load washing machine with an energy-efficient front-load unit.

Home Loan Products To Consider: Financing Southwest Montana Homes

In lieu of conventional lending programs there are many other, more flexible programs available to help those desiring to achieve homeownership. Out of the many home loan programs available, the VA, FHA, and USDA programs are the more popular as each provides flexible eligibility requirements and competitive interest rates, in addition to other numerous benefits.

All a potential homeowner has to do is simply pick whichever program best suits their needs, and, if they are eligible, begin enjoying a better home buying experience that will require less out-of-pocket expenses.

The VA Loan

Are you or were you a member of the military? Consider a VA loan. A VA home loan is a loan partially backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and is available to veterans or active duty service members. Because the VA ensures part of each loan, borrowers receive flexible and competitive loan terms making it ideal for any prospective home buyer. Benefits of the program include:

· zero down payment

· no required mortgage insurance

· flexible debt-to-income ratios

The FHA Loan

Looking to purchase your first home, or just wanting to update your current home? An FHA loan may be the best option for you. The FHA home loan program offers a variety of different programs to help borrowers purchase their first home, renovate a fixer-upper, or even update their current home to be more energy efficient. FHA even has a financing option for manufactured housing and mobile homes. Benefits accompanying a FHA loan include:

· 3.5% down payment

· low closing costs

· down payments can be made in the form of a gift

The USDA Loan

Looking to live outside city limits, or in a more rural area? A USDA loan might be for you. Through its Department of Rural Development, the USDA provides two types of loans: a Guaranteed Housing Loan, and a more flexible option, the Direct Housing loan, for low-income households. In addition to offering the comforts of country living, a USDA loan offers:

· Zero down payment

· No mortgage insurance

· flexible credit guidelines

All of these home loan programs provide potential borrowers, even those with imperfect credit, with the opportunity to purchase a home. Over 75% of each of the program's participants would not have been able to achieve homeownership though a conventional loan.

Although the programs all offer flexible eligibility requirements, many approved lenders will desire a mid-range credit score of at least 620. Even if a potential borrower is concerned about their credit or their eligibility, they are still encouraged to apply as borrowers with a history of foreclosure and/ or bankruptcy have been approved in the past.

(Thanks to: Brandon Fischer is a blogger for VA Benefit Blog, a blog dedicated to keeping veterans up to date with all their VA benefits.)

Make your house FHA-friendly, and it will appeal to more homebuyers. Why? Because the Federal Housing Administration is insuring the mortgage loans used by about 30% of today's homebuyers.

If your house passes the FHA rules, it will appeal to buyers who plan to use an FHA-insured mortgage. If your house doesn't qualify for an FHA loan, you're cutting out 30% of potential buyers.

FHA is especially important to first-time homebuyers and those with small downpayments because it allows borrowers with good credit to make a downpayment as low as 3.5% of the purchase price.

Here's how to make your home appealing to FHA borrowers:

Know the FHA loan limits in your area

Start by checking to see if your home's listed price falls within FHA lending limits for your area (https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicostlook.cfm). FHA mortgage limits vary a lot. In San Francisco, FHA will insure a mortgage of up to $729,750 on a single-family home. In the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the loan limit is $271,050.

Home inspections

Most buyers will ask for a home inspection, whether or not they're using an FHA loan to buy the home. You must give FHA buyers a form (http://www.ncradon.org/docs/foryourprotection.pdf) explaining what home inspections can reveal, and how inspections differ from appraisals.

How much do you have to repair?

If the home inspection reveals problems, FHA will not give the okay to buy the home until you repair serious defects (http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/files/05-48ml.pdf) like roof leaks, mold, structural damage, and pre-1978 interior or exterior paint that could contain lead.

Dealing with FHA appraisers

Help the lender's appraiser by providing easy access to attics and crawl spaces, which usually must be photographed, says appraiser Frank Gregoire in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Your buyer can hire his own appraiser to evaluate your home. But FHA only relies on reports by its approved appraisers. If the two appraisals conflict, the FHA appraisal preempts the buyer's appraisal.

Help with FHA closing costs

Most FHA buyers need help with closing costs, says mortgage banker Susan Herman of First Equity Mortgage Bankers in Miami. So a prime way to make your house FHA-friendly is to help with those costs.

FHA currently allows sellers to pay up to 6% of the sales price to help cover closing costs, but is considering lowering that limit to 3% in the fall of 2010.

If you're selling a condo

FHA also has to approve your condo before a buyer uses an FHA loan to purchase your unit. Be sure your condo is FHA-approved for mortgages (https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm). The list has been updated, so if your association was approved a year ago, check again to make sure it's still on the approved list.

FHA generally won't insure loans in condo associations if more than 15% percent of the unit owners are late on association fees. Ask your property manager or board of directors for your association's delinquency rate.

Other rules cover insurances, cash reserves and how many units are owner-occupied (http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/files/09-46aml.pdf) and the types of condos that can be purchased with an FHA mortgage (http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/files/09-46bml.pdf).

FHA sometimes issues waivers for healthy condominiums that don't meet the regular rules. If your condo isn't FHA-approved, it doesn't necessarily have to meet every single rule to gain approval. Ask your REALTOR® to consult with local lenders about getting an FHA waiver for your condo if it doesn't meet all the requirements.

FHA also limits its mortgage exposure in homeowners associations. With some limited exceptions, no more than 50% of the units in an association can be FHA-insured (http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/files/09-46aml.pdf).

FHA loans for planned-unit developments

FHA no longer requires lenders to review budgets and legal documents for planned-unit developments.

More from HouseLogic

Show Your Support for FHA (http://www.houselogic.com/articles/show-your-support-for-FHA/)

Other web resources

Why Ask for an FHA Loan? (http://www.hud.gov/fha/choosefha.cfm)

Find a State Program to Help Homebuyers Afford Your Home (http://www.hud.gov/buying/localbuying.cfm)

Terry Sheridan is an award-winning freelance writer who has covered real estate for 20 years, and has owned and sold three homes.

You just received a purchase offer from someone who wants to buy your home. You're excited and relieved, until you realize the purchase offer is much lower than your asking price. How should you respond? Set aside your emotions, focus on the facts, and prepare a counteroffer that keeps the buyers involved in the deal.

Check your emotions

A purchase offer, even a very low one, means someone wants to purchase your home. Unless the offer is laughably low, it deserves a cordial response, whether that's a counteroffer or an outright rejection. Remain calm and discuss with your real estate agent the many ways you can respond to a lowball purchase offer.

Counter the purchase offer

Unless you've received multiple purchase offers, the best response is to counter the low offer with a price and terms you're willing to accept. Some buyers make a low offer because they think that's customary, they're afraid they'll overpay, or they want to test your limits.

A counteroffer signals that you're willing to negotiate. One strategy for your counteroffer is to lower your price, but remove any concessions such as seller assistance with closing costs, or features such as kitchen appliances that you'd like to take with you.

Consider the terms

Price is paramount for most buyers and sellers, but it's not the only deal point. A low purchase offer might make sense if the contingencies are reasonable, the closing date meets your needs, and the buyer is preapproved for a mortgage. Consider what terms you might change in a counteroffer to make the deal work.

Review your comps

Ask your REALTOR® whether any homes that are comparable to yours (known as "comps") have been sold or put on the market since your home was listed for sale. If those new comps are at lower prices, you might have to lower your price to match them if you want to sell.

Consider the buyer's comps

Buyers sometimes attach comps to a low offer to try to convince the seller to accept a lower purchase offer. Take a look at those comps. Are the homes similar to yours? If so, your asking price might be unrealistic. If not, you might want to include in your counteroffer information about those homes and your own comps that justify your asking price.

If the buyers don't include comps to justify their low purchase offer, have your real estate agent ask the buyers' agent for those comps.

Get the agents together

If the purchase offer is too low to counter, but you don't have a better option, ask your real estate agent to call the buyer's agent and try to narrow the price gap so that a counteroffer would make sense. Also, ask your real estate agent whether the buyer (or buyer's agent) has a reputation for lowball purchase offers. If that's the case, you might feel freer to reject the offer.

Don't signal desperation

Buyers are sensitive to signs that a seller may be receptive to a low purchase offer. If your home is vacant or your home's listing describes you as a "motivated" seller, you're signaling you're open to a low offer.

If you can remedy the situation, maybe by renting furniture or asking your agent not to mention in your home listing that you're motivated, the next purchase offer you get might be more to your liking.

More from HouseLogic

6 Tips for Choosing the Best Purchase Offer for Your Home (http://buyandsell.houselogic.com/articles/6-tips-choosing-best-offer-your-home/)

6 Reasons to Reduce Your Home Price (http://buyandsell.houselogic.com/articles/6-Reasons-To-Reduce-Your-Home-Price/)

Marcie Geffner is a freelance reporter who has been writing about real estate, homeownership and mortgages for 20 years. She owns a ranch-style house built in 1941 and updated in the 1990s, in Los Angeles.