Pep Up My Minneapolis Home!

Minneapolis House Curb Appeal

This is Minna, blogging about renovations for your Minneapolis home.  If you are trying to sell your house, you’ve no doubt been told to renovate on the inside.  Redo the kitchen, paint the walls, put in new carpeting-these are all mantras of the eager-to-sell set.  These are good ideas that will add value to your house.  They also will increase the attractiveness of your home, thus in turn engaging more potential buyers.

What many sellers forget, however, is that you need to get the potential buyers in the door first.  Too many sellers neglect to spruce the outside of their houses which means many potential buyers aren’t even stepping into the house to see the awesome interior renovations.

Outdoor Sprucing for Your Minneapolis Home

I can hear you thinking (no, really, I can), “I’ve already updated the bathroom and the kitchen and the floors and the walls; I don’t have the time or the money or the will to tackle the outside of my house, too!”  I understand where you are coming from, especially if you’ve already done the inside renovations, but hear me out.  You don’t have to sink a lot of time or money into perking up the exterior of your house so you can catch the prospective buyers’ eyes.  Add a few potted plants around the walk up, for instance.  A little splash of color can go a long way.  You don’t have to re-roof the house or rip up the driveway and install a new one.  You can easily add a fresh coat of paint with minimal time and money.

Your Minneapolis House At Its Best

I know that selling a house is a long, tedious process, and the last thing you want is to think about how else to renovate.  If you follow the few tips I give above, though, then you’ll at least be comforted by the increased number of potential sellers walking through your newly-painted door.

Carbon Monoxide Detectors Required

Carbon Monoxide Detector Placement

Did you know that Minnesota Law Stat. 299.51 now requires carbon monoxide detectors within 10 feet of legal bedroom in existing homes? This law was passed last year and required CO detectors in new construction houses last year. But it also put into effect the same requirements for existing houses effective this year.

As of Aug 1, 2008, all existing houses are now required to have CO detectors within 10 feet of legally defined sleeping room, aka bedrooms. This is great as the CO detectors can save lives. But what bothers me is that most hallways in houses I’ve been in don’t have outlets.

These $50 devices can save lives. At my parents’ house, one night it went off. The next day I checked it out and the water heater vent pipe came loose. Apparently the installer only used 1 screw to attach the vent pipe. A couple of years later, the vent pipe came loose and was spilling CO into the house.

Green Home Guide

Everybody is talking green, and by green, I don’t mean money. Green is in. It’s the latest thing.

The government has gotten into the act by forming ENERGY STAR, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy.  This program rates different appliances, office equipment, home electronics and more (there are over 50 categories total) to identify the most efficient of them all.  If an item has rated an ENERGY STAR, you can be assured that it has met strict guidelines for energy efficiency. 

For example, an ENERGY STAR dishwater are at least 25% more efficient that contemporary conventional models.  In addition, an ENERGY STAR clothes washer cuts watery and energy consumption by over 40% as well. 

I found these statistics in the RE/MAX-published Green Home Guide which also has useful tips on how to make your home more green, and best of all, it’s free for the asking.  The guide is clear, concise, and full of practical advice that anyone can follow.

This guide includes:

• What is a Green Home?
• 5 Essential Things to Keep in Mind
• Green Return On Investment
• And more….

Just send me an e-mail and I’ll send you a pdf.

Smart Renovator Guide

As your agent, my concern for you does not stop at getting you in the front door.  Once you have bought your dream house, you will likely notice that there are a few things that need touching up or a makeover.  Whether you are interested in reselling your home at some point or in staying there for an indefinate number of years, there is a huge upside to renovating your home.

First, if you are going to sell it, smart renovations can exponentially increase your return.  Remodeling your kitchen or bathroom is always a good choice, but you want to make sure any renovations you do fit with the rest of your house.

There are many things to consider before you tackle a home renovation job, such as should you do it yourself or hire a professional.  To that end, RE/MAX has put together the Smart Renovator Guide, which is free for the asking. I have several hard copies left, as well as a pdf version. Just let me know which you would like to have.

This quick guide includes:

• Return on Renovation Charts
• Renovation Red Alert
• 6 Suggestions for Successful Home Improvements
• And more…

Request your copy today.

Our Summer Garden

One thing I love about living in a South Minneapolis home is that I have green things growing all around it. The trouble is, sometimes, the growing gets a little out of hand, and I don’t always have the time to deal with it. Well, the summer growing season is more than over. Most things in my garden were looking… shall I say… a little past their prime. Time for upper management to do a full analysis of how to deal with the situation. Well, upper management decided to do a full inversion of the company structure (till the garden). But before the tiller rips up the ground, let’s review what grew this summer.

First of all, I must confess. It wasn’t a garden, but more of a jungle. It was on the north side of our house where the mower really didn’t fit. We kind of let it grow, and it kind of got out of hand. Our neighbors were kind enough to say that they enjoyed the “native wildflowers” but most of it wasn’t flowers, and I’m sure most of it wasn’t native.

So, what grew? I’m no plant expert or weed expert, but I could identify some of the hardy plants in this “jungle” of ours. The first were those cute little bell-shaped flowering plants, lily of the valley. We like those plants, but since the rest had to go, so did these. Second to grow was Glechoma hederacea, better known as creeping charlie. This stuff is hard to get rid of. Next in line were several donor trees, mostly maple, but an elm, and an oak as well. Trying to get the roots out was truly a workout. Following this was a very special rhubarb-like plant, except it wasn’t rhubarb. At least, I don’t think it was rhubarb. I managed to dig a 12-inch diameter hole 12 inches deep and didn’t get the entire root out. It was deeper than that, but that’s as far as I could shovel. Another interesting plant was something that grew to be about 5 feet tall. This thing had a pod at the top that made it very top heavy. The plant would then bend over and drop seeds out of the pod. I think it was a kind of thistle.

Well, the rest of the things that grew are probably on the U of MN Extension’s site. They have a Garden page, where you can see common weeds. They list 34, and I think we had all 34 growing. But now, after I tilled the whole area, there’s a bunch of black dirt. We are planning on putting down garden fabric and wood chips. Hopefully not much will grow there.