What’s In Your Toolbox? Plumb Bobs, Levels, and Squares

There are a lot of tools in the world, and some of them have some very specialized uses. Sometimes these uses are pretty obvious; a hammer is used to hammer nails, and a wrench is used to tighten nuts. Even tools that you think you’re familiar with might surprise you, though; a hammer is a hammer, but do you know the difference between claw hammers and ball-peen hammers? What about all the different types of pliers that you might run across? Knowing exactly how specific tools are supposed to be used can help you to avoid errors and make finding the right tool for the job a lot easier.

With that said, here are a few pretty common tools that you might not know enough about to use effectively. Learning a bit more about them will help to ensure that you always have the right tool for the job and know exactly how it should be used (and more importantly, how it shouldn’t).

Plumb Bobs

The humble plumb bob can be a very useful tool. While at first glance it looks like it’s just a weight on a string, a plumb bob can tell you whether your work is truly vertical or if it’s leaning in some other direction. That’s not the only use of this helpful tool, however. If you’re building something that has an irregular shape, you can use a plumb bob to determine where its center of gravity is to make sure that it’s properly supported. When combined with an angular scale or a tool known as an inclinometer, you can also use a plumb bob to determine the slope of a hill or surface by comparing the measured angle to the vertical line created by the plumb bob.

Levels

When you look at a level, figuring out how to use it often seems like a no-brainer. Just line it up so that the bubble appears between the lines on the level, right? Unfortunately, this sort of reasoning is one of the leading causes of people using a level and finding out later that their shelf or other project isn’t actually very level.

Levels come in a lot of different sizes, and that’s not just because manufacturers want to cater to personal preference. When using a level, it’s important to have the level cover as much of the surface that you’re trying to level as possible. For a small picture, using a small level works great. For a large shelf or a storage unit with adjustable legs, that same level isn’t going to give you a complete picture. Using a level that’s close to the same size as the surface that you’re leveling is the best way to use one of these tools effectively, but if that’s not possible then you should check the level at both ends of the surface as well as the middle. You might be surprised at how much of a difference this can make.

Squares

The handy-dandy square (which ironically is often a triangle) is a very useful tool if you know how to use it. Its most obvious function is to show you whether a corner is 90 degrees or not, but that’s not all that it can do. Depending on the type of square you have and its size you can also use the square to make measurements, mark 45-degree angles (and often other angles) for cuts, determine whether a segment of a surface is flat or warped, and more. It’s also important to remember that just because a corner seems to be 90 degrees, that’s not always the case; using a longer square or checking multiple corners is the best way to ensure that your work is actually square.

While it’s always nice to get more comfortable with your tools, it’s also important to realize that some jobs are a bit too big to DIY. If you run into a problem that you can’t tackle on your own, HomeKeepr is here to help. Whether you need a plumber, electrician, or just a general contractor to get some work done on your house, HomeKeepr can help you connect with pros in your area who will get the job done right. Best of all, creating a HomeKeepr account is free. Sign up today so that you’ll be ready for whatever home repair problems tomorrow might bring.

Save Time and Effort by Selling with an Agent

Selling a house is a time-consuming process especially if you decide to do it on your own, known as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO). From conducting market research to reviewing legal documents, handling negotiations, and more, its an involved and highly detailed process that requires a lot of expertise to navigate effectively. That's one of the reasons why the percentage of people selling their own house has declined from 19% to 8% (See graph below):To help you understand just how much time and effort it takes to sell on your own, here's a look at a few of the things you need to think about before putting that For Sale sign up in your yard.

1. Making a Good First Impression

While it may sound simple, there are a lot of proven best practices to consider when prepping a house for sale.

• Do you need to take down your personal art?
• What's the right amount of landscaping to boost your curb appeal?
• What wall colors are most appealing to buyers?

If you do this work on your own, you may invest capital and many hours into the wrong things. Your time is money don't waste it. An agent can help steer you in the right direction based on current market conditions to save you time and effort. Since were in a hot sellers’ market, you don't want to delay listing your house by focusing on things that wont change your bottom line. These market conditions may not last, so lean on an agent to capitalize on today’s low inventory while you can.

2. Pricing It Right

Real estate professionals have mission-critical information on what sells and how to maximize your profit. They're experienced when it comes to looking at recent comparable homes that have sold in your area and understanding what price is right for your neighborhood. They use that data to price your house appropriately, maximizing your return.

In a FSBO, you're operating without this expertise, so you'll have to do your own homework on how to set a price that's appropriate for your area and the condition of your home. Even with your own research, you may not find the most up-to-date information and could risk setting a price that's inaccurate or unrealistic. If you price your house too high, you could turn buyers away before they're even in the front door, or run into problems when it comes time for the appraisal.

3. Maximizing Your Buyer Pool (and Profit)

Contrary to popular belief, FSBOs may actually net less profit than sellers who use an agent. One of the factors that can drive profit up is effective exposure. Simply put, real estate professionals can get your house in front of more buyers via their social media followers, agency resources, and proven sales strategies. The more buyers that view a home, the more likely a bidding war becomes. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average house for sale today gets 5 offers. Using an agent to boost your exposure may help boost your sale price too.

4. Navigating Negotiations

When it comes to selling your house as a FSBO, you'll have to handle all of the negotiations. Here are just a few of the people you'll work with:

• The buyer, who wants the best deal possible
• The buyers agent, who will use their expertise to advocate for the buyer
• The inspection company, which works for the buyer and will almost always find concerns with the house
• The appraiser, who assesses the property's value to protect the lender

As part of their training, agents are taught how to negotiate every aspect of the real estate transaction and how to mediate potential snags that may pop up. When appraisals come in low and in countless other situations, they know what levers to pull, how to address the buyer and seller emotions that come with it, and when to ask for second opinions. Navigating all of this on your own takes time a lot of it.

5. Juggling Legal Documentation

Speaking of time, consider how much free time you have to review the fine print. Just in terms of documentation, more disclosures and regulations are now mandatory. That means the stack of legal documents you need to handle as the seller is growing. It can be hard to know and truly understand all the terms and requirements. Instead of going at it alone, use an agent as your shield and advisor to help you avoid potential legal missteps.

Bottom Line

Selling your house on your own is a lot of responsibility. Its time consuming and requires an immense amount of effort and expertise. Before you decide to sell your house yourself, lets discuss your options so we can make sure you get the most out of the sale.

 

 

Matching Cabinet Hardware

Whether it’s with knobs, pulls, handles, or some other hardware, you need to have some way to access your cabinets. If your cabinets are relatively new, that hardware is probably fairly modern. But for older cabinets, you may need to replace the hardware, and it might be kind of tricky to figure how to get it. This can make replacing old cabinet hardware stressful, especially if you’re not sure where to start. While your success will depend on the specific pieces that you’re looking for and how recently they were manufactured, here’s some info that will hopefully point you in the right direction if you find yourself on a hardware hunt.

The Need to Match Hardware

Why do you need to match old cabinet hardware, anyway? There are a few reasons. The most common is that handles and knobs sometimes become damaged or break over time, especially if the cabinets see frequent use. You may also find yourself adding new cabinets or other fixtures that you want to match as closely to the older cabinets as possible, including similar finishes and hardware. In some cases it may even be a matter of hardware being removed to repair or replace cabinet doors and then getting lost or accidentally tossed out. Whatever the reason, you want matching hardware, and it doesn’t seem to be available in stores anymore.

Sources for Older Hardware

When trying to match old hardware, it’s important to start by checking if it’s actually available. Visit cabinet or woodworking shops in your area with pictures of the hardware you need (or the actual hardware itself) to see if anyone can recognize it and know where to order it. If that doesn’t pan out, check the internet; there are a lot of stores online that specialize in older items, and this can include out-of-production hardware and other materials. Even if you can’t find the specific hardware from its original manufacturing run, you may be able to locate visually similar reproductions that will at least match the look of your existing hardware.

If that doesn’t work, spend some time searching online auction sites to see if you can find the hardware that you’re looking for there. While online auctions can be a mixed bag, there are a lot of people who post used or out-of-production items that they have a surplus of to make some money off things that they no longer need. It may be worth checking a few times on different days, as new items are listed all the time, and you never know when someone is going to list that handle or knob that you need for a few dollars.

Unable to Find a Match?

Unfortunately, there may be some cases where you simply can’t find a match for your old cabinet hardware no matter how hard you try. If this happens, you typically have two options: You can upgrade all your hardware to a new style, or you can find something that complements your existing hardware to create a mix-and-match arrangement. It basically comes down to whether you want to upgrade some of your existing hardware or all of it with something a bit newer. You can choose pieces that complement your cabinets, hardware that goes well with sinks and other fixtures in the room, or even something significantly more modern than the cabinets to create a visual contrast between the cabinets and the hardware. Regardless of what you choose, be sure to pick something that you enjoy.

Of course, if you decide that the cabinets themselves could use an upgrade too, then HomeKeepr is here to help. We can help you find contractors and other pros who can give your rooms the new cabinets or other solutions that you need. Best of all, signing up for a HomeKeepr account is free. Create your account today and be on your way to the new cabinets of your dreams.

What To Expect as Appraisal Gaps Grow

In todays real estate market, low inventory and high demand are driving up home prices. As many as 54% of homes are getting offers over the listing price, based on the latest Realtors Confidence Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Shawn Telford, Chief Appraiser at CoreLogic, elaborates:

The frequency of buyers being willing to pay more than the market data supports is increasing.

While this is great news for todays sellers, it can be tricky to navigate if the price of your contract doesn't match up with the appraisal for the house. Its called an appraisal gap, and its happening more in todays market than the norm.

According to recent data from CoreLogic, 19% of homes had their appraised value come in below the contract price in April of this year. That's more than double the percentage in each of the two previous Aprils.

The chart below uses the latest insights from NARs Realtors Confidence Index to showcase how often an issue with an appraisal slowed or stalled the momentum of a house sale in May of this year compared to May of last year.If an appraisal comes in below the contract price, the buyers lender wont loan them more than the houses appraised value. That means there's going to be a gap between the amount of loan the buyer can secure and the contract price on the house.

In this situation, both the buyer and seller have a vested interest in making sure the sale moves forward with little to no delay. The seller will want to make sure the deal closes, and the buyer wont want to risk losing the home. That's why its common for sellers to ask the buyer to make up the difference themselves in todays competitive market.

Bottom Line

Whether you're buying or selling, lets connect so you have an ally throughout the process to help you navigate the unexpected, including appraisal gaps.

 

 

This Year’s Tile Trends!

Tile is a very versatile material, offering strength and beauty while also providing color and decorative flair wherever it’s installed. Useful on both floors and walls, tile can really define the look of a room and can even be paired with other flooring and wall décor types to create complex looks from relatively simple materials. Tile provides something of a timeless look, though that doesn’t mean that it isn’t subject to decorating trends like any other material. If you’re curious as to what’s hot in tile at the moment, here are some of the biggest current trends out there.

Neutral Colors

Throughout the years, tile trends have covered just about every color imaginable. Deep browns and light tans used to be hot, and it seems like every few years monochromes and grayscales come back into prominence. Sometimes we even get bold and bright colors as the “it” trend. At the moment, though, a lot of tile trends seem to be gravitating toward more neutral colors. Tans, grays, and greens are especially popular within the last year or so.

The key to the popularity of these colors lies in how well light shades of brown, gray, and green tend to go with a variety of different decorating styles. Soft greens are especially popular lately and pair well with green, blue, and even brown shades in bathrooms, kitchens, and other rooms where tile is commonly used. While these colors are the most popular at the moment, other neutral shades including soft yellows, creams, and even pinks and blues are finding their way into more homes as the neutral color trend continues.

Hexagons Are Hot

Most of the time, tile comes in some variation of squares or rectangles. Even tiles with repeating sweeping designs or that are arranged to create vivid images tend to mostly be square. That may be one of the reasons that hexagonal tiles are so popular these days, since they really shake up convention while still offering an easily repeatable shape that captures the essence of classic tile.

Hexagonal tile is available in a wide range of options, including classic glossy ceramic tiles, marbled tiles, matte finishes, and even 2D images that repeat over the face of the tiles. Some hexagon layouts even use different types of hexagons to create a more complex pattern, combining classic hexagons with others that have two sides longer than the rest to create a remarkably interesting look overall. You can even combine hexagons with rectangular or square tiles to create very striking patterns on your walls or floors. The options are limitless, and they’re sure to catch the attention of any guests who see them.

Textures and Tile

While tile has often gone hand in hand with complex design work, a lot of emerging trends seem to be dialing back on that to keep things a little simpler. At the same time, more tiles are adding subtle bits of texture to make up for the lack of design complexity. This gives the tile more of a 3D look, allowing light and shadow to add subtle touches of depth without the need for a wide range of tiles in different shapes and colors to create complex patterns. This texture can mimic the look of natural stone, create flecked patterns on the tile, or even create ridges or waves that seem to flow from one tile to the next. These textured tiles are redefining what many people think of when they think of tile wall coverings and flooring.

Whether you want to follow one of these new hot trends or stick with more traditional tile layouts, HomeKeepr can help you find the pros you need to get your tile installed exactly how you want it. Sign up for a free account today to find installers in your area. They may even help you to find new trends that you weren’t even aware of that will meet your needs perfectly.

What Do Experts See on the Horizon for the Second Half of the Year?

As we move into the latter half of the year, questions about what's to come are top of mind for buyers and sellers. Near record-low mortgage rates coupled with rising home price appreciation kicked off a robust housing market in the first half of 2021, but what does the forecast tell us about what's on the horizon?

Mortgage Rates Will Likely Increase, but Remain Low

Many experts are projecting a rise in interest rates. The latest Quarterly Forecast from Freddie Mac states:

We forecast that mortgage rates will continue to rise through the end of next year. We estimate the 30-year fixed mortgage rate will average 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2021, rising to 3.8% in the fourth quarter of 2022.

However, even as mortgage rates rise, the anticipated increase is expected to be modest at most, and still well below historical averages. Rates remaining low is good news for homebuyers who are looking to maximize their purchasing power. The same report from Freddie Mac goes on to say:

While higher mortgage rates will help slow the pace of home sales and moderate house price growth, we expect overall housing market activity will remain robust. Our forecast has total home sales, the sum of new and existing home sales, at 7.1 million in 2021….

Home Price Appreciation Will Continue, but Price Growth Will Likely Slow

Joe Seydl, Senior Markets Economist at J.P. Morgan, projects home prices to continue rising as well, indicating buyers interested in purchasing a home should do so sooner rather than later. Waiting for rates or home prices to fall may not be wise:

Homebuyers interest rates are still historically low, though they are inching up. Housing prices have spiked during the last six-to-nine months, but we don't expect them to fall soon, and we believe they are more likely to keep rising. If you are looking to purchase a new home, conditions now may be better than 12 months hence.

Other experts remain optimistic about home prices, too. The graph below highlights 2021 home price forecasts from multiple industry leaders:

Inventory Remains a Challenge, but There's Reason To Be Optimistic

Home prices are rising, but they should moderate as more housing inventory comes to market. George Ratiu, Senior Economist at realtor.com, notes there are signs that we may see the current inventory challenges lessen, slowing the fast-paced home price appreciation and creating more choices for buyers:

We have seen more new listings this year compared with 2020 in 11 of the last 13 weeks. The influx of new sellers over the last couple of months has been especially helpful in slowing price gains.

New home starts are also showing signs of improvement, which further bolsters hopes of more options coming to market. Robert Dietz, Chief Economist at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), writes:

As an indicator of the economic impact of housing, there are now 652,000 single-family homes under construction. This is 28% higher than a year ago.

Finally, while it may not fundamentally change the market conditions were currently experiencing, another reason to be optimistic more homes might come to market: our improving economy. Mark Fleming, Chief Economist at First American, notes:

A growing economy in the summer months has multiple implications for the housing market. Growing consumer confidence, a stronger labor market, and higher wages bode well for housing demand. While a growing economy and improving public health conditions may also spur hesitant existing owners to list their homes for sale, its unlikely to significantly ease the super sellers market conditions.

Bottom Line

As we look at the forecast for prices, interest rates, inventory, and home sales, experts remain optimistic about what's on the horizon for the second half of 2021. Lets connect today to discuss how we can navigate the market together in the coming months.

 

5 Things Homebuyers Need To Know When Making an Offer

When it comes to buying a house, you're looking for the perfect place to call home. The problem is, in todays market there just aren't that many homes available to purchase. With inventory hovering near record lows and sky-high buyer demand, a multi-offer scenario is the new normal. Here are five things to keep in mind when you're ready to make an offer.

1. Know Your Numbers

Having a complete understanding of your budget and how much house you can afford is essential. That's why you should connect with a lender to get pre-approved for a loan early in the homebuying process. Taking this step shows sellers you're a serious, qualified buyer and can give you a competitive edge in a bidding war.

2. Brace for a Fast Pace

Todays market is dynamic and fast-paced. According to the Realtors Confidence Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average home is on the market for just 17 days that means from start to finish, a house for sale in todays climate is active for roughly 2.5 weeks. A skilled agent will do everything they can to help you stay on top of every possible opportunity. And, as soon as you find the right home for your needs, that agent will help you draft and submit your best offer as quickly as possible.

3. Lean on a Real Estate Professional

While homebuying may seem like a whirlwind process to you, local real estate agents do this every day, and we know what works. That expertise can be used to give you a significant leg up on your competition. An agent can help you consider what levers you can pull that might be enticing to a seller, like:

• Offering flexible rent-back options to give the seller more time to move out
• Your ability to do a quick close or make an offer that's not contingent on the sale of your current home

It may seem simple, but catering to what a seller may need can help your offer stand out.

4. Make a Strong, but Fair Offer

Lets face it we all love a good deal. In the past, offering at or near the asking price was enough to make your offer appealing to sellers. In todays market, that's often not the case. According to Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at NAR:

For every listing there are 5.1 offers. Half of the homes are being sold above list price.

In such a competitive market, emotions and prices can run high. Use an agent as your trusted advisor to make a strong, but fair offer based on market value, recent sales, and demand.

5. Be a Flexible Negotiator

If you followed tip #3, you drafted the offer with the sellers needs in mind. That said, the seller may still counter with their own changes. Be prepared to amend your offer to include flexible move-in dates, a higher price, or minimal contingencies (conditions you set that the seller must meet for the purchase to be finalized). Just remember, there are certain contingencies you don't want to forego. Freddie Mac explains:

Resist the temptation to waive the inspection contingency, especially in a hot market or if the home is being sold as-is, which means the seller wont pay for repairs. Without an inspection contingency, you could be stuck with a contract on a house you cant afford to fix.

Bottom Line

When its time to make an offer, its important to consider not just what you need, but what the seller may need too. Lets connect so you have expert advice on this step in the homebuying process to put your best offer on the table.