By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Color experts are already giving their forecasts for the hot hues for 2012. And next year, the inspiration for color is mostly being drawn from the great American outdoors.
“Native plants and flowers, oceans and lakes, and rocks and minerals are the sources of inspiration for the paint colors that will be ‘in’ next year,” says Debbie Zimmer, color expert at the Paint Quality Institute.
Here’s an overview of the 2012 color palette, according to the Paint Quality Institute.
Courtesy of The Paint Quality Institute
Bold Blue
“From sparkling sea-glass blue to colonial blue-grey, blues are suitable for all living spaces, being a naturally soothing color that is loved–in one iteration or another–by almost everyone,” says Zimmer.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Green or energy-efficient features in a home often don’t get factored into appraisals. But they can be an important selling point in a home, and many home owners say “green” should count when valuing homes.
A new form by the Appraisal Institute aims to make sure these key selling features–from those energy-efficient appliances to solar panels–are no longer overlooked and are factored into the equation. The form is also viewed as a big step in helping the appraisal industry standardize the way residential energy-efficient features are reported and analyzed.
By Charlene Storozuk, Dezigner Digz
Sadly, summer is officially over. However, if your home is currently on the market, now is not the time to bring your outdoor living space to an end for the year. If you do that, you’re taking away one of the selling features of your home.
At one time, buyers were just looking for a decent-sized yard. Today, on the other hand, they are reaching beyond just the basics. Buyers want attractive outdoor living spaces that they can use for both entertaining and relaxing. The longer you can keep this area set up for showings with outdoor furniture and accessories, the better.
Which one of these photos looks more inviting to potential buyers?
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Home owners may be starting to rethink what all makes up a luxurious, spa-like bathroom. Whirlpool tubs for several years have been on the wish-lists of many home buyers, but now some buyers are starting to show a change in preferences, swapping larger showers or extra storage space for that oversized bathtub or whirlpool, some designers say.
Many home owners may have once been swayed into adding an oversized bathtub in their master suite for resale value, but now some real estate agents and designers say that as long as you have at least one bathtub in the home, a missing massive tub in the master suite won’t likely dampen your chances at resale. Continue reading »
By Barb Schwarz, Stagedhomes.com
Recently, Stagedhomes.com collected clever ideas and anecdotal stories about how home stagers and real estate professionals have made one important tweak to a house that helped it sell. The submissions poured in from across the country.
Read about the staging solutions and see photos of the dramatic transformations.
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