Tips to better your home and garden

Four industry experts offer answers to homeowners' biggest resale questions.

Realtor: Pam Schemke
Real Estate Associate at Country Estates, Fairfield
Industry experience: 15 years
Certifications: Certified Residential Specialist (CRS); Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI)

What should people look or ask for when hiring a Realtor?
Ask the Realtor how long he or she has been in business and if they are familiar with the neighborhood—the pricing, the advantages of living there, the schools. Ask how they plan to market the home, if they have a website and if the Realtor is available to show the home when [buyer] calls come in. How often will the Realtor communicate with them—on a daily basis, weekly or only when a showing takes place? What follow-up methods are employed after a showing? [For a Realtor], getting a listing should be like a job interview. After all, a seller is listing their most valuable asset—reliability, trustworthiness, diligence and hard work get listings sold.

Are there any positives to the housing market right now?
There has never been a better time to buy a home, with the low interest rates and the greatest selection of well-priced inventory. Every seller is motivated and buyers make a big mistake being filled with fear. Look at your options and trust your lender and Realtor, and remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

How should sellers determine the selling price of their home?
A seller must be realistic and honest in comparing their home to similar homes in the neighborhood that have SOLD, and not to homes that are sitting on the market overpriced. Condition, size, and location are important factors in pricing the home. And, of course, the market—always the market.

Pam’s #1 tip for getting your home ready to be sold ►
De-clutter to make the home seem larger and more spacious. Rent a storage locker and bring oversized chairs and extra knickknacks to that storage place or just give them to someone who will appreciate them. After you de-clutter, paint the walls and clean those carpets; a fresh-smelling home is always a joy to enter.

Landscaper: Keith Braga
Owner of Braga's Landscaping, VacavilleIndustry experience: 25 years
Certifications: C27 Landscape Contractor license and outdoor lighting contractor certification

What should people look or ask for when hiring a landscaper?
Most important is if they have a California Landscape Contractors license. Also, find out how much experience the company has either in design or landscape installation. Does the company specialize in a certain aspect of landscaping? Examples would be water features, flagstone paths and patios, outdoor lighting, etc. Can they give references of past jobs nearby that a client could go view and call? Are they local? That is always beneficial.

How has the green movement affected your industry? For better or worse?
The water shortage—that is going to happen—will shape new landscapes into less lawns and more areas for planting of native and drought-tolerant plants, rock gardens, irrigation systems that only turn on when soil and weather are dry, and the use of smart controllers that are linked to weather satellites and soil hydrometers that sense moisture, or the lack of it, to prevent unnecessary watering. People can feel good that their landscape is only using the exact amount of water needed. The green movement will help the landscape industry by changing the way people think their yard should look.

Keith’s #1 tip for getting your home ready to be sold ►
Colorful and contrasting plants. Remove old plants or prune back. Yards should look open and not overgrown. Add or refresh bark or gravel. Define edges of lawns or planter beds with header boards or concrete mow bands. You should see a yard that excites your sense of smell, pick flowers to bring inside, have a seat on a shaded bench, or walk down a meandering path to look at a waterfall.
 

Interior designer: Marleen Maltby
Owner of Marleen Maltby Designs, Vacaville

Industry experience: 25 years
Certifications: California Council of Interior Design Certification (CCIDC)

What should people look or ask for when hiring an interior designer?
Working with an interior designer brings about a very personal relationship. Both parties must be comfortable and honest with each other. Ask to see a portfolio of past projects as well as references of past clients. At the initial interview, the client should do most of the talking.

How has the green movement affected your industry? For better or worse?
The movement has raised awareness of the use of renewable and recycled products, however, the cost of these products is usually much higher than conventional choices. It has made manufacturers think outside the box, which will eventually bring the green movement within the average consumer’s reach. By picking just one green product for your project, you are making a difference.

When thinking of a new scheme for a room, what is the element you start with?
Once the function of the space has been determined, the job is then how to best achieve this on a practical, aesthetic and monetary basis. I always ask what “feeling” the clients wish to evoke. This will guide us along the proper path to start the wish list. The wish list, prioritized by needs and
wants, will help us with the budget.

Marleen’s #1 tip for getting your home ready to be sold ►
Box up all the collections, photographs and nonessential decorative items. Clear off most of the counter areas, and get the kids’ toys into baskets or closets. A fresh coat of paint in warm and inviting colors is your biggest bang for the buck. Worn, tired flooring is the kiss of death. If you are overwhelmed by the process hire a stager to help coordinate and give an unbiased opinion of how your home can show its best potential.

Builder: Loran Kelley
Owner of Premier Design, Vacaville
Industry experience: 35 years
Certifications: General Contractor

What should people look or ask for when hiring a builder?
Check with the state license board to see if the builder’s license is current and there are no claims against them. Also, make sure they are insured and check recent references. And a good builder will listen and work with you.

Are there any positives to the housing market being the way it is right now?
Budgets are better and fly-by-night contractors are being weeded out.

How has the green movement affected your industry? For better or worse?
There are new building codes on lighting that have increased costs slightly, but I think in the near future it will be for the better—builders and homeowners will benefit with new energy saving building methods with little cost increase.

Loran’s #1 tip for getting your home ready to be sold ►
Kitchens and bathrooms make the biggest impact on a buyer.  The trend is open spaces. In the kitchen, people are going more for island-style cabinets and natural stone countertops, and in the bathroom large showers with rain heads, jetted tubs and nice tile work are popular.

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