A monthly magazine produced by Harry Norman, REALTORS Forsyth/Lake Lanier Office for home buyers and real estate enthusiast... or simply people who like to look at pretty houses.
Give us a call TODAY to have YOUR home featured in our next edition! Office: (770) 497-2000 | www.HNRForsyth.com The above information is believed to be accurate but not warranted. Offer subject to errors, changes, omissions, prior sales and withdrawals without notice. Forsyth Office 770-497-2000 Robert Aiken, Broker. If your home is currently listed for sale, this is not intended as a solicitation. Equal Housing Opportunity. www.harrynorman.com Featured Property: 300 FALCON LANE Garel Curry (404) 863-0835 REAL ESTATE GUIDE www.harrynormanlakelanier.com FEBRUARY 2015 EDITION
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Give us a call TODAY to have YOUR home featured in our next edition!
Office: (770) 497-2000 | www.HNRForsyth.com
F O R S Y T H / L A K E L A N I E RThe above information is believed to be accurate but not warranted. Offer subject to errors, changes, omissions, prior sales and withdrawals without notice. Forsyth Office 770-497-2000 Robert Aiken, Broker. If your home is currently listed for sale, this is not intended as a solicitation. Equal Housing Opportunity. www.harrynorman.com
Featured Property: 300 Falcon laneGarel curry (404) 863-0835
R e a l e s tat e G u i d eF O R S Y T H / L A K E L A N I E R
w w w . h a r r y n o r m a n l a k e l a n i e r . c o m
FEBRUARY 2015 EDITION
Staging Your Home for a Quicker Sale
Foreclosures and high maintenance costs mean that new homes go up for sale faster than you can say “down market.” And what is great for buyers, more homes to choose from means that sellers need to distinguish their properties from the rest of the crowd.
Home staging, or temporarily redesigning a home to appeal to buyers, can give homeowners an edge in an overcrowded market. Staged homes look bigger, newer and warmer. They invite buyers to see themselves living in the home.
Staging projects include inexpensive tasks, from rearranging furniture, to renting contemporary living room sets. Here are some tips for staging homes:
Declutter. When buyers see overcrowded book shelves and wrinkled towels, they focus more on the dingy details than the architecture. But staging means more than a through cleaning -; sellers should also remove personal items, like family photographs. Buyers should picture their families living in the home, not yours.
Make things look new. A little paint can go a long way. Light colors make rooms look larger and brighter, so use them to make your home appear spacious. Wooden floors and cabinetry make big impressions, so make sure that they shine. If any wood looks dry or dirty, apply an orange oil for a quick restoration job.
Hard water stains on glass shower doors and windows look unattractive, so remove them with a specialized product like CLR, Lime Away or Bring It On Cleaner, which uses oxygen bleach to clean minerals from glass and tile. Some hard water stains will often yield to scrubbing with white vinegar and a non-scratch pad. If you find that vinegar is ineffective, a paint scraper or razor blade can be used to remove the bonded stains before resorting to harsher chemicals.
When considering lighting design, chances are you picture major fixtures like ornate chandeliers, groupings of colorful pendants or elaborate track lighting. However, even small fixtures, such as portable lamps, can transform a room, according to the American Lighting Association (ALA).Joe Rey-Barreau, education consultant for the ALA and associate professor at the University of Kentucky’s School of Interior Design, says, “With the proper light bulb and shade, a lamp can provide effective task lighting while also serving as an important decorative element in a space.”
It is important to view a lamp as a piece of the overall whole, not the only source of lighting in a room. One or two lamps cannot effectively illuminate a large space if they are the primary light source. Think of table and floor lamps as lighting accessories that create layers of light throughout a room.
Blue riDge, ga - 300 falcon lane5 bedroom | 3.5 bath | offered at: $985,000A quaint luxury country home located in the north Georgia mountains (roughly an hour drive from Atlanta). This private retreat sits on 10+/- acres w/a beautiful creek that runs the length of the property, a gristmill and private waterfall. Fully updated with every possible bonus: custom kitchen w/ granite, oak stairway, detailed woodwork, fireplace, game room, beautiful archways, and more! This home also has a rustic log guest home that sits on the property overlooking the waterfall. Own a piece of God’s country!listing agent: garel currY 404-863-0835
canton, ga – 229 towering peaks4 BD/ 4.5 BA | Offered at: $420,000Spectacular mountain and lake viewsListing Agent: KERRY NEEL 404-353-9121
cumming, ga – 14121 cumming Hwy6+/- Acres | Offered at: $663,900Ready to develop, grt loc in FreehomeListing Agent: MIKE GARCIA 770-231-9908
DaWSonVille, ga – 810 kilough ch. rd.4 bedroom / 3 Bath | Offered at $194,900Cute cozy ranch on full finished basement.Listing Agent: MIKE GARCIA 770-231-9908
cumming, ga – 5570 Burruss rd.4 bedroom / 3 bath | Offered at $800,0002 flat ac w/additional 3 car garageListing Agent: MIKE GARCIA 770-231-9908
Just Listed!
lilBurn, ga – 381 marble Springs rd.8 bedroom / 4 bath | Offered at $375,000Huge home in the Kingston S/T communityListing Agent: MIKE GARCIA 770-231-9908
Featured Property
to view all of our listings, please visit: WWW.HarrYnormanforSYtH.com/tHe-real-eState-guiDe
gaineSVille, ga – 5639 azelia Dr.2 bedroom / 1 Bath | Offered at $250,000Great cottage on Lake Lanier.Listing Agent: MIKE GARCIA 770-231-9908
cumming, ga – 0 Setting Down rd.3.5 Acres on brook | Offered at: $70,000Listing Agent: KERRY NEEL 404-353-9121
Which Upgrades are Worth It to Help You Sell Your House? Is it finally time to sell your house?
forSYtH/lake lanier office1664 Market Place Blvd., Cumming, GA | (770) 497-2000 | wwww.HNRForsyth.com
That’s the question on homeowners’ minds as house prices just posted their largest annual gain since 2005
-- congrats to those no longer “underwater” on their mortgages -- even as interest rates remain tantalizingly low. But here’s the catch: Those same higher prices can make buyers as choosy as a Michelin restaurant reviewer. “a house with a $1,600 mortgage payment last year now has a $2,000 mortgage payment,” one broker told the Wall street Journal. “Buyers are saying, ‘i better like it.’” to increase your home’s “like” quotient, read on to see which upgrades are worth making and which aren’t.
Worth It: a new front door. strictly in terms of return on investment, a steel one topped the list of Remodeling magazine’s annual Cost vs. Value Report for 2014 -- recouping 96.6 percent of the average price. But a fresh coat of paint can work wonders, too.
not Worth It: a home-office remodel.
We know what you’re thinking: With so many more people working from home, wouldn’t it be brilliant to rewire the space for electronic equipment, say, and install commercial-grade carpeting? Not really. The magazine gave it the lowest return on investment (48.9 percent), and the guy who oversaw the study says, “Home offices don’t sell houses.”
Worth It: a back-up power generator. it’s the biggest gainer in the study, jumping 28 percent over last year, and plays especially well in areas brutalized by storms.
not Worth It: Major bathroom work. “You could install the most spectacular jetted tub, and it still might not suit a buyer,” says Patsy O’Neill, a sales associate with sotheby’s in Montclair, NJ. “Meanwhile, you’d have spent tens of thousands of dollars.” That explains why it made Bankrate.com’s list of “6 Worst Home Fixes for the Money” and why you should stick to things like re-grouting the shower.
Worth It: Roofing replacement. There’s a
reason this ultimate “curb appeal” enhancer consistently makes Remodeling’s list and is up 11.2 percent over even last year: a roof is the first thing prospective buyers notice even before exiting their cars, and you can kiss that sale good-bye if yours looks like it’s been through hell. “it’s a huge turn-off,” says O’Neill, “and makes buyers predisposed to find even more things they don’t like.” For the look of luxury at very affordable prices, check out the Value Collection lifetime designer shingles from GaF (www.gaf.com), North america’s largest roofing manufacturer.
not Worth It: Major kitchen renovations. again, the key word is “major,” and again it’s a “taste” issue.
DaHlonega, ga – 0 Sam Davis road150+/- Acres | Offered at: $575,000Affordable large farm w/ 1+ mile of river.Listing Agent: PAM SUNDERLAND770-540-9557
cumming, ga – 3340 Shady cove5 bedroom / 5 Bath | Offered at $1,099,900Southside Lake Lanier “One of a Kind”Listing Agent: MIKE GARCIA 770-231-9908
DunWooDY, ga – 2191 Brooke farm ct.5 bedroom / 4.5 Bath | Offered at $699,900Private cul-de-sac lot, 3-sided brick home.Listing Agent: TOM STOCKS 678-283-9570
DaWSonVille, ga – 161 toto creek Dr e3 bedroom, 2.5 bath | Offered at: $484,900Listing Agent: TERRY COOKSEY 770-503-4167
JaSper, ga – 230 old mill White rd.2 BD / 2 BA | 2 Half BA | Offered at $2,500,000Beautiful log structure on concrete slabListing Agent: TERRY COOKSEY770-503-4167
cumming, ga – 1607 Heathrow Dr.5 bedroom / 4 bath | Offered at: $629,000Listing Agent: TOM STOCKS 678-283-9570
