Archive for May, 2008

Two houses built for the ABC television show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” are up for sale after the owners received them in heart-warming episodes.

Eric Hebert of Sandpoint, Idaho, says maintaining the 3,600-square-foot home he received is too expensive and time-consuming.

The house and its one-acre property are listed for sale for $529,000. Hebert also owns other two acres adjacent to the home and has listed that property for $160,000.

Meanwhile, in Pennsauken, N. J., a home built for Victor Marrero and his struggling family is for sale for $499,000.

Marrero says the combination of federal and state income taxes, plus property taxes, will cost him more than $60,000 and he can’t pay it. “Extreme Makeover” officials maintain that the company has consulted with tax experts and found a way around most of the tax bills.

Source: Associated Press (05/21/2008)

Homes built in the midcentury modern style continue to fetch ever-increasing prices from preservationists and others who love their rich woods and minimalist design.

The Kaufmann House in Palm Springs, Calif., designed by Richard Neutra in 1946, brought $16.8 million with commission last week at a Christie’s auction.

Marc Porter, Christie’s president in America, said the buyer, whom he declined to name, exercised an option to purchase an orchard adjacent to the property for an additional $2.1 million that includes three cacti that were a present from Frank Lloyd Wright to original owner Edgar Kaufmann, Pittsburgh department store magnate, on his first visit to the home.

The 1960 Esherick House in Chestnut Hill, Pa. — one of the few private residences designed by the influential Louis Kahn — is part of a contemporary-design auction on May 18 at Richard Wright in Chicago. It is expected to bring $2 million or $3 million.

Many of these homes aren’t very livable. For instance, the Esherick House has only one bedroom and the kitchen. The five-bedroom Kaufmann House comes with restrictions that bar its new owner from making any structural changes.

Source: The New York Times, Carol Vogen (05/14/2008), and Newsweek, Cathleen McGuigan (05/19/2008)

Forget about overhauling the kitchen or redoing the bathroom. The fix-ups that pay off the most are often the simpler and more mundane, says Diane Saatchi, senior vice president at the Corcoran Group in New York.

Her specialty is selling high-end properties in the Hamptons. She recommends that sellers focus their improvements on small exterior changes rather than big-ticket projects inside the home. “Make the outside of the house look really great so that people fall in love between getting out of the car and the front door,” Saatchi says.

That includes repainting the trim and adding new hardware, manicuring trees and shrubs, replacing old siding and replacing windows that aren’t energy efficient.

Nationally, returns for all major home-improvement projects are fetching 70 cents on the dollar, according to a Remodeling magazine’s survey of real-estate professionals conducted late last year. That’s down from 80 cents in 2004.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, M.P. McQueen (05/15/2008)

Forget about overhauling the kitchen or redoing the bathroom. The fix-ups that pay off the most are often the simpler and more mundane, says Diane Saatchi, senior vice president at the Corcoran Group in New York.

Her specialty is selling high-end properties in the Hamptons. She recommends that sellers focus their improvements on small exterior changes rather than big-ticket projects inside the home. “Make the outside of the house look really great so that people fall in love between getting out of the car and the front door,” Saatchi says.

That includes repainting the trim and adding new hardware, manicuring trees and shrubs, replacing old siding and replacing windows that aren’t energy efficient.

Nationally, returns for all major home-improvement projects are fetching 70 cents on the dollar, according to a Remodeling magazine’s survey of real-estate professionals conducted late last year. That’s down from 80 cents in 2004.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, M.P. McQueen (05/15/2008)

These are skills every home owner should master to save lots of money over the years. Most can be tackled without fancy tools, although it helps to have a variable-speed power drill.

• Replace a door lock.
• Change furnace and air conditioning filters.
• Find a stud in wall.
• Learn to install wall anchors.
• Hang a ceiling fan.
• Drive drywall screws (to repair drywall).
• Master a caulking gun.
• Replace the flapper ball in the toilet.

Here are some books you can read for more information on home do-it-yourself projects:

• “The Reader’s Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual.” First published in 1973, it was last updated in 2005. A great all-around book.

• “Home Depot’s Home Improvement 1-2-3″ (Meredith Books, 2003, $34.95). Clear, helpful visuals.

• “Home & Garden Television’s Complete Fix-It” (Time Life, 2000, $29.95).

Source: The News & Observer, Allen Norwood (05/17/2008)

In a tough sales market, staging can help move a property.

Barb Schwarz, who claims to have invented home staging in the early 1970s, estimates that about one in four homes nationwide are now staged.

Julie Dana and Marcia Layton Turn state in their book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Staging Your Home to Sell, that a seller stands to gain as much as $9,000 on a $200,000 house if it’s staged.

Shelly Wagner, a Detroit-based stager, estimates that the cost per room for staging is $100 – small potatoes if it really helps a home sell.

Here are some ideas from Wagner for effective, low-cost staging:

• Remove scatter rugs and knickknacks from every room.

• Get rid of everything on the kitchen counters, including appliances, except for the coffee maker.

• Remove as much as you can from closets.

• Hire a cleaning service if necessary to make the house spotless. Scrub floors, walls, and windows. Pay special attention to the microwave, oven, and refrigerator.

• Focus on the feature rooms, the living, dining, and master bedrooms. Additional bedrooms are best left empty or minimally furnished.

• Arrange the furniture to show off each room’s best features.

• Set the dining-room table with napkins, plates, and flatware.

• When showing the house, turn on soft instrumental “buying” music, preferably classical or jazz.

Source: Detroit News, Marge Colborn (05/03/08)

Buyers are often in a hurry to decorate their new home. But advocates of a fledgling decorating philosophy known as “slow design” say that’s not the best decision.

Instead, they urge home owners to feel comfortable letting their décor grow organically, adding one unique item at a time.

“It’s a big investment, and you’re going to live in the space for a long time. Decisions shouldn’t be made over a glass of wine on a weekend,” says Wynne Yelland, principal with Locus Architecture in Minneapolis.

Here are some suggestions for giving a home personality “slowly” — and without spending a fortune:

• Think heirloom. Seek out well-made pieces by local artisans.
• Start small. Anchor each room with one piece that will have real character, depth and meaning that will last.
• Be patient. Don’t buy a roomful of furniture all at once. Let the décor evolve over time.
• Don’t automatically throw away things that are old. Sometimes a coat of paint or a small repair can result in furniture that is better than new.

Source: Star-Tribune, Kim Palmer (05/07/2008)

Even in this tough market, a nice outdoor deck is a feature any home buyer can love.

The size of the average deck on an upscale home has doubled in the past 10 years, to about 700 square feet, according to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS).

Decks are particularly popular with young families. Parents like the idea that children can be outdoors, yet contained in a safe place.

However, Home builders don’t seem to have gotten the message that decks are popular. Ninety percent of all decks are added as a remodeling project, says Steve Van Kouteren, of consulting firm Principia Partners.

The cost of the average deck project has risen 40 percent since 2004, to $10,347, according to JCHS. But it’s an improvement that tends to pay off pretty well at resale. Homes on the Pacific coast get a 108 percent return on when the home is sold, according to Remodeling magazine. Those in the upper Midwest, where the season for outdoor living is short, get only 71 percent.

Source: SmartMoney, Brad Reagan (05/01/2008)