We are a Bob Vila Contractor!

We are proud to say we do the work in the Triad area for BobVila.com and while upholding the highest of industry standards we still continue to keep the prices affordable for the average home. Below are some tips from Bob himself.....

With U.S. housing starts down, sales of existing homes down and sales prices dropping, putting your home on the market or staying put depends on individual situations and local market conditions, say experts. If you have decided to remain in your home and remodel, consider these three possible directions for your projects.

Projects to Help Save Energy Costs and Live Greener

If you are considering a remodeling project, such as this two-story remodel, you may find that costs are a little less than a few years ago. With fewer new construction, many contractors are seeking jobs during this downtime.

With soaring fuel and electric prices, energy-saving projects can ease your stay as well as be attractive to future buyers.

According to Singer, the 2007 NAR Profile study revealed that nearly half, or 46 percent, of all buyers said energy efficiency was "very important" to them when considering a home purchase. Therefore, she recommends that homeowners consider making window replacements and adding new appliances and extra insulation.

“With the market and energy costs being the way they are, it’s wise for people to shift home improvement dollars to renovations that conserve energy and save them money,” says Fritschen. “It makes a lot of sense to reduce energy and focus your energy on ‘doing more with what you already have.’ ”

With projects varying greatly in cost and scope, pinpoint your needs with a home energy audit. With these inspections, you will get a customized list detailing projects that will reduce your home’s energy consumption—a great starting point. (For more information about home energy audits, read “Plugging Up Leaks with a Home Energy Audit.”

Review that list and select projects you can do yourself or have done at low cost. Replace inefficient incandescent bulbs with CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) or the new LED (light-emitting diode) lights. Add low-flow aerators to your bathroom faucet or showerhead. Install a programmable thermostat. Caulk around windows and where plumbing and electric conduits enter your home. View BobVila.com’s Step by Step How To Videos to learn just how to make these energy-efficient changes.

Get several estimates for larger projects, such as adding insulation, replacing windows or doors, or installing a tankless water heater. For energy-saving projects, you may also want to calculate their longer-term implications. Look at payback periods and the assumed yearly rise in utility rates.

Projects that Make You Happier
If the current mortgage crisis has you staying in your home longer than you thought, these projects can increase your satisfaction with being there and help you fall in love again with your home.

Happiness is subjective. Keep that in mind if you are considering a remodeling project that is very personalized. A gas-stove fire pit in a domed, star-studded living room may be just what you’ve always wanted to bring the outdoor

Balancing the cost of a remodel, such as this updated kitchen, with what you expect to recoup in an eventual sale can be tricky.

experience in, but, if potential buyers shy away, that project may have to make you happy for more years than you had thought.

Sort through possibilities by drawing up a list and ranking projects from least expensive to most costly. Next, decide just how much happiness you can realistically afford. You may find that simple improvements can keep you smiling.

One way to increase your level of satisfaction is to remove the burden of clutter. It can be difficult to let go so call in a friend or a professional organizer to help. Sort items into three piles: items to keep, donate or throw away. With fewer items around your home, you can then check out smart-looking organizers. In bedrooms, closet systems can tame unruly clothes and shoes. In the garage, setups provide places to hang, stow away or store aloft items. In the home office, stylish yet accessible containers hold items needed for each task.

One longstanding mood-lifter and easy way to change the look and feel of a space is among the least expensive projects you might tackle: painting. “It can give the most dramatic change at a reasonable cost and it gives a room a whole different feeling,” says Melanie Wood of Knoxville, Tenn., who operates an interior design and color consulting firm to the home furnishings industry and is a past president of the Color Marketing Group, a not-for-profit association of international color designers.

People are often concerned about using colors in their spaces because of the effect it might have on potential buyers. But if the buyers don’t like it, they can always get out a bucket of white, says Wood. “Fresh, current colors enhance the property. People love the opportunity to see the emotion of a room through the colors used. Strong chromatic colors can offer the wow side of nature or go for a more serene look with botanical greens or soft aquas. Painting for a dramatic change can make you fall in love with your home all over again,” she says.

Another project to consider is to make your house more user -friendly. Based on concepts of universal design and aging in place, these projects need not be expensive. Increase lighting levels in transition zones, such as stairwells or between two flooring types. Switch door knobs and faucet controls to levered handles that are easier to grasp and turn. Install heavy-duty slide-out shelves in cabinet to make it easy to find items in the back. For more ideas, see “Affordable Ideas to Retrofit Your Home for Accessibility” and “New Products and Trends in Universal Design."
Fritschen suggests that other remodeling projects typically important to people who have decided to stay put include installing new interior doors, installing new crown molding and baseboard and laying new carpet and refinishing hardwood floors.

If your home is already the grandest or largest in the neighborhood, there is little chance these happiness projects will also make your home appreciate in value. But, again, that was not their purpose.

Projects that May Help with Resale
If you’re aiming for renovations that may help in any later resale effort, remember that most people still judge a house by its exterior.

“Particularly in markets where inventory levels are high and buyers have many options, curb appeal and how a home presents itself from the street can be very important,” says Stephanie Singer of the National Association of Realtors. “This is where buyers form their first impression.”

Singer says that a 2007 Profile of Buyers’ Home Feature Preferences showed that “three of the four projects with the highest national percentage of costs recouped were exterior upgrades. The most profitable project on the national level was upscale siding replacement, recouping 88 percent of costs upon resale. Wood deck additions and wood window replacements returned 85 percent and 81 percent, respectively.”

		Good Time for Remodeling While the mortgage crisis may be bad for new housing starts or sales, it might just be a good time for home remodeling for the reasons we have outlined above. If you do decide to remodel, remember these tips: • Project prices may be better now than a few years ago. Prices aren’t low, but, with so few housing starts, contractors want to keep their crews busy and are looking for work. Get a start on finding contractors with Renovation Experts, a network of remodeling contractors. Regardless of how you find a contractor, thoroughly investigate them. Check them online, for example, through the Better Business Bureau. • Minimize the cost of your remodel but still build quality, says Fritschen. A poor-quality remodel may reduce the value of your home. However, a very expensive remodel using the most expensive service providers will make it harder, if not impossible, to recoup your costs. • Whatever the economic times, how you analyze your project remains the same. “Interest rates go up and down, home values go up and down, remodeling costs go up and down but the process of how to consider your options remains the same,” says Fritschen. “The benefit of the book and the free calculator on the Web site www.remodelormove.com is that homeowners are shown how to carefully compare their options and then make the right decision.” • If you would feel more comfortable with a second opinion, consider talking with a Realtor. “Realtors build their business through long-term relationships, so most of them would welcome the opportunity to provide information and guidance to homeowners as a source of local market knowledge and expertise,” says Singer.

Beyond the façade, however, preferences vary depending on the age of the buyer, first-time versus repeat buyers and geographic region, says Singer. For example, only four percent of buyers ages 18 to 24 thought a fully or partially finished basement was very important, compared to 17 percent of buyers ages 35 to 44—many of whom presumably have children or teenagers who might use that space. Similarly, 16 percent of buyers in the Northeast thought fencing was very important compared to just 53 percent in the West.

A home’s overall condition, availability and condition of surrounding properties, location and regional economic climate are all factors that influence a particular home's value. Singer says that's why when considering a remodeling project consumers should rely on industry professionals such as NAR’s Realtors who have the expertise and experience to help homeowners protect their investment.

Balancing enhancements with recouped costs can be difficult. Dan Fritschen, author of Remodel or Move? and creator of remodelormove.com, an online calculator, says he likes the 20 percent rule: If a project cost is less than 20 percent of a home’s value, then it may not necessarily be possible to recoup the cost but it is a manageable cost. If it is more than 20 percent, then it could be still a good decision, but a homeowner should spend more time analyzing what, if any, they will recoup from the remodel.

When thinking about projects that will help with resale, don’t forget maintenance tasks that can become projects of their own.

Check for plumbing leaks under sinks or in the basement. Check your home’s foundation for cracks. Make sure the surrounding ground drains water away from your house. Have your chimney checked for loose mortar or bricks.

For more information on all of your landscaping questions please visit www.askthelandscapepro.com