SMELLS

Bad smells kill deals. First impressions and favorable impressions are SOOOO important! You don't want a strong smell to be the first impression a buyer has of your home.


Common Odors
- cigarette smoke
- cooking (i.e., curry, rice, garlic)
- pets
- mildew (i.e., basement)
- air fresheners
- garbage (remove your kitchen garbage frequently)

Remedies
Covering an odor should be your last resort. Call me paranoid but when I smell air freshener, I always ask what is being covered up.
Do use
- a drop or two of vanilla or one or two cinnamon sticks in boiling water
- carpet deodorizer before vacuuming
- candles - use caution if leaving them unattended!
- fresh baked bread or cookies
- open windows
- commercial odor removal services (such as "The Odor Man")

Don't use
- plug in air fresheners
- perfumes

As a buyer, look for the warning signs that air fresheners may offer. As a seller, watch out for the warning signs that air fresheners may be sending.
Remember, bad smells kill deals!

Landscaping Feng Shui:
First off, you might be wondering what the heck Feng Shui is. Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of space which is claimed to achieve harmony with the environment. There are many people now days that decorate their home using Feng Shui beliefs. They now offer classes at local community centers that offer Feng Shui classes. I am going to give you a few landscaping Feng Shui tips from one of my Feng Shui books.



1. Create a welcoming feeling at the entrance to your home.

Placing flowerbeds or flower arrangements in ceramic pots around your front door gives everyone who walks in a feeling of welcome, especially if they are beautiful and well-tended. De-clutter your front door area, making sure all dead plants are removed and that garbage cans are not placed in this area.

2. Don't block your entrance.

Make sure that the passage in and out of your house is clear. Avoid having a tree or a bush within the first 10 steps as you walk out the door, as this will block your energy towards the outside world. If this is unavoidable, make sure the tree or bush is not overwhelming. Sometimes one lonely tree blocks more energy than a whole forest. Make the lone tree into a little garden -- add some lower flower beds and a nice statue in front of it, so that this overpowering energy is softened.

3. Create beauty in your outdoor environment.

If you feel you have a beautiful house but you don't feel great about your garden, there will be something out of balance. Don't deny your feelings. Your garden is your view to the outside world. If you don't feel happy about your garden, you won't feel happy about your connection with the world, society, work and friends.

4. Meandering pathways are better than straight ones.

The pathways or walkways toward your home or in your garden should always be like meandering streams, not straight roads. This is especially important if you have a road or driveway leading straight to your front door. If you have a straight path and cannot change it, place solar lights left and right along it in such a way that the lights create a meandering feeling. Place the lights so they are staggered, not directly opposite each other -- one on the left and the next one some steps ahead on the right, and so forth.

5. Place water elements carefully.

Water can be a great enhancement in your garden, but if the water element is not placed correctly, or if the water flows in the wrong direction for you personally, it also can create problems like drained cash flow, conflict or weight problems. Therefore, if you want to place a pond or pool in your garden, do so under the guidance of a trained feng shui expert. Generally, until the year 2024, having a smaller water element like a fountain in the east or southwest of your garden will be beneficial in attracting money and fame.

IT'S IN THE BASEMENT

What do you think of when someone mentions the basement? Perhaps you grew up in a home with an unfinished basement sporting bare bulb light fixtures and spider web-filled window wells.

Today's basements are nothing like those of 10 or 20 years ago. They are dry, warm and bright places, favored by many as a hang-out, movie or party spot.

Trends and Terms

• lookout or walkout - the basement is either half out of the ground (lookout) or fully out of the ground (walkout) at the rear of the home. This makes the space feel much brighter and more livable. It also typically adds to the cost of the home and some people may feel it adds another entrance point to the home, making it less secure
• radiant heat - heating coils (electric or fluid) are placed in the flooring, allowing the heat to radiate up from the floor, making the space feel much warmer and warm feet=warm body
• finished square footage - normally only the rooms with finished walls, floors and ceilings are included in the home's total finished square footage (TFSF) calculations

• egress windows - to be a legal bedroom in the basement, many municipalities require an exit route from the BR in addition to the door. If the basement is a full basement(completely below ground), there will need to be an egress window installed which is comprised of an over-sized window well and a full window
• utility room - normally includes furnace, air exchanger, water softener, water heater and possibly washer and dryer
• drain tile - this is a system of a corrugated pipe installed at the base of the wall and sloped to a "sump basket" to collect any water that drains along the outside of the wall, preventing it from entering the living space.



• poured or block foundation - foundation walls are normally either poured into forms or laid block by block. Advantages of one over the other vary depending on who you ask. Many of the larger homes use poured walls simply because they require less labor to install
  

Watch For

• vents - ensure there are supply and return vents in each room
• dampness - some of the common signs of a wet basement are water staining on the flooring or the walls, warped wood trim or efflorescence (a white powdery substance of minerals) on the inside of cinder block walls or possibly a mildew smell or mold and mildew on the walls
• gutters and grade - with the proper slope away from the home (ground NOT rocks or other cover) and gutters all the way around the home, many wet basement problems can be resolved
• cracks in flooring and walls - some cracking is normal and to be expected. However, if the cracks are large or separating--height difference or larger in the front than in the rear of the crack, this signifies potential problems left best to diagnose by a home inspector or structural engineer
• damage to the upper level flooring - if the basement ceiling is unfinished, you can see the condition of the flooring and whether there has been any water damage (i.e., from leaks in kitchen, entry or patio doors or bathrooms)
• type of floor trusses

I beams - slightly stronger and more $$$ than the older 2x12 floors and is the most rigid per foot of all the systems

Engineered trusses - these have open spans, allowing mechanicals such as plumbing and heating ducts to be run through the ceiling, allowing for a higher and cleaner ceiling

2x12 - these are the traditional method of building the ceiling/flooring and are lower cost and perfectly acceptable

Cost to Finish
If the basement of the home is unfinished and you will want to finish the space, you'll want to budget for the construction costs. Plan on a minimum of approximately $30 per finished square foot unless you plan on doing a large percentage of the work yourself.

Bsements provide a great place for the adults or kids to get away and raise some noise with friends, a common place for a hobby or workshop area or for storage. They're not just cold and dark anymore!

OOPS-Common Mistakes of Home Buyers

I hate to make mistakes. I've always heard it's good to learn from your mistakes. I think it's even better if you can learn from other people's mistakes.

Mistakes to Avoid When Purchasing a Home

• Don't talk yourself into something (it's not that old, that far from work, that small, that much over our budget, ...) -- don't use "that" to quantify your feelings about a house
• Don't talk yourself out of something (we just started looking, how do we know if it's the right home, ...)
• Do have a private home inspection performed
• Don't involve too many decision makers - getting other opinions is a good idea but remember it is your decision and you will be the one(s) to live in the home
• Don't overlook home details - once you find a home that arouses your passions, you need to remember your list of non-negotiable required items and ensure the home has these. Make sure you don't put the dark sunglasses on once you find a cool home!
• Do take good notes on every home you look at
• Do get pre-approved before you start looking
• Then, determine whether you want to spend less than that amount
• Do stick to your plans
• Do determine how much repairs or updates to a home will cost before making your offer