10 Value-Adding Home Improvements You Can Do for $1,000 or Less
A farmhouse sink. LED lighting. A pot filler. You might think these relatively low-cost home upgrades wouldn’t add much value, but our research shows that these and other home upgrades with modest price tags could pay for themselves — or even generate big returns — when you sell your home.
A Zillow analysis of more than 350 features in the listing descriptions of more than 2 million homes listed for sale in 2024 found that some home improvements are associated with higher than expected sales prices. The features analyzed won’t guarantee that your home will sell for more if you include them in a for-sale listing. But the following upgrades — gleaned from those listings — offers a good starting point for moderately priced home renovation ideas that could add value to your home while making life a little sweeter.
This article from Zillow lists 4 upgrades uber $500, 5 under $1,000, and 2 over $1,000. (more…)
Fort Myers airport breaks passenger traffic record in 2024
“December 2024 was the busiest December in the 42-year history of the airport and we finished the year with a record-breaking 11,028,182 passengers, which was a 6.6% increase compared to the previous record set in 2022,” Steven Hennigan, executive director and CEO of the Lee County Port Authority, says in a statement.
The airline that saw the most traffic in December was Delta, with 212,801 passengers; it was followed by Southwest, with 171,903 passengers; United with 164,722 passengers; American with 147,042 passengers; and JetBlue with 110,179 passengers.
RSW had 10,362 aircraft operations (takeoffs and landings) in December, an increase of 5% compared with December 2023, according to a statement.
With more than 11 million passengers in 2024, RSW is one of the top 50 U.S. airports for passenger traffic. No ad valorem (property) taxes are used for airport operation or construction.(Business Observer)
Andrew.Oliver@Compass.com
Why do people buy New Homes?
Many buyers today flock to newly built homes for several reasons:
1. They simply want NEW. New everything. This can include homes designed for today’s needs and demands, often with finishes, mechanicals, amenities, etc that don’t exist in most existing homes.
2. They don’t wish to undergo a renovation either due to lack of will, or know-how. Most know a renovation is rarely quick, cheap or easy. While an unrenovated home may be far ‘cheaper’, often after a renovation (including the cost of living somewhere while the renovation occurs) the final cost ends up being similar.
3. When you buy brand new, you can finance the entire purchase: property AND renovation (as no renovation is needed). This means you need less cash after closing and may allow you to put down more cash when buying, thereby bringing down monthly expenses/mortgage cost.
4. Every home needs repairs and maintenance over time. Brand new homes too, but often their systems being brand new mean fewer big-ticket repairs/maintenance costs.
5. New homes are built according to new building CODES…. often they are more energy efficient AND resilient. New codes often address the weaknesses of past building codes.
6. Many buyers have shifted their preference to a more modern aesthetic. No, most new buildings are not minimalist, but buyers today often like taller ceilings, bigger windows, open kitchens, bigger bathrooms, etc, the kind of things developers are installing into new homes. This can exist in a sleek all glass box, or a more traditional, even historic-appearing facade.
7. In a FOMO world, brand new can deliver instant gratification. And use. Time Is The Last Luxury.
8. Often hiring a big-name designer of an ultra-luxe building to do one home would be prohibitively expensive: this economy of scale can have real value to those seeking ultra-luxe design.
At COMPASS we have everything from single family starter homes to mansions, condos in 3-unit buildings and townhouses to massive, fully amenitized buildings with hotel services. At all price points, not just those ultra-luxe multi-million-dollar-productions.
Andrew.Oliver@Compass.com
Assessments and Reserves
Costs
Every home on the planet needs maintenance, repairs, upgrades, renovations and improvements over time. No property is immune from this. Every homeowner knows that when a roof needs to be repaired, it’s wisest not to delay….. keeping a reserve fund for these inevitable costs is essential, whether a single family home or an apartment building.
Options
Owners of homes have two options as it relates to funding bigger cost items: either you build up a ‘savings account’ of sorts by adding a bit extra each month into the kitty to create a reserve fund, or you keep in the back of your mind the knowledge and certainty that at some point you will have to fund a bigger expenditure another way. In condo’s and co-ops that is done via an assessment….eg: A $1 million facade repair is split amongst 100 apartment owners so that each pays a percentage of that cost based on the percentage of the building they ‘own’ based on their offering plan or number of shares.
Financing (more…)
Where Should I Place The TV?
TV options have grown tremendously in the past few years as new technologies have emerged and older ones have been vastly improved. While many accept the look of a TV on a wall, others bemoan it. There are solutions for all.
1. Regular wall-mounted TV’s. There are multiple options, sizes and price points.
2. Projection TV’s: these days the quality has improved so notably that they are clearly visible projected on a screen or wall in full daylight.
3. Retractable TV mounts: these allow you to place a TV on a wall and angle the TV towards you when watching, allowing for more placement options.
4. Furniture mounted concealed TV’s: cabinets with a hydraulic system allow a TV to rise from a cabinet and disappear when not in use.
5. Ceiling mounted TV’s: These lie flush within the ceiling and then angle down when in use.
6. Floor mounted concealed TV: a high-tech automated arm raises the TV concealed in the floor.
7. Under-bed mounts: a mechanism houses the TV under a bed and it emerges from the foot and rises with a hydraulic arm when in use.
8. TV on a stand. Several attractive variations of this exist at multiple price levels.
9. Mirror TV’s. Tech allows. a TV to be mounted within a bathroom (or other) mirror and disappear when not in use.
10. Room divider see-through TV. LG has revealed a new technology in TV options for the home, a TV with a transparent screen, the world’s first wireless transparent OLED TV, with a 77-inch OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screen, a technology used in lighting that facilitates digital displays on products including TV’s and smartphones. Thanks to its transparency, the TV does not need to be placed against the wall like a traditional screen. (DEZEEN)
11. Rollable TV’s. Yup, a TV that rolls up into a low-lying cabinet that maintains your view when placed in front of a window.
12. TV as art? The FRAME TV by Samsung appears as if it were an art piece in a gallery-style frame when not in use.
Naturally, some of these are very expensive options, but often these are cheaper solutions than blocking a view. In a world where real estate can cost $1,000-plus per square foot, the cost of a TV should be weighed up against the space savings…..
TODAY marks the peak of Hurricane Season
While, sadly, Hurricanes can occur at any time during the season, today marks the statistical peak of hurricane season.
Let’s hope there will be no more major storms in 2023.
And read these articles:
Home Prices Are Rebounding
Insurance Reform : Premiums still rising sharply
Naples Mid-year 2023 Market Stats
(more…)
Collier County : news from District 2 Commissioner
District 2 in North Naples spans from Pine Ridge Road to Bonita Beach Road at the Collier-Lee county line.
Click District 2 Update to read the latest newsletter.
Features include new business openings; new residential construction; affordable housing plans; storm risk management; July 4 plans – and much more. (more…)
Florida lawmakers eye property insurance reforms
Over the past year, state lawmakers have made changes on paper through several attempts to cure Florida’s property insurance crisis. But a homeowner in Florida who opens their annual renewal and sees their premium has increased, or finds out their carrier has suddenly dropped them, may not have noticed anything different.
State Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, noted during the first of last year’s special sessions to address insurance that relief from any measures taken by lawmakers wouldn’t be realized for at least another 18 months. That session took place in May 2022.
Since then, two hurricanes hit the state. Lawmakers then held a second special session on insurance in December. Six property insurance companies were declared insolvent last year. Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run “insurer of last resort,” continues to grow with more than 1 million policies.
And now the annual, 60-day regular legislative session is underway. The session is largely where party-line battles are taking center stage, but not insurance. And those homeowners with delayed or unfulfilled property damage claims may find their legal recourses slashed, owing to legislation approved in the special sessions to limit what the insurance industry and lawmakers said was too much litigation over property insurance claims and disputes between homeowners and their insurers.
The story remains the same as it was a year ago: it’s lawyers, contractors and public adjusters versus lawmakers and insurance companies. (more…)
Naples a top city for corporate headquarters post-pandemic
Move over New York and Chicago. Step aside San Francisco.A new study names Naples as a top city for corporate headquarters post-pandemic. Additionally Naples grabs No. 1 spot on this ‘Best Places to Live’ list
The Boyd Co., a corporate site selection consultant based in Princeton, New Jersey, conducted the national study.
The results reflect the “new normal” of remote work and the growing “fiscal and quality of life challenges” in more traditional hubs for head offices, such as “The Big Apple.”
The study included an examination of annual operating expenses and a review of state tax structures.
The cost analysis is based on operating a new, top tier Class A, 75,000-square-foot corporate headquarters, with 200 administrative support workers, from top to bottom.
The estimated outlay in Naples: Roughly $19.2 million a year.That compared to more than $21.1 million in Everett, Washington, the most expensive to operate in, and less than $17.8 million in East Brainerd, Tennessee, the cheapest – among the top cities named in the study.
Asked if the study is confined to city limits, John Boyd, principal of The Boyd Co., said it’s not, with labor pools, support services and real estate options extending beyond those boundaries.For Naples, that means “you should assume the wider Collier County.”
The study factored in all major geographically-variable cost factors considered critical to the corporate site selection process, including labor, real estate, construction, utilities, taxes and travel.(Naples Daily News)
And read these articles:
What drives Mortgage Rates in one chart
Lies, Damned Lies and Inflation “Statistics”*
HOW AND WHEN WILL HOUSING REBOUND? (more…)
Naples grabs No. 1 spot on this ‘Best Places to Live’ list
People who live in Naples already know it. But every now and then it’s good to get a reminder that the popular Southwest Florida city, known for everything from great golf to great health care, is a fantastic place to live.
According to Schoolaroo, a nonprofit educational research company and scholarship website engine, Naples is the No. 1 place to live in the United States.
This study compared 151 cities across 47 metrics distributed in 9 key relevant categories: Crime & Safety, Affordability, Economy, Quality of life, Leisure and entertainment, Health care, Education, Employment, and Infrastructure.
Naples scored top overall rankings in health care (number of hospitals) and leisure and entertainment. Also in the Top 10 were education (3) for highest number of public schools, crime and safety (4) and economy (9). (Naples Daily News).
And read these articles:
Naples a top city for corporate headquarters post-pandemic
What drives Mortgage Rates in one chart
Lies, Damned Lies and Inflation “Statistics”*
HOW AND WHEN WILL HOUSING REBOUND? (more…)
Hot Home Trend: Gothic Glam
Here’s one home style that could be described as eerily bold. Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery’s latest style report, 2023 Trends & Influences IX calls out “gothic glam” as a trend to watch in the new year.
Signatures of this look includes statement lighting fixtures, such as wrought-iron chandeliers and candelabras. To soften the style, pair it next to tall windows that flood a room with natural light, but also adds to the drama.
Other ways to add some Gothic Glam impact: Bronze plumbing fixtures, black accents, woodwork, vivid jewel tones and ultra-glamorous wallcoverings, Ferguson designers note in the style report.
Here are some stunning examples: (more…)
Expansion Plans for Fort Myers Airport
Anybody flying in or out of RSW recently will have seen signs announcing expansion plans.
The RSW Terminal Expansion Project includes consolidating the Transportation Security Administration checkpoints into a new 16-lane configuration and providing additional seating, concession spaces and a business lounge. In total, more than 164,000 square feet of space will be remodeled and 117,000 square feet of new walkways and concession space will be added to the airport terminal.
The project actually started in October 2021 and construction is planned for three years.
Click here to watch a short conceptual video, and here to go to the full news release. (more…)
5 tips on how not to disappear in the hybrid workplace
When remote work was mandatory and all or most of your co-workers, your boss, and many of your external stakeholders were remote, the playing field was level. There was a real sense that we were all “in this together.” People were remarkably understanding and accepting of quirky situations, whether IT related or the result of the blurred line between home and work (think dogs barking and children crying during meetings). That kind of tolerance is now rare. And it’s just one of many pitfalls for remote workers.
Whether you are fully remote or in a hybrid work environment, avoid the “Zoom ceiling” by understanding and working around the potential pitfalls that come from lowered visibility in the office.
Knowledge at Wharton, a business journal from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has suggested five steps to position yourself better for greater visibility to ensure that you are getting recognition for your accomplishments and staying in line for promotions and desirable assignments. Make sure your employer knows you aren’t stepping off the ladder. (more…)
It’s not just Tom Brady who is Unretiring
Millions of U.S. workers retired during the pandemic. Now many are returning to work at rates not seen since 2020.
Many are people under the official retirement age who, spurred by rising asset values or Covid-19 worries, left the workforce ahead of schedule, labor economists say. Roughly 2.6 million Americans retired earlier than expected between February 2020 and October 2021, according to estimates from Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis senior economist Miguel Faria-e-Castro.
Others now quitting early retirement realize they weren’t as financially prepared to live without a steady paycheck as they hoped. Um, I am not sure that is why Brady is unretiring……
And read these recent articles: (more…)