SPECIAL SECTION HOME IMPROVEMENT
buyers’ tastes can clash with yours. However, Millennials love,
love, love all-new stainless steel appliances. So much so that
what RealtyTimes.com called “an astonishing majority of 75
percent” of respondents in a recent survey chose to spend their
hypothetical home buying budgets on them.
DO-IT-YOURSELF LANDSCAPING THAT
DOESN’T LOOK IT
A FEW KEY UPGRADES THAT CAN REALLY
PAY OFF
It’s time to stop thinking of Millennials as totally uninterested
in owning anything just because they were early adopters
of Uber. The newly released U.S. home ownership rate rose
in 2018 for the first time in 13 years—it now stands at 64.2
percent—driven mainly by a shift toward owning over renting
by the under-35 crowd who’d been wary of committing for both
financial and personal reasons.
“This is happening because young households are buying
homes,” Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist at home listings
provider Trulia, told the Wall Street Journal. They’re not the only
purchasers, of course. But if you’re looking to sell your house now
or in the not-too-distant future, you might want to check out this
generational roadmap of four upgrades experts say are worth it to
help attract potential buyers.
*Cross-generational: a new steel door. The only thing that
beat it on Remodeling magazine’s annual Cost vs. Value Report
was loose-fill attic insulation, but this project—with a 90.7
percent return on investment—speaks directly to the report’s
main takeaway: “Curb appeal projects, by and large, generated
higher returns on investment than work done inside the home.”
Plus, as far as Millennials go, while their ideal interiors may
differ from older generations—for example, they prefer open
floor plans and hardwood floors—Architectural Digest says
they’re still into “traditional” exteriors.
*Millennials: Smart-home tech. Yes, there are Boomers and
Gen Xers who are super tech-savvy, but Millennials especially
crave homes that allow them to control their heating, air-
conditioning, home security, and lighting systems from their
phones. They want to use their brains for other things, not for
remembering whether they adjusted the heat or closed the garage
door.
*Cross-generational: A new roof. It’s the ultimate curb
appeal enhancer and buyers pay a premium for one already in
place. So if the first thing prospects notice even before exiting
their cars looks like something out of the movie “Twister,” you’ve
got a problem.
*Millennials: All-new appliances. Realtors will tell you that
major kitchen (and bath) upgrades aren’t generally worth their
high costs, in terms of return on investment, since prospective
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724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE
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icmags.com
If you’ve ever attempted to transform your backyard into a
beautifully designed paradise, then you have probably planted,
trimmed and dug your way into a few minor frustrations along
the way. While good landscaping can vary by degrees including
budget, skills and climate, there are a few easy things you can
do in order to be proud of your landscaping without paying an
expert.
The following tips will guide you on the right path to do-it-
yourself landscaping:
*Always layer your planting beds. Layering in three
rows, begin with your tallest plants in the back row, next tallest
in the middle and your shortest plants in the front. And don’t
just plant one bed—put another elsewhere in your yard to help
provide a sense of harmony.
*Calm your yard with water features. Providing focal
points in your landscaping work is a must, and one great way is to
incorporate water features such as ponds and simple waterfalls.
They both look appealing and add an attractive element to your
yard—the calming sounds of moving water.
*Utilize retaining walls. If you are planning on protecting
the fragile landscaping work around your home, it’s imperative
to construct a strong retaining wall. Erosion-prone areas in your
yard will benefit greatly by incorporating segmental retaining
walls constructed from concrete masonry. Using concrete
masonry not only provides the best value for the investment, it
also delivers superior design flexibility and aesthetic appeal to
any landscape idea.
*When planting flowers, go with annuals. To have a
continuous sense of color throughout your yard, plant annual
flowers alongside your favorite
perennials. Research and
lay out creative flower
combinations that make
use of both kinds of
flowers for year-
round beauty.
*Think year-
round. One of the
biggest mistakes
one can make is
only providing
one or two seasons’
worth of eye-catching
landscaping. Plan for
having plentiful trees and
shrubs during the springtime,
fall foliage during autumn months
and good, visually interesting plant life in the winter, such as
holly shrubs or bayberry bushes.