Five Weekend Project Ideas to Add Value to Your Home
By admin | July 8, 2008
We all want our homes to look great and be worth more, however not all of us have the money to invest in our homes the way we would like. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to increase the value and look of your home that is not so expensive and things you can do all on your own. That is right, there are a lot of do it yourself projects that can make a huge difference in the way your home appears from the outside as well as in that will also increase the value. Consider the following five weekend project ideas to add value to your home!
Project #1 Paint
Painting inside your home can be a really great project that will freshen up the look of your home and make it look brand new, not to mention increase the property value. Consider using colors to complement the room and furniture like taupes, reds, yellows, blues, even pinks and browns. Adding color makes your home look more fashionable and is really a great way to improve the value as well. So, pick out some colors, buy some paint brushes, and start painting!
Project #2 Landscape
When you landscape you brighten up your home considerably and a landscaped yard adds value to a home, too! If you don’t know how to landscape then simply look online for some guides that will show you exactly what to do as well as what plants, flowers, and shrubs to buy! After a weekend of hard work tilling and planting you will have a beautifully landscaped yard that will welcome you home each day and make your home look like a million bucks, almost!
Project #3 New Linoleum
Linoleum has a way of looking old and dirty after a few years so if you are looking for a way to improve the value of your home and make it look better as well then you should simply replace the linoleum. Of course, you can hire someone to do this, but doing it yourself will save money and is not too difficult. You just need to do some measurements, pick out a linoleum flooring you like, and install! You can find instructions where you buy the linoleum as well as online.
Project #4 Add a Deck
Every home needs a deck to really set off the house and add a place for the family to cookout and socialize. A deck is really not hard to build if you have basic woodworking skills and it is really not too expensive either if you do the work yourself or with a friend or family member. In addition, when you add a deck the value of your home will go up!
Project #5 New Knobs and Door handles
Buy new knobs and door handles for all doors, drawers, and cabinets. This might seem like an unnoticed part of your home, but when you change all of these your entire home will have a shine and look brand new! In addition, when you add the new knobs and handles you increase the value of your home, so it is definitely worth it.
There are many ways you can add value to your home, but these five weekend project ideas to add value to your home are easy and do not take too much work or expertise. Give them a try and you will be surprised how they turn your home around!
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Tags: home construction, home improvement, home makeover, real estate, weekend projectsLandscaping Can Make or Break Curb Appeal for Homebuyers
By admin | June 10, 2008
Homebuyers love an inviting home even before they see the interior. Home sellers can take some easy steps to turn a drive by or Internet photo of their home into a showing appointment. Mark Nash author of 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home offers easy tips for your readers and viewers to prepare their home for spring market.
-Purchase a seasonal wreath for your front door.
-Place a pair of planters that match the style of your home on the front porch. Fill with blooming flowers or loosen frozen soil with hot water and fill with evergreen boughs and red or yellow dogwood available at your florist or garden center. If you have window boxes duplicate flowers or evergreen look.
-Don’t put silk flowers or plants into any exterior landscape.
-Give buyers a glimpse of your summer gardens when selling a home in the winter. Display a collage of photos of your landscaping in spring, summer and fall.
-Clean up any tree branches, leaves, trash and pet droppings in front and rear yards.
-Position spotlights from home center stores at the base of ornamental trees to up light branches for a dramatic effect.
-Spread decorative bar mulch over flowerbeds and around tree bases for a manicured and professional look.
-Take down any leftover holiday decorations. Resist using clear Italian lights to accent trees or shrubs. Kitsch is out.
-Clear away snow and ice from sidewalks and driveways immediately, to illustrate pride of ownership.
-A fresh application of driveway sealer on asphalt can give it an update.
-Edge sidewalks and driveways, irrigate and mow lawns and prune shrubs and trees. Well-maintained homes attract buyers.
-Spread new decorative gravel to freshen up driveways. Bare spots and irregular levels can distract buyers from the overall look upon arrival.
-House numbers should be easily visible from the street. Make sure they’re lit at night.
-Limit yard ornaments to a favored few. Excess ornaments can make yards look busy and buyers might want them included in a purchase contract.
-Make sure your barbecue grill is clean and operational, especially if you plan to leave it.
-Clear gutters of debris and make sure there are no weeds growing in them. Look for clogged and dented downspouts. Place splash pads or gutter extensions to move rainwater away from the foundation, a typical home inspector complaint.
-All soil should be graded down hill away from foundations. Do it before an inspector red flags it.
-Trim trees and shrubs back around air-conditioning condensing units. Remove covers for home inspection testing.
-Take a good look from the street or road at the front of your home. Look for shrubs that are over grown or dead and remove and replace with shrubs that are to scale to your home. Small inexpensive bushes send the wrong message.
-Add annual flowers in home foundation beds. Select one or two colors to create visual uniformity. White and purple are a good choice to add color punch to a landscape.
-Paint and refresh yard lights, flagpoles, mailboxes, window boxes, fences and trellis. Don’t forget the swing set or play equipment.
-Have pool bottom painted and any deferred pool maintenance performed. Keep water crystal clear and inviting. Keep pool temperature on the warm side when buyers stoop to test the water.
-Lay sod or bare spot grass seed in lawn areas that need attention, near play equipment, dog runs and non-paved pathways. Unkempt lawns are the number one landscape turn-offs for buyers.
-Replace broken bricks on terraces, cracked concrete patios and steps. Eliminate trips and falls on property showings.
-Restore screens on porches and lanai’s. Dirty, rusty and ripped screens limit functionality to homebuyers.
-Have irrigation systems flushed and checked. Don’t overlook outside water spigots.
-Verify that drains in exterior basement stairwells and garages drain properly and are free of debris.
-Hire a landscape designer to make plan to perk up a tired landscape. Professionals can provide a fresh perspective that can appeal to buyers.
-Plant low maintenance plants and shrubs that are appropriate to your area.
-Educated plant lovers are on the rise and they know which plants are winter hardy. High maintenance plants such as roses can overwhelm first-time buyers.
Mark Nash’s fourth real estate book, “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home” (2005), and working as a real estate broker in Chicago are the foundation for his consumer-centric real estate perspective which has been featured on ABC-TV, CBS The Early Show, Bloomberg TV, CNN-TV, Chicago Sun Times & Tribune, Fidelity Investor’s Weekly, Dow Jones Market Watch, MSNBC.com, The New York Times, Realty Times, Universal Press Syndicate and USA Today.
Tags: 1001, buying, Garden, Home, hoses, improvement, mark nash, real estate, realty, selling, tips, trends