Home Tip: Remodel

HOME SELLING TIP:
Remodeling, if done wisely, can result in a quicker sale and less negotiation with buyers over perceived shortcomings. Painting the house and updating the kitchen, baths, lighting fixtures and floor coverings are examples of improvements that can improve the sale price ,as well as, how quick the home will sell. Many sellers do not want to spend money to sell their house; however, I will tell you homes do sell faster when they have been updated.

The amount of return from a remodel investment that is recouped when the property is sold varies significantly from one place to the next and from project to project. For example, nationally, 70.7 percent of the cost of a major kitchen remodel was recouped at sale. What this report fails to mention is how fast these homes sell as opposed to homes that have not been remodeled. In Bloomington/Normal home sales, the kitchen seems to be the major item for recouping money and selling a home faster.

In today's slow economy, there are more contractors looking for work in some areas. And, in some cases, their prices have come down. This positively impacts the return on investment when the home is sold.

Uptown Normal Project and One Main Development:

The private residences at Uptown One will offer a selection of studio, one and two bedroom condo's. Each unit offers a balcony or roof line terrace. There will be 34 units available ranging from $205K to $450K. Units range from 800 to 2400 square feet. The building will consist of Condominiums, Office Space, and Retail.

Inspired by the aggressive environmental goals of the Town of Normal, Uptown One is striving to achieve LEED Silver certification that will include ways for this project to approach everyday activity in a thoughtful, environmentally responsible manner. The guiding focus of the planners, developers, and architects is to create the highest level of sustainability possible through energy, water usage to recycling and landscaping design. This isn't a goal but a lifestyle One Main and Uptown Normal is committed to creating for a better community.

For more information on this project please e-mail me at MikeHutson@prusny.com

Search homes in and around the area. For those that don't know, you can search all listings on my site at www.MichaelHutson.com . All you need to do is click in the middle of my web page on the house Titled Search All Listed Homes. This will take you to all MLS listings with Prudential Snyder Real Estate, Coldwell Banker Heart of America, Remax Choice, Crown Realty, Century 21 Alexander, Brokers Discount, Brady Weaver GMAC Real Estate and many more. Unlike other sites that just show there listings we show all the listings in the MLS for residential.

Home sales in my business were good through Sept, Nov, and Dec of 2008. In Sept of 2008 I had 3 closed sales, five closed in Oct and two closed in Dec. I had one closing fall through in Dec. The new year started off well with one closing in Jan. Most of my sales were with Prudential Snyder Real Esatate listings as well as some with Stelle Construction, Open the Home, Signature Homes, Coldwell Heart of America and Crown Realty.

I would like to reiterate that most of my Sales were at exceptionally good prices. Now is a great time to buy a home.

Today's Real Estate Market is slightly down, however rates have never been better. National City, Busy Bank, and Freestar Bank have been swamped re-financing loans. Brad James at National City said the last month he has had so many re-financed loans that he has taken work home every night.

Real estate agents and builders sold 2,253 homes around Bloomington-Normal last year, down 12.8 percent from a revised 2,585 homes sold the previous year, according to statistics from the Bloomington-Normal Association of Realtors. New homes sales totaled 361, down 4.2 percent from a revised 377 sold in 2007. Existing home sales totaled 1,892, down 14.3 percent from a revised 2,208 homes sold the year before. All in all, the home sales did slow down a bit, however, homesales have been the one constant throught history. They will bounce back.

Make sure if your buying land in McLean county outside of a city or in a rural area that you check on certain critieria before you purchase. Depending on your circumstances for purchasing a piece of property there are several items that you want to look into. Contact the local Township the property is located in and make sure you can use the property for what you would like to use it for. To often people want to purchase land for hunting or builder just a machine shed on. You need to know the rules before doing so. Plus they will be able to tell you what the requirements are on front, back and side set backs for building. Contact the health department in the area and make sure you have what you need before building anything. Last but not least make sure to use a Realtor and an attorney to make sure there is something your not missing. It's better to be safe than sorry when making such a big investment.