Sunset on Calle Miramar Jan 2010
January 28, 2010 – check out this amazing sunset we were priviledged enough to view the other evening out on a walk! We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful neighborhood. The beach is so close as is the very quaint Riviera Village for all your shopping, caffeine and culinary needs. It’s the end of January and we’re able to head out, take a walk and enjoy an amazing sunset like this one!
Here is something you can do to quickly help the earthquake victims of Haiti. Take your gently worn shoes to any Sport Chalet store and they will get them to the earthquake victims. My closet feels a bit more spacious and I feel good knowing I am helping someone out.
Realtor Magazine January 2010 issue has a great article I wanted to share entitled, “10 Big Impact, Low Cost Remodeling Projects.” I found it interesting as Laura and I specialize in getting our sellers’ homes ready for sale and more often than not a lot of these projects + a list of our own is included here. Nice to get some affirmation that our list matches up in most cases with this list. Here it is:
1) Tidy up the Kitchen Cabinets – Potential buyers do open the kitchen cabinets. Homeowners can add roll out organizer trays so that when buyers peek in, they feel like there’s lots of room for their stuff. (This holds true for your closets too – adding closet organizing systems are well worth the investment.)
2) Add or replace tile – By retiling very inexpensively, you make a room look way cleaner than it was. Wake up a tired kitchen backsplash or bathroom vanity with new tile.
3) Add a breakfast bar – When a wall separates a kitchen from dining or family room, cut out an opening between the two rooms, add some granite or tile countertop, pull up a couple of barstools and voila – breakfast bar. Taking the entire wall down may also bring back some of the expense as well, as open floor plans are one of the buzz words these days.
4) Install granite tile instead of a slab – Everybody likes a “granite kitchen.” Installing granite tiles can be a much more budget friendly way to perk up that kitchen than the higher end slab material. Although in our higher-end market, it may be worth the money to install the slab. There are many “pre-fab” granite installers these days, that can do granite counters for much less than the custom guys.
5) Freshen up a bathroom without retiling – With a dated bathroom, putting in a new medicine cabinet ($100-$150), light fixtures ($75- $100), a faucet ($75 – $100), and a vanity ($200 – $300) can bring back your investment right away. Add a new glass shower door for extra panache. Bathrooms are on the “highly important” list of most buyers. This is somewhere you really want to spend money and make it right.
6) Freshen up the basement – a finished basement is very well received vs. a cement block storage room (like most basements.) Most of us here in Southern California don’t have basements however – so this isn’t on the top of many lists here.
7) Add a room – Look for large spaces that can be enclosed to create a new bedroom for just the price of creating a wall. Especially when it’s a 2 bedroom home, a 3 bedroom is much more desirable in today’s market. With more and more people working from home a 4th bedroom is even more desirable.
Spruce up cabinet fronts – painting, re-facing, re-conditioning, adding new hardware are all great ideas for cleaning up the kitchen and adding that “updated” look. In this same vein, how are the appliances in the kitchen? Adding a new appliance suite (matching finish) can be quite affordable as long as you stay in the mid-range of choices. This highly appeals to buyers.
9) Replace light fixtures – In foyers, bathrooms, kitchens, dining rooms, bedrooms – all those old overhead light fixtures – change them out for newer, more modern fixtures. And if the kitchen has one of those fluorescent light boxes – get rid of that and put in new drywall and can lights. This is big bang for the buck.
10) Tech up the garage – Replacing the garage door opener with a remote touch pad entry system ($425) makes it look like a high end system. Also consider a new roll up garage door and opener in place of an old manual door. Those really date a house.
I am going to add #11 to the list as well as a few other important light remodeling projects that will reward you with big returns upon the sale of your home. #11 to me is one of the most important projects any homeowner can embark upon to bring big returns!
11) Painting – inside and out. Wow, now this really can update a home instantly as well as clean it up and make it ready for a new buyer. This will bring you the biggest bang for the buck!
12) Landscaping – get rid of those old 1950’s shrubs and put in some more up-to-date environmentally friendly plantings.
13) Front door – the curb appeal of your house is so important and as the buyers stand at the front door awaiting their agent getting the keys they notice the front door and patio. Make this area shine.
14) New interior door hardware – Do your door handles match? Are they working? This really updates a house – believe it or not.
15) De-Cluttering – this requires little monetary investment – merely time packing or giving away. The less the buyer has to focus on that is not your house, the better! Put it away and save time packing after your house is sold!
If you need us to come and help you get your house ready for sale, we will go through room by room with you as to the many changes you can make to help get your more bang for the buck!
Who might buy your house? Who is out there in great numbers becoming our workforce right now? The Millenials – the people born between 1980 – 1995. What are some of their characteristics so you know who you need to appeal to?
Millenials are a tech savvy bunch having grown up with computers, cell phone, text messaging and multi-tasking as an everyday function. They were doted on by their parents, part of team sports, mommy & me groups, and laden with trophies from participating in sports where there were no winners or losers. Their priorities are simple - they come first. So how does one prepare to sell their home to a “Millenial, Generation Y’er?”
First of all, you need to reach this group via tech savvy marketing materials – posts on blogs, Facebook, Tweet’s on Twitter, and other internet based marketing. Traditional flyers and newspaper ads don’t titillate this group. That means great (not just good) photos and virtual tours are a must for this group. It must be “app-able” for the phone.
Millenials are very clever, resourceful and hard-working. They also know what they want and see no reason why they shouldn’t have it. Buying a home at an early age does not discourage them, especially in today’s “buyer’s market.” They are happy to throw out a “low-ball” and see no other way to get a property for the price “they” want to pay. As a seller, you must not be discouraged and take these offers personally. Any offer is a good place to start the negotiating process. It is important to remember this, as the Millenials are happy to keep searching. They will walk away from a good job if they feel the circumstances are not right, so a home purchase is not any different.
Millenials are “family oriented” and “tech savvy.” They often want to work from home, so a home office is important to the Generation Y’er. Keep this in mind when preparing your home for sale. If you have an extra space in the house that is being un-used, it would be a good idea to stage it as a home office showing off your wireless computer technology is also a good idea.
It’s 2010 – Happy New Year! “Twenty-Ten” is bound to be a good year. To get things started the Hollywood Riviera neighborhood has 18 properties currently for sale. 11 of those are single family residences, 2 condos and 4 townhouses. $525,000 gets you a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom condo near the bluffs and the Palos Verdes border. Bring $675,000 to the table and enjoy a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom ocean view townhouse close to Torrance Beach! Just under a million and you can “play ball” with the bank on a short sale for a nice 3 bedroom/2 bathroom single family residence. On the high end – $3.5 million dollars – you can own a 22+ thousand-square-feet-piece of the Torrance Beach bluff and the house that goes with it. Nothing in the way of those ocean views! 
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