Jean Kelly - Responsive and Responsible
Call me at 321-385-3121 or direct at 321-759-4447 if you want to find a responsive person to help you with all your real estate needs.
Jean Kelly La Cita Group
Kiser Realty & Investments
321-759-4447 or 385-3121
Responsive & Responsible
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Kitchen Remodel Ideas
1. Add space and light by removing a wall. Instead of shelling out thousands of dollars to build additional floor space for our cramped kitchen, we took a simpler, less invasive approach. We replaced the partition walls with a single supporting beam and extended the exterior wall to enclose an underused 8-by-9-foot deck. For more light we added a large skylight and enlarged the garden window.
2. Don’t move the plumbing. Although it was tempting to move the sink from the back wall to the new island, it would have cost us an additional $1,200. Relocating the stove was possible, but moving the gas and electricity would have run at least $500 plus the cost of a new stove to work with the island. We did relocate the fridge to make room for the island, which we use for both food prep and casual dining. However, keeping most of the appliances in the same place saved us an estimated $2,000.
3. Unclutter the countertops with special hardware. Limited counter space doesn’t have to mean limited workspace. Mounting a stand mixer and a food processor on heavy-duty appliance lifts from Rev-A-Shelf kept them out of the way but instantly accessible. The brackets are strong enough to support an appliance in use, so you can lift it up to create an instant workstation. The lifts average about $90 each.
4. Buy ready-to-assemble cabinets. We chose white melamine boxes for most of the kitchen and cherry for the hutch, all from CabParts. The drawer boxes were ordered from Drawer Box Specialties. Ordering parts by mail and installing them yourself requires careful planning and precise measurements, but the payoff is major savings (for us, about $15,000).
5. Consider a variety of countertop materials. We wanted granite for its look and durability, but our budget kept us from using it on the island as well as the countertop. By shopping around, we found a 3⁄4-inch-thick granite slab that cost 30 percent less than a 1 1⁄4-inch version. The granite’s true thickness is visible around the undermount sink, but a laminated edge makes it look like a thicker slab and hides the plywood backing, which adds structural support to the countertop. A maple butcher-block top on the island costs about $450.
Buyers and Sellers
Whether you are a buyer or a seller, we dedicate our efforts to your satisfaction and best interest. When you call we respond to your specific needs.
Learn more...
IF selling, fix the BIG THINGS before listing your home.
That includes badly stained carpets, loose fixtures, leaky toilets and faucets, paint as needed, trim the yard, check the air conditioning and heating system, replacing bad fascia, etc.
Find your homeowners documents
Try to find and have available for your realtor:
Survey
Deed
Mortgage Balance
Termite Bond if you have one.
Dates of repairs/replacements (roof, A/C, Appliances)
- Call La Cita Group for advice on preperations to market your home
Buyers Give Jean or La Cita a Call
This could be the most important decision of your life. It is not a time to take a chance on your realtor. Find a responsible and responsive agent that will represent you and your interests alone.
Direct Line is 321-759-4447. Office 321-385-3121
Fax 321-269-6139
Titusville Featured in Southern Living
Article Name: Best Exits Off I-95
Exit 215 Blue Herron Water Reclamation Facility, Titusville
Distance from the interstate: .05 miles
Look for the brown sign that leads to this city water reclamation plant. Drive past the light industry to spy a bald eagle or a 4-foot-tall sandhill crane at these seven ponds that border I-95. The grassy dikes serve as your road and host a busy nesting ground. Open 7 a.m. -3:30 p.m. Monday – Friday 4800 Deep Marsh Road. www.titusville.com or 321- 383-5642
Click Here to View Complete Article @ SouthernLiving.com
Titusville Featured as one on the top 25 free vacation spots in the US
1. Rocket Launch free view of space shuttle launch at Titusville, Florida
Jump-start your vacation: observe a NASA shuttle or rocket launch on Florida's “Space Coast.” Locals celebrate launch day in Titusville with the very best view from Space View Park in Titusville, 13 miles from ground zero. Watching is free-and to see a launch is to remember it forever.
Glimmers of good news in US housing reports August 27, 2008
NEW YORK (AP) – While no one is ready to call the bottom of the worst housing collapse in decades, there were glimmers this week that the severity is waning.
The decline in home prices is starting to ease and in some cities values are starting to rise again. Existing home sales rose slightly from June to July, and the glut of newly built homes on the market fell to a five month low last month.
“The bottom of the housing downturn is coming into view,” said Moody’s Economy.com Chief Economist Mark Zandi.
But there are still very serious risks to any housing turnaround. Mortgage rates are above 6 percent when they should be below, based on historical trends. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together hold or guarantee half the U.S. mortgage debt, could need a government bailout. And a slowing economy and rising unemployment could scare off homebuyers.
There was also was plenty of bad housing news this week among the slivers of good.
The closely watched Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index tumbled a record 15.4 percent during the quarter from the same period a year ago.
Likewise, a government report Tuesday showed second-quarter home prices falling by 4.8 percent, also a record.
And the surprising 2.4 percent increase in new home sales from June to July reported Tuesday was really an accounting bounce because June was worse than first measured.
“We need to see more of the same (kind of reports) over the next few months showing increasing affordability and a reduction in inventory,” before a housing recovery can start, said Nigel Gault, Global Insight Chief Economist.
Nevertheless, home prices in 14 cities in a Case-Shiller index of 20 across the country showed improvement from May to June. Nine even recorded positive returns, including Dallas, Minneapolis, and Cleveland.
And Zandi said the worst may be over for some markets like Boston, Chicago and Denver where prices have come down enough to be more line with local incomes and rents.
While the most overheated markets like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles continue to post sharp price declines, sales there have jumped in recent months as buyers snatch up cheap distressed houses.
“It’s therapeutic that these foreclosed properties are being sold off at deep discounts,” Zandi said. “It’s necessary for those markets to work through them.”
Las Vegas led the largest annual declines in the Case-Shiller index, falling almost 29 percent followed by Miami and Phoenix at about 28 percent.
“There’s no question people are getting values today better than they could have dreamed of getting two years ago,” said Ron Shuffield, president of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors Inc. in Miami.
He said sellers have finally come to terms with the market and are pricing to attract serious buyers.
Bob Hays, a builder in Miami, sold one of his luxury homes that sat on the market for six months after reducing the listing price by 18 percent to $1.85 million.
“We felt that was the way the market was going,” Hays said. “We had to get real and expect less.”
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that the median price of a new home was $230,700 last month, down 6.3 percent from July last year.
Lower prices, coupled with gas prices that have fallen from record highs, are restoring affordability for some homebuyers. And that is partly why Americans are feeling better about the economy.
The Conference Board, a private research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose for the second month in a row.
And that’s good news for the real estate market.
“Things are looking promising,” said Gault. “We’re starting to see some of things we need to form a bottom in the next six to 12 months.”
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press, J.W. Elphinstone (AP Business Writer). All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. AP Economics Writer Jeannine Aversa and AP Business Writer Alan Zibel in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
