Not only is new construction starting to come back, there is also an upswing in remodeling! According to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, spending for remodeling is expected to climb 20% from September 2012 to September 2013!  House.com says that 53% of homeowners think now is a great time to remodel!  During the worst of the housing market crash most home owners were only doing must do repair work and if possible they did it by themselves to keep the costs down.  Now that home prices are starting to rise people are starting to hire companies to do their remodeling projects. One major difference is that people are tending to pay cash or do their projects in small steps unlike the height of the housing market where everyone financed their remodels and did huge projects all at once. Kitchens and bathrooms are still the top remodeling projects.

Many people justify making home improvements by thinking they will increase the value of their home, but in reality, many of these turn out to be bad home improvements that never recoup the cash they spent.  Some home improvements make sense in certain areas of the country and not in others and some just never make sense.  Especially in the cooler climates we tend to go out and spend money on outdoor items when the weather starts warming up in the spring but you need to really think over your projects before you throw away your money on something that will not add to your homes value. (more…)

Getting your home ready to sell?  Don’t neglect the kitchen, the kitchen is important – it can make or break a sale.  The kitchen is the heart of the home and we spend a tremendous amount of time in our kitchens so we want them to be nice.  There is no bigger turn off when showing a home than a dirty out of date kitchen! (more…)