You’ve just bought your first home – congratulations! Now it’s time to make your home feel like, well, home by undertaking some long-term investments that will not only look beautiful, but will also last you for years to come.

In today’s post, we’re offering some advice for first-time homeowners on areas where spending a little bit more is likely to pay off in the long-run. From valuable aesthetic updates in key areas such as the kitchen, bathroom and living room to installing smart heating systems and insulation to prioritize energy efficiency, our tips will leave you inspired to make the most out of your first home update.

Replace flooring

Flooring has the power to change a room entirely, so it should go without saying that this is an essential aspect of the home where you should consider spending a little extra. Since flooring in areas such as the hallway, kitchen and bathroom is likely to undergo high footfall traffic, your material choice should always look to combine durability with that visual wow-factor where possible.

When it comes to updating your flooring, choose neutral colors to create a luxe look that goes the distance. Generally, neutral colors offer you the freedom to change your furniture or accessories without updating all the fixtures and fittings in the process, and will even allow you to keep up with trends as they change.

Whether you’re opting for some stylish, large format floor tiles which offer a contemporary touch in the kitchen or some hardwood flooring which adds warmth to your living room, quality flooring is a great way to add personality to a new space from the off – meaning showing your floors a little TLC should be high up on your list of investment priorities.

Update key areas of the home

As the hub of the home where friends and family alike come together to relax, the living room is the best place to start when it comes to fixtures and fittings. Lighting can have a huge impact on the overall aesthetic in your living room – so it’s worth spending a little bit more on lamps or downlighters to add that cozy, homely touch to the lounge.

Additionally, art is a great way to change the ambiance in your living room, so choosing pieces with comfort and calmness in mind is a great way to add a tranquil theme that makes you feel right at home from the get-go.

Naturally, ensuring your bathroom looks fresh, well maintained and hygienic is important when moving into any new home. Modern or high tech touches are an effective way to add an extra luxe appeal, so consider investing in a rain shower or waterfall taps to create a relaxing oasis that washes away the stresses of moving and unpacking.

Elsewhere in the home, high-end fittings such as granite or quartz worktops are practical choices that will go the distance. Though these may be a high investment initially, investing in durable, hard-wearing and practical materials in areas of frequent use ensures longevity and, as such, a great return on your investment in the long-run. 

Photo by Andrea Davis on Unsplash

Invest in quality furniture

Nothing makes a house feel like home quite like furniture – after all, furniture is the most effective way of adding character to any space. When opting for your style, try to prioritize items that will stand the test of time, as this will ensure your first few years in your new home isn’t spent constantly renovating in-line with the latest trends.

When choosing timeless furniture, wood is often the first material which springs to mind. While solid wood is often more expensive than other types, it boasts a distinctive aesthetic and durability that will look great year after year. Whether you’re purchasing an oak cabinet for the living room or some luxury walnut bedroom cabinets, solid wood is an effective way to add a high-end, comforting appeal to your home.

Prioritize energy efficiency

Energy efficiency is now one of the highest priorities for homeowners as it can make a significant difference in the cost of utility bills. While adding energy-efficient features may be a large initial investment, the sooner you start making the changes, the greater your savings will be – so we recommend optimizing your new home right away.

Some essential areas to evaluate energy efficiency are the boiler and the loft. Poorly insulated lofts can be a major cause of energy wastage, even if all of your other appliances are in premium condition. If appliances such as your boiler aren’t in a premium condition, however, this could only add more costs to your energy bills, particularly if it breaks down during the winter months.

To keep track of your heating usage and spot issues early, a smart heating system is a great way to monitor your spending. Smart heaters allow you to add more thermostats and controls to different rooms, including hot water and heating – making this a logical investment for any first home.

Photo by Francesca Tosolini on Unsplash

It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of moving house, but with our tips, we hope you’ll be on your way to making worthwhile investments in your first home. If you’re still in search of that dream first house, contact your local Coldwell Banker Real Estate affiliated office to help make the process of buying a house trouble-free.

Buying homeowners insurance for the first time can be intimidating. Gaining a better understanding of what it covers, what it doesn’t, and how much coverage you need can help calm your nerves and build your confidence.

The following is a guest post from Paul Martin

While buying your first home is exciting, buying your first homeowners insurance policy isn’t nearly as much fun. New homeowners have all kinds of questions about what homeowners insurance covers and what it doesn’t, and understandably so. When shopping around for a policy to protect the biggest financial investment of your life, you want to feel confident that you’ll walk away with enough coverage.

Fortunately, with just a bit of a debriefing on homeowners insurance, those shopping for their first policy can feel empowered and knowledgeable even before meeting with an insurance agent. Here’s a quick breakdown of the finer nuances of homeowners insurance coverage, including how much you need to protect your home and belongings.

What Homeowners Insurance Covers

When buying an insurance policy, it’s important to know what it’s going to do for you as far as offering protection for your home and belongings. Since a home is made up of much more than just four walls and a roof, homeowners insurance includes coverage for all related aspects — not just the building itself. Coverage also aims to protect a home’s contents, including the family and their guests, against potential disasters within or surrounding the house.

Standard homeowners insurance policies have four main coverage categories:

• Damage to the home’s structure: The first category of property damage concerns the actual dwelling or the structure of the house itself. Your homeowners policy protects the home’s structure from damage or destruction due to covered perils, which we’ll explore further in the next section. Detached structures, such as sheds, are often covered as well.
• Damage to your personal property: This second aspect of property damage covers your personal belongings (e.g., furniture, electronics, clothing, artwork, decorations, etc.) stored within the home or in places such as storage units, to an extent. Damage, destruction, or loss of your personal property due to a covered peril is all protected under your insurance policy.
• Liability: Homeowners policies include liability coverage for both bodily injury and property damage to a third party. Coverage extends to all members of your family living in the home, including pets. Liability coverage protects you against legal claims by reimbursing you for attorney and court fees, including any settlements you’re ordered to pay if the case rules against you. Your homeowners policy even protects against incidents in which you are sued away from home.
• Additional living expenses: If your home gets badly damaged or destroyed and you’re forced to live elsewhere while repairs are done, your insurance will reimburse you for the additional expenses such as hotel rooms, eating out, extra gas mileage, etc., within reason.

From structural damage to the accidental injury of a guest, you’re likely to be covered by a homeowners insurance policy. For a claim to be successful, the cause of the issue needs to be due to a covered peril.

Covered Perils Under Homeowners Insurance

While it would be nice if homeowners insurance covered your home and belongings from absolutely all potential hazards, in reality, there isn’t any insurance policy that comes without a set of defined covered perils and a list of specific exclusions. First, we’ll start with the positives.

Commonly covered perils under standard homeowners policies include the following:

• Theft
• Vandalism
• Explosion
• Fire and smoke
• Water damage
• Aircraft or vehicle damage
• Riots
• Falling objects (and trees)
• Roof collapse (due to weight of ice/snow)
• Certain natural disasters (i.e., windstorms, hail, lightning, and blizzards)

Notice that only some, not all, natural disasters are covered by homeowners insurance. That being said, it’s time for the flipside of the coin.

What Homeowners Insurance Doesn’t Cover

Perhaps even more important than knowing what your homeowners policy covers is understanding what it doesn’t. This can save you the hassle of filing a claim that’s bound to get denied or counting on a reimbursement that’s not going to happen.

Standard homeowners policies typically do NOT cover the following perils:

• Certain natural disasters (i.e., floods, earthquakes, and mudslides)
• Maintenance-related losses
• Wear and tear damage (i.e., failure of the homeowner to maintain upkeep of the home)
• Insect damage or infestations
• Damage from war or nuclear fallout
• Business-related liability

If you run a business out of your home, homeowners insurance typically won’t cover liability for related mishaps. Homeowners policies also tend to limit liability coverage for certain types of vehicles, including aircraft, ATVs and boats and have very specific exceptions for certain powered vehicles, such as ride-on lawnmowers. You’ll need to check the policy to be sure of coverage for special vehicles.

Knowing How Much Coverage You Need to Purchase for Your Home

Once you understand what homeowners insurance does and doesn’t cover, you’ll need to figure out how much coverage you need. When insuring the home itself, consider how much it would cost to rebuild if a disaster caused destruction. Several things influence rebuilding costs for a home, including location, the type and age of construction, surface area, amenities, built-in plumbing and heating systems, and various features. Additionally, any measures taken to make a home nicer may increase its value and make it more expensive to rebuild.

Depending on the specific home’s value, rebuilding costs may run somewhere between $80-$150 per square foot. Plenty of online tools are available to help calculate the estimated cost to rebuild your home. Insurance agents are also equipped with professional tools for accurate estimates to help get you set up with the right amount of coverage for your home. It’s better to err on the side of purchasing too much coverage for your home’s structure, should you ever need to rebuild following a disaster.

Knowing How Much Coverage You Need to Purchase for Your Belongings

When it comes to insuring your personal belongings, homeowners policies typically limit replacement coverage for your personal property to 60% of your home’s total insured value. For example, if you purchase $200,000 worth of insurance on your home, $120,000 of coverage would apply to your belongings. Of course, you can always add more coverage. Should disaster strike, it’s a good idea to have a record of your belongings in photo or video format to help receive the reimbursement you’re entitled to.

If you have expensive or valuable items like furnishings, artwork, jewelry, or electronics, you might want to purchase extra coverage for your property. Special endorsements or riders are available for specific types of property that may be on the pricier side, such as jewelry and electronics. Purchasing endorsements or riders can help ensure your items are covered for their replacement costs and won’t exceed your policy’s coverage limit if they are lost, damaged, or destroyed.

Now that you have a deeper understanding of homeowners insurance coverage and how much is needed, you can begin your hunt for the right policy with a sense of empowerment and confidence. Don’t hesitate to ask your independent insurance agent for further clarification on any gray areas. Good luck.

Follow this two-month checklist to keep your move on track.

 The pandemic stay-at-home protocols forced us to reevaluate our homes and where we live. Questions about our home size, needing a home office long term and thoughts of relocation to more affordable cities or closer to family were on the minds of many during the last year. Whether due to a life change or a change brought about by the pandemic, millions of people are moving and creating the “Great Reshuffling.” 

 This record rise in Americans moving, coupled with the typical busy moving season in the summer and a shortage of workers, has created the perfect storm. Moving companies are incredibly busy and are working hard to hire the qualified help they need. Moving is challenging enough without scrambling to find a reputable moving company.   

 So what does this mean for those planning to move this summer? Plan ahead! Make your moving reservations as early as possible to beat the surge and put your organizational skills in overdrive. 

 If possible, give yourself eight weeks to handle the moving to-dos in an orderly, low-stress manner. Use the steps below in this two-month moving calendar to keep you calm and prepared. Simply follow these steps and check them off one-by-one:  

 EIGHT WEEKS TO GO: 

• Start the process of selecting a mover 

• Check a mover’s record with the Better Business Bureau in your state and social review sites. A great reputation is the best way to choose a mover 

• Book your mover 
• Start to inventory and divide up your belongings: Decide who gets what, which items to donate, recycle, to take and which items (if any) need to go into short-term or long-term storage 

FOUR WEEKS TO GO:  

• Mail change of address cards or change your information online at the following:  

• • Post office 
  • Local Department of Motor Vehicles for License & Registration  
  • Social security  
  • Insurance companies 
  • Credit card companies 

• • Credit bureau and/or other creditors 
  • Employer (to forward W2s) 
  • Broker 
  • Mail order accounts 
  • Magazines 

• • Friends and relatives 

• Gather personal records (medical, dental, etc.) 
• Arrange to transfer children’s school records 
• Gather all pet’s vet records and make sure all pets are microchipped and chip corresponds to a cell number that goes with you on your move. Order new tags and licenses with new address and your cell phone number 

• Check homeowner’s insurance policies to see if moving is covered. Be sure your new home is protected by transferring fire, theft and other personal-property insurance 
• START TO PACK 

THREE WEEKS TO GO: 

• Make arrangements to discontinue current utilities and schedule the start-up of new utilities: 

• • Landline telephone service 
  • Cable TV  
  • Internet  
  • Electricity (check for refund) 
  • Gas (check for refund) 

• • Fuel oil 
  • House cleaners 
  • Babysitters 
  • Dog walkers 
  • Gardeners 

• • Pool Service 
  • Diaper service 
  • Water 
  • Water softener 
  • Parking 

• • Other: ________________________ 

• • Have appliances serviced for shipment 

 TWO WEEKS TO GO: 

• Arrange to transfer local bank accounts 
• Ask doctors, dentists and veterinarians for medical records  
• Cancel newspaper delivery 
• Refill all prescriptions. Get prescriptions transferred to a new pharmacy closer to the new home 
• Make arrangements to move children and pets. Do you need a babysitter for a day or two? A pet sitter?  

• Confirm that the mover will move houseplants; if not, make arrangements. Houseplants, usually, cannot be moved by a mover, especially on long distance or out of state moves 
• Start to disassemble any shelving, closet systems, etc. that you plan to take or arrange with the mover that they will be doing this on the day of the move 
• If you need one, hire a cleaning crew to come clean your empty place to get your deposit back. Will your new place need a cleaning crew before you move in too?  

 ONE WEEK TO GO: 

• Pack in separate boxes the items necessary for first days in the new home: Label “LOAD LAST.” And label where to put each of those boxes in your new home: 

• • Medicine (always keep prescriptions on you) 
  • Comfortable clothes 
  • Linens and towels 
  • Toothbrushes and toiletries 

• • Paper goods 
  • Disposable plates and silverware 
  • Foil and wax paper 
  • Plastic containers 
  • Microwave 

• • Vacuum cleaner 
  • Garbage bags 
  • Tool kit 
  • Step ladder 
  • Extension cords 

• • Light bulbs 
  • Cleaning items (mop and pail, broom and dust pan, etc.) 

• • Each member of the family should also pack a suitcase with what they need for a few days while you’re getting settled into your new place. Don’t forget cell phone chargers, medications and favorite teddy bears 
• If the movers are packing all or part of your belongings, call to schedule and confirm the details. Make sure your mover knows how much packing you expect to do yourself and how much you expect them to do 
• Plan to use up most food items before the move. If you have any leftover food on moving day, donate it to Move For Hunger 

• Register to vote 

 TWO DAYS TO GO: 

• Defrost and dry refrigerators/freezers to be moved 
• Gather valuables and important documents from jewelry cases, safe deposit box, etc. to take with you in the car. Do not pack these items with your other belongings 

 MOVING DAY! YOU MADE IT! 

 Congratulations, you conquered “The Great Reshuffling!” Not only did you move during a very unique time, you stayed organized and, hopefully, the entire process was much more stress-free. As the winner of this moving marathon, you now get to slowly unpack and peacefully settle into your new and improved lifestyle. 

MADISON, N.J. (December 7, 2021) – While homeownership is important to many Americans, they are no longer confined to their previously held beliefs about where home can or has to be. Thanks to the “Great Resignation,” the movement of people leaving the workforce during the pandemic, many Americans don’t feel tethered to just one place anymore. In fact, 41% of employed Americans would be willing to take a pay cut or accept a new job with a lower salary in order to move to a more affordable location, according to the latest survey from Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, a Realogy (NYSE: RLGY) company.

Conducted online by The Harris Poll among over 2,000 US adults, this survey reveals that the real estate renaissance means real estate markets across the country are ramping up to welcome all kinds of new residents.

Dreaming Becomes Doing

Coldwell Banker set out to discover what’s on home buyers’ and sellers’ minds and it turns out that younger generations are more inclined than their older counterparts to live in more affordable locations, even if it means taking a lower salary. Compared with survey data from earlier this year, the brand also found that household sizes are continuing to expand.

• The “Great Resignation” Is Impacting Home: 41% of employed Americans would be willing to take a pay cut or accept a new job with a lower salary in order to move to a more affordable location. And younger employed Americans are more likely to be willing to do so than their older counterparts – those 18-44 are more likely than those 45-54 to be willing to take a pay cut or accept a new job with a lower salary in order to move to a more affordable location:
  • 18-34 (51%)
  • 35-44 (47%)
  • 45-54 (32%)
  • 55-64 (27%)
• Budget Friendly Moves: Nearly half (46%) of employed Americans who live in the northeast and west regions would be willing to take a pay cut or accept a new job with a lower salary in order to move to a more affordable location.
• Space To Grow: Household sizes are continuing to grow, especially with younger homeowners. 57% of young homeowners (age 18-34) have felt their housing needs impacted by a growing household in October 2021 compared with 50% in February 2021.

Where Are They Headed?

Americans are chasing the sun as Miami, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; and Austin, Texas emerged as some of the top locations they would consider relocating. Coldwell Banker affiliated agents are already welcoming new residents in these regions!

• Welcome to Miami: Nearly a third (31%) of males aged 18-34 would consider moving to Miami. Females aged 18-34 were more likely to consider relocating to Austin among the options listed (21%).
• For the Sake of the Kids: Miami and Austin also ranked the highest among the options listed in potential relocation for those with children under 18 in the household at 21% and 17%, respectively.
• Black Americans Are Interested in Atlanta: 28% of Americans who self-identified as Black (Not Hispanic) would consider relocating to Atlanta, the highest percentage for Black respondents of any major city surveyed.

Americans Aren’t Afraid to Sell Their Homes, But They Still Want Help

Overall, Americans are still dreaming about the idea of home. They’re showing that home can be anywhere as they redefine the American Dream. While the home selling process has become less intimidating to homeowners, they’re still seeking help from experienced Coldwell Banker agents who have served as trusted advisors, guiding people home since 1906.

• Chill Out: The home selling process is becoming less intimidating to homeowners. Only 16% of homeowners in October 2021 say an intimidating home selling process would be a concern if they were to list their home today, compared with 20% in June 2021 and 24% in February 2021.
• Putting Your Listing to Work: Over a third of Americans (34%) would like a program that offers benefits to a seller such as no upfront cost for renovations, instant cash offer or additional listing exposure when looking for a real estate website to use when buying or selling a home.
• Tech Dreams to Get to Your Destination: The top features homeowners want in a real estate website when buying or selling are a feature that would give them an estimated sale price for their home (39%) and a feature that would let them compare the cost of living in different zip codes (37%).

Coldwell Banker takes the lead by offering programs and services to meet consumers’ desires.

The RealVitalize program, combined with the expertise of Coldwell Banker affiliated agents, provides a powerful advantage for sellers looking to sell their home faster and for a better price. It also removes the stress of finding funding for projects as money is paid back during closing. The program draws from a pool of expert professionals from Angi, the nation’s largest network of pre-screened, homeowner-rated service professionals. Clients are connected with top-rated local pros to ensure the job gets done right.

RealSure, a joint venture between Realogy and Home Partners of America, is a residential real estate transaction solution that helps consumers buy and sell their homes with confidence. RealSure’s differentiated offering keeps agents from Realogy’s brands, including Coldwell Banker, at the center of every transaction

Coldwell Banker announced in October that it would reboot coldwellbanker.com and turn it into the ultimate seller destination online. Stay tuned in 2022 for what this will mean for homebuyers and sellers.

CLICK TO TWEET:

Would you take a pay cut to live in a more affordable area? @ColdwellBanker’s latest survey found that 41% of employed Americans would. Check out the findings: https://blog.coldwellbanker.com/2021-fall-survey/

QUOTES:

“Our latest survey reveals that young adults no longer feel constrained to living in the same city, even if it means taking a lower salary in exchange for living in a more affordable location. Younger folks may be redefining the American Dream, but one thing remains clear: Americans are still prioritizing homeownership. If you’re ready to make those dreams a reality, our Coldwell Banker agents are prepared to guide you home, wherever that may be.”

• M. Ryan Gorman, president and CEO, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC