Curb Appeal Starts With a Smartly Painted Home

Preparing to put your home on the market? Recall the proverb “first impressions are the most lasting” and then start looking at paint swatches. 

It’s the essence of curb appeal: A smartly painted home will catch the eye of a prospective buyer before anything else. But whether you hire professionals or tackle the job yourself, an exterior paint job requires plenty of forethought, from color selection to type of paint. 

Most design professionals recommend a color scheme that blends in with neighboring homes, although sometimes the opposite works well, too. San Francisco homes, after all, are world-famous for their bold combinations of up to a half-dozen colors, shades, and hues. 

According to paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams, white or a light color can make a house appear larger and the lot seem smaller. Dark colors can make a home look smaller but more substantial. 

Homeowners can scale down height by painting the upper portion of a tall house a deeper tone than the bottom portion. If a house sits far from the curb, painting it a light color will visually bring it forward. 

Sherwin-Williams also advises that you consider the landscaping around your home — tress that change color, flowering shrubs, and flower gardens — for color compatibility. Note that the shade from trees on a heavily wooded lot will make colors look darker. 

Looking for color suggestions? Sherwin-Williams’ website offers a mix of up-to-date color palettes based on themes such as “Suburban Modern,” “America’s Heritage,” and “Northern Shores & Seaports.” 

Other paint manufacturers also offer color advice, of course: Glidden presents 15 modern palettes, each with four complementary colors, and Benjamin Moore presents its “New” Neutral Palette for 2014. Behr groups its exterior paints by temperature — cool, neutral, and warm — and also suggests colors by architectural style: Craftsman, Modern, Spanish Mediterranean, and Victorian Tudor, to name a few. 

Whether you buy its paint or not, the Behr website also has a helpful how-to section on exterior painting, with advice on paint selection; home preparation; proper application; and repairs and cleaning.

The National Association of Realtors’ HouseLogic website also offers smart advice on how to prep and paint the outside of your home. A separate page on the website discusses the pros and cons of various types of paint: acrylic, oil-based, and stains. HouseLogic also presents valuable information on “green” painting, with eco-friendly tips and a suggestion to use “low-VOC” paints — those with exceptionally low levels of volatile organic compounds. 

Feeling weighed down with decisions to make? The HouseLogic site will also make you smile. Or cringe. Check out its “Wacky Exterior Paint Jobs” page for some unique approaches to exterior painting. 

How unique? Imagine a Hello Kitty-themed design and color scheme.

Contact me today for a consultation. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and/or help you determine the value of your home.

Saraya and Simon Motley
Pacific Union and Christie’s International Real Estate
Serving Alameda & Contra Costa Counties
510.459.4338/direct . 925.385.8503/direct
925.403.7802/eFax
saraya@eastbayhouse.com
www.eastbayhouse.com
CalBRE License #01265873   

(Image: Flickr/+KV)

Walnut Creek Art and Wine Festival

Heather Farm Park, Walnut Creek, California

Are you and your family looking to indulge in a day that includes an appreciation for both fine wine and art, coupled with family-friendly entertainment?  If so, you absolutely do not want to miss out on the opportunity to attend this weekend’s Walnut Creek Art and Wine Festival event.  Heather Farm Park invites you to come out for a magnificent weekend in celebrating talented local artisans, united with an exquisite array of fine wines fashioned from locally-grown grapes.
 
The Walnut Creek Art and Wine Festival is one of the premier outdoor events held in all of Contra Costa.  Year after year, hundreds of thousands of people await its arrival and attend the two-day happening.  This weekend the Festival will be celebrating its 33^rd consecutive year in hosting this popular family-friendly event.

The Festival will feature on-going live entertainment, excellent wine and beer offerings, and a unique shopping experience.  Over 100 wines and beers will be highlighted, along with the returning craft beer garden.  Two stages of live entertainment will be showcasing musical remembrances of the 1960’s and ‘70’s.  Over 200 artisans will be exhibiting and selling their unique, handcrafted items.  And for our children, a kid’s zone will be set up presenting games and activities.

As always, both admission and parking are free for the attendance of the Walnut Creek Art and Wine Festival.  So bring the entire family out to Heather Farm Park this weekend for a 2-day art, wine, and entertainment extravaganza.  There will be something for everyone, adults and children alike!
 
Saturday May 31^st - 11:00 AM-7:00 PM

Sunday June 1^st - 11:00 AM-6:00 PM

For more information regarding the Walnut Creek Art and Wine Festival event, please click here. 

Saraya and Simon Motley

Pacific Union and Christie’s International Real Estate
Serving Alameda & Contra Costa Counties
510.459.4338/direct . 925.385.8503/direct
925.403.7802/eFax
saraya@eastbayhouse.com
www.eastbayhouse.com
CalBRE License #01265873  

Photo courtesy of Mystic-Art/deviantart.com.

Homebuyer Alert: Minimum FICO Scores Are Falling

Good news for Bay Area buyers: Fair Isaac Corp., the company behind FICO credit scores, is urging lenders to lower the minimum-score requirements for home loans. 

Fair Isaac says the high credit-score “cutoffs” that mortgage lenders imposed during the housing crisis are tighter than necessary. That’s according to veteran real estate columnist Kenneth Harney. 

FICO credit scores that were considered acceptable risks for mortgage applicants in the early 2000s — the 640 to 680 range — were exceedingly rare until recently. FICO scores run from 300 to 850, and most buyers in the first quarter of 2014 needed scores higher than 700 to get their home loan approved. 

We reported in this this blog last month that lenders have started to loosen their credit requirements, and Harney confirmed in a recent column that Fair Isaac’s own researchers found that the risk of default on more recent borrowers is much lower than it was at the onset of the recession. 

In 2005, for example, 36 borrowers with a FICO score of 700 paid their loans on time for every one who went into major default. In 2011, however, 91 borrowers paid their loans on time for every one who defaulted — a big decline in risk to lenders. 

Researchers at VantageScore Solutions, a Fair Isaac rival, found similar results. The company concluded that mortgage lenders could safely expand the pool of homebuyers by lowering their credit-score requirements — without loosening up on other standards of down payments or debt ratios. 

Earlier this year, Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, cut the minimum acceptable FICO score for conventional loans from 660 to 620. In addition, it lowered score requirements for Federal Housing Administration loans to 600. 

Other lenders have also trimmed their FICO requirements. With mortgage rates still at historically low levels, it looks like there will be no shortage of buyers bidding for the perfect Bay Area home throughout 2014. 

If you plan to buy a home in the Bay Area or the Tahoe/Truckee region, Pacific Union’s mortgage partner, Mortgage Services Professionals, can offer loan advice and consultation to help make your purchase a success.

Contact me today for a consultation. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and/or help you find your dream home.

Saraya and Simon Motley
Pacific Union and Christie’s International Real Estate
Serving Alameda & Contra Costa Counties
510.459.4338/direct . 925.385.8503/direct
925.403.7802/eFax
saraya@eastbayhouse.com
www.eastbayhouse.com
CalBRE License #01265873   

(Image: Flickr/401(K) 2012)