New House Builder | Get a Pool That Makes Your Home More Valuable

 

New House Builder | Nobody seems to have told Kanye West that pools aren’t always the smartest real estate investments.

The rapper is building a pool the size of a lake in the backyard of the home he’s renovating with wife Kim Kardashian, according to TMZ. It will reportedly be five times larger than any other pool of the homes in their Hidden Hills, CA, community. Classy!

But such a warm-water basin can actually deter prospective buyers who don’t want to keep up the maintenance or worry about it not being environmentally friendly, say real estate agents.

West clearly hasn’t won any awards for his financial savvy. He tweeted about his $53 million debt earlier this month. 

“The prevailing wisdom is that you never receive a dollar-for-dollar return,” says John Lucy, a real estate agent at the Keller Williams office in Los Angeles’ Hollywood Hills. “The best reason for [installing a pool] is for personal enjoyment only, rather than increasing the value of the home.”

New House Builder | Planting an Edible Garden

 

New House Builder | If you ever worry about where your food comes from, or what kind of chemicals might have been put in or on it, growing your own is a great solution. Plus, you won’t be spending all your cash on organic produce from Whole Foods anymore.

But don’t worry, you don’t have to give up attractive landscaping—an edible garden can look good, too, says Jamie Durie.

“The reason I wrote this book is, I got really sick and tired of looking at ugly vegetable gardens,” Durie said in a phone interview from his Southern California home.

New House Builder | How to Solve Home Decor Disputes Between Couples

New House Builder | When my husband and I were in the market for a new couch two years ago, we each had a pretty good idea of what we wanted. The problem? Our ideas were polar opposites. He wanted leather; I wanted pale stripes in twill or linen.

“Leather is so cold, and makes those embarrassing noises each time you sit or stand,” I argued.

“But a light color is going to show every mark, and you’re going to freak out each time someone sits on it with a drink,” he countered.

Off to the showroom we went. Almost immediately, we each found the couch we were looking for, and a battle broke out. Before a showroom salesman came over to referee our public screaming match, my husband caved.

New House Builder | 7 Tips for Making the Most of Your Outdoor Space

 

New House Builder | When your mom told you to turn off the TV and play outdoors already, she knew what she was talking about. Hanging outside is good for your mental and physical well-being.

As adults, having an outdoor retreat adds an economic component: Upwards of 80% of homebuyers said patios and front porches are “essential” or “desirable,” according to the “What Buyers Really Want” survey from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

So how come when we move into our dream home, we hardly ever use our decks, porches, and patios?

New House Builder | 10 Home Projects You Can Do in a Day

 

New House Builder | To the uninitiated, home renovations sound daunting and conjure up painful images of burning cash. But don’t let that scare you. Many projects can be done in a day, and if you’re smart about it, says Kerrie Kelly, founder of Kerrie Kelly Home Design Lab, they’ll boost curb appeal without breaking your budget.

“Whether it’s something you leave on a list for a handyman to do or you do it yourself, which is always gratifying,” she says. Here are few of her favorites.

1. Switch the hardware

Sometimes it’s easiest to begin with the front of the house rather than what’s inside, Kelly says, especially if you’re on a tight budget. To that end, changing the front doorknob and lock is a quick update that only takes a few minutes and can complement the style of the house. Add a kick plate for a touch of glam or go gold for a traditional feel.

New House Builder | How to Add a "Hidden Room" to Your Home

New House Builder | You walk into what appears to be an ordinary house, but looks can be deceptive. That candelabra by the fireplace? It makes the hearth swivel 180 degrees, revealing a speakeasy bar. “White Noise” by Don DeLillo on the bookshelf? Pull it and the bookshelf swings to reveal a private theater.

This isn’t a movie set, it’s a living room. It could even be yours, if you have the space and the cash. Apparently, many people do. Secret passageways and rooms are surging in popularity in homes across the country.

“Secret doors have definitely become more popular in the past few years,” says Elissa Morgante. “We’ve been in business for 28 years, and it’s only in the last five years we’ve seen them requested more often.”

Designers can’t quite pinpoint the reason for the rise in demand (it’s mysterious!), but they say secret rooms have been on a steady uphill climb, and market factors haven’t affected their rise.

“I wish I could point at one event—it’d be a lot easier for us from a marketing perspective,” says Travis Humble.

Whatever the reason, the secret’s out. Here’s how you can create a secret room of your very own:

New House Builder | Selling Your Home? Avoid These Issues!

 

New House Builder | A home might have any number of scary structural problems, from mold to a cracked foundation to decaying beams. But what really gets home inspectors’ blood boiling?

“The three things that are going to damage your house most are water, water, and water,” says Larry Stamp.

After all, most of those “scary structural problems” stem from water. Mold? Give it up for water. Cracked foundation? There are many causes, but a main one is water. And decaying beams? Almost certainly water.

If you’re concerned about moisture-driven maladies, we recommend calling in a licensed home inspector. But if you’re not sure if water’s worth worrying about, here are some ways to see if your home’s at risk.

New House Builder | 6 Sneaky Ways to Make Your Home Look Expensive

 

New House Builder | Want your place to look like those home design website images you drool over? Of course you do! Problem is, your budget may not match your design aspirations. Fear not! Making your home look high-end isn’t always about spending tons of cash.

It’s a matter of taking the time and care to arrange things in an eye-pleasing way—and making small, inexpensive updates that have a big impact. In other words, it’s about being sneaky.

Here are a few tricks to pull if you want to add the illusion of luxury.

New House Builder | All About Bedrooms

 

New House Builder | Ah, the bedroom: Few places in a home beckon quite like this sanctuary where we sleep, dream, steam things up with significant others, and just chill. It’s our ultimate escape.

So it makes sense that we’d want to furnish this room with finesse—and that all starts with bequeathing the proper names to all items within, right?

Look no further than our Learning the Lingo series. This time, we present a glossary of terms for beds to mattresses and beyond so you can truly rest in peace and make this space the stuff dreams are made of.

New House Builder | The Renovation Dilemma: What to Fix If You're Selling

New House Builder | It’s always a grueling task to set a budget for a renovation—or at the very least an ever-moving target—but if you’re planning to put your home on the market, you’ll have a way different set of calculations than a starry-eyed new homeowner.

Before you embark on a gut of your circa-1990 kitchen, consult with a Realtor and a general contractor about which renovations will yield the biggest return on investment. How much work you’ll need depends on your home’s value, your market, and the comps in your neighborhood.

New House Builder | Want to Go Wild on Exterior Paint Colors? Read this First!

New House Builder | When I was a kid in Saratoga Springs, NY, this house mesmerized me. It was rundown and had a dirt floor, and then, suddenly (it seemed) a coat of paint—or lots of coats, in eight different shades—transformed it.

Rarely do we see super colorful exterior paint jobs. Benjamin Moore suggests silky straw and sand hues, toned-down olive greens, and soothing blue-grays to maximize curb appeal. Those are the norm, the language most homeowners and buyers understand.

Admittedly, those are some sweet shades, but not everyone wants their home to blandly blend in with its surroundings. So here’s what to think about if you plan to boldly go where most homeowners don’t: into the land of color.

New House Builder | How to Make Your Home a Smart Home

New House Builder | Everywhere you turn these days, you hear just how “smart” your home can be. In fact, 2016 is being hailed as the year that our homes truly enter the high-tech future, and all that talk about the “Internet of things” becomes more than just blather. Only what exactly does this all mean?

What are the new smart objects available for your home, and how will they all work together? For a glimpse at some of the cutting-edge highlights, check out these products below—some currently for sale, others soon to be released—that can make your house seem a whole lot savvier in the year ahead.

It’s good to be smart!

New House Builder | How to Pet-Proof Your Home

New House Builder | A pet makes a wonderful addition to any household. Cats and dogs mean furry snuggles and tons of comic relief; they can also teach us all a few things about unconditional love. Unfortunately, they also bring with them some less desirable traits: sloppy table manners, a propensity to break things, and truckloads of animal hair.

It’s true, pets can be messy. In fact, your beloved animals can actually ding the value of your property if you’re trying to sell by adding scratches to your doors and floors, funky, semipermanent smells, and other flaws that prospective buyers might just catch. However, there are precautions you can take to pet-proof your home so that their negative impact is greatly reduced.

Follow these tips to do dog-and-cat damage control.

New House Builder | Affordable Alternatives to Ikea

 

New House Builder | Whether you’re desperately seeking a new couch, a rug, or even just a chrome-plated toilet brush holder, chances are pretty darn good that you have, at some point, headed to the nearest Ikea for your home furnishing needs. Like it or not, this Swedish furniture megachain has perfected the art of creating affordable, modern designs for the masses.

But maybe you’ve had one too many meltdowns trying to piece together your “flat pack” design. Or maybe your birch veneer Billy bookshelf spontaneously collapsed. Perhaps you’re tired of trudging through those meandering store paths to find one light bulb, or crave a different inexpensive aesthetic. Or maybe you just don’t like Swedish meatballs.

Whatever the reason for your Ikea fatigue, know that these days, there are plenty of alternatives out there—furniture and home decor outlets that are just as friendly on the wallet but also deliver style and quality without giving you an assembly migraine. So before setting out once again to the Big Blue, browse, click, and consider the following:

New House Builder | Renovations That Add Value, But Also Increase Your Taxes

New House Builder | Homeowners aren’t usually thinking about their future tax bills when they embark on a remodeling project. But they’d be smart to at least give them a second thought. That’s because renovations can significantly raise a home’s value, which can increase the amount for which it is assessed. Assessed value is used to determine your property tax.

New House Builder | Buying and Selling a Home During the Holidays

 

New House Builder | When the end of the year rolls around, people’s minds tend to shift to gift giving, holiday parties and good food. Real estate? Not so much. But for buyers, this could be one of the best times of the year to get a good deal. Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering buying and/or selling during the holidays.

Selling During the Holidays: Pros and Cons

For the most part, real estate agents recommend against selling your home during the holidays, and for one very good reason – demand is low. People are often traveling or spending time with loved ones, and not thinking about moving.

New House Builder | 6 Ways to Supersize Your Small Kitchen for the Holidays

New House Builder | With Christmas around the corner, odds are you’ll soon be spending plenty of time in your kitchen. (Maybe even way more then you want!) Adding to the holiday stress levels: if your culinary workspace is tight, turning out meals for a crowd may be a real challenge, especially with more helpers (aka family members) around. Don’t panic! You still have time for some kitchen-organizing hacks that can bring some order to the chaos. Plus, you can get inspiration for how to maximize your small space for next year.

New House Builder | Sustainable Interior Design Tips

New House Builder | Although the idea of sustainable design has been around for a while, it’s emerging as a hot trend just recently.  The reason is that for a long time, eco-friendly was perceived as pricy, a passing fad or simply as a synonym of plain and ugly.  In reality, many architects and designers are fascinated with sustainability, creating mesmerizing and almost hard-to-believe interiors. Merging modernity and nature can bring unique character to your living space that will impress every visitor. If you are looking for a way to design a breathtaking interior with a “green” theme, you can explore these eco-friendly features.

1. Minimalist Approach

Minimalism and sustainability are so entangled that it’s impossible to talk about the one without mentioning the other. Nothing screams style and class like a minimalist design. Its simplicity and symmetry will give your decor a cutting edge.  The sleek and clean lines, combined with a mixture of industrial and natural materials add a contemporary, yet timeless feel to the place. On the other hand, living with less means less production and greener environment. The manufacturing of goods involves the use of scarce resources and the emission of volatile substances.  Plus, you will spare yourself the hassle of cleaning all the knick knacks.

New House Builder | 5 Reasons to Replace Your Home’s Insulation

New House Builder | Home insulation is paramount to the proper heating and cooling of a home. While insulation in a newer or custom-built house is usually high quality, insulation in an older home wears with age. If worn insulation is not replaced, it could mean a significant increase on the electricity bill, a cold house in winter or a sauna during the summer, among many other problems.

Does your home’s insulation require replacement? To find out if it’s time, here are some signs of insulation degradation:

New House Builder | 10 Value Boosting Home Projects

New House Builder | If you’ve lived in your home for a while, it may need more than a typical once-over this year, particularly if you’re thinking of selling anytime soon.

Home designers were asked which home projects they suggest for homeowners who are considering selling their homes in the near future and want to add value. Here are the 10 projects they mentioned most frequently.

1. A new front door or garage door

Angela Creech said a new front door or garage door is one of the best returns on investment that she’s seen. According to the Cost vs. Value Report, she’s right: Replacing an entry door with a steel door would cost an average of $1,162 and would recoup 96.6 percent of that cost when it comes time to sell, the highest return on investment seen in this year’s report. A garage door replacement was also in the top five projects.