In this Issue:* 6 Tips To Sell Your Home Faster Home Energy Audits – Tips to Cut Costs Restore Your Winter Damaged Yard (Your comments are welcome at the bottom of our newsletter)

6 Tips To Sell Your Home Faster

In a declining real estate market where supply outstrips demand, a person can generally sell a house faster by lowering the price.

But there are other ways to enhance a home’s attractiveness besides lowering the asking price.

If you’re looking to sell your home in a cooling real estate market, here are some tips on how to generate interest and get the best price possible.

Differentiate From the Neighbors

In order to attract attention and to make your home more memorable, consider custom designs or additions, such as landscaping, high grade windows or a new roof. This can help improve the home’s aesthetics, while potentially adding value to the home. Any improvements should be practical and use colors and designs that will appeal to the widest audience. In addition, they should compliment the home and its other amenities, such as building a deck or patio adjacent to an outdoor swimming pool.

However, while it can pay to spruce up your home, don’t over-improve it. According to a 2006 article in Realtor Magazine, some renovations, such as adding a bathroom or a sun room, might not always pay. The data suggests that the nationwide average amount recouped for a bathroom addition is about 75%. For a sun room, it’s even less. If you’re going to invest in renovations, do your research and be sure to put your money into the things that are likely to get you the best return. In addition, if you have added any custom features you think buyers will be interested in, make sure they are included in the home’s listing information. More than ever, in a down market you should take every small edge you can get.

Clean the Clutter

It is imperative to remove all clutter from the home before showing it to potential buyers because buyers need to be able to picture themselves in the space. This might include removing some furniture to make rooms look bigger, and putting away family photographs and personal items. You may even want to hire a stager to help you make better use of the space. Staging costs can range from a couple hundred dollars for a basic consultation to several thousand dollars, particularly if you rent modern, neutral furniture for showing your home. Many people feel that stagers can make a home more salable, so hiring one deserves some consideration.

Improve Curb Appeal

Sellers often overlook the importance of their home’s curb appeal. The first thing a buyer sees is a home’s external appearance and the way it fits into the surrounding neighborhood. Try to make certain the exterior has a fresh coat of paint, and the bushes and lawn are well manicured. In real estate, appearances mean a lot. What better way to set your home apart than to make it attractive at first glance?

Sweeten the Deal

Another way to make the home and deal more attractive to buyers is to offer things or terms that might sweeten the pot. For example, sellers who offer the buyer a couple of thousand dollars credit toward closing costs, or offer to pay closing costs entirely, will in some cases receive more attention from house hunters looking at similar homes. In a down market, buyers are looking for a deal, so do your best to make them feel they’re getting one.

Another tip is to offer a transferable home warranty, which can cost $300 to $400 for a one-year policy and will cover appliances, such as air conditioners and refrigerators, which fail. Depending on the policy, other appliances and house gadgets may be covered as well. A potential buyer may feel more at ease knowing he or she will be covered against such problems, which could make your home more attractive than a competing home.

Finally, it’s important to note that some buyers are motivated by the option to close in a short amount of time. If it is possible for you to close on the home within 30 to 60 days, this may set your deal apart and get you a contract.

Get Your Home in "Move In" Condition

Aesthetics are important, but it’s also important that doors, appliances and electrical and plumbing fixtures be in compliance with current building codes and in working order. Again, the idea is to have the home in move-in condition and to give potential buyers the impression they will be able to move right in and start enjoying their new home, rather than spending time and money fixing it up.

Price It Right

Regardless of how well you renovate and stage your home, it is still important to price the home appropriately. Consult a local real estate agent, read the newspapers and go to online real estate sites to see what comparable homes are going for in your area.

It’s not always imperative to be the lowest priced home on the block, particularly when aesthetic and other significant improvements have been made. However, it is important that the listing price is not out of line with other comparable homes in the market. Try to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and then determine what a fair price might be. Have friends, neighbors and real estate professionals tour the home and weigh in as well.

The Bottom Line

Selling a home in a down market requires a little extra work. Do everything you can to get the home in excellent shape and be prepared to make some small concessions at closing. These tips, coupled with an attractive price, will increase the odds of getting your home sold.

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Home Energy Audits – Tips to Cut Costs

For many homeowners, electricity use is highest during the summer — that means steeper energy bills are just around the corner.

But a lot of the energy you’re paying for is squandered through air leaks around doors and windows, or through cable boxes and appliances that sap energy when no one is around. Before you shell out the cash for a professional home-energy audit, however, here are some do-it-yourself ways to measure — and then curb — your energy use.

Measure it

The average household will spend about $2,140 on residential energy consumption in 2011, according to the Washington-based Alliance to Save Energy. What’s running up that bill? A home power monitor is one way to find out.

One such power monitor is "The Energy Detective", or TED for about $200. It connects to your circuit-breaker box and to your Internet router. The monitor records and calculates the cost of your electricity use and sends that information (current and projected consumption, plus cost, among other things) to a small box with an LCD display that you keep somewhere convenient in your house.

The monitor also sends the information to your PC or laptop, where TED’s proprietary software lets you assess your energy-use history and projected use in greater detail. In addition, the monitor uploads the data to Google PowerMeter, a free online home-energy monitoring tool.

While the power monitor won’t tell you how much energy each separate device is consuming, the real-time data makes it easy to figure out. When you hear the air conditioner click on, power consumption goes up by seven or eight times.

A cheaper alternative that does give you information on specific devices’ energy consumption is a kilowatt meter, which measures the energy use of any device plugged into it. You plug the meter into a wall socket and then plug the device into the meter.

The kilowatt meter can’t measure an overhead light or other devices hardwired into your home, but it’s still a useful tool. Most kilowatt meters sell for about $30. It might surprise you, for instance, just how many kilowatts your cable box uses — it can add up to $30 to $50 a year, even when your TV is turned off!

Curb it — and save

Whether or not you decide to shell out for energy measurement devices, you can save money on your utility bill with some simple steps to reduce your home’s energy use.

A smart strip, for instance, eliminates vampire energy — the energy devices consume when they’re switched off. Smart strips, which retail for about $30, plug into the wall and also work as surge protectors. The strip’s sensor cuts the power to devices plugged into it when they’re switched off.

Next, check doors and windows for gaps around the frames. Insulation is important any time of year, but in the summer you don’t want to waste all that energy on AC that’s just going to escape through your door.

Check windows and doors every season. Many of the air gaps you find can be sealed with caulk or spray foam.

Black and Decker sells a thermal leak detector that shines a red light on walls; the color of the light will change to blue to indicate a hot or cold spot. But the $50 device has its limits: It can only cover a few inches of wall at a time so you may not always get a reading of exactly where the air is coming from.

Covering pipes and water heaters with special wrapping is another cheap way to save on energy this summer. Water heaters usually are in basements that remain cool even during summer, so they must consume energy to maintain their high temperatures. Putting a thermal barrier around a heater helps it work less, and that can save you money.

It is recommended that you buy a programmable thermostat to better regulate your use of your air conditioner in summer, and the heating system in winter.

You can save around 10% a year on energy bills simply by lowering your thermostat by 10% to 15% for a minimum of eight hours.

Little things help

Some other low-cost or free energy-saving moves:

*Put thicker curtains around windows in summer (including in an unfinished attic) to keep out the sun.

*Regularly dust off the coils under your refrigerator so it doesn’t have to work as hard to stay cool.

*Install low-flow faucets (with an aerator so the water doesn’t just trickle out).

*Replace incandescent light bulbs with more-efficient fluorescent or LED ones.

*Consider checking out Microsoft-Hohm.com. The website details the average energy use of homes nationwide.

These energy-saving steps don’t require technical know-how. It takes a little time and effort. But with all these products available, regular folks can do them just fine.
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Restore Your Winter Damaged Yard

Old Man Winter has moved on, but millions of homeowners are left staring at broken tree branches, browned shrubs, and sick-looking lawns.

That damage doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have to rip out and replace for big bucks.

Here are some of the most cost-effective ways to get your yard back in shape — an especially pressing concern if you plan to put your house on the market this summer.

Fixes for four common problems follow.

Brown Patches

The cause: Rock salt used to melt ice from roads, driveways, and pathways has gotten onto nearby grass or the bottom of shrubs and trees, often sprayed there by passing cars.

The fix: Even if you’ve already had plenty of rain, give affected areas several good soakings with a hose: The soil needs extra water to dilute the salt. If the brown parts haven’t greened up by summer, cut them off.

Typically the entire plant won’t have to go unless it is completely brown.

The plant is done for? Replace it with a salt-tolerant species; ask a local nursery for recommendations. If grass doesn’t survive, scrape away the dead patches and reseed.

The cost: Nothing unless you replace the plant. Young specimens don’t cost much. A five-pound bag of grass seed — enough for spot coverage — runs about $15.

Broken Branches

The cause: The weight of snow or ice — or high winds — cracked them.

The fix: Small limbs hanging from ornamental trees or shrubs such as lilacs may heal if you wrap each limb loosely in burlap so that it’s touching the spot from which it tore. You’ll have to leave the wrapping in place until fall.

Otherwise the branches must go. If they’re high enough and thick enough that it will take a ladder and chain saw to remove them, for safety’s sake call a certified arborist. Prune lower branches yourself. For trees, cut back to the next healthy limb; for shrubs, cut back to just above a live bud.

The cost: About $100 to $200 for a pro to remove a branch or two on an average-size tree.

Missing Bark

The cause: Unable to reach their usual food sources because of deep snow, pests such as rabbits, mice, or voles ate the bark toward the bottom of your shrub or tree. That damage hurts the plant’s ability to absorb nutrients.

The fix: Inspect the base of the tree or bush. Are the munch marks limited to one or two places? The plant will likely survive. But when the damage nearly circles the trunk, the victim may not make it. If you’re not sure, take a photo of your shrub to your local nursery and ask for an opinion. Ask an arborist whether your tree needs to come down; he can usually do the job.

The cost: $65 to $75 for an arborist’s assessment; $500 to $1,500 to remove each tree.

Unhealthy Grass

The cause: If the grass isn’t growing, heavy snow buildup could have compacted the soil. And if patches look grayish or pinkish, you could have what’s known as snow (or over-moisturized) mold.

The fix: Get oxygen into a dead-looking lawn to generate growth. Do it yourself by using a so-called core aerator machine, which you can rent from your local home center. The fix for snow mold is easy: Rake the grass lightly and reseed.

The cost: About $60 to rent an aerator for four hours.

These tips will have you looking at the fresh new growth of spring and summer in no time.