Fords Real Estate, New Jersey-

Are you looking for something to do around your Fords Real Estate this weekend that will also help the environment? Why not do a quick green renovation at home? Incorporating green products and practices in your Fords home save our natural resources and are better for your health. Here are a few simple projects you can work on this weekend.

• 1. Floors. You can easily replace the floor in a room during a weekend. Bamboo and cork floors are excellent environmentally-friendly choices because they are renewable sources. They come in a variety of colors and styles so you can find something that will match your current décor.
• 2. Paint. Painting a room is a quick and easy way to change its look. However, traditional paint is loaded with toxic fumes that can aggravate respiratory conditions like asthma. When you paint your next room, choose a paint that contains less or no amounts of dangerous chemicals. Your room will look just as good, and your lungs will be happier.
• 3. Windows. If you still have old, single pane windows in your Fords Real Estate, it’s time to replace them with double pane energy efficient windows. These newer windows will lower your energy consumption by keeping your home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Additionally, you may be eligible for a Federal Tax Credit for Energy Efficiency of up to $1500 if you purchase Energy Star windows in 2009 or 2010.
• 4. Insulation. A well insulated home saves you money and cuts back on the amount of energy you use. Make sure you have adequate insulation in your attic. Check your doors and windows for cracks and leaks that allow air to escape. Seal them with caulk or weather stripping. The Federal Tax Credit for Energy Efficiency applies to Energy Star insulation as well.

Are you looking for a new home? There are some very good deals currently on Fords homes for sale and all around Middlesex County. When you are ready, contact me…

Cathy Chaudemanche

Your Metuchen, Edison Real Estate and your best friend(s)-

Some love their pets like family and, if you’re one of them, you’ll be understandably concerned when choosing your Edison, Metuchen Real Estate. I personally own a few cats and used to have a dog as well so I can relate…There are definite ways to make sure you get the best Edison/Metuchen home for your best friend(s); here are few tips:

1.  The features of the Edison/Metuchen home are particularly important.  Before you go shopping for a pet friendly house, make a list of things your pet likes.  Also make a list of things your pet might destroy.  For instance, many cat owners find their pets ripping up the carpet.  A piece of real estate with wood floors might be ideal.  If you have a dog, it’s probably important to have a fenced yard.  Many things are easy to overlook, but you’ll be sure to consider them if you make a list first.

2.  The Metuchen/Edison home’s layout might be hard on your pet.  If you have an older one who has a hard time climbing stairs, a home for sale with one story would be better than a two-story home.  Low windows or window ledges are perfect for cats, as well as an out of sight place to store a litter box.  In addition, remember your pet’s size.  The larger, the more yard or bigger space you might need.

3.  The Owner Association (OA) may not allow pets, and those that do allow them usually have some restrictions.  Before deciding on a Woodbridge real estate (Condos/Townhouse), make sure that the OA allows your particular pet.  Don’t take it for granted!  You may end up with severe penalties and a hard choice to make.

4.  A pet friendly neighborhood is the best place for you and your best friend.  Look around the neighborhood and see if the neighbors are walking their dogs or have cats sleeping in windows.  Consider if the way they seem to take care of their animals is similar to yours.  If it isn’t, you might want to find another Metuchen/Edison home for sale.

If you are an animal lover like me, then surely you understand this blog…If you’re looking for a home that’s perfect for you and your pet, I can help.  Contact me today…

Cathy Chaudemanche

What is home staging and how will it help you sell your North Edison home?  Staging North Edison homes for sale is, quite literally, setting the stage for buyers.  You want the home to look good, you want it to have the right atmosphere to attract buyers, and you want the first impression to blow them away.Staging a home can mean sprucing up the paint job, eliminating clutter, moving furniture around - practically anything that makes your North Edison home look better to the buyer is staging.  Whether you decide to do it yourself or hire a home staging professional, it can, and will, help you sell your home. 

Here are a few pointers on how to stage your North Edison real estate and how each suggestion can help sell your home faster or for more money:

1. Style - Although the decorating styles of North Edison homes for sale range widely, you want to make sure your home doesn’t have too much of a good thing.  Too much decorating style overwhelms the potential buyers’ senses and doesn’t allow them to imagine adding their own personality to the home.  Try to look at your home from a buyer’s point of view and design it to sell.

How it helps: Furnished homes with just a hint of style help buyers see possibilities they can bring to the home such as a different wall color, new curtains or hardwood floors versus carpeting.  The easier you make it for the buyers to see themselves living in the home, the better chance it has of selling.

1. Clutter - In real estate terms, “clutter” is any personal touch that makes it obviously yours.  Remember, you’re trying to sell your home, not show people what a great decorator you are.  Before you start with open houses, pack up all your personal pictures, knick-knacks and bric-a-brac.

How it helps:  Removing your personal clutter lets potential buyers see it as their own.  No matter how much you love the items, leaving personal touches is, invariably, a turnoff to the buyer.  It makes it difficult to see the house as anything but yours. 

1. Cook - Before an open house, start baking chocolate chip cookies or an apple pie - something that smells good to most people.

How it helps:  Your North Edison home for sale should feel, well, homey.  Anything they can see, smell, touch or feel should be set up for maximum selling affect.  Baking smells are an excellent touch. 

Home staging will help get your North Edison home ready to sell, and set you well on your way.

Cathy Chaudemanche

Buying a home can be a life-changing experience. Whether it’s your first piece of Edison real estate or your third, take some time to assess all the ups and downs that are part of such an expensive purchase. Here are a few tips to help prevent negative emotions such as buyer’s remorse from getting you down:

1.  Do Your Research

One of the best ways to prevent home buyer’s remorse is to conduct thorough research in the beginning. Know how much house you can afford. Consult an Edison real estate professional and visit different neighborhoods. Check out school districts. Bottom line –  go over as many details as possible before putting down your hard-earned cash.

2.  Be Honest With Yourself

Although you may love that charming Edison real estate fix-upper located in a great neighborhood, do some soul searching and be honest with yourself. If you know in your heart that to make yourself happy you’d need to do a complete remodel project, maybe you should keep searching. The reality is that you could wind up taking on more than you really want to.

3.  Don’t keep Looking at Other Homes

Just like fashions, home designs can change over time. There will always be something newer, bigger, more contemporary - you name it! So if you continue to look at other homes long after you’ve made your purchase, you may never feel satisfied with your property.

4.  Stop Asking for Opinions

Everyone’s situation is different, especially when it comes to homes and decorating styles. And remember, you didn’t buy this Edison real estate to please everyone else. You bought it to please yourself. So if you’re happy with your purchase, don’t concern yourself with everyone else’s opinions. They will just make you doubt your choice.

Before you start feeling remorseful and questioning your real estate buying decision, remember to focus on your original list of wants and needs.  Remind yourself that you met the majority of your criteria when purchasing your Edison real estate.   Be content. You’re living in your dream home.

Cathy Chaudemanche

It can happen to even the best Edison home. It has great curb appeal and the interior shows well. So, why isn’t it selling?  Even if your home is the best home in the neighborhood, it can still end up languishing on the market as others around it sell. So, what can you do to get your home sold?

Check Your Price

Being over priced, even by a relatively small amount, is the most common reason homes don’t sell.  The wrong price can prevent potential buyers from even looking at your home.  Keep your emotions out of the calculations.  Of course, you love your home and think it’s very valuable.  But, you need to look at it as an impartial outsider.  Examine the facts and figures presented by your real estate agent, and take his or her expert advice.  Price isn’t the only factor to consider.

Picture It

Homes marketed with only one or two photos are passed by. The more photos the better, but any old photos won’t do.  You need quality photos.  Consider hiring a professional real estate photographer, or work with an Edison real estate agent who will get professional photographs for you. 

Promote It Online

These days almost 90% of all buyers start their home search online.  Make sure your Edison home is marketed on multiple websites to get the broadest possible exposure.  In addition to using multiple photos as mentioned above, a great online marketing tool is a virtual tour.  Ask your agent to create a virtual tour for your home.

Market it Everywhere

Advertise your home in as many ways and as many places as possible.  Here are a few ideas:

• Colorful flyers
• Home magazine ads
• Postcard mailings
• Emails to other agents and potential buyers

If you would like more information on how to get a stagnant home moving, give me a call today.

Cathy Chaudemanche

Even if you don’t have the money for extensive remodeling, you can still live greener in your Piscataway home with just a few simple changes. Every little improvement we make in the way we live is a step in the right direction toward making our world healthier.

Low-Cost Ways to Green Up Your Piscataway Home:

• Catch the rain: Conserving water by putting in new low-flow fixtures is one way of helping to conserve the planet’s resources, but it isn’t the only way. You can build a rain water reservoir using old barrels or other large containers to catch rain and use it for watering your garden or washing your car.
  Light up your life: Change the incandescent bulbs in your light fixtures to the new florescent bulbs designed for use in a regular light socket. They last longer, burn brighter and use less electricity. Charge up your green: Be choosey on more than just what you spend your money and create debt on, be choosey on the means you use to get credit. Look for credit cards that support green living either by offering value added benefits for using their card or by contributing to earth friendly causes as a portion of their profits.
• Pick green contractors: When you do remodel your Piscataway home, pick contractors who use green materials and recycled products.
• Hang it up: One of the cheapest ways to make your Piscataway home greener is to hang a clothesline in the backyard. Take advantage of Mother Nature on nice days and hang your wash outside to dry instead of using the dryer, even if it’s an Energy Star appliance. It will save you money and will save the environment too. Your fresh smelling clothes are just an extra bonus.

If you would like more tips on making your home green, subscribe to my blog.  It’s a very green way to get information. No paper or printing necessary.

Cathy Chaudemanche

Selling your property, whether it is a primary home or income property in Edison or Middlesex County, is easier if you have the information your buyers are likely to want to know on hand. Type up an info sheet answering the most commonly asked questions buyers have when looking at real estate for sale such as:

• How old is the roof?
• What comes with the property?  Window treatments? Do all of the appliances come with the property?
• How old are the appliances?
• Does the basement leak?
• Where are the hot water heater, the electrical service panel, and other important maintenance items located? Are they easy to access?
• Are you open to owner financing?
• What is the age and condition of the plumbing and wiring?
• Are there schools nearby?
• What is the average utility cost per month/year?
• Have you had any major problems in the past? Your normal seller’s disclosure does not require you to list problems you had and have fixed. Some sellers would like to know what those problems were. It can give them an idea if they are likely to be a recurring problem (like flood damage) or if the fact that you already had the issue and fixed it they will not likely have to deal with that particular problem in the future. Of course, you should always have the general information about your Edison real estate available such as square footage of the building, property size, zoning and any restrictions or easements.
Having all of the information on hand will prove to potential buyers that you’re serious, that you’re prepared to be upfront with them about any issues your home may have, and that you’ve taken excellent care of your home.
Thinking of selling your home?  I specialize in selling homes in Edison and Middlesex County quickly and at the highest price.  Find out more by calling me today.

Cathy Chaudemanche

The biggest barriers to selling your home are often those you create yourself by wanting a quick sale or not learning all there is to know about presenting your house to its best advantage.

When you first begin to think about selling your Woodbridge home it seems easy. Put a sign on the lawn and list it. Once the shine wears off of the desire to do it all yourself, you might need some tips to help sell your home: Clean It Up
That’s the first and foremost advice. Nothing deters a real estate sale faster than a messy house. Living in your home while trying to sell it makes it difficult to keep it clean, but if you’re serious about wanting to sell your home, it’s worth the extra effort.  You may want to learn how to clean your home fast for those times when a buyer calls and wants to see your home in 15 minutes or less.

Take Good Pictures
Where do you think people search first for homes for sale?  Online.  Newspapers used to be the first place people looked for homes.  But now, over 85% of all home buyers look online before searching anywhere else. 
Due to cost and space limitations, newspapers usually display only one photo of the front view of the home.  On the internet, where space is abundant, buyers expect to see lots of exterior and interior pictures, in fact, the more the better. If you aren’t experienced at getting good room photos that show off your Woodbridge home to its best advantage, hire a photographer or a real estate agent who can do it for you.

Hold an Open House
Or several. Selling your home takes time. If you are busy and can’t fit opening your home up to viewers into your schedule, you may want to list your home with a real estate agent who can do it for you. It’s better to leave your home in the hands of a professional real estate agent so you aren’t tempted to hover over buyers as they walk through. Hanging around discourages buyers from talking to each other about the qualities of your home and from taking the time to view and consider the true potential of your home.
There are pitfalls you can get tripped up on when selling your Woodbridge home.  If you’d like to work with a real estate agent who can help you maneuver around those pitfalls, give me a call today.

Cathy Chaudemanche

The environment is a major news issue and everyone is thinking green. Sometimes it seems difficult to go green in your everyday life, but just a few simple steps can move you down the path to a green Metuchen home.  You won’t even have to break a sweat or crack open a can of paint.

In the Laundry Room

Pick machines for your Metuchen home that have an Energy Star rating for peak performance to conserve water and electricity. According to Planet Green, an Energy Star washer saves enough water over the machine’s life to provide drinking water for six people for a LIFETIME. It will also save you hundreds of dollars in utility bills over an average 11 year machine lifespan. Use natural drying when possible. Hang clothes on a clothesline in the sun on nice days.

Use green products to wash your clothes. Laundry soaps that contain phosphates are dangerous to the environment. Look for products made from bio-degradable phosphate free materials.

At the Store

Buy your cleaning supplies and cleaning detergents as concentrates so you get more in each bottle. The fewer bottles you buy throughout the year the less ends up in a landfill.
Buy florescent bulbs instead of incandescent and carry your purchases home in reusable shopping bags.

Eat Green Right from Your Backyard

You can make your Metuchen home your very own grocery store. It doesn’t take a huge space to grow a garden big enough to feed an average family each year. You will harvest fresh vegetables you know are free of pesticides and herbicides that are bad for the environment and your health.

Cathy Chaudemanche

 Sellers putting up their homes for sale in Fords NJ may not have much available cash to spruce it up.  While staging houses is a definite plus, it costs, as does many of the other suggested “to-dos.”  Here are a few cheap, easy ways to make your Fords home for sale look more inviting to buyers:

1. Put away your personal stuff

Not every buyer looking at a home for sale in Fords appreciates the fact that someone still lives there.  Putting away the following things can help the buyers’ see themselves in the home:

• your pet’s things (toys, litter box, bowls)
• your medications, toothbrushes and toilet accessories
• any toys
• knick-knacks and personal pictures

2. Create more space in your Fords home

Small, closed in spaces are major turnoffs for buyers.  Create the illusion of more space by:

• putting up out-of-season clothes or clothes you don’t wear very often to make your closets look bigger
• taking one piece of furniture out of your bedroom
• packing up the small appliances in your kitchen
• taking out all but four chairs in your dining room, as well as extra table leaves

3. Touch on the trends

Chances are that some of the Fords home buyers are paying attention to celebrity trends.  Feng shui is a big one, and you can do your part with just a few touches:

• add a fresh bowl of fruit to the kitchen
• put a comfortable couch or chair on the east side of your living room or den
• put a green welcome mat on your porch to symbolize opportunity
• get rid of reds

Whether you see or feel a difference doesn’t matter.  Keep in mind that you’re trying to appeal to potential buyers of your home for sale in Fords, not make the home more livable for you.  If it helps, pretend that you’re the buyer, seeing the house for the first time.

If you’re trying to get your home ready to sell, I can help.  Contact me know…

Cathy Chaudemanche