Should I FSBO?

By John Voket, RISMedia Consumer Confidant

Should I FSBO? It’s a question that often comes up.

The practice of a homeowner with no previous experience selling one’s own property is not uncommon. But whether to do it or not is a subject of intense debate.

Floridian real estate professional Riley Smith recently blogged that you could not pick a worse time to list on your own. While inventory is low and well-priced, homes are seeing multiple-offer situations. Smith has never seen a more difficult time to get to the closing table than right now.

He says pitfalls from new insurance requirements as well as appraisal values and lending guidelines have real potential to blow up a FSBO deal.

He went so far as to highlight the fact that the Wall Street Journal discovered that the founder of ForSaleByOwner.com, hired a REALTOR® to sell his New York apartment because he was unable to get the job done on his own.

In Texas, real esate professional Loreena Yeo makes the point that FSBOs residing in non-disclosure states may be stymied by a lack of accurate information to accurately value their property.

Yeo also blogged that some FSBOs may be more successful than others simply because of location. If a home is located on a busy street where many people constantly drive by, they are more inclined to see and talk about a house that is for sale.

She also stresses the Miranda warning: ‘You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law.’

Yeo warns that a regular home seller without much experience, more often times, will volunteer information without realizing it. So watch what you say - and to whom - or you might talk your way into some legal entanglements that will cost a lot more to untangle.

5 Ways to Boost Home Security

By Barbara Pronin, RISMedia Columnist

Studies show that summer is the peak season for home break-ins. Why? Because people tend to open the windows and forget to close them when they leave. They forget to lock the front door while working out back in the garden – often leaving purses, wallets, and other valuables out in plain sight.

In addition to correcting these common oversights, the consumer advocates at Consumer Reports suggest five ways to boost your home security:
• Kickproof your doors – Most doors, whether solid wood, fiberglass or steel, are resistant to hard blows. The problem is the door jamb area near the lock’s strike plate. You can strengthen these areas on exterior doors by using a one-inch long deadbolt lock and a reinforced metal box strike, which costs about $10. Use three-inch long screws to mount them so they lodge in the framing beyond the door jamb. (And don’t overlook the door that leads into your house from the garage.)
• Choose the right locks – High security locks, which cost up to $175, are worth the price because they resist drilling and picking. Equally important: Carry a pull-apart key chain, so your home key stays with you when your car is being serviced or valet-parked.
• Landscape wisely – Trim tree branches that could provide access to windows’ roof or skylights. Remember that tall plants and high fences can provide cover for criminals – and that gravel beds around the perimeter of the house make it easier to hear anyone lurking outside.
• Keep it bright – Illuminate areas around doors, windows and blind spots. Install lights on high exterior walls so they can’t be easily disabled. Low-voltage light systems provide more light than solar powered lights – and can be connected to motion detectors.
• Don’t leave garage door openers in your car – They can be an open invitation to robbers. Especially if your address is easily obtained from papers in your glove compartment, tuck the garage door opener into your purse or briefcase whenever you park your car away from home.

Be the Best Summer Party Host of Your Neighborhood

By John Voket, RISMedia Consumer Confidant

I know there’s still plenty of summer left for parties. And it was great to come across a summer party blog from Design Consultant Vanessa Pereira of Vanessa Pereira Interior (midatlanticbuilders.com).

Pereira says that whether you are planning a small and intimate barbecue among friends or a large potluck, you will be regarded as the consummate host by executing the perfect combination of planning, and making guests feel at home.

Here are a few of her ideas to help you achieve summer party uber-host status:

• Mix up the seating – Create several seating areas throughout your yard/deck so your guests can form smaller conversation groups.

• Account for anything that might prevent entertaining outside: If you think bugs, rain, heat, or cold might get in the way of your party; make sure you have a backup plan to bring the guests indoors.

• Buy two of the same tablecloth if your table is too large for one to cover. Simply fold each in half and drape over the ends of the table leaving the middle of the table uncovered for your decorations and extra silverware.

• Carve holes into apples, pears, or other firm produce to make unique garden-theme candleholders. Produce can make attractive serving pieces as well — serve fruit salads in melon halves.

• Use candles on the table if you’ll be dining outdoors after dark. To create magical overhead lighting, Pereira says make wire cradles for jars and suspend them from trees.

• Keep unwanted pests away from individual dishes using wire domes, sometimes called flywalks, which are available at kitchenware stores.

• Buy extra bags of ice, have mosquito repellant available for your guest, be prepared for spills and make sure to have extra trashcans on the corners. Your guests will be impressed with the details.

Greening Your Home: Start at the Tap

(ARA) - In today's environmentally conscious times, it seems we're surrounded by the need to shop, act and live "green." Some of our choices are easy and small, while others can be big and costly. But one thing is for sure - each choice can make a significant difference.

Some of the most important green choices we can make are right within our own home, according to Kevin McJoynt at Danze, Inc.

"Installing items like Energy Star appliances and energy-efficient windows is a great step in moving your home to be more green," says McJoynt. "But changing your in-home water usage can have the most impact."

According to McJoynt, water shortages, energy demands and the cost of transporting water continue to rise. "Finding ways to simply reduce our usage without dramatically altering our lifestyle could save billions of gallons of water each year in the United States."

McJoynt offers up these tips on how you can immediately start conserving water (and save money) in your home:

* Replace older toilets (1992 or earlier) with newer, high efficiency toilets (HETs). They operate at 1.28 gallons per flush and could save 11 gallons of water per toilet per day.

* Be sure to turn off the tap when brushing your teeth - it could save nearly 3,000 gallons of water per year.

* Update your bathrooms with newer WaterSense certified lavatory faucets. According to the Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense program, if every household in the U.S. installed these water-saving lavatory faucets, more than $350 million in water utility bills and more than 60 billion gallons of water annually would be saved, plus $600 million in energy costs for heating the water.

* Always turn the water off between tasks. Letting your faucet run for five minutes uses about as much energy as letting a 60-watt light bulb run for 14 hours.

* Make sure to wash only full loads of laundry. Using a high-efficiency washing machine is ideal, as they use about 28 gallons of water per load, versus an average machine that uses 41 gallons.

* Take a shower rather than a bath. A full bath tub requires up to 70 gallons of water, while taking a five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons. Want to be even more efficient? Switch your showerhead to a water-saving option.

"We realize showers are a tricky one when it comes to saving water. Homeowners want to make sure they have a well-performing shower experience," says McJoynt.
"However, the EPA WaterSense program recently published standards for showerheads that consider both conservation and performance to build support of these water-saving units. Be sure to look for the WaterSense certification mark."

* Fix those leaks. Most leaky faucets can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water each year.

"Better design and engineering of many new bathroom products actually gives the user improved performance as well as efficiency," adds McJoynt. "Faucets, toilets and showerheads are great examples. They're just like other appliances that use less energy, but still work very well."

Source: www.danze.com.

End-of-Summer Checklist for Home Sellers

By Dan Steward, President of Pillar To Post Home Inspections

As we near the end of summer, it’s time to look ahead and plan out home maintenance projects that have to be done before the cold weather strikes. Real estate agents can help homebuyers understand which home fixes take priority if their new home isn’t quite new. Likewise, agents can help sellers prioritize their last warm weather fixes to increase a home’s curb appeal. While the weather is warm and before the peak months of September and October, encourage clients to walk around the exterior of their home and make a list of problematic areas. Some can be fixed by the current owners and others will require assistance from an expert. To help locate any issues and take care of them before winter arrives, REALTORS® can help their clients by hiring a reliable, thorough home inspector to check around the exterior of the home. An inspector will be able to get to areas where a buyer may not want to venture, including the roof and under the home.

End-of-summer projects agents can suggest to their home sellers include:

1. Outdoor painting. If the owners don’t have the time or the resources to do a full painting job, have them go around the outside of the house and touch up any areas that look rough. If they find peeling paint, the areas can be scraped and sanded, then primed and painted to maintain even texture.

2. Outdoor caulking and sealing. Windows should be checked inside and out for possible leaks or cracks. With cold weather just around the corner, leaks or cracks could mean higher heating bills. Have leaks and cracks sealed with caulk, then look at the trim around each window—if any pieces are pulling out, have the owners check for mold or rotting, then replace or reattach wood.

3. Concrete and asphalt patching. If the home features an asphalt driveway, it can be repaired with asphalt patching material. Asphalt should be sealed every other year. If the driveway or walkways are concrete, cracks or holes can be repaired with epoxy patching material.

4. Patio and deck maintenance. On wood decks, rotted boards should be replaced, painted or stained as needed, and critter nests and debris cleared. On brick patios, owners should replace missing bricks, level off areas where tree roots have pushed up the bricks and re-grout any areas where weeds or weather have degraded the hold between bricks.

5. Landscaping. Keep landscaping clean and attractive. Weeds should be pulled, dropped fruits and nuts removed from under trees to deter animals, and trees and bushes trimmed so they don’t scrape the side of the house. Many landscaping companies offer affordable fall clean-up packages for homeowners who don’t want to do the work themselves.

If the home is still on the market leading into the holidays, owners can spend the colder months doing interior cosmetic upgrades, such as replacing floor coverings, upgrading cabinet hardware and interior painting. With a prioritized list, homeowners will feel more confident in their ability to finish interior updates before the start of the 2013 real estate season.

By Dan Steward is the president of Pillar To Post Home Inspections. For more information, visit www.pillartopost.com.

Getting Your Child Ready for Kindergarten

By Barbara Pronin, RISMedia Columnist

Kindergarten will open up a new and exciting world for your child – even if he or she has spent some time in preschool. That is because kindergarteners are generally challenged with more complex tasks, must make more efficient use of time, and may be asked to take on more personal accountability than they were during their preschool years.

At the same time they will learn new skills, be introduced to new ideas, and become part of a more diverse and well-organized universe.

From a panel of kindergarten teachers interviewed by the National Head Start Association, here are some proven tips for parents on the best ways to prepare your child for an enjoyable and rewarding kindergarten experience:

• Help them develop better listening skills – Read stories aloud and ask more questions; What was the name of the dog? What do you think will happen next? What would you do if this happened to you?
• Prepare them for differences in curriculum – Children should know there will be more group activity and less free play. There will be more indoor time and less outdoor play. Their time will be more structured and teacher-directed.
• Help sharpen their social skills – Talk about sharing and taking turns. Practice using words like, “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me.” Encourage your child to be more independent about volunteering for tasks, raising their hand for attention, and putting their own things away.
• Develop their self-help and independence – Encourage them to make more choices about what they eat, wear or play. Add new responsibilities such as making the bed, helping with housework or feeding/watering pets and plants at home.
• Work on developing their self-control – Talk about ways to overcome frustration without crying or yelling; work on patience. Take more time to solve a problem. Ask for help when the work is difficult.
• Brush up on personal hygiene skills – Practice toilet habits and proper wiping. Stress the importance of covering a sneeze or cough and of hand-washing after using the bathroom.

Laundry Lessons: Coming Clean

Let’s face it: Most of us don’t exactly look forward to doing laundry. As a result, it’s one of those chores that are easy to put off until later. But putting the laundry off until later can have a downside. Hidden dirt can build up in your clothes, and it may be harder to get visible stains like chocolate or grass out of clothing.

A national survey by Wisk revealed that four out of five people admitted to at least one dirty laundry secret. Top secrets include:
• Going more than a month without changing bed sheets. In fact, only half of those surveyed wash sheets once a week.
• Taking dirty items out of the laundry basket to wear.
• Repeating underwear -- nearly one in three women admit to wearing the same bra for several days in a row, while close to one in three men admit to having worn the same socks or underwear for several days.

Most people say they "just know" when an item needs to be washed, but what they may not know is that the average wash load contains 20 times more body oil and sweat than visible stains. These hidden soils can get trapped deep in the fabric of clothes and build up over time. Leaving the laundry until later also means it becomes harder to remove visible stains. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to get rid of common stains:

Adhesive (tape, chewing gum, rubber cement) - Apply ice or cold water to harden surface; scrape with a dull knife. Saturate with prewash stain remover. Rinse, then launder.

Beverage - Soak stain in cool water. Treat with pre-wash stain remover, liquid laundry detergent, or a paste of powder detergent and water. Launder with fabric safe bleach.

Blood - New stains should be soaked in cold water for 30 minutes. Rub detergent into any remaining stain. Rinse, then launder. Dried stains should be pretreated or soaked in lukewarm water with a product containing enzymes, then laundered.
Chocolate - Gently scrape off excess chocolate. Treat the stain with a prewash spray. Follow up with an enzyme detergent to remove residue before washing.

Cosmetics - Treat with prewash stain remover, liquid detergent, a mixture of detergent and water, or rub with bar soap. Work into dampened stain until outline of stain is gone, then rinse. If greasy stain remains, soak in an enzyme product. Rinse and launder.

Grass - Treat with prewash stain remover, or soak with an enzyme product. If stain remains, launder in hottest water safe for the fabric, with a fabric-safe bleach.

Mud - Let dry, then brush off as much mud as possible. For light stains, pretreat with a paste of dry detergent and water, liquid detergent, or a liquid detergent booster; launder. Pretreat heavy stains by presoaking with a laundry detergent, a product containing enzymes.

Source: Wisk Deep

What to Buy and What Not to Buy in August

By Barbara Pronin, RISMedia Columnist

Nearly everyone is buying back-to-school clothes in August – whether they are going back to school or not – and rightly so, since every item of clothing from kids’ socks to designer shoes will be on sale this month.

But August is a good month to save money on a variety of other goods – and a good month to resist purchasing certain other items. Consumer advocate Jenny Lee keeps an eye on shopping opportunities – and recommends a few purchases it might surprise you to make or not make in August:

• Buy jewelry – Summer is a prime time for getting good buys on both fine jewelry and costume pieces. They are discounted by merchandisers to boost lagging sales until the holiday and Valentine’s Day rush kicks in.
• Buy swimwear – prices will never be lower as stores clear space for back-to-school and fall/winter fashions. Stock up now for both adults and kids.
• Buy hotel packages – As traditional vacation time comes to an end, hoteliers are looking ahead at potentially empty rooms in fall and winter. Cruise various websites now to snag economical, book-ahead deals.
• Buy grills and patio furniture – The selection may not be as great, but prices will be slashed on what’s left in August to make room for winter-friendly merchandise.
• Don’t buy fitness equipment – Prices tend to go higher as summer wanes. That’s because people are looking ahead to exercising in cold weather. Wait till winter when competition between merchants yields better prices on exercise gear.
• Don’t buy furniture – sales are basically over now as the newest fall styles are coming into furniture stores. If you can do with what you have through the holidays, wait on buying new furniture until January.
• Don’t buy bicycles – It seems logical that bikes would be on sale during the warmer weather. But historically, the best prices on bikes will come just prior to the holidays.

Save Money by Putting Home on Autopilot

(ARA) - Every homeowner can remember a time when they wondered, "Did I lock the front door this morning?" or "Did I leave a light on?" Others can attest to that feeling of dread knowing their air conditioner is running full blast while they're away on a weekend trip. There's nothing worse than worrying about the security of your home - or your rising electric bill - while you're away.

Fortunately, recent advancements in home technology offer peace of mind when it comes to energy efficiency, security and time savings. Almost any home can be put on "autopilot" without breaking the bank. Many areas of the home can benefit from some simple technology upgrades.

Efficiency

Heating and cooling a home accounts for 50 percent or more of a home's energy bill, so it's important to incorporate the latest technology to make it as easy as possible to be as efficient as possible.

"We have seen some great advancements in home technology that maximize the energy efficiency of heating and cooling products," says Bobby DiFulgentiz, an energy efficiency expert with Lennox International. "For example, as thermostats become more advanced, homeowners now have the ability to optimize home comfort and energy savings."

One example of these smart thermostats is the Lennox icomfort Wi-Fi thermostat. Homeowners can maximize energy savings through its one-touch away mode and remote control capabilities. Additionally, the thermostat communicates with a home's HVAC system and provides real-time alerts to service providers regarding any maintenance issues that need attention. The icomfort Wi-Fi also is the only thermostat that can blend into its surroundings by using customizable "skins" that match wallpaper or paint, or even allow it to be disguised as a piece of art or a family photo.

Water usage also is a concern when it comes to efficiency. Homeowners can cut down on water bills by using home sprinkler systems that incorporate Wi-Fi technology. These systems allow homeowners to start or stop sprinklers from anywhere, avoiding water waste when heavy rains have already saturated the lawn. Many systems now even include wireless capabilities that prevent sprinklers from activating during rain or freezing temperatures.

Security
Homeowners can rest easy, thanks to automated systems that ensure their home is safe and secure. Companies now offer products that check, open and close garage doors directly from a smartphone, tablet or computer. There are also lock systems that respond only to the fingerprints of residents of the home. If that's not enough, new technologies send text or email updates when doors are locked or unlocked, and can remotely lock doors through Wi-Fi.

Time Savings

Finally, kitchen appliances are beginning to integrate technologies to streamline the day-to-day routines of homeowners, allowing for maximum time savings. Consumers can take the hassle out of finding the perfect cooking setting by using a microwave that can scan a bar code on a dish and automatically adjusts to the correct time and power for the particular product. Ovens equipped with Wi-Fi allow cooks to monitor their meals on a mobile device and put the crock pot to shame.

Families can also save time while enjoying the convenience of home automation. Wi-Fi-enabled mailboxes send text or email alerts when mail has arrived. Parents can even save the time it takes to beg their child to stop playing video games by using a tool that automatically limits the time spent on an electronic device.

Peace of mind isn't all about expensive, over-the-top upgrades. Home automation can save time and money, and offer customized comfort and security, often through simple technology tweaks.

Stephen Clementi Earns Prestigious Designation

Stephen Clementi Earns Prestigious Designation

A local REALTOR^® was recently awarded the Graduate, REALTOR^® Institute (GRI) designation by the Georgia and National Associations of REALTORS^®.  Stephen Clementi of Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners joins other top producers in the residential real estate industry who hold the GRI designation across the nation.

Clementi, a member of Savannah Board of REALTORS, completed the ninety-hour curriculum required to achieve the highly acclaimed designation by attending an intensive series of instruction covering a variety of subjects including contract law, professional standards, sales and marketing, finance, and risk reduction.

With this designation and through increased awareness of current topics important to the real estate professional, such as legal issues, REALTOR^® Clementi can better serve prospective clients and customers.

The GRI designation sets the individuals who have attained it apart from other practitioners because it indicates to the public that the individuals have obtained a professional education foundation on which to base the services they provide, and that they are members of the National Association of REALTORS^® and abide by its Code of Ethics.

The REALTOR^® Institute is designed to educate practitioners about local, state and national real estate practices that affect them, their clients and customers. The Georgia Institute is taught by leading real estate professionals from around the country.

The REALTOR^® Institute has been in existence for more than forty years and has graduated thousands of REALTORS^®. For more information about the GRI designation, contact the Georgia Association of REALTORS^® at 770-451-1831.