Driveways
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Driveways are often overlooked as a major contributor to both the curb appeal and function of your home and property.  There are a few different choices of materials that come with different price points.  How prominent the driveway is to the overall look and use of your property can be elevated depending on the choice.

Concrete.  A common choice for both durability, cost and appeal.  $5 to $6 per square foot.  Up to 50-year life span.
Concrete driveways can become uneven due to many different factors: freezing and thawing, soil erosion, animal burrowing and more. By gently lifting, while filling all the voids under the slab, then creating a clean surface by filling in all holes and cracks, our process can provide a long-term solution to most of these problems.

Gravel.  Very budget friendly.  Compacts nicely.  Does require regrading and maintenance.  $1 to $3 per square foot.  Up to 100 years life span.
There are multiple benefits to choosing a gravel driveway. It is significantly cheaper than other driveways especially on larger areas. It is permeable which means it (usually) does not require planning permission. On driveways we would always recommend a minimum of 20mm gravel stones to ensure its stable enough for larger vehicles.

Brick.  Beautiful choice to set off an inviting curb appeal.  Needs to be properly installed to stand up.  $6 to $10 per square foot.  About 25-year lifespan.
A well-paved driveway offers numerous benefits to the homeowner, from enhancing the value of property to improving the overall look of the home, thereby attracting the interest of potential buyers. The investment can also go a long way to ease drainage issues, so you don’t have to worry about water pooling and dirt accumulation. Brick driveways, in particular, are becoming increasingly popular with homeowners as more people turn to creative alternatives to asphalt and concrete driveways.

Paving Stones.  Both beautiful and durable.  Luxurious look when installed.  $15 to $30 per square foot.  Up to 100-year life span.
Sure, you could have a dull, gray concrete or asphalt driveway like just about everyone else… Or, you could stand out and make a statement with a gorgeous, attention-grabbing driveway made from paver stones. It’s a great way to add elegant hardscaping to your front yard, making something utilitarian into something that’s also aesthetically pleasing and valuable. And there are plenty of other benefits of a paver driveway, too.

Asphalt.  Looks and functions a lot like concrete, but less expensive and less rigid.  Requires annual or semi-annual re-sealing to last.  $2 to $5 per square foot.  12 to 20-year life span. Winter is infamous for putting driveways through a freeze-thaw cycle as temperatures plummet below freezing and then creep back up time and again. Water in and under the pavement expands and contracts each time. This can put intense pressure on the driveway material. Fortunately, asphalt is, by nature, quite flexible. This flexibility can help it withstand the pressures of freezing and thawing.

Tidying Up Real Estate: The Life-Changing Magic
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One of the most successful books to hit bookshelves in the past several years is not a spy novel or murder-mystery or even a Harry Potter adventure, but a book about how to tidy your living space and keep it that way.  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo is a New York Times Best Seller.

Now on Netflix as a series, you can watch Marie successfully help clients declutter and organize their homes.  You will soon learn her methodology and can implement it in your own home.

One of the main differences in the Kondo-method of organizing compared to more conventional methods is to tackle categories rather than rooms.  For example, a big problem in many homes is the amount of clothes and shoes that accumulate and then become an emotional stumbling block to purge.  With Marie’s method you gather ALL the clothes throughout the whole house and throw them on a big pile (a pile for each person’s clothes) and go through each piece one by one.  She instructs you to hold each piece and decide if you wear the item and like the item and if it brings you joy.  Learning to recognize if an item that brings “joy” into your life may take a while to figure out, but if a piece of clothing is stuffed into a drawer and forgotten, it could probably be considered for purging.

Another method Kondo introduces is the idea of folding most of your clothes rather than hanging.  Hanging clothes take up to 40% more space than the method of folding she teaches.  Folding clothes into a packet-like bundle and standing them up in a drawer (rather than stacking) allows easy viewing and access to all pieces.  If you re-fold and stand up the clothing items in one drawer you will immediately see the benefit.

It is a fun and easy book to read and the Netflix series is very entertaining as well as informative.

Tidying Up Real Estate

Home Remodeling Projects
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Home Remodeling Projects or updating projects can increase the usable space in your home and increase your enjoyment of your home.  Accordingly, Remodeling Magazine urges when planning projects to keep in mind which ones will add the most value to your home considering the expense of the project and which might add considerably less.

Plusses:

Garage door.  Especially if your garage door is presented to the front of the house, replacing a garage door for functional and esthetic reasons is a good expense.  If the replacement upgrades the curb appeal the return on investment will be close to 100%.  The garage door has become an integral part of the house in that last 50 years, especially in residential areas of the US. They are the main entry units into the house, and have a great deal to do with the curb appeal of your home.

Minor kitchen remodel.  Creating a better flow and replacing appliances and fixtures establishing a new, fresh look will maximize the return on investment by an average of 80%.

Adding a wooden deck.  Adding a wooden deck can immediately change the flow and feel of your home as it expands the living area outside.  Your return on investment will average 75%.

Minuses:

Home Remodeling Projects: Expensive master bedroom additions.  These suites can become very expensive by adding all the trendy must-haves.  Fireplaces, huge closets and tricked out master bathrooms.  Expect to re-coup only 59% of the cost.

Home Remodeling Projects: Expensive kitchen remodel.  The cost of a gut kitchen remodel can easily elevate to huge numbers.  In the end an expensive kitchen remodel is something that a buyer will want to really love.  If it isn’t to their taste it becomes a detriment.  You may only retrieve 59% of the cost.

Stone patios.  A plus to extend the living area of a home, but the cost can be up to 5 times more compared to the cost of a wooden deck.  Expect to recapture in the neighborhood of 50% of the cost in increased value of your home.

Negotiating Offers 
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You have been busily maintaining and showing your home and the day arrives when you get a call from your Realtor® that he has received an offer.  Now is the most important part of any home sale.  It is a critical time to remain calm and be thoughtful about every step. 

Keep your emotions in check.  This is a business deal.  Negotiating takes a clear and focused head to achieve a sale, so your plans that require this sale can advance.  Concentrate on the facts of the sale and put memories and enjoyment of your home on hold.  One study titled Emotions in Real Estate Negotiations has this to say this: “For most clients, a home is the most valuable asset that they will ever own. One agent stated that “this is really the biggest purchase they make [so] there’s such a huge tie-in with money and stress. So it’s mostly just stress anger that comes out during this process… It just becomes this clash of personalities… so it’s all this third-degree anger.”  If you keep your emotions in check, let your realtor help you come out with a good deal.

Do not dismiss any offer without consideration.  Insulting lowball offers happen.  Concentrate on a reasonable counteroffer rather than fixate on the initial offer.  You have someone who is interested in your property.  Interested enough to submit an offer and an earnest money check.  Don’t throw away all the hard work of finding an interested buyer by refusing to try to find a mutually agreeable contract.

Consider non-monetary counteroffers.  Closing dates that are helpful to the buyer and including items in the sale that were excluded in the original listing are two negotiating tactics that often indicate a willingness to compromise and prompt a similar reaction from the buyer.

Let your Realtor® do his job.  Your Realtor® is a trained professional working for you.  He knows the market and the good, the bad, and the ugly of real estate transactions.  Heed his advice and let him use his experience and education to bring your property sale to a successful closing.