You Moved In, Got Comfortable and Now the Honeymoon is Over with Your New Omaha Home

I've always said, "You never really know someone until you live with them."  I guess the same thing could be said about homes.  You find the perfect home in Omaha.  It has everything you've always wanted.  You just have to have it.  So, you purchase it and move in...

A few months go by and you realize that you really have a tough time getting a family of 5 ready to greet the day in just 1 & 1/2 baths, to quote your mom, "The kitchen isn't big enough to cuss the cat" and your SUV has to sit outside because the garage is too short with that workshop in front.

While there are some things you can't (or shouldn't) change about other life choices you make, fortunately, conforming your home to be more in tune with your lifestyle is fairly common. And, if you are like most Americans, you may even feel pretty confident that you can remodel your new Omaha home yourself.  Just don't be disillusioned or coerced into believing that just because you can watch a YouTube video means you can handle it:

The smart thing to do (and I know you are smart because you are reading this blog) is to check with a qualified home builder in Omaha, NE to see if adding a bathroom or enlarging the kitchen is even feasible. They builder will make sure that your plan is compatible with the plumbing and electrical locations and pull any necessary permits to keep you out of hot water with the city. (Go ahead and tear out that portion of the workshop on your own. It will make you feel accomplished.)

Something else to consider is the return on your investment. You may just be trading dollars in order to make your home in Omaha, NE more user friendly or you may actually be increasing it's value. This year is expected to be a good year for remodel projects. Click here to view a good site I have found that keeps you informed of remodels that really pay off when you are remodeling your homes in Omaha, NE.

Hope this helps you make a more informed decision when making plans to rekindle the flame with your new home in Omaha, NE. Feel free to call or email me for more information on what remodels pay off when it's time to sell and which ones to avoid. Until next time...

So You've Found Your Dream Home in Omaha, NE...

Ok. So you've found the home you want to buy. Now it's time to prepare the home you currently live in and get it ready to sell.  Of course, you know you can call me at anytime and I am happy to assist you but to get you started in selling your home in or around Omaha, NE, I found this checklist on Real Simple to be a pretty good place to start. Click here to access it.

Basically, you need to look at your current home (as much as possible) as if it were the first time you were looking at it. If you were a buyer looking for their dream home in Omaha, NE, how would you rate YOUR home? We all tend to move into our homes in Omaha, NE with lots of ambition. I know my kitchen cabinets were the first things I planned to change...years later, they are still there.  Also, time has a way of slowly changing the condition of the walls, woodwork, etc. especially if you have raised a family since moving in. Are the walls marked up? Do you need to repaint? If you do, be sure to keep things neutral and light. Buyers are attracted to a blank slate so that they can see themselves in the home.

First impressions are critical. Is the yard healthy and weed free? Are the trees and shrubs trimmed so that they are not touching the house? How about the driveway...are any cracks sealed up? First impressions are very important. You want to be sure they make it to the front door feeling good about the home. I'm not going to go through everything on the list here but you get the idea. Keep things neat and tidy. Here's a great before/after photo of a tidied up laundry room.

Make the home look well cared for. Serious buyers will want to see every room in the house and may also ask "technical" information like what is the R factor of the wall and ceiling insulation, what are the ages of the appliances and/or roof, etc. So, it is a good idea to have the answers on hand, just in case.

Our market is heating up...There are fewer homes on the market than there were last year at this time. You know the whole supply and demand process. In the case of home buying in Omaha, NE, this means that it's a great time to Sell and a good time to Buy, but you better be making that move sooner rather than later. Prices will continue to rise as supply falls and interest rates have been slowly rising.  Check out this article by the National Board of Realtors. (While I am on the topic of articles from NAR, I have to let those of you who have interest in Acreage Communities in or around Omaha, NE know about the special financing available in rural areas. Click here for that article.)

I hope the information I have provided here gets you off to a good start. Remember, you can call me at 402-680-3945 or email me anytime at dickgibb@dickgibb.com if you want more information on how to prepare your home in Omaha, NE for sale. Until next time...

Getting Ready for Ol' Man Winter in Omaha, NE

While I am enjoying the last of the produce from my garden in the backyard of my home in Omaha, NE, I try not to think about the fact that winter is just around the corner.  And, since I live in a drafty, old barn in Dundee, I best be thinking about more than the great looking squash on those dried out vines.  I guess I need to turn my thoughts to the things I need to do to make sure my wife and I are comfortable during the upcoming cold winter months. 

I was searching the web and came across some tips for getting your house ready for winter in Omaha, NE. One of the better checklists I came across was posted by Bob Vila of This Old House.

Another good resource I came across for preparing a home for winter in Omaha was this video posted by Country Restoration:

 

And, I found this guy on YouTube. He has videos on just about everything I can imagine that I might need to do to get my home ready for winter in Omaha. His name is Tim Sellers...not sure where he is from but he really seems to know his stuff! He has short one to two minute videos that talk about preparing your eaves, your windows, your pipes and (my favorite) your furnace in homes in colder climates like Omaha. Here is a link to a playlist for some of his videos:

 

Preparing your home for winter in Omaha, NE

 

If you start looking around your home in Omaha and decide that it's more than you want to tackle, call me and I can put you in touch with our handyman who can help getter' done for you!  If you decide that you'd rather switch than fight, give me a call and I'll help you find a home in Omaha or the surrounding areas that requires a little less maintenance. Either way, it's time to put away the shorts and flip flops and get out the sweaters, mittens and coats cause winter's comin' whether we like it or not!

For the Backyard Farmer in All of Us

So, if you have been reading any of my posts, you know that my dream is to live on an acreage near Omaha and that I like to get my hands dirty.  I always have. Time gets filled with collared shirts and dress shoes, contracts and phone calls but when I can steal 30 minutes in the evening, I put on my jeans and head to my backyard to dig in the dirt. While I don't have an acreage plot to plant, my backyard in Dundee can produce enough Summer veggies for my family, friends and neighbors! Tomatoes are my favorite things to grow but cucumbers, beans and broccoli come in a close second.

One of the things I have become more aware of over the last few years is the quality of the seeds I use.  I always been sort of a health nut and watched what I ate but I never really considered the source of the foods. A friend of mine turned me on to Heritage Seeds. These seeds are the pure kind; the kind that my grandparents would have planted. Today's seeds have so many things done to them or added to them to help ward off pests, that is makes me wonder what those additions are doing to me! I order mine through Baker Creek because I haven't found a local source.  If you know of one, please let me know! 

Besides the crazy and unpredictable weather, something I have found challenging about gardening in Omaha is the density of our dirt. Nebraska soil seems to be mostly clay and doesn't drain well. I found that if I use a raised bed or add organic matter, such as peat or compost, it gives my plants a better environment. If you are camping out in an apartment or have a very small yard, Lowe's had a great gutter gardening video "how-to" that you can view here.

Anyway, I would love to hear some of your backyard farmer stories. What have been your biggest challenges? Tell me about a bumper crop and what you think contributed to it.  And, I would love to know your opinion on the seeds.  Meanwhile, if you are looking for a larger garden plot, give me a call.  I specialize in acreage communities around Omaha.