Tara O'Brien's Minneapolis Real Estate Update: August 2010

Before you put your home up for sale, use the right comparable sales to find the perfect price.


How much can you sell your home for? Probably about as much as the neighbors got, as long as the neighbors sold their house in recent memory and their home was just like your home.

Knowing how much homes similar to yours, called comparable sales (or in real estate lingo, comps), sold for gives you the best idea of the current estimated value of your home. The trick is finding sales that closely match yours.

What makes a good comparable sale?
Your best comparable sale is the same model as your house in the same subdivision—and it closed escrow last week. If you can’t find that, here are other factors that count:

Location: The closer to your house the better, but don’t just use any comparable sale within a mile radius. A good comparable sale is a house in your neighborhood, your subdivision, on the same type of street as your house, and in your school district.

Home type: Try to find comparable sales that are like your home in style, construction material, square footage, number of bedrooms and baths, basement (having one and whether it’s finished), finishes, and yard size.

Amenities and upgrades: Is the kitchen new? Does the comparable sale house have full A/C? Is there crown molding, a deck, or a pool? Does your community have the same amenities (pool, workout room, walking trails, etc.) and homeowners association fees?

Date of sale: You may want to use a comparable sale from two years ago when the market was high, but that won’t fly. Most buyers use government-guaranteed mortgages, and those lending programs say comparable sales can be no older than 90 days.

Sales sweeteners: Did the comparable-sale sellers give the buyers downpayment assistance, closing costs, or a free television? You have to reduce the value of any comparable sale to account for any deal sweeteners.

Agents can help adjust price based on insider insights
Even if you live in a subdivision, your home will always be different from your neighbors’. Evaluating those differences—like the fact that your home has one more bedroom than the comparables or a basement office—is one of the ways real estate agents add value.

An active agent has been inside a lot of homes in your neighborhood and knows all sorts of details about comparable sales. She has read the comments the selling agent put into the MLS, seen the ugly wallpaper, and heard what other REALTORS®, lenders, closing agents, and appraisers said about the comparable sale.

More ways to pick a home listing price
If you’re still having trouble picking out a listing price for your home, look at the current competition. Ask your real estate agent to be honest about your home and the other homes on the market (and then listen to her without taking the criticism personally).

Next, put your comparable sales into two piles: more expensive and less expensive. What makes your home more valuable than the cheaper comparable sales and less valuable than the pricier comparable sales?

Are foreclosures and short sales comparables?
If one or more of your comparable sales was a foreclosed home or a short sale (a home that sold for less money than the owners owed on the mortgage), ask your real estate agent how to treat those comps.

A foreclosed home is usually in poor condition because owners who can’t pay their mortgage can’t afford to pay for upkeep. Your home is in great shape, so the foreclosure should be priced lower than your home.

Short sales are typically in good condition, although they are still distressed sales. The owners usually have to sell because they’re divorcing, or their employer is moving them to Kansas.

How much short sales are discounted from their market value varies among local markets. The average short-sale home in Omaha in recent years was discounted by 8.5%, according to a University of Nebraska at Omaha study. In suburban Washington, D.C., sellers typically discount short-sale homes by 3% to 5% to get them quickly sold, real estate agents report. In other markets, sellers price short sales the same as other homes in the neighborhood.

So you have to rely on your REALTOR’s® knowledge of the local market to use a short sale as a comparable sale.

Carl Vogel, a freelance writer and former editor of The Neighborhood Works magazine, lives in a home in Chicago that is not typical of those nearby, so he appreciates a savvy comp.

Labels: buying and selling a home, housing prices, market update, sell my house, staging your home for sale

Solving wet-basement problems is one of the most important things you can do to protect the value of your home and health of your family.

Nothing poses a greater long-term risk to your home’s value than a wet basement. If left unchecked, basement moisture can ruin floors and walls, encourage mold, even damage roofing. Some wet basements are easy to cure, simply by making sure gutters stay clear and by diverting gutter water well away from the foundation. But if the problem comes from other sources—water flowing toward the house on the surface, seeping in from underground, or backing up through municipal storm drains—you’ve got to take more aggressive action. Here’s help with figuring out what may be causing your water trouble, and eight basement waterproofing strategies to try, from the simplest and least expensive to the most challenging and costly.

1. Add underground piping
If downspouts are dumping too close to the house, you can get water the recommended five feet or more away from the foundation by adding roll-out plastic or metal gutter extenders. But they aren’t the neatest or most effective long-term solution, especially if you’re likely to trip on them or run over them with a lawnmower. Permanent underground piping is invisible and capable of moving large quantities of runoff much farther from your house. For about $10 a foot, a landscaper or waterproofing contractor will dig a trench and install piping to carry the water safely away.

2. Plug gaps
If you see water dribbling into the basement through cracks or gaps around plumbing pipes, you can plug the openings yourself with hydraulic cement or polyurethane caulk for less than $20. Plugs work when the problem is simply a hole that water oozes through, either from surface runoff or from wet soil. But if the water is coming up through the floor, or at the joint where floor and walls meet, the problem is ground water, and plugs won’t do the trick. For that, see Solutions #5 though #7 below.

3. Restore the crown
If the gutters are working and you’ve plugged obvious holes, but you still see water dribbling into your basement or crawl space from high on the foundation walls, then surface water isn’t draining away from the house as it should. Your house should sit on a “crown” of soil that slopes at least six inches over the first 10 feet in all directions. Over time, the soil around the foundation may have settled. All you need to do to build it back up is shovel in more dirt. One cubic yard of a water-shedding clay-loam mix from a landscape supply house costs around $30 (plus delivery) and is enough for a two-foot-wide, three-inch-deep layer along 57 feet of foundation.

4. Reshape the landscape
If you can’t add soil without bringing it too close to the siding—six inches is the minimum safe distance to protect against rot and termites—then you may be able to redirect surface water before it reaches the house by creating a berm (a mound of dirt) or a swale (a wide, shallow ditch). In small areas, berms are easy; a landscape contractor can build one for a few hundred dollars. On bigger projects, berms make less sense because you’ll have to truck in too much soil. In that case, dig a swale (about $1,000). Once landscaping grows in, berms and swales can be attractive features in your yard.

5. Repair footing drains
If water is leaking into your basement low on the walls or at the seams where walls meet the floor, your issue isn’t surface water, it’s hydrostatic pressure pushing out water within the ground. The first thing to do is check whether you have footing drains, underground pipes installed when the house was built to carry water away from the foundation. (Look for a manhole or drain in the basement floor or a cleanout pipe capped a few inches above the floor.) The drains may be clogged, in which case you can try opening the cleanout and flushing the pipes with a garden hose. If that doesn’t work, a plumber with an augur can often do the job for about $600.

6. Install a curtain drain around the house
If you don’t have footing drains or can’t get the existing ones to function, there’s one more thing you can try before you invest in a costly interior or exterior basement waterproofing system: Install a curtain drain to divert water that’s traveling underground toward your house. A type of French drain, a curtain drain is a shallow trench filled with gravel and piping that intercepts water uphill of your house and carries it down the slope a safe distance away.

7. Pump the water out from the inside
If you can’t keep subsurface water out, then you have to address it on the inside. To create an interior drain system, crews saw a channel around the perimeter of the floor, chip out the concrete, and lay perforated pipe in the hole. The pipe drains to collection tank at the basement’s low spot, where a sump pump sends it away. Starting at about $3,000, an interior system may be the least expensive and disruptive option if you have an unfinished basement with easy access, or a lot of mature landscaping that digging for an exterior system would destroy.

8. Waterproof from the outside
Installing an interior drainage system gets the water out but doesn’t actually waterproof the walls. For that, you need an exterior system: a French drain to relieve hydrostatic pressure and exterior waterproofing to protect the foundation. It’s a big job that requires excavating around the house, but it may be the best solution if you have a foundation with numerous gaps where water is getting through. It also keeps the mess and water outside, which may be your choice if you don’t want to tear up a finished basement. The downside, besides a price tag that can reach $20,000, is that your yard takes a beating, and you may need to remove decks or walkways.

Jeanne Huber is the author of 10 books about home improvement and writes a weekly column about home care for The Washington Post. She solved her first drainage mystery when her family’s frequent sneezing attacks led her to discover mildew coating the underside of their house’s roof. Turns out basement flooding (see Sign #6) was to blame.

Labels: buying a home, buying and selling a home, home for sale, sell my house

For safety, a remodeled basement living area needs an egress window that meets residential building codes. Here’s what you need to know.

When converting a basement into a living area, your safety is a primary consideration. That’s why building codes specify that a finished basement must have an emergency egress—an egress window or door large enough to allow people to easily exit the space, and for rescue crews to gain access in case of fire or other emergency. Besides gaining peace of mind, you’ll also benefit from more natural light and ventilation, adding to the comfort and value of your below-grade oasis.

Adding an egress window usually means cutting a large enough hole in your basement wall. If your basement has solid concrete or concrete block walls, the job will require the services of a skilled mason or basement remodeling specialist. It’s a noisy, messy job, but the process is relatively straightforward for a skilled professional, as is the placement of the window and any finish work involved.

If you have a sloping yard, it may be that your new egress window can be installed completely above grade. If your foundation walls barely peek above the soil line, however, you’ll have to excavate down and provide a window well. The size of a window well also is determined by building codes to allow a person to easily climb out of the window and exit the house. In case of a deep well, a ladder must be fixed to the well so that an occupant can safely climb out.

If your egress window requires a window well, be sure to call first to have all buried utilities marked so that you won’t run into any electrical, gas, cable, water, or sewer lines.

Code compliance
According to the most current residential building codes, if your basement retreat includes one or more “sleeping rooms,” such as a dedicated spare bedroom, each of those rooms must have an egress window. In addition, a single egress window must be furnished for “common-use” areas, such as a TV room, game room, or home office. Occasional-use spaces, such as bathrooms, laundry rooms, and utility areas, don’t need emergency egress.

Code also specifies that the clear opening of a basement egress window should be at least 20 inches wide and at least 24 inches high, and achieve a minimum area of 5.7 sq. ft.—the smallest opening an average adult male can reasonably crawl through. In addition, the window sill—the bottom edge of the window—cannot be higher than 44 inches from the basement floor.

When shopping for an egress window, make sure to calculate size correctly. Do the math and you’ll find that a 20-inch-wide window actually needs to be 41 inches tall to comply with the minimum 5.7 square-foot requirement for an egress window. Similarly, a 24-inch-tall window must be at least 34.2 inches wide.

Most full-height basements (defined as having at least 7-foot ceilings) are built with windows on at least one wall to allow daylight and perhaps some measure of passive ventilation into the basement. But it’s unlikely that those windows meet the current code for egress. Even if they are large enough, they probably aren’t set low enough to meet the maximum 44-inch sill height requirement.

Types of windows
There are several standard window types that comply with the egress code. An insulated casement window is ideal because it is hinged along its side edges and swings outward to allow easy egress. You may install double-hung windows, but be aware that code requirements for minimum size will apply to the lower, operable half of the window—meaning the window will end up being quite tall and any window well will be extra deep—adding expense.

Sliders—windows that move from side-to-side—also may end up being quite large to accommodate codes, but because they operate in a horizontal position, a window well will not have to be excessively deep. Expect to pay $150 to $350 for a vinyl, vinyl-clad wood, or all-wood frame window.

Building a window well
Installing a code-compliant egress window with its sill only 44 inches from the finished floor likely means an excavation outside your foundation walls to create a window well. By code, the total “clear” floor area inside of the well must be at least 9 sq. ft, with at least a 3-foot area between the window and the far edge of the well opening.

If the window well is more than 44 inches deep, it must have a permanently attached ladder or steps to enable safe egress. The ladder or steps can project into the well no more than 6 inches without having to extend the code-required clear area of the well. As such, most ladders are welded to the metal shell that encloses the well.

For the safety of your family when you are gardening or playing outside, building codes also allow a metal grate, typically hinged, to be placed across the window well opening to protect pets and people from falling in. Still, you must be able to remove or open the grate from inside or outside the window well without special tools in the event of an emergency.

To facilitate drainage of the well, the construction may include installation of a perforated pipe covered over with washed gravel to carry excess water away from the well, window, and foundation wall.

Because a window well is a prominent feature when viewed from inside the basement room, it’s a good idea to incorporate some simple landscaping features, such as potted plants. Make sure that any design features won’t interfere with safe egress.

Construction costs
Hiring a licensed contractor to cut your basement wall, build a window well, and install a window will cost $2,500 to $5,000, depending on the complexity of the project and the depth of the well. Adding a grate and providing drainage adds another $500-$800.

Some basement remodeling contractors specialize in building egress windows using manufactured kits that include all the necessary components. Ask to see finished samples of their work before signing a contract to ensure you’ll be satisfied with the look of the kit.

If you plan to tackle the installation of an egress window as a DIY project, you’ll save money. Be forewarned—cutting through concrete walls is a major task. Plan to spend about $500-$900 for all materials, including the rental of a concrete saw to cut through your basement walls, a window, and a window well kit.

Before you begin any DIY work, seek the advice of a structural engineer to examine your walls and advise you about any concerns, such as installing a header over your window to accept the weight of floor joists and a load-bearing wall above. Expect to pay $150 for a consultation.

Fortunately, there is nothing in the code preventing you from adding plantings around the well to shield it from view and better integrate it into your overall landscape design, as long as it doesn’t hinder the ability to easily access the well and window.

Rich Binsacca has been writing about housing and home improvement since 1987. He is the author of 12 books on various home-related topics, is currently a contributing editor for Builder and EcoHome magazines, and has written articles for such magazines as Remodeling, Home, and Architectural Record, among several others.

Labels: buying and selling a home, home staging, housing, housing prices, sell my house, staging your home for sale

Keeping your basement dry and free of condensation is key to installing the basement flooring of your choice.

Although moisture problems can be a concern for basement finishes, there are many types of flooring that are ideal for basement applications. The key to successful basement flooring installations is to ensure that the basement is dry and that there is a smooth, flat surface for the new finish material.

Moisture and humidity
Because the floor of your basement is below grade and the lowest surface within your house, it requires special considerations before flooring can be installed. If your basement has ever been susceptible to water infiltration and flooding, those problems must be remedied before flooring is installed. Sealing your basement from water and moisture infiltration can cost from several hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars or more.

Humidity and condensation are other concerns. Because moist, humid air is heavy, it tends to sink to the lowest part of your house—your basement. There, warm, humid air can come in contact with relatively cool surfaces, such as a concrete slab floor, and condense. Keeping condensation in check during warm, humid months helps ensure that flooring remains stable and free from mold and mildew growth.

Most likely, your existing heating and cooling system is equipped with a dehumidifier that maintains relative humidity (RH) levels between 30% and 60%, which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and building codes recommend for a healthy indoor environment. A portable, plug-in unit for single-room use costs about $200 and includes a monitor to regulate the RH level.

Level floor surfaces
It’s also critical to inspect your existing concrete basement floor and make adjustments for any noticeable slopes or flaws that might damage the new floor finish or affect its aesthetic appeal.

Patch or fill minor cracks and flaws with an elastomeric sealant made especially for concrete. A 10-ounce tube runs from about $4 to $10 at home improvement centers.

Use a 3-foot or longer bubble level to see if any sections of the floor slope more than a half-inch in 8 feet. Fill in low spots with a self-leveling compound, available at home improvement centers for about $30 for a 50-pound bag. For about $60 to $80 per day, rent a concrete sander to reduce high spots.

Tile backerboard, made from cement or fiber-reinforced gypsum, can be used as a subfloor over your basement slab to create a smooth, level surface. Backerboard can be glued down or held in place with concrete nails. Backerboard costs about $11 for a 4x5-foot sheet. Allowing for waste, expect to pay about $500 for enough backerboard to cover the floor of a 600 sq. ft. basement.

Once you have satisfied all potential moisture-related issues and created a smooth, level surface, you’ll have many flooring choices for your basement retreat.

Carpeting
According to the NAHB Research Center’s annual survey of builder practices, more than 28% of basement floors in newly built homes are finished with carpeting. “Most of our clients want carpet in the basement,” says Sherrille Sabo, operations manager for COS Construction in Edwardsville, Ohio, a construction company that remodels about a half-dozen basements per year into finished living spaces. “It’s warmer and adds a level of soundproofing.”

Low-pile carpets such as Berber or other looped varieties show less wear than cut-looped or shag-like carpeting and are less expensive; all or partial nylon blends also are more durable and less costly than all-natural options.

Wall-to-wall carpeting is among the least expensive and easiest to install options for basement flooring. A mid-range nylon Berber carpet costs about $1 to $3 per sq. ft. With glued-down perimeter tack strips and a standard pad, plus professional labor, the cost to buy and install a new carpet is about $1,200 to $2,400 for a 600 sq. ft. basement.

If you’ve addressed any moisture issues in the basement but are still concerned about dampness or the chances that liquid spills or pet accidents may occur, consider a pad that is made to block moisture from either seeping up into the carpet or seeping down through the pad to the concrete floor. Moisture-resistant pads are about 70% more expensive than standard pads. They may reduce cleanup chores, but they will not solve chronic moisture problems.

Also, consider carpet tiles. Nylon pile 20-inch squares come in a variety of colors and styles and cost $2 to $4 per sq. ft. Most are made with integral pads and self-adhesive backings for easy, do-it-yourself installation.

Vinyl
Resilient vinyl flooring is durable, moisture-proof, and maintenance-free. Sheet vinyl comes in 12-foot-wide rolls that virtually eliminate seams. Self-sticking vinyl tiles are ideal for do-it-yourself installations.

There are an enormous variety of colors and styles from which to choose. In general, thicker vinyl translates to higher quality and cost. Thicker vinyl can feature a textured surface, and some types have the appearance of real stone and wood.

Vinyl installs easily over a concrete slab, but it’s critical to make sure the surface is smooth, as imperfections are sure to show through and possibly damage the flooring. A thicker (and more expensive) grade of vinyl flooring may help hide slight bumps in the concrete.

Sheet vinyl and vinyl tile can cost $1 to $5 per sq. ft. Figure another $1 to $2 per sq. ft. for professional installation, depending on the complexity of the basement configuration.

Ceramic tile
Ceramic tile installs readily over a concrete slab and the many styles and colors available make it a good designer’s choice. Properly installed and maintained ceramic tiles should last as long as your house.

In some below-grade applications, condensation may occur on the surface of ceramic tiles, making them slippery. If ceramic tile is your primary choice for your basement but condensation is a concern, consider glazed ceramic floor tiles with an anti-slip finish. Look for tiles that meet slip-resistance standards specified by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Costs for ceramic tile varies widely, depending on size, shape, and pattern. A standard domestic 12x12-inch ceramic tile might cost 80 cents per tile at home improvement center, while a highly decorative tile from Mexico or a porcelain stone tile from Italy can cost $10 per tile or far more. Professional installation adds $5 to $10 per sq. ft.

Engineered wood
Until the advent of engineered hardwood flooring, few builders or remodelers would recommend or risk installing a hardwood floor over a below-grade concrete surface. Because solid wood changes dimensions with fluctuations in temperature and humidity, the chances of warping and cracking were too great. In addition, there were few reliable options for installing wood flooring without traditional nails or screws.

Engineered wood floors, however, provide a more stable substrate for the planks while delivering the look and feel of a solid wood floor. They feature a thin veneer layer of solid wood that is laminated to plywood backing. Plywood is more dimensionally stable than solid wood, allowing the planks to withstand temperature and moisture fluctuations without warping.

Engineered hardwood planks are installed one of two ways. Some varieties are designed to be glued to the basement floor using an industrial adhesive. Others are “floated” over a layer of thin foam sheeting; the planks are held in place by a system of interlocking ends and edges.

Engineered wood planks are priced from $2 to $20 per sq. ft. Their factory-finished veneer is virtually maintenance-free. Installation is about $4 to $5 per sq. ft., regardless of whether the planks are glued down or floated.

Laminate flooring
Laminate flooring has similar construction to engineered wood flooring, but the top veneer is a layer of tough film covered with plastic resins. Laminate flooring mimics the look of wood, stone, and ceramic tile. The core layers of laminate flooring are dimensionally stable; some varieties are treated to resist moisture and make good choices for basement applications.

Laminate flooring planks and tiles “snap” together and float over the concrete floor on a foam pad. The flooring sells for $3 to $5 per sq. ft. at home improvement centers; installation adds $4 to $5 per sq. ft.

Concrete
One of the simplest and least expensive options for finishing a basement concrete slab is to paint or stain the slab. A one-gallon can of either coating option is about $30 and covers about 80-100 sq. ft. If you elect to use paint, consider an acrylic formula with slip-resistant surface finish.

Assuming the basement concrete slab is unsealed and still porous, a colored stain will likely penetrate fairly well and hold its color for several years before reapplication. A concrete paint probably will show wear in a high-traffic areas, and will require a reapplication every 3-5 years.

An epoxy coating system, which combines a solvent-based adhesive coating with decorative (and slip-resistant) color chips, is far tougher than a concrete paint or stain. It costs about 3 times as much as a gallon of paint or stain but covers four times the area and leaves a tough, industrial-looking finish.

Another option is to cover the concrete slab with an additional, thin layer of concrete that has been pigmented with color. A thin-coat can also be stamped with a pattern to resemble brick, flagstone, and even wood planks. Because the color is throughout the coating, it will never wear away. Expect to pay $2 to $3 per sq. ft. for a thin-coat installation.

Rich Binsacca has been writing about housing and home improvement since 1987. He is the author of 12 books on various home-related topics, is currently a contributing editor for Builder and EcoHome magazines, and has written articles for such magazines as Remodeling, Home, and Architectural Record, among several others. His first house in Boise featured a finished basement with two bedrooms, a laundry area, and the mechanical room; he had to dismantle a Queen-sized box spring to get it down the stairs.

Labels: buying a home, buying and selling a home, home buying process, home for sale, sell my house

Because it adds valuable living space without increasing your home’s footprint, a basement remodeling project offers a high return on your investment.

If you’re looking to increase the size of your home, the answer may be right beneath your feet. Remodeling unused basement space is a good way to gain living area without building an addition. A basement remodel is also a good investment. According to Remodeling Magazine’s annual Cost vs. Value report, a basement remodeling project returns more than 75% of the original cost, based on national averages.

Basements are good candidates for remodeling projects because the basic structure—walls and floors—are already in place. This lowers construction costs per square foot, saving 10% to 15% over the cost of building an addition with comparable features and amenities. Remodeling a basement also avoids the complications of property line setbacks and other restrictions that sometimes affect additions.

A concern when remodeling a basement is moisture. Any chronic moisture infiltration, condensation, or history of flooding must be addressed before the space can be converted to living area. Remedial measures will cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands—effectively reducing the return on your investment.

In the Midwest and Northeast regions of the country, where basements are common, a remodeled basement provides less than the national average return on investment. In the West, where basements are more rare, a basement remodeling project returns more than 90% of the original cost. National average cost, 20x30 ft. basement remodel, with wet bar and full bath:

Job Cost: $67,067

Resale Value: $46,825

Cost recoup: 75.4%

Labels: buying a home, buying and selling a home, home staging, sell my house

Converting your basement into living space requires being aware of building codes and understanding special requirements.

Finishing your basement into a family room, game room, or spare bedroom is a financially sound decision. In addition to increasing the usable (and enjoyable) living space of your home, a finished basement pays back a high percentage of your investment at resale. According to Remodeling Magazine’s annual Cost vs. Value Report, a basement remodeling project returns more than 75% of its original cost.

The cost of finishing your basement into usable living space is about $100 per square foot—generally less expensive than building up or out from your existing footprint. That’s because the basic structure—your home’s foundation—is already in place. Placing occasional-use areas, such as a laundry room, a spare bedroom, or a home theater below grade means that square footage above can remain dedicated to daily uses.

Code considerations
The first step is to determine if your existing basement meets building codes for habitable space. As defined by the International Residential Code (IRC), a basement living space must have a clear, floor-to-ceiling height of at least 7 feet (6 feet for bathrooms). There are some exceptions for the presence of exposed structural beams, girders, or mechanical system components along the ceiling, but only if they’re spaced at least 4 feet apart and extend no more than 6 inches from the ceiling. Note that local and regional building codes may vary—always check the specific codes in your area.

If your existing basement ceiling height doesn’t meet those specifications, you have two options: The first is to raise your house and build up the foundation around it to gain the ceiling height you need. The other is to lower the floor, which entails removing the existing concrete slab floor, excavating to the desired level, and pouring new concrete footings and a floor slab. Both options require professional and precise engineering, excavation, and structural work that will cost at least $20,000.

Emergency egress
Assuming, though, that your existing basement meets the IRC definition of “full height,” your next code challenge is to accommodate egress. The IRC dictates that at least one of a habitable basement’s windows or doors to the outside must be large enough to serve as an emergency point of egress (or exit, as well as an emergency rescue access) in addition to the staircase to and from the home’s main level.

If you’re planning a basement retreat to include a bedroom (what code calls a “sleeping” room), that room and all other sleeping rooms also must have their own point of egress, in addition to the one required for a general “living” space, such as a rec room or home office.
Each egress opening must be at least 5.7 sq. ft. with the windowsill no more than 44 inches above the floor, among other requirements that allow safe passage to the outside in the case of an emergency.

If you have a walkout basement, egress shouldn’t be an issue. Otherwise, you’ll have to build an egress. Most basement walls are built using poured concrete or masonry blocks, which can be cut (although not as easily as wood-framed walls) to create openings for egress windows or doors.

A proper staircase
In addition, the IRC regulates the specifications of the staircase from your home’s main level to the basement. Requirements include a handrail and stairs with proper width, tread, and riser dimensions. Also, there must be at least 6 ft. 8 inches of headroom at every point along the staircase.It may be that you simply need to add a handrail—perhaps with a balustrade if the staircase is open to the basement instead of encased in a wall structure. If the stairway isn’t wide enough (at least 36 inches) or the steps aren’t to code, you may have to rebuild them, an extra cost of about $2,000.

Make sure your contractor confirms or considers code compliance for ceiling height, egress, and the staircase in your project budget to avoid potential conflicts, delays, and additional costs.

Checking for moisture problems
Arguably the biggest problem with basements is moisture and water infiltration. If you have seen water or moisture on your basement walls or floor, or signs of efflorescence or mold as a result of long-term dampness, you’ll need to solve that problem before you go any further. In addition to damaging finishes and eroding your home’s structure, unchecked moisture and water may cause mold and mildew growth that can adversely affect your health.

Depending on the severity of the water infiltration, and your available budget for a basement retreat, you have several options for addressing moisture problems. The best solution is to determine and solve the root cause, which is usually hydrostatic pressure from water in the surrounding soil pushing moisture through the basement walls or floor.

In that case, it’s best to excavate around the perimeter of your home’s foundation and install a drainage system and waterproofing membrane to relieve hydrostatic pressure against the structure and effectively block water from getting through the walls—a professional job that can cost $5,000 or more.

If that’s too far out of your budget, and the moisture issue is relatively minor, you can cover all cracks and joints with a 100% acrylic elastomeric sealant and apply brush-on coatings to the inside poured concrete or masonry walls and floor surfaces, a DIY project that might cost about $1,700 for a full-size basement.

If there’s a potential for flooding in your basement, think twice about turning the space into a living area. Even a minor flood can ruin flooring and finishes, leading to expensive repairs.

Your best defense against minor flooding is a sump pump. A sump pump automatically engages in the event of a flood and is about a $1,400 investment with professional installation. Because sump pumps run on a dedicate electrical circuit from the service panel, you might also consider a battery-operated backup pump (around $300) to engage in the event of a power outage, such as during a severe storm.

Heating and cooling your remodeled basement
Your next task is to extend or supplement your home’s heating, cooling, and ventilation systems to serve the below-grade spaces. Those systems also requires code compliance for occupant health and safety (such as adequate venting of furnace combustion gasses), though typically nothing out of the ordinary or restricted by most jurisdictions.

With your contractor, make sure that your existing HVAC system can adequately keep your additional living space comfortable and properly ventilated. Sizing a furnace and air conditioner is a calculation generally based on square footage per ton of capacity. However, contractors should consider the home’s insulation values and other high-performance building practices to “right-size” the equipment and balance its performance and cost.

If your existing HVAC setup is not up to the task, you may have to add a secondary system dedicated to your finished basement or replace your existing system with larger-capacity equipment. Installing a vented room air conditioner and heater may add a few thousand dollars to your budget, while a complete HVAC system upgrade can run $10,000 or more.

A usable basement will also need electricity for lighting and other fixtures or finishes, such as an entertainment system or small appliances. Most homes will have adequate capacity in their existing electrical service box for basic needs; if not, a subpanel may be required to bring power to your retreat at a cost of a few hundred dollars.

Adding a bathroom
The last big (and also potentially expensive) consideration is whether to add a bathroom to your basement retreat. The main issue here is draining wastewater to the existing city sewer or on-site septic system, and venting sewer gasses directly to the outside—just as your other bathrooms do—in compliance with building codes. That’s why a bathroom alone might be a $10,000 line item in your basement retreat budget.

Wastewater drainage typically relies on gravity, so you have to make sure that the waste pipes from your basement bathroom sink, shower or tub, and toilet are designed with enough of a slope (or “fall”) to drain properly and effectively. Achieving proper fall will require the removal and rebuilding of a small section of the basement slab and excavation of the ground underneath. The process involves digging a trench for the drainage pipe to connect the new bathroom to your home’s existing drainage system.

For the toilet, you might also consider a pressure-assisted toilet. A toilet equipped with a pressure valve forces waste through the pipes, rather than relying only on gravity to do the job. Such a unit may allow you to avoid digging into the foundation—consult with a licensed plumber about the feasibility. Expect to pay $150-$800 for a pressurized toilet.

If possible, locate the toilet (and any water-using appliance, such as a clothes washer) against an outside wall. This location will reduce the costs required to drain away waste and vent sewer gasses. Vents typically are required to extend up the wall (either through the structure or along the outside) to a height of at least 8 feet and at least 4 feet from any operable windows.

Converting your basement into finished living area calls for a contractor familiar with the special requirements of basement remodeling. When looking for a contractor, be sure to find one who has experience as a basement remodeler.

Rich Binsacca has been writing about housing and home improvement since 1987. He’s the author of 12 books on various home-related topics, is currently a contributing editor for Builder and EcoHome magazines, and has written articles for such magazines as Remodeling, Home, and Architectural Record. He still has the plans and cost estimate for the addition of a finished basement to a previous house, which required digging out the crawl space to create a full-height room.

Labels: buying a home, buying and selling a home, home for sale, homes for sale., housing, housing prices, sell my house

An annual check-up on your homeowners insurance can result in a healthier policy and a healthier pocketbook.

It’s time for your annual check-up. The good news is that for this one, you won’t have to don one of those revealing hospital gowns—and you may walk away with a healthier pocketbook. We’re talking about a homeowners insurance check-up, a task you should complete once a year, ideally around renewal time. This will ensure your policy still provides the right level of coverage for your family, and your premium isn’t costing you more than it should.

Remember, homeowners insurance is essential. The coverage is designed to protect your home and its contents, as well as shield you from liability for accidents and such on your property. Block out an hour of your time, call an insurance agent, and get answers to these three important questions.

What type of coverage do I have?
The most effective type of coverage is known as “replacement cost,” which covers, up to your policy limits, what it would take today to rebuild your house and restore your belongings, says Jerry Oshinsky, a partner at Jenner & Block in Los Angeles who has represented homeowners in litigation against insurers.

“Extended” replacement cost coverage provides protection to your policy limit, say $500,000, and then perhaps another 20% of the cost after that. Percentages vary, but in this example you could recoup up to $600,000 on a $500,000 policy, assuming your losses reach that high. Extended coverage can compensate for any unanticipated expenses like spikes in construction costs between policy renewals. Now harder to find due to the industry shift toward extended replacement coverage, “full” or “guaranteed” replacement coverage covers an entire claim regardless of policy limits.

A less attractive alternative is “actual cash value” coverage that usually takes into account depreciation, the decrease in value due to age and wear. With this type of policy, the $2,000 flat-screen TV you bought two years ago will be worth hundreds of dollars less today in the eyes of your claims adjuster. Kevin Foley, an independent insurance broker in Milltown, N.J., favors replacement cost coverage unless you can save at least 25% on the premium for going with actual cash value coverage instead.

Even if you have replacement cost protection for your dwelling and personal property, don’t assume everything is covered. Structures other than your home on your property—such as a detached garage or swimming pool—require separate coverage. So too do luxury items like jewelry, watches, and furs if you want full replacement cost because reimbursement for those items is typically capped.

How much coverage do I really need?
OK, now that you’re clear on what type of policy you have, you need to figure out how much policy you truly require in dollar terms. Let’s say you purchased your home five years ago and insured it for $200,000. Today, it’s worth $225,000. Simply increasing your coverage to $225,000 may nonetheless leave you underinsured. Here’s why.

The key to determining how much dwelling coverage you need isn’t the value of your home but the money you’d have to pay to rebuild it from scratch, says Carlos Aguirre, an agent for Liberty Mutual Insurance in Arlington, Texas. Call your local contractors’ or homebuilders’ association and inquire about the average per-square-foot construction cost in your area. If it’s $150 and your home is 2,000 square feet, then you should be insured for $300,000.

There’s no rule of thumb for how much your homeowners insurance should cost. Insurers use numerous factors—age, education level, creditworthiness—to determine pricing, so the same policy could run you more than your neighbor. In recent years the average annual premium was $804. Oshinsky advises against scrimping on insurance because big increases in coverage probably cost less than you’d think. He recently purchased a liability policy that cost $250 for the first $1 million in coverage. Adding another $1 million increased his premiums only $12.50 more.

How can I lower my premiums?
The higher your deductible, the amount you pay out of pocket before coverage kicks in, the lower your premium. Landing on the appropriate deductible level requires remembering that insurance should cover major calamities, not minor incidents, says Foley, the independent insurance broker. Most homeowners should be able to absorb modest losses like a broken window pane or a hole in the drywall without filing claims. If you can, then you’re wasting money with a $250 deductible.

Foley’s rule: If you’re a first-time homeowner and don’t have a lot of savings, moving up to a $500 deductible will probably stretch your budget. However, if you live in a ritzy home and drive an expensive car, then you should be able to afford a $1,000 deductible. In Milltown, N.J., for example, the premium for a $200,000 home with a $500 deductible would be $736, according to Foley; moving up to a $1,000 deductible drops the annual premium to $672. That’s $64 in savings.

Every major insurer offers discounts to various groups, such as university employees or firefighters. Figure about 5%. Ask which affiliations would entitle you to a discount and how much. If an AARP membership would result in a $50 savings, pay the $16 dues and pocket the $36 difference. Many insurers also offer discounts ranging from 1% to 10% or more for installing protective devices like alarms and deadbolt locks, for going claim-free for an extended period, or for insuring both your car and your home with the same carrier.

G.M. Filisko is an attorney and award-winning writer who has been involved in insurance litigation. A frequent contributor to many national publications including Consumers Digest, Bankrate.com, REALTOR(R) Magazine, and the American Bar Association Journal, she specializes in real estate, personal finance, and legal topics.

Labels: buying and selling a home, home buying process, purchasing condos, real estate sales, sell my house

Paying for more homeowners insurance than you need is a waste of money, but it can prove even more costly to get caught without enough coverage.

Trying to get just the right amount of homeowners insurance for your house and possessions may leave you feeling a bit like Goldilocks searching for a chair, a bed, and porridge that are just right. If you underinsure your home and suffer a devastating loss—flood, fire, theft—then you risk not being able to return to the lifestyle you’ve worked hard to achieve. Yet if you overinsure, you’re throwing money away every year on unnecessarily high premiums.

What you need is coverage that’s just right. Here’s how to get it, and it shouldn’t take more than 4 or 5 hours of your time spent reviewing your homeowners insurance policy, talking to your agent, and doing a little research.

Look before you leap into a policy
All homeowners insurance isn’t created equal. That’s why it pays to review your coverage every year to ensure your policy meets your evolving needs. Begin by understanding the types of coverage available.

Actual cash value coverage reimburses you for the value of your home based on its current condition, explains Marjorie Young, senior vice president at E.G. Bowman Co., a New York City insurance brokerage. If your home was built 10 years ago, you’d receive only the depreciated value of decade-old windows, cabinets, appliances, and so on.

Most insurers recommend the more comprehensive replacement cost coverage. With it, says Young, you’ll be reimbursed for the amount it will cost to rebuild your home like new with the same kind and quality of materials. Depreciation doesn’t factor into the settlement equation.

To get the full benefit of replacement coverage, you need to purchase enough insurance to cover the total cost to rebuild your home, excluding the value of the land. Many people make the mistake of insuring at the market value, says June Walbert of USAA Financial Planning Services in San Antonio. But the amount you could sell your home for today isn’t necessarily the same as how much it would cost to rebuild.

Construction costs play big role
Look to current construction costs in your local area for guidance. If you’ve purchased a newly constructed home in the past year, you already have the answer. The same is true if you’ve refinanced within the past year. You almost certainly paid for an appraisal during that process that likely includes three valuations: replacement cost, market value, and actual cash value.

If you’re determining replacement cost without those head-starts, Walbert recommends calling several local homebuilders and asking the average square-foot construction cost in your area. If the going rate is $175, and your home is 2,000 square feet, you’d purchase $350,000 in coverage. For just a few bucks you can also order a valuation report online at a website like AccuCoverage ($7.95) or Home Smart Reports ($6.95).

Remember that any time you spend at least 5% of your home’s value on a remodeling project—or $5,000, whichever is less—you should contact your insurer to increase your coverage. Young recently did that after she revamped her own kitchen. An additional $40,000 in homeowners coverage raised her annual premium by about $40.

Don’t neglect valuables, liability
Be sure you’re also insured at the right value for your home’s contents and for personal liability. Most insurance polices provide only actual cash value on contents, says Lisa Lobo, vice president of underwriting operations at The Hartford in Southington, Conn. To get replacement cost coverage, you’ll need to purchase an endorsement. If you have valuables not covered by your policy—silverware, jewelry, furs—purchase endorsements for those, too.

Many people pay no attention to the liability coverage limits in their policies, but Walbert says that’s a mistake. If you have a dinner party and a guest falls down your front steps, you don’t want to be underinsured. In recent years the average liability claim for bodily injury and property damage has been $15,854. Walbert recently increased a homeowner’s liability coverage by several hundred thousand dollars for just $6 more per year.

If you’re concerned about increasing your premiums by adding endorsement after endorsement, ask whether you can save money by splitting your deductible, paying a higher amount for certain claims and a lower amount for others. Bundled endorsements can save you a few bucks, but only if you require them all. Take a pass on unneeded riders. Why spend $8 to $12 a year for $500 worth of refrigerated property coverage when you eat takeout every night?

G.M. Filisko is an attorney and award-winning writer who has been involved in insurance litigation. A frequent contributor to many national publications including Bankrate.com, REALTOR(R) Magazine, and the American Bar Association Journal, she specializes in real estate, personal finance, and legal topics.

Labels: buying a home, buying and selling a home, condo for sale, home for sale, real estate sales

An error in your CLUE insurance report can increase your homeowners insurance premium or even prevent you from getting coverage at all.

Errors or misleading information in your CLUE insurance report, which details the claims history of a person or property, can cost you. Worse, you may not even know there’s a mistake until you get turned down for homeowners insurance or see a huge jump in your premium.

Insurance companies use the claims history stored in the CLUE database-–CLUE is short for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange—as a principal factor in deciding if they will insure your home and how much that insurance will cost. So correcting a mistake or misstatement may bring you a direct financial savings. Unfortunately, the burden of proof is on you.

How to dispute report information
If you decide to contest information about a claim, your first step is to contact ChoicePoint, the owner of CLUE. You can either call the phone number listed on your CLUE report or write to P.O. Box 105292, Atlanta Ga. 30348. (The general toll-free number is 800-456-6004.) You can’t submit a dispute statement online. A-PLUS, operator of another claims-history database, follows a similar dispute procedure.

You’ll need to provide the following information to dispute a claim:

The CLUE reference number, which appears near the top of the report;

The name of the insurance company;

The date of the loss;

A brief explanation of the facts as you see them.

Once ChoicePoint gets your dispute statement, it will investigate the claim and contact your insurance company, if necessary. The investigation can take up to 30 days, according to a ChoicePoint spokesperson.

If ChoicePoint’s investigation supports your assertions, it will make changes in your CLUE file. Whether it agrees or not, the company will send you a letter explaining its findings within five days after the investigation is concluded. Many insurers offer a claim-free discount. Just 5% off means $40 in savings on an average annual premium of $804.

Setting the record straight
If you’re not satisfied with the results of the investigation, you can submit your side of the story. ChoicePoint will add your statement to any future CLUE reports that include the disputed claim.

Even if the claims information in your CLUE report isn’t wrong, you may decide the report doesn’t tell the whole story. You can add comments to any entry in your CLUE report to explain the circumstances of a claim. For example, perhaps you made a claim for damage to your roof after a limb from your neighbor’s tree broke off in a storm. Since then the neighbor has cut down the tree and you’ve repaired the roof. You could attach a comment to the claim history indicating that this problem won’t reoccur.

Look out for these common errors
What should you look for in checking your CLUE report? Of course, look for any claims that you didn’t file. You can also review the specific information about each claim for accuracy, in particular:

Social Security numbers. An incorrect number could mean someone else’s claims history is in your report;

Policy numbers. Check them against your original policy or your most recent bill;

Dates of claim. Since claims only remain on the report for seven years, an incorrect date could mean that the claim is listed for too long;

Amounts of claim. Be sure that these amounts agree with any payments you received.

If you haven’t owned your home for seven years, you might also want to contact the previous owners to verify that any claims they filed are stated correctly in the report. If you got a copy of ChoicePoint’s Home Seller’s Disclosure Report from the sellers when you purchased your home, you might also want to compare that report with the “Claims History for Risk” section of the current CLUE report. This part of the CLUE report lists recent claims related to your home, not just those you filed. One catch is that the Home Seller’s report, which shows the claims history of a property without divulging personal information about the sellers, only goes back five years.

Mariwyn Evans has spent 25 years writing about commercial and residential real estate. She’s the author of several books, including “Opportunities in Real Estate Careers,” as well as too many magazine articles to count.

Labels: buying a home, buying and selling a home, home buying process, purchasing condos

Paying all of your bills on time is one good way to improve your insurance score—and, in turn, lower your homeowners insurance premiums.

Most people expect the cost of homeowners insurance to go up after a claim is filed. But it may surprise you to know that how good you are at managing your finances can have just as big an effect on your premium as the tree that fell on your house.

Insurers look to your credit history to calculate an insurance score that’s used to judge how much of a financial risk you are. The lower the score, the higher the risk—and the higher the premium you’ll likely pay on your homeowners insurance. Don’t despair. There are strategies, including paying bills on time, that can help improve your insurance score.


Good credit pays off
Wondering what too many credit cards has to do with the limb that landed on your roof? More than you’d think, it turns out. Several studies have found that your credit history is a good indicator of how often you’re likely to file an insurance claim. Because more claims translate into more expense for insurance companies, homeowners with low insurances scores tend to be charged higher premiums.

Insurers claim the use of credit-based insurance scores is fair and actually works in favor of fiscally responsible consumers. A 2006 study found that 53% of Oregon policyholders paid lower premiums on homeowners insurance thanks to credit-based insurance scores. ECONorthwest, the group that conducted the research, estimated the average annual savings for policyholders nationwide at $60.

How your insurance score is calculated
Your insurance score starts with your credit report, a history of your credit use. What credit cards and loans do you have? What are the balances? How promptly do you pay? Your report also includes information gleaned from public records such as bankruptcies and liens. FICO is the best-known company that turns the information in credit reports into credit scores. FICO credit scores range from 300 to 850.

Insurers are less concerned than lenders about your ability to pay back a specific amount than your overall ability to manage money, says Allstate spokesman Adam Shores, especially whether you make late payments and how long since delinquencies took place. Your insurance claims history, as recorded in your CLUE report, also affects your insurance score. So can your age, the construction of your house, and whether you’ve installed smoke detectors and other safety equipment.

All of these data are crunched to come up with a numerical insurance score. This is where it gets tricky for homeowners. There isn’t a single source for insurance scores, and your insurer probably won’t tell you your score even if you ask. Some insurers employ proprietary formulas. Others use insurance scores calculated by companies like FICO and ChoicePoint, the latter of which will sell you your score for $12.95. ChoicePoint’s Attract insurance scores can range from 200 to 997, with a score over 776 considered good

Ways to raise your score
The most effective way to raise your insurance score is to improve your credit score. You’re entitled to free copies of your credit reports annually from the major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Order them and look for errors: Is your Social Security number correct? Are all the debts and credit cards yours? Do the balances jibe with your records? Errors can be disputed online.

If the information on your credit report is correct, there are still things you can do to improve your score. Paring down balances on credit cards is a big plus. Paying bills by the due date is another major factor, accounting for 35% of a FICO credit score. Time is also on your side. Most late payments are removed from your credit report after seven years. A few major problems such as a bankruptcy may stay on for a decade or more.

Mariwyn Evans has spent 25 years writing about commercial and residential real estate. She’s the author of several books, including “Opportunities in Real Estate Careers,” as well as too many magazine articles to count.

Labels: buying a home, buying and selling a home, home buying process

The right garage door is a key to enhancing curb appeal and can have a major impact on your home’s appearance and value.

The garage door is the largest working part of a house and often its most prominent feature. So when you’re buying, you want to choose carefully. The annual Cost vs. Value Report from Remodeling Magazine doesn’t track garage doors specifically, but the most recent report found that exterior improvements accounted for eight of the top 10 projects in terms of recouping value when a house sells. The right garage door can make or break many of those curb-appeal enhancements.

“Especially on houses where the garage is front and center, the garage door absolutely has to look good,” says Casey McGrath, a real estate practitioner in Kitsap County, Wash. And it has to operate smoothly: Americans use the garage more than any other entry to the house, including the front door, according to a survey commissioned by window and door manufacturer JELD-WEN.

What a garage door costs
A new door should cost significantly less than the amount it may add to the value of your house. For a standard door in wood or steel, installed costs typically range between $550 and $1,650 for a single door, and $800 to $2,500 for a double door. But if you’re looking at a heavy-duty aluminum door, or a custom-made design in exotic wood, the cost could easily reach $10,000.

Depending on the style and precise dimensions, two single doors may or may not be any more expensive than one double door. A second door opener adds $150 to $250.

Types of garage doors
Garage doors come in four basic types: They may swing out, swing up, roll up, or slide to the side.

Swing-out carriage-house doors or sliding barn doors are a good choice if you need to keep the ceiling clear or if you want their distinctive look. Otherwise, the most popular option by far is the sectional roll-up door.

Before purchasing a roll-up door, measure the space between the top of the garage door opening and the ceiling or overhead framing. Standard tracks require headroom of about 14 inches. If you don’t have that, you can get low-headroom track, which costs about $100 more. There are also tracks specially made for garages with unusually high walls or cathedral ceilings.

Choosing the right style
It’s important to pick a door that suits the style of your house. If you live in a Craftsman bungalow, for example, you might want something that looks like the swing-out doors found on garages behind early Craftsman houses. Manufacturers of modern roll-up doors make them in styles that mimic the old swing doors, complete with faux strap hinges on the sides and a pair of handles flanking a deep groove in the center.

Most styles, whether traditional or contemporary, feature panels, trim, and other detailing. Doors with true frame-and-panel construction tend to be sturdier than those with decorative detail that is merely glued or nailed on. Many styles have glass panels on the top row, which looks inviting from the street and brings daylight inside. You can also find roll-up doors with shatterproof glass or frosted plastic in all the panels, for a more modern look.

Common garage door materials

Wood: Wood offers a charm and authenticity that other materials merely mimic. Wood doors can be made locally in whatever size you need, and they stand up well to bumps from basketballs. The downside is that they require frequent repainting or refinishing, especially if you live in a damp climate.

Wood doors range from midprice to very expensive, depending on whether they consist of a lightweight wooden frame filled with foam insulation and wrapped in a plywood or hardboard skin (the least expensive) or are true frame-and-panel doors made of durable mahogany, redwood, or cedar. Wood doors usually carry a short warranty, perhaps only one year.

Steel: Metal is a better choice than wood if you don’t want a lot of maintenance. Steel leads the pack because it is relatively inexpensive yet tough. Bare steel rusts, so you need to touch up scratches promptly, and steel also dents.

Minimize this risk by choosing doors with sturdy 24- or 25-gauge panels rather than 27- or 28-gauge (the higher the gauge number, the thinner the metal). Or consider a steel door with a fiberglass overlay, which resists dents and doesn’t rust. Fiberglass will need periodic repainting or restaining, though, because the color fades over time.

High-quality steel doors may have lifetime warranties on the hardware, laminations between the steel and any insulation, and factory-applied paint. Budget doors tend to have shorter warranties on some components, such as paint and springs.

Aluminum: Inexpensive aluminum doors, once common, have largely been replaced by sturdy versions with heavy-duty extruded frames and dent-resistant laminated panels. Rugged and rust-proof, these are a wonderful choice—if you can spend $10,000 or so on a garage door.

Less expensive aluminum doors have aluminum frames and panels made of other materials, such as high-density polyethylene. Because of its light weight, aluminum is a good choice if you have an extra-wide double door; it won’t put as much strain on the operating mechanism.

Insulation and energy savings
Considering the size of a garage door, it might seem obvious that you should invest in one that’s insulated. Because of its sandwich construction, an insulated door is more durable, and the enclosed back panel gives a garage interior a more finished look.

But the insulation won’t save energy unless you heat the garage or treat your attached garage as part of the “conditioned” part of your house. The federal Energy Star program recommends against doing this if you park cars, store lawn chemicals, or use solvents there because it could let dangerous fumes inside; it’s better to insulate only the shared wall and use that as the indoor-outdoor boundary.

If you do have an insulated garage and are shopping for an insulated door, you might qualify for a federal tax credit for 30% of the cost of the door, up to a maximum credit of $1,500. Energy Star doesn’t certify garage doors, so you’ll have to check with the manufacturer or retailer to make sure your choice qualifies.

Jeanne Huber is a writer specializing in home-repair topics. She installed wooden sliding doors, found at a used building materials store, on her garage. The doors open manually and need frequent repainting—good lessons in why most people choose more modern options.

Labels: buying and selling a home, home staging, sell my house, staging your home for sale

You should understand the pros and cons of steel, fiberglass, and wood exterior doors before choosing the one that’s right for you.

Replacing your front door can pay for itself or even turn a profit by increasing your home’s value, according to Remodeling Magazine’s annual Cost vs. Value Report.

What’s more, if you choose an energy-efficient exterior door, you may qualify for a tax credit that can offset 30% of the purchase price as well as trim up to 10% off your energy bills. With utility bills averaging $2,200 annually, that’s a savings of as much as $220.

But how do you know which door is right for you? Make your decision by comparing the three main materials available for exterior doors: steel, fiberglass, and wood.

Steel
If you’re looking to save money, a steel door may be a good choice, particularly if you have the skills to hang it yourself. A simple, unadorned steel door can sell for as little as $150 (not including hardware, lock set, paint, or labor) and typically runs as much as $400 at big-box retailers. Steel offers the strongest barrier against intruders, although its advantage over fiberglass and wood in this area is slight.

Even better, replacing your entry door with a steel model actually reaps a profit in added home value. Remodeling Magazine estimates the total project cost of installing a 20-gauge steel door at about $1,200—and the project, on average, returns about 129% of cost or $1,400.

Still, the attractive cost of a steel door comes with an important caveat: Its typical life span under duress is shorter than either fiberglass or wood. A steel door exposed to salt air or heavy rains may last only five to seven years, according to Bob Bossard, general manager of 84 Lumber in Clarksville, Del. Despite steel’s reputation for toughness, it actually didn’t perform well in Consumer Reports testing against wood and fiberglass for normal wear and tear.

With heavy use, it may dent, and the damage can be difficult and expensive to repair. If your door will be heavily exposed to traffic or the elements, you may be better off choosing a different material.

Fiberglass
Fiberglass doors come in an immense variety of styles, many of which accurately mimic the look of real wood. And if limited upkeep is your ideal, fiberglass may be your best bet. “Nothing is maintenance-free,” Bossard says, “but fiberglass is pretty close. And it lasts twice as long as wood or steel.”

Fiberglass doesn’t expand or contract appreciably as the weather changes. Therefore, in a reasonably protected location, a fiberglass entry door can go for years without needing a paint or stain touch-up and can last 15 to 20 years overall. Although it feels light to the touch, fiberglass has a very stout coating that’s difficult for an intruder to breach; and its foam core offers considerable insulation.

Fiberglass generally falls between steel and wood in price; models sold at big-box stores range from about $150 to $600. Remodeling Magazine lists the cost of a fiberglass entry-door replacement project at around $3,500. Although a fiberglass door doesn’t generate as high a return as a steel door, it recoups about 65% in home value.

Wood
Wood is considered the go-to choice for high-end projects; its luxe look and substantial weight can’t be flawlessly duplicated by fiberglass or steel, though high-end fiberglass products are getting close. If your home calls for a stunning entry statement with a handcrafted touch, wood may be the best material for you.Wood is usually the most expensive choice of the three—roughly $500 to $2,000, excluding custom jobs—and requires the most maintenance, although it’s easier to repair scratches on a wood door than dents in steel or fiberglass. Wood doors should be repainted or refinished every year or two to prevent splitting and warping. (Remodeling Magazine’s 2009-2010 Cost vs. Value Report doesn’t include a wood entry-door replacement project.)

If you’re concerned about the environmental impact of your door as well as its energy efficiency, you can purchase a solid wood door certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which assures you that the wood was sustainably grown and harvested.

Tracing the environmental impact of a particular door—from manufacturing process to shipping distance to how much recycled/recyclable content it contains—is quite complicated and probably beyond the ken of the average homeowner, notes LEED-certified green designer Victoria Schomer. But FSC-certified wood and an Energy Star rating are an excellent start.

A final note on choosing a door based on energy efficiency: Because efficiency depends on a number of factors besides the material a door is made of—including its framework and whether it has windows—look for the Energy Star label to help you compare doors. To qualify for the federal tax credit, look for solar heat gain coefficient and U-factor values less than 0.3.

Karin Beuerlein has covered home improvement and green living topics extensively for FineLiving.com, FrontDoor.com, and HGTV.com. In more than a decade of freelancing, she’s also written for Better Homes & Gardens and the Chicago Tribune. She and her husband started married life by remodeling the house they were living in. They still have both the marriage and the house, no small feat.

Labels: buying and selling a home, home staging, sell my house, staging your home for sale

A well-landscaped yard creates curb appeal and helps your property retain maximum value.

A beautiful yard is a head-turner, no doubt about it. The good news is that even if you can’t tell a tulip from a turnip at the garden center, you can still create eye-catching curb appeal by paying attention to the basics of good landscaping. Ignoring your yard—or doing something that’s out of character with the neighborhood—can jeopardize the assessed value of your home.

“We have several categories for design and appeal,“ says Frank Lucco, a real estate agent and professional appraiser in Houston. “That’s where we make those adjustments. Poorly maintained landscaping can be as much as a 5 or 10% deduction.”

Appraisers are quick to praise the allure of a well-tended lawn and good-looking landscaping when it comes time to sell your home, but most do not assign any specific increase in monetary value for upkeep.

“Landscaping is going to add to the appeal of the property and it may sell quicker, but it’s hard to determine value,” says John Bredemeyer, president of Omaha-based Realcorp. “You have to have a number to compensate someone if you drove into their tree and killed it, but is it really market value? Probably not.”

Nevertheless, most professionals agree that curb appeal and a well-maintained appearance prevent your property from losing value. Here are the top suggestions from real estate agents, appraisers, and landscape designers for boosting the curb appeal of your yard:

Green up the grass
If your house has a front yard, make sure it‘s neat and green. You don’t want bare spots, sprawling weeds, or an untrimmed appearance.

“It’s so simple to go to Home Depot, buy fertilizer, apply it every six weeks, and water it,” says Mitch Kalamian, a landscape designer in Huntinginton Beach, Calif. “It will green up.”

If the yard looks really scruffy, you may decide to invest in some sod. According to the National Gardening Association, the average cost of sod is 15 to 35 cents per sq. ft. If you hire a landscaper to sod your yard for you, labor will add 30% to 50% to the total cost of the project.

Another alternative is to plant low-maintenance turf grasses. Turf grasses are durable and drought-resistant. Expect to pay $18 to $30 for enough turf grass seed to plant 1,000 sq. ft. of lawn area.

Add colorful planting beds
Flower beds add color and help enliven otherwise plain areas, such as along driveways and the edges of walkways. In general, annual flowers are a bit cheaper but must be replaced every year. Perennials cost a bit more but come back annually and usually get larger or spread with each growing season.

If you’re not sure what to plant, inquire at your local garden center. Often, they’ll have a display of bedding plants chosen for their adaptability to your area. Also, they‘ll be inexpensive because they’re in season, says Peter Mezitt, president of Weston Nurseries in Hopkinton, Mass. Try pansies in the summer, and asters and mums in the fall to add vibrant color. “That’s what we do around the entrance to our garden center,” Mezitt says.

Valerie Torelli, a California REALTOR® who dresses up her clients’ yards to sell their houses faster and for more money, says that in her market, she can put in a bed of colorful annuals and bark, as well as cutting down overgrown shrubs, for less than $500. “We can buy gorgeous plants for $3.99 to $15.99,” she says.

Add landscape lighting
For homeowners who have made a sizeable investment in landscaping, it makes sense to think about adding another 10% to 15% to the bill for professional lighting. “You can’t see landscaping after dark,“ says Brandon Stephens, vice president of marketing for a landscape lighting firm in Lubbock, Texas, “and buyers are not always looking at houses on a Saturday afternoon.”

The cost of a system runs from $200 for a DIY installation to more than $4,000 for a professional job. If you‘re doing it on your own, the key is to light what you want people to see, such as mature trees and flowering shrubs.

Plant a tree
The value of mature trees is particularly difficult to determine. Lucco says that in his market, mature trees contribute as much as 10% of a $100,000 property’s overall value. In addition, a properly placed shade tree can shave as much as $32 a year on your energy bills. Expect to pay $50 to $100 for a young, 6- to 7-foot deciduous tree.

You can make your own initial assessment of the value of your property’s trees by visiting the National Tree Benefit Calculator. For example, a mature Southern red oak tree with a diameter of 36 inches in the front yard of a house in Augusta, Ga., would add $70 to the property value this year, according to the calculator.

Georgia-based freelance writer Pat Curry writes extensively about housing and real estate for consumer and trade publications. While a fair hand at remodeling, she is hopeless as a gardener. As a result, her landscaping is made up of plants that thrive on neglect

Labels: home staging, homes for sale., housing, staging your home for sale

Appraisers and real estate agents offer advice for curb appeal that preserves value and attracts potential buyers.

Curb appeal has always been important for homesellers. With the vast majority of today’s homebuyers starting their search on the Internet, the appearance of your property is more critical than ever. You only have a few seconds to catch their attention as they scroll through listings online to get them to stop and take a closer look.

But the role of curb appeal goes beyond just making a good first impression. The way your house looks from the street can impact its value. It can also shorten the time it takes to sell your house.

We asked real estate agents, appraisers, home stagers, landscape designers, and home inspectors which curb appeal projects offer the most value when your house is on the market, both in terms of its marketability and dollars. Here is what they told us:

1. Paint the house.
Hands down, the most commonly offered curb appeal advice from our real estate pros and appraisers is to give the exterior of your home a good paint job. Buyers will instantly notice it and appraisers will note it on the valuation.

“Paint is probably the number one thing inside and out,” says Frank Lucco, managing partner of Houston-based IRR-Residential Appraisers and Consultants. “I’d give additional value for that. If you’re under two years remaining life (on the paint job), paint the exterior because it tends to show wear badly.”

Just make sure you stay within the range of accepted colors for your market. A house that’s painted a wildly different color from its competition will be marked down in value by appraisers.

2. Have the house washed.
Before you make the investment in a paint job, though, take a good look at the house. If it’s got mildew or general grunge, just washing the house could make a world of difference, says Valerie Torelli, a California real estate agent with a background in accounting.

Before she puts a house on the market, Torelli often does exterior makeovers on her clients’ homes, a service she pays for herself to get higher selling prices. Overall, she says her goal is to spend less than $5,000, with a goal of generating an extra $10,000 to $15,000 on the sale price.

Torelli specifies pressure-washing—a job that should be left to professionals. Pressure washing makes the house look “bright and clean in addition to getting rid of unsightly things like cobwebs, which may not be seen from the yard but will detract from the home’s cleanliness when seen up close,” she says.

The cost to have a professional cleaning should be a few hundred dollars—a fraction of the cost of having the house painted.

3. Trim the shrubs and green up the yard.
California real estate agent Valerie Torelli says she puts a lot of emphasis on landscaping, such as cutting down overgrown bushes and replacing them with leafy plants and annuals mulched with beautiful reddish-brown bark. “It runs me $30 to $50,” says Torelli. “Do you get a return on your money? Absolutely. It sucks people in.
”You also don’t want bare spots. Take the time to fertilize the yard, throw out some grass seed, and if need be, add some sod.

4. Add a splash of color.
It could be a flower bed of annuals by the mailbox, a paint job for the front door, or a brightly colored bench or an Adirondack chair. “You can get a cute little bench at Home Depot for $99,“ Torelli notes. “Spray paint it bright red or blue and set it in the yard or on the front porch."

It’s not a bad idea, but don’t plan on getting extra points from an appraiser for a red bench, says John Bredemeyer, president of Realcorp in Omaha. “It’s difficult to quantify, but it does make a home sell more quickly,” Bredemeyer says. “Maybe yours sold a couple weeks faster than the house down the street. That’s the best way to look at these things.”

5. Add a fancy mailbox and house numbers.
An upscale mail box and architectural house numbers or an address plaque can give your house a distinctive look that stands out from everyone else on the block. Torelli makes them a part of her exterior makeovers “I’ve gotten those hand-painted mailboxes,” she says. “A nice one runs you $40 to $50.” Architectural house numbers may run as high as a few hundred dollars.

6. Repair or clean the roof.
Springfield, Va.-based home inspector and former builder Reggie Marston says the roof is one of the first things he looks at in assessing the condition of a home. He’ll look at other houses in the neighborhood to see if there are a lot of replaced roofs and see if the subject house has one as well. If not, he’ll look for curls in the shingles or missing shingles. “I’m looking at the roof for end-of-life expectancy,” he says.
You can pay for roof repairs now, or pay for them later in a lower appraisal; appraisers will mark down the value by the cost of the repair. That could knock thousands of dollars off your appraisal. According to Remodeling Magazine’s 2009-2010 Cost vs. Value Report, the average cost of a new asphalt shingle roof is more than $19,000.
“Roofs are issues,” Lucco says. “You won’t throw money away on that job. You gotta have a decent roof.
”Stains and plant matter, such as moss, can be handled with cleaning. It’s a job that can often be done in a day for a few hundred dollars, and makes the roof look like new. It’s not a DIY project; call a professional with the right tools to clean it without damaging it.

7. Put up a fence.
A picket fence with a garden gate to frame the yard is an asset. A fence has more impact in a family-oriented neighborhood than an upscale retirement community, Bredemeyer says, but in most instances, appraisers will give extra value for one, as long as it’s in good condition. “Day in a day out, a fence is a plus,“ Bredemeyer says. Expect to pay $2,000 to $3,500 for a professionally installed gated picket fence 3 feet high and 100 feet long.

8. Perform routine maintenance and cleaning.
Nothing sets off subconscious alarms like hanging gutters, missing bricks from the front steps, or lawn tools rusting in the bushes. It makes even the professionals question what else hasn’t been taken care of.
“A house is worth less if the maintenance isn’t done,” Lucco says. “Those little things can add up and be a very big detractor. When people say, ‘I’d buy it if it weren’t for all the deferred maintenance,’ what they’re really saying is, ‘I’d still buy it if you reduce the price.’”

Georgia-based freelance writer Pat Curry has covered housing and real estate for consumer and trade publications for more than a decade, including covering new home sales and marketing for BUILDER, the magazine of the National Association of Home Builders.

Labels: buying and selling a home, home staging, sell my house, staging your home for sale

Well-planned outdoor lighting improves curb appeal, safety, and security for your home.

Think about it: Most of your guests (and if your home is on the market, many would-be buyers) see your home only in the evening, when its best features may be lost in the shadows. Well-executed outdoor lighting enhances architectural detail and plays up landscape features, casting your home in the best possible light and adding an abundance of curb appeal.

Outdoor lighting also adds value. Judith Patriski, an appraiser and owner of Quad Realty Co. near Cleveland, estimates that for upper-bracket homes, an investment in outdoor lighting can yield a 50% return. “When you pull into a driveway and see a gorgeous home, you’re going to pay more for it,” says Patriski.

And she emphasizes that it’s not only about aesthetics: “In all price ranges, lighting for security is important”—both to protect against intruders and falls. Here are the elements of successful outdoor lighting.

Mimicking moonlight
Much of the success of exterior lighting hinges on its design. Hang around lighting designers long enough and you’ll hear a lot of talk about “moonlight effect.” That’s a naturalistic look that features light no more intense than that of a full moon, but still strong enough to make beautiful shadows and intense highlights.

Other techniques outdoor lighting designers use:

Highlight trees: Whether illumined from below or given presence by a light mounted in the tree itself, trees make stunning features.

Use uplights: Uplighting is dramatic because we expect light to shine downward. Used in moderation, it’s a great way to highlight architectural and landscaping features.

Have a focus: The entryway is often center stage, a way of saying, “Welcome, this way in.”
Combine beauty and function: For example, adding lighting to plantings along a pathway breaks up the “runway” look of too many lights strung alongside a walk.

Vary the fixtures: While the workhorses are spots and floods, designers turn to a wide range of fixtures, area lights, step lights, and bollards or post lights.

Stick to warm light: A rainbow of colors are possible, but most designers avoid anything but warm white light, preferring to showcase the house and its landscape rather than create a light show.
Orchestrate: A timer, with confirmation from a photocell, brings the display to life as the sun sets. At midnight it shuts shut down everything but security lighting. Some homeowners even set the timer to light things up an hour or so before dawn.

Adding safety and security
Falls are the foremost cause of home injury, according to the Home Safety Council. Outdoors, stair and pathway lighting help eliminate such hazards.

Often safety and security can be combined. For example, motion-detecting security lighting mounted near the garage provides illumination when you get out of your car at night; the same function deters intruders. Motion detecting switches can also be applied to landscape lighting to illumine shadowy areas should anyone walk nearby.

Even the moonlight effect has a security function: Soft, overall landscape lighting eliminates dark areas that might hide an intruder, exposing any movement on your property. Overly bright lights actually have a negative effect, creating undesirable pockets of deep shadow.

Switching to LEDs
Once disparaged for their high cost and cold bluish glow, LEDs are now the light source of choice for lighting designers. “They’ve come down in price and now have that warm light people love in incandescent bulbs,” says Paul Gosselin, owner of Night Scenes Landscape Lighting Professionals in Kingsland, Texas. “We haven’t installed anything but LEDs for the last year."

Although LED fixtures remain twice as expensive as incandescents, installation is simpler because they use low-voltage wiring. “All in all, LEDs cost only about 25% more to install,” Gosselin says. “And they’ll save about 75% on your electricity bill.”

Another advantage is long life. LEDs last at least 40,000 hours, or about 18 years of nighttime service. With that kind of longevity, “why should a fixture have only a two-year warranty?” asks Gosselin. He advises buying only fixtures with a 15-year warranty, proof that the fixture’s housing is designed to live as long as the LED bulbs inside.

Innovations
The growing popularity of exterior lighting has led to innovative fixtures. Here are some bright new ideas:
Solar lighting: When first introduced, solar pathway lights produced a dull glow that rarely made it through the night. They do much better now that they are equipped with electricity-sipping LEDs, more efficient photovoltaic cells, and better batteries. Still, they have yet to measure up to hard-wired systems.

Hybrids: Porch lights now come equipped with LED lighting for all night use, and a motion sensor that clicks on an incandescent bulb to provide extra illumination as you approach the front door. Hybrids use about 5% of the power a solely incandescent fixture requires.

Barbecue light: Tired of grilling steaks by flash light? Now you can buy a gooseneck outdoor light, ideal for an outdoor kitchen.

Estimating the cost
Total outdoor lighting costs will vary according to the size of your home and the complexity of your lighting scheme. Expect to pay about $325 for each installed LED fixture. LEDs also require a transformer to step the power down from 120 volts to 12 volts, running about $400 installed.

A motion detector security light costs about $150 installed. Porch lights and sconces range from $100 to $250 installed, depending the fixture and whether running new cable is necessary.

Contractor-installed outdoor lighting for an average, two-story, 2,200 sq. ft. house might add up as follows:

7 fixtures to cover 100 feet of LED pathway lighting: $2,275

Transformer: $400

4 LED uplights to dramatize the front of the house: $1,300

2 LED area lights for plantings: $650

2 motion detector security lights: $300

Total cost: $4,925

Dave Toht has written or edited more than 60 books on home repair and remodeling, including titles for The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Better Homes & Gardens, Sunset, and Reader’s Digest. A former contractor, Dave was editor of Remodeling Ideas magazine and continues to contribute to numerous how-to publications.

Labels: home staging, sell my house, staging your home for sale