During the winter, heater maintenance is on everyone's mind. Stay on top of your heating system's maintenance, and it'll be there to serve you when you need it most. The experts from Home Warranty of America (HWA) offer the following tips for heater maintenance:

Housetraining is not all that complex. But do a search on Google and you'll find all kinds of sites proclaiming they have the "secret to housetraining," or "ten potty training secrets!" All this complicates things way more than they need to be. If there is a secret to housetraining, it's that there isn't a secret at all. Scroll down to find more information about house training your new furry friends from 3Lostdogs.com

Down payment myths prevent many people from even considering buying a home, when in fact they could be enjoying home ownership right now! "Aspiring first time b uyers thinks it takes twice as much to buy a home than it really d oes". - Jonathan Smoke realtor.com's c hief economist

People who live elsewhere in the country often assume that Phoenix doesn't really experience winter at all. While it certainly doesn't snow or get frigidly cold here, temperatures do drop significantly. Most residents welcome the cooler temperatures that a Phoenix winter brings. We enjoy around 300 days of sunshine here, so our winters don't tend to be dreary at all. Once those desert temps drop below 50 degrees, as they often do, local residents start pulling on the sweaters, gloves and hats.

Most likely, you already have a good idea of how much house you can afford and you've been saving up for a down payment - 10 to 20 percent of what you plan to spend is the ideal. However, many other expenses will come up throughout your journey as a first-time homebuyer.