CES Introducing the Wi-Fi connected, Long-Lasting "Smart Light-Bulbs" from Phillips

The International Consumer Electric Show (CES) generated a lot of buzz this year due to one new specific category: home automation, and one specific product line: smart light bulbs.  These fancy bulbs respond to your smartphone while you're away on vacation, sense your presence as you walk in the door, can let you know if you're getting a phone call... oh, and can have an energy life of over 20 years.

Smart bulbs can, obviously, be great for a homeowner, but real estate agents are intrigued about these developments themselves.  No need to worry about showing up to a home early to turn all the lights on for an inviting entrance.  Also, set the mood with the lightbulbs individually, with a spotlight here and there or a warm ambiance there.

So, what are some specs of smart light bulbs?  

How to Tackle Clutter and Prepare Your House to Sell

You've decided it's time to move to a new home and sell your current one.  Exciting!

When you start looking around at the clutter your home has collected over the years, however, sometimes prepping for a sell can feel a bit daunting.  In some cases, you don't even see it.  Intellectually you know you have "stuff", but in your eyes, everything is in its place.

So, how should a seller prepare their home (and their mindset) for the actual sell?

Preparing is "Pre-Packing"

When you sell your home, you're going to pack up and move out. The best approach is to box up and donate as much as you can to both prepare your home to show and to prepare for your actual move.  If you haven't used it in a month or two, it can go.  You may feel like your home looks a little barren after all this packing - that's okay, it's a good thing.

How to Warm Up an Older House

If you live in an older home, there is a good chance that your home may get a little chilly come the winter months.  Here's some tips on a few ways to get your older home a little better insulated so you can stay warm and cozy, courtesy of our friends at Zillow.

1. First, get an energy audit

The first step in any good retrofit of your older home is to get an energy audit done.  An energy audit will show you just exactly where and how you are losing your heat - by warm air escaping, or cooler air entering.

Some utility companies do this for free, so check with your local providers first to see if that is the case.  If not, you may want to hire a professional auditor.  Professional auditors often do more than just locate your problem sources.  They may suggest plans of action for your specific problems.

If an audit is too costly, you can try to find the leaks yourself by simply using the smoke from a stick of incense.  Wave it near windows, doors, and anywhere else there might be a gap.  You can then tell if it blows inwards, or gets sucked outwards - both are a sign of a leak that you can treat with some insulation.

The Cost of Remodeling - What Pays Back the Most?

Shows like HGTV's Love it Or List It depict all of the merits of remodeling, especially when it comes to increasing the value of your home.

While it is true that the cost of remodeling has dropped 10-15% in the past 5 years, be careful.  In almost all cases, the amount of money that you will invest in a remodeling situation will be greater than the amount of value it will add to your home when you plan on selling it.

Take a look at Remodeling Magazine's figures.  Back in 2005, homesellers earned back, on average, 82.5% of the money spent on renovation projects.

In 2011-2012, however, it has greatly diminished to a mere 57.7% on average.

So what does this mean?  Are renovations not worth it?

9 Ways To Save Money On Your Kitchen Remodel

Most homeowners spend a great deal of time in the kitchen, whether to entertain, heat up leftovers, do dishes, or... on that rare occasion, make a meal.  When looking to sell your home, if you do choose to invest in updates, you get your highest return on investment in the kitchen and bath.

If its time for you to remodel your kitchen, here are 7 ways for you to save money on your effort, courtesy of Zillowblog.

1. Carefully shop for your big ticket items

Take your time when shopping for cabinetry and appliances.  If you are able to whittle down 10% or more off of the cost of these items, simply by shopping around a little longer, you will end up with a lot more cash to play around with when looking at light fixtures or a new faucet.

Make sure you speak to your home contractor to avoid buying the wrong shape, size, or grade items.

 2. Stay away from the "professional" appliances

These are the items that can really break the bank.  Instead of going with the pro lines, go for home-appliance manufacturers that have the same functionality while mimicking the pro look - equaling some steep savings.  These types of appliances are often designed specifically for the home market, often including amenities that pro-versions don't offer, such as a self-cleaning oven.

Make Your Bathroom Look Larger With These 5 Tricks

Bathrooms typically aren't the most inspiring spaces to design.  You've got all of the plumbing fixtures to deal with in an often cramped space, and your decor has to be moisture-resistant.

While I'm sure you'd much rather spend time and effort on a living room or bedroom, remember that the bathroom is one place that every guest in your home will be using.

So...where do you start?

Here are 5 great tips from Zillow Blog and Designer Jaque Bethke of PURE Design Environments, Inc.

1. Know your audience and set the scene

Who is going to be using this bathroom the most?  Guests you are entertaining?  The kids?
What about the frequency of use?  Is this an every day bathroom, or an on occasional bathroom?

If its a day to day bathroom, make sure you're using a classic and timeless design - you don't want to get tired of a "trendy" space.  However, if it is a space for guests, go ahead - have some fun.

If its used by guests, consider what you don't need, like a vast array of towels or soaps.  It can exist purely with good-looking function, without the frills.

If there's a shower involved, this will affect your design as well.  Make sure you avoid things like wallpaper, for example, which can deteriorate over time in the presence of humidity.

2. Save Your Space

Once you've established who is using the bathroom and how often it will be used, the next step is space optimization.  Storage is a priority, as clutter can instantly make a room feel smaller.

You can use a medicine cabinet alone, but many also need counter space.  Consider over the toilet storage shelves, or installing wall fixtures.

If you're undergoing a renovation, wall-hung sinks and toilets save space by hiding the pipes in the walls.

Every Seller Should Stage Their Home - And It's Affordable

Home staging, despite its reputation, is not only a marketing device that homes with large price tags use.  In fact, most sellers would highly benefit from some level of home staging.

Here are some basic home staging myths:

•  Myth #1: I can't afford staging
  There are many levels of staging.  It doesn't have to involve a high-end designer coming in and removing all of your furniture.  Instead, there are more affordable options like a one-time furniture placement and design consultation.
  
• Myth #2: My home wont benefit from staging - my home already looks nice
  Just because you enjoy what your home looks like doesn't necessarily mean it is being marketed optimally.  Home staging experts know what sells, and a little home staging can go a long way.

So, what sorts of staging are there?  Here are 5 ways to stage your home, courtesy of Zillow Blog.

1.  A One-Time Consultation

Home stagers are truly home designers.  They specialize in looking at a space and evaluating what will make it most appealing to customers.  They may suggest a new paint job or new carpet, or even some landscaping to add to the curb appeal.

This is an extremely affordable option.  Designers can cost as little as $75/hour to $200/hour, depending on your location.  Their advice on colors, fixtures, and finishes makes sure you are putting your money to the right places, and can be some of the best money you spend before listing.

We feel so strongly about the value of staging, that we hire a home stager to consult with our clients before listing the home at no cost to the sellers.  Just ask!  Our favorite designer?  Shhh.... It's Gar Wilson with Better Spaces. Let me connect you.

5 Tips for Buying High-Quality Cabinetry For Your Kitchen

A lot of emphasis is placed on buying stainless steel appliances or updating countertops in the kitchen.  The foundation of the room, however, is your cabinetry.  This can make or break a kitchen, as cabinetry typically predominates the room.

Buying cabinets can be very intimidating.  There are, at least, 10 different tyles of wood to choose from, and from there over 500 different door styles to select, along with innumerable color combinations.  So where do you start?

2013 president of the National Kitchen and Bath Association, John Morgan, and the Zillow blog put together this list of 5 Tips for Buying High-Quality Kitchen Cabinetry.

1.  Go with the pros

Any kind of kitchen redesign or remodel, according to Morgan, is best undertaken by an experienced team that you trust.  Grab yourself a designer, contractor, and cabinet installer with a solid reputation.  This team will know what quality products you can use, at whatever price point you're looking at.  Don't settle for anything less than the best team, because a shoddy team can lead to a shoddy product.  Make a good investment.

Home Warranty Know-How

You've probably been offered extended warranty plans when you bought your new computer or phone.  Sure, some people buy that kind of plan, but most consumer reports say they aren't really worth the extra money.

In the case of a home warranty, however, it is a completely different story.  Here is some essential home warranty know-how, courtesy of the Zillow Blog.

What is a home warranty?

When you move in to a new home, will be offered a "home warranty" which could be anywhere from $300 and $500 a year, depending on where you live.  It covers the costs of repairing or replacing any kind of malfunctioning system in your home: like a leaking dishwasher, a fizzled clothes dryer, or a hot water heater that isn't heating anymore.

Want to know how to get a free warranty?  Read to the end!

You typically  don't have to pay anything out of pocket or make any arrangements other than calling your home warranty provider - and they take care of the rest.  In some cases there can be a co-pay around $50 per incident, but nothing too substantial.

8 Alternatives to Granite For Your Kitchen

When it is time to remodel a kitchen, most people turn to granite for their countertops.  In fact, according to a survey conducted in 2012 by Harris Interactive on behalf of The Marble Institute, 75 percent of homeowners looking to remodel their kitchens within 2 years said they were going to go with granite.

Granite is certainly a good, secure option.  It is highly durable and its good looks will last awhile.  However, it is still highly expensive and heavy, and requires quite a bit of upkeep.

Zillow has come up with a thorough list of 8 Kitchen Counter Options That Will Make You Forget Granite.  Here is a breakdown of their list:

Carrara Marble

- White or blue-grey marble
- Softer than granite
- Does stain and scratch, creating a "warmer" patina as it undergoes the aging process
- Often used in sculpture and building decor, particularly in Italy

Wood

- "Butcher block" is the most common type used, but other woods such as cherry, bamboo, zebra wood and iroko have been used
- Highly durable
- Wear on the wood give the counters a nice patina
- Some maintenance required to prevent drying of the wood

Soapstone

- Smooth, matte, natural stone
- Soft-grey to Charcoal in color
- Acid and heat resistant
- No special cleaners needed
- Oils can be used to enhance the stone's look

Engineered Quartz

- 95% natural quartz, 5% polymer resins
- Super-hard, low-maintenance, natural-looking
- Comes in a variety of colors
- Relatively scratch and heat resistant

Concrete

- Many colorizing and stain techniques available
- Can add embedded stones, tiles, silicone chips to create a unique counter
- Highly durable: scratch-resistant and heat-resistant
- Extremely heavy
- Can be damaged by acidic substances, and must be sealed and maintained to resist stains

Glass

- Versatile and easily customizable
- Can endure high-heat
- Wont stain
- Non-porous, making them very hygienic
- Under-mounted sinks not recommended

Stainless Steel

 - Complimentary to many of today's stainless steel appliances
- Stain and heat-resistant
- Can be scratched or dented
- Other metal countertops fall in this category: copper, pewter, zinc

 Solid Surfaces

- Can look like natural stone
- Less expensive and require less maintenance than real stone
- Can be created with no seams
- Heat and moisture resistant
- Easy to Clean
- Can be scorched and scratched


If you are looking to remodel your kitchen, give me a call or send me an e-mail and we will put you in touch with some experts in the field.