Jun 20, 2017 | Around The Home, Home Buyer Tips, Home Seller Tips
When investing in a home, one of the most important things is buying a place that you and your family can feel comfortable in. However, while a place you can envision yourself in is important, it’s not worth neglecting the neighborhood you’ll be moving into for the perfect home. If you’re wondering what you should be looking for in the neighborhood you choose, here are a few things to consider before making an offer on a home.
Is It Safe?
It may be common to feel bowled over by a home and want to invest immediately, but the right home in the wrong neighborhood may not be the best choice for many reasons. Part of feeling comfortable in your home is being safe among its streets, so ensure you research the neighborhood and its history, and check in on the crime rate. You may even want to consult with your agent or some local neighbors to see what information they can provide about the area’s history.
Are There Local Amenities?
If you’re used to getting in the car to run errands, it might not be a big deal to not have a grocery store or pharmacy nearby. However, if there are no amenities you use frequently close by, it can start to be a bit of a drain on your lifestyle. While you don’t necessarily need to have the trendiest restaurants or best shopping, it’s important to have a few choice places in case you run out of something and need to make a quick run to the store.
What’s Your Neighborhood Style?
It might seem like a strange thing to ask yourself, but the neighborhood you live in is going to become a big part of your life and that means you’ll have to see yourself in it. If you want neighbors you can trust and community-mindedness, you’ll want to seek out an area with these qualities. On the flip side, if you happen to prefer a busier urban atmosphere that offers more independence, this may be the way to go.
There are a lot of things that go into finding the right home, but it’s important not to forget about the neighborhood you’re living in and what it will mean for your lifestyle. If you’re currently looking into homes and are trying to determine an area that will work for you, contact your local real estate professionals for more information.
Jun 15, 2017 | Around The Home, Home Seller Tips
The season of spring may be a time for blooming flowers and warmer weather, but it’s also synonymous with the idea of spring-cleaning. Whether you clean out your house every year or you haven’t seen the back of your closets in years, here are a few springtime projects that will instantly change your home – and clean up your life!
Clearing Up The Garage
There are few things that manage to attract excess stuff like the garage, and left over junk can be an even bigger problem in a 2-car space. Fortunately, spring can be a good time to get rid of the excess and really improve the look of your home from one of its main access points. By making a ‘throw away’, ‘give away’ and ‘keep’ pile, you’ll be able to whittle down the amount of stuff in your garage and find a new place for it when you’re done tidying up. It may be a bit of work, but it will be worth the effort.
Re-Envision The Living Room
For most families, the living room is the place where they spend a lot of time, and that can mean that it easily gets covered in a lot of paper and the furniture’s a little worse for wear. Take a weekend day to clear away the excess, vacuum the floors and wash the walls, and even change the layout for an instantly updated look. If you’re really invested in a renovation, you may even want to re-upholster a couch or armchair that’s seen better days.
Tackle The Yard
The yard may not be a room in your home, but it is one of the first things that will make an impression on visitors and passerby’s so it’s important to keep it looking good. It’s a good start if your yard is already clutter free, but spring is a good time to clear away the flower boxes and pluck the weeds, as well as cutting back any overgrown hedges. If you’re feeling really ambitious, you may even want to clean out your shed or renovate your patio for an improved exterior look.
Spring-cleaning may be a dreaded term, but it can be a good opportunity to clear away some of the stuff you haven’t used and instantly improve your home’s appearance. If you’re de-cluttering your home and are preparing to sell, contact your local real estate professional for more information.
Jun 9, 2017 | Home Seller Tips, Home Selling Tips, Selling Real Estate, Selling Your Home
Check out our info graphic on 48 ways to speed a hose sale. Number 1 – Work with a Realtor:
Jun 8, 2017 | Home Seller Tips
There’s often so much enthusiasm that goes along with buying a home that the idea of leaving the old one behind is left in the dust. But, while you may love both your old home and your new home, it can be difficult to leave what’s old behind. If you’re struggling with adjusting to your new dwelling place, here are some tips for how to make it feel like it’s where you belong.
Purchase A New Piece
In all likelihood, you’ll be moving a lot of your old furniture into your new home, which means it will have all of the likely associations of your old home. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s a good idea to do a bit of a refresh so it can feel truly different. Whether you decide on a new armchair or art piece, the choice is up to you, but make sure it’s something that will compliment your new place and make you happy to be there.
Leave No Box Unpacked
Packing and unpacking can be two of the most unpopular duties associated with moving, but getting to it right off the bat will ensure that you feel comfortable that much more quickly. Instead of leaving a bunch of boxes that you don’t know what to do within the garage or a hall closet, take the time to dig through them all and find a place for your items. The sooner your stuff is comfortable, the sooner you’ll be too!
Give Yourself Some Time
It may not be the most popular advice, but it’s going to take some time to adjust to your new home and that’s OK. Instead of being hard on yourself or regretting your choice, focus on the positive aspects of your home and allow yourself to get used to your new surroundings. It can be easy to forget why you bought your home if you happen to be feeling seller’s remorse, but in time it will be much easier to remember why made the purchase.
It can be difficult to leave an old home behind, but by taking the time to adjust to your new place and sprucing it up with an exciting new piece, you’ll be well on your way to making it your own. If you’re currently in the market for a new home, contact your local real estate professionals for more information.
Jun 6, 2017 | Home Seller Tips
Every open house involves so much cleanup and de-cluttering that it’s often easy to forget about the first thing your guest will see when they arrive; the exterior! Instead of foregoing the first impression, here are some tips for fixing up your yard and all of its vegetation so you can make a positive impression on potential homebuyers.
Get Out The Pruning Shears
There are few things that will wreck the overall look of your home like an overgrown shrub or an unruly patch of bushes, so instead of letting nature take its course, do some scaling back. While you’ll want to make sure you retain the natural look of the shrubs and bushes in your yard, make sure to focus on any overgrown areas or branches sticking out so your property will look well maintained and respectable.
Mow The Lawn
It may seem like common sense to get out the lawnmower and the edger for some basic lawn maintenance, but since it’s a rather sizeable task it can catch many people off guard. There’s no way around it so make sure you pick a good time weather-wise to cut the grass right before your open house. You’ll also want to edge around your sidewalks and driveway for a picture-perfect look that will enhance the impression your home makes.
Plant Some Perennials
A tidy yard and pruned trees will certainly improve the look of your home on the outside, but picking out a few flowers and cleaning up your flower beds can make it look even more inviting. While gardening can take up more than a little time, planting a few flowers or purchasing a few pots can go a long way towards adding that extra touch.
Keep It Clutter Free
Like anything to do with an open house, it’s all well and good to have a bunch of great design features and details, but if there’s clutter, potential buyers won’t see anything! If you’ll be putting your home up for sale soon, ensure your yard is as clean as it can be with gardening tools placed in the shed and any toys packed away for later use.
It takes a lot to prepare your home for an open house, but ensure you don’t forget about your yard because it’s one of the first things your visitors will see! If you’re getting prepared to put your home on the market, contact your real estate professionals for more information.
Jun 2, 2017 | Home Seller Tips
If you’re planning some renovations before you sell your home, you’re probably trying to determine what will boost its value best so you can get out the money you’re putting in. Pulling out the paint for some touch-ups may be one of the most common things you’ll hear about, but before taking on such a sizeable job, it’s worth considering the needs of your home and what you’ll have the ability to do before it goes on the market.
The State Of Your Paint
To brighten a room and instantly improve the look of a space, there few things that will do the trick like paint. Often times, a poor paint job will be one of the first things potential buyers notice when they visit your home, whether the color is dull or there are cracks showing. If your home’s paint job is neither impressive nor out-of-date, you may not want to take on such a big project. However, if these issues will negatively impact your home sale, it may be worth the effort.
What Is Your Timeline?
There are a number of easy home fix-ups that can improve your home, but painting is one of few things that can take a lot of time. It’s unlikely you’ll want to shell out for a professional painter if you’ve already decided on a renovations budget, but if you don’t have the time you may want to decide on a few problematic areas to paint. If the bathroom or the kitchen happens to look weathered, focus on those areas instead of taking on the whole house.
What Buyers Will Change
When potential homebuyers are looking at your home, they’ll not only be thinking about what they love, they’ll be considering what they want to upgrade down the road. Unfortunately, painting is not one of the projects that buyers will want to spend time on as soon as they move in. While it may not be worth their time to move into a house that needs to be painted right away, it just might be worth yours to get out the roller.
There are a number of home renovations that can improve your home’s value, but painting may be a necessity if your walls are dull and showing signs of age. If you’re currently preparing to put your home on the market, contact your local real estate professional for more information.
