6 Green Kitchen Remodeling Tips
Turn your kitchen remodel bright green with these six resource-conserving tips. Read
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Copyright 2011 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
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A Blog to provide information to buyers and sellers of real estate.
Showing posts with label Home Ownership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home Ownership. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Kitchen Remodeling Tips
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Replace Old Windows with Energy Efficient Models
Replace Old Windows with Energy-Efficient Models
Adding new energy-efficient windows can pay off at resale, as well as boost your energy savings—$126-$465 annually—if you choose the right ones. Read
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Friday, September 16, 2011
Save Money by Repairing Windows
Save Money by Repairing Windows
Repairing worn windows, rather than replacing them, can save you thousands of dollars. Read
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Friday, June 17, 2011
Do-It-Yourself Home Security Check: 5 Essential Steps
By: Joseph D'Agnese
Published: November 12, 2010
Conduct a do-it-yourself home security check by walking around your house to assess what needs to be done to reduce the risk of a break-in.
1. Keep your home well-maintained on the outside
Burglars want an easy target. Stand on the street outside your house and ask yourself: Does my property look neglected, hidden, or uninhabited? A front door or walkway that’s obscured by shrubbery offers crooks the perfect cover they need while they break a door or window. To improve security, trim shrubs away from windows and widen front walks.
2. Install motion detector lights
All sides of your house should be well-lit with motion-activated lighting, not just the front. Simple motion-activated floodlights cost less than $50 each, and installing them is an easy DIY job if the wiring is already in place.
3. Store your valuables
Thieves want easy-to-grab electronics, cash, jewelry, and other valuables, though some are not above running down the street with your flat-screen TV. Most make a beeline for the master bedroom, because that’s where you’re likely to hide spare cash, jewelry, even guns.
Tour each room and ask yourself: is there anything here that I can move to a safe deposit box? Installing a home safe ($150 to $500) that’s bolted to your basement slab is a good repository for items you don’t use on a daily basis.
4. Secure your data
While you probably won’t be putting your home computer in a safe anytime soon, take steps to back up the personal information stored on it. Password protect your login screen, and always shut off your computer when not in use (you’ll save energy, too!) Don’t overlook irreplaceable items whose value may hard to quantify, like digital photos.
5. Prepare ahead of time in case the worst happens
- Take a photo or video inventory of items of value in your home, and store the file online or in your home safe. Check that you’re properly insured for theft. Note that high-ticket items in your home office, such as computers, professional camera equipment, or other business essentials, may require an additional rider or a separate policy.
Joseph D’Agnese is a journalist and book author who has written numerous articles on home improvement. He lives in North Carolina.
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Copyright 2010 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
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Tuesday, June 14, 2011
7 Hot Home Improvement Trends that Make Your Home Work for You
By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon
Published: May 13, 2011
Home improvement trends embrace energy efficiency, low maintenance exteriors, and double-duty space.
TREND #1: MAINTENANCE-FREE SIDING
We continue to choose maintenance-free siding that lives as long as we do, but with a lot less upkeep. But more and more we’re opting for fiber-cement siding, one of the fastest-growing segments of the siding market. It’s a combination of cement, sand, and cellulosic fibers that looks like wood but won’t rot, combust, or succumb to termites and other wood-boring insects.
At $5 to $9 per sq. ft., installed, fiber-cement siding is more expensive than paint-grade wood, vinyl, and aluminum siding. It returns 80% of investment, the highest return of any upscale project on Remodeling magazine’s latest Cost vs. Value Report.
Maintenance is limited to a cleaning and some caulking each spring. Repaint every 7 to 15 years. Wood requires repainting every 4 to 7 years.
At $5 to $9 per sq. ft., installed, fiber-cement siding is more expensive than paint-grade wood, vinyl, and aluminum siding. It returns 80% of investment, the highest return of any upscale project on Remodeling magazine’s latest Cost vs. Value Report.
Maintenance is limited to a cleaning and some caulking each spring. Repaint every 7 to 15 years. Wood requires repainting every 4 to 7 years.
Trend #2: Convertible spaces
Forget “museum rooms” we use twice a year (dining rooms and living rooms) and embrace convertible spaces that change with our whims.
Foldaway walls turn a private study into an easy-flow party space. Walls can consist offancy, glass panels ($600 to $1,600 per linear ft., depending on the system); or they can be simple vinyl-covered accordions ($1,230 for 7 ft. by 10 ft.). PortablePartions.com sells walls on wheels ($775 for approximately 7 ft. by 7 ft.).
A Murphy bed pulls down from an armoire-looking wall unit and turns any room into a guest room. Prices, including installation and cabinetry, range from $2,000 (twin with main cabinet) to more than $5,000 (California king with main and side units). Just search online for sellers.
And don’t forget area rugs that easily define, and redefine, open spaces.
Foldaway walls turn a private study into an easy-flow party space. Walls can consist offancy, glass panels ($600 to $1,600 per linear ft., depending on the system); or they can be simple vinyl-covered accordions ($1,230 for 7 ft. by 10 ft.). PortablePartions.com sells walls on wheels ($775 for approximately 7 ft. by 7 ft.).
A Murphy bed pulls down from an armoire-looking wall unit and turns any room into a guest room. Prices, including installation and cabinetry, range from $2,000 (twin with main cabinet) to more than $5,000 (California king with main and side units). Just search online for sellers.
And don’t forget area rugs that easily define, and redefine, open spaces.
Trend #3: A laundry room of your own
Humankind advanced when the laundry room arose from the basement to a louvered closet on the second floor where clothes live. Now, we’re taking another step forward by granting washday a room of its own.
If you’re thinking of remodeling, turn a mudroom or extra bedroom into a dedicated laundry room big enough to house the washer and dryer, hang hand-washables, and store bulk boxes of detergent.
Look for spaces that already have plumbing hookups or are adjacent to rooms with running water to save on plumbing costs.
If you’re thinking of remodeling, turn a mudroom or extra bedroom into a dedicated laundry room big enough to house the washer and dryer, hang hand-washables, and store bulk boxes of detergent.
Look for spaces that already have plumbing hookups or are adjacent to rooms with running water to save on plumbing costs.
Trend #4: Souped-up kitchens
Although houses are trending smaller, kitchens are getting bigger, according to theAmerican Institute of Architects’ Home Design Trends Survey.
Kitchen remodels open the space, perhaps incorporating lonely dining rooms, and feature recycling centers, large pantries, and recharging stations.
Oversized and high-priced commercial appliances—did we ever fire up six burners at once?—are yielding to family-sized, mid-range models that recover at least one cabinet forstorage.
Since the entire family now helps prepare dinner (in your dreams), double prep sinks have evolved into dual-prep islands with lots of counter space and pull-out drawers.
Kitchen remodels open the space, perhaps incorporating lonely dining rooms, and feature recycling centers, large pantries, and recharging stations.
Oversized and high-priced commercial appliances—did we ever fire up six burners at once?—are yielding to family-sized, mid-range models that recover at least one cabinet forstorage.
Since the entire family now helps prepare dinner (in your dreams), double prep sinks have evolved into dual-prep islands with lots of counter space and pull-out drawers.
Trend #5: Energy diets
We’re wrestling with an energy disorder: We’re binging on electronics—cell phones, iPads, Blackberries, laptops--then crash dieting by installing LED fixtures and turning the thermostat to 68 degrees.
Are we ahead of the energy game? Only the energy monitors and meters know for sure.
These new tracking devices can gauge electricity usage of individual electronics ($20 to $30) or monitor whole house energy ($100 to $250). The TED 5000 Energy Monitor ($240) supplies real-time feedback that you can view remotely and graph by the second, minute, hour, day, and month.
Are we ahead of the energy game? Only the energy monitors and meters know for sure.
These new tracking devices can gauge electricity usage of individual electronics ($20 to $30) or monitor whole house energy ($100 to $250). The TED 5000 Energy Monitor ($240) supplies real-time feedback that you can view remotely and graph by the second, minute, hour, day, and month.
Trend #6: Love that storage
As we bow to the new god of declutter, storage has become the holy grail.
We’re not talking about more baskets we can trip over in the night; we’re imagining and discovering built-in storage in unlikely spaces--under stairs, over doors, beneath floors.
Under-appreciated nooks that once displayed antique desks are growing into built-ins for books and collections. Slap on some doors, and you can hide office supplies and buckets of Legos.
Giant master suites, with floor space to land a 747, are being divided to conquer clutter with more walk-in closets.
Under-appreciated nooks that once displayed antique desks are growing into built-ins for books and collections. Slap on some doors, and you can hide office supplies and buckets of Legos.
Giant master suites, with floor space to land a 747, are being divided to conquer clutter with more walk-in closets.
Trend #7: Home offices come out of the closet
Flexible work schedules, mobile communications, and entrepreneurial zeal are relocating us from the office downtown to home.
Laptops and wireless connections let us telecommute from anywhere in the house, but we still want a dedicated space (preferably with a door) for files, supplies, and printers.
Spare bedrooms are becoming home offices and family room niches are morphing into working nooks. After a weekend of de-cluttering, basements and attics are reborn as work centers.
Lisa Kaplan Gordon is a HouseLogic contributor and homebuilder.
Laptops and wireless connections let us telecommute from anywhere in the house, but we still want a dedicated space (preferably with a door) for files, supplies, and printers.
Spare bedrooms are becoming home offices and family room niches are morphing into working nooks. After a weekend of de-cluttering, basements and attics are reborn as work centers.
Lisa Kaplan Gordon is a HouseLogic contributor and homebuilder.
Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.
Copyright 2010 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
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Thursday, June 2, 2011
National Realtor Open House June 4 and June 5
Saturday and Sunday
Two to Four
428 Conner Grant Road
New Bern, NC
Features
2400 Heated Square Feet
Four Bedrooms
Three Full Baths
Screened Porch
Concrete Patio
Large Two Car Garage
Cathedral Ceilings
Front Porch
Large Game Room
Laundry Room
Mother in Law Quarters
Spacious Kitchen
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Saturday, February 5, 2011
Is Homeownership Important?
I believe the answer is an absolute yes. Especially for families with children. I believe that society is now divided more profoundly between renters and home owners than the other factors that divide us. In years past race, religion or ethnicity seemed to provide cultural barriers. It seems to me that those barriers have been eased during our lifetime.
As Realtors we are often asked which school district is the best. This prompts the question why are some schools more successful than others. School districts are designed to be diverse and racially balanced. That leads to an observation that the answer does not depend on racial or ethnic causes. Looking at the local districts I looked for reasons and differences between the local elementary schools. I do not believe that the difference are the teachers nor staffs of the school. Certainly there may be differences between one class and another in the same school attributed to the teacher's commitment and skill. I believe that those differences would balance out when considering an entire school. What does make the difference?
I believe school districts with a higher percentage of homeowners will have more academic success. I have included an except form a report by the New York City Habitat for Humanity below. To view the entire article click:
http://www.habitatnyc.org/pdf/Toolkit/homewonership.pdf
For more reading on the subject go to http://www.newtowncdc.org/pdf/social_consequences_study.pdf
That article lists several benefits of home ownership:
The long term financial benefit of home ownership is very evident. If you are not a homeowner you have three things you can count on; Death, Taxes and the Rent.
Gary Barker
gary@gary-barker.com
www.gary-barker.com
www.facebook.com/garybarkerrealestate
As Realtors we are often asked which school district is the best. This prompts the question why are some schools more successful than others. School districts are designed to be diverse and racially balanced. That leads to an observation that the answer does not depend on racial or ethnic causes. Looking at the local districts I looked for reasons and differences between the local elementary schools. I do not believe that the difference are the teachers nor staffs of the school. Certainly there may be differences between one class and another in the same school attributed to the teacher's commitment and skill. I believe that those differences would balance out when considering an entire school. What does make the difference?
I believe school districts with a higher percentage of homeowners will have more academic success. I have included an except form a report by the New York City Habitat for Humanity below. To view the entire article click:
http://www.habitatnyc.org/pdf/Toolkit/homewonership.pdf
For more reading on the subject go to http://www.newtowncdc.org/pdf/social_consequences_study.pdf
That article lists several benefits of home ownership:
- Child Outcome is Enhanced
- Positive effect on Mental, Physical and Emotional Health
- Increased Social Involvement
- Increased Political Involvement
- Environmental Awareness
- Increased Stability
- Less Vulnerability to Crime
The long term financial benefit of home ownership is very evident. If you are not a homeowner you have three things you can count on; Death, Taxes and the Rent.
gary@gary-barker.com
www.gary-barker.com
www.facebook.com/garybarkerrealestate
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