Liz's Havasu Lifestyle Blog

Spring frenzy activities are already in the air in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.  And residents learned thrifty spending habits for their arts and crafts hobbies in the "Dollar Bin Bonanza" during Tuesday afternoon's 10^th Annual Spring Frenzy.

The Lake Havasu City Aquatic Center celebrated the 10^th Annual Spring Frenzy with classes hosted by crafts specialist Barb Steffan from Michael's Arts and Crafts, who showed everyone just how easy it is to make great arts and crafts with inexpensive items.

With everyone hurting for every dollar they make, it's important to find ways to spread it thin.  And that's what Michael's Arts and Crafts is trying to show the residents of Lake Havasu City.  Michael's just opened its doors to the community last year, so this is a great way for them to show our community just how much they care.

Barb Steffan did a great job of showing those who attended how you can get creative with your arts and crafts without limiting yourself at an inexpensive price.

So, let's get crafty, Havasu.

With a slow recovery from the recession, most homeowners are unlikely to be building, decorating or remodeling.  However, if you are one of the few who does plan to update your home, there are some home improvement trends of 2010 to keep in mind.

2010 Home Improvement Trends:

Color: The key shades to go with include classic neutrals with highlights of exotic bright colors.  Check out these color palettes:

* Canvas - deep gray-browns and gray blues, chalky white and muted beige.

* Grace - pale butter, sea foam and bronze-gold.

* Zest - gray, white and black mixed with high energy yellows.

* Pink City - spicy oranges, pinks, grays and chocolate-brown.

Home Décor: The key look for many areas around the country include a sophisticated, sleek yet comfortable style, which is known as "soft contemporary".  One or two eye-catching accents are what you want to move toward with home décor. 

Furniture: As the environmental movement gets stronger, more furniture is being built using recycled metals, sustainable woods and natural fiber fabrics.  Red is expected to be the trendiest accent color for furniture.

New home construction: The short-lived era of McMansions popping up everywhere is over.  Now, people building new homes are definitely being more budget conscious.  Most are going back to the basics, only splurging on the master suite.  Energy-efficiency is also more important these days.

Landscaping: A hot trend for 2010 is organic vegetable gardens.  Even community gardens are a growing trend.  Other trendy plants for your garden include any green foliage, perennial bulbine and gold mound duranta.

Remodeling: Minor home improvements are a continuing trend.  Minor home improvements have been giving homeowners the most bang for their buck for some time now.

When you are considering any home improvement project, keep some of these trends in mind.

There's no doubt that every seller's dream is to receive offers from more than one buyer.  Though multiple offers were rare last year, now, in some markets and price ranges, listings that are priced just right are getting multiple offers.  Most of us automatically want to accept the highest offer.  However, this may not always be the best offer.  For example, if you have two high offers that are very close in price, you may want to counter the next best offer as a backup plan just in-case.   Therefore, if your first offer falls through for some reason, you still have the backup there.

When making a decision about which offer to accept, it is very important to review all conditions and terms of each contract, not just the price.  In some cases, the price may seem to be the highest.  But once you look carefully at the terms and conditions, you will see that some buyers are asking you to pay more fees, which bring down the price even more.

Sometimes it can be beneficial for you to accept a lower price if the buyer is willing to close quickly.  For some sellers, the close of escrow can be an important factor if you have already purchased and closed on another home.

Make your decisions wisely and always use a real estate professional.  They will help you every step of the way.

As buyers respond to the tax credit extension, home sales are jumping.  There are still plenty of homes to choose from, so homeowners are having to stay on top of their game.  Therefore, many of them are turning to home staging to make their home stand out from the rest.

Lately, homeowners and Realtors alike are talking a lot about a new home staging website that helps you virtually stage your home for a low cost.  VirtualStagingSolutions.com helps homeowners sell their vacant properties much faster than the traditional vacant home.

Through Virtual Staging Solutions, you can see what the property would look like if it were furnished in a variety of ways in order to show its full potential.  Many Realtors are now using virtual home staging tools as part of their key marketing tools.

So, how does virtual home staging work?  You simply use your uploaded photos of your home and begin adding various types of furniture to the photo.  It will appear as if the furniture is actually in the home.

Home staging has been a proven method for increasing the appeal of any vacant home on the market.  It also provides a large increase of value as a marketing tool.  Now you can stimulate the sale of your home with the help of virtual staging tools like those of Virtual Staging Solutions on a low budget.

Virtual Staging Solutions also provides a free listing of your property, which is suitable for all search engines as an added value.

So you just landed a job in this tough economy.  However, you will now have to relocate to a new state.  Whether you're moving because your new employer is asking you to or because your current employer is relocating their business and needs you to tag along, there are things you need to consider when relocating unexpectedly.

When relocating, you will be facing much more than finding a home, packing and moving boxes.  It can be huge step for any family.  However, there are steps that can make the transition a lot easier for everyone.

Here are some tips and advice to help you and your family make the most of relocating:

As a family, do your homework together: Research the area you will be relocating to on the Internet.  You can easily find city, state and school websites along with local bloggers who give a voice to the neighborhood.  Focus on real estate blogs to find the most information about the community you are relocating to.  Learning about the community as a family will help the transition go a little better.

Talk about the unknown: Don't let your "to do" lists get in the way of voicing your opinion.  Find time to talk with your family about how this move is affecting them.  At times, a big move can seem like a great adventure.  At others, it can seem like a nightmare.  Discussion is important to let everyone know their feelings are being heard.

Keep your hobbies alive: If you have a favorite hobby or sport, find where you can connect with that passion as soon as possible at your new location.  You'll feel more at home the quicker you connect.

Collect school and medical records: It's best to have these records before you get to your new location.  You'd rather not be stuck in an emergency without these records. 

Use the professionals at hand: Using the right real estate professional and mover can make the difference between relocation dream and relocation nightmare.  A real estate agent can provide you guidance and support during your relocation whether you will be buying a home right away or renting a home.  It's understandable if you want to do it yourself, but having professionals on your side can make the experience so much easier for your whole family.

As partygoers hit the streets, the local Lake Havasu City police are beefing up their patrol for New Year's Eve.  Police all across America want to keep drunken drivers off the roadways.  But Lake Havasu City will be going the extra mile to keep their streets safe and crowds controlled during Lake Havasu's first ever New Year's Eve public party.

There will be the regular amount of patrol officers on their regular shifts, but there will also be additional officers from the street crimes unit and special assignments unit helping out.  Patrol officers will be downtown to help control the crowds during the "Uptown Countdown" and all over the roads.  So, while you're out ringing in the New Year, be safe on the roads.

If you have to, make reservations with shuttle services to get you to and from your destinations or use a designated driver.  Just be sure you're not driving while impaired.  With so many officers out and about, you are sure to get caught.  Plus, you'll only be putting your life and other lives in danger when driving while impaired.  

Last year, there was a total of 6,757 total alcohol-related vehicle crashes in Arizona alone.  Of those alcohol-related crashes, 324 resulted in fatalities.  Mohave County reported 257 alcohol-related crashes, with 23 resulting in fatalities.  Lake Havasu City reported 55 alcohol-related crashes, with one resulting in a fatality.  These statistics are serious.  Therefore, it is important to be very careful when ringing in the New Year.

Here's to hoping your 2010 is a successful and progressive one.

Happy 2010 - Your Lake Havasu City Real Estate Professional ~ Realtor® Liz Miller

All too often, the cold winter chill sets into our homes because of fireplaces, drafty attics, open vents and window.  This creates tons of wasted energy and can end up costing us a fortune on high energy bills.  However, fixing the problem to these drafty areas can save us both energy and money.

Here are some techniques to easily and inexpensively insulate and seal up those problem areas:

Drafty Attics:

When installing attic stairs, there is a large hole created that causes a draft.  At night, turn on the light in your attic and close the door. Then look up at the attic from below to see how much light you can see. This is how much draft you have.  To fix the problem, purchase an insulated attic stair cover.  This will seal the stairs and stop all drafts, saving you money and energy.

Fireplaces:

Over 100 million homes in North America alone are built with wood or gas-burning fireplaces.  Studies have shown that open fireplace dampers on an unused fireplace, even on a well-insulated house, can raise your heating costs by 30%.  This could be an average of $500 or more per winter just because of your fireplace.

Dryer Vents:

In many homes, the clothes dryer is located in the coldest room of the house.  Your dryer is connected to an exhaust duct that is open to the outdoors and, in the winter, this allows very cold drafts to seep through the duct and into your home.  A low-cost solution to this problem is to purchase a dryer vent seal.  A vent seal will help reduce drafts and also keep unwanted pests such as rodents and bees from entering your home.  The vent will keep closed when the dryer is not in use and open when in use by allowing a floating shuttle to rise, allowing warm air, lint and moisture to escape the vent.

Windows:

Windows are another big culprit of energy loss, especially the single-pane windows that many U.S. homes have.  If your home has single-pane windows, consider replacing them with double-pane windows to save energy and money. 

Following these simple tips will save you energy and money each winter and summer.  You will soon notice the difference on your utility bills.  For more tips and advice, please visit my website.

Your Lake Havasu City, Arizona Real Estate Professional ~ Realtor® Liz Miller

As it gets closer and closer to Christmas, there will be quite a few great events going on around Lake Havasu City that will be great for the whole family.  Therefore, I am compiling a list of those events and their details so you can take complete advantage of them during the Holiday season. 

* 12/18/2009 - 12/20/2009 - The Wizard of OZ (Grace Arts Live Performance) - A live theater production about little Dorothy of Kansas who dreams of what lies over the rainbow, when one day a twister hits her family farm and carries her away to the end of the rainbow and sets her down in Munchkinland.  Play begins Friday & Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:00pm at 2146 McCulloch Blvd.  Tickets are $25 for adults and $12 for children.  For more information, contact (928) 505-ARTS.

* 12/19/2009 - 12/20/2009 - Live Drive-Thru Nativity - Live performers and animals will reenact the story of Christmas.  Presentation provided by Havasu Bible Fellowship.  Drive-Thru hours are from 6:00pm through 10:00pm at Desert Hills, London Bridge Rd.  For more information, contact Carol McDougall at (928) 505-2876.

* 12/19/2009 - Christmas Magic at the Library - Free crafts, fun and stories for all children 12 & under with their grown-ups.  Fun begins at 9:00am at the Mohave County Library, 1770 N. McCulloch Blvd., in the K-mart Shopping Plaza.  There will also be face painters, clowns and magicians there for added fun.  For more information, contact (928) 505-3630.

* 12/26/2009 - Lake Havasu Vehicle Swap Meet - This event is always held on the last Saturday of the month from 8:00am - 4:00pm at the London Bridge Plaza Parking Lot.  This is an ideal event to sell or buy what you have been looking for such as autos, trailers, motor homes, motorcycles, quads, classics, rods, parts, accessories, and more.  Admission is free.  For more information, contact Al de la Pena at (928) 854-2733.

* 12/31/2009 - New Year's Eve Street Party - Come for live bands, fun, the big ball drop and much more at 9:00pm on Main Street in Lake Havasu City.  For more information, contact Jeanne Nelson at (928) 208-1251.

Looks like you and your family won't be lacking for fun and entertainment in Lake Havasu City, Arizona this Holiday season.  There are too many great events for the whole family to fill your free time.

Realtor® Liz Miller ~ Lake Havasu City Real Estate

Lake Havasu citizens will get the chance to give their opinions and possibly select future businesses that set roots in Lake Havasu City next month.  So, get ready Lake Havasu citizens and shout it loud.  This is your town and Lake Havasu City real estate is a hot spot.  Therefore, get your opinion on the table, too.

The City of Lake Havasu City will be doing a Retail Recruitment Survey that is being organized by the Partnership for Economic Development.  Residents will receive the survey along with their water bill.  And, depending on the response rate that they receive, lucky national retailers could select Lake Havasu City as their home destination. 

Over 26,000 survey forms were sent out to see what kind of reaction the citizens will be giving.  The survey will give insight for eight large retail stores, 14 restaurants and 35 small retail locations.

Many companies have already said they are very interested in coming Lake Havasu City, Arizona, but are just not sure how many people are interested in having them come.  Therefore, the city came up with a great plan to let the citizens tell them which companies they are most interested in having come and ask them which ones they would most frequent.

The City of Lake Havasu and interested businesses alike are hoping people will respond so they can clearly see just how many residents are interested in which stores they want in their community.  Once the information is compiled, the store or stores chosen will be announced in February.

So, Lake Havasu City citizens, shout your opinion loud and make sure you are heard.

Realtor® Liz Miller ~ Lake Havasu City Real Estate

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