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Happy New Year Everyone
May the Coming New Year be your Best One yet!
Tom Stachler is a State of Michigan Real Estate Broker and Builder specializing in the Ann Arbor and Saline markets with New Construction in Milan Michigan. Check out the handy Links on this website to view homes and Condos for Sale or Lease.
Some of us watch TV every night in our living rooms, while for some, the living room is strictly for entertaining company. Whatever role your living room plays in your Home, odds are good that it’s due for an update — or at least a little freshening up! Once the holidays are over, many of us fall into a bit of a post-holiday funk, and a living room re-do can be just the thing to lift your spirits and provide an indoor project to see you through the cold and gloom of January and February weekends. The best part? You don’t necessarily need a big budget to make noticeable — and stylish — living room design changes!
Even if the most you can see your way clear to spend is $100, you can still make some high-impact changes to your room. Here’s a little inspiration …
Got between $200 and $300 to spend? You can build on the inexpensive (or free) stuff listed above to spruce up your living room design …
If you’ve got your heart set on a completely new look but your budget can’t handle the strain, relax. You can stretch the project over the entire winter, so focus on making one change at a time and don’t sweat making slower progress than you would if you had a few thousand dollars to spare! Some examples …
Keep in mind that pricier living room design updates can be done in stages. Even if it takes you months — or even years — to accomplish all of your living room decorating updates, you’ll end up with a beautiful new living room that’ll make you and your family happy and comfortable for years to come!
Tom Stachler is a licensed Real Estate Broker specializing in the Ann Arbor, Saline, Dexter, Ypsilanti and surrounding markets. Please stop check out the helpful Links above for more information.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The smell of pine and cinnamon, cookies baking in the oven, lights twinkling inside and outside your home, and…
An enormous electric bill. Ouch.
The holidays in America are known for being a little over the top, and excessive energy consumption from lights, decorations and appliances are no exception. While it may be exciting to make your house light up like a beacon that can be seen from outer space, it’s not actually that great for your wallet (or the planet, for that matter).
If you’re thinking about having a greener holiday season, try the following tips:
Use Better Lights
Based on a report from WIRED, Americans spend an extra $233 million on utility bills each year because of holiday lights. To keep your energy consumption in check this season, try LED or energy-efficient bulbs instead of traditional ones. Incandescent lights draw up to 90 percent more watts than LED lights, so switching to LED strands—or going with wreaths, bows and lawn ornaments that don’t use energy—can save you a ton.
Use Smart Plugs
It’s easy to forget to unplug decorations and lights, but doing so can make a real ding in your monthly budget. That’s where smart plugs come in handy. Smart plugs monitor your energy usage and break it down into an easy report each month so that you know exactly how much energy your holiday decorations consume.
Some smart plugs can also be programmed to run on a timer or manually from an app on your smart device. When you’re toasty in bed, you can turn off your lights to save on energy. Plus, if you’re away on vacation, you can pull a "Home Alone" and make it look like you’re home, which can help deter holiday theft.
Cook Wisely and in Batches
Holiday cooking is one of the best parts of the season. (Hello, pumpkin pie.) But, firing up the oven and stove accounts for 4.5 percent of your home’s energy consumption, and that number jumps to 15 percent if you add in the energy your fridge and other kitchen appliances consume. This season, when you’re making lots of cookies, roasts and goodies, remember to bake in batches so you don’t waste energy heating and re-heating the oven.
Also, use appropriately-sized cookware. Glass or ceramic pots and pans can be heated to 25 degrees less than recipes recommend, and cast iron retains heat easier, making these types of cookware a good option to help you save more on energy costs. You can even go green entirely by making recipes that require low or no energy to prepare. And don’t forget that the oven will act as a temporary space heater when you're cooking, so be sure to turn down your thermostat.
Light a Fire
A roasting fire is a festive holiday accessory—and it’s a great way to cut down on grid-powered electricity this season. Fireplaces can actually be an eco-friendly (and super cozy) way to heat your home. You don’t even need chestnuts to get the full effect.
As you’re doing this, try keeping your thermostat 7 - 10 degrees cooler than normal for eight hours per day to save up to 10 percent on your utility bills. For example, you could turn your thermostat down early in the morning and at night, then turn it up during the day. It’s sweater weather after all, so bundle up and let a fire warm you.
Use Your Foyer Wisely
The more the merrier, but when guests come and go for the holidays, your home can lose a lot of heat through the opening and shutting of doors. Try adding a draft-blocking device to insulate your home. You should also open other doors inside your home to increase proper air circulation and make it easier for your furnace to heat the space.
Trying to make your home eco-friendly through the holidays doesn’t have to be a burden. In fact, besides saving you some serious change and reducing your carbon footprint, it can actually be a holiday mood booster as you make things more nostalgic and cozy. Who knows? You might even create a new holiday tradition.
Happy Holidays Everyone !
Just want to wish you all and joyous holiday season. Check out the short video we made for you below ;-)
Tom Stachler is a licensed Real Estate Broker specializing in the Ann Arbor, Saline, Dexter, Ypsilanti and surrounding markets. Please stop check out the helpful Links above for more information.
Before the internet, Buying a Home involved long hours of flipping through MLS books and driving prospects around neighborhoods; something many agents just didn’t have time to do during the busy holiday season. Now that buyers are able to search, filter, and scan through potential listings without leaving their couch; home buying during the holidays has never been easier. Here are three reasons why you should list during the holiday season.
The smaller number of listed properties can work out in your favor since more potential buyers can potentially see your client’s home. Make sure you take advantage of this opportunity by keeping your home show-ready at all times and having the best listing price possible. If your home has been on the market for a while, this may be an opportune time to consider a price adjustment or contacting us to discuss our full service marketing plans.
selling a home over the holiday season enhances the emotional connection that a potential buyer can make with your client’s home. Foster this opportunity by staging your home accordingly. Since different types of potential buyers will be coming to visit, avoid including overly religious decor. Instead, opt for simple and classic, such as a wreath on the door, a simple tree devoid of children’s popsicle-stick decorations in the main room, and subtle garland in the kitchen. Also, consider burning a pine or cranberry-scented candle for those buyers who come over for a tour.
Tom Stachler is a Michigan licensed real estate Broker and Builder working in the Ann Arbor, Saline and Dexter Real Estate markets. Please refer to the helpful Links above for more information about Buying or selling real estate, homes and condos when searching for one of the area's best real estate brokers.
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