Category Archives: Home Trends

Return on Investment

Remodeling and replacement projects can add value to your home, but some projects recoup their costs better than others. According to Remodeling Magazine’s 2015 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report, small and exterior projects return the most value for your money.

The project that offered the best value overall was a steel entry door replacement, which recouped 101.8 percent of its costs when the home was sold. The steel entry door is consistently the least expensive project named in the report, costing about $1,200 on average. The second best value is the addition of a manufactured stone veneer, which can recoup 92.2 percent of its original cost, but be prepared to invest at least $7,000 for the improvement. read more

Out Cold

Before the hustle and bustle of the holiday season sets in, add winter-proofing chores to your home to-do list. Protect your home from winter’s woes with these tips from RealEstate.com.

Heating Basics Replace old thermostats with programmable ones that allow you to lower the temperature when you’re away from home. Turn on your furnace to ensure it works (run it the full cycle from warm-up to blowing heat to shutting back off again). Peek into your ducts and clean away the mold, pests and debris. read more

Heat Safety Tips

As energy costs continue to rise, some homeowners are using alternate sources to heat their homes. While wood-burning stoves, space heaters and fireplaces are popular options, especially in colder climates, they can be fire hazards. FireSafety.gov offers some tips to help homeowners use these heat alternatives safely. read more

Ventura Housing Market

2013 Pace of Ventura Sales

Last year it was easy to see that the inventory of homes was very low during 2013 and got skinnier as the year continued. You could almost feel it in the air.

The beginning of the year looked very hopeful for buyers coming into the market. For every home sold, two homes were coming on line. This meant there was certainly inventory to choose from. By December, the ratio showed only 1/2 a house coming on the market for every sale! Very little choices and sellers were really controlling the market as prices started increasing. It was a crazy time with many multiple offer situations and very short Days on Market. For buyers, pickings were slim for sure. For sellers, they were finally seeing an increase in equity because of rising home prices. read more