Selling Your Home

You’re ready to build a home but there’s one thing standing in your way: your current home. It’s sellable, yes, but could some upgrades help you get it on and off the market quickly? Don’t worry, there are ways to increase the value of your home without breaking the bank.

Some of the best upgrades you can make to your home are undoubtedly the kitchen and bathrooms. Unfortunately, these are often the most expensive rooms to upgrade. A full-blown kitchen upgrade can cost upwards of $40,000, and a bathroom remodel can cost more than $10,000.

Replacing a sink and/or bathtub can be a very expensive endeavor. Instead, these items can be resurfaced for a fraction of the cost. In the same vein, cabinets do not have to be replaced. With a fresh coat of stain or paint, cabinets can take on a whole new personality.

Another way to save is with tile counters, walls, and backsplashes. These surfaces often just need a good deep clean, followed by a re-grout. You’d be surprised how much the appearance will change and improve—and for a much lower price tag to boot.

Don’t forget about the exterior. Curb appeal can make or break first impressions. Rent a power washer or even hire a professional cleaning service to clean the exterior of your home. If the weather permits, a fresh coat of paint can greatly reduce your investment dollars and can really improve the appearance of your home.

Some other smaller tips that help to sell your home quickly include:

• Clear out cluttered rooms and remove as much furniture as possible. This will help the prospective homeowner visualize how their environment will look. This goes for closet space, too.
• Steam clean carpets and furniture and wash walls. You may think your home smells fresh and clean, but you also live in the home and are used to its odors. Often times, people with pets or who smoke do not realize how their home smells.
• Bright rooms are inviting. If you’re able to put up a fresh coat of paint in dark rooms—do it. Learn to love white walls for a little while. Also, open blinds and let the natural light in.

Homemade household cleaners

The amount of chemicals that can be found in our household cleaners can be astonishing. While these chemicals do their job, they can be harmful to adults and pets, and especially harmful to children if ingested. Did you know you can save money and still keep your house clean by using common household ingredients in place of store-bought solutions?

Lemons and lemon juice should be considered a miracle of nature and home cleansing. The juice works to clean and shine pans, is a natural bleach when combined with the sun, and is a natural degreaser. For example, cut a lemon in half and sprinkle it with salt: you now have a safe, abrasive cleaner perfect for wood cutting boards, dishes, and pans.

Baking soda works well as a mild abrasive and also helps remove smelly odors—a perfect bathroom and kitchen cleaner. Mix baking soda with vinegar and scrub away soap scum and toilet bowls. Vinegar alone is a perfect alternative to many expensive floor cleaners. Mix one cup of vinegar with one cup of water and few drops of lemon juice and you have a very inexpensive cleaning solution.

Castile soap is a natural, oil-based soap that can be used to clean most anything in your home. By diluting liquid Castile soap, you can create an all-purpose cleaner, and when used alone, Castile soap is an excellent degreaser.

Essential oils are concentrated liquids containing aroma compounds from plants. They have been used medicinally for thousands of years, and are very common components to thousands of homemade all-natural cleaners. Not only do they add wonderful aromas to your home, they also kill viruses, bacteria, and mold. Add grapefruit, cinnamon, lavender, rose, or lavender (to name a few), to any dishwasher solution, floor cleaner, carpet cleaner, or window cleaner. For more on essential oils, here’s a great article with some ideas.

Don’t settle for an old home

Television shows like “Flip this House” or “Love it or List it” are fun to watch, and many believe they possess the true passion and expertise to renovate old homes. But in reality, it’s a much riskier game than some would lead you to think. Oftentimes with old homes, flooring jobs become structural nightmares, and creating more space in an old bathroom can mean thousands in unexpected plumbing fees.

Simply put, old homes are unpredictable, and can lead a homeowner down a never-ending path of constant work and dwindling funds.

Generally speaking, the oldest homes in America are found in the Northeast, according to a recent report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Interestingly, the report also revealed that New York State has the oldest median age of homes at 57 years. Houses that were built in the 50’s have their advantages (beautiful wood floors, for example), but more homeowners must invest in heavy upgrades to keep their older homes energy efficient and modern. There were less stringent structural requirements, including wiring and insulation, both of which can make a big difference not only in energy efficiency, but safety as well.

Across America, the median age home is 23 years--so why has New York fallen so far behind? Thankfully for those looking to move to Rochester from out of state or in state, Faber Homes can be a saving grace.

New York is a beautiful place to live, and Faber makes it easy to build the home of your dreams. Visit our website today to learn about our growing communities and modern floorplans: www.faberhomes.com.

Making the Most of Your Claridge Decorating Centre Trip

It can all seem a little overwhelming: cabinet colors, cabinet height and arrangement, countertop options, flooring, hardware… The options are endless! So how can you make the most of your trip to the Claridge Decorating Centre? Faber Homes is here to help.

When working with Faber Homes to create your dream home, keep in mind that you must pick each and every odd and end in your home. Before heading to Claridge, know where your furniture will be placed and where your outlets are, so when you plan your kitchen and bathrooms, you know where you’ll need to plug everything in.

Here are few quick and easy steps to take before heading to your meeting:

Know what Claridge offers. Once you enter the Claridge Decorating Centre, you’ll notice a plethora of choices right off the bat, and the room seems to never end. It’s likely we’ve got it all, but if you’d like to come in and see our selection – please schedule a time with your sales representative.

Have a “top three” of the following:

·         Kitchen cabinets (color and style)

·         Kitchen countertops

·         Flooring (you’ll pick for your kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room and all carpeted areas)

You’ll be presented with fabulous builder’s standard options, sure to fit any family’s needs, and a wide range of upgrade. Know your upgrade budget, and which items would constitute as an upgrade to your base floor plan such as:

·         Adding another bathroom sink

·         Raising the height of your countertops

·         Adding six inches to the height of your cabinets, or adding crown molding

·         Laminate or hardwood flooring

Always remember – you are building your home for your family’s needs. Certain types of flooring and cabinets might not be the best fit if you have kids or pets, so talk to your sales representative or anyone at Claridge about your wants and needs. They’ll help you find a balance.

Do a little research. Remember, Faber Homes’ floor plans are created to be open, so while you may have different themes for each room, make sure to have an idea of how the designs will transition. Websites like Houzz, HGTV, and DIY can help you get inspired and build your perfect rooms. Bring in photos and printouts of what you you’re dreaming up, and even some photos of your furniture to help tie it all together.

Most importantly – have fun! This is the most creative part of your home building process – so enjoy it! 

Winter Wonderland Design Ideas

We may not particularly like the cold temperatures, shoveling snow, and bundling up (okay, so maybe “hate” is a better word) – but you have to admit, wintertime can be so beautiful. If you’re a fan of cozying up from November to April, here are some design ideas for your home to make the most of the season.

DIY Sweater Pillows. They may sound silly, but in the right room, they’re perfect. Check out these chic, preppy pillows from HGTV. All you need are unused sweaters or flannel shirts, an old pillow, and a needle and thread. Super easy.

Metallic Paint. Metallic is one of this year’s most popular color schemes, and happens to replicate ice quite well. Some are even taking it to the extreme with metallic accent walls. If that’s a little too bold for your taste, we’d recommend picking up metallic silver curtains, perhaps metallic lampshades or even metallic wall decorations. The hints silver will remind you of the season while still remaining appropriate for all seasons.

Fluffy Stuff. Who doesn’t love a fluffy accent pillow or cozy throw blanket? Choose colors like light grey, white, and light blue to bring the colors of winter inside. We wouldn’t blame you if you felt obligated to sit by the fire with some hot chocolate.

Crystal. Need we say more? Grab some faux crystal candle sticks or shelf accents and watch them reflect the sunlight, just like those beautiful icicles do. Pair them with white, silver, or blue candles and you’re good to go.

Distressed Furniture. If you’re a fan of thrift stores and antique stores, this will be a fun project for you. Grab a coffee table, side table, or even a smaller dresser and turn it into a distressed piece that will bring your entire winter-inspired room together. Keep it light blue or off white, and it will remind you of that first beautiful dusting of snow.

Mortgage Rates Rising in 2014

You’ve likely seen the signs in your neighborhood of the market returning to stability. There are less for-sale houses, your neighbors are refinancing due to historically low interest rates, and some are even finally able to check items off renovation lists. While this apparent boom in activity seems fantastic, in reality, it’s not all positive.

In June of 2013, the federal government announced intentions to eventually pull back on monetary easing, which caused an artificial spike in interest rates. While they are still “historically low” compared to 15 or even 10 years ago, over the past six months, interest rates have risen drastically—at times upwards of 1 percent. While this change will cause our economy to move in the right direction, it will only cause interest rates to increase.

This change is upon us. Starting in January of 2014, the federal government began pulling back investments in securities, and will continue to do sto the tune of $10 billion per month.

With the decrease in government funded securities and increase in interest rates, states with large residential markets began to realize immediate effects. Suppliers have now taken the opportunity to raise costs to recoup from the past five-plus years they’ve spent barely keeping their heads above the water.

These costs have started to trickle into neighboring states and will soon be the norm nationwide. What does this mean for homebuilders? It means an increased cost of doing business, and in turn, increased home values.

Over the next six to nine months, you have the opportunity of a lifetime to do what you’ve always dreamed of: building your own home. While interest rates are on the rise (up about 1 percent from 3.35 – 4.5 percent), they are still low in the mid-four percentile. It’s the perfect time.

New Year’s Resolutions for Your Home

What are your New Year’s Resolutions for 2014? Planning to lose some weight? Perhaps visit family more often? Donate your time to charity? These are all great resolutions, but don’t forget about your home!

A recent article on HGTV cited five great resolutions for your home, and we just had to share them:

1.  Streamline the stuff. We all become subject to a little clutter, especially after the holiday months – so why not declutter your home in the New Year? By scheduling regular purgings of your cabinets, basement bins, and under the bed crevasses (don’t deny it!), you’ll be able to live a cleaner, more organized life. Imagine being able to find that thing you were looking for, without having to spend an hour looking for it.

2.  Make it safe and sound. Now that you’ve worked hard to declutter your home, it’s time to make sure it’s a safe place to live. Maybe it’s time to replace fire and CO2 alarm batteries. Also, did you know lint backed up in your dryer could be a fire hazard?

3.  Shrink your bills. It doesn’t take much to lower your energy bills each year, so start with some of these easy to employ tips:

          a. Install fluorescent bulbs

          b. (Unless you suffer from outdoor allergies) dry some of your clothes outside on a line

          c. Turn off power strips during the day

          d. Switch off lights when you leave a room

          e. Give composting a try

4.  Work out a weekly system for keeping your house clean. This is one of our favorites, because it’s an easy way to give everyone in your home a share of the duties in keeping your house clean and wonderful. Throw dishes in the dishwasher every night, put dirty clothes in hampers and not on the floor, and hang clean clothes in the closet every night. On a weekly basis, try focusing on one type of cleaning each week. Maybe one week it’s fingerprints on surfaces, and the next it’s windows and mirrors. Remember – divide and conquer!

5.  Get your place ready for entertaining! So maybe you did decide spending more time with family is on your resolution to-do list – so how about having them over more to your own humble abode? Even the smallest upgrades can make your home feel more inviting, such as a fresh coat of paint, adding a few plants to keep the air fresh, and rearranging furniture to be more conducive to conversation.