One of the best ways to quickly get rid of unwanted stuff is by holding a garage sale. In one day, you can ease your packing burden and make some money. As the saying goes, “One man’s trash is another’s treasure,” so the old end table that has been gathering dust in your basement may be just what someone else wants to put the finishing touch on their new decorating scheme. 

To get started, you first want to go through your house, being sure to include the garage, attic, basement and closets. Organize things into groups: what you think might have value to someone else and would sell, what is in good condition but should be given away, and what is no longer useful to anyone and needs to be thrown away. 

Next, check with city hall to see if your community requires permits for garage sales, and take the necessary steps to obtain one.  Find out if you’re allowed to hang signs on telephone poles, light posts, or street signs to advertise the sale. Many communities have regulations for how far in advance you can hang signs, and when you need to take them down. If signs are allowed, make clear, readable signs with large black print that includes the dates and address of the sale, and attached them securely.  

Be sure to advertise your sale in your local newspaper, either in the printed version or on the paper’s website, or both. You can also post information about your sale on www.craigslist.com, an online classifieds website where people can list items for sale for free. There may be other opportunities to promote your sale online such as community blogs or email listservs. 

Start your garage sale early in the morning on the weekend. Bargain hunters hit the streets early and you’ll miss out on possible sales if you set up late. Mark prices clearly on all items and price things reasonably. Don’t get caught up in sentimentality — your object is to get rid of things and make a little money, not to score big profits. Have plenty of quarters and dollar bills on hand to make change, and it’s helpful if you have plastic bags and newspapers available to wrap purchases. 

After the sale, contact local charities to donate the unsold items and other things you’ve marked to give away. Some charities will send a truck by to pick up your donations, particularly large items like furniture and appliances. Remember to get a receipt from the charity so you can deduct the donation on your income taxes. 

On moving day, you’ll be grateful for the extra work you did ahead of time.  And when you move into your new house, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at all the storage space you have. To learn more about making the process of buying a new home and moving easier, go to www.sthbra.com or www.nahb.org/forconsumers.

To educate Americans about the threats to homeownership and to provide opportunities for current and future home owners to take action to protect it, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has launched a website, www.ProtectHomeownership.com. The site features expert economic analysis and reports, data from homeownership surveys and polls, and the answers to many frequently asked questions about housing and homeownership.

ProtectHomesownership.com highlights the threats to homeownership by describing how tax, legislative and regulatory policies currently under consideration would scale back or eliminate the mortgage interest deduction and make mortgages and small business loans unaffordable and difficult to obtain. It tells how finance and credit-related issues are making it difficult for creditworthy, financially responsible families to buy a home and threaten to ultimately prevent millions of families from ever becoming home owners.

The site documents homeownership’s importance to individual households and to local, state and national economies. It shows how new home construction and remodeling presently account for about 15 percent of the nation’s total economy, and how the financial issues are impeding production of new homes. The economic impact of home building includes construction of single-family and multifamily homes, remodeling and the countless products and services that are related to those activities. 

Contact:  Donna Ciancio
STHBRA
2807 North Street
Endwell, NY 13760
Tel:  607.785.9285
donna@sthbra.com

What You Should Know About Hiring a Remodeler

By Marc Mazzei, President
Southern Tier Home Builders & Remodelers Association

With the ongoing challenging economy, many families are choosing to remodel their homes to fit their changing needs, rather than selling their home and buying another one. Your home is likely your largest investment, and even simple remodels can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, so you want to make sure you find a contractor you can trust.

As the home building and remodeling industry celebrates National Remodeling Month in May, here are some important considerations to ensure you make the right decisions when you find, evaluate and hire a remodeler.

A great place to start is the listing of remodelers at http://www.sthbra.com.

Another resource is http://www.nahb.org/remodelerdirectory.

A professional remodeler will uphold the highest professional and ethical standards in the industry. These sources can also help you find a remodeler who specializes in a specific type of remodeling if you need it, such as a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) to help modify your home to better suit you as you age, or a Certified Green Remodeler (CGM) to make your home more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly.

You should also ask for referrals from friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, and others who have had remodeling work done. Or, ask local independent trade contractors, building materials suppliers, architects, engineers, home inspectors, lenders and insurance professionals for recommendations.

There are also websites where consumers leave comments about their experience with local businesses, such as www.yelp.com, www.angieslist.com and www.kudzu.com. But be careful about these sources of information, you have no way of knowing who left the comment or if they were honest.

Once you have a list of potential home remodelers for your project, do research to verify that they are appropriately licensed and have a good business track record. Look them up with your local or state office of consumer protection and the local Better Business Bureau, as well as with your state’s licensing agency and the state and local building inspectors. Verify that the remodeler has the appropriate registrations, and see if they have received any complaints about the remodeler and if so, were those complaints resolved satisfactorily?

When you begin meeting with remodelers, you want to find out information such as:

• How long they have been in business in your community? Can they provide references from customers and suppliers they work with?
• Do they carry insurance that protects you from claims arising from property damage or job site injuries? Ask for a copy of the insurance certificates.
• What is their working knowledge of the many types and ages of homes in the area, and what sort of issues could arise?
• Do they arrange for the building permit? (The person who obtains the permit is the contractor of record and therefore liable for the work)
• Do they provide a written estimate before beginning the work, and a detailed contract that spells out the work that will and will not be performed, protects both of you, provides a fair payment schedule contract and complies with local, state, and federal laws?
• Do they offer a warranty? What is covered under the warranty and for how long?

For more detailed checklists for finding, evaluating and working with a remodeler, as well as other information about remodeling your home, go to http://www.sthbra.com or http://www.nahb.org/remodeling.com.

Find a Professional
When you hire a remodeler, you are buying a service rather than a product. The quality of the service the remodeler provides will determine the quality of the finished product and your satisfaction.

Get a List: The first step to hiring a professional is to build a list of candidates, and flipping through the Yellow Pages is not the ideal method. Learn the best way to begin your search.

The Inside Scoop: Once you have your list of remodelers, how do you properly evaluate their credentials? Get the inside information on what to ask and look for in home contractors.

Evaluate References: You don’t want to just question the remodeler, but also learn first hand from the remodeler’s current and former customers. Learn what to ask references.

Make the Decision: Now you’ve done your homework and it’s time to choose. Get some final guidelines to evaluate your remodeler.

Work With a Professional
Since you’ve done the hard work of evaluating and hiring a professional, the next step is ensuring your home remodel goes smoothly.

Live with Your Remodel: The only thing left is the remodeling itself. Learn how to adapt to your home as a work site, communicate with your remodeler, and schedule your project for a smooth remodeling experience.

Prevent the Fever: Now that the project is underway, the disruption can become rather large depending on the scope of the remodel. Learn how to manage the potential stress of a project that’s underway.

Be a Good Neighbor: A professional remodeler goes out of their way to minimize any inconvenience to your neighbors, but sometimes it doesn’t hurt to be neighborly yourself. Learn more.

Home Maintenance: Finally, now that you’ve gone though the time, energy, and expense of upgrading your home you want to keep it in top shape. View some tips on keeping your home well maintained.
For more information about this item, please contact STHBRA at 607-785-9285 or via email at info@sthbra.com

Beware Of These Warning Signs:

• You’re told that on this job, a contract “won’t be necessary.”
• You’re asked to pay for the entire job “up front”—or pay cash to a salesperson instead of a check or money order to a company.
• You are confronted with scare tactics.
• You’re told you’ve been “chosen” as a demonstration project at a special, low price.
• You’re told a low price is good only if you sign a contract today.
  The contractor won’t give you references—or the references can’t be located.
  You can’t verify the contractor’s business address.

Need Help Finding A Contractor?

If a contractor you feel is not being upfront has contacted you, please contact Southern Tier Home Builders & Remodelers Association for a list of reliable contractors. They can be reached at www.sthbra.com or 607-785-9285.

No one could stop these floods—but a fly-by-night contractor is one disaster you can prevent.

If you find yourself struggling to find room to store everything you’ve accumulated over the years, see if these storage options might work for you.

Do An Audit

Before you invest a lot of time deciding where things should go, look through your closet, files and drawers to determine what can be thrown or given away. For clothes, it is a good rule of thumb to get rid of items that you have not worn in more than 12 months.

A lot of your household financial documents and papers may be available online through the provider company’s Web site. If that is the case, discard old financial statements or bills that you can more easily access electronically. Invest in a paper shredder for these documents to protect your identity and accounts.

It is very easy to allow cabinets and drawers to become cluttered over time, especially when you have to do a quick cleaning of your home when you have surprise visitors. Declutter those drawers periodically to keep from accumulating outdated flyers, menus, magazines and newspapers. This will open them up so you can store more day-to-day items that you need to quickly reach.

Buy Furniture That Doubles as Storage

If you are looking to replace old, worn-out furniture in your home, buy pieces that also can serve as storage. Consider a coffee table that has drawers or an ottoman that can open up and double as a spot to store your blankets.

Make Use of Wasted Square Footage

In closets and in the kitchen,use all of the space that is available to you. Often home owners are giving up valuable square footage if they don’t install cabinets or shelves that go up to the ceiling. Store items that are either out of season or that are rarely accessed — such as holiday decorations — on the higher shelves where they are out of the way. This will free up the lower shelves to allow you to get to the things that you use on a regular basis.

Bed Risers

By simply raising the height of your bed a few more inches, you can gain a lot more storage space that is also hidden away. Bed risers can be found in home design and improvement stores in different shapes, styles, textures and colors to complement your current bedroom furniture. They are inexpensive and not only give you added storage space, but will also give your bedroom a new look.

You’ve made the decision to finally remodel the outdated kitchen and living room of your home. But if you live in a house built before 1978, a new federal law regulating the removal of lead paint may affect your home remodeling project.

In 1978, the use of lead paint was officially banned from residential construction. Before that, however, lead paint was used in more than 38 million homes, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Beginning in April 2010, contractors performing renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb lead- based paint in homes, child care facilities, and schools built before 1978 must be certified and must follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.

The Dangers of Lead Paint

During a renovation or remodel, dust from lead paint removal can fill the air and be breathed in or small children could ingest lead paint chips that fall from the wall. For young children, lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, hearing loss and behavior problems. In adults, lead poisoning can lead to hypertension and high blood pressure. Pregnant women run the risk of passing the poison on to their unborn child.

It is important that you find a remodeler who is trained in lead-safe work practices rather than try to do the work yourself. To ensure the safety of the home’s occupants, the EPA’s new regulation requires that any major renovation to homes built before 1978 must be performed by a certified remodeler or renovator.

What are Lead-Safe Work Practices?

EPA has a free brochure on its website called “Renovate Right” that provides guidance to home owners and contractors about the safe removal of lead paint. Your contractor should follow specific work practices, including these three simple procedures:

1. Contain the work area so that dust and debris do not escape. Warning signs should be put up and heavy-duty plastic and tape should be used to seal off doors and heating and cooling system vents and to cover the floors and any furniture that cannot be moved.

2. Minimize dust. There is no way to eliminate dust, but some paint removal methods create less dust than others. For example, using water to mist areas before sanding or scraping; scoring paint before separating components; and prying and pulling apart components instead of breaking them. Methods that generate large amounts of dust and should not be used include open flame burning or torching; sanding, grinding, planing, needle gunning, or blasting with power tools and equipment not equipped with a shroud and high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter vacuum attachment; or using a heat gun at temperatures greater than 1100°F.

3. Clean up thoroughly. When all the work is done, and before taking down any plastic that isolates the work area from the rest of the home, the area should be cleaned up using special cleaning methods . These include using a HEPA vacuum to clean up dust and debris on all surfaces, followed by wet mopping with plenty of water.

How Do I Find a Certified Remodeler?

To become lead-safe certified, a firm, and a contractor within that firm, must submit an application to the EPA and complete a federal or state-administered eight-hour class with two hours of hands-on training.

To find a lead-safe certified contractor or firm near you, contact Southern Tier Home Builders & Remodelers Association at 607-785-9285 or visit www.epa.gov/lead.