Declutter Your Home in Five Easy Steps
No matter the season, it’s always a good time for Spring cleaning. By that, I mean keeping your home in order by tossing or storing things you don’t use or need. Decluttering your home makes for a home with fewer accidents, less dust and mold, fewer fires, easier cleaning, and a fresher look. Here are five easy steps to declutter your home (while I say “easy,” I know that for some of us getting rid of anything can be difficult and painful): 1. Use the “three-box” system. Have three boxes labeled: Keep, Toss, and Store. As you go through all...
read moreHave You “Outgrown” Your Home?
Some 5.5 million existing homes will turn over this year because people have outgrown their homes. The reasons are many: growing families, job relocations, downsizing, avoiding the cost of deferred maintenance, changes in income, first time homeowning, divorce, retirement or a death in the family, to name just a few. Even so, moving is never easy. You have to find a new place or situation, pack your belongings, move them, and set up furniture, internet, utilities and other details. It’s no surprise that 40% of people moving actually cried...
read moreWhat’s in Store for the Housing Market in 2021?
The short answer is: it should be a blockbuster housing market in 2021! If you’re considering selling or buying, this might be the year to jump in.First a look back at 2020Let’s begin by looking at what amazing things happened in 2020 to set the stage for 2021. Sales in 2020 were so brisk that inventory of houses for sale dropped 40% nationally, below 700,000 for the first time in modern records. This lack of supply drove up the median listing price in 2020 to $340,000, up a whopping 13.4% compared to 2019. And the typical home spent 66 days...
read moreHow Do I Know What My Home Is Worth?
Are you curious about your current home value? Knowing the answer is important for a lot of reasons. Your home’s current worth helps you know: Your equity Your refinancing or loan leverage Whether to challenge your property tax valuation Whether it makes sense to sell and, if so, what the list price should be It’s important to know your current home value, because your home’s worth changes over time. For example, in Denver / Aurora / Lakewood, Realtor.com predicts home prices will increase 5.4% in 2021.But getting to that answer is not as...
read moreEasy Ways to Add Storage Areas in Your Home
There is no better way to get organized and declutter your home than by adding storage areas. Here are five ideas that are easy and economical. 1. Mudroom Bench You can buy them or build them, but they do amazing things. A bench with a storage area beneath and hooks and a shelf above give you many benefits: a place to sit and change outdoor shoes, a place to store them out of sight, hooks for jackets, purses, dog leashes and umbrellas, and a top shelf for picnic baskets or bike helmets. 2. Ottoman Instead of a living room or rec room coffee...
read moreInexpensive upgrades that help sell your home!
Quick, simple and cheap do-it-yourself upgrades can help sell your home faster. To make these changes, you don’t have to be a master carpenter or electrician either. Upgrade your light fixtures. Old chandeliers in the dining room, dated bathroom vanity lights or old-fashioned light fixtures on ceiling fans can be swapped quickly and inexpensively for a more modern look. Spruce up front yard plants. Remove overgrown or dead bushes and plants in the front of your house and replace them with native plants that give a fresh and colorful look to...
read moreWinter Fast Fact
If you set your thermostat back 10 to 15 degrees at night when you sleep, you can reduce your winter heating bill by 10%.
read morePreparing Your Home for Winter
Like it or not, winter is on its way! These tips for getting your home ready for the cold can save you heating costs and avoid costly structural damage. Seal the air leaks Caulking window or foundation cracks and updating the weather stripping on doors can make your house less drafty and reduce home heating costs by as much as 10%. Test smoke and CO detectors Changing batteries is cheap and easy, but essential as winter approaches. With your furnace blasting and an increased use of fireplaces, your winterized home can build up...
read moreBest Home Renovations: 6 Tips for Getting a Great Return on Your Investment
Summer’s a boom time for homebuying and selling—and making renovations. But if you’re thinking you could someday put your house on the market (or you simply want to see your property’s value go up), which are the best home renovations to invest in? Here are tips from a real estate veteran. 1. Make scale-appropriate improvements “Be mindful of the overall value of your house so you don’t over-renovate,” recommends San Antonio—based Realtor® Dan Balcar. “No matter what kind of improvements they are, you...
read moreHomes for sale: Which remodeling projects will help you sell your house
Jay Rinehart, a realtor in Rock Hill, South Carolina, took over a listing for a house that couldn’t sell after going on the market last year. One of the things he did was ask the seller to swap out an old bathtub faucet so it was consistent with the sink faucet installed in a remodeling a few years earlier. His team also helped stage the kitchen that had been renovated. “We got an offer within 30 days on the market,” says Rinehart, who’s been a realtor for 31 years. Potential buyers commented that “the...
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