By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Green building and products continue to gain traction in real estate, and some of the latest “green” products not only are helping home owners trim energy bills but also making their homes work smarter.
ONE ‘SMART’ GREEN HOME
The Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry has unveiled its fourth version of its “Smart Home,” a 2,200 square-foot home that boasts some of the latest innovations in green construction. Here are a few of its features:
Photo Credit: J.B. Spector, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
–Monitor energy usage. This home was wired to keep a constant close watch on its energy usage. The home features a large flat-screen television that displays a room-by-room measurement of the home’s energy consumption. The home’s automation system also controls the lighting and can track daily and hourly use of energy.
Photo Credit: J.B. Spector, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
–A mirror not just for your reflection. The Cybertecture Mirror in the home’s master bathroom is no ordinary mirror. You can use a remote to turn it instantly into a computer monitor where you can even check your Facebook page. You can also use it to display time, traffic reports, news, temperature, and even keep track of your weight.
–Movable solar panels. Located in the front of the house, a 45-foot wind turbine provides some of the energy to power the home from the sun. The Smart Home’s rooftop solar panels also are an energy source. Unlike typical solar panels, these panels are soft and roll out on the home’s flat roof so home owners can even take it with them if they ever move. Continue reading »
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Any number of things has the potential to devalue a property and turn off buyers. According to a recent article by Investopedia (“Sellers Beware: 8 Factors That Devalue a Good Home”), here are a few common factors that often devalues a property … Do you agree?
Nearby eyesores. Cell phone towers or power lines overlooking a home can make some buyers skittish about the property. Also, messy neighbors or unsightly abandoned nearby homes also might devalue your listing (e.g. According to research by the Center for Responsible Lending, foreclosures will affect 91.5 million nearby homes by 2012 and reduce property values of these homes by $20,300 per household.). Read: Battling the Neighborhood Eyesore
Renovations gone wrong. Investopedia refers to this as the “DIY nightmare” when home renovations are done poorly. Continue reading »
By Rhone Resch, president & CEO, Solar Energy Industries Association
Warm weather tends to draw people out hunting for a new home or to inspire others to make home improvements. It turns out home owners with solar energy systems may have the upper hand.
In 2006, my family installed a 6-kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) system on our roof that converts sunlight into electricity. That means that I’m not only using clean energy, but also saving money on my monthly electric bill, and even making extra income whenever my system produces more energy than my family needs. It’s the only home improvement I know of that generates money for my family’s checkbook. Now, I’ve recently learned that my solar system actually increases my home value, too.
By Barb Schwarz, Stagedhomes.com
I was recently interviewed by a real estate publication and I thought I would share the answers I gave to the reporter’s questions here at the Styled, Staged & Sold blog.
What’s new in the world of home staging? How has it changed in the last two years?
The pendulum is swinging; the public is now becoming the driving force to make sure their home gets staged for sale. Real estate professionals are still crucial in driving the world of home staging but many real estate agents hang back to the point where now the seller is the one asking, “Aren’t you going to tell me to get my house staged?”
The down economy also has driven the need for home staging more than ever before. With short sales, bank-owned properties, and the traditional sellers–all of these entities are in fierce competition to get the house sold. We are now seeing even short sales and bank-owned properties being staged. So for any traditional seller to compete they must have their home staged to have any chance to sell in today’s market.
Why is it important for staging and real estate professionals to team up to sell houses, especially in this economy?
Home stagers and real estate professionals are teaming up more and more to give turnkey service to the seller. The agent’s job is to get the property priced and to do the marketing to get it sold. The home stager merchandizes the property so that the marketing pays off. They are working hand in hand. In today’s economy, the home stager is making money for the agent because without the house staged it sits and in the end the real estate agent either gets little commission or none. Therefore, working together, the seller wins, the agent wins, and the stager wins.
Is staging then being considered part of the real estate professional’s marketing plan? Who pays for it? Continue reading »
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Remodeling a kitchen, bathroom, or other room to increase a home’s value can be a good idea, but home owners need to be careful when undergoing a remodeling task to ensure they don’t fall for some of the common traps. CNNMoney.com recently highlighted a few such common mistakes:
1. Being too trendy. The home will look out-of-date a lot faster if you just reach for today’s trends, according to design experts. As such, you might want to bypass such trends as glass tiles, wire-hung track lighting, and vessel sinks, says Curt Schultz, a real estate professional and architect in Pasadena, Calif. Instead, opt for classic choices that compliment the home’s original style, he says.
2. Going overboard in the kitchen. Kitchens can help sell houses but that doesn’t give you a green-light to spend big bucks in giving it a total redo. You still want to be practical, or you likely won’t recoup the cost of all your upgrades when selling. The kitchen usually makes up 5 percent to 15 percent of a home’s value so limit your kitchen remodeling budget to that range, says John Bredemeyer with the Appraisal Institute. And don’t gut the kitchen if it’s already in good shape, he adds.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
A new study reveals that the kitchen is the “germiest” place in a home–not the bathroom, as most people would assume. That’s right, the place where you are cooking and eating food is where levels of coliform bacteria (a bacteria that includes Salmonella and E.coli) and Staph bacteria is the most prevalent, even more so than items in a bathroom.
A study by NSF International, a public health and safety organization, uncovers the top 10 germ hot-spots and dangers in a home based on a swab analysis of 30 everyday household items in 22 different homes.
You might want to take a double-look at that kitchen sponge you use to clean dishes and countertops. That actually was the leading culprit of germs in the kitchen.
“Sponges pick up bacteria during the cleaning process and are typically not properly–or regularly–sanitized before their next use,” says Rob Donofrio, director of Microbiology at NSF International and lead researcher for the study. “Additionally, sponges are often wet and left in damp areas in or near the sink, providing optimal conditions for germ growth. They also have many nooks and crannies which can be great places for germs to multiply.”
The second overall germiest place in a home is …. the bathroom, particularly the toothbrush holder. Why the toothbrush holder and, say, not the toilet?
“The high bacteria levels on and in the toothbrush holder are likely attributed to two causes. First, toothbrush holders are typically situated near the toilet, especially in smaller bathrooms. Flushing of the toilet causes aerosols, containing fecal bacteria, to land on items near the toilet, thereby potentially contaminating the holder,” Donofrio says. “Additionally, toothbrush holders often are neglected in the cleaning process, providing an ideal breeding ground for germs. Toothbrush holders should be regularly cleaned in the dishwasher.”
Top 10 Germiest Places in a Home
The following are the germiest items in the house, ranked from highest to lowest in germ count:
By Christine Rae, International Staging Training Academy
Sex today is used for marketing just about everything and anything not remotely connected to sex–but it works. And real estate staging does for houses what sexy ads do for marketing–it sells!
In today’s competitive real estate market, you cannot afford to gamble with your equity by not staging. Sure, I have heard all the reasons why you think you don’t need to stage (and you can probably think of some I haven’t heard too!), but ask yourself:
- Do you really want to sell your property?
- Do you want to sell in the shortest amount of time (or an indefinite time with poor results)?
- Do you want to secure the most amount of equity possible when the sale goes through?
If you answered “yes, yes, and YES!,” then staging is what you need to do.
Let’s Talk Facts
FACT: Everything counts! That means everything you do–or don’t do–to ready your property will make or break the sale.
Here are more facts that may help make your decision easier on whether to stage or not:
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