Home remodeling contracts come in all shapes and sizes, from a one-page summary to a 10-page document. But before you sign on the dotted line, the Federal Trade Commission advises homeowners to take time to review the contract carefully to make sure all the details are covered. Understanding the finer points ahead of time can prevent misunderstandings and mishaps later.
Contracts should include the contractor's name, business address and phone number, and license number; payment schedule; who will obtain permits, if needed; and a detailed list of all materials needed for the job, including the product, brand name, size, color and model. Some contractors may include a visual presentation of the work to be done, such as sketches or a floor plan. Warranties covering materials and workmanship should also be included.
Contracts should address how change orders will be handled. A change order is a written authorization to the contractor to change or add a task to the original work agreement, which can often affect the project's cost and schedule. Remodelers may require payment for change orders before the work begins.
The contract should also include a clause explaining your right to cancel the agreement within three business days. The contractor will provide two copies of cancellation form, one for you to keep and one to send back to the company if you decide to cancel.
If site clean-up and trash hauling are not included in the contract, as for a "broom clause". which makes the contractor responsible for all clean-up work. The contract may also include details on the issues such as access to the home and care of the premises.
Once the paperwork is signed, keep all copies in a safe place. Also keep track of phone calls, conversations and activities related to the project, and take photos as the project progresses. These records can be helpful in resolving any problems that may occur, either during or after construction.
information provided by www.crs.com
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Updated Stats
2011 Statistics (3/31/11)
Local Stats:
Sold-
Number of listings: 83
Average Price: $163,053 (-3.5%)
Median Price: $132,500 (-11.7%)
DOM: 151
For more information visit our website at www.qcrhomes.com
Local Stats:
Sold-
Number of listings: 83
Average Price: $163,053 (-3.5%)
Median Price: $132,500 (-11.7%)
DOM: 151
For more information visit our website at www.qcrhomes.com
Friday, February 11, 2011
Check out Joe's facebook page and become a member of the Lewiston Idaho, Quad Cities Realty Group or the Clarkston Washington, Quad Cities Realty Group.
We are updating information daily on those pages and it will give us a chance to be able to get information quickly and efficiently to you!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Wear Red!
Today is National Wear Red Day! Let's all help to fight heart disease in women. Since 2004 Go Red For Women has contributed almost $44 million to the research of heart disease in women. Let's keep it up! Want to know more? Check out this website. You will also be able to find how to help out in your community by planning your own event!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Dump Hunger
The Valley knows that the holidays aren't the only time people are in need of a little extra help.
That is why "Dump Hunger" is in full affect through February 7th.
Here is what the Chamber Newsletter had to say about it,
"Western States Equipment (CAT) in conjunction with Albertsons, is
once again conducting the post-holiday food drive “Dump Hunger.”
This is the third year and has become a very important food drive to
help restock the shelves after a busy holiday season.
Local businesses have volunteered to be local drop sites including
Syringa Bank, Sport Physical Therapy, Albertson’s in Lewiston &
Clarkston, Swift Trucking, and both Les Schwab Tire Centers in
Lewiston.
Donations benefit the Idaho Foodbank, which provides resources to
most of the area food banks and feeding sites. For more info, contact
Corby with CAT at 208.413.1642 or Chuck with the Idaho Foodbank
at 208.746.2288."
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Six Reasons
If you want to know more about the house you are moving into, or simply the neighborhood; it would be a good idea to google the addresses first. Trulia gives you six reasons as to why googling a prospective home is ALWAYS a good idea
http://www.trulia.com/blog/taranelson/2011/01/6_reasons_you_should_google_your_address_or_search_it_on_trulia
http://www.trulia.com/blog/taranelson/2011/01/6_reasons_you_should_google_your_address_or_search_it_on_trulia
Monday, January 31, 2011
Lewiston Tribune
The Lewiston Morning Tribune announced the awards by the Chambers of Commerce. Also talking about the new Merger implementation.
Check it out!
http://www.lmtribune.com/story/business/524819/
Check it out!
http://www.lmtribune.com/story/business/524819/
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Spice up your place!
1. Buff up curb appeal. You’ve heard it before, but it’s critical to get buyers to want to look on the inside. Be objective. View listings from the street. Check the condition of the landscaping, paint, roof, shutters, front door, knocker, windows, house number, and even how window treatments look from the outside. Add something special—such as big flower pots or an antique bench — to help viewers remember house A from B.
2. Enrich with color. Paint’s cheap, but forget the adage that it must be white or neutral. Just don’t let sellers get too avant-garde with jarring pinks, oranges, and purples. Recommend soft colors that say “welcome,” lead the eye from room to room, and flatter skin tones. Think soft yellows and pale greens. Tint ceilings a lighter shade.
3. Upgrade the kitchen and bathroom. These make-or-break rooms can spur a sale. But besides making each squeaky clean and clutter-free, update the pulls, sinks, and faucets. In a kitchen, add one cool appliance, such as an espresso maker. In the bathroom, hang a flat-screen TV to mimic a hotel. Room service, anyone?
4. Add old-world patina. Make Andrea Palladio proud. Install crown molding at least six to nine inches in depth, proportional to the room’s size, and architecturally compatible. For ceilings nine feet high or higher, add dentil detailing, small tooth-shaped blocks used as a repeating ornament. It’s all in the details, after all.
5. Screen hardwood floors. Buyers favor wood over carpet, but refinishing is costly and time-consuming. Screening cuts dust, time, and expense. What it entails: a light sanding, not a full stripping of color or polyurethane, then a coat of finish.
6. Clean out, organize closets. Get sorting—organize your piles into “don’t need,” “haven’t worn,” and “keep.” Closets must be only half-full so buyers can visualize fitting their stuff in.
7. Update window treatments. Buyers want light and views, not dated, fancy-schmancy drapes that darken. To diffuse light and add privacy, consider energy-efficient shades and blinds.
8. Hire a home inspector. Do a preemptive strike, since busy home owners seek maintenance-free living. Fix problems before you list the home and then display receipts and wait for buyers to offer kudos to sellers for being so responsible.
Information provided by www.trulia.com
2. Enrich with color. Paint’s cheap, but forget the adage that it must be white or neutral. Just don’t let sellers get too avant-garde with jarring pinks, oranges, and purples. Recommend soft colors that say “welcome,” lead the eye from room to room, and flatter skin tones. Think soft yellows and pale greens. Tint ceilings a lighter shade.
3. Upgrade the kitchen and bathroom. These make-or-break rooms can spur a sale. But besides making each squeaky clean and clutter-free, update the pulls, sinks, and faucets. In a kitchen, add one cool appliance, such as an espresso maker. In the bathroom, hang a flat-screen TV to mimic a hotel. Room service, anyone?
4. Add old-world patina. Make Andrea Palladio proud. Install crown molding at least six to nine inches in depth, proportional to the room’s size, and architecturally compatible. For ceilings nine feet high or higher, add dentil detailing, small tooth-shaped blocks used as a repeating ornament. It’s all in the details, after all.
5. Screen hardwood floors. Buyers favor wood over carpet, but refinishing is costly and time-consuming. Screening cuts dust, time, and expense. What it entails: a light sanding, not a full stripping of color or polyurethane, then a coat of finish.
6. Clean out, organize closets. Get sorting—organize your piles into “don’t need,” “haven’t worn,” and “keep.” Closets must be only half-full so buyers can visualize fitting their stuff in.
7. Update window treatments. Buyers want light and views, not dated, fancy-schmancy drapes that darken. To diffuse light and add privacy, consider energy-efficient shades and blinds.
8. Hire a home inspector. Do a preemptive strike, since busy home owners seek maintenance-free living. Fix problems before you list the home and then display receipts and wait for buyers to offer kudos to sellers for being so responsible.
Information provided by www.trulia.com
Monday, January 24, 2011
The Final Tally
Thinking about remodeling, but don’t know which projects will
give you the most bang for your buck?
Check out the results of the latest “Cost vs. Value” report by Remodeling magazine.
One surprising — but fairly easy —change is to replace the garage door, which on average costs $1,291.
According to the report, more than 80 percent of the cost is recouped during a resale.
Other renovations and remodels worth their price tag include a steel entry door replacement (102.1 percent cost recouped), a minor kitchen remodel (72.8 percent cost recouped) and replacing wooden windows (72.4 percent cost recouped)
For upscale projects, replacing fibercement siding reaps 80 percent of the
initial cost, while replacing vinyl windows recoups just more than 70 percent of the
initial cost.
Big renovations you might think are worth it, but aren’t: master suite additions (52.7 percent of cost recouped), an additional bathroom (53 percent cost recouped) and a home office remodel (45.8 percent cost recouped).
The data from the past seven years show a downward trend in the overall
cost-to-value ratio, which began with eroding home prices and a rise in construction
costs, but is now largely due to a drop in resale values.
So what’s the bottom line? The report suggests that in terms of remodeling, it’s
most profitable to concentrate on the exterior of the home than the interior.
information provided by www.CRS.com
give you the most bang for your buck?
Check out the results of the latest “Cost vs. Value” report by Remodeling magazine.
One surprising — but fairly easy —change is to replace the garage door, which on average costs $1,291.
According to the report, more than 80 percent of the cost is recouped during a resale.
Other renovations and remodels worth their price tag include a steel entry door replacement (102.1 percent cost recouped), a minor kitchen remodel (72.8 percent cost recouped) and replacing wooden windows (72.4 percent cost recouped)
For upscale projects, replacing fibercement siding reaps 80 percent of the
initial cost, while replacing vinyl windows recoups just more than 70 percent of the
initial cost.
Big renovations you might think are worth it, but aren’t: master suite additions (52.7 percent of cost recouped), an additional bathroom (53 percent cost recouped) and a home office remodel (45.8 percent cost recouped).
The data from the past seven years show a downward trend in the overall
cost-to-value ratio, which began with eroding home prices and a rise in construction
costs, but is now largely due to a drop in resale values.
So what’s the bottom line? The report suggests that in terms of remodeling, it’s
most profitable to concentrate on the exterior of the home than the interior.
information provided by www.CRS.com
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Michele Arellano
Yesterday Michele traveled up to Spokane Washington to take her Broker's exam. Quad Cities Realty is proud to announce that she successfully passed and is now in possession of her Idaho Brokers License!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Fast Fact
One home structure fire was reported every 87 seconds
in 2009. Cooking is the most common cause of home fires
and injuries.
information provided by www.crs.com
Since cooking is the number one reason for home structure fires always remember to turn stoves off.
Do not place towels near burners and ALWAYS cook on the back burner when there are children in the home. That way they cannot reach up and burn themselves or pull a hot pan down.
Don't ever try to put out a stove fire with water, it will only make the problem get worse. If you can contain the fire use cooking salt that is nearby, but if not GET OUT immediately!
Remember that incase of a fire have a plan!
It is always a good idea to map out a plan and run through it, that way everyone in the family will know what to do.
Make sure everyone in the family knows to not go back for anything, get out quick and efficiently.
This is also a great way for children to learn organizational skills and to make it easier and less traumatic if incase a fire did start.
So be smart and be safe, devise a plan and follow it.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Cleaning up!
The holidays are filled with traditions, but there’s one
you’d probably rather skip: the holiday cleanup. Consider
these tips to make the daunting holiday purge
seem as fleeting as the season.
Wondering what to do with all those leftover holiday catalogs?
Rip ’em up and use the shredded pages to pack away
delicate ornaments and other holiday decorations safely and
securely. If the tissue paper from all those gifts
is too wrinkled to reuse, line boxes with it to
keep your most precious items intact
until next year. Use clear plastic cases
to store decorations, while the
backsides of old greeting cards
make good labels to identify
what’s in each box. And what about storing
all those extension cords and strings of lights?
Wrap them around a gift wrap or paper
towel roll to prevent tangling; bag and label with their corresponding
extension cords so you
know exactly what
light goes where.Do the same for garlands.
Consider boxing electronics by room or by
type to help you avoid stuffing boxes with unrelated
holiday knick-knacks. And last, invest in a tree bag to keep pine
needles from spilling onto your living room rug or foyer floor. Before taking
the tree out of its stand, remove excess water with a turkey baster to ensure that the floor stays dry.
Information provided by www.crs.com
you’d probably rather skip: the holiday cleanup. Consider
these tips to make the daunting holiday purge
seem as fleeting as the season.
Wondering what to do with all those leftover holiday catalogs?
Rip ’em up and use the shredded pages to pack away
delicate ornaments and other holiday decorations safely and
securely. If the tissue paper from all those gifts
is too wrinkled to reuse, line boxes with it to
keep your most precious items intact
until next year. Use clear plastic cases
to store decorations, while the
backsides of old greeting cards
make good labels to identify
what’s in each box. And what about storing
all those extension cords and strings of lights?
Wrap them around a gift wrap or paper
towel roll to prevent tangling; bag and label with their corresponding
extension cords so you
know exactly what
light goes where.Do the same for garlands.
Consider boxing electronics by room or by
type to help you avoid stuffing boxes with unrelated
holiday knick-knacks. And last, invest in a tree bag to keep pine
needles from spilling onto your living room rug or foyer floor. Before taking
the tree out of its stand, remove excess water with a turkey baster to ensure that the floor stays dry.
Information provided by www.crs.com
Monday, January 3, 2011
CNBC's Predictions for the New Year
The Emmy Award winning journalist Diana Olick gives her predictions for 2011 here!
Also check out her personal blog located on this page for more great advice and tips nationwide.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/40215796/Predictions_2011_Diana_Olick_On_Real_Estate
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