Liz's Havasu Lifestyle Blog: January 2010

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.