Downsizing is a fact of life for many people these days. If you are facing what can be a traumatic situation, here’s some advice from Jim Henderson, president of William C. Huff Co., a moving and storage company that specializes in affluent home owners.

• Start early. Once home owners have made the decision to sell, they should start the weeding and moving process. A side benefit is that this winnowing of belongings will make their home more attractive to buyers.

• Begin by eliminating things that aren’t used frequently. Belongings that have been relegated to the basement, the garage or the attic are good candidates for sale or donation.

• Get the whole family involved. Asking grown children to take what they want can painlessly remove a significant portion of belongings.

• Digitize photos and other paper. Storing memories online can keep them safer longer as well as eliminate clutter.

• Suggest to sellers that they consider including the furniture in the sale. This can expedite the transaction for both buyer and seller.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, June Fletcher (01/29/2009)

Builders and designers say that strapped consumers are eating out less and cooking more, which is increasing demand for functional kitchens.

Kitchen trends include:

• Making room for multiple refrigerators, including under-counter models, island refrigerators and column types.

• Considering cost-effective updates, including using limited amounts of expensive tile as a backsplash or accent, eye-catching hardware, and mixed countertops.

• Going green, not only in terms of recycled materials in countertops and floors, but also as a color for walls and other surfaces.

• Houses are shrinking and appliances are getting smaller so they don’t overwhelm the space.

Source: Los Angeles Times, Lauren Beale (01/22/2009)

Factors that dictate what floor plan will work best for a home buyer include how old their children are, how they entertain, and whether they have pets, says Jeff Benach, a principal with Lexington Homes in the Chicago area.

Here are some issues Benach suggests considering when buying a home:

• Mudrooms. A spacious mud-room can make managing a young family’s comings and going much easier. They are also good for pet owners.

• Over-sized kitchen/family-room combinations. These rooms work for some people, but they aren’t good for party givers because large spaces are noisy and don’t lend themselves to intense cooking and food staging.

• Fireplaces and windows. Filling more than one wall with windows and occupying another with a fireplace makes it difficult to position furniture.

• Consider that things change. Designing areas so they can be retooled to meet new and different needs down the road is a smart approach.

Source: Chicago Tribune, Allison E. Beatty (01/02/09)

The pace of teardowns has slowed and preservationists are applauding the trend.

About 75,000 homes a year were torn down across the country at the peak of the market. The National Trust has expanded its list of endangered neighborhoods to include 500 neighborhoods in 40 states. The demolitions have triggered bitter battles between preservationists and suburbanites seeking new homes in mature, urban neighborhoods.

But with new housing starts at a 26-year low, teardowns are experiencing a lull. For instance, in Westport, Conn., teardown permits were down 33 percent in 2008 compared to the previous year.

“The idea that you’re going to make a lot of money tearing down an old house to build a new one, that’s gone,” says Morris Davis, a real estate economist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison who has advised the Federal Reserve on the teardown trend.

“We’re advising communities to take advantage of this slowdown and use it as a cooling-off period,” says Adrian Fine, a regional director for the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington. “It gives them a little more time to have a less heated and less controversial discussion to protect a specific neighborhood and balance that with the need for growth and development.”

Source: The Christian Science Monitor, Patrik Jonsson (01/06/2009)

The home is a pigsty and potential buyers are arriving within the hour. Here’s what home owners can do to turn chaos into order, says Julie Edelman, author of The Accidental Housewife: Your Guide to a Clean-Enough House.

• Target the bathroom. Wipe down the sink, toilet, mirror and floor with disinfectant wipes. Empty the trash. No toilet bowl cleaner? Drop in denture cleaner, let it fizz for 20 minutes and flush.
• Salvage the kitchen. Clear the countertops. Put dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Spray down the counter with a clean-smelling multipurpose spray.
• Pick up debris. Concentrate on getting rid of clutter in the living room. Put it in a bag and hide it in a bedroom closet.
• Vacuum everywhere.

Source: Chicago Tribune, Emilie Le Beau (12/21/2008)

The holidays should be merry and bright, but the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warns consumers that the holidays also bring the dangers associated with the improper use of decorative lighting. By avoiding such hazards as dried out Christmas trees, unsafe lights and unattended burning candles, thousands of holiday-related injuries can be prevented. By all means enjoy yourself this holiday season, but make following the fire/electrical safety tips outlined below a priority in your merrymaking so as to avoid any mishaps.

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For the second year in a row, REALTORS® report that exterior remodeling projects return the most money as a percentage of cost, as detailed in the 2008 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report.

On a national level, wood deck additions and all types of siding replacements–upscale fiber cement, midrange vinyl, and upscale foam-backed vinyl–returned more than 80 percent of project costs upon resale. Of these, the most profitable project was upscale fiber cement siding, which recouped 86.7 percent of costs, followed by wood decks at 81.8 percent, midrange vinyl siding at 80.7 percent, and upscale foam-backed vinyl siding at 80.4 percent.

The 2008 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report compares construction costs with resale values for 30 midrange and upscale remodeling projects comprising additions, remodels and replacements in 79 markets across the country, expanding from 60 markets last year.

Projects With Highest, Lowest Returns

In addition to wood decks and siding, window replacements and kitchen remodels also returned a relatively high percentage of remodeling costs on a national basis.

All types of window replacements–upscale and midrange wood and upscale and midscale vinyl–returned more than 76 percent of costs. A major midrange kitchen remodel returned 76 percent of project costs, while a minor midrange kitchen remodel returned 79.5 percent of costs.

On a national level, bathroom remodels, while still a relatively good investment, do not return as high a percentage as in previous years. A midrange bathroom remodel was estimated to return 74.4 percent on resale, comparable to a midrange attic-to-bedroom conversion, at 73.6 percent of costs recouped, and a midrange basement remodel, at 72.7 percent of costs recouped.

As in last year’s report, the least profitable remodeling projects in terms of resale value were home office remodels, sunroom additions, and back-up power generators, returning only 54.4 percent, 56.6 percent, and 57.1 percent, respectively, of project costs.

National Association of Realtors® President Charles McMillan says the resale value of any given remodeling project depends on a variety of factors.

“A home’s overall condition, availability and condition of surrounding properties, location, and regional economic climate are all factors that will influence the value of any remodeling project,” he says.

Full project descriptions, as well as national, regional and local project data for the 79 cities covered by the report will be posted at www.costvsvalue.com by Dec. 5.

Source: NAR

A McGraw-Hill Construction study estimates that the value of green building construction could increase a possible 300 percent to as much as $140 billion by 2013.

Green Outlook 2009 observes that green building construction’s value has risen by a factor of five between 2005 and 2008, increasing from $10 billion to an estimated range of $36 billion to $49 billion.

“Green growth is phenomenal across the globe,” says McGraw-Hill’s Harvey M. Bernstein. “The business opportunities afforded by green building, even in the midst of a global economic crisis, are real and recognized by industry players.”

Green Outlook 2009 comes on the heels of two other highly positive McGraw-Hill reports: A September report predicted a major surge in growth and profits in green construction globally, while a second study in October concluded that green residential construction is continuing to trend upward despite the economic downturn.

Source: GreenerBuildings (11/19/2008)

Prices are falling on building materials and on contractors’ fees, and that’s reflected in a 12 percent drop in consumer spending on home improvements, according to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

“It’s hard for home owners to think about spending on their houses when real estate values are falling,” says Kermit Baker, a senior research fellow at Harvard. “But with contractors hungrier for business, you’ll be able to negotiate better prices, win other concessions and hire better-quality contractors than you could a year or two ago.”

In Remodeling magazine’s most recent study of returns on remodels, home owners recouped about two-thirds of their costs on a typical home improvement if they sold their home within a year after completing the job. That compares to 87 percent in 2005 at the peak of the housing boom.

Source: Money, Donna Rosato (12/01/08)

Katherine Salant, nationally syndicated columnist and author of The Brand-New House Book,says houses designed with both a master and second bedroom on the first floor have become the most popular because they appeal to all age groups.

Young couples use the second bedroom as a nursery. Middle-age couples use it to keep aging parents close by, and older couples like the design because their differing sleep patterns make sharing a bedroom difficult, Salant says.

Here are other trends Salant points to:

• The newest variation on the home office is a completely separate office space, connected to the house by a hallway or a breezeway.

• Kitchens are getting smaller, but they are connected to much larger dining areas, often with a center island where family members can sit while they have an informal meal.

• Oversized family rooms with high ceilings are giving way to smaller, cozier rooms with lower ceilings.

• Home theaters have lost much appeal because people don’t want to watch television in a separate area of the home. TV viewing is a more informal activity that people engage in while they’re doing other things like cooking or getting ready for work.

Source: The Washington Post, Katherine Salant (10/18/2008)