School District Makes a Big Difference

It might be understandable for some individuals who are looking for a home not to consider the performance of the school district. This is an important factor to consider when home shopping. Overlooking this factor might be an understandable tendency for a single person not thinking ahead to having children, a young homebuyer, or an older person who does not personally connect with the question of local schools. It might surprise you to know that even in those cases, the quality of the school district deserves serious evaluation as a significant factor to include in your plan.

School Desirability Affects Home Prices
The district where a home is situated is a key driver affecting the prices of homes in certain areas or neighborhoods. With increased sophistication of the vast majority of buyers in recent years, it has become more frequently the case that homes in better school districts sell for significantly higher prices than homes in other districts, even comparing homes that are otherwise nearly identical.

The difference attributable to the performance of the school district is real. Homes that are situated in higher-performing school districts can sell for as much as 30 percent more than comparable homes in other neighborhoods. If you look at an median cost of a residence at approximately between $180,000 and $240,000, the difference is significant.

In a Buyer's Market, Buyers Can Be Picky
In previous years, home buyers were more worried about such things as the home's nearness to shopping centers, downtown businesses, work, and possibly aesthetic attributes such as the appearance of the neighborhood. Now, home buyers are more attuned to negative factors such as being located in school districts that are less desirable. Homes located in these districts can be hard to sell.

Perception Leads to Real Value
In some areas with the best schools, buyers actually bid against each other. This can contribute to inflated real estate prices; or, in a slow market can cause homes to hold value against a prevailing decline. This affects the listed price of all other homes in the area available for sale after the transaction has closed. Savvy buyers get school performance reports early in the search for a home. They know that this is a big factor in the value of the home and an factor in what the home may go for in the future.

School District Uncertainty
No matter the state of the market, any reason that could compel an individual to buy a home in a particular area adds to the value of the homes there. Investors and homebuyers alike must remember that the boundaries of school districts can be changed, which can increase or decrease the value of the property significantly. In an established district that is near a new subdivision, for example, things could shift seemingly on a whim. In the real estate market not much is guaranteed.

This article was provided by Automated Homefinder, your Boulder home specialists in Colorado.

Living in a Bigger Home

Is your home getting too small? Here are some things you can do to make your home seem larger. This can be a definite advantage when you are selling a small house. You could even like the results enough to take the edge off the urge to move!

1. Wall Color -- Use light shades of colors that have a warm feeling such as red, yellow, brown and orange. These colors can make a room seem bigger and more welcoming. To give a particular room the sense of added depth, you might want to try the approach of using light colors on three walls and a coordinated darker tone on the remaining wall to make it look like there is more depth in that direction.

2. Using Light -- Sufficient lighting makes any space seem larger. The impression of openness is assisted by bright lighting, since we associate brightly lighted places with open spaces. Focus the lighting on the walls so they will be brighter. You might want to have lighting controls that will allow you to dim or increase the intensity of the lights in each room to meet your mood.

3. Minimum Furniture -- Rooms that have too much furniture tend to look smaller than they really are. The more crowded a space is, the smaller it will appear. Be sure not to crowd your furniture together when you want to make the room look larger than it really is. Avoid putting overbearing armchairs and overstuffed sofas in cramped spaces. To maximize space, use dual purpose furniture. An example would be a footstool or seat that opens up for magazine or pillow storage. This would save the space otherwise needed for a second dedicated piece.

4. Reduce Unattractive Clutter -- Having efficient storage is important in small spaces. The more unneeded clutter you have in your home, the smaller it will seem. This is not just a matter of making your home nicer for prospective buyers, but a good thing to keep in mind in having a healthy outlook for yourself too. Come up with storage systems and solutions that fit your family's needs and lifestyle. By reducing clutter, your house will seem more appealing to guests and homebuyers.

5. Be Mindful of Your Choices in Decorator Items As Well -- The accessories you choose can have an impact on the appearance of size. Use light colored curtains to allow plenty of light during the day. Choose light colored furniture, or as a minimum use light colored covers for the furniture, because choosing light colors will give a more open appearance to the space.

6. Mirrors -- Use wall and door mirrors to give depth to a room. This is one of the most direct and effective home tips ever. Mirrors can be beautiful decorative pieces in themselves, and they serve the additional purpose of adding visual depth.

These six techniques can save you money and effort in the necessary task of making your home more attractive and marketable. When it comes right down to it, these suggestions are among the most efficient methods to improve the value of your home as well as simply making it look great.


Article furnished by Colorado's Louisville real estate specialists of Automated Homefinder.

Buying a Home With a Cat: How a Black Light Can Be Your Best Friend

When a home is for sale, homeowners tend to go out of their way to make sure that it is in the best possible condition at all times, especially when a prospective buyer is expected to visit. Therefore, when you are shopping for a home, it is really important to remember that you aren't really getting the full effect of how the home usually looks or smells.

When you are looking at homes, you need to be on the lookout for things that might have been disguised so that the house will show well that could potentially become problems down the road. Animal odors, for example, can be masked effectively in many cases. However, masked odors don't always stay hidden, and can become a real problem if they surface after you have already purchased a home.

What's That Smell?
Have you ever walked into a home and been instantly hit by an overwhelming smell that lets you know that cats have been marking their territory inside the home? If you tour a home that has cat odor problems on a warm day, you are very likely to notice this smell if it is present right away. However, on a cold day, the smell might not be so easy to detect.

You certainly don't want to be surprised by the smell of cat urine emanating from your carpet as winter turns into spring in your new home. As a homebuyer, there are steps that you can take to protect yourself from such a problem. You can actually buy a tool at your local pet store or department store that will allow you to detect if there is a problem with cat urine in the home.


Black Light to the Rescue
When you are looking at a house that is currently (or was previously) occupied by cats, you should purchase a black light urine detection tool. Most people don't realize that urine glows when it is under a black light. This simple inexpensive piece of equipment will allow you to see if there is a problem with cat urine in the house, and just how extensive the problem might be.

You are certainly better off finding out about this type of problem before you purchase your home rather than after you have moved in. If you know that there is a cat urine problem in the home, but you still love it, you can always use the knowledge you gained from using your black light to try to negotiate new flooring as part of the purchase agreement.

When it comes to dealing with problems related to cat urine and other pet odors in a home, an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. When you are making an investment as significant as the purchase of a new home, you need to do everything that you can to learn as much as you possibly can about the home's condition. A simple black light can save you a lot of trouble and expense when it is used to help you flush out hidden animal odor problems.

Contributing author: Highlands Ranch real estate experts, Automated Homefinder of Colorado.