By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR(R) Magazine
Who doesn’t love a deal? I loved this article at Realty Times, which recently revealed the best time of year to buy certain household items in order to score the biggest bargains, based on research from AARP and LifeHacker.
January: Furniture, new flooring, and bedding and linens
February: Air conditioners and older model televisions that will soon be moving out for newer models
March: Gardening tools, china, and flatware
April: Vacuum cleaners
May: Barbecue equipment, patio furniture, and home office furniture
June: Tools
July: Kitchen appliances, such as refrigerators and ranges
August: Linens and storage containers
September: Grills and lawn mowers
October: Appliances and clearance patio furniture and outdoor items
November: Electronics, appliances, and tools
December: Televisions, electronics, and small appliances like toasters and blenders
Read more month-to-month breakdown of household discounts at Realty Times.
Original author: Melissa Tracey Read More
One Thing You May be Overlooking in Your Home Presentations! +
By Ryan West, First Texan Realty Smartphones have become a standard tool for a majority of people. When presenting a home to a potential customer, we must now consider an extra home presentation factor: signal strength. Lead Paint According to the EPA, “most homes built before 1960 contain heavily leaded paint”. While lead paint was banned in 1977, home owners are encouraged to not remove any lead paint that is in good condition. Lead paint is known to cause electromagnetic interference that will affect signal strength. Walk through different rooms and see if you experience any dramatic loss of signal. If you suspect lead paint may be causing an issue, I suggest hiring a professional to remove it. Construction Materials If you notice a decrease in cellular signal strength when you enter a home, the materials used in the construction of the home may be the culprits. Older homes tend to have more of an issue with affecting cellular signals. Metal bolts, pipes, tools, and bars can contribute to a loss in cellular signal. While there is not much we can do when presenting a home with this issue, consider either purchasing a signal strength booster or suggesting such a…Read More
How to Use Light to Increase a Home’s Value +
By Ross Donald, LightingSale.com If you are getting ready to stage your home for selling you’re probably already thinking of ways to maximize the value of your home and make it as appealing as possible to your potential buyers. Making effective use of light fixtures and lighting schemes will help you reach that goal. The easiest way to use light in your home is to take advantage of natural sunlight. Rooms with big windows and a lot of sun exposure lend themselves to this easiest of all. The case may be, however, that not every room in your home is easily illuminated with sunlight. If this is the case, then open windows and doors fully to allow sunlight to reach greater depth in your home. Carefully placed mirrors also can help in redirecting sunlight throughout the home. Photo courtesy LightingSale.com When staging your home you want to highlight the best features of your home and your décor while simultaneously downplaying the negative. Using a targeted lighting scheme is a perfect way to highlight your favorite décor accents. Track lighting is ideal for this task as they can easily be directed to focus their light on a particular part of your…Read More
On Second Thought, Don’t Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies for the Open House! +
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR(R) Magazine A favorite real estate tip: When prepping a home for a showing, whip up some chocolate chip cookies to fill the home with that rich, inviting, tasty smell. Who wouldn’t want to sit back and stay awhile? Well, you may want to put down the mixing bowl and turn off the oven. Research now says that chocolate chip cookies are one of the worst scents to have in a real estate open house.Researchers used a sample size of 402 people in a home decor store in Switzerland to find out which scents were the most pleasing to customers. The researchers say the findings could provide some insights into the most pleasing smells during open houses too. One of the author’s of the study, Eric Spangenberg, dean of the college of business at Washington State University, recently told The Wall Street Journal that baked goods are a complex scent that can distract potential home buyers, even if the scent is pleasant. Buyers will subconsciously devote time to trying to figure out the scent, instead of devoting the time to determining if this is a place they really want to live. (Or maybe it’s really that…Read More
18 Ways to Prep Your Home’s Exterior for the Spring Market +
By Charlene Storozuk, Dezigner Digz Spring is in the air in some parts of Canada and the U.S., although it hasn’t quite reached my little corner of the world yet. This is the time of year when thoughts turn to spring cleaning; whether or not you’re selling your home. Of course, if you are listing anytime soon, you’ll want to be even more meticulous. The busy spring market will be upon us before you know it, so here are some tips for getting the exterior of your home shipshape: 1. Remove glass from light fixtures and take out any little critters that may have found a home over the winter. Be sure to use glass cleaner on the panes before replacing them in your fixtures. 2. Clean your mailbox. If it hasn’t weathered well over the winter, it’s probably time to replace it. 3. Clean and polish, if necessary, your front door’s hardware. Replace it as well if necessary. 4. Check your house numbers. Are they still in good shape and visible from the street? If not, replace them. 5. Wash down your front door and garage door. If you find that the previous summer’s sun has faded the paint,…Read More