Archive for the 'Advice for Sellers' Category

Looking to Remodel Your Kitchen? 3 Hot Trends for Kitchen Remodeling in 2012

Published on February 6, 2012 in Advice for Sellers. 0 Comments Tags: , .

By: Jamie Goldberg

Mulling a kitchen remodel but want to keep costs low? You’re au courant with today’s trends that emphasize options and high-tech wizardry at affordable prices.

Trend #1: Remodeling scales back

A new focus on moderation and value has entered the remodeling mind-set. Trends that are likely to show up in your kitchen next year include:

You’ll repair your existing appliances instead of replacing them, extending their life with good maintenance and care. If you’re replacing cabinets, you’re likely to build around your current appliances rather than choosing new models.

You’re scaling back your cabinetry purchases, with an increased emphasis on kitchen storage and functionality over elaborate decoration. For example, rather than stacked crown moldings throughout the kitchen, you’ll put your money into practical roll-out trays and drawer organizers.

Small-scale kitchen projects are big news. Changing out cabinet hardware, replacing a faucet, and refacing your cabinets upgrades your kitchen without major expense.

Trend #2: Simpler, warmer styles dominate

Fussiness and excess have faded away in favor of pared-back looks that present a more timeless, value-conscious style.

Cabinet decoration continues to streamline. For example, massive corbels, once fashionable as undercounter supports, will give way to sleeker countertop supports and cantelivered countertop edges. Stacked moldings will pare back or disappear entirely. Elaborately glazed finishes will yield to simpler paints and stains.

Kitchen finishes will continue to get warmer and darker, and feature natural and stained woods. Walnut especially is growing in popularity.

Laminate countertops will continue to surge in popularity, especially in contemporary design. The latest European-inspired laminates offer more textured and naturalistic finishes than ever before. While exotic wood kitchen cabinets are out of reach for most home owners, glossy, look-alike laminate versions can be had for about one-third the price.

Trend #3: Technology expands its kitchen presence

Many of the techno products and trends that relate to your smartphones and tablets have just started making their way into your local showrooms and home centers.

Appliances will be equipped with USB ports and digital screens so you can display your family photographs and kids’ artwork.

Smart, induction built-in cooktops ($500-$3,000) remember your temperature settings as you move your pans across their entire surface.

One light finger touch is all it takes to open the electronically controlled sliding doors of your kitchen cabinets — a boon to people with limited mobilities. You’ll pay 40% to 70% more for cabinets with electronically controlled doors than standard models.

You’ll be able to use your smart phones and tablets to control lights and appliance settings from anywhere you have a wi-fi connection, as well as to shop for appliances from major manufacturers.

You’ll be opting for LEDs for your recessed lights, under-cabinet task lighting and color-changing accent lighting. You’ll see more LED-powered pendants and chandeliers from major manufacturers as inefficient incandescent bulbs continue their march toward extinction.

A wide selection of affordable microwave ovens with convection and even steam features gives owners of smaller kitchen spaces more high-end cooking power.

What improvements — big or small — are you planning for your kitchen this year?

Visit Houselogic.com for more articles like this.  Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Do You Know the Value of Your Home?

Published on January 24, 2012 in Advice for Sellers and Sunapee Housing Market. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Everyone is a real estate expert!

Your house is listed for sale with a REALTOR®.  Your neighbor down the street tells you that it is priced way too low and you should certainly be able to get more money than that for it.  Or you just sold your house and your brother is telling you that it sold for too little.  Sound familiar?  When it comes to real estate, everyone has an opinion – from your dentist to your best friend.   The reality of it though, is you need to trust what your REALTOR® says.  After all, you hired her/him for her/his experience and knowledge of the market.  She/he researched the properties sold, the current competition, and understands what the market is doing.   Your REALTOR® is your best source of information regarding the sale of your house or land.  While it is nice to think that your house is worth more money because your neighbor says so, it is market conditions that really set the value.   Family and friends may have good intentions, but they usually don’t have the professional experience to support their opinions.

Give me a call if you would like to work with a REALTOR® that you could trust to give you the best real estate advice available.  603-526-4116; donna@donnaforest.com.

Donna Forest, Broker Associate

Home Security Cameras: Peace of Mind While You’re Away

Published on August 11, 2011 in Advice for Buyers and Advice for Sellers. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

By: Les Shu

Easy-to-install security cameras let you keep an eye on your home from afar, ensuring safety and security for you and your family.

Network cameras

Internet-based network cameras are a quick solution in setting up home surveillance. They connect to your broadband connection and don’t require difficult wiring or mounting.

Logitech’s Alert lets you view either real-time or recorded footage—with audio—of the inside and outside of your house through your iPhone, Android, or BlackBerry smartphone, and the system is expandable by adding additional cameras. You’ll get text or email notifications on your phone or computer if the camera’s motion sensor is triggered.

Panasonic’s BL-C131A goes one step further by giving you remote pan and tilt control from your smartphone or computer, allowing you to view in eight different positions.

The Alert 750i Master System starts at $299.99. (A similar device from D-Link costs $119.99.) The Panasonic BL-C131A costs around $300.

Riding the Z-Wave

If you have a Z-Wave-based home automation system installed, you can add wireless cameras to create a security network inside and outside of your house.

ADT’s Pulse is a complete home alarm system that uses Z-Wave cameras for home monitoring from your iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android. ADT Pulse service plans start at $48 a month, not including installation and cameras.

Schlage’s LiNK offers its Z-Wave Wireless Camera as an option to its electronic locks. Like ADT’s Pulse, you can also perform additional home management functions with compatible Z-Wave products like thermostats. Schlage LiNK starter kits cost around $300, and the Wireless Camera costs around $150.

Similar wireless security cameras are available for X10 home automation systems.

DIY camera

You can turn a basic computer webcam into a surveillance system using free downloadable software from Yawcam and EyeSpyFX. You’re required to have your computer remain on, but once set up you can log in remotely from another computer—say, at work—and view streaming video of your home. Just position the camera at what you want to monitor.

Yawcam offers motion detection and can send a snapshot to your email when triggered, while EyeSpyFX lets you view footage from dedicated iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry apps.

An affordable webcam like Microsoft’s LifeCam VX-2000 costs about $30 or less.

A writer covering the latest technologies and trends for a variety of national publications, Les Shu is currently automating his home with the newest doodads to make it smarter than he is.

Visit Houselogic.com for more articles like this.  Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Keep Backyard Pests from Eating Your Greens

Published on August 9, 2011 in Advice for Sellers. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

By: Theresa Klisz

Backyard pests–squirrels, rabbits, moles–can destroy your landscaping and lawns. Here’s how to get rid of the ravenous critters.

Rabbit rascals

Calling cards: Ravaged vegetables, beheaded borders and flowers (especially tulips), and gnawed trees, such as red maple, honey locust, and evergreens.

Protection: Install 2-ft.-high fences that extend to the ground or below ($50 for 100 ft. of galvanized poultry fencing). Surround young tree trunks with plastic tree guard cylinders ($10).

Change habitat: Eliminate piles of brush, barricade cozy spots under sheds, and flatten back-lot debris piles where rabbits nest. Ivy, wisteria, and periwinkle will curb the munching, and fragrant herbs like thyme and lavender will turn them away.

Squirrely pests

Calling cards: Bumps in the night because they nest in your attic; power loss due to frayed wires; missing vegetables and flower bulbs; quickly emptied bird feeders.

Protection: Plug house entry places, such as gaps around utility pipes, broken windows, and uncapped chimneys. Cover wires with plastic pipe that will rotate, causing the squirrel to fall ($2.50 for a 2-ft. section). Sandwich bulbs underground between two layers of wire mesh ($175 for 100 ft. of 24-inch wire mesh).

Change habitat: Trim tree branches 6 to 8 ft. from buildings so squirrels can’t jump onto your roof. Switch to squirrel-proof tilting bird feeders ($25 and up) or domed feeders that close when weight limits are exceeded. Don’t plant oak trees–acorns are squirrel caviar.

Gopher/mole problems

Calling cards: Dirt mounds, lawns pocked with ankle-breaking holes, power loss due to damaged underground utilities; weakened trees due to gnawed roots; missing plants.

Protection: Install mesh fencing 18 inches deep with one-half inch or smaller openings (25 sq. ft. for $175). Trapping is the best way to eliminate gophers and moles. Scissor-jaw or choker-loop traps will snag star-nosed and hairy-tailed moles ($15 for two). Gopher traps look like a twisted mess, but they quickly snap and trap ($15 for a pair). Both can be cleaned and reused.

Change habitat: Since they like easy-to-tunnel, well-watered lawns, try compacting soil and cutting down on irrigation. But moles and gophers are so adaptable that habitat changes won’t keep them out, just slow them down.

Deer disturbance

Calling cards: Flowering plants nibbled to the nubs; leaves torn from plants from ground level to 6 ft.; 2-inch gouges on tree trunks; hoof prints that resemble a broken heart.

Protection: Fencing at least 8 ft. high; homemade and commercial repellents that taste and smell bad; barking dog.

Change habitat: Replace tasty fruit trees with spruce and pine. Swap lilies for ferns and rosemary. Add switch grass and ribbon grass–they’ll avoid these ornamentals. Bonus: Works for bunnies, too.

Theresa Klisz lives in Northern Virginia and was a general-interest features editor and writer for a national wire service. She serves on her community association board of directors.

“Visit Houselogic.com for more articles like this.  Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.”

Adding a Basement Bathroom: The Ups and Downs

Published on July 19, 2011 in Advice for Sellers. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

By: Rich Binsacca

Adding a basement bathroom can cost $10,000.  Is it worth the time and expense?  These are the issues to weigh.

Adding a basement bathroom is a big and expensive decision. It may be desirable—who wants to run upstairs each time nature calls?—yet not practical, especially if gravity isn’t on your side. Here are the issues to ponder.

It’s easy to imagine putting a bathroom in your basement remodel. It’s harder to figure out how to get waste and sewer gasses out.

Just like bathrooms in other parts of your house, adding a basement bathroom means wastewater must drain to the existing city sewer or to an on-site septic system, and sewer gasses must be vented directly to the outside in compliance with building codes.

Create falling waters

In most basement bathrooms, you must create “fall,” or you must give the waste a push.

All this pushing and falling costs money: Adding a basement bathroom could add $10,000 to your basement retreat budget.

 Wastewater from your basement bathroom sink, shower or tub, and toilet must have enough slope (another word for “fall”) to drain properly and effectively.

Achieving proper fall may require removing and rebuilding a small section of the basement slab and excavation of the ground underneath. The process involves digging a trench for a drainage pipe to connect the new bathroom to your home’s existing sewer or septic system.

Installing basement toilets

To give gravity an extra push, install a pressure-assisted toilet ($150 to $800) with a pressure valve that forces waste through the pipes and into your existing sewer line. This pressure assist may help you avoid digging into the foundation and creating a host of other hassles when adding a basement bathroom, including leaks.

If possible, locate the toilet (and other water-using appliances, such as a clothes washer) against an outside wall when adding a basement bathroom, which saves pipe and reduces the cost of draining away waste and venting sewer gasses.

Rich Binsacca is the author of 12 books on home-related topics and a contributing editor for Builder and EcoHome magazines.

Visit Houselogic.com for more articles like this.  Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

 

Home Sales for 2011

Published on May 24, 2011 in Advice for Sellers and Sunapee Housing Market. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Forecasts show home sales are on track to out perform last year.  Read what economists have to say. . .

Do You Know What a Short Sale Is?

Published on April 22, 2011 in Advice for Buyers and Advice for Sellers. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Simply put, a short sale is when a seller has a hardship (e.g. death, divorce, job loss), needs to sell, and owes more on the mortgage than the home is worth.   It is a complicated process for both sellers and buyers and is anything but short when it comes to time frames.

Sellers first should speak to their lender’s short sales specialist (which could entail many phone calls) and submit a financial package.   Not all lenders will accept short sales – it may be financially better for them to foreclose.   There could be tax consequences if the IRS considers the amount forgiven as income or the lender may still want the difference owed even after the sale.    Sellers should speak with a CPA and lawyer.

Buyers need lots of patience!  Even if the Seller accepts your offer, it still has to be approved by the lender.  This could take months.   (It is more complicated with multiple loans on the house.)   The National Association of Realtors® report that on average, short sales sell at a 17% discount.  A short sale can be a good deal but understand the obstacles and bring plenty of patience.

Keeping my buyers and sellers educated is part of my job.  Give me a call if you would like to work with a Realtor® who will always keep you informed, 603-526-4116.

Donna Forest, Broker Associate

 

Radon Gas Mitigation: Let’s Breathe Easy

Published on April 15, 2011 in Advice for Buyers and Advice for Sellers. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

By: Jan Soults Walker

Take steps immediately to reduce radon gas buildup if your home tests high. Knowing the available radon mitigation methods and costs will help you make the best choice.

Reducing radon: Simple strategies

If radon test results indicate that levels in your home are only slightly elevated–less than 4 pCi/L (picocuries per liter of air):

  • Caulk cracks or gaps in the slab, foundation, or framing–wherever your home contacts soil–to inhibit radon gas infiltration. This step also improves the success of other radon reduction strategies.
  • Open exterior crawl space vents to increase air flow and dilute radon buildup.
  • Install a heat recovery ventilator (HRV). An HVR introduces fresh, air-conditioned air into homes that are otherwise tightly sealed.

Reducing radon from unsafe levels

If radon levels inside your home test at 4 pCi/L or higher, enlist the services of a professional contractor who is trained in radon mitigation strategies. Contact your state radon office for a list of contractors in your area who are trained and certified in radon reduction techniques. Obtain several bids.

Professional radon mitigation options

Some of the systems used for reducing radon are:

  • Soil suction. A special vent fan draws radon from soil beneath your home through pipes that dispel gas into the open. Negative pressure created by the suction further inhibits the buildup of gas. Fans run 24/7, and are usually guaranteed for up to 10 years of continual operation.
  • Sub-membrane suction. Considered the most effective strategy for homes with crawl spaces, sub-membrane suction employs a high-density plastic sheet atop the soil. A fan draws radon gas out through vent pipes located beneath the plastic.
  • Passive and active ventilation. Ventilating a crawl space or adding additional vents may also reduce radon gas. Opening vents is passive ventilation; adding a fan is active. When employing either of these methods in a colder climate, you may need to add insulation in a crawl space to prevent pipes from freezing.

Costs for radon mitigation

Prices for radon mitigation vary depending on the extent of the work being done, but range between $800 and $2,500. The average cost nationally is $1,200 to $1,400.

As a rule, a house built on a slab or with a basement requires less labor, resulting in the lowest costs for radon reduction. Radon reduction in a house over a crawl space tends to be most expensive since a vapor barrier may be required.

Homes with any combination of slab, crawl space, and/or a basement fall in the middle range for costs.

Another budget consideration: As you ventilate radon gas from your home, energy costs increase—either from releasing air that’s been heated or cooled, or from you operating a fan full-time. Using an HRV to ventilate helps reduce waste.

With four home renovations to her credit, Jan Soults Walker is a devotee of improvements, products, and trends for the home and garden. For 25 years she’s written for a number of national home shelter publications, and has authored 18 books on home improvement and decorating.  Visit Houselogic.com for more articles like this.  Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

My Stuff is Better Than Your Stuff – Or Is It?

Published on April 7, 2011 in Advice for Sellers and Sunapee Housing Market. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

It’s human nature – we put a greater value on things that we already own.  This is a well known theory called the “endowment effect” developed by an American economist, Richard Thaler, in 1980. One classic study is done with mugs where Group A, with no mugs, is asked how much they would pay for a mug.  The typical answer is $4.  Group B is given mugs and then asked how much someone would have to pay for you to part with it.  The average response is $8.

I see this happening frequently with sellers when it comes to pricing their homes.   Even though they are shown similar houses sold for less and the competing homes are priced lower, sellers still want to price their house higher.  The negative consequences of the endowment effect is that homes take longer to sell, the price ends up “chasing” the market and sellers eventually end up selling for a lower amount than if the house had been initially priced correctly.

Bottom line – sellers should be aware of how the endowment effect impacts their decision-making on price.  Don’t go by what you “think” it is worth.  Make decisions based on what is actually selling in the market.  Give me a call if you need a REALTOR® to help you price your way to a successful sale!  Donna Forest, 603-526-4116, email:  donna@donnaforest.com, web site:  www.donnaforest.com

Don’t Let Clutter Hide the Value Your Home

Published on April 5, 2011 in Advice for Sellers and Sunapee Housing Market. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

In our modern world, many of us have succumbed to the excesses of capitalism. Giant warehouse stores allow us to buy in bulk; massive chain department stores allow for incredible bargain prices. We drive giant vehicles to haul the stuff around and super-size meals to fuel our shopping frenzy.

As consumers we have expanded the idea of basic needs well beyond necessity. Needs are things that we cannot survive without such as food and shelter. For whatever reason, many of our desires have become needs and the result is too much stuff. In a society where shopping has become a recreational sport, and the acquisition of things a daily ritual, we must be cautious not to acquire too much to clutter up our homes.

While those of us who live in cluttered environments may have developed some numbness, meaning that we no longer consciously notice or see the chaos of clutter, we are still affected at some level. Lack of energy, motivation and low self-esteem are often characteristics that accompany the daunting task of making sense of, or separating from, our clutter.

From the prospective homebuyer’s view, clutter translates into an undesirable home. Cluttered homes often appear smaller. They look darker, and tend to smell from the excess dust. The excess stimuli can be an immediate turn-off because the combined effect suggests that all of the home’s other features will be rundown, decayed and in need of much repair. The converse is also true: homes devoid of clutter and kept clean give the impression of being well maintained and not requiring much work.

As sellers, it is important to understand that when prospective buyers view a home they do so through various lenses. Some will look at a property in terms of its resale value, others will view it as a starter home, and others will view it as their potential home for life.

For those looking at property strictly for investment, clutter can be a good thing. Clutter means that the property doesn’t show well and as such the potential buyer stands a good chance of acquiring it below value. For those looking at a property as a starter home, the clutter only serves to widen the gap between the desired home and the home they must settle for. People looking at a property as their potential permanent home will imagine themselves occupying it. Clutter compromises the ideal image and prospective buyers view the home in terms of cleaning and maintenance.

Properties with clutter translate into increased time on the market and lower values, not only because the clutter decreases the perception of size, air and light, but also because of the perceived level of work involved in maintaining the property. It might behoove sellers to spend a little upfront and hire a professional clutter clearer and/or home stager. This initial cost will be recouped by way of a higher selling price and faster sale.