FIX-UPS

Painting To Sell

Painting the interior of your home is among the least-expensive and most-effective ways to freshen its look and make your home more appealing to buyers -- if you do it right.

Prep Work
Your paint job will only look as good as the preparation that goes before it -- washing walls, spackling holes and cracks, removing wallpaper, sanding and priming. Make the effort to ensure your walls are smooth and clean before painting (or make sure your contractor does).

Cost
You can buy paint from $12-$50 and more per gallon. While you may be tempted to go with a low-priced product, better-quality paint covers more easily -- sometimes in one coat -- and often results in a more beautiful finish.

Color
As a seller, you want to ensure against potential buyers walking into a room and saying, "There's no way I could live with this color." That's why experts recommend sticking with neutral colors that can go with just about anything, such as earth tones -- off-white, cream, beige, light to medium browns, pale grays. While other colors can also work as neutrals -- light or muted yellows, greens, blues, etc. -- you still run the risk of putting off an otherwise interested buyer who "just hates that color."

Getting Help
Looking at a tiny paint chip and visualizing how a color will look on your walls and with your furnishings can be difficult. Instead of going through dozens of paint samples testing for the right shade, you can save yourself some time and doubt by hiring a professional color consultant. These trained professionals can make recommendations about using color to change the look of a room and best complement your home's architecture and furnishings. They can even put together a color plan for an entire house for around $200-$300.

To find a color consultant in your area, go online to the International Association of Color Consultants (www.IACCNA.org) and click on the "Contact Us" link.

Help Us Help Your Friends If you know of anyone interested in buying or selling a home in today's market, we hope you'll share our newsletter with them. We'll make you look good by providing your friends and relatives with the very best real estate services and negotiations in today's market. And we'll thank you for your referrals!

THINKING GREEN

Remodeling To Save

Although remodeling spending was expected to be 9% lower in 2008 compared with 2007, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies predicted spending on "green" projects -- those that increase a home's energy efficiency -- would show an increase over the same period.

Investments in spray-foam insulation, a tankless water heater or a better climate-control system could yield hundreds of dollars in annual energy-cost savings for the homeowner, while also increasing the value of your property.

An American Institute of Architects survey found that 90% of home buyers said they would pay at least $5,000 more to purchase a home that is energy efficient.

Here's another reason to go green: The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 extended tax credits for specific energy-efficient home improvements installed during 2009 and later. (Improvements made during 2008 are not eligible for a tax credit.)

Tax credits are available for qualified upgrades of windows and doors, roofing, insulation, central air conditioning, heat pumps, furnaces, water heaters, fans, solar-energy systems and some other types of improvements.

For a complete listing and explanation of tax credits you may qualify to take for making energy-efficient home improvements go online to: www.AltURL.com/dvh.

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