Home Care

Is your kitchen outdated? If so, what can you do about it if your budget is tight? Add a door, change your knobs, up-grade your countertop?

Well, those little changes would surely help out the look some, but there's more to a makeover than just those few things. When you walk into your kitchen, you want to absolutely love it! It truly is the heart of your Boise home.

But we all know how expensive it is to do a makeover. It might seem like an impossible task to you, but there are a few tricks that can save you an enormous amount of money, including:

• Paint the walls a color! Stay away from the mundane white and beige. Give the room some warmth.
• New cabinets: You don't have to remove your cabinets and replace them with new ones. That is very…

In the home buying process, there's two main decisions to make. You can choose to have your next house built, or there's a number of resale homes available in the Idaho market. A major draw to new home construction is the energy efficiency that naturally comes with today's new homes. Many Boise home companies involved in building custom homes are 100% Energy Star Certified. The added up savings with energy efficient homes is a huge advantage over resale homes. It not only shaves off dollars from your utility bill, but also adds value, which you'll be thankful for when it comes time to sell. Money savings aside, many of us these days are concerned with going green, and that's also a significant reason for going energy efficient.

While many new…

Looking to buy a home in the beautiful state of Idaho? Still deciding between Boise homes, Nampa homes, Meridian homes, or Eagle homes? Regardless of which area you ultimately decide to live in, your Idaho home is more than just your home. Get started with your Idaho property search today by clicking here - Search Idaho Property Listings.

In the eyes of most buyers, a home's value lies in its ability to satisfy their needs and wants. Of course, this isn't untrue. A home's value is extremely subjective, and changes from person to person. However, a home's value according to the real estate market is not subjective, and falls under an extensive web of various factors. Because your future home is going to be more than just your home, and you likely will…

If you're getting your Boise property ready for a sale, you may be wondering what are the best and easiest ways to increase its home value. As the environment has become a major concern for many people, greening up your Boise property can be one of the best and easiest value increases you can make on your place. Many owners of Boise North End homes are looking to update homes which were built 50 to 100 years ago.

But you don't have to go full solar or anything too difficult. Here are a few ways that you can make your Boise property greener while increasing your overall sale value.

#1 - Appliances

You can often ask for a bit more if you furnish your home with new appliances, and those bearing the Energy Star label are the best for keeping it…

 With the market what it is in 2012, many people believe there's never going to be a good time to sell homes in Boise, ID ever again. Fortunately, this isn't true. But in a tough but recovering buyer's market, you can still sell your home for a decent price. If you need help selling your home or buying a new one, call our on-call agent at (208) 571-7145.

Here are three rules to live by when selling your home in today's market:

#1 - Use the S.I.S. Method

SIS stands for "Scrub, Improve, Stage." Naturally, you would do this no matter what the market, but when the market isn't in the seller's favor, it's more important than ever to pay attention to the smallest detail. Sometimes, it's the minutiae that will ensure that you close on a house…

Have you been considering some investment options outside of your primary residence?  Well, the good news is that you don't have to have lots of money to invest in an Idaho investment property. You might be under the impression that investment properties are only for those who are super rich. You do need to have enough money to do it, and the financial worthiness and skills, but it's not as out of reach as you might think. Now that you know that almost anyone can invest in property, give us a call to get started! Our 24/7 on-call agent is available at (208) 571-7145.

My father, for example, a hard working middle class man, has flipped more than two houses while I was growing up. I watched him work his 9-5 job, come home to change his gear and…

There are the obvious reasons why your Idaho home's value will appreciate, things like renovations that add square footage or the remodeled kitchen. But as a house that sits on a square lot that doesn't get a makeover, what makes that house appreciate? What makes your Boise home any different than that brand new car you just bought that dropped drastically in value once you drove it off the lot?

Your home sits on dirt. Boise takes up about 68 square miles of dirt, and once that dirt is claimed, its claimed. They can keep pumping out cars, but we have all the dirt, or land, that we're going to get. Because the earth isn't expandable, certain parts of it become more and more coveted. As a result, the cost of land continually goes up. The building that…

Are you ready to put your Boise house on the market? Check again — your home might not be as ready as you think. Follow these tips to make sure your house is in shape and ready to be viewed and visited by buyers.

#1 - Pet Preparedness

If you have pets, no matter how much you love them, you know they can be little stinkers (literally). So make sure your home has been thoroughly cleansed of pet odors prior to having buyers enter your home. You don't want your Boise house remembered as "the house that smelled like a kennel." There are a few options for your home to restore it to pre-pet perfection:

• Hire a professional to deodorize carpets.
• Replace drapes and cover furniture with slip covers.
• Replace carpets with hardwood floors (and…

Whether you're looking to buy or sell a home in Boise, there are some things that you and your buyer/seller will have in common. One of those things is a concern over internal aesthetics for your home in Boise.

There are some things about the inside of a home that will be easy to change, and others will be far more impractical or expensive. If you're a buyer, take this guide as things that are reasonable to ask for and things that are a bit much for you to undertake as part of the housing transaction. If you're a seller, take this guide as things that will be easy and reasonable for you to offer the seller, and things that are enough to mean you should either come down in price or upgrade prior to putting your house on the market.

Internal…

Here's some tips and tricks from experts to properly stage your home and make it very attractive for prospective buyers. The following are five essential home staging tips that will get you noticed on the Boise real estate market and get your home sold much faster.

Professionally clean your carpets and floors – if possible replace carpets and other flooring particularly in high traffic areas as well as the bathrooms and kitchen.

Get rid of clutter – temporarily utilize a storage company and place any extra clutter away from the home. This can include toys, off-season clothing, closet items, and even extra furniture. The same should happen on the outside – remove yard debris, trim shrubs, and get rid of any old lawn furniture or…