Home remodeling projects that are worth the money

The warm season is traditionally the busiest home-buying season of the year, but the warm months are also the time when the market is flooded with inventory as would-be buyers put their existing homes up for sale. Modern remodeling projects can help increase a home's value and make it more attractive to potential buyers, but not all projects have the same return on investment.

Here are the top home remodeling projects according to USNews.com.

• Start small. Every potential buyer sees the front door before they enter the home, so it's no surprise that replacing the home's front door marks the biggest return on investment. A new door could add 96.6 percent of the amount spent on it in new home value.
• Delighted by a deck. Looking for a project that will hold its value and excite buyers? A wooden deck does the trick. A deck project costs $9,539 nationwide, but homeowners can recoup up to 87.4 percent of that cost when selling the home.
• Attic bedrooms. Most homes don't utilize their attic space, so those that do are attractive to buyers. Attic bedrooms have an average return 84.3 percent of what is spent on them.
• Replace the garage door. This inexpensive switch can have a big impact on the curb appeal of a home. The average garage door replacement costs $1,534 with a return of up to 83.7 percent upon sale.
• Update the kitchen. An updated kitchen is usually a home's top selling point, and minor kitchen remodels could have a return on investment of 82.7 percent.

Source: 8 Remodeling projects that are worth it.

What you need to sign your mortgage

Purchasing a new home is one of the most exciting moments in a person's life. If you are about to sign your own home mortgage, congratulations! This is a momentous occasion.

While you've given plenty of thought to the square footage, location and appearance of your new home, perhaps you haven't paid as much attention to what you'll need to actually sign the mortgage. If that is the case, don't worry. Just follow this list and you'll likely have most of what you may need for signing day subject to each lender's individual underwriting criteria.

Make sure to present the following documents on or before the day of your mortgage signing:

• Your tax returns or pay stubs for the last two years
• Your monthly bank statement for the last two months
• A signed loan application
• Proof of insurance
• Signed disclosures
• A preliminary title report
• An electronic appraisal

You may also need to bring the following documents depending on your own individual circumstances.

• Your rental history, if you are renting. Usually this includes 12 months of canceled rent checks.
• A CPA letter or business license if you have been self-employed for the last two years or more.
• Any applicable gift letters regarding the down payment.
• Any letters of explanation that have been requested to clarify existing issues.

4 Ways to Make a Great First Impression When Selling Your Home

When selling your home, first impressions matter. Just because your home is listed and the "For Sale" sign is firmly planted in the front lawn does not mean it will attract buyers.

A home needs to be visually appealing to encourage a sale. Even in a market where homes are selling quickly and at full asking prices, it is still crucial to spruce up your home and prove that it is worth every penny you are asking for it.

Here are four tips to help your home make a good first impression that beckons potential buyers:

1. Make an Enticing Exterior

The walk-up to your house should be inviting, not forbidding. Stay on top of your lawn mowing and driveway maintenance, and tidy up your front landscaping. This includes:

• Moving all toys, bicycles and scooters away from the front of the house
• Cleaning windows until they are sparkling
• Making sure address numbers are in place and polished
• Giving your front door, garage door and gutters a fresh coat of paint
• Adding a few embellishments like a colorful welcome mat, a wreath for the door or a big potted plant to the side of your front door
• Checking the roof to see if it needs repair, even if it'rsquo;s cosmetic.

2. Shape Up the Interior

Once the exterior wows potential buyers, you can continue to make a great impression as they make their way inside.

For starters, clear any clutter. If you have too much furniture, put some of it in storage. Keep kitchen and bathroom countertops as clear as possible. Closets and shelves should be well-organized and give the impression that they are spacious.

Remove excess knickknacks or family photos that make the house feel like your home, instead of allowing potential buyers to picture themselves as the residents.

Clean the inside of your home from top to bottom. Dust and open all your blinds and curtains to let light in. Wash away smudges from walls and touch up the paint as necessary. Wipe down the inside and outside of your appliances and microwave. Remove ash from your fireplace. Get your carpets cleaned and vacuum your floor each morning before potential buyers view your house.

Addressing aesthetics can leave a lasting, favorable impression. So, hang fresh, clean towels in the bathrooms. Position a beautiful centerpiece in the center of your dining room table and a few potted plants in decorative containers throughout your home. Consider placing potpourri in key spots, especially if you need to eliminate pet odors or if you have a smoker in the house.

3. Check on Evening Appearance

Even if you're positive your home is presentable during the day, double-back to the exterior and interior areas at dusk to gauge your home's ambiance in the evening.

Ensure that the walkway is well-lit and house numbers are visible, and that outdoor lighting enhances the home's appearance.

Inside, make sure to replace nonfunctioning light bulbs in fixtures and vanities, and leave key decorative or track lighting turned on so that the home doesn't seem dark upon entering.

4. Make Necessary Repairs

Repair anything that is broken. Cabinet doors should close properly. All your faucets should be drip-free.

Remember, you are trying to present a simple, clean, attractive, problem-free home that exudes potential - an empty, yet enticing palette for your home's next owners.

Taking time to create a great first impression sometimes is all it takes to quickly send a offer your way.

Written by Patricia-Anne Tom - REALTOR.com

Family Travel Five: Make Your Vacation Picture-Perfect

(MCT)—Smile: It’s a family photo. Here are ideas for adding photographic interest to your vacation and some contact info for finding destinations.

1. People pictures. Including people in your shot adds tremendous interest. Encourage family members to be the focal point of landscape images, providing context and great memories. Capture the faces of those who live in the places you visit to add human interest to monuments, scenes or cityscapes.

2. Capture color. Markets, festivals and parades often provide an array of colorful subjects and unique experiences that will help tell the story of your family adventure. At the market, for example, be on the lookout for brightly colored vegetables, fruits, meat or fish unlike those in your local grocery store. Stoke your children’s natural curiosity by asking the vendor to explain the origin of items.

3. Give animal photos a shot. Whether at the zoo, in the countryside, on safari or within a national park, snapping photos of critters can be an enriching experience. Will you get the shot when the lion roars, the giraffe reaches upward or the monkey swings from the branch? Remember that animals in the wild are just that: wild. Keep a proper distance.

4. Get in on the action. It’s fun to capture the movement and the exhilaration of the adventure — whether it’s wild rides at the theme park, bike or running races or rafts in the rapids.

You don’t need a fancy camera to create fun shots that tell the story. Try clicking the shutter while moving your body at the same pace as the action you want to record.

Compare notes and consider experimentation part of the family experience.

5. Use your camera to take notes. Snap a photo of your parking space, your hotel address and room number, restaurants that make your favorite list and the designated family meeting spot.

When you are visiting a new environment or feel like you’re dragging after a full day of traveling, it can be difficult to remember life’s more mundane details.

Lynn O’Rourke Hayes is the editor of FamilyTravel.com.

©2014 The Dallas Morning News

Distributed by MCT Information Services

The Most Popular Features to Improve the Performance of Your Home

According to a new National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Remodelers survey, high-performing, Low-emissive (Low-E) windows are the most common green building products used by residential remodelers. To kick off National Home Remodeling Month in May, NAHB released the survey results, which highlight the most common building features that home owners are using to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

“The improved availability and affordability of high-performing building products means energy-efficient features are being incorporated into more home improvement projects,” says NAHB Remodelers Chair Paul Sullivan, CAPS, CGR, CGP, of Waterville Valley, N.H. “Remodeling can not only improve the overall layout and features of a home, but depending on the upgrades you choose, you can also save money on utilities, improve indoor air quality and strengthen the long-term value of your home.”

The most popular green building features in the survey of residential remodelers in the first quarter of 2014 are:

• High performance windows including Low-E and Argon gas windows
• High efficiency HVAC systems • Programmable thermostats
• ENERGY STAR appliances

Other popular features include ceiling fans, moisture control products such as bathroom fans, water conserving fixtures and high performance insulation.

The usage of technology to improve a home’s performance has increased dramatically during recent years. Seventy percent of remodelers says they used programmable thermostats, an increase from 42 percent in 2011. Sixty-two percent of remodelers used ceiling fans in their remodels, compared to 37 percent in 2011.

Over the next five years, the percentage of remodelers who expect to be doing more than 60 percent of their projects green will double, according to the McGraw Hill Construction green building study in conjunction with NAHB.

“The lower operating and maintenance costs of energy-efficient homes are a compelling reason for more home owners to incorporate green features in their remodeling designs,” says Sullivan. “A professional remodeler can help maximize the benefits of including these features in a remodel. The survey results provide useful examples of ways to increase a home’s efficiency, decrease costs and take advantage of the other benefits that high performance green homes offer.”

For more information, visit www.nahb.org/remodel.

Housing Affordability Edges Higher in First Quarter

Slightly lower median home prices along with steady mortgage rates contributed to higher housing affordability in the first quarter, according to the recently released National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 65.5 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of January and end of March were affordable to families earning the U.S. median income of $63,900. This is slightly higher from the 64.7 percent of homes sold that were affordable to median-income earners in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, the national median home price dipped from $205,000 in the fourth quarter to $195,000 in the first quarter while average mortgage interest rates were virtually unchanged, moving from 4.54 percent to 4.57 percent in the same period.

“Housing affordability remains strong and this is an encouraging sign as the spring home building season moves into high gear,” says NAHB Chairman Kevin Kelly, a home builder and developer from Wilmington, Del.

“As home prices and mortgage interest rates are unlikely to go down, the first quarter HOI is another indicator that this is an opportune time to buy,” says NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.

Syracuse, N.Y., was the nation's most affordable major housing market, as 93.7 percent of all new and existing homes sold in this year's first quarter were affordable to families earning the area's median income of $67,700. Meanwhile, Cumberland, Md.-W.Va., claimed the title of most affordable smaller market, with 96.3 percent of homes sold in the first quarter being affordable to those earning the median income of $54,100.

Other major U.S. housing markets at the top of the affordability chart in the first quarter included Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.; Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa.; Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.; and Dayton, Ohio; in descending order.

Smaller markets joining Cumberland at the top of the affordability chart included Springfield, Ohio; Kokomo, Ind.; Mansfield, Ohio; and Lima, Ohio.

For a sixth consecutive quarter, San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif., held the lowest spot among major markets on the affordability chart. There, just 13.3 percent of homes sold in the first quarter were affordable to families earning the area's median income of $100,400.

Other major metros at the bottom of the affordability chart included Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif.; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.; New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J.; and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.; in descending order.

All of the five least affordable small housing markets were in California. At the very bottom of the affordability chart was Santa Cruz-Watsonville, where 21.1 percent of all new and existing homes sold were affordable to families earning the area's median income of $77,900. Other small markets at the lowest end of the affordability scale included Napa, Salinas, San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, and Santa Rosa-Petaluma, respectively.

For more information, visit www.nahb.org/hoi

Written by RISMedia

Home Prices Will Continue to Rise, Report Says

Most homeowners across the nation have been enjoying an upswing in their home values, and home-sale prices are expected to continue rising for at least the next several months, according to CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index Report.

The report, which analyzed data through February, showed home prices—including distressed sales—were an average of 12.2% higher compared to the same time last year. Home prices showed the highest annual appreciation gains in these five states:

California – 19.8%
Nevada – 18.5%
Georgia – 14.2%
Oregon – 13.8%
Michigan – 13.5%

The report predicted home prices, when including distressed properties, would see a rise of 10.5% from March 2013 to March 2014. When excluding distressed properties, prices are expected to rise 9.3%.

CoreLogic expects home prices will continue to rise over the next several months, leveling off by year’s end.

Home prices have increased year-over-year for 24 consecutive months, although through February they were still 16.9% below the peak levels reached in April 2006, according to CoreLogic.

Realtor.com®’s National Housing Trend Report for February 2014 showed home sellers’ growing confidence in the market as the number of homes for sale increased.

“The number of properties for sale in February rose 10.1% above February 2013 levels, to 1,744,032 units,” the realtor.com® report said. “The median list price at $199,000 increased 7.6% compared to the same month last year, and the median age of inventory increased 6.5% above year-ago figures, to 114 days.”

“Although prices should remain strong in the near term due to a short supply of homes on the market, price increases should moderate over the next year as home equity releases pent-up supply,” Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, said in a statement.

Homeowners who struggled to build equity in their homes during the recession may be able to breathe a sigh of relief now as the market continues to stabilize and buyers and sellers gain confidence.

Written by Angela Colley - REALTOR.com