By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
It doesn’t have to cost a fortune to improve a home and make it more sellable, according to HomeGain’s 2012 National Home Improvement Survey.
HomeGain surveyed nearly 500 real estate professionals nationwide to determine the top do-it-yourself home improvement projects that offers some of the biggest bang for your buck when selling a home.
“In a buyer’s market, sellers need to dress their homes for success before putting them on the market,” says Louis Cammarosano, HomeGain’s general manager. The survey shows “that do-it-yourself home improvements like cleaning and de-cluttering and lightening and brightening your home are cost-effective ways of increasing your chances of selling faster and closing closer to the asking price than homes rushed to the market with no improvements.”
Here are the top five projects that real estate professional recommend to their clients–projects that have the potential to offer some of the highest returns on investment at resale, according to the 2012 HomeGain survey:
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
More home owners want more space in their kitchens and are expanding the kitchen’s use for more than just cooking, according to the latest findings from the American Institute of Architects’ quarterly Home Design Trends Survey. The survey, conducted in the fourth quarter of 2011, focused on kitchens and bathrooms.
“Kitchens seem to be regaining their function as the home’s ‘nerve center,’” says AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker.
During the housing downturn, kitchen design fell as a priority for home owners, Baker notes. But as the market has picked up, Americans’ interest in kitchens has been renewed.
“The last few years have seen kitchens take on new functions with dedicated computer areas and recharging stations,” Baker notes.
The kitchen products and features growing the most in popularity, according to the survey of architects, are:
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Photo Credit: Paint Quality Institute
Springtime is the best time to give a home a fresh coat of paint, according to the Paint Quality Institute.
“By painting in moderate weather, you’ll likely get a longer-lasting paint job,” says Debbie Zimmer, paint and color expert for the Paint Quality Institute. Zimmer says that exterior painting is best to do when temperatures are above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, but not when it gets too hot. “Very hot days can cause the paint to dry too quickly and impair good paint film formation,” she notes.
Some more tips for exterior painting from Zimmer:
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Creativity and cost-savings are the main themes driving new-home design trends today, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
Here are some of the latest new-home design trends, according to NAHB:
1. “Pocket offices.” More space is being added to popular family gathering places like the kitchen and family room. As such, space devoted to formal home offices and dens are falling to the wayside. Instead of a formal home office, more new homes are incorporating a small space devoted to home management, known as “pocket offices.” These pocket offices may be anywhere, even included in a large pantry. They also might be tucked away near the kitchen or family great room. Most people today are mobile with their electronics and home office items anyway so they might not need as big of space to spread out and a “pocket office” may suffice.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
You have a great house to sell, but then you look next door–could the neighbor be hurting your chances of finding a buyer and getting the highest price for your home? Certainly, the “neighbor effect” has become a growing problem in recent years.
Foreclosures and abandoned homes have left some nearby properties decaying, which has made some buyers grow wary of moving next door to a home with overgrown lawns, boarded up windows, and trash scattered about.
But foreclosures and abandoned homes aren’t always the problem. Sometimes it’s just a stubborn nearby neighbor who is making it a challenge to sell.
Maybe they send their yapping dog outside whenever a potential buyer comes near, or their yard or fence’s lack of upkeep is bringing down the “look” of the street. Buyers don’t just eye the home for-sale, they’re also looking next door to see who their neighbor will be…and they don’t want to see trash.
A man in Brighton, Colo., was accused of sabotaging his neighbor’s home sale. The man posted warning signs to potential buyers on his recreational vehicle parked outside of his home. He wanted to let would-be buyers know what they could expect if they moved next to him: Loud parties, loud music, and loud cars. He also warned he has three Rottweilers and he’s “anti-horse” (the home is in a horse community). The real estate agent said buyers quickly stopped calling after the man’s signs went up.
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