By Paulette Stiles
Rowan Public Library

Everyone wants a place to call home, and Rowan Public Library is dedicated to providing information and inspiration for all human endeavors, including finding a home. At the library, you can find a number of resources that will help you find out more about home renovation, home buying, alternative forms of real estate such as tiny houses, buying rural houses and homesteading. Finding out more about how to buy, what to buy, what terms mean and what conditions to watch out for before you buy or renovate can save money, time and a whole lotta hassle.

When thinking about buying and/or renovating a home, visit Rowan Public Library online anytime to find videos such as these video series gems:

“Green-ovating: Home renovations for a Sustainable World.”  This is a video series on renovations to make your home more energy efficient and sustainable.

“The Home Inspector.” This series offers information on how an inspector inspects and evaluates a home, useful to know when evaluating a new house.

These and other videos can be found in the Films on Demand Video Database from NC Live under Library Services, Digital Services, NCLive.

There are also ebooks on the subject available to read from any device, anywhere, or to consult using a smart phone throughout the process. One to consider is “Buying a Home: The Missing Manual,” by Nancy Conner. Conner offers information about buying all kinds of homes including fixer-uppers. Another of interest is “Home Improvement Projects for the Busy and Broke,” by Christina Salway offering ideas on how to turn a fixer-upper farmhouse into a home.

For those interested in small living, there is Gerald Rowan’s “The Big Book of Small House Designs: 75 Award-Winning Plans for Your Dream House, 1,250 Square Feet or Less,” by Don Metz and “Tiny House Designing, Building, & Living — Idiot’s Guides,” by Andrew Morrison and Gabriella Morrison offering insight and ideas for homes on a smaller scale, both mobile and more permanent structures. These ebooks are available from North Caroline Digital Library with your library card number and pin. Contact RPL at 980-432-8670 should you need assistance checking out ebooks.

There are many ways to get into a home, and Rowan Public Library Rowan Public Library has created a spring series of events on real estate, offering in-person events for those who wish to explore options. The library has teamed up with Habitat for Humanity and Farm Credit for a couple of events offering insight and information about alternative real estate options. On Feb. 15 at 3 p.m., Coleman Emerson, executive director for Habitat for Humanity Rowan County, will be on hand to offer insight into how that organization works, how a Habitat house gets made, and go over first steps for applying for a Habitat House. On March 15 at 6 p.m., Amanda Harkey and Danelle Cutting, specialists with Carolina Farm Credit, will be offering an informative overview of lending on rural land and homes. These events are free and open to the public and will be held at the Rowan Public Library Headquarter location, 201 W. Fisher, Salisbury, NC 28144 in the Stanback Auditorium.

Whatever your dream of home may be, Rowan Public Library stands ready to be a creative partner. Attend one of the real estate series events or drop-in online and let Rowan Public Library help make dreams of home ownership a reality.

Paulette Stiles is a librarian at Rowan Public Library.