Welcome page Contact Joanne Selling Real Estate Forclosures, Short Sales, REOs  Indoor Tips Home Improvements Buying Real Estate  Services  About Joanne Gardiner  Mobile Home Living Price Calculator Loan Calculator Credit and Finance  Real Estate News Architecture Styles HVAC Duct Law Capital Gains Tax HVAC Duct Law Proposition 90 FIRPTA Law Why Use a Realtor® What is e-PRO? Testimonials Real Estate Glossary Selling? Buying? Rain or shine Call Joanne Office: 510-429-4800 Cell Phone: 510-589-4794 Yard Ornaments and Eyesores Did you know... The father of the pink flamingo (the plastic lawn ornament) was Don Featherstone of Massachusetts. Featherstone graduated from art school and went to work as a designer for Union Products, a Leominster, Massachusetts company that manufactured flat plastic lawn ornaments. He designed the pink flamingo in 1957 as a follow-up project to his plastic duck. Today, Featherstone is president and part owner of the company that sells an average of 250,000 to 500,000 plastic pink flamingos a year. I recommend you declutter your yard of any pink flamingos and pack away all the cutesy yard decorations BEFORE the For Sale sign goes up in your yard.   Yard ornaments detract from the landscaping and the architecture.   Planters can add to landscaping appeal if they fit into the design, are grouped, freshly planted and complement the area.  Be careful.  Too many planters can make a yard look junky as does overgrown landscaping. Don't leave garbage bins out on the street any longer than necessary. Disabled vehicles, RVs or too many vechicles are huge distractions.  They should be moved away from your home and from the area. Burned up lawns push buyers away.   Icicle lights in summer, seats from vehicles, wood, windows, etc. are eyesores.

Tips to improve the exterior appearance of your home. No doubt you have heard the adage "You don't get a second chance to make a good first impression."  Well, that's true for your house, too.  Often times buyers decide not to look inside a house if they don't like how the exterior looks.  The way we live in a house is often different from the way we need to live in it when we have it on the market. 1. Be sure your lawn and shrubbery is kept trimmed at all times. Prune overgrown trees and shrubs that hide the house from the street. Before After The above before and after example was featured on HGTV 2. Keep the garage doors down at all times. 3. For a touch of color, have seasonal flowers growing in beds and containers. 4. Make sure your driveway is in good repair. Pressure wash concrete driveways and walkways to remove stains and put a fresh coat of sealer on asphalt driveways. 5. Make sure patios and decks are clean and in good repair. Replace any rotten wood and nail down loose boards on decking or steps; pressure wash, if needed. 6. Garage sale time! Clear out everything you don't intend to keep and tidy up what you are keeping. Make sure garage doors and openers are in proper working order. 7. Check the fencing and make sure it's in good repair and freshly stained or painted. 8. Pay special attention to the area around your front door; make sure your doorbell works, clean off any cobwebs, leaves, or other debris that may have accumulated there. 9. Make sure your porch light works and looks good. If it doesn't, take it down and repaint it or buy a new one. 10. Give the front door a fresh coat of paint if needed; paint is one of the most cost effective fix up items you can do. This sets the tone for the whole showing. 11. Check for cracked or broken windows or leaking seals on dual pane windows; replace if necessary. Replace torn window and door screens. 12. Check your mailbox. If it is rusted or damaged, replace it. 13. Does the exterior need painting? Then paint it. That's money well spent and often makes the difference between a home selling and not selling. 14. Wash the windows outside. It's amazing how much crystal clear windows adds to a home and allows maximum natural light to also brighten the interior. Now go across the street and look at your home objectively. Does it have curb appeal? In other words, someone pulls up in front of your home and says to themselves "Wow, what a nice home," that's curb appeal. Improving a home's curb appeal The sellers of this Cherryland district home in Hayward wanted to minimize yard work and also wanted to avoid bright sun from shining inside.  So it was out with the yard and up with the awnings. Unfortunately, the barren look was a major negative when they went to sell . . .   The new owner John B. had good imagination and decided to bring back this period home's curb appeal.  To begin with, John had all the gravel removed, then added new landscaping.     Then John removed the awnings to reveal the lovely window details and had the home painted. John has successfully recaptured this period home's personality and dramatically improved its curb appeal while being true to its architecture.  Nice job, John! Keep your home looking good... A well maintained exterior with attractive landscaping makes buyers want to look at your home.       Manicured landscaping, including the parking strip, is the first step in telling buyers the inside of your home is wonderful, too.             Backyards need the same care and attention to details as the front yards and interiors.         If you have a storage shed in your backyard, soften its impact with trees and shrubs.  For information on buying or selling east bay homes, please contact me at 510-429-4800 or send me a note on the Contact Joanne form.  Thank you, Joanne P.S.  Be sure to add us to your favorite places. ~ Joanne L. Gardiner, Broker, e-PRO Realtor Advantage Realty Advantage Mortgage Associates 3205 Whipple Road - Union City, California 94587 (510) 429-4800 Contact Joanne  San Francisco Bay Area  ~ San Francisco East Bay Real Estate web site: http://www.joannegardiner.com   Our primary realty service areas in the San Francisco Bay Area: Hayward, Castro Valley, Fremont, Newark, Niles, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, San Ramon, Sunol, Oakland, Foster City, Burlingame, and San Mateo. The types of real estate in which we specialize are:  single family homes, detached homes, attached homes, duets, condominiums, townhomes, garden homes, PUDs, manufactured homes, mobile homes,  income property, investment property, tri-plexes, four-plexes, apartment property, and special use properties such as churches for sale.

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