360renos - Home Improvement & Decor

How to make your home stand out when selling

We can help your house sell quickly and at a good price -- even in a slow market.

It takes a lot more than sparkling windows, scented candles and chocolate-chip cookies to sell a home in today's market.

Improvements should be made so that the property shows well, is consistent with the neighborhood and does not involve capital investments.

Beyond any doubt, the best investment you can make is new paint. Painting can make a room or an exterior façade look brand-new, and totally transform the look and feel of a room or the entire residence. It is always wise to be somewhat restrained when choosing colors for a home-staging paint project. Avoid choosing colors that are too individual or flashy and favor neutral colors and schemes. This does not mean painting everything white, however.

Use subtle color schemes to accentuate the home's strengths and minimize weaknesses. Dark colors, for example, tend to make a room feel smaller, while lighter colors and pastels can make a room feel bigger.

There is another benefit to painting as well: the process of preparing the interior or exterior surfaces of a home for painting automatically allows us to go over the entire area receiving paint in great detail, and this can often expose items or areas requiring repair. It seems you always discover where the caulking has let go, where the wall is dinged.

It is always preferable that we discover and deal with these items before the real estate agent (or worse, the prospective buyer) points them out to you!

Dave - 360renos




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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Interior Paint Charges and Costs

Here are some factors to consider:

-First, paint and painting contractors are not fungible. They are not a commodity. In other words, the quality varies widely. How? A sloppy painter will get paint on your hinges and your hardware. An unexperienced painter won't know how to deal with rotted wood that needs repair. A careless painter will not show up on time or will delay your job or get the colors wrong.

-So, interior paint charges and costs reflect the quality of the painter and the paint used. My recommendation would be to get at least three quotes from painting contractors that have been referred to you by friends. Then, don't automatically go with the lowest. Consider how much headache you're willing to tolerate.

-Other issues that are reflected in interior paint charges and costs include whether or not the painter will pick up the paint for you from the paint store. Will the painter get more paint if you run out or will you have to do it? How well will the painter clean up after himself? I find that usually, but not always, you get what you pay for when it comes to interior paint charges and costs.

-Interior paint charges and costs will be higher for painting contractors who have a large and regular crew of painters. Also, the interior paint charges and costs will be higher if there is a lot of "prep" work to be done: filling holes and cracks with caulk, sanding down rough spots, etc.

-Remember, when it comes to costs and charges for interior paint, you may overpay for mediocre painting, but you will almost never underpay for high quality painting.

Dave - 360renos

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