1. Start Early and Take Your Time Begin the process well before you plan to move. Starting early reduces stress and gives you the time to make thoughtful decisions about what to keep and what to let go of. Set small goals. Tackle one room or one category of items at a time, rather than trying to do everything at once. 2. Sort Items Into Categories Use the "Keep, Donate, Sell, Discard" method. Create four categories for your belongings: items you want to keep, those to donate to charity, items you could sell, and those that are no longer usable and should be discarded. Cr... Read More

As we age, life brings many changes, and one of the most significant can be deciding to sell the family home. Whether you're looking to downsize, move closer to loved ones, or transition into a senior living community, selling your home as a senior can feel like a daunting task. But with the right guidance and preparation, it can be a smooth and positive experience. 1. The Emotional Aspect: Letting Go of a Home Full of Memories Selling a home is more than just a financial transaction—it's an emotional journey. For many seniors, the home represents decades of memories, milestones, and famil... Read More

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By Erica Sweeney | Nov 4, 2020 Selling a home in winter is often a slow process. Since many home buyers traditionally hunker down as the temperature drops, particularly during the holidays, home sellers with real estate on the market typically see fewer buyers and lower offers. That's your typical winter, but this winter is shaping up to be a whole different reality, even a hot seller's market. According to Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors®, “It will be one of the best winter sales years ever.” The coronavirus has changed real estat... Read More

Do You Have A Zoom Room? If You’re Getting Ready To Sell Your Home, You Better Make Sure You Do Kitchens and bathrooms sell homes, right? These days, there’s another must-have space if you want to get your home sold: A Zoom room. “A bougie $4.9 million listing tucked behind San Francisco's Buena Vista Park has a lot to offer, but the "impressive Zoom Room!" gets a higher billing than the wine cellar and hot tub in the realtor's blurb,” said SFGate. “Another recent listing in Oakland suggests that a third unfinished bedroom would be "perfect for a private home off... Read More

A lush spot for outdoor entertaining? Great. Perfect. A constant swarm of insects that invade your patio and home? No, thank you. Here's how to keep bugs away from your patio and yard, and from getting inside your house. #1 Install Patio Fans Mosquitos may have a tough sting, but they're wimps when it comes to standing up to a breeze. Patio fans can keep your outdoor entertaining space free from mosquitoes (and other little flyers) with the flip of a switch. And you'll get the benefit of a cool breeze. #2 Don't Mulch Too Much (or Too Little) While mulching is generally a good thing for cu... Read More

This tactic can help homebuyers win bidding wars – especially in a seller’s market. A low inventory of homes for sale in the U.S. right now means that buyers are getting creative when shopping for their dream home. In a competitive seller’s market, one popular strategy to help win a bidding war – when multiple offers are made on one property – is implementing an escalation clause. What is an escalation clause? Sometimes referred to as an “escalator,” an escalation clause is when a buyer submits an offer on a home for s... Read More

Low interest rates and a growing economy helped first-time buyers persevere in a tight starter-home market in 2019, which pushed Twin Cities prices to record highs, Realtors said Wednesday. The median sale price in 2019 was $280,000 – a 5.7 percent jump from 2018 and the highest it’s been, according to an end-of-year analysis by Minneapolis Area Realtors and St. Paul Area Association of Realtors, which track metro-area residential real estate activity. Home prices have gone up about 87 percent since their lows in 2011. They’re about 22 percent higher than in 2006, when pr... Read More

It’s so easy (and so unfair) how quickly your entryway can go from clean to chaos — and that chaos makes trying to get out the door brutal. Think of all that time wasted hunting for your keys and umbrella, or digging through a pile of coats in a desperate bid to find your buried purse. Five minutes spent riffling through your endless piles of stuff each morning becomes 35 minutes a week, or more than 30 hours a year! Breathe easy. You’re not alone. And you can reclaim that crucial morning time. “Most everyone that I’ve worked with has basically the same kinds of problems,�... Read More

About to remodel that old kitchen? Unless you’re cool with treating the hardest working room in your house like a museum exhibit, resist the temptation to buy the cheapest or shiniest materials available and go for durable options that can stand up to regular abuse. Trust us: Although it may be tough to leave that raised, tempered glass bar top (ooo!) in the showroom, repairing its first (and second, and third) chip will get old. Very fast. Picking the right materials is easy if you do your homework. “There are amazing products out there,” says Jeffrey Holloway, a certified kitchen de... Read More