Thursday, December 22, 2011

Appealing Winter Curb Appeal

It’s time to talk about winter curb appeal. If you’re planning on listing your home in the winter, a layer of snow does not relieve you from your obligation to make your home’s first impression one that counts. Winter buyers still want to see the best that your home can offer, and they’re making those first judgments from the moment that they roll up to your driveway.

Luckily, winter curb appeal is a lot easier to perfect than summer curb appeal. With the lawn mower and garden shears safely stored in the shed for the winter, it’s time to dust off the shovel and broom and take them for a spin around your property.

It is imperative that your driveway walks and steps are always perfectly shoveled and broomed when you are showing your home. Not just because it shows the sound nature of your concrete work, but also because it keeps those potential buyers safe. The last thing you need when you’re packing boxes and dreaming of your new home is lawsuit on your hands. Not only does it keep you free of litigation, it also says a lot about the type of homeowner you are: neat, tidy, and on-the-ball. This is the type of impression we want to leave with buyers. It puts them in a good mood before they even pass through your threshold. Walking through wet snow and having it close in on a buyer’s feet before they even come in, gives them a feeling of disorganized annoyance, and that’s the attitude that they’ll have as they begin to survey your home.

Christmas lights are always nice to have, but also need to be extremely neat and tidy. No big, huge flashing light displays are welcome here. Keep your arrangement simple and classic. We’re looking to highlight the home, not overpower it. You are allowed to have Christmas lights on your home anywhere between November 15- January 5th. If you’re selling anytime outside of those dates, the lights have got to come down.

Being that it gets darker earlier, it may be wise to illuminate your walkway with solar lights, so buyers can easily make their way to the door. Also, don’t forget to turn on your outdoor lights for every showing, so that buyers can easily see your exterior and make their way safely to your front door.


Just because it's cold doesn't mean it's time to stop maintaining the front of your house. Winter curb appeal can take on its own delightful characteristics; you just need to know what you're doing and be deliberate about it.

Tidy up. First thing's first: That pile of boots at your door and the snow-covered toys laying around the front yard need to go. Then rake up pine needles, branches and other debris. Clean up and cut back any dead flowers in the garden beds. Wash your front-facing windows and sweep the porch. This quick cleanup will immediately freshen up the look of your home and get you ready to take on some of the more fun winter facelift projects.

Paint your front door. A fresh coat of paint in a color that contrasts well with the changing tones of each season will ensure your home's best lasting impression. Some recommendations are red, burgundy and plum hues. The use of color helps to create interest, and stresses how important it is during these dark months when all gardens and greens have been cut back, covered or have lost their leaves.

Decorate and accessorize. Hang a wreath or other decorative addition on your front door. A wreath is fitting decor any time of year, a long as you dress it up differently depending on the season. We suggest that you highlight it with warm rusts, golds, browns and greens. You can take a simple wreath, spray paint it metallic and add a brightly colored ribbon for a striking front door.

Paint your fence. The fence should be the same color as your home's siding. This helps the fence blend in with the house's setting instead of stealing the focus.

Utilize outdoor lighting. Lighting is always important, but it is even more crucial on dark winter nights. Landscape lighting is practical, as it extends the use of your front yard into into the evening hours, and allows for safe passage for you and your guests. It is also a very purposeful design choice. New LED lighting focused on some of your front garden accents can significantly change your home's evening appeal. The right lighting will make your house a warm gem that stands apart from the others on chilly winter evenings.

Use pots and planters. Place pots and planters near the front door to create a welcoming entry. Landscape designs are anchored by focal points. An easy and fast way to add an element of focus to a front door is to frame it with symmetrically placed planters and deliberately chosen plants. We suggest a pair of cast stone or Italian Terra Cotta urns planted with an upright evergreen shrub. The Graham Blandy Boxwood, and other year round covers including variegated English and Glacier are all lovely choices. Colorful pots with winter blooms will also significantly change your curb appeal, adding a splash of color.

Creative alternatives to add character, baskets, galvanized buckets, and barrels all make interesting alternatives. We suggest adding willow branches, evergreen arrangements, branches with colorful leaves, and gourds creating your own arrangement.

Frame your garden. Use clean and attractive borders. From one of our sources they say "landscape borders play an important role in a home's curb appeal -- whether we're talking about the whole yard or just a planting bed; a defined area catches the eye more readily than one that is indistinguishable." Various curbing materials such as concrete, brick, stone and slate add definition to your garden area and help it look tidy even in the winter months.


Mix up the hardware. Giant transformations from minor hardware changes aren't just for kitchens and bathrooms, the front of your house can use a hardware makeover too. A rubbed bronze door knob, a glossy black mailbox, or decorative house numbers are quick ways to freshen up your look.

Keep your home's character intact. Remember that interesting sculptures, benches, yard ornaments and other creative touches add personality and increase your curb appeal (providing that they are tastefully done).

Be a good neighbor and shovel your walk. Even the most beautiful home will make a poor impression if it looks like you're careless about your neighbor's comfort and safety.
 
Checking your curb appeal for winter is a much easier task than creating curb appeal for summer, but unlike the summer months, it may require some extra time in shoveling after every single snow fall. So snowsuit-up and get shoveling!

Monday, December 19, 2011

How To Prepare Your House For Sale


Prepping and staging a house. Every seller wants her home to sell fast and bring top dollar. Does that sound good to you? Well, it's not luck that makes that happen. It's careful planning and knowing how to professionally spruce up your home that will send home buyers scurrying for their checkbooks. Here is how to prep a house and turn it into an irresistible and marketable home.
 
Here's How:
Disassociate Yourself With Your Home.
  • Say to yourself, "This is not my home; it is a house -- a product to be sold much like a box of cereal on the grocery store shelf.
  • Make the mental decision to "let go" of your emotions and focus on the fact that soon this house will no longer be yours.
  • Picture yourself handing over the keys and envelopes containing appliance warranties to the new owners!
  • Say goodbye to every room.
  • Don't look backwards -- look toward the future.

De-Personalize.
Pack up those personal photographs and family heirlooms. Buyers can't see past personal artifacts, and you don't want them to be distracted. You want buyers to imagine their own photos on the walls, and they can't do that if yours are there! You don't want to make any buyer ask, "I wonder what kind of people live in this home?" You want buyers to say, "I can see myself living here."
 
De-Clutter!
People collect an amazing quantity of junk. Consider this: if you haven't used it in over a year, you probably don't need it.
  • If you don't need it, why not donate it or throw it away?
  • Remove all books from bookcases.
  • Pack up those knickknacks.
  • Clean off everything on kitchen counters.
  • Put essential items used daily in a small box that can be stored in a closet when not in use.
  • Think of this process as a head-start on the packing you will eventually need to do anyway. 

Rearrange Bedroom Closets and Kitchen Cabinets.
Buyers love to snoop and will open closet and cabinet doors. Think of the message it sends if items fall out! Now imagine what a buyer believes about you if she sees everything organized. It says you probably take good care of the rest of the house as well. This means:
  • Alphabetize spice jars.
  • Neatly stack dishes.
  • Turn coffee cup handles facing the same way.
  • Hang shirts together, buttoned and facing the same direction.
  • Line up shoes.

Rent a Storage Unit.
Almost every home shows better with less furniture. Remove pieces of furniture that block or hamper paths and walkways and put them in storage. Since your bookcases are now empty, store them. Remove extra leaves from your dining room table to make the room appear larger. Leave just enough furniture in each room to showcase the room's purpose and plenty of room to move around. You don't want buyers scratching their heads and saying, "What is this room used for?"

Remove/Replace Favorite Items.
If you want to take window coverings, built-in appliances or fixtures with you, remove them now. If the chandelier in the dining room once belonged to your great grandmother, take it down. If a buyer never sees it, she won't want it. Once you tell a buyer she can't have an item, she will covet it, and it could blow your deal. Pack those items and replace them, if necessary.
 
Make Minor Repairs
  • Replace cracked floor or counter tiles.
  • Patch holes in walls.
  • Fix leaky faucets.
  • Fix doors that don't close properly and kitchen drawers that jam.
  • Consider painting your walls neutral colors, especially if you have grown accustomed to purple or pink walls.
    (Don't give buyers any reason to remember your home as "the house with the orange bathroom.")
  • Replace burned-out light bulbs.
  • If you've considered replacing a worn bedspread, do so now!

Make the House Sparkle!
  • Wash windows inside and out.
  • Rent a pressure washer and spray down sidewalks and exterior.
  • Clean out cobwebs.
  • Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks.
  • Polish chrome faucets and mirrors.
  • Clean out the refrigerator.
  • Vacuum daily.
  • Wax floors.
  • Dust furniture, ceiling fan blades and light fixtures.
  • Bleach dingy grout.
  • Replace worn rugs.
  • Hang up fresh towels.
  • Bathroom towels look great fastened with ribbon and bows.
  • Clean and air out any musty smelling areas. Odors are a no-no.

Scrutinize.
  • Go outside and open your front door. Stand there. Do you want to go inside? Does the house welcome you?
  • Linger in the doorway of every single room and imagine how your house will look to a buyer.
  • Examine carefully how furniture is arranged and move pieces around until it makes sense.
  • Make sure window coverings hang level.
  • Tune in to the room's statement and its emotional pull. Does it have impact and pizzazz?
  • Does it look like nobody lives in this house? You're almost finished.

Check Curb Appeal.
If a buyer won't get out of her agent's car because she doesn't like the exterior of your home, you'll never get her inside.
  • Keep the sidewalks cleared.
  • Mow the lawn.
  • Paint faded window trim.
  • Plant yellow flowers or group flower pots together. Yellow evokes a buying emotion. Marigolds are inexpensive.
  • Trim your bushes.
  • Make sure visitors can clearly read your house number.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

5 ways to spruce up your home for holidays


Candice Olson is returning for a second season of Candice Tells All on Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET and PT on W Network. The designer and TV host shares suggestions on ways to personalize your space and spruce up your home for the holidays:

1. Create a personalized wreath on the front door by using letters to spell out a message, or your family name. You can use any kind of letters. How about letters from vintage signs or monogrammed ornaments? Hang them on your children’s bedroom doors, spelling out their names using toy block letters.

2. Get inspired by nature. Use fresh bows, wreaths, berries and branches around the house to bring the outdoors in. You can paint pine cones and branches in fun colours and then incorporate them into your arrangements. Collect small branches from the outdoors, spray with high-gloss paint in various colours, suspend them horizontally and use them to showcase interesting ornaments, such as clip-on bird ornaments or anything with a hit of sparkle to glam up your space.

3. Fill vases of different sizes and shapes with glass ornaments. Surround them with candlelight and place them all on top of an old mirror to maximize the sparkle.

4. Buy some festive metallic accent pillows and cosy faux fur throws, and then swap out your current accent pillows over the holiday season. It will add some sparkle and fun to your sofa for those big family get-togethers.

5. Don’t forget to include your children’s creations in your decor. Holidays are for the whole family. Try showcasing some of their art and ornaments from previous years in shadow boxes displayed across the mantel or on a console table, along with some lights and cedar bows. Have room for two trees? Give the kids a small tree of their own to decorate any way they want — you may even have a future designer on your hands.

Monday, December 12, 2011

How to Improve Curb Appeal

Home Selling Advice to Help You Attract Potential Buyers

A large percentage of home buyers decide whether or not to look inside a house or take it seriously based on its curb appeal—the view they see when they drive by or arrive for a showing. You can help make sure they want to come inside your house by spending some time working on the its exterior appearance. It's difficult to look at our own house in the same way that potential home buyers do, because when we become accustomed to the way something looks and functions, we can't see its faults. Decide right now to stop thinking of the property as a home. It's a house—a commodity you want to sell for the highest dollar possible.

Curb Appeal Exercise

The next time you come home, stop across the street or far enough down the driveway to get a good view of the house and its surroundings.
  1. What is your first impression of the house and yard area?
  2. What are the best exterior features of the house or lot? How can you enhance them?
  3. What are the worst exterior features of the house or lot? How can you minimize or improve them?
Park where a potential buyer would and walk towards the house, looking around you as if it were your first visit. Is the approach clean and tidy? What could you do to make it more attractive?
Take photos of the home's exterior. If you have a digital camera, view the color versions first, then remove the color and look at it in black and white, because it's easier to see problems when color isn't around to affect our senses.
Make a list of the problem areas you discovered. Tackle clean up and repair chores first, then put some time into projects that make the grounds more attractive.

  • Kill mold and mildew on the house, sidewalks, roof, or driveway.
  • Stow away unnecessary garden implements and tools.
  • Clean windows and gutters.
  • Pressure wash dirty siding and dingy decks.
  • Edge sidewalks and remove vegetation growing between concrete or bricks.
  • Mow the lawn. Get rid of weeds.
  • Rake and dispose of leaves, even if your lot is wooded.
  • Trim tree limbs that are near or touching the home's roof.

Don't Forget the Rear View

Buyers doing a drive by will try their best to see your back yard. If it's visible from another street or from someone's driveway, include it in your curb appeal efforts.

Evening Curb Appeal

Do your curb appeal exercise again at dusk, because it isn't unusual for potential buyers to drive by houses in the evening.
One quick way to improve evening curb appeal is with lighting:

  • String low voltage lighting along your driveway, sidewalks, and near important landscaping elements.
  • Add a decorative street lamp or an attractive light fixture to a front porch.
  • Make sure lighting that's visible through front doors and windows enhances the home's appearance.

Landscaping Decisions

There are times that adding elements to your landscaping can improve curb appeal, but there are other times when removing something is even more effective.
For example, we had a listing for a large brick house with large white columns. Tall evergreens, planted in front of each column, had grown taller than the roof. They obscured the columns and windows and made it difficult to see the front of the house.
We suggested that the owner remove them. She trimmed them back, but it didn't do the trick—they were unattractive and still kept potential buyers from seeing the true character of the house.
I sold the house to a couple who could see past the trees. One of their first tasks after closing was to yank them out of the ground, instantly boosting the home's curb appeal.
Most buyers cannot visualize changes, and often won't take a second look at a house if the first look doesn't appeal to them. Home buyers who can visualize changes, and are prepared to make them, expect you to reduce the price of the house to compensate for the work they plan to do.

A Few Curb Appeal Tips


  • If you can budget it, a fresh paint job does wonders for a dingy house. Drive around your town to find color schemes that are appealing.
  • Install a more attractive front door, maybe something with leaded glass inserts.
  • If you can't justify the cost of a new door, consider replacing plain doorknob hardware with something more attractive.
  • If new hardware is beyond your budget, repaint or stain the door and polish the hardware?
If you brainstorm, you'll find that there's a solution to most problems—one that lets you stay within your budget. The trick is to find the areas where improvements are needed, then work on them as best you can.

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Top 15 Best Loved Christmas Movies of all Time

When you think of the holidays there are some classics that will make you laugh, make you cry and everything in between. Thinking how to spend a cold December's Eve? Check out some of these fav's.

15. Frosty the Snowman - 1969 version
14. A Charlie Brown Christmas
13. Scrouged with Bill Murray
12. A Christmas Carol
11. White Christmas starring Bing Crosby
10. Trading Places with Dan Aykroid & Eddie Murphy
9.  Home Alone 2 with MacCaulay Culkin
8.  The Santa Clause with Tim Allen
7.  1947 version of Miracle on 34th Street
6.  Elf with Will Ferrell
5.  How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey
4.  A Christmas Story with Peter Billingsley
3.  Home Alone with MacCaulay Culkin
2.  National Lampoons Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase
1.  It's a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart