By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
When tackling home remodeling projects, you’ll find some projects pay off more than others at times of resale. Remodeling Magazine, in conjunction with REALTOR® Magazine, recently released findings of its annual Cost vs. Value report for 2011-2012, revealing which remodeling projects offer the biggest bang for your buck.
Overall, the trend right now is replacement over remodeling–swapping out the old for the new rather than doing a total gut job, which can be much more costly.
This year’s Cost vs. Value report found that exterior replacement projects–such as new garage doors and a new entry door–offer some of the best returns at resale, allowing home owners to recoup close to 70 percent or more of the costs of the project at times of resale.
The following are the top, mid-range projects from this year’s report, based on what home owners stand to recoup at time of resale:
1. Replacing the entry door to steel
Estimated cost: $1,238
Cost recouped at resale: 73%
By Barb Schwarz, Stagedhomes.com
Photo Credit: Barb Schwarz, Stagedhomes.com
Many years ago, I coined the saying “The investment IN staging your home will always be less than a price reduction ON your home!” And that statement is as true today as it was all the way back in 1973, when I developed the concept of staging.
The math is pretty simple. Imagine a $300,000 home that’s been on the market for six months without selling. The seller is becoming more and more frustrated and considers a price decrease of 5 percent. That’s $15,000. Now imagine investing only a fraction of that sum in staging and selling the home much faster.
That’s what staging will do, and the numbers are in to prove it – time and time again.
Recent statistics gathered by Stagedhomes.com shows that 94 percent of homes staged by an Accredited Staging Professional sold in 29 days or less, compared to an average of 145 days for homes that were not staged. What’s more, homes staged by Accredited Staging Professionals stay on the market 83 percent less than a home that has not been staged. Continue reading »
Attention, home stagers, I want to hear from you! I’m working on an article about staging solutions for REALTOR Magazine online, and I’m seeking responses to the following questions:
1.) What do you consider must-haves for building a staging inventory?
2.) What accessories, tools, computer programs, mobile apps, or other items have you found useful when staging properties?
Send an e-mail with your ideas to writer Melissa Tracey at mtracey@realtors.org.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
It’s bold, bright–and orange. Tangerine Tango is this year’s color of the year, according to the Pantone Color Institute. The reddish orange color takes the place as this year’s hot hue replacing last year’s reddish pink Honeysuckle.
Need an extra energy boost or an attention-getter in a room? Then Tangerine Tango is your pick, according to Pantone.
Yet, “sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said in a statement. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”
Orange has grown in popularity the last few years in fashion. But before you start swapping out orange for everything in home interiors so you can be on trend, recall some of of our previous posts at Styled Staged & Sold: “Orange You Glad You Removed the Carpet?” or “Is That House Orange?! Eyesores Reach New Levels.” This year’s color of the year is best done in moderation when it comes to home interiors. Continue reading »
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
The Zillow Blog recently featured an interesting article by real estate pro Brendon DeSimone about how advertising the square footage of a home can derail a deal. It may make you rethink featuring the square footage on your listings.
There are no universal methods to measuring square footage, according to DeSimone. As such, the numbers in measuring a home’s size can sometimes get skewed–even appraisers may arrive at different figures. A city’s tax records may not offer up an accurate picture either, since it may omit renovations and expansions made to the property over the years. And the square footage listed on records pulled from architectural drawings of the home are considered “wall out” measurements, including the entire space to the exterior wall. Once the walls are in place, the square footage will likely be lower.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
As home buyers continue to rank affordability high, more home styles are getting simpler and homes are becoming lower maintenance, according to the latest Home Design Trends Survey, conducted by the American Institute of Architects.
Simpler exterior details and the use of durable building products are growing in popularity, according to the third-quarter survey of architects, which mostly focused on community and neighborhood design.
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