Listen Up Louisville

Move right into this welcoming 3 bedroom home in Polo Field's section of Louisville. The kitchen alone will sell you on this home, as it features a great traffic pattern, new stainless appliances, and cherry cabinetry. Sit on your deck to enjoy the beauty of your large, fenced yard!

Over the course of our last few blogs, we have talked about considerations you might have when buying or selling a home in Louisville. What do you want when you are a buyer?  What should you do if you’re selling?  The reverse of these questions are: What don’t you want as buyer and what you shouldn’t do as a seller?

You may buy a house and plan to make changes you want to fit your preferences of style and color and improve your kitchen to be a gourmet work center and your bath an in home spa.  You may want a pool in your yard or a pottery studio in your garage.  As a homeowner, you can do as you like, but there may be consequences when you go to sell if your improvements don’t appeal to the bulk of buyers.  Not only may you not get back much of what you put into the home, but selling it may be harder.  According to a recent article on MSN Real Estate, some improvements actually turn away buyers. 

Most real estate agents will tell you that pools are tricky additions that may be a deterrent to selling – especially a quick sale – unless you are talking about pools in warmer climates or in more affluent areas. But there are more things that can turn off the average buyer. 

Improvements that don’t pay are often that turn the normal function of an area into something else. If you blacktop your entire backyard to make tennis court, you won’t earn much rate of return on the improvement and may have to wait a while for a kindred spirit who prefers tennis to lawn care. The same goes for covering your yard with green cement.

Fancy bathrooms with steam showers, TV, seating, another spa amenities may make the home design magazines, but cause the house to stay on the market a few extra months.  The upgrade may have cost tens of thousands of dollars, but will return only a few thousand. Buyers may fantasize about such bathrooms, but don’t want to pay for them.  Features like urinals won’t bring much rate of return; whether buyers even like this upgrade is a toss-up between sexes.

Like the romance of a wood stove and have no other source of heat?  Buyers tend to walk on by homes like this for year or more until just the right buyer who want to be bothered with hauling in wood falls in love with the house. 

Converting a bedroom into a home office may be a good solution if you work at home, but if you add paneling, built in shelving, and hi-tech entertainment systems in a room that can’t be turned back into a bedroom, your house can linger on the market for an extra year.  This might not be a huge problem when the house is large, but to take one bedroom away when there only three or four will lessen the appeal and recoup less than 60% of the cost.

Barns in non-farm area, horse stables, a bank of garages for classic car, and hobby rooms are hard to sell – unless the next owner has specialized needs. Features like this can keep home on the market months or years longer and bring a rate of return that ranges from 1-60%.  Obviously, none of these features are upgrades, but reflect the passions of the current owner.  Passion seldom plays well in the real estate market.  Your best hope of selling a home with an unusual feature is to appeal to potential buyers through specialized advertising.

If you are a buyer, you may jump at the chance to buy a place with some of these improvements.  Make sure to tell you Realtor® of your special interest.  If a paneled office/den on the second floor or a barn on the property is on your “wish list,” you may be able to get this feature in a home in your price range.

Have a home with hard to sell features?  Looking to buy something special?  Call me, Jessica Gaines! I am your Louisville real estate resource. 

 

As we discussed in our last blog, you might be weighing whether to move or stay put and remodel your Louisville home.  Your issue is space, as your family is growing or you want more room for your at-home business, so you look to the attic for available living  space that will not require you to expand the footprint of your house. If you have a shotgun house with a pitched roof in Germantown or Old Louisville or a rambling old house in Butchertown or St. Matthews, you wonder if remodeling the attic is good option.

 

In terms of rate of return of return at sale,  Remodeling Magazine surveys verify that attic remodels are a great investment that pay back over 90% at time of sales. In an economy where kids come back home and parents move in, maximizing available space makes sense to you - and to the next buyer as well. Fixing your attic, or your basement, for that matter, give better pay-back than an addition.

 

There are two things to remember.  First, attic remodeling is not cheap. Unless you are just improving a previous remodel and just need to do some cosmetic upgrades, you can spend nearly $50,000 in bringing  utilities to the space, reinforcing the floors, adding insulation, drywalling, and finishing the area. Putting this much into the house and paying additional utility costs might still end up being cheaper than moving. If you love your home and really don’t want to move, you need to consider if your attic is a good candidate for expansion.

 

How is the current roof supported? . If your attic has A-shaped roof supports, your attic is a good candidate for remodeling.  If the supports look like big W-s, that means that you have trusses where each board helps support the roof, so you won’ t have enough walk-around space left to make a room.  A crawl space won’t work, but if you have a home built after 1960, you might have prefabricates trusses that can be altered

 

How strong is the floor? Most local building codes dictate that floors support 10 pounds per square foot for dead load space (the materials) and 30 square foot of live load space (furniture, belongings, you.) Old attic floors tend to only support 10 pounds, so your floor may have to be brought up to specs by strengthening  he ceiling joists of the rooms below.

 

How much “clear span” or open space do you have between beams and joists? You don’t want to hit your head on the ceiling when you are getting out of bed. What is considered usable space is the part of the  attic is at least 5 feet high, but at least 50% of your attic must be 7 feet, 6 inches or more above the floor to comply with building codes.  In an attic, beams that are perpendicular to the floor might be load bearing, so you cannot move them to give more open space. You can also add dormers or skylight windows to part of the space to give more height in certain parts.

 

How do you access the attic? If your attic already has a staircase, you are know how a staircase will  impact the rooms.  If the space was only reachable before by a ladder, you need to plan on about 5 square feet in diameter for spiral staircase, 16 feet x 3 feet for a straight staircase, or 8 square feet for stairs broken up by a landing. (You can use a ladder to access a loft, but ladders to the attic don’t pass most codes.) If the access to the attic is from a closet or a private area of the house, finding an access point can be a challenge. If you have grown kids or boarders in the attic, you will want the access to be as non-intrusive to your family life as possible. Also, for safety purposes, you need an escape route.

 

Are there utilities there? If so, will your current systems handle the expansion?  You will need heating and cooling, electricity, and perhaps water so you will be comfortable. You may need a separate furnace unit or an additional circuit box to handle the load.  Especially if you are creating a bedroom, a separate living space, or rental space, you will need a bathroom.

 

If your architect can address all these consideration, your attic can be upgraded to create an ideal space for an extra bedroom, office space, a family room, or game room. If not, there are plenty of spacious homes in the Louisville area that can match the needs of your family.  Want to see some?  Call me, Jessica Gaines! I am your Louisville real estate resource.

 

Happy New Year, Louisville. After a couple weeks of holiday celebrations, it is time to focus on your real estate agenda for 2012.  Is this the year you will get serious about moving?

Over the past couple years, the housing market has been down, so sellers have hesitated to sell unless they absolutely needed to.  Though most of us anticipate making a profit on our homes when we sell, it is still shocking to realize that serious price cutting may be the only way to get the type of buyer attention that results in a “sold” sign in the front yard.  For buyers, there is more choice in a down market – but when sellers hold back, the choice is less than it would have been.

This state of affairs beckons anyone who anticipates house shopping in the new year to carefully consider what is important to them in a new home.  Over the past decade, the first thing on most people’s list is more space.  Considering that the average home size in 1970 was 1,400 square feet as compared to 2,700 square feet in 2009, they fulfilled their dreams.  Since in that same time period, family size did not change much while the number of people living alone increased, the need for more space is due to preference, not need.

According to a blog post Remodeling trends: Smaller homes appeal to buyers that appeared in the ReliableRemodeler.com blog, size preferences are decreasing a bit, in view of the economy, environmental consciousness, and changing views on using space.  The blog references a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) survey that shows that size preferences for new homes have already dropped to about 2.400 square feet in 2010 and predicts a further drop to 2,150 square feet by 2015.  

While people want space where they do most of their living, formal living rooms may be sacrificed in favor of multi-use rooms like a “great room,” that merges the kitchen and family room.  Home offices, mud rooms, and other special-use spaces might have tweaked to be multi-functional.  Rather than add more space, homeowners might remodel to create eat-in kitchens, walk-in closets, porches, spa-like bathrooms, and two car garages.  Remodeling will be done with an eye on making the space more energy efficient as well.

In Louisville, there are homes of every size and configuration, every age and condition, that will suit your lifestyle.  How much space do you need?  What do you need it for? Where do you want it?  If you take the time to figure this out, you will be able to approach the homes you see differently.  If a home is smaller than you want, how usable is the space?  If it is not in move-in condition, what is the potential for making the space just what you want?  If is home is bigger than you need, how will you use the space?  What are the economics of heating, cooling, and maintaining it?

With a variety of nice homes out there, it is just a matter of finding one that will work for you.  Call me, Jessica Gaines! I am your Louisville real estate resource.

 

The day before Christmas, I am chuckling as I read  about the 70 year-old fruit cake from Cincinnati that’s up for auction online. This often maligned Christmas treat brought $535 for a church outreach program that provides food and other items for homeless people in Clermont County, OH. Though the rum and the vacuum packing has probably left it edible after all these years, it will go on someone’s shelf once more, but at least the money it brought will help others.

Christmas time often makes people willing to help those in need, but right in our community, there are needs all year round. Kids are hungry, families are homeless, and animals are at risk – just to name a few causes.

Maybe you feel that you can’t help everyone or that by spreading your little money around, you won’t do much good. That is not necessarily true. If you have a heart to help, even if you have just a few resources but are willing to do what you can with your time and money, you can make a difference. You can also pick out a cause that pulls at your heart.

Me, I love animals, so working with rescue efforts here in Louisville is my passion.  Over 6,000 animals were killed in our local animal shelter this year alone. Can you believe it? Many people dump completely good, trained dogs just because they are moving, having a baby, or find that pets just don't "fit their lifestyle" anymore. Even if you can't take a dog, there are many ways to , including sponsoring their "pull" fee, helping to transport to a rescue, or even just sharing a post. Let's help give the pups and kitties a second chance at having a good human! Friend No Kill Louisville for ways to help!

it would warm your heart to know the people in our community that run rescues for these animals have truly dedicated their lives to saving as many as they can. I don't know how they do it day in and day out. It’s so rewarding when you are involved in helping one because you actually get to see the end results.

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that almost every week, I post a beautiful dog – or a few – on my page . They can be spared if only someone reaches out to welcome him (or them) into their homes. You can help in the weeks ahead if you invite one of these abandoned pets to be part of your family. If you are like me, who already has two pups I adore at home, you might not be able to take in more, but you can still help by donating time or money to the cause.

For more information, you can contact No Kill Louisville to learn what they are about and what they need. They need your money to support their efforts, your pet food donations for their pet food bank, and your service. Of course, if you want a pet, your new best friend might be waiting for you.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all my friends and clients (often the same group!) in Greater Louisville and beyond.

Looking for a pet-friendly home? Call me, Jessica Gaines! I am your Louisville real estate resource.

 

 

 

 

As you are shopping for last minutes gifts this year, think “Made in Louisville.” With so many options available, you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of this first. 

Many of the unique tastes of Louisville are available on line and ready for shipment anywhere. Among the many dishes associated with the Kentucky Derby, decadent Derby Pie is ready for shipment  from Taste of Louisville.com– maybe as a temptation to come taste in the person at the next Derby in May. You can even order in it a gift back with a pound of Maker’s Mark Coffee, enhanced with a bit of its namesake bourbon.

Speaking of the Derby, Christmas is not too early to plan ahead for a visit to the Derby. This endeavor is costly, but memorable, so why not have Santa drop off some ticket to the race and some of the related activities? You can secure an accommodations package at a local hotel, which includes transportation to the race, and even plan to come early for the Taste of Derby or Barnstable Brown Gala on the preceding Thursday to enjoy food, drinks, and entertainment.  On Friday, you can attend the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs or take a Bourbon Distillery Tour or a tour to area horse farms. You’ll just have to bring your own hat, although you can buy those in advance too.  For a year-round for your friend who likes horses, you can pick up some artful wire sculptures by Kentucky native Dacelle Peckler for some shots of horse or memorable Louisville sites by photographer Doug Prather.

While the Mall of St. Matthews is busting with values for national chain retailers, Louisville residents can Give a Gift from Kentucky and support local artists.  This Kentucky Crafted  program, launched by Governor Steve Beshear, features gifts offered by artist-members of the Kentucky Arts Council who have a variety of jewelry, ornaments, pottery, prints, all available for gift giving. Many of these artsy gift suggestions are included in the Kentucky gift guide.

Another great idea is to pay a visit to Hadley Pottery, where you can buy an accent piece or a whole set of stoneware in variety of western, country, beach , nautical, and traditional themes all done in shades of hand-painted blues and greens. This company has been crafting pottery at its factory on Story Avenue since 1940 and is still going strong. Buying here will help a local company and allow to spread the work about a fine Louisville craftsman.

When you wish your friends and loved ones a happy holiday, why not make it a Happy Louisville holiday with a gift with roots in your home town?

If you want to put your roots down here, call me, Jessica Gaines! I am your Louisville real estate resource.

 

Though you may be overwhelmed with circulars from mall stores and Big Box store this Thanksgiving weekend, remember that Louisville is part of a unique effort known as Small Business Saturday. This nationwide effort on Saturday, November 26 focuses on small businesses which hire local and contribute a larger percentage of the money spend to the community. This event is in sync with the year-round Keep Louisville Weird movement, which encourages patronizing small locally-owned stores.

Nationwide, the effort is backed by American Express, which hopes to sign up retailers to accept their card. The company is offering a $25 statement credit to those who register their card and use it at locally-owned businesses that accept the card, plus with donate $1 per person who likes the Small Business Saturday Facebook page.To retailers, American Express promotional materials and use a number of social media tools to promote their businesses on Small Business Saturday.  Even Facebook has jumped into the effort and is offering businesses $100 in Facebook ad credits to the first10,000 businesses who sign up.

During the event, many local businesses offer incentives and discounts to shop with them, and may even advertise that they are donating some percentage of sales to local charities.  Barry Wooley of Designs Showroom and Design Center, for example, is donating to Brooklawn Child and Family Services..

In Louisville, locally-owned stores are nested in local neighborhoods as well as downtown, and offer merchandise not found in the national chains  As Andie Frisbee of Dandelion points out, “We're a really huge community of locally owned businesses, mom-and-pop stores. They're everywhere. All you have to do is just walk down your street.   We're easier to shop. We do a lot more personal items, a lot of personal services that big-box chains don't offer, so I think that that's the nice benefit for a local business,”

As David Oetken of the Small Business Development Center notes, “Small businesses account for most of the jobs, about 80 percent of the jobs, mostly innovation, mostly taxpayers, so it's very important we keep them healthy.”  For every $100 spent at a hometown business, $47 stays in the local economy, as compared to only $15 of money spend at a national chain.  Aside from the sales they make on Small Business Saturday, Oerken says those businesses who actively participated last year experienced a 20% bump in sales year over year.

Some merchants do not accept American Express cards as the fees are higher, but the spending profile of American Express customers is higher too – a fact well known to jewelers.  According to American Express, retailers that accepted their cards saw a 27% increase in sales from the prior year – even higher than the percentages noted above for total sales.

Want to help our local business community and find a unique gift for a friend or loved one? Shop Small Business Saturday this weekend, and keep the concept going throughout the year. As we will discuss in future blogs, there are many local options in Louisville for finding unique gifts.

A little work will put this home back in move-in condition. A large Cape Cod with a nice yard and room for a garage. Great windows let in loads of light. 

On this crisp autumn weekend, my pups and I are off to our monthly Dames and Dogs hike.  I know Louisville well, but my dogs have walked through a good bit of it too. Tomorrow’s hike in Jefferon’s Memorial Forest on Bearcamp Road in Fairdale. The hike promises to be 2.5 hours of exercise and good times for human and and canines – a “pawsome” time, as the Dames and Dogs website puns.  

The real estate market has been so busy for me that I enjoy taking time out to enjoy the beauty of Louisville with my best friends, Joe Cocker and Johnny Rotten, who are featured on the Dames and Dogs website , by the way.  When I return to my home, I know it will be warm and that dinner awaits all of us, as soon as I get it together to cook it.  However, I am painfully aware that providing for basic necessities is a challenge for many in my town. 

As prices for food, heat, and other basic necessities increase, many of our neighbors need a break. Fortunately, there are resources in our city to help. The Louisville Metro Community Action Partnership  has been taking applications for heating assistance since November 2. So far, over 7,000 have sign up to receive assistance, which is provided by Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and administered through the local partnership. Last year, over 11,000 received help, but Debbie Belt, community outreach specialist for the Metro Department of Community Services and Revitalization, predicts more will need assistance this year. The city has $1.5 at its disposal, but the partnership is committed to find ways to help if the need exceeds the

Who qualifies?  Any Jefferson County resident with a household income at or less than 130% of federal poverty guideline scan qualify for a lump sum payment. The amount is based on income , number of people in the household, and type so heating used. Registration for the program funds through December 16, though other funding is expected in January to help people pay delinquent bills. You can register at the Urban Government Center, 810 Barret Ave.; the Newburg Community Center, 4810 Exeter Ave.; or the Southwest Government Center, 7219 Dixie Highway.

The crispness in the Louisville air that is invigorating on nice walk can be bone-chilling when the house is into warm enough. Please help me spread the word about this much-needed program that offers energy subsides to those among us who need a break. If you are looking for a home in a compassionate (and pet-friendly) city, call me, Jessica Gaines! I am your Louisville real estate resource.

Located in Jeffersontown Little League District, this beautiful brick ranch has an inviting open floor plan and a spacious yard easily seen from the beatuiful floor-to-ceiling windows.  Finisshed area in basement is second family room hosts games and guests