House Hunting with Pets

 House Hunting with Pets

Nearly 68% of U.S. households own pets. Pets share our living spaces and sometimes run our lives more than we’d like to admit, so there is a lot to consider when shopping for a new home that you will share with your furry/scaly/feathery friend. Here are some tips for house hunting with a pet in mind.

Inform Your Agent
The first thing you need to do is inform your real estate agent about your pet and what home features are important for your specific pet. That way your agent can inform you of any local ordinances or restrictions, and they can help filter your home search to properties and neighborhoods that are pet friendly.

Consider Outdoor Space

If you have a pet that enjoys the outdoors, you should pay close attention to several home and neighborhood features when looking at homes.

• Yard - Does the yard size give your pet enough room to roam? Do you have easy access to the yard, i.e., will it be easy to let your pets in and out? If the home has a pool, it should come with a gate or cover. Is there any vegetation that would be harmful to your pet? How are the sightlines - can you see your yard from your kitchen or living room?
• Fencing - Does the yard have a fence? How high is it (for jumpers)? How private is it (for barkers)? Do the gates properly latch? If there is no fence, how much would it cost for you to install one for that lot size?
• Neighborhood - Are there any busy roads nearby? Are the streets well-lit? Are there sidewalks, parks, or other suitable walking areas nearby? If your dog gets loose or your cat likes to prowl at night, will it be safe?

Check the Rules and Guidelines
If you intend to search for a home in a neighborhood that's managed by an HOA, you should identify what guidelines they have in regard to pets. It's possible that there will be a limit on the size or number of pets that can be in one household.

When rules are in place, violations can result in substantial fines, which is why it's best that you find out this information before making an offer. Many communities are pet friendly and include on-site services that are beneficial for pets.

Consider Interior Features
The interior of the home you're interested in should also be considered. For instance, does the house have a bay window or large window ledges where a cat can sit? Does the bathroom have a shower or tub that will accommodate pets for baths/grooming? As for flooring, carpets will stain easily and attract pet dander and fur. Hardwood and tile floors are preferable.

Numerous factors will play a role in your final decision when searching for the right home. As long as you inform your realtor and make sure that the neighborhood doesn't have restrictive rules against pets, you should be able to find a home that your pets love.

Mountain Living Redefined in Herriman Utah

This could be your perfect home.

 Herriman, Utah in my opinion, is poised to become one of Salt Lake Counties' most desirable and well-thought-out communities! I love to show buyers' properties in Herriman and now some of the road construction projects are completed with access to and from Herriman has improved to a mild commute to downtown Salt Lake. Draper, Sandy, and South Jordan are easy commutes. Herriman is in close proximity to Southbound I15 into Utah Co. 

Homes and subdivisions in Herriman are well thought out and the small acreage neighborhood parks are fabulous ideas and make a great match for the trail system Herriman as put into place. The City has a small-town feel that has attracted many young families. Great sporting and youth programs, and even a community man-made lake and beach. 

As a GLOBAL LUXURY REALTOR in Salt Lake County, I appreciate the value I have found in single-family homes for sale. New construction with upgrades included can be found in Herriman for 75 sq. ft and even less for not-so-new. 3 car garage and a rolling landscape seem to be the norm. Great open spaces with many homes backing parks or green areas. As Herriman's new construction and landscapes mature, Herriman will blossom. 

I believe Real Estate in Herriman will soon compare to Homes in Draper as the city of choice for many buyers. Contact me for an Updated list of Herriman fabulous properties including luxury Real Estate, Executive homes, horse properties, large acreage, townhomes, and condos located near great shopping districts. Herriman has it all!. If you are a homeowner in Herriman, contact us about selling your home! 

We find buyers and love what Herriman has to offer our clients!

Riding Trails in Herriman, Utah - Blackridge, Eric's, Rawhide, Hardlick

Regardless of price point, our team is united in their efforts to support the client, support each other, and get the job done in the best way possible. Paula Higman Real Estate is a unique team of talented and diverse individuals with a passion for success and client satisfaction.

Contact Paula Higman today and let us take this journey with you to marketing and selling your home for the best value, to the biggest luxury real estate market out there.

 

Connect With Us:

      

How to Prepare for Spring Selling Season

 How to Prepare for Spring Selling Season

Spring is believed to be the busiest season of the year in the real estate market. For sellers, listing in the spring provides an opportunity to take advantage of the notable increase in buyer demand. As for buyers, there's much more inventory to select from in the spring. Here are a few tips on how to prepare for the spring selling season.

How to Prepare as a Buyer

Once the spring season rolls around, you'll discover that there are more homes to choose from, which increases your chances of finding your dream home. However, the competition among other buyers will also be stronger, which is why preparation is necessary. First things first, find out how much you can afford and get pre-approved. Your lender can run the numbers and help you determine what you can afford. Don’t have a lender? Ask your real estate agent for a referral. Having a pre-approval letter ready when you start looking for homes means you are prepared to make an offer when you find the right home.

Next up, figure out your requirements. Before the spring season arrives, research local neighborhoods, schools, and amenities to determine your areas of interest. Then make your wish list. Start browsing homes online, and pay attention to the details, so you can make a list of all the features you do and don’t like. By narrowing your search early on, you'll have a better idea of what you’re looking for, and you can avoid wasting time and energy visiting properties that don’t meet your needs.

How to Prepare as a Seller

If you've decided to sell your home, your main goal when preparing for the spring season is to get everything ready for the listing and home-selling process.

First up, price it right. You should work with a me to discuss your selling timeline and determine the right price for your home so that your home doesn’t sit on the market too long or sell for too little.

You should also have your home professionally photographed to attract more buyers to the listing. Make sure it’s clean and tidy before those photos are taken. Nothing is more unappealing to buyers than a cluttered and messy property. Cleaning and decluttering your home now will prepare you for showings later. Minimizing the number of photos, toys, and other personal items in your home also makes it easier for buyers to envision themselves living there.

Consider cleaning the exterior as well. Your home's exterior is the main source of its curb appeal. You can boost your home's curb appeal by planting flowers, trimming shrubs, and removing leaves and debris.

How to Prepare if You're on the Fence

If you're on the fence about buying or selling a home, you should conduct ample research before the spring selling season arrives. Even though spring is a busy season, it's not the only time of the year when you can buy or sell a home. Consider your financial situation and think more about what you want in the near future. Reach out and we can talk about what makes the most sense for your situation.

Once the temperatures warm up and the scenery becomes more picturesque, the real estate market also begins to heat up. Whether you want to buy/sell or are currently on the fence, preparing for the selling season now should help you avoid feeling rushed when it gets here.

The Trend Report 2022

 

The Trend Report 2022

The Trend Report curates insights from our exclusive Coldwell Banker Global Luxury/Censuswide survey, the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, Wealth-X, and outside experts to spotlight the major trends guiding the luxury real estate market now and in the future.

What’s inside:

• Market in Perspective – with Michael Altneu, Vice President of Global Luxury, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC
• An Unconventional Buyer’s Market – with M. Ryan Gorman, Chief Operating Officer, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC
• Smaller Footprints – with Liz Gehringer, President of Affiliate Business, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC
• Reconsidering Relocations – with Diane Hartley, President of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing
• Searching for Stability – with David Marine, Chief Marketing Officer, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC
• Moving Beyond Borders – with Ashley Dembowski, SVP Growth & Affiliate Services, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC
• Creative Financing – with Shant Banosian, Executive Vice President, Guaranteed Rate
Future in Perspective

THE REPORT

The Orient Express Cruise Line to Set Sail in 2026

 

A Legend that Began on the Sea

Inspired by the golden age of the French Riviera, Orient Express Silenseas will recall the time when writers, artists, painters, sovereigns, and movie stars discovered between Monte-Carlo, Saint-Tropez, Cap d’Antibes, Cannes, and its Croisette, a refinement tinged with carelessness and joie de vivre, calling for escape. The ship comes by its history honestly. In 1867, founder Georges Nagelmackers discovered his inspiration while boarding transatlantic ships from Europe to America. On these ships, he found luxurious suites for travel filled with sumptuous decor, the social life of the restaurants, and a unique atmosphere of the lounges, libraries, and places of entertainment. This experience of luxury sea travel would later lead to the launch of his legendary train, the Orient Express, in 1883.

Life on the Silensea

Bringing together the best French talents, the Orient Express Silensea will “celebrate the Art of Travel” thanks to the vision of architect Maxime d’Angeac, who designed the interior layout and the decorations, and the Nantes design agency, Stirling Design International, who designed the exterior lines. The vessel will have 54 suites measuring an average area of ​​70 square meters, including its monumental Presidential Suite of 1,415 meters square meters (including 530 square meters of private terrace). Two swimming pools, two restaurants, and a speakeasy bar “will add to the quintessence of luxury.” For entertainment, guests will be invited into the Amphitheatre-Cabaret and a private recording studio. Spa treatments, meditation sessions, and stopovers for cultural discovery allow a complete escape from the mundane world.

Sailboat of the Future

Orient Express Silenseas will sail using sails with a revolutionary “SolidSail” technological design: three rigid sails with a surface area of ​​1,500 meters each will be hoisted on a balestron rig, with 3 tilting masts culminating at more than 100 meters high, able to provide up to 100% propulsion in suitable weather conditions. For a more environmentally friendly voyage at sea, a hybrid formula will combine wind power with a state-of-the-art engine running on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and will allow the use of green hydrogen once technologies are accepted for an ocean-going passenger ship.

The Orient Express Silensea will join the hospitality brand’s first hotels, Orient Express La Minerva in Rome and Orient Express Palazzo Donà Giovanelli in Venice, which are anticipated to open in 2024. Another hotel project is also planned for Riyadh, followed by the launch of the Orient Express La Dolce Vita (a luxury train journey across Italy) and the return to the rails of the legendary Orient Express train, also in 2024.

More information is available at www.orient-express.com.

Regardless of price point, our team is united in their efforts to support the client, support each other, and get the job done in the best way possible. Paula Higman Real Estate is a unique team of talented and diverse individuals with a passion for success and client satisfaction.

Contact Paula Higman today and let us take this journey with you to marketing and selling your home for the best value, to the biggest luxury real estate market out there.

Connect With Us:

      

From Mega Yachts to Wine:

Is the Italian style still victorious when we talk about these jewels of the sea?

Projects That Could Lower the Value of Your Home

 In 2020, homeowners throughout the U.S. spent upwards of $420 billion on remodels and renovations for their homes. A commonly held belief is that nearly all projects will increase a home's resale value. The truth is that there are numerous home improvement projects that could wind up decreasing your home's value.

Constant Carpeting
If your home is outfitted with hardwood floors, don’t cover them up with wall-to-wall carpeting. When a carpet isn't in pristine condition, most buyers would prefer that they be removed, which is why carpeting doesn't add value to a home.

Information taken from the Remodeling Impact Report, created by the National Association of Realtors, has found that hardwood floor projects have a cost recovery of 118%, which means that installing new wood flooring for $15,000 could add as much as $17,700 to the value of your property.

Adding a Swimming Pool
Swimming pools don't add much value to a home unless you live in a hot climate. It costs anywhere from $16,000-$44,000 to build an outdoor swimming pool, which doesn't take into account ongoing maintenance costs. It's been estimated that swimming pools only increase a home's value by around 7%. Some prospective buyers may also be scared off by the potential liability a pool brings.

Converting Your Garage into a Living Space
Garage conversions can cost you anywhere from $6,000-$24,000 if you want the room to be turned into a livable space. Even though this conversion will add functionality and square footage to your home, most buyers prefer the original garage space for easy parking and extra storage.

Excessive Landscaping
Enhancing your landscaping can significantly boost your home's curb appeal and may make the property more enticing to potential buyers. However, it's easy to make too many changes to your landscaping, which could give your yard a busy and cluttered appearance. At worst, buyers might view your yard as being too difficult to properly maintain. Keep it clean and simple to appeal to most buyers.

Too Much Wallpaper
While wallpaper doesn't necessarily turn buyers away, using the wrong color scheme or pattern could lead to the pool of potential buyers thinning considerably. Wallpaper installation projects can cost anywhere from $300-$6,000 depending on the size of the room, the type of wallpaper you use, and DIY vs. professional installation.

While these costs aren't that high compared to other projects in this guide, removing wallpaper is a costly and time-consuming job, which is what some potential buyers will think about when they first see a room with wallpaper they don't love.

Performing the wrong renovation on your home could result in your property becoming less appealing to prospective buyers. This could mean fewer offers or even a lower sales price. If you want your renovations to increase your home's value, consider remodeling the kitchen/bathroom areas, upgrading the appliances, or contact me and I can tell you which features have the best return on investment in our area.

Regardless of price point, our team is united in their efforts to support the client, support each other, and get the job done in the best way possible. Paula Higman Real Estate is a unique team of talented and diverse individuals with a passion for success and client satisfaction.

Contact Paula Higman Real Estate today and let us take this journey with you to marketing and selling your home for the best value, to the biggest luxury real estate market out there.

 

Insure that you have the best representation when buying and/or selling in Park City. Contact Paula Higman Real Estate Park City at 435-602-8228 For a property tour and more information about Heber City and the surrounding areas.

Connect With Us:

      

BUYING vs RENTING YOUR HOME

 

Is now the right time for you to buy a home?

You have many options to consider and choices to make. Buying a home is a big responsibility, financially and emotionally, but, most people want to own a home. Homeownership often is referred to as "The American Dream." Why is it so special? Among the reasons: Real estate often is an excellent investment, perhaps the number one source of wealth-building for families.C

"...by renting, you lose the chance to build equity and protect yourself against rent increases..."

Owning a home has many benefits. When you make a mortgage payment, you are building equity - and that's an investment. On the other hand, it's important to keep in mind that you'll incur new financial responsibilities - such as homeowners' insurance, real estate taxes, and upkeep, which can be substantial. But given the freedom, stability, and security of owning your own home, they are definitely worth it! Owning your own home also can be a great source of pride and stability.

But homeownership may not be for everyone. It's a big financial commitment - starting with the initial shock of your purchase (including a down payment and fees paid to a real estate agent, the lender, and others) followed by years of monthly mortgage payments, real estate taxes, property insurance, and maintenance costs. When you decide to purchase a home, you accept responsibility for paying for these expenses. There are additional costs to your monthly mortgage payment and should be included in your budget estimates: Property Taxes and Special Assessments, Home/Hazard Insurance, Utilities, Maintenance, Home Owner Association (HOA) Fee if applicable.

One of the advantages of renting is being generally free of most maintenance responsibilities and the flexibility of moving almost as soon as you decide. But by renting, you lose the chance to build equity and protect yourself against rent increases. Also, you may not be free to decorate without permission and may be at the mercy of the landlord for your housing needs. Consider these questions when making your choice:

• Do you want to spend several years in a house and in a neighborhood?
• Do you enjoy lawn and garden work?
• Might you need to move suddenly to care for your family?
• Do you want to keep your assets accessible in the bank, or do you want to invest long-term in a home?

Regardless of price point, our team is united in their efforts to support the client, support each other, and get the job done in the best way possible. Paula Higman Real Estate is a unique team of talented and diverse individuals with a passion for success and client satisfaction.

Contact Paula Higman today and let us take this journey with you to marketing and selling your home for the best value, to the biggest luxury real estate market out there.

Connect With Us: