Design and Remodel For a More Sustainable Home – Top 10 Ideas

Green or sustainable remodeling provides an opportunity to adapt your home to your future needs and changing lifestyle, while lowering energy and maintenance costs by creating a healthier home environment. It’s also a way to reduce waste and pollution.

But just what is “green remodeling?” It’s a responsible way to minimize your impact on the environment through saving water and energy during the remodeling process by reusing and recycling construction materials, using construction materials with recycled content, reducing indoor pollutants, and lowering maintenance needs and costs while increasing the durability and life of your home. Additional benefits are also available by using local manufacturers and suppliers of resource-efficient building materials.

Here are 10 tips to use when “going green in Florida:”

1. Set your goals and priorities – What can you do to reduce the impact on the environment and what will it cost? Using sustainable products and practices will sometimes cost less (utilizing re-used or salvage materials), about the same (safer paints, carpets, adhesives and finishes), or more than conventional products. Some choices costing more initially may save money in the long run by reducing energy costs and lasting longer. Bottom line – do the things that are important to you and are within your budget.
2. Salvage and reuse existing materials. Many communities now have architectural salvage businesses stocked with the materials you may need for your remodeling project. Spend a few hours familiarizing yourself with what’s available locally. Reclaimed building materials can provide cost savings, quality and durability while diverting waste from landfills.
3. Consider energy efficiency. Saving energy is a smart investment. When buying [Read more…]

Celebrate Your First Home!

12 Tips for First Time Homebuyers

You’re reading this blog because you’ve decided to buy your first home. You’ve thought long and hard about it for some time. You’ve weighed the pros and cons, and decided taking the plunge is the right thing to do. You’ve saved for a down payment, prices are the lowest in years and you believe the timing couldn’t be better.

Now it’s time to focus on what you need and what you want. Here are some tips to consider and questions to answer:

1. Decide how much room you need, or will need. Two bedrooms? Three? Four? And how many bathrooms? Space for an office? Pool? Garage? One car or two? Water access? Will your family be expanding?
2. What kind of neighborhood or community suits you best? If you’re currently living in the neighborhood or community in which you want to buy, you already know it’s particular character, amenities, price range, style, pluses and minuses, etc. But if you’re somewhat new to the area, we suggest starting with an Internet search of online listings and locales to get a feel for where you might want to live.
3. Choose a reputable real estate agent. He or she should be a good listener, and should fully understand what you’re looking for, the neighborhood in which you want to live and the price range you need to stay within. Your Realtor should also have experience and a solid reputation behind him or her. Remember, your Realtor is working for you. Get recommendations. Interview a few and choose wisely.
4. Establish a relationship with a lender. Know your borrowing ability, and be in a position to [Read more…]

landscape lighting curb appeal

12 Tips To Improve Your Curb Appeal In One Day

This is second in a series on Increasing Your Home’s Curb Appeal.

Remember, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

There is a wealth of small, and not so small, projects you can do to improve the curb appeal of your home to better increase the salability of your property. Today, let’s focus on some exterior projects. If you’ve only got a day, consider these 12 steps:

1. Create balance. If you plan to install exterior lighting for your front door, or your front walk, consider lights on each side of the door or path to create symmetry.
2. Upgrade your hardware. If your existing lighting fixtures, your house numbers or even your lockset are looking old and worn out, replace them with shiny new hardware to add style and interest to your entryway.
3. Paint your front door. Give your front door a fresh new coat of paint that says, “welcome.”
4. Replace your mailbox. Giving your home a fresh look by replacing your mailbox and perhaps painting your mailbox post is a quick and easy project.
5. Install outdoor lighting. We discussed the importance of improving your curb appeal with new landscaping in an earlier post. Now that your new shrubs are established and growing, install low voltage lighting to bring them to life after dark. This will also add a safety feature prospective buyers will notice.
6. Plant a garden. Purchase a few pre-made garden containers to create colorful, attractive arrangements for a vivid entrance. [Read more…]

Distressed Property Expertise Helps Homeowners

Cash strapped homeowners facing possible foreclosure, or even bankruptcy, have options to help pay off their mortgage. Proceeds from a real estate short sale can help satisfy a home loan, and lenders are finding them increasingly acceptable as they save the institutions a great deal of time and money.

Chris Hounchell, Broker Associate of Hounchell Real Estate-RE/MAX Metro, is a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) who helps distraught homeowners by educating them about the alternatives they have to foreclosure. Chris earned his CDPE designation from the Distressed Property Institute of Boca Raton, Florida. He has long been a specialist in foreclosed and short sale properties in the St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Tampa Bay areas and, this new designation brings to his clients important new tools to help them through these turbulent times.

Looking for options and solutions to your market hardship? Read the FAQ’s about short sales.