Effective Improvements for a Faster Sale
You have decided to sell your home, and you are eager to sell it ASAP! You need to move or want those proceeds immediately, but how? Let’s go through the best ways to efficiently and effectively improve your home for a speedy sale.
First, curbside appeal. This is the first thing every potential buyer sees so make it stand out! Some suggestions:
- Hire a gardener to clean and spruce up the entrance
- Remove superfluous items from the front of your home, i.e. garbage cans, strollers, etc.
- Put a fresh coat of paint on your home’s exterior
Second, this is the time to clean and eliminate all clutter inside your home. Here’s how:
- Give away extra toys, clothes, and anything else that makes it look crowded or disorganized
- Organize the kitchen countertops and closets
- Place bulky items in storage
Third, landscaping matters. A large yard cannot shine if the plants, grass and trees are in bad shape. Try the following ideas:
- Artificial grass-this always looks amazing and eliminates the need for maintenance
- Tie orchids around the trees, plant fresh flowers and maintain the grass and trees
Fourth, look under the hood. Make the inside of your home look as good as possible.
- This is the time to do some of the minor repairs you have been putting off. This will make your home look better and may eliminate certain issues during the Inspection Period.
- Yes, it seems expensive or time-consuming. However, if you hire a professional company, this can truly make the difference and get you more money in less time.
Finally, hire a professional, licensed realtor. A realtor with experience and expertise can help sell your home quickly for the best price.
Best of luck!
Source: CB Blue Matter Blog
Architectural Styles on the Horizon
Whether you’re buying, selling or staging a home, popular architectural styles and buzz-words can help you get the most out of your investment. Current and upcoming homebuyers have an “instant” mindset, are debt-savvy, and want all the luxuries of rural living in growing cities. Trending architectural styles, like shipping container and tiny homes, reflect the budget-friendliness and fast construction new homeowners want. Contemporary glass structures, modern farmhouse, and a Spanish-colonial revival make way for bigger homes and budgets.
Shipping Container
These days, building your own home is as easy as clicking around on a website or flipping through a catalog, mixing materials and adding desired features. The architecture that results is a Lego-like, innovative blend of textures and shapes that is “unique” to the homeowner’s preferences and taste. These styles are known as shipping container style homes. Some simulate the appearance of or incorporate actual shipping container material in their textures. By selecting from pre-fab, mix and match elements, homeowners can be sure that these features are ready-to-go. They can get exactly what they want without wasting time or resources.
Tiny Home
Floor plans for both homes and apartments are getting smaller and smaller as the demand for land goes up and urban populations boom. Architects and builders are getting creative with their designs, finding new ways to make the most out of spaces as small as 300 square feet. This is “tiny home” size. These homes often sell at a lower price point than traditional-size homes, which makes the investment easier for modern homebuyers who are grappling with significant loan debt. These designs make the most out of every square inch with hidden storage, multi-use rooms and concepts like open space and indoor-outdoor living.
Santa Barbara
One of the most desired builds, right now, is the Santa Barbara style of architecture. This involves white stucco walls, wood beam ceilings and red tile roofs. It gets its name from the Spanish Colonial style that boomed in Santa Barbara in the early 1900s. The city set the trend for the rest of the country and homeowners are finding that the aesthetics of this style are a top choice for their dream homes.
Modern Glass
Homeowners are knocking out walls and replacing them with glass doors and walls to see through to their back yards or patios. Incorporating the outdoors into indoor spaces is a top trend, right now. With the glass features, homeowners tend to blend sleek materials like concrete or wood. Modern glass style homes allow the outdoors to flow into the indoors and vice versa. This is a great trick to make the most of your property.
Updated Farmhouse
The farmhouse style has been a long-standing architectural icon. However, these days, the style is changing to incorporate more modern elements. The result is known as the modern farmhouse. In many builds, the design begins as a modern home outfitted with rural accents like barn doors and farmhouse siding. For builds that begin in the farmhouse style, modern colors and mixed industrial textures bring the old into the new.
If you are considering a new construction, an architect can help you to stay on top of the trends so that your home will be a success on the market well into the future. According to HomeAdvisor, the average cost to hire an architect is $5,000. They can guide you through the process to help maximize on your time and resources.
Lauren White is a freelance writer who enjoys reading, hiking and traveling. She can usually be found on an outdoor adventure with her boyfriend and little sister on the weekends.
Source: CB Blue Matter Blog
Home Tip of the Day: Thanksgiving Meal Planning
Planning and cooking everything for Thanksgiving can be very stressful. But, who says you have to do it all? Follow this guide to Thanksgiving meal planning to lighten the load this year. As with most things in life, it’s all in the preparation.
For other clever home tips & tricks, subscribe to Coldwell Banker On Location to view the complete Home Tip of the Day video series.
Source: CB Blue Matter Blog
Moving with a Baby: The Complete Guide for Parents
We have organized the guide into three sections: Before the Move, Moving In and Baby Proofing.
By NorthStar Moving Co-Founder Laura McHolm
On the move with a little mover in tow? Every parent knows having a baby at home is an adventure. Take that everyday baby voyage and mix in moving your home, now your adventure is more like a hike up Mt. Everest! Here’s the good news, if you plan ahead and take simple steps that trek will become a walk in the park (well maybe not, but a manageable stroll up hill.) Before you pack up and gear up for the baby + move exploration, check out this complete guide for parents moving with a baby to ease the stress and enjoy the transition.
We have organized the guide into three sections: Before the Move, Moving In and Baby Proofing. You can think of it like pregnancy, nesting and then labor!
Before the Move
Stick to Routine: Baby’s love and need their routine. Don’t let the moving to-do list and packing get in the way of your regular daily routine. Instead of pulling an all-nighter to pack, try to pack over a long period of time. Use naptime and baby’s early bedtime to get packing done in bits. Baby & parents need their sleep!
Create a Moving Calendar: To keep your head from spinning, it is best to plan your move 8 weeks out. Here is a Moving Day Count Down Calendar to copy, print and hang it up where you can easily refer to it while feeding the little one. This way you can take it day-by-day and get the satisfaction of checking off moving to-dos!
Use Childcare: During the actual moving day, when boxes and furniture are being moved, little ones should be somewhere else. Ask a trusted babysitter, friend or family member to take your bundle of joy for the day. It is also ideal to use childcare for days leading up to your move so that you can get more done on your moving calendar. There are great nanny and babysitting services that help you find qualified childcare.
Talk To Your Current Pediatrician: Your pediatrician is a great resource. If you are traveling long distance, ask them for tips for keeping your baby happy on a plane or long car ride. If you need to find a new pediatrician, make sure you get a copy of all of your child’s medical records to give to your new pediatrician. Get copies of all your child’s prescriptions and have them called into a pharmacy near your new home. Ask your current pediatrician for recommendations on how to find a new pediatrician close to your new home. When finding a new doc, it is recommended to set up a meet and greet appointment as soon as you move.
Pack a Baby Bag: You know the daily drill; pack half the nursery to carry with you wherever you go. Well, this time the baby bag (box or small suitcase) should include all of your needs for three days (if you’re moving a long distance, you may want at least one month of supplies with you rather than on the moving truck). Once you move into your new place, you may not have easy access to diapers, baby food, pacifiers and the important squeaky toy. So be sure to pack everything you need for three days (or more) in one place that you keep by your side for easy access on moving day and the first few days after.
Moving In
Unpack the Nursery First: When moving in you should set up the nursery first. This will allow you to change your baby and easily put them to sleep on the first night in your new home. Arrange the nursery as closely as possible to your previous nursery. The familiarity will help you and your baby in the transition.
Setting Up The Crib: All new cribs on the market today meet the safety standards of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA). When setting up a new crib or reassembling your crib look for the following suffocation and strangulation hazards:
- Sharp or jagged edges
- Missing, broken or loose parts
- Loose hardware
- Cut out designs in the headboard or footboard
- Crib slats more than 2 3/8 inches apart (width of a soda can)
- Corner post extension over 1/16 of an inch high
- Gaps larger than 2 fingers width between the sides of the crib and the mattress
- Drop side latches that could be easily released by your baby
Use Safe Bedding: Soft bedding can suffocate a baby, blocking the baby’s airway during sleep. Babies can suffocate when their faces become wedged against or buried in a mattress, pillow or other soft object. Use a safe crib with a firm, tight-fitting mattress covered with a crib sheet and nothing else in it. To keep your baby warm, use a sleep sack (wearable blanket).
Baby Proofing the New Home
I turned to the uber knowledgeable folks at Safe Kids Worldwide for a Baby Safety Checklist:
Crawl Through Your Home: The first step to a safe home, say the experts at Safe Kids, is to look at the world through your baby’s eyes. See what looks interesting and what can be reached. And I mean it literally – get down on your hands and knees in your new home and check for small things your baby can choke on. You will be amazed at what you discover! If you question if an item is a choking hazard, take an empty toilet paper roll and put the small object in it. If it fits completely into the roll, don’t let children under 3 play with it.
Test Alarms: Have working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors inside all bedrooms, outside all sleeping areas and on every level of your new home. Test alarms monthly and change batteries once a year.
Install Gates: Install stair gates at the top and bottom of stairs. Stair gates at the top must be attached to the wall with hardware.
Secure Furniture: Secure furniture to the wall to avoid tip overs.
Check Windows: When decorating your new place, be sure to use cordless window coverings.
Mindful Unpacking: When unpacking, be sure to lock up medicines, vitamins, cleaning products, pet food, alcohol, poisonous plants, and chemicals (like paint, gasoline, etc.) and store them high out of your baby’s reach.
Your baby’s arrival was certainly the most blissful and incredible life change. Now you get to start the next chapter together in your new home. A home that is safe for your little one to play, grow and explore!
Laura McHolm is an organizational, moving & storage expert and co-founder of NorthStar Moving Company. NorthStar Moving Company is an award winning, “A+” rated company, which specializes in providing eco-luxury moving and storage services. www.northstarmoving.com
7 Things to Do Before Moving into Your New Home
The keys are yours, now what?
Congratulations! You’re a new homeowner. While you may not be able to wait to move in, there are a few things you should consider tackling before hanging those family photos on the walls.
1. Change the locks – For peace of mind, it’s a good idea to change out the locks on your exterior doors to ensure that anyone the previous owners may have given a key to can no longer access the property. According to Home Advisor, the average homeowner spends between $100-$300 hiring a locksmith.
2. Paint – Don’t love the lemon yellow the previous homeowners chose for the master bedroom? Painting your new home will be infinitely easier if you can do so before moving furniture into the space. Head to your local paint store to pick up a few samples to test before committing. Take your time and be sure to view the color swatches in different lights before committing. There are also handy online visualization tool like the Benjamin Moore Personal Color Viewer.
3. Take care of your floors – Like with painting, treating and refinishing floors is much easier without furniture in the way. Costs for this project will vary depending on the size of the job, but you can estimate roughly $200 for supplies and equipment. Check out this useful guide to refinishing wood floors from This Old House before heading to the hardware store.
4. Make any necessary repairs – Does the bathtub need to be re-caulked or the tile re-grouted? Do the floor boards creak? Make a list of priority repairs and tackle them one by one. You’ll be happy you did a few months from now when other projects crop up on the honey do list.
5. Clean from top to bottom – The only thing better than a new home is a clean new home. Now is the best time to give every nook and cranny of your home a deep clean. Scrub the inside of appliances like the refrigerator, oven, dishwasher and microwave. Wipe down walls and baseboards with a damp cloth. Looking for clever ways to banish grease and grime? Check out our Home Tip of the Day video series.
6. Set up your utilities – Call your electric, gas, cable and water utility providers to make sure service is transferred to you after closing. You’ll also want to research when trash and recycling pick-up are scheduled for your zone.
7. Change your Address – While you may want those mortgage bills to be sent elsewhere, it’s important to file a change of address with the US Postal Service to ensure that all mail is forwarded to your new address following your move. Also be sure to alert friends and family of your new address. They’ll need to know where to send that housewarming gift!
Now, the only thing left to do is celebrate! Looking for great housewarming party ideas? Try one of these backyard flings!
San Antonio Pet Adoption and Hurricane Harvey Relief
Coldwell Banker and Adopt-a-Pet.com renewed their partnership in 2017. Coldwell Banker D’Ann Harper, REALTORS® held a San Antonio pet adoption event and raised thousands of dollars for hurricane relief.
Coldwell Banker and Adopt-a-Pet.com teamed up again this year. The “Homes for Dogs” project launched in 2015 with a goal reaching 20,000 adoptions and Coldwell Banker affiliated offices nationwide joined forces and exceeded the goal.
At Coldwell Banker D’Ann Harper, REALTORS® we had planned a San Antonio pet adoption to join our Gen Blue family across the country by hosting a local pet adoption event. Our office locations span nine locations in seven cities in San Antonio and the surrounding areas. We had teamed up with local shelters, gathered resources, and promoted the National Adopt-a-Pet weekend.
What none of us could have planned for was the storm on the horizon. Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the evening of August 25 near Rockport, Texas. Home to many of our sales agents, family, friends, and sister brokerage the Ron Brown Company. The Category 4 hurricane sent wind gusts upwards of 100 mph through the Texas Coastal Bend. This area is composed of numerous small towns.
An Action Plan
We watched helplessly as the torrential rains moved along the 300 miles of Texas coastline to Houston and farther north to Beaumont. This is not only a Texas story; the storm moved painfully slow over the course of a week bringing the flood waters into parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
Without hesitation, Leesa Harper Rispoli rallied with the sales agents, employees, and partners here to formulate a plan of action. In step with our parent company, Realogy, who pledged to match up to $75,000 for Red Cross Hurricane Harvey relief funds, we launched a fundraiser directly benefiting the American Red Cross. To date this fundraiser has raised over $5,300.
Leesa put together a special message and effective immediately, on August 30, we began collecting donations. We then planned for a Big Donation Event on September 7, just ahead of our Adopt-A-Pet event on September 9. We communicated directly with our fellow Coldwell Banker family members who sustained severe damage. We continue to encourage and support their respective fundraisers found here:
HelpRockport.CBHarper.com
HelpPortA.CBHarper.com
Texans Rally Together
Even in the midst of a gas shortage caused by panic here in San Antonio, our Big Donation Event unfolded with grand success. Allen Pozzi and Richard Davies, in true Texas fashion, brought in their barbecue pit and served up brisket, sausage, and fajita tacos. Each taco sold for $2 with the proceeds earmarked for relief efforts. Over $1,387.44 was raised in monetary donations. Checks were delivered directly to the San Antonio Food Bank, a hub of distribution for those affected by Hurricane Harvey.
Hurricane Harvey Relief Donations
Physical donations came in by the truckload until our entire trailer was filled with new goods, including cleaning supplies, food, and hygiene products. Some of our donations were even sent via Amazon from other locations across the country, like ones we received from Heather Ostrom at Coldwell Banker Roseville and Rocklin. We worked with a church who organized and delivered all the items collected. They put them directly into the hands of those affected and set up a team of volunteers who are assisting in the rebuilding process.
Helping Furry Friends
With our donations delivered on Friday, we pushed forward together to promote our Adopt-a-Pet event. It was no longer about only the San Antonio pet adoption. It became about relieving the shelters who were feeling the pressure as they received incoming pets displaced by the flooding.
Cat Lodge & Leesa Harper Rispoli
Our very own Cat Lodge appeared on SALiving with TV personality Shelly Miles to voice how adopting a dog can make all the difference. Already full shelters here in San Antonio were seeing a large influx of animals that had escaped the storm or lost their families. Seeing a need, our friends at Adopt-a-Pet.com announced the release of a unique peer-to-peer platform that helps displaced people find local citizens who can provide temporary foster homes for pets until they can be welcomed back home.
On Saturday, September 9 our offices joined together with God’s Dogs, SARocks, San Antonio Pets Alive, and Pet’s Barn to take part in the nation-wide Adopt-a-Pet weekend. In total, 28 dogs found new homes, which for us is a tremendous success! Below are photos from our event and they speak louder than any words we can share.
At the end of the day, we’re all Texans. What does it mean? It means we’re family — here to lift one another up. We rise only by lifting others. So if that means raising money, donating goods, or hosting a pet adoption — count us in. If there is one thing we are passionate about here at Coldwell Banker D’Ann Harper, REALTORS®, it is changing lives by affecting real change where we can. Texas is a wonderful place to live and raise a family. If this tragedy has taught us anything, it is that we are Texas Strong. Stay on this journey with us as we continue down the path to recovery post-Hurricane Harvey . . . and Hurricane Irma. It is a long road home for some but we will reach the destination, together.
Wendy Holtorff and her family with their new pup! Congratulations!
Julie Brown and Donna Frye put in some serious “sign-holding” time — committed to pups and all things Adopt-a-Pet!