5 upgrades for under $5,000 to put your home at the top of every buyer's list

(BPT) - It's a sobering truth of real estate that sellers often have to spend money to make money. Even if your home is relatively new, you still face costs associated with getting it ready to show, such as repainting interior rooms or hiring professional cleaners and stagers. If your home could use some TLC and updating, spending as little as $5,000 on key upgrades could improve its appeal for buyers - and ensure a speedier sale at a better price.



Here are five upgrades you can make for under $5,000 to help put your home at the top of every buyer's must-see list.



1. Upgrade your entryway - Replacing an old, dated or worn entry door can be a cost-effective way to ensure buyers get a good first impression when they walk in your house. Whether you choose a fiberglass, wooden or steel model, installing a new entry door can cost a few thousand dollars, yet the return on investment at the time of resale can be significant. A fiberglass entry door returns about 72 percent of its investment, while a steel door recoups more than 100 percent of its value, according to Remodeling Magazine's Cost vs. Value report.



Enhance your new door with attractive plantings, fresh paint and clean windows around the entryway to create a memorable, attractive entry for just a few thousand dollars.



2. Increase natural light - More buyers are becoming aware of the mood- and productivity-enhancing benefits of natural light, and homes with big, bright windows have always been in demand. Adding windows to a room can be a costly, time-consuming affair. Not so with adding a skylight. For well under $5,000 and in just a day or two, a professional can install an Energy Star qualified, solar powered no-leak fresh-air skylight, like those from Velux America. Professional installation costs nationally ranges from around $900 to $2,325, with an average of $1,400, according to HomeAdvisor.com.



The low installation cost will leave you plenty of budget to enhance the skylight upgrade even further with energy efficiency-boosting solar-powered blinds. The skylight and blinds are operated by remote control and the blinds are available in designer colors and patterns to enhance your d�cor. The products, as well as installation costs, are eligible for a 30 percent federal tax credit to further reduce the cost of the improvement.



The most popular rooms in the home for fresh air skylights are baths, where they provide privacy in addition to natural light, and kitchens, where they vent cooking odors and humidity naturally while brightening this much-used workspace. Visit www.veluxusa.com to learn more.



3. Beautify a master bathroom - Bathrooms and kitchens sell homes. Making a few cosmetic upgrades to even a small master bath can help increase a home's appeal and value. For less than $5,000 you can easily repaint, upgrade faucets, replace old cabinet hardware and add decorative touches like designer towels.



If you've already done all that, take a look at the floor or countertops - two cost-effective upgrades that can wow buyers. Since counters don't make up that much square footage in most bathrooms, replacing them with granite can cost just a couple thousand dollars. Tile flooring is also a relatively inexpensive way to improve a bathroom's look and usability.



4. Heat things up in the kitchen - Kitchen remodels can offer high ROI for sellers, but a full remodel may be outside your budget. If you've already done the obvious - like repainting and decluttering - it's time to look for a few more cost-effective improvements that will appeal to buyers.



Just as in the bathroom, swapping old faucets and cabinet hardware with new designer options can enhance the appeal of a kitchen. Shabby, outdated appliances can hinder a speedy sale, so consider replacing them with new ones. You don't necessarily need to install top-of-the-line, high-priced appliances to make a good impression, either. Newer, Energy Star qualified appliances represent savings for buyers down the road.



5. Lavish landscaping - No single aspect of your home has a greater impact on a buyer's first impression than the landscaping. A great front yard sets the tone for the rest of the home, appealing to buyers on a number of levels, including beauty, practicality and savings.



With $5,000, you can accomplish a lot in terms of landscaping. You can sod a small front yard, add decorative planting beds to a lush lawn, or even install shade trees that will both beautify the yard and enhance the home's energy efficiency in summer. Decorative concrete stamping of walkways and driveways is another cost-effective way to improve a home's curb appeal.



Whether it's a buyer's market or a seller's market, no one wants to see their home linger long before selling. A few simple upgrades can help ensure your home gets plenty of attention this season.

The Trend- Days to Sell vs. List Price

Between September and October of 2014, a shift occurred. According to MLS data, the median days to sell began trending downward and the median list price began trending upward. Since that time, the median list price has been above the median days to sell, with median list price hovering a little over $250,000 for April/May 2015.







The stats for 2014/2015 show the changes in the market for Sarasota County and how houses are selling faster and for more money compared to June of 2014. It's still clear that houses aren't all selling overnight. The days on market is hovering around a median of 40-50 days, only slightly lower from the August 2014, 53 day median.



Want to know how this pertains to your home? Give us a call to find out the market value of your home

941-779-7179

The Seller's Market

Statistics are pending for April 2015 from the Sarasota/Manatee Realtor Association and as we wait we take a look at the market in March of 2015 in comparison to years past.



March of 2015 was a strong month with closed single family home sales at 789 in comparison to 698 in March of 2014. A 13% increase in closed sales for March. The median sale price of the homes was up 9.5% to $207,500, up from $189,472.



It's the pending inventory and active listings that are decreasing in the Greater Sarasota Area. Pending inventory was down 12% and active listings were down 7.9% from March of 2014. With less inventory on the market and more active buyers we are experiencing a shift in the market for March of 2015. As we continue to analyze and understand the real estate it's important to note that short sales are down 40.5% from this time last year. The sales are showing as less REO/Bank Owned and Short Sale and more traditional, with a 22.5% increase in traditional home sales.



If you are thinking of selling your home or want to explore it's market value, now is a great time to take those steps. Call today for a Free market analysis of your home and find out what you could sell for in today's market.



941-779-7179

10 tips to help you save home energy

Before you spend money on the latest energy-efficient gizmo that's supposed to save you money, let's look at some energy saving ideas that will really help you save home energy. The strategies that we will look at will maximize the effort you put in, and help reduce your home energy consumption.



First sit down and think about all the different ways your family uses energy around the house. Now put an approximate type and cost of energy used. You may have trouble breaking down the cost but try to do it. Now all you have to do is find ways to save on your resources at the same time cut your costs. You may have to think creatively but it can be done.



So here are some tips to get you started:



- Turn the lights off when you're not using them. This is really simple and easy to do. Do you really need your bedroom light on when you're in the living room? Do you leave lights on when you leave the house? Do you even need more than one light on in a room for what you are doing? Believe it or not it makes a big difference.



- Turn all electronics and other appliances off when you're not using them. No one can do everything at the same time. Can you really listen to a radio, watch television, and use your computer all at the same time?



- Set your thermostat down a couple of degrees in winter, or up in summer, to conserve energy. And dress appropriately indoors for the time of year it is. For instance in winter, put on a sweater or some extra clothing, or may snuggle under a blanket to stay warm. In the summer, wear less and stay cooler naturally.



- Only turn an appliance on when you have a full load. This is true especially for the washing machine, dryer and even the dishwasher. It is amazing how much extra energy is used doing multiple small loads in comparison to one full load.



- Do regular maintenance on your appliances. Keeping them clean means they don't have to work as hard. Changing filters reduces the energy needed to accomplish a task. Regular care will also mean any maintenance bills that you might come up against may well be cheaper.



- Be careful how you use your water. Like when brushing your teeth or washing your hands, use only the water you need. Don't let the water run the entire time. Also, try and use less water if you take a bath, or control your shower times.



- Simply let your hair air dry, instead of using a blow drier every day.



- Lower the temperature on your water heater to 120 degrees F.



Don't forget the bigger projects as well.



- Seal the cracks around your doors and windows. You are paying for your hot air that escapes through cracks all around your house. You need to make sure you are doing all you can to keep the warm air you're paying for inside your house.



- You also need to check your house's insulation. Though this has been done by many homeowners nevertheless you still need to do it before you pass it over. It is probably the biggest thing in reducing heating costs.



Now some of these things may seem trivial to you but let me assure you that even the small things add up over time. And really most of them you won't even notice the difference to your life except your bills.



These tips and suggestions will make your home more affordable, and take some strain off of our world's resources. Just think if all of us would make a few of these changes, it would make a huge difference.



by: Dave McIntosh

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/home_improvement/article_7258.shtml

Green ways to make summer sun work for you

(BPT) - When summer sun has you slathering on sunscreen and retreating indoors to air-conditioned rooms, it's easy to forget the wintercold spellsthat made you eagerly anticipate sunshine and warm summertemperatures.



But all that summer sun can work in your favor. From powering your hot water heater or fresh air skylight to saving money by running your clothes dryer less, here are a few ways you can put the sun to work for you this summer.



Solar water heating



Replacing an old water heater proactively is a good idea for a number of reasons. First, if it's older, it's probably not as energy efficient as newer models. And, when hot water heaters die, they can do so spectacularly, flooding the room where they're housed and leaving your family without the water they need to shower off summer sweat and keep clothes and dishes clean.



Consider replacing your current water heater with a solar water heating system. While such systems may cost more to purchase and install than a conventional one, various federal and state tax credits and other green product incentives mitigate those costs. Plus, solar hot water systems reduce energy costs in the long run.



"The cost of a solar water heating system will vary depending on the size of the home and the volume of water you need to heat," says Ross Vandermark of Velux America, marketers of solar-powered fresh air skylights and solar water heating systems. "On average, however, they can cut your water heating bills by 50 to 80 percent, which is pretty impressive when you consider that the U.S. Department of Energy says water heating can account for up to 25 percent of a home's energy consumption."



Solar-powered fresh air skylight



You can also save money and improve your indoor air quality by opting for a solar-powered fresh air skylight. Energy efficient solar powered skylights and accessories like solar powered skylight blinds, which can increase energy efficiency by another 45 percent, are eligible for a 30 percent federal tax credit, as is the installation cost. Velux offers a tax calculator on its website to help you estimate your savings with the tax credit.



Energy Star-qualified, no leak solar-powered fresh-air skylights, like those made by Velux America, improve indoor air quality by allowing excess moisture and unhealthy air to escape your home. They also passively vent hot air that rises to your ceiling in summer, reducing the load on your mechanical cooling systems while reducing your power bill. In rooms where a fresh air skylight isn't an option, tubular skylights like Sun Tunnel products allow light inside, reducing the need for artificial light and brightening areas like hallways, closets, and other interior spaces both large and small.



Clothes drying



Humans have been using solar power to dry clothes for about as long as we've been wearing fabric. Hanging clothes to dry in the sun allows you to trim your electric or gas use (depending on how you power your clothes dryer) as much as $85 a year, plus it reduces the wear clothes experience tumbling in a dryer, the website The Daily Green points out.



The California Energy Commission says on average, it costs 30 to 40 cents per load to dry clothes in an electric machine, and 15 to 20 cents if your dryer runs on gas. By comparison, line drying requires an initial outlay to cover the cost of the line device, and then the sunshine and fresh air are free.



Cooking



Sure you love cooking outdoors, but when summer really heats up no one wants to slave over a hot grill. Why not use the sun's power to cook food without the need to hover over and watch it? Solar cookers are the answer.



One popular type, box cookers can accommodate multiple dishes at once and are used in countries around the world where the sun is the most reliable source of energy. They cook at moderate to high temperatures and require less supervision than your gas grill. You can buy one online or build your own - a great family project that can help teach kids about solar power and greener living.



Finally, if you're not ready to learn a whole new way of cooking, why not simply borrow a page from great-grandma's recipe book and use sunlight to brew tea? Just place a few bags of your favorite tea in a glass jar with water (make sure to keep the tags and strings hanging over the rim of the jar), cap the jar and place it in the sun until the tea steeps to your desire flavor level.

Do you have family coming to visit this Holiday Season? Are you stressing because you dont know what to do with them all? I know in my home, I would much rather have everyone out and about rather than stuffed up in the house making messes. So I did alittle searching online and came across this website FULL of fun little things to do in the Sarasota/Bradenton Areas. Are you saying "yes, that sounds great but sounds expentive?" well hey they have things like parades, activities for the kids, light shows and much more that dont require anything but the patience to load your family into a few vehicles and enjoy the fun! Just click on the link below and have a Very Merry (stress free) Christmas! http://events.heraldtribune.com/sarasota-fl/events/bradenton+activities

Check out all the special holiday events happening in sarasota!!!! http://www.thisweekinsarasota.com/