What Makes One Home More Valuable Than Another?

Buying or selling a home can seem like an overwhelming task. But the right REALTOR can make the process easier - and more profitable. For many home buyers, understanding what makes one home more valuable than another seems a bit arbitrary. But the reality is that various features can add thousands of dollars to the value of a home. Some of these include:

• Square Footage: How big is the house?
• Design: Is it a colonial or a ranch?
• Floor Plan: How well do the rooms "flow"?
• Quality Of The Neighborhood: Is it a highly desirable locale?
• Quality Of The Public School System: Whether or not you have children who will attend the schools is irrelevant.
• Proximity to public transportation, religious centers, shopping, and schools
• Quality Of Construction: Was it built by a reputable builder?
• Lot size, view, and quality of landscaping
• How Busy Is the Street: Houses located on "double-yellow line" streets are less valuable than those on streets less traveled.

Working with the right REALTOR can help you understand why these factors are important and how best to gauge your home's true valve, perform a comparative market analysis (CMA) - an informal analysis of comparable homes in your neighborhood, and recommend a certified appraiser, who can calculate the value of your home at any given time.

Call for a no strings attached, no-hazzel CMA! Log on to www.chamberlinteam.com or http://ajchamberlin.com for more information on buying or selling your home.

Money-Saving Tips

Money-Saving Tips For Your Home

With the cost of energy at an all-time high, we can all save money on our engergy bills with relatively simple solutions! According to the Alliance to Save Energy, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency, American consumers and businesses spend approximately $21 BILLION annually, on lighting alone, and could cut their costs in half with energy-efficient light bulbs and fixtures while improving the environment. Installing efficient lighting in our homes and businesses would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 140 million tons each year! Isn't that amazing?

We found a website (sponsored by the EPA and the DOS) that shows how to save money on energy bills by incorporating their energy efficiency suggestions. It's http://hes.lbl.gov/. Let us know if you have tried any of their suggestions and how much money you saved.....

Trends

Trends in Bathroom and Kitchen Designs

In a quarterly Home Design Trend Survey, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) determined the latest trends in kitchen and bath features and products. Here are their findings:

Bathrooms

• Larger bathrooms and more of them
• Upscale showers, including multihead showers, steam showers, separate his-and-her showers and walk-in showers with no doors for better accessibility
• Double sinks or multiple vanities
• Heated floors, heated towel racks, towel-warming drawers and fireplaces
• Decreasing in popularity: heat lamps and whirlpool baths

Kitchens

• Larger kitchens and more of them throughout the home, including a separate food storage facility, food preparation area or outdoor kitchen
• More pantry space
• Upper-end appliances
• Integrated living areas near the kitchen such as a family room
• Natural stone countertops and natural wood cabinets
• Drinking water filtration systems

How does your kitchen or bath stand-up to these latest trends?

Be sure to choose your remodeling projects wisely - not all remodels will provide the return on investment when selling your home!

Internet Use Rises

Home-Buyer Reliance On Internet Rises

According to the National Association of REALTORS in a recent survey, nine out of ten buyers still use a real estate agent. The internet, however, plays a growing role in the home-search process:

% Buyers who use the net % Buyers who found their

to search for a home: home on the net:

2005 77 24

2004 74 15

1995 2 2

Visit our website to search for all properties in Boulder County! www.chamberlinteam.com

Boulder Valley School District

Congratulations Boulder Valley School District!

Did you know that in a recently released report that 2 Boulder High Schools ranked in the TOP 1,000 high schools in the nation?

# 233 Fairview High School
# 236 Boulder High School

Just one more magnificent reason to live in Boulder!

Outdoor Wood & Spring Cleaning

Each year around this time, it is a good idea to consider the care of outdoor wood around your home, whether it is decking, fencing, or siding. Here are some suggestions for the care and maintenance of outdoor wood.....

First, a word of caution: The wood you buy at any lumber store will not retain the color and texture you see right after it's installed. Water and sunlight, specifically UV or ultraviolet light, over time will change both the color and texture of wood. Water repellent preservatives and sealers can help maintain a consistent color, but they will not give the same color or tone you see in the lumber rack.

For longevity of your outdoor wood, apply a preservative to the wood. A clear preservative will most often darken and enrich the natural color. Choose a product with UV protection. Some preservatives also have color added with will stain the wood.

Decks require either annual or semi-annual maintenance, depending on exposure to weather and use. A maintenance program consists of cleaning the deck, removing any mildew that might have accumulated and applying a new coat of preservative.

The best way to clean a deck is with a pressure washer, although for smaller decks a stiff bristle brush and a lot of elbow grease will also work! In shaded, moist areas, mildew buildup can be a problem. To solve this, wash with a weak bleach solution - 1/4 cup of bleach to a gallon of water - to kill the fungus before pressure washing.

Once cleaning is completed, allow the deck to dry for a day or so. Then apply two coats of UV protective water repellent sealer or stain.

If this sounds like a lot of work - it is! The reward, of course, is a summer outdoors in pleasant surroundings and prolonging the life of your investment. It's well worth the effort!

Why Use A Realtor?

Some homeowners decide to sell their home by themselves to save the commission charged by a real estate agent. The commission rate may vary but it is usually around 6% of the selling price. Selling your home by yourself means you will be responsible for placing ads, answering phone call inquiries, and showing your home to strangers.

FACT: Home buyers who know you are trying to save money on the real estate commission will offer less for your home, wiping out the amount you saved on real estate fees. FSBO home sale transactions generally can sell for up to 20% less than if a Realtor was used to sell the same property!
FACT: In the last 10 years, there has been a decreasing trend in homeowner's successfully selling their homes - the process has become more complicated, time-consuming, and costly.


What A Realtor Can Do For You:

• Help you establish a fair market price for your home
• Create a marketing program to effectively promote your home through MLS listings, websites, direct mailings, real estate magazines and advertisements, e-mail postings to area Realtors, conduct open houses.....
• Schedule showings to prospective buyers
• Pre-screen buyers so only qualified buyers are shown through your home
• Help negotiate the sale of your home with the buyer
• Make recommendations for "staging" your home, making it more attractive to potential buyers
• Provide all of the necessary forms and documents for the sale of your home
• BE YOUR ADVOCATE throughout the sales and marketing transaction!