Treasure Coast Real Estate Blog

Your local news and information source for homes and investment real estate along South Florida's Treasure Coast

Sunday, April 24, 2016

5 Cheap Ways to Increase Your Home’s Value

Tips to Improve Your Home Without Breaking the Bank


Want to boost your home’s value, but don’t have the budget for a big renovation? Good news: You don’t need a big budget to make material improvements.

When evaluating home improvements, it’s always a good idea to ask yourself if the money invested will be recouped in the sale of the home. The best renovations not only cover their costs, but they can actually provide a nice return. The key, of course, is identifying those improvements which deliver the biggest return for the smallest investment.

Here are five renovation projects which are both easy and inexpensive ways to dial up your home’s appeal and value:

1. Paint the front door: You might not have the budget for full exterior paint job, but have you looked at your front door lately? It’s a focal point from the street and if it’s looking weathered, improving its appearance can have a disproportionate impact on your curb appeal.

2. Paint the foyer/entry way: Interior paint is an obvious improvement, but you don’t have to make it an all-or-none proposition. Where do people enter your home? Refresh that point of entry and make it look brand new.

3. Change light fixtures and switch plates: You probably don’t even notice your light fixtures anymore, but buyers will. Swapping out the fixtures seldom requires an electrician’s skill, and modernizing the look goes a long way. Same goes for switch plates, which may have grimy fingerprints or bent dimmer switches.

4. Upgrade kitchen and bath fixtures: Do you need a new sink, or do you just need a fresh faucet? It’s amazing how much a deluxe kitchen faucet upgrade can change perceptions of a kitchen. Same goes for the bathrooms: Faucets and even a new toilet can do wonders.

5. Garden upgrades: Fresh borders on your flower gardens, new flowers, and fresh mulch are all small touches which refresh a home’s exterior.

This post has been authored by Eric Slifkin, REALTOR® serving South Florida’s Treasure Coast. You can reach me at 888-288-1765, or visit my Web site. As your resource for information on new or resale homes throughout the Treasure Coast, please be sure to contact me about any home you may find on the Web, yard sign or ad and I will research the property, arrange showings and handle all the details.


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Saturday, April 23, 2016

Listening to Buyer Feedback About Your Home

How Collecting and Evaluating Buyer Feedback Can be Used to Your Advantage


A second pair of eyes on an important document often helps spot mistakes or awkward phrasing we might miss on our own. Therapists help guide countless people through difficult situations with an outsider’s viewpoint. The same is true with selling a home: Buyers can see what’s holding your house back.

Naturally, some buyers believe complaints will help them lower the price when negotiation time comes around, but more often than not buyer feedback offers valuable insight. As the owner, you are frequently too familiar with your home to see it (and smell it!) with a buyer’s point of view.

Common buyer complaints include:

- Foul or off-putting odors from animals, cigarette smoke, mildew, or a “closed up” house.

- Poor lighting or a “dark” feel to the rooms

- Worn flooring, dirty walls, or nasty wallpaper

Almost all of these complaints are easy fixes and involve cleaning, paint, or some floor replacement. Though a buyer could easily undertake these projects after buying the home, the initial negative impression is enough to put them off the house for good.

If you’re not living in your home while it’s on the market, you might also discover unexpected reasons why buyers were dissuaded from making an offer. If you have renters who make access to the home difficult or refuse to remove their aggressive pets from the premises, you won’t know without some feedback from buyers. “Stagnant house syndrome” is another potential problem, so it’s good to know if buyers feel like a home is airless and gloomy. Finally, buyer feedback can alert you if there have been any vandals or pest infestations.

I always follow-up with buyers to find out what they thought of the house… good and bad. It’s crucial to get this feedback. If, for instance, buyers consistently complain about things which can’t be changed (such as major floor plan issues or proximity to a busy road), it may be necessary to adjust the listing price on the house. On the other hand, if they are relatively simple cosmetic fixes, it’s possible to consider inexpensive upgrades.

It helps to think of your relationship to sellers as a collaborative one. They like your home enough to consider buying it, and you can learn from why they passed.

Perfect pricing and preparation are keys to a quick sale. Let me help you with both!

This post has been authored by Eric Slifkin, REALTOR® serving South Florida’s Treasure Coast. You can reach me at 888-288-1765, or visit my Web site. As your resource for information on new or resale homes throughout the Treasure Coast, please be sure to contact me about any home you may find on the Web, yard sign or ad and I will research the property, arrange showings and handle all the details.

Saturday, April 16, 2016

How to Amp Up The Resale Value of Your Home


How to Amp Up The Resale Value of Your Home


Whether you're putting your home on the market this year or in the next five years, it is a smart decision to start building your home's resale value now. Here are some ways to create a comfortable home while making it easier to put more money into your bank account on closing day.

Small Maintenance and Repairs

If you think that home maintenance on the weekends wastes your time and energy, think again. The small chores you do around your home prevents it from losing value. Neglecting small maintenance and repairs cause 10% of your home's value to walk out your door and slip through your windows. Most appraisers claim that homes showing little to no preventative maintenance can depreciate from $15,000 to $20,000.

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Connecticut and Syracuse University shows that regular maintenance boosts your home value by about 1% per year. However, ongoing maintenance costs offset that value, which means that regular maintenance actually slows down your rate of depreciation. Furthermore, because homebuyers generally notice any repairs needed upon buying a new home, proactive maintenance lets the homebuyer know that he or she will not have to spend extra money to maintain the basics. This makes your home more attractive, and thus more likely to get higher priced offers.

Maintaining the basics can cost you a little money and certainly some effort, but there’s a way to accomplish this very important activity smartly. This article by HouseLogic, for example, shows you how to keep home maintenance below $300 a year.  Planning ahead will also help make maintaining your home easier. Most professional appraisers and real estate agents recommend a proactive maintenance schedule that includes:

·       Keeping enough cash on hand to replace systems and materials
·       Creating and following a maintenance schedule
·       Planning a room redo every year
·       Keeping a notebook of all your maintenance and repairs

Landscaping

The Virginia Cooperative Extension at Virginia Tech published a study that shows landscaping can increase a home's value by 15%.  The study claims that a home valued at $150,000 could increase its value between $8,300 and $19,000 with the addition of landscaping. Particular landscape elements add different value. For instance, landscape design can increase your home's value by 42%, plant size can increase your home's value by 32%, and diversity in plants can increase your home's value by 22%.

Replace Entrance Doors

If your entry doors are wood, consider switching them out for either fiberglass or steel doors. Steel doors add style and architectural interest to your home while improving security; you can add a deadbolt and electronic keypads to keep out intruders. Unlike wood doors, steel doors do not rot or splinter.

Alternatively, fiberglass doors can be designed to look like wood doors and give your home a modern look. Fiberglass doors conserve more energy than steel doors.

Pricewise, a steel door will cost you $1,335 with a 91% return on investment whereas a fiberglass door will cost you $3,126 with an 82.3% return on investment.

Garage Door Replacement

At first, you might not think that your garage door increases the value of your home. However, your garage door distinguishes your home from the other homes on your block. As the largest entryway of a house, garage doors get noticed first because they're the focal point of your home. If you want to quickly increase the resale value of your home, you need to make the most of this space.

Some interesting things being done with garage doors include:

  • Increased Size: Bigger garage doors help homes stand out more, and homeowners can do more creatively with them.
  • Bold Colors: Bright and bold colors now can complement the color of your home, or you can build a concept around the color of your home.
  • Faux Wood: You can install fiberglass or steel garage doors that look like wood garage doors. This gives your home a new level of sophistication.
  • Windows: Large Windows on your garage door improve the aesthetic of your home, and provide light into your garage so that it's no longer a dark space.

More importantly, a garage door replacement will cost you $1,652 and add $1,512 to the value of your home; that's a return on your investment of 91.5%.

Fiberglass Attic Insulation

While energy efficiency is still not the sexiest selling point of your home, installing fiberglass attic insulation saves energy and garners a big payback on your investment. According to Remodeling Magazine's 2016 Cost vs. Value top trends report, fiberglass attic insulation gained the top return on investment among the 30 projects in this year's report. Using Remodel/Max as the cost source, a fiberglass attic insulation project cost $1,268 nationwide.  Real estate professionals surveyed estimated that the work would boost the price of a home at resale, within a year of its completion, by $1,482. That's an 116.9% return on investment.

Replacing Windows

Replacing your windows is another way to save energy and increase your home's resale value. Replacing your old windows with energy saving models will beautify your home, keep it comfortable, and ease the workload of your HVAC system. According to HGTV, you'll see a reduction in your utility bill by 7% to 15%. However, if you're selling your home, you could expect a 60% to 70% recoupment of your investment. The two types of replacement windows that fetch the best return are vinyl and wood. 

Remodeling Your Kitchen

Kitchen remodeling can get expensive, but small renovations can make your home more buyer friendly. Changing your kitchen's texture and color using a matte finish and neutral colors such as putty or gray enhances your home's resale value. Because matte finishes have transitional qualities, your potential homebuyer can easily match his or her stainless steel or black and white appliances. Also, refinishing cabinetry, or switching to Energy Star™ appliances provide the comfort you like and pizazz buyers adore.

Flow is important to any interior design of a home. If you feel that your kitchen hinders a good flow, change it. A small investment to knock out a non-structural wall or remove a kitchen island creates space and provides the flow that buyers love.

A minor kitchen remodel can cost you $20,122 while putting $16,716 of resale value into your home; that's an 83% payback on the project. If you want to do a major kitchen model, this can cost you about $60,000 and put about $39,000 of resale value into your home, which is only about a 65% payback on the project. Therefore, consider a minor kitchen remodel first.

Bathroom Addition or Remodel

Likewise, carefully consider adding a bathroom or remodeling your bathroom. Switching out your frosted glass shower doors for glass doors, cleaning the grout, replacing the shower and floor tiles, switching out your sink or toilet, or replacing your sink and shower fixtures can cost you little money.

Adding a bathroom can get expensive, but it can reduce congestion during hectic times and provide your guests with a bathroom. Consult with your real estate agent or a local appraiser before deciding whether a full remodel or addition is right for your situation. While a bathroom remodel will cost you about $18,000 with a return on investment of about 66%, a bathroom addition will cost you about $42,000 with a return on investment of about 56%. Therefore, it's best to do your due diligence before working on your bathroom.

Your Needs and Buyers' Wants

On that note, if you need to renovate your home, be sure to consider how those changes will affect its appeal to future buyers. Knowing design trends will give you the opportunity to make changes to your home based on where your needs and your potential buyer's desires intersect, thus increasing your property's resale value drastically.

Designers and design websites provide great ideas when you’re brainstorming home renovations. Keep in mind as you research, however, that you don’t want to sacrifice your needs for a comfortable home just for the sake of what you think a future buyer will want!

Therefore, before you begin making any changes to your home, consult your real estate agent. Real estate agents, because we are constantly working with new buyer clients, have insider insight into what home buyers are looking for now and in the future. We’ll be able to help you make smart choices when remodeling or renovating your home.


If you think you might want to remodel or renovate your home in the near future, or if you are just curious about other ways you can increase its resale value, please reach out to me! 


This post has been authored by Eric Slifkin, REALTOR® serving South Florida’s Treasure Coast. You can reach me at 888-288-1765, or visit my Web site. As your resource for information on new or resale homes throughout the Treasure Coast, please be sure to contact me about any home you may find on the Web, yard sign or ad and I will research the property, arrange showings and handle all the details.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Ready to Sell? Visit Open Houses Before You List!


The real estate market right now is strong. Many homeowners are ready to make a move, especially given the "sellers market" conditions we see in so many neighborhoods. But before you list, I'd like to give you a piece of useful strategic advice: Start going to open houses now.

There are several good reasons why I advise you to spend a few Sundays touring homes before you list:

1. Every home on the market is your competition. This is particularly true of homes with a similar number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Keep your house in mind when you go to visit. How does yours compare? Is it in better condition? Worse? Have competing homes been updated? Are you at an advantage or disadvantage?

2. Listen to what other buyers say. What are buyers saying as they tour these homes? What would they say about yours? This can give you valuable insight into the sorts of questions buyers may ask.

3. Let your visit inform your price expectations. The key to buyer interest and the "herd mentality" that can result in multiple offers tends to hinge on a perfectly priced home. This means understanding competing homes and finding the sweet spot for your own based on amenities, conditions, location, and recent sales. Touring open houses in your neighborhood helps take of the "emotional blinders" sellers often have when they think about how much their home "should be worth." Seeing clearly is essential to a successful sale.


Naturally, I am happy to help you identify open houses, provide market values, and assist you every step of the way. Even if you're not ready to list today, let's have an honest conversation about your goals and dreams for a successful move!

This post has been authored by Eric Slifkin, REALTOR® serving South Florida’s Treasure Coast. You can reach me at 888-288-1765, or visit my Web site. As your resource for information on new or resale homes throughout the Treasure Coast, please be sure to contact me about any home you may find on the Web, yard sign or ad and I will research the property, arrange showings and handle all the details.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Treasure Coast Open Houses This Weekend

Discover this weekend's open houses in Stuart, Florida and the Treasure Coast. Search open house listings, updated daily from the Stuart, FL MLS. http://goo.gl/jsT1ZW

Get weekly updates on upcoming open houses in Stuart, FL and the Treasure Coast

This post has been authored by Eric Slifkin, REALTOR® serving South Florida’s Treasure Coast. You can reach me at 888-288-1765, or visit my Web site. As your resource for information on new or resale homes throughout the Treasure Coast, please be sure to contact me about any home you may find on the Web, yard sign or ad and I will research the property, arrange showings and handle all the details.