Do your clients need some serious home makeover cash to put their house on the fast track to sold? Give them a chance to crank up the curb appeal with HouseLogic’s new Boost Your Roost contest. They could win $20,000 in home renovation funds, allowing them to turn that lingering listing into a neighborhood showpiece. Submissions are now being accepted through July 16.
Maybe you’re itching to take on the perfect Styled, Staged & Sold project yourself. Real estate professionals are also encouraged to enter their renovation dreams for a chance to make them reality. Enter the contest or learn more at HouseLogic.com.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Kitchens are usually considered a key ingredient in luring home buyers to a home and, as such, are often the top project targeted by remodelers to increase a home’s value. But it’s been dethroned by the bathroom.
Bath remodeling projects are now the top remodeling project, according to a recent survey of remodelers by the National Association of Home Builders.
Bathroom remodels nowadays have gotten much more modest in the past. The key factors driving today’s bathroom remodels are: Continue reading »
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Photo Credit: Walmart
Many critics have long-argued that Walmart’s “always low prices” often stretches to nearby home prices too. When the big-box discount retailer comes to town, some residents have protested, saying that the store had the potential to lower home values close by.
It was dubbed the “Walmart Effect,” and over the years it has made a lot of residents oppose proposed Walmarts coming to town.
But a new study finds that Walmart can actually give nearby home values a little lift.
Economists Devin Pope at University of Chicago and Jaren Pope at Brigham Young University analyzed more than 1 million real estate transactions near 159 newly opened Walmart stores between 2000 and 2006.
The researchers found that homes within a half mile of a new Walmart store saw their home prices increase on an average about $7,000 in the two-and-a-half years after the store opened. Homes located a half mile to one mile away saw a $4,000 increase.
Past studies have shown that having “satisfactory shopping” within one mile of housing can increase home values, as more Americans cite quick and easy access to shopping as a perk when looking for a new home. But the added nearby shopping to neighborhoods also has been criticized for adding traffic, noise, crime, and lighting pollution.
The researchers note that in the case of Walmart the convenience may outweigh any potential negatives to home values.
So when you’re trying to sell a home, does this mean you’ll want to be sure to include the distance to the closest Walmart in your listing ad? Maybe, according to this study.
Case Remodeling recently featured several ideas at its blog on how to make those remodeling projects more budget friendly. Here are a few ways to trim remodeling costs:
1. Don’t change plumbing or electrical configurations. Keep your plumbing fixtures and electrical work where they’re at. Instead of moving the plumbing or electrical all over the room, Case recommends for remodelers to “think about supplementing and extending your existing wiring instead of ripping it out and starting over,” which can be much more costly.
2. Find savings in materials. “The cost of cabinets, counters, fixtures, paneling, etc. can constitute up to 70 percent of your remodeling budget,” Case Remodeling notes in its blog. “While labor costs may be hard to reduce, the choice of materials is within your control.” For example, solid surfaces can look similar to marble, and granite tiles may be an option over stone to curb costs.
By Kimberly McMahon, Let’s Organize/Let’s Move
No matter the asking price, simple curb appeal changes can set the scene to immediately attract buyers to a property. Data shows that a majority of home buyers look at properties online or drive by before contacting an agent. As a result, the exterior of the property is always a major selling point.
The decision to buy starts when the prospects step out of their car in front of the property. Prospects will immediately imagine what their friends and family will think when they drive up.
Here are 10 easy steps to make the most of your curb appeal. (It is well worth the expense to hire someone to make these changes if you do not have the time!)
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