Real Estate Articles Worth Reading

There are some folks who do not realize how important it is to pull building permits on their home when the work they are doing requires it! Some do it out of sheer laziness while others have more covert reasons why including the fact that when the town knows about great improvements to a home they collect more from an owner in taxes.

In the article you will see reasons why pulling a permit is so important when making additions or improvements to a home. While it may not seem so important at the time once it comes time to sell not having a permit can be a nightmare.

Savvy buyers and their real estate agents will often ask homeowners who have completed major projects if a permit has been pulled. Guess what happens when the answer is no? If you answered they ask you to get them then you would be 100 percent correct.

Here is the hard part - depending on how strict the building department is in your city or town they may ask you to do a few things.

If you are lucky it will just be to go through the permitting process and pay all of the associated fees. What if you are not so lucky?

Did you know that if you do not pull building permits when they are legally required the enforcement officer could ask you to rip out the entire project? Yes you read that correctly. This could cost you tens of thousands of dollars depending on what you have done to your home.

Don't make this silly mistake! Make sure you pull all necessary permits. You will be so much happier when it comes time to sell your home.

Have a look at the article and you will see quite a few other reasons why it never makes sense to avoid pulling a permit.

Around the country the winter this year has become one of the worst on record. Many areas including the Northeast have experienced record snow fall. With this inclement weather comes with it problems such as ice dams that many home owners have had to face.

For this reason I decided to put together one of the most comprehensive guides on how to remove ice dams from your home. The first consideration when talking about ice dams is not to get them in the first place. Is this possible? Yes for some homes you can minimize your chances of getting and ice dam greatly.

The cause of ice dams is heat escaping into the attic creating a warm environment that causes snow and ice build up to melt. This ice and snow then continuously re-freezes and melts until it builds up under your homes shingles.

Eventually there is no where for this build up to go other than into your home! This is where things really get sticky. Ice dams can cause major damage to our homes including paint, walls, floors and insulation. After a while the possibility of mold becomes far more prevalent.

In the article you will see three things:

1.) How to prevent ice dams from forming at your home.

2.) How to fix ice dams at your home if they do happen to appear.

3.) How to file an insurance claim if the damage warrants it.

Take a look at all my tips for preventing and removing ice dams along with an excellent Youtube video I have included.

One of the things that real estate agents constantly face is homeowners who believe there is a one for one return in everything they do to their homes. This of course is completely inaccurate as there are numerous things that offer little to no return when you are selling a home.

If you are selling a home it is important to understand what improvements offer a return on investment. There are some things you can do to improve a home that will go really far like kitchen and baths. There are other things like roof replacement and septic systems that offer little to no value at all.

Discerning the difference is super important. As a seller it is also critical to make sure the real estate agent you choose is marketing these improvements well. Buyers love to know what sellers have done to their homes and when.

For the most part most people who have taken the leap into home ownership treat their properties with pride and joy. A home for the vast majority of the population will be one of their largest assets. It only makes sense that not only is your home a place to live but an investment work keeping up with.

The are some homeowners that have busy lives and forget about home maintenance. They let their home go and years later when things have gotten out of hand realize that they need to address serious issues.

When you let your home maintenance go what were once small problems become large issues. The article how to maintain a home properly offers nine home maintenance tips designed to keep a home in tip top shape not only for safety reasons but general upkeep.

Some of the items in the last are more than likely items you have thought about quite a bit. I would be willing to be however there are others that may have slipped your mind.

Staying on top of home maintenance will really benefit you in the long run because you will be paying less out of your pocket for repairs and also when it comes time to sell your home you will realize more money in your pocket!

Have you ever driven by a luxury home that has brick pavers and said to yourself WOW this looks gorgeous? I know I have. The look of a brick paver driveway just adds some much character to a homes appearance. Doing a paver driveway is of course a lot more expensive than the typical asphalt driveways you typically see. You can however save a lot of money if you are willing to do it yourself. Let this guide to concrete pavers for driveway help you install the look you would love to have for your home.

Are you thinking about building a new home and like the idea of having a fantastic walk-in closet? Here are some exceptional closet ideas.

Without a doubt the kitchen is the most important room in a home especially when it comes time to sell. This makes perfect sense as the kitchen is a central part of our homes where we spend and incredible amount of time.

When it comes time to sell the kitchen can make or break a home sale. There are a large percentage of buyers today who do not have the time or energy to deal with upgrading a kitchen.

These buyers just want you to hand them the key and not have to worry about a kitchen makeover. Given this is how things work it makes sense to upgrade your kitchen if it sticks out like a sore thumb.

You can drop a ton of money in a kitchen very easily. There are however some cost effective kitchen home improvements that won't destroy you financially. In the article via Matt Lawler you will see some of the best improvements you can make without draining your wallet.

See some of these great tips along with a couple of really nice contributions from @Anita Clark

If you have thought about making any kind of kitchen upgrade make sure you check this one out!

Are you going to be selling your home in the near future? Do you know what some of the most important home improvements are when selling a home?

One of the things that many homeowners do not realize is not every home improvement adds significant value to a home. There are some home improvements that are totally not worth it and you could be pouring money needlessly down the drain!

When you are going to be selling your home it is important to understand what is a good home improvement and what is not.

In the article you will see the home improvements that boost a home value and which don't. There are also some excellent resources from other top real estate bloggers including @Kyle Hiscock, @Anita Clark, and @Karen Highland who have written their own comprehensive articles on home improvements that make sense.

See a broken down explanation of why some home improvements add significant value and why others are worthless.

One of the things that most sellers want to do when selling a home is to maximize their investment. People constantly ask real estate agents what can I do to my home for the least amount of money that will give me the biggest return on my investment.

Of course this is a smart question to ask when you want to sell your home for the most amount of money in the least amount of time.

In this fantastic resource 24 experts were asked to share their best tips for maximizing a homes value with the least amount of money invested. There are some exceptional tips shared that are sure to make selling a home far more easy while also not breaking the bank!

Lot of buyers today want turn-key properties where they do not have to spend a lot of time and money making the home how they want it. Sellers who pay attention and make simple fixes end up selling in a shorter time frame with more money in their pocket.

Take a look at this excellent resource for some terrific real estate advice!

We all love to sell our homes for the most money. Not many people go to the time and effort of putting their home up for sale without the expectation of getting the most that they can for it.

If you have listened to any real estate advice at all about selling a home you have probably heard that homes that look their best sell for the most money. No rocket science there. It goes without saying that buyers like turn-key homes.

What can be a problem however are homeowners who are strapped for cash. They would love to make the necessary improvements to their home to get top dollar but it's not in their budget to do so.

While making large an expensive improvements is impossible for some folks there are some smart low cost improvements when selling real estate that can bring back far more money that what you invest. In the article we take a look at 4 low cost home improvements you can do inexpensively that will bring you a lot of bang for your buck! Take a look and see if you are up for making these improvements to your home!

Home Improvement mistakes are made every day across the united states. There are many home owners who unfortunately believe that every dollar they spend on their home comes back to them no matter what the project happens to be.

This could not be further from the truth! There are in fact many home improvements that add little value if any to a home. In some cases you can spend a decent amount of money on something and it can actually make your home harder to sell.

The perfect example of this is discussed in the article and happens to be an above ground pool. Most people think these are eye sores and the first thing they will want to do is get rid of it. This is a classic home improvement mistake to avoid. This becomes even more evident when you are selling your home. There are numerous other home improvement mistakes discussed as well in the article such as not getting proper permits, over improving certain areas of a home and not others as well as a few others.

Take a look and avoid these home improvement disasters especially if you will be selling your home.

You have sold your home and are now moving on to your next place. Often times before you get there improvements can be made that are much more difficult to accomplish once you are settled in and living at the home. Taking care of these improvements prior to moving in can be a lot less stressful if your moving situation allows.