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Helping Build Life Long Relationship - Need Help ? Yes We Can be.....

by Tom Stachler,ABR,CDPE - Group One Realty Team

Always Here to Help - Let us Hear from you for Any Reason

I am inviting you to stop by our website often at www.SalineRealty.com where I post blogs and other information in my effort to keep the community informed about what is happening in the local real estate market.

Also, I just wanted to take a moment to let you know that I value you and your good will.  I hope someday we will have the opportunity to work together again however, building life long relationships is what gives me the greatest joy and satisfaction in my career as a Broker/Realtor®.

I would be happy to mail you a copy of my personal brochure to give you a little more background information about me and my business philosophy.  I hope you will take a moment to request and later read it.  My objective is to become your Realtor®/Broker long before you actually need one.  I hope when you have a real estate need, question or contractor discount referral,  you will give me the opportunity to help you even if its just a recommendation or perhaps guide you to one of the many resources found on my various websites that are also just waiting to serve you. 

Even if you aren’t planning to buy or sell a Home for years, I want you to feel comfortable calling me if you have any questions about real estate, your home care or the community.

I am here to help you in any way I can. 

I look forward to building Life Long Relationships with the people I meet.   We can also help with finding or marketing any property as a trusted advisor.  

We don't sell Real estate, rather we smoothly help people change their lives.  

Click this link if you are Looking for Real Estate for Sale in Ann Arbor Michigan or the surrounding areas

Looking for a quick ballpark price on your property?  Get instant automatic Results......Try our new self serve web service at www.MyPrice.Guru and let us know what you think.  

Have a great day!   

 

 

 

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Thinking Smart about Home Improvements

by Tom Stachler,ABR,CDPE - Group One Realty Team

Summer is the perfect time to think about Home improvements, but thinking smart about home improvements is critical. Use these guidelines when trying decide what home projects to tackle next:

 

  • The first thing to think about is the return on your investment. Building an addition is costly and is best weighed against how much longer you plan on owning your home. Understanding how much value a project adds to your home or how much your family will enjoy the new features will help you make a better decision about what projects are worth doing.
  • When considering home improvements, be careful not to price yourself out of the market. Adding a large addition to a home that is in a neighborhood of smaller homes may limit the return that you can get on your investment.
  • Make your money go further. While a complete remodel is nice, often giving the room a "facelift" is a good alternative and is less pricey than the remodel.
  • Adding curb appeal is always a great home improvement project. New flowers, trees, pavers, and more can add a polished appearance to the exterior of a home.
  • Updating appliances and choosing energy efficiency models is always a good idea. Not only will the new appliances help to modernize your home, they will also save money when it comes to energy costs.
  • Instead of adding on to your home, reinventing the existing space is a great way to be smart about a home improvement project. Turning an unused room, attic, or closet into a space that can be used is a great way to make your money go further.
  • Since a bathroom or kitchen remodel can get pretty pricey, a great solution is to replace fixtures and hardware. The change is definitely noticeable and budget-friendly.

Thinking smart about home improvements not only saves time and money, but it also helps to ensure that the homeowners receive the full benefit of their investment.

 

Creating a Functional Backyard

by Tom Stachler,ABR,CDPE - Group One Realty Team

Summer is here and with it comes children playing outside, backyard barbecues, and time spent enjoying the summer sun. Creating a functional backyard can be an easy process and is attainable on any budget. Use these tips to create the backyard of your dreams:

  • Adding a deck to a Home helps to extend the indoor living space and greatly adds to the outdoor appeal. In addition to helping to define the space, a deck provides a place for seating, dining, and entertaining. It is estimated that almost 88% of the cost of a deck is recouped when a home is sold.
  • Whether it is constructed from wood, bricks, or stone, a patio provides the perfect setting for outdoor gatherings. This budget-friendly backyard addition can be personalized with a fire ring, flowers, patio furniture, or a wide-variety of other items. Small patios help to create an intimate feel in a garden, while a larger area is ideal for entertaining.
  • Gardens are a great way to add personality and color to a space. Whether it is flowers or vegetables, a garden is something that provides beauty, enjoyment, and produce. Adding a water feature to the garden continues to enhance the space.
  • Adding a sunroom is the ultimate way to create a functional backyard space. A sunroom provides a comfortable way to enjoy the sights and sounds of nature while also containing a protective element during inclement weather. Sunrooms are noted as one of the top ten ways to add value to your home, and coming in at about half of the cost of a regular room, it is easy to see why sunrooms appeals to so many people.
Creating a functional backyard helps to define the outdoor spaces of your home, showcases your personal style, and adds value to your home. With outdoor living spaces being in high demand from home buyers, a little time improving your outdoor spaces could pay off.

Energy-Efficient Mortgages

by Tom Stachler,ABR,CDPE - Group One Realty Team

Homeowners who are interested in improving the efficiency of their homes can consider taking out an energy-efficient mortgages. Energy-efficient mortgages are loans that can be taken out to finance upgrades on a Home that will benefit both the homeowner and the community by working to reduce the carbon footprint of the property. Typically, expenses involved with making the upgrades are added to the overall mortgage loan so that additional loans do not need to be taken out by the homeowner to make the upgrades.

An important aspect of an energy-efficient mortgage (or an EEM) is that they can feature exceptions to debt-to-income rules that restrict homeowners from taking out additional financing. Therefore, a homeowner who takes at an EEM can borrow more money to put toward his or her home than would be possible through a traditional mortgage. These exceptions are justified due to the fact that- despite the fact that initial expenses will be higher- the EEM should reduce the cost of living in the home and maintaining the home over time. However, taking out an EEM requires an energy audit carried out by a recognized expert to prove the benefits of the proposed energy-efficient upgrades.

There are three types of EEMs: the conventional EEM, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) EEM, and the Veterans Administration (VA) EEMs. Below is an explanation of each type.

  • Conventional EEMs- This is the most common of all of the different EEMs. When a lender is determining whether or not a given energy-efficiency update can be financed, that lender can factor the future energy savings that will be brought about by the update into the borrower's income when determining the borrower's debt-to-income ratio. In this way, the homeowner can borrow more money and still be within applicable debt-to-income rules.
  • FHA EEMs- There are a variety of different underwriting conditions that need to be met for a homeowner to take out a FHA EEM. Through this type of EEM, the homeowner can borrow whichever amount is less: the overall expenses involved with the improvements/inspections, or the lesser amount of either 5 percent of the property's value, 115 percent of the median price on a single family home in the area, or 150 percent of the loan limit specified by Freddie Mac.
  • VA EEMs- This type of EEM is available to qualifying veterans, and it can consist of a loan of anywhere between $3,000 and $6,000.

Four Spring Projects to Boost Your Home's Curb Appeal

by Tom Stachler,ABR,CDPE - Group One Realty Team

Spring is a great time to get to work on the following four spring projects to boost your Home's curb appeal that can help improve the exterior appearance of your home. The warm weather means that more people will be out and about in your neighborhood, and you might want to put some effort into making your home look presentable from the road- especially if it's currently on the market and you're looking for a buyer.

Consider the following four maintenance projects if you're keen on making your home look great this spring:

  • Implement a landscape design- Unfortunately, many homeowners engage in landscaping efforts as something of an afterthought. Yet if you get started in the spring, you can revolutionize your home's landscaping and make it so that you're home's surroundings grab the attentions of passersby.
  • Make some touch-ups- As time goes on, the paint job on your home will begin to look aged. A great way to drastically change the appearance of your home through one simple home improvement job is to repaint or touch up the paint job on the exterior of your home. You should also consider pressure washing the surface of your home's exterior to prevent infestations of mildew or mold.
  • Fix up your roof- Any flaws on the roof of your home are very noticeable to those viewing the exterior of your home from a distance. Not only do saggy gutters and missing or damaged shingles look bad, but they can also make your home susceptible to the elements. Protect your home from leaks and other water damage caused by an aging roof by fixing up your roof and gutters this spring.
  • Fence off your yard- If there is a fence that marks your yard's boundaries, you should pay attention to how it's looking. A fence that looks old and damaged can give a home a rundown look. A simple paint job or a pressure washing can work wonders in improving the appearance of your fence. Best of all, this job doesn't typically take up much time. Fixing up your fence should be doable in a weekend, but it makes a big difference in the appearance of the exterior of your home.

You're got plenty of time to engage in one or all of these four spring projects to boost your home's curb appeal to make your home look great this summer!

Displaying blog entries 1-5 of 5

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