The Spa-Like Bathroom: 10 Top Trends for 2015

Just like the kitchen, contemporary designs are growing in popularity in bathroom remodels. These contemporary touches in the bathroom equate to clean and open designs, with floating vanities and freestanding tubs.

Last week, at Styled Staged & Sold, we highlighted the top 10 trends for the kitchen this year. This week, we focus on the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s latest trend report on what’s driving bathroom design in 2015.

Here are the top 10 overall bathroom design trends NKBA designers expect to be hot this year:

1. Clean, white, contemporary designs
2. Floating vanities
3. Open-shelving
4. Electric heated floors
5. Purple color schemes
6. Trough sinks
7. User experience (ease of use and low maintenance) and accessibility features
8. Extra amenities (like steam showers, anti-fog mirrors, lighted showers, and shower seats)
9. Innovative storage (such as drawer pullouts and rollouts to hold hair styling equipment)
10. Showers and freestanding tubs

Most popular colors: White and gray are the dominant colors for bathrooms. Half of designers expect to see gray growing in 2015, and several designers also mentioned the growing popularity of purple, lavender, and lilac tones gaining steam in bathroom designs. For fixtures, white continues its dominance.

Out of style: Jetted tubs, whether whirlpool or air, are decreasing in popularity, according to NKBA’s report. “People are moving away from jetted tubs to more classic soaking tubs,” says Bill Donohoe with Donohoe Design Works in the Los Angeles area. Also, beige fixture colors are increasingly dropping in popularity.

Original Source: http://styledstagedsold.blogs.realtor.org/2015/04/13/the-spa-like-bathroom-top-10-trends-for-2015/

Get Your Home Sold With These Tips

Hire an Agent

This is the most crucial step in getting your home sold; hire an agent who is experienced in selling homes in your location.  Spend time researching agents that are licensed, experienced and motivated to sell your home.  This may take some time but it is time well spent.  Check around and talk with people who have recently sold their homes.  Check out the references of agents you are looking to work with. You will want to make sure that your initial feeling about the agent transfers to their ability to sell your home.

Research Similar Homes for Sale

Take time to look at homes that are similar to yours that have recently sold or are up for sale.  Look at the amenities that the home offers as well as the asking price.  The quickest and easiest way you can do this is by checking out homes online and in local publications.  This will help you come to an agreed upon asking price for your home.

Look at Your Home from the Buyers Perspective

Put yourself in potential buyer’s shoes.  Come up with a list of all of the positive features of your home and enhance them to their fullest.  You want the most affirming reaction possible for buyers when they enter your home.

Update Your Home’s Exterior

Curb appeal is something all agents stress to their clients.  It is a key element in getting your home sold quickly.  You want the first impression of your home to be one that evokes a feeling that puts the buyer in motion to be thinking about them living there.  Your landscape should be well manicured, maintained and thriving.  Treat the exterior of your home as an extension of the interior.

Remove Clutter

Your home may look lived in when you see it but to potential buyers it can look cluttered.  You want your home to be at its fullest potential.  Remove extra clutter and place it in storage.  Your home should be free of anything that is not needed to live comfortably.  Too much furniture makes a room look small so try to clear out larger pieces that take up an abundance of space.

Get the Little Jobs Done

Spend time taking care of the little things you have been putting off.  Cracked tiles are a simple fix and without it can deter some potential buyers.  The small things that need to be done around the house can really add up in a buyers mind.  Take those worries away, spend a day and with less than a hundred dollars get the little jobs done.

Repaint in Neutral Colors

Make your home desirable for the masses and this means painting all of the rooms the same neutral color.  Fresh, neutral colors allow buyers to visualize themselves in the space.  It also allows them to see their belongings filling the room.

Keep Your Home Clean

Your home needs to be clean thoroughly.  Never let a viewing occur without first tidying your home and taking the time to really de-clutter the space.  It is better to postpone a viewing opportunity a half hour over showing a home that is not clean.

Bake and Brew

During open houses start a pot of coffee and throw in a frozen pie.  The scents filling the home will make the home feeling cozy and warm.  Helping to increase the appeal of your home with smells of familiarity and warmth will only help to sell your home.

Lady of the Lakes Real Estate is Livingston County’s premiere realtor; out of Pinckney, Michigan helping buyers buy and sellers sell homes that provide a recreational lifestyle including golf courses, lakes and the Huron river chain of lakes, throughout Brighton, Howell, Pinckney and the surrounding area.  More information can be found at http://www.ladyofthelakes.com.

Buying Your First Home

After years and years of renting apartments the thought of buying your first home can be exciting and a bit terrifying.  Though the process itself can be a bit challenging the satisfaction at the end is a feeling that nothing in your life will ever compare to.  Buying a home, your first real estate transaction, is an exhilarating experience.  Your first home purchase will be the biggest investment you make up to this point in your life.  It is crucial to be wise and employ the best approach possible to ensure you are making an intelligent investment.

Hire an agent

The first piece of advice all first time home buyers should consider is to hire an agent that specializes in the location you are looking to move.  Having an experienced, certified realtor will help to ensure you have the widest selection of homes to view.  Knowledge and experience are two key characteristics that are must haves when selecting a buyer’s agent.   They must offer an extensive familiarity with the location you are looking to find a home.  This allows them to view listings and evaluate if they are over or under priced for the area, saving you both time.  Looking at homes that are a solid investment with room to build equity is especially important when buying a first home.

The agent you hire must also have experience and connections within the industry.  These connections are what help agent’s scope out listings before they are even advertised.  Having first dibs on a home is a terrific advantage in a competitive real estate market.  This is especially important when you have exhausted the available options within your criteria and are feeling hopeless about finding a home.  The process of buying a home can be long and tedious which is why it is crucial you hire an agent with both experience and knowledge.

Get Pre-Approved

Once you have found an agent that you are comfortable working with it is time to get a concrete idea of exactly what you can afford.  Many real estate professionals can help you find a company to work with in getting pre-approval.  Once that number is established getting a seller to accept your offer is better.  Sellers like to commit to buyers who are going to be able to get home loans.  Sellers do not want to commit to a buyer only later to learn that they do not qualify for the amount that was offered.  This is a waste of valuable time in selling their home.

With pre-approval a buyer is guaranteeing that they have met the qualifications lenders need to secure a home loan.  It means that your criterion, income verse debt, matches the needs of a mortgage lender thus you can commit to the purchase of a home.  Without pre-approval sellers are gambling on you and cannot be positive that you will be able to secure a loan for the required amount.

Starting out looking for your first home can be a bit tricky.  With a pre-approval in hand, a knowledgeable and experienced agent at your side the process is simplified significantly.

Lady of the Lakes Real Estate is Livingston County’s premiere realtor; out of Pinckney, Michigan helping buyers buy and sellers sell homes that provide a recreational lifestyle including golf courses, lakes and the Huron river chain of lakes, throughout Brighton, Howell, Pinckney and the surrounding area.  More information can be found at http://www.ladyofthelakes.com.