Archives for 2018
A Guide to Self-Storage: Is a Mini Storage Unit Right for You?
April 8, 2018 By Leave a Comment
We unpack the choices and costs involved in renting a place to stash extra stuff
You have stuff and need somewhere to stash it. Maybe you are staging or remodeling your home or are moving to a new one. Maybe you’re combining, dividing or downsizing your household because of marriage, divorce or an empty nest. You may need to leave your residence between college semesters, between jobs or because of a natural disaster. You may have accumulated too many belongings on your own or inherited a loved one’s. Perhaps you have a thriving eBay business.
And so, if yours is like nearly one-tenth of U.S. households, you turn to self-storage, aka mini storage. Before you make the commitment, read this three-part series to find out how to get the right off-site storage for your needs and how to protect yourself and your things. After all, if they’re worth storing in the first place, you wouldn’t want to lose your treasures without any recourse or see them auctioned off on Storage Wars.
How to Update Your Kitchen Cabinets With Paint
April 5, 2018 By Leave a Comment
A painting pro gives advice on when and how to repaint your kitchen cabinets
Have your kitchen cabinets gone from new to vintage to what you consider an eyesore? Does it feel like you should be wearing bell bottoms and a butterfly collar when you’re reaching for a plate? If you said yes, perhaps it’s time to admit your cabinets need a refresh. Getting a new look doesn’t have to set you back thousands of dollars. Instead, consider how paint could transform your kitchen cabinets.
Let’s take a look at when paint works, what colors of paint to use on your cabinets and how to paint your kitchen cabinets yourself.
Seattle’s Future Skyline
April 2, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Dramatic new 3D images show how ongoing boom could further alter Seattle’s skyline
Seattle architectural designer David Boynton created these images using 3D modeling over Google Earth to further illustrate what could happen in Seattle as more and more buildings rise and take their place in the skyline.
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2017 MIGRATION PATTERNS
March 31, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Based on 72,986 Interstate and Cross-Border Household Goods Relocations from January 1, 2017, through December 15, 2017. Click on the map for detail for each Province or State.
10 Bathroom Trends From the Kitchen and Bathroom Industry Show
March 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment
A designer and his team hit the industry’s biggest show to spot bathroom ideas with lasting appeal
For some people, a winter vacation means relaxing on a beach in Florida. For me, a winter trip to Orlando means one thing: a visit to the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show. My design team and I recently attended the show and spotted a number of beautiful home trends, many of which you can expect to last well beyond 2018. Here are some of my favorite bathroom design ideas from KBIS that you can apply to your home for fresh style. (For kitchen inspiration, check out our favorite kitchen ideas from KBIS.)
Existing Home Sales Report
March 23, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Although home sales in the Midwest and Northeast saw a dip in this period, the South and West regions skyrocketed, boosting the national numbers.
Dr. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist noted that “The very healthy U.S. economy and labor market are creating a sizeable interest in buying a home in early 2018. However, even as seasonal inventory gains helped boost sales last month, home prices – especially in the West – shot up considerably. Affordability continues to be a pressing issue because new and existing housing supply is still severely subpar.”
Added Yun, “The unseasonably cold weather to start the year muted pending sales in the Northeast and Midwest in January and ultimately led to their sales retreat last month. Looking ahead, several markets in the Northeast will likely see even more temporary disruptions from the large winter storms that have occurred in March.”
Click to enlarge.
In February, the median home price rose to $241,700, a 5.9 percent increase from February 2017, and the 72nd straight month of annual gains. The average days on market fell to 37, down from 41 in January, and 45 last February. That’s what we call a competitive market.
NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall comments on the difficulty first-time buyers are seeing in this competitive market. “Realtors® in several markets note that entry-level homes for first-timers are hard to come by, which is contributing to their underperforming share of overall sales to start the year. Prospective buyers should start conversations with a Realtor® now on what they want in a new home. Even with the expected uptick in new listings in coming months, buyers in most markets will likely have to act fast on any available listing that checks all their boxes.”
Regional performance varied, with sales in the West outperforming all other regions. While sales fell in the Northeast by 12.3 percent, and dropped 2.4 percent in the Midwest, they skyrocketed 11.4 percent in the West, and 6.6 percent in the South.
