Staging Your Home Like a Pro
Are you considering putting your house up for sale, but not sure where to start? Afraid it will take too long to sell, or that you won't get the price you want? Think about staging your home, or in other words, setting the scene for immediate buyer interest in your property.
To be really effective, you need to look at both the outside and the inside of your home. Here are 3 tips to get you started with the inside of your home:
1. De-clutter. This is one of the most important things you can do. It might be easier to think of de-cluttering like this you're moving anyway, so why not start packing now?
Pack up everything you don't need and store the boxes out of sight in the garage (or consider temporarily renting a small storage locker).
2. Organize your closets – put similar colors together, pants together, skirts together, shirts together etc. Why? Because it will make the closets look bigger. (Really.) An organized closet appears bigger, and you want your closets to look as spacious as possible.
3. Make your home look like a model. You want to de-personalize as much as possible so potential buyers can imagine themselves and their own belongings occupying the space in your house. That means minimizing , putting away everything you don't need or use. Clear off kitchen counters as much as possible , stash all those appliances you don't use, and put miscellaneous small clutter in a few attractive baskets or boxes
And the biggest tip of all? Imagine yourself as a potential buyer looking at your property for the very first time. What impressions are you getting? Would YOU buy your house? What would you like to see changed before you put an offer on your house?
And don't worry about spending several thousand dollars to get your house ready to sell you'll get it all back when your house sells. Proper staging helps you sell your house in a shorter time and at the price you want.
Stucco for Energy Savings and Home Improvement
The main reasons for any home renovation is to improve or upgrade your house, although renovations can disrupt your life and can sometimes be costly. An added upside to home renovations is the modern energy-saving technology that can be included in the renovation these days. Any of which can save you money in the long-run. For example, installing new windows can cut down on energy costs. Modern appliances can reduce energy consumption.
One great way for homeowners to save money is to install stucco, or the high-tech version, called Exterior Insulation and Finish System, or EIFS. Most homeowners refer to EIFS as stucco because of the similarity of the look finished products. Stucco is not the same thing as EIFS, and vice versa.
Stucco is applied wet and dries as a very durable, dense coating. Century old homes made with stucco and are witness to stucco’s durability. EIFS is composed of three separate layers and while very aesthetically similar to stucco, it has many more energy-efficient properties than traditional stucco.
So what are the reason why should you choose stucco or EIFS for your next home improvement project? Aside from the obvious cosmetic benefits, EIFS is also a great insulation. In contrast, traditional stucco is not as effective for insulation, as it is applied right onto concrete or brick, whereas EIFS can be installed onto those as well as masonry, plywood and gypsum-based sheathings. This versatility in combination with the multiple layers is what makes EIFS so energy-efficient. Although most contractors don't do traditional stucco any more, there are still good quality stucco contractors out there. If you think that your home has adequate insulation, and just want to update the outside of your home, stucco is the less expensive option. Of course, alternatively, long-term savings costs associated with the added energy efficiency of EIFS might be beneficial to some homeowners.
Applying stucco is an art that takes years to master, and installing it properly so it will last, requires extensive knowledge and experience. Choosing the right contractor for the job is a minefield of fly-by-night operations and shoddy sub-contractors, and combined with the many nightmare stories you may see on home themed TV shows , it is understandable that most homeowners view home renovations with more than a little trepidation.
This is the reason why organizations such as StuccoContractors.ca exist. They have a team of personally chosen contractors that they have worked with extensively , for a minimum of 5 years. These contractors who specialize in stucco and EIFS, so homeowners can be assured that the project will not just get handed off to an inexperienced sub-contractor.
This is a Canada-wide service, so no matter where you live in the Great White North, you can be sure that you'll be matched up with the right contractors for the project. Homeowners who are seeking expert stucco or EIFS installment should look for a local stucco contractor who homeowners trust.
With any major renovation project that you might think of undertaking, research all the aspects of the project before beginning. There are so many options to improve the value of your home these days; make sure the choices are right for you and your home.