5 Inexpensive Home Updates to Complete before Listing Your Home
By Lisa Johnson Sevajian Print Article RISMEDIA, August 11, 2011—There is no perfect formula for selling your home efficiently, but by following these five tips prior to listing you can increase your chances to close quickly at a higher price. 1.) Update your old garage door(s). Garage doors seem like a non-issue, but many times they make up a significant percentage of the front of a home. Because of this, they are one of the first things that buyers notice when they pull in the drive way. Replacing, or even just painting, these central fixtures will do wonders when it comes to instantly impressing perspective buyers and standing apart from your competition. The market has changed drastically since many of us purchased our homes here in town. I frequently hear buyers say that they have taken a house off their list because of the lack of curb appeal. This issue is especially important to people on busier streets, corner lots, or near a neighborhood eyesore. 2.) Replace old windows. Outdated windows age a home significantly, and you can often upgrade standard windows to vinyl for a reasonable $300 per window. The average home has 8 windows, so this upgrade doesn’t cost nearly as much as you might think and it will make a huge difference to the value perceived by prospective buyers. Key point to remember is that when buyers view a home they love, if they see it has older windows, they consider it a time consuming and costly headache. First time buyers have never replaced windows and often dramatically overestimate the cost to cure this issue. By replacing pre-listing you an actually save money. A well priced, move-in condition home will sell for far more than one with windows in need of repair. 3.) Assess your floors . If you have hardwood flooring, it’s worth the investment to have them refinished considering buyers put an extremely high value on them; you’ll get the most bang for your buck if they are refurbished. Carpets should be shampooed and replaced if they are stained or look worn. You don’t need to spend large amounts of money on the highest grade or most modern name but something inexpensive and neutral will certainly bring you a return on the investment. Even the smell of new carpet will make buyers set your home apart from the comparables. 4.) Paint the trim. If you can’t afford the daunting task of painting your entire house, painting just the trim will still make a big difference when it comes to curb appeal. Painting the whole house can be expensive, time consuming, and delayed by weather conditions; painting just the trim will give your home a fresher look. Interior trim is equally as important. 5.) Update fixtures. Keep an eye out for sales at home improvement stores and replace outdated lighting, plumbing and hardware fixtures. Simple replacing lighting fixtures and knobs in the bathroom or kitchen can update the entire look of the room. You can find many modern brand name fixtures online on contractor supply websites by just searching for terms like sale faucets, sale plumbing fixtures etc.
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![]() WYCKOFF VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT ANNUAL FIREWORKS FUNDRAISER SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2011 The 54th Annual Fire Department Fireworks Display and Band Concert Fundraiser will be held on Saturday, September 3, 2011 (Rain Date, Monday, September 5, 2011) on Memorial Field, behind Memorial Town Hall (340 Franklin Avenue). All seating will be on the rear baseball field near the Bandshell. The Police Chief reminds residents that alcoholic beverages are not permitted. This year the Fire Department has made special arrangements to have the The Shots provide special musical entertainment before the fireworks display. The Shots have performed at various outings and functions throughout the North Jersey area. Please plan to arrive early and enjoy the concert beginning at 6:45 pm featuring The Shots. The fireworks are scheduled to begin at 8:30 pm. This year will be the 54th year the Wyckoff Volunteer Fire Department has provided the fireworks display as the Volunteer Fire Department’s annual fundraiser. It has become an annual tradition in Wyckoff. The Volunteer Fire Department extends a friendly invitation for residents and their families to attend the fireworks display and support the Wyckoff Volunteer Fire Department. Tickets may be purchased in advance for $10.00 each, (children under 12 are free) at the following locations: Wyckoff Town Hall – Clerk’s Office, 340 Franklin Avenue Wyckoff YMCA, 695 Wyckoff Avenue The Hardware Station, 637 Wyckoff Avenue Market Basket (Wyckoff), 300 Sicomac Avenue Yudin’s, 378 Main Street Blue Moon Mexican Café, 327-J Franklin Avenue Godwin Auto, 178 Godwin Avenue Waldwick Prime Meats, 10 Franklin Turnpike, Waldwick Parkwood Deli, 342 Erie Avenue, Midland Park Or by sending checks payable to the Wyckoff Volunteer Fire Department for $10.00 per ticket to: P.O. Box 6, Wyckoff, NJ 07481. The Wyckoff Volunteer Fire Department would like to thank residents for supporting this annual fundraising event. This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.
![]() JUST SOLD -- my listing in the Wyckoff Knolls. 3BR, 2Ba Ranch with a lovely manicured yard. It was listed at $599,999 on May 10 and was under contract by May 18. It was on the market for only 9 days and sold for $600,000. Congratulations and best of luck to the sellers, Paul and Patricia, as they begin a new chapter in their lives. It was a pleasure working with you! ![]() Address: 326 Windham Court Directions: Wyckoff to Crescent to Brookside to Windham Vandenberg-built 3BR/2Ba Ranch on 1.1-acre lot. Features Living Room, Dining Room, Expanded Family Room with fireplace, Kitchen, large basement, 2-car attached garage, convenient walk-up Attic. Great location, gleaming hardwood floors, deck and inground pool. ![]() Address: 221 Van Houten Avenue Directions: Franklin or Wyckoff to Monroe to Van Houten Just listed, 3BR/1Ba Cape iin the Knolls section. Features Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Breezeway to 1-car attached garage, Basement Rec Room, Laundry and Storage. Walk-in Attic. Great location, hardwood floors, new 4-bedroom septic system. ![]() We all know that doing our part to recycle will help save the environment. Did you also know that it can help the Township and its residents? Wyckoff has launched a "Nifty-Fifty" program, with the goal of getting half of all homes to recycle. A 50% residential recycling rate will save Wyckoff taxpayers $100,000 per year! Check out the "Nifty-Fifty" program here. Not only does it set out the guidelines for separating recyclables and trash, but it also offers great tips, such as: -- donate your appliances or old furniture OR post on craigslist for FREE -- compost -- put the lid on your trash can ... wet trash weighs more, so it costs more to haul away -- the Township Recycling Center accepts old TV's, computers, monitors, keyboards, etc. REMEMBER: Most of your trash and recyclables are going out to the curb -- how you separate them makes a big difference! Wondering about the Wyckoff real estate market? Here are the some recent figures for single family homes, accordiing to the New Jersey Multiple Listing Service.
As of today, there are 88 active listings, with an average list price of $ 859,982. Nineteen listings sold in the month of July. The average listing price was $ 805,200 and the average sale price was $ 769, 077, which means that homes in Wyckoff were selling last month at 92.893% of their list price, on average. For the listings that sold, the average number of days they were on the market was 66.16. Here are the July sold listings, as reported in the NJMLS: MLS# DOM Price Style Address BR FB HB 1119989 19 $390,000 COL 240 CRESCENT AVE 3 1 1 1114371 30 $465,000 C/C 568 WYCKOFF AVE 3 2 0 1108645 14 $539,000 C/C 219 VAN HOUTEN AVE 4 2 0 1109734 26 $539,000 RANCH 418 WYCKOFF AVE 3 2 0 1114168 24 $575,000 C/C 429 LOUISA AVE 3 2 0 1122806 22 $600,000 RANCH 711 TIMBERLINE DR 3 2 1 1113440 8 $602,000 S/L 357 RODNEY RD 4 2 1 1107488 94 $680,000 RANCH 412 KINGSTON ST 4 3 0 1111141 61 $715,000 RANCH 535 WYCKOFF AVE 3 2 1 1116313 63 $725,000 COL 81 BARRETT LN 4 2 1 1115889 44 $727,000 COL 791 ALBEMARLE ST 4 2 1 1104841 119 $780,000 RANCH 489 N WILLIAM WAY 4 3 0 1106621 68 $810,000 RANCH 388 FRANCES PL 4 3 0 1038556 260 $910,000 COL 585 EDER AVE 4 3 1 1112138 34 $910,000 COL 431 DRURY LN 4 2 1 1103506 102 $946,570 COL 657 DANIEL CT 4 4 0 1039477 206 $999,000 COL 26 MANOR RD 4 3 1 1115877 14 $1,299,900 COL 409 DRURY LN 5 4 1 1107636 49 $1,400,000 COL 554 COVINGTON PL 5 4 1 Total Sold: 19 Average List: $805,200 Average DOM: 66 Average Sold: $769,077 Note: These properties were listed and sold by various participants of the NJMLS based on information from the New Jersey Multiple Listing Service, Inc. for the period July 1, 2011 to July 31, 2011. If you are wondering what your Wyckoff home is worth in today's market, give me a call. I'll be able to help you with that. I just listed this 3BR, 1B Cape Cod in a great location in the Knolls section of Wyckoff. Call me for a showing! 201-981-8934. ![]() In any real estate market, a house that shows well is going to outshine the competition. Does your home measure up? I have put together some tips for you to consider when staging your home for a sale: 1. De-clutter your space - This is key to a positive presentation of your space. Buyers will not be impressed by a cluttered, messy house. Get a storage unit for storing for any furniture or personal belongings that are getting in the way. 2. Remove personalized items - It is okay to leave a few family photos up, but for the most part less is definitely more. A buyer needs to feel like they can live in your home, and that can be hard if they are surrounded by murals of personal photos. 3. Curb appeal is crucial – First impressions are very important. A buyer needs to be impressed as soon as they pull up to your home. Make sure you driveway and house is power washed, weeds are pulled, the lawn is mowed and well maintained and add some flowers and a fresh rug near the entrance. How much can a seller benefit from staging? Hope these tips help you out! I have a lot more great staging tactics and tips I would love to share with you. Feel free to give me a call at 201-445-4300.
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Candace Larson
Sales Associate 257 E. Ridgewood Avenue Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-4300 x 222 (office) 201-579-3009 (vmail) Email me at: candacelarson@kw.com Categories
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