Downsize, But Make it Special!

Homeowners say "Downsize Me!"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans are carrying a lot of excess weight and desperately want to slim down. No, not their waistlines -- in the size of their homes.

"Steeply deteriorating." "Hard landing." "Kaput." These are some of the terms used by analysts to describe the slowing of the U.S. housing market. And with the glory days of home-price appreciation now over, some homeowners are declaring, "Downsize Me!"

A huge gap between the supply of homes for sale and demand for housing means prices are leveling off -- and could tumble. David Horwitz and his wife, Diane, are the type of homeowners looking to streamline their expenses and unload their roomy homes for more humbler abodes.
The Horwitzes, both semi-retired, just moved into a 1,200 square-foot apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan after living in a 2,200 square-foot home in Scarsdale, New York.
"Our property taxes went down by 1,000 percent, the ConEd (bill) was cut by two-thirds and the cost of home maintenance was reduced by at least 50 percent," said David Horwitz. "No gardener, no roofer cleaning gutters, no tree spraying, no snow removal, no exterior painting every six or seven years."

The Horwitzes, who have no mortgage, plan to reside in the apartment for a while, so even if prices fall it is of little significance to them.

Mike Wright and Lin Drury are also enjoying the city life.

Halstead Property, a Manhattan real-estate firm, recently sold the couple a 900 square-foot co-op in the Inwood Hills area of Manhattan. Their new place is smaller than the 1,100 square-foot townhouse they called home in Ossining, New York. A writer by profession, he said his motivation for moving to Manhattan was not just to downsize, but to be closer to his wife's job as an associate professor of nursing at Pace University, New York City and Westchester.

TIMING THE MARKET
Sometimes, though, buyers need to pay up to scale down.

The Wrights' downsizing was their second in two years. Prior to their Ossining home, they enjoyed a 2,200 square-foot condo four blocks from legendary Wrigley Field in Chicago.

"We realized prices would be higher in New York than in Chicago," Mike Wright said. "We didn't expect to get a smaller home while spending about one third more. If we'd bought, say, five years earlier, the price might have been less."

Diane Ramirez, president of Halstead Property, has seen downsizing pick up steam in recent months, especially among suburbanites in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. "Homeowners are probably sensing now may be the right time to get the best price before the market cools further," Ramirez said. "Some of these homebuyers are empty-nesters now finding their homes are larger than what they need and more than they can handle."

In Florida, which saw double-digit home-price gains in the past few years, homebuyers appear more interested in perks. In fact, in the Sunshine State -- long-known as a downsize destination for retirees -- homebuyers are losing interest in size altogether. "People are at the point where they would rather have a luxurious interior than expand," said Budge Huskey, president and chief operating officer at Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Sarasota, Florida. Potential buyers want kitchens designed for entertaining, state-of-the-art appliances, media rooms and home theaters, he said.

"Many of these people have downsized already, and now they want a more luxurious home," he said. "They are more interested in a Jacuzzi than another bedroom."

Gopal Ahluwalia, vice president of research at the National Association of Home Builders, a trade group in Washington D.C., said feedback from consumers and builders indicates the average size of a U.S. home is flattening out.

The average home size went from 1,500 square feet in 1970 to more than 2,400 square feet in 2005. During the same period, the average household size declined, from 3.11 to 2.59, he said.
"Ten years back, most people wanted more space -- now they want more features," Ahluwalia said. "If you look at 35 years of history, from 1970 to 2005, and even early 2006, home size has been continuously rising, except during periods of housing recession."

TAKE MY HOME, PLEASE!

In any event, packing up a house full of belongings -- which could be decades worth of stuff -- and transferring them to another home is a daunting and dreaded task.

A wealthy couple in one of New York City's toniest Fifth Avenue cooperative apartments came up with an unusual solution: They sold two rooms, or about 650 square feet, of their 3,400 square-foot apartment.

Edward F. Johnston III, vice president and director at Brown Harris Stevens, a Manhattan-based real estate firm that specializes in high-end property, advised the couple.

"It was a large space for just the two of them -- they never used the dining room," he said.

"Most high-end luxury buyers are not influenced by a cooling market, but if you own an apartment you always want to sell at the right time."

"They already had one of the biggest apartments on a high floor in one of the top buildings on Fifth Avenue," he said. "Did they really need 9.5 rooms as well?"

Copyright 2006 Reuters

Lighting Trends: Vocab and Tips

Light Done Right !

Lighting can do wonders for the look and feel of a home, both inside and out. Get tips on setting an inviting mood and showing off your home's best features.
BY BARBARA BALLINGER

Artificial lighting does more than brighten a dark room. It sets a mood, draws the eye to special architectural details, and makes a home’s entrance inviting long after the sun has set. Then there’s the decorative angle. With bulbs housed in big colorful paper lanterns, dangly crystal chandeliers, or crisp modern glass pendants, lighting also can be a focal point on its own.
Lighting offers yet another plus: When done right, it helps you showcase your home’s best features and speeds a sale. In this column, you’ll learn about the various styles of lighting fixtures for indoors and outdoors, and get tips on how to use lighting to your greatest advantage when selling a property. Illuminating VocabularyFirst, know how to speak the lighting language. These are the basic lighting terms to know when talking lighting:

Lamp. The light source, sometimes called a light bulb, which can be incandescent, fluorescent, or halogen. Lamps come in a range of colors and wattages.

Incandescent lamp. The most widely used source of illumination for the home, invented by Thomas Edison. It’s inexpensive and can be dimmed, but is inefficient. Light is produced by means of an element heated to the point of incandescence.

Fluorescent lamp. More energy efficient than an incandescent, it comes in many wattages, colors, shapes, and can be dimmed, if it has a dimmable ballast in the unit and a fluorescent dimmer control.

Halogen lamp. An incandescent lamp that contains halogen gases, it offers a crisp white beam, but is more expensive than an incandescent.

LED. A new light source, the light-emitting diode comes as a tiny bulb, gives off little heat, is more energy efficient than a fluorescent, lasts 50,000 to 100,000 hours, and comes in various colors. Downsides: These lights can be expensive, though the price is dropping, and they can be harder to find than regular bulbs.

Compact fluorescent (CFL). Although expensive, these fluorescent lamps conserve energy, last up to 10,000 hours, and have a high-quality color rendering capability, but are still pricey, though less than LEDs.
Light fixture. A complete lighting unit that includes a lamp, a sometimes decorative housing for the lamp, and a connection to the source of electrical power.

Rather than choosing lighting fixtures after a house is built or remodeled, design experts advise home owners plan their lighting look from the get-go so that lighting fixtures will fit in seamlessly with the rest of the home. Built-in lighting may be costly, but it’s worth it, experts say.

Retail lighting showrooms offer an advantage. Many of them have lighting labs, which are room-like vignettes showing how lighting will really look, and are staffed by consultants who will help home owners develop a master lighting plan, sometimes for no fee if purchases are made. Creating a Finished, Sparkling LookThe best lighting plans include three layers: general or ambient lighting that illuminates the entire space; mood lighting to create a special glow in designated areas; and task or accent lighting to play up architectural details, furnishing, or art.

“Lighting makes rooms breathe, adds drama, magic, and romance — and makes home owners feel comfortable,” says New York lighting and furniture designer Sergio Orozco. To decide how much light to use and where to use it, home owners should decide what tasks they’ll perform and what features they want to accent, Orozco says. You also should keep that advice in mind when prepping a home for sale; highlight areas of the home in which you’d like buyers to envision themselves going about daily life. Task lighting can turn attention to a granite countertop or an undermount sink, while accent lighting can make the Colonial-style fireplace stand out.

Here are some more indoor lighting tips from Orozco:

Use a consistent style. Factor in the style of décor and home’s architectural detailing. An elaborately decorated dining room may look better with a period crystal chandelier than a trio of funky colorful pendants.
Be task-specific: Lighting should be selected for tasks at hand. To see a computer screen well, for instance, place lighting behind the monitor so it’s not reflected on the monitor.
View rooms at night. Before making a lighting purchase, know what the room looks like at night, without any natural light.
Try sconces. Consider wall sconces when trying to create an elegant, romantic effect.
Don’t forget the cover-up. Be sure all fixtures have some type of cover so a bulb isn’t visible.
Use individual switches. Install several switches to control lights individually. Don’t forget dimmers.
Light Up the Outdoors. One easy way to expand a home: Make the backyard and deck visible from the house, even at night. Outdoor lighting can accent pools, gardens, trees, walkways, and entryways. Safety is an added bonus.

He also offers these tips for making a big impact outdoors:

Be selective. Rather than light up the entire yard, select a few features to highlight. Shy away from floodlights. Instead, use soft lighting that mimics the moon on a clear night.
Conceal the source. Whenever possible, choose and install outdoor lighting before landscaping is completed so transformers and wires can be concealed. Even if you don’t plan ahead, you should try to safely hide the lighting behind shrubs or bushes so the fixture isn’t apparent — unless it’s a decorative fixture, of course.
Protect against the weather. Select weather-resistant aluminum products.
For flexibility, go portable. Portable lights can be moved throughout the yard whenever you want. One day you can light up a pathway to the gazebo, the next day you can focus on the garden.
Experiment. Think about aesthetics and how different types of plants look in artificial light. It can be difficult to judge, so experiment by placing fixtures in different spots.

Among the hottest new trends:

Tiny lights. Miniature recessed lighting uses MR11 or MR16 low-voltage halogen lamps to illuminate ceilings, shelving, and more. The diameter of these fixtures is less than 3 inches.
Deep finishes. Oil-rubbed bronze, brown, and silver are popular finishes.
Ultra-modern chandeliers. Metal fixtures in modern shapes are hot sellers.
Familiar shapes. Simple geometric lamp shades with beading, embroidery, or fringe.
Pretty stains. Tea-stained glass for pendants and chandeliers is replacing alabaster-colored glass.

I know this was a long article, but think the information is really important for home selling and market preparation...Have a Great Day! Chris