Wednesday, April 26, 2017

7 Steps to Take Before You Buy a Home

7 Steps to Take Before You Buy a Home

By doing your homework before you buy, you’ll feel more content about your new home. Read

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Tuesday, April 25, 2017

9 Ways to Save on Your Home That Grandma Never Told You

9 Ways to Save on Your Home That Grandma Never Told You

Classic advice — with a few modern twists for today’s homeowners. Read

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Monday, April 24, 2017

4 Bathroom Fads That Turn Buyers Off

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

For some buyers, the bathroom is a deal breaker. So if your listing includes these fading bathroom trends, you might have a harder time selling it. Realtor.com® notes some fads you may want to suggest your sellers change before putting their home on the market.

How about the most popular bathroom trends for 2017?

All-white bathrooms: They're tough to keep clean, so this trend is definitely reaching its end. "White tile and flooring can stain very easily, and any little mark glares at you from across the room, tainting the crisp, clean concept of an all-white look," says Tonya Bruin, CEO of Canada-based To Do-Done Handyman Services. "I have so many homeowners coming to me now to ask for these white baths to be torn out and replaced with a more varied color design." To offset an all-white look without a complete overhaul, paint one wall a different color or add colored towels and a bath mat, Bruin suggests.

Too many funky colors: However, you don't want to be too bold with your color scheme. Mustard, salmon, and avocado, for example, aren’t the most desirable colors in a bathroom. "Colors like these tend to look tacky and make your bathroom feel like it's stuck in the 1980s," says Scott Allis with Miracle Method, a bath and kitchen refinishing company. Go for a more muted palette for your listing, such as a mix of three colors in a 70/20/10 distribution. "Use the most neutral color for 70 percent of the walls, floor, and tile, a rich contrasting color for 20 percent of the look, and then an accent shade for the last 10 percent," says Bee Heinemann, an interior design expert at Vant Wall Panels.

A big bathtub: Design magazines may celebrate the luxurious standalone bathtub in the center of a bathroom, but it doesn't always work in reality. "This elaborate, oversized fixture is far from practical and actually has low resale value," Heinemann says. Bathtubs are used less often than showers, and if there's at least one bathtub in the home, there's no need to spotlight one in another bathroom. For bathroom remodels, designers recommend investing in a quality water-saving shower.

Subway tile and nickel finishes: Subway tile and cool finishes such as nickel and chrome are on their way out, designers say. Instead, "large format tile is a good way to go, as are mini mosaics and geometric tiles," says Nicole Rojas, a designer with Tellus Design in Southern California. Also, brushed gold and even black finishes are gaining popularity. "The silhouette is still clean and streamlined," adds Bea Pila, author of Sacred Spaces for Inspired Living. "But these newer tones add an element of modernity and sophistication."

Source: “7 Bathroom Design Trends Home Buyers Want to Flush Away,” realtor.com® (April 19, 2017)

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

What Really Makes a Property Appreciate

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017

A home’s value generally appreciates 3 percent to 4 percent every year, which is attributed mostly to population growth and inflation. However in 2016, homeowners saw appreciation jump to an average of 6.3 percent.

Read more: Study: Small Homes Appreciate Faster

Realtor.com®’s research team sought to find out what would boost a home’s value even more and what home features buyers may be willing to pay more for. Researchers analyzed millions of listings on realtor.com® from 2011 to 2016 to calculate the annual price growth rate of homes with certain features.

Here are some of the clear winners in housing appreciation:

Small homes: Homes smaller than 1,200 square feet appreciated by an average rate of 7.5 percent a year for the past five years. On the other hand, larger homes of 2,400 square feet or more rose by 3.8 percent a year. The smaller-home demand is being driven by millennials wanting to enter the market with a more affordable starter home and baby boomers who are looking to downsize, realtor.com® notes. Further, smaller homes are in shorter supply, which is prompting prices to increase more due to the high demand, says Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, a real estate appraisal firm.

Two-bedroom homes: Homes with two bedrooms appreciate at a rate of 6.6 percent a year, compared to homes with five bedrooms that appreciate at 4.3 percent a year, realtor.com®’s research team found.

The Hottest Home Features

(Noted below with the annual appreciation rate from 2011-2016.)

Open floor plan: 7.4%

Patio: 6.8%

Hardwood floors: 5.7%

Fireplace: 5.3%

Finished basement: 4.6%

Hot tub: 3.9%

Stainless steel appliances: 3%

Granite countertop: 2.5%

Source: realtor.com®

Open floor plans: Homes with open floor plans appreciate 7.4 percent a year. It’s the hottest appreciating home feature that realtor.com® studied (see side for full list). As for features like stainless steel and granite, Miller says those amenities don’t really add any value to a home. "Those are what I call 'have-to-have' features,” Miller says. “A home needs to have them in a competitive market. But they don't add long-term value. … Ten years from now, when you update your kitchen, they'll be replaced."

Modern and contemporary homes: Modern and contemporary architectural styles have the highest potential for appreciation, increasing at about 7.7 percent annually. This style of home is known for simple, geometric shapes, and large windows. Newly constructed modern homes also tend to be energy efficient. Bungalows and Traditional are the next highest appreciating styles at 6.5 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, niche styles like Craftsman bungalows and Victorians are among the lowest appreciating architectural styles, at 3.7 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. Researchers speculate that may be due to some of the maintenance responsibilities in staying true to the home’s historical architecture that is often connected to these styles of homes.

Green space views: Homes with a park view appreciate at 7.9 percent a year, realtor.com®’s research team found. "[They] hold value over a longer period of time, and they recover quickly from a downturn," says Michael Minson, a real estate pro in San Francisco at Keller Williams. "Buyers appreciate the tranquility and outdoor activities. They like being close to nature." Indeed, homes with mountain views appreciated on average by 5.1 percent, and homes with a lake view at 4.9 percent. Ocean views appreciated the least of the “home views” studied, at just 3.6 percent a year. Recent storms may have spooked buyers from oceanfront properties as well as the fact that the highest-cost homes tend to be along the ocean, realtor.com®’s research team notes.

Source: “Appreciation Sensation: The Real Factors That Boost Your Home’s Bottom Line,” realtor.com® (April 17, 2017)

Thursday, April 13, 2017

7 Tips for Staging Your Home

7 Tips for Staging Your Home

Make your home warm and inviting to boost your home’s value and speed up the sale process. Read

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Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Season-by-Season Lawn Maintenance Calendar

Season-by-Season Lawn Maintenance Calendar

Tips for a barefoot-worthy lawn that’ll ensure your home has uber curb appeal. Read

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