A Home’s Intended Purpose: Does Your Home Pass the Test?
By Charlene Storozuk
Before a property goes on the market, it’s important that every room be showcased in a way that portrays its intended purpose. If not, potential buyers can become confused as to the function of the space. Take a look at the room in the photo below.
Photo Credit: Charlene Storozuk
For the current home owner, this room functioned as a flow-over storage area for excess furniture. Want to hazard a guess at what the builder intended this room to be?
You’re probably thinking that it’s a family room, aren’t you? That would be a pretty good guess.
At first walk-through of this property, I thought it was a family room as well. After all, there was a couch, love seat, and end tables in there.
Here’s a hint: Do you see the chandelier hanging from the ceiling?
5 Signs Your Listing May Have Once Been a Meth Lab
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
The New York Times ran an article this week (”Illnesses Afflict Homes With a Criminal Past” by Shaila Dewan and Robbie Brown) that details a story about a family who moved into a spacious home in Winchester, Tenn., only to soon start battling years of illness — from breathing problems to seizures and migraines to kidney problems.
Their home was making them sick.
Five years after moving into the home, the family discovered the home had once been used as a meth lab.
And apparently these contaminated residences are not all that uncommon. What’s more, some may even be hitting your local market. Read more
8 Room Makeovers From Staging Pros
Check out several before and after room makeovers from staging professionals across the country. In May, we featured popular room makeovers from real estate professionals. Now, it’s the stagers turn!
They show us how they turned a home’s eyesore into a room that buyers will love. See what they did to transform these less-than-perfect rooms, and get ideas for your own listing!
600 Square Feet to Transform: A Challenging ‘Railroad’ Condo Unit
By Martin R. Delossantos
Living Room Transformation / Photo Credit: Martin R. Delossantos
Before Christmas, a prominent developer contacted me to stage her model unit. She was thrilled that her building was finally over the long, tedious hump-that is, the zoning board for permits and inspections. Now she was ready to sell some condos!
I met with her contractor to see the unit and devise a design. My first impression of the unit was how narrow the place was. I was told it was 605-square-feet and is known as a unit called a “railroad.” It’s called that because the rooms run through each other on a straight line.
These type of apartments were popular during the turn of the century because they provided a solution to urban overcrowding. Two of these units fit side-by-side on each floor with a hallway and staircase.
This particular building had a good layout and with a good décor hopefully it could generate interest so we could get these units sold. But, in general, railroad apartments are not in high demand due to the obvious flaw … NO privacy!
The Transformation
Best features: The positive points were the sunny exposure. A great Hoboken location and being able to walk to the Path station, restaurants, and bars in just short minutes. Read more
To Stage or Not to Stage?
Read a recent post from REALTOR® Magazine’s Speaking of Real Estate blog that says 95 percent of staged homes, on average, sell in 35 days or less, even in a slow market. The finding comes from the new book Staging to Sell: The Secret to Selling a Home in a Down Market by Barb Schwartz. Read more >
More Mosquito Bites? Blame it on Foreclosures
Photo credit: Orkin Inc.
Another thing to blame the increase in foreclosures on: A surge in the mosquito population.
“Current economic and weather conditions have created the perfect storm for what could be a very troubling mosquito season,” said Ron Harrison, Ph.D., Orkin entomologist and technical director, in a recent press release. “Through May, our mosquito treatments are up more than 20 percent over the first five months of last year.”
Foreclosures can create the perfect home for mosquito swarms because vacant homes tend to have standing water that attract the pesky bugs, as well as holes in windows and doors that mosquitoes can easily slip through.
The prime biting hours for mosquitoes are between dusk and dawn. Here are tips from Orkin on preventing those nuisance mosquito bites: Read more
