We need Contributors for National Home Improvement Publications

By Joe on October 14, 2011

We have been contacted by an editor for a variety of National home improvement publications for fall and winter home mainteance and improvement checklists
Please submit articles, tips and to-dos with any exterior high resolution images to go along with them to us. We will forward them along with appropriate credits. This is a great opportunity for you and your business to get some national exposure. Let’s represent the Southwest! The deadline is October 17th. Contact us if you have any questions.

See the Announcement here

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Remodeling Santa Fe – 7 Part Series on Remodeling Your Home in Santa Fe on a Budget Part 7 – Remodeling Santa Fe – Updating Lighting In Your Santa Fe Home

By Joe on March 28, 2011

Remodeling Santa Fe – 7 Part Series on Remodeling Your Home in Santa Fe on a Budget

Part 7 – Remodeling Santa Fe – Updating Lighting In Your Santa Fe Home

 

Lighting is not cheap. But, if you can find a bargain at a local hardware or home improvement store or a sale, you can change out an outdated light or set of light fixtures and really make a splash from visual standpoint of your home.  The key to getting the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to lighting is to pick 1, 2, or 3 prominent places in your home that you’d like to change the lighting fixtures then go on a mission to change out that fixture or those fixtures when you find a good sale or close out going on at your local store. Additionally www.craigslist .org has bargains on light fixtures from time to time so you should look there also see what kind of deal you can get on a set of lights.

Light Fixtures Can Make the Room - Get thee to a lighting store!~

Best of all worlds is to find a lighting store going out of business, either on-line or locally in Santa Fe, then go in and load up on all the fixtures you can afford.  This can happen in this economy so don’t be shy about being on the lookout for deals, stores closing or deals on-line so you can make the lighting changes  you’d like to a make in your home and not spend a fortune doing it.

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Remodeling Santa Fe – 7 Part Series on Remodeling Your Home in Santa Fe on a Budget Part 5 – Remodeling Santa Fe – Hard-Wiring A Room in your Santa Fe Home

By Joe on March 10, 2011

As electronics go in Santa Fe along with any home remodeling you may be doing, hard wiring your home can be a great investment.  More people have more electronic gadgets including desk tops, I-phones, Blue Ray DVD players, laptops, and game systems.  Hard wiring your home in Santa Fe when you’re working on a remodel makes a ton of sense for a lot of good reasons.  First off if and when you go to sell your home in Santa Fe being able to tell your prospective buyer you have your primary room in your home is hard wired with high speed Ethernet is plus.  Secondly for your own use all your images will be crisper and data will move faster from your internet provider connection to any device you have set up on the hard wired system because it is superior to any wireless system you might currently have set up in your home. Additionally you’ll be able to push the better signal through your HDTV for any type of video you might want to watch via hard wire instead of an air-card, which quite definitely will be better than what you’re doing now.

Hard-Wire Your Santa Fe Home for Better Video and Internet Experiences

 

If you do decide to hard wire your home in Santa Fe as part of your remodeling plans make sure you hire licensed company that specializes in home networking systems.  If you’re looking at covering more of the home with a hard wire network, meaning you’re going to be pulling more wire and covering more ground, then your cost will go up because there will be more materials and time involved.   Make sure you find out what kind of cost savings you can achieve if you do some or all of the prep work for the job ahead of time.  By this we mean when you’re getting the hard wire job set up to begin with ask the company specifically what you can do before they get on the job to get the job ready, in this case the walls in your home, ready to cut down on costs. The bottom line is you’re going to want to do this one time. You’re going to want to think about every possible outlet you want the hard wire to go to so when you’re done your system will be perfect, and your Santa Fe home will be more marketable down the road for having gone the extra effort.

Thanks to our sponsor for this blog post. Nice furniture and sideboards from England. 

 

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Remodeling Santa Fe – 7 Part Series on Remodeling Your Home in Santa Fe on a Budget Part 4 – Remodeling Santa Fe – Organize your Closet in Santa Fe

By Joe on March 2, 2011

Closets happen to have distinct place in American lore and Santa Fe for that matter where people open their closet and everything comes tumbling out.  You need to organize your closet.  The first thing to do is to empty it completely.  Once everything is out of the closet, pun completely meant and intended, take all the items and organize them in three stacks, which includes the keep pile, the donate pile, then the sell the stuff pile.  Once you’ve determined what you’re keeping, you can pick the closet system that will work for the items you want to store in the closet. If you’ve already organized your garage, then you can take some of the items and shelve them in your garage if you want or need to do so.

 

Today there are so many cool websites that allow you to use their online design your closet for free tool. You pick a layout on the website that it similar to your closet layout then all you have to do is bring in the kits you like into your rendering to see what your closet will look like. The online design tool you chose will generate a list of materials and components you’ll need to complete your new closet.  Larger closets will of course cost more money, but in the end you’ll be so happy you made the move to clean out your closet, organize what you want to keep, donate what you can and sell what make sense.  You’ll reduce clutter in your home and down the road make your home more marketable because you’re home will be so user friendly.

Even neat closets like this one in Santa Fe could use remodeling.

Remodeling your closet in your home in Santa Fe will make your life easier, more organized and more valuable to you and a potential buyer in the long run.  If remodeling your closet is not your thing, check out the local companies in Santa Fe that specialize in closet organizing.  If you’re thinking of hiring one, check out their references before you hire them or sign any agreements.

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Kitchen Remodel Santa Fe – When you’re remodeling your home in Santa Fe is doing a remodel of your kitchen the best choice?

By Joe on February 5, 2011

Kitchen Remodel Santa Fe – When you’re remodeling your home in Santa Fe is doing a remodel of your kitchen the best choice?

 

Remodeling your Santa Fe home in today’s market seems like a questionable bet.  With values hovering and certainly not going up, the traditional homeowner certainly isn’t doing a remodel for the upside of the value caused by the remodel being part of the home history because prices not normally going to go   up any longer once the remodel is completed. However, the other side of a remodel in Santa Fe is doing it because you want your home the way you want it. Making your home nice is certainly always acceptable.  With that as the mindset the possibilities are endless.  Most remodels in Santa Fe are done along the following lines. Those lines are as follows:

1.       Meet with contractors for quotes – Santa Fe has several reputable licensed contractors with tons of remodels and new homes in their work history. Always, always ask for references. Past work success speaks highly of future success. If they’ve done a good job in the past for other people they’ll more than likely do a good job for you.  Make sure they show you photos of work they’ve completed in the past.  If they have a website to show their kitchen remodel work it’s even better because you get to see some of their portfolio first hand.

2.       Determine what you want done – The standards are new countertops, new flooring, new cabinets, new appliances, and new kitchen layout.  Ordinarily if your house has been built with fixed spaces for the kitchen then you can only change your kitchen if you add on or if you take up some other space for more kitchen space. Here is a list of the choices you have to consider:

Remodeling your kitchen in Santa Fe - That's a good move.

a.       Counter Top Choices – Granit, Corian, HiMacs, and of course new sinks and faucets

b.      Tile Backsplash and Flooring Choices

c.       Cabinet Choices – Prebuilt or custom

d.      New Design – This only comes into play if you want to add space or change your current kitchen configuration.

e.      Contract – Do this so your price is set and you have a fixed period of time agreed to between you and the builder.

Kitchen remodels are nice because the kitchen is one of the showcase rooms of a home. When you as a home owner redo that room here in Santa Fe the pluses normally always outweigh the minuses.

 

 

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Real Estate and Technology in Santa Fe: Part 1, Hardy and Co.

By Joe on January 28, 2011

Real Estate in Santa Fe - Working with Smart Companies with Smart People in Santa Fe Makes Good Sense

This series is an attempt to help buyers, sellers, homeowners, contractors and real estate professionals stay up to date on technological developments in the world of real estate. It will profile companies, individuals and services that we think can help you buy, sell, maintain and improve your real estate.

Part 1: Hardy and Co.

Steve Hardy grew up in Santa Fe. After attaining his MBA from UNM he began working for Thornburg Investment Management as a webmaster. In 2005 he became a Realtor, but traditional real estate practices were not for him. With his business and IT background he set out to create something new and innovative in the Real Estate world.

This has gone through a few iterations but has finally come to fruition as Hardy and Co. Real Estate. Steve and his associates offer flat fee listings, contract preparation, automated MLS Real Estate search, and buyer rebate commission programs to name a few.  He also has low cost options for brokers looking to hang their licenses. With his thousands of website hits a month Hardy and CO is leveraging good old fashion business practices with innovative technologies. This company is one to watch as Real Estate transitions more and more into the digital world. It is nice to see a local boy doing such cool stuff. Keep up the good work Steve!

For a full list of Hardy and CO services and to contact Steve please check his website out at http://www.stevehardyrealestate.com/

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