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Showing posts from July, 2022

Renovating Your Ceiling!

 In terms of renovation projects, most people don't look up. A kitchen? Of course. The bathroom. Obviously. Paint and built in cabinets? Sure. But renovating your ceiling?  I'm actually seeing it more and more and while it won't be for everyone, spending some money on the "5th wall" can actually reap serious benefits for some homes.  The plan? Taking down your current dropped drywall or plaster and opening up the ceiling to expose the joists above.  Via If you have a mid-century home with low ceilings, or a historical farmhouse with the same, this may be a worthwhile endeavor, not only to add visual appeal but to produce the effect of high ceilings and more space.  Via  Common design ideas are to just open it up and leave it rustic, paint the underside of the floorboards above while leaving the beams, as above, spraying it all one color, often white, to keep things light, or adding new wood tones, like below.  Via Via  Via Of course, there are som...

Is Now a Terrible Time to Buy?

 If you ask the average person right now (your neighbor, your mom, your co-worker), they are likely to tell you you'd "be crazy to buy right now". I hear this often. And its not just your neighbor or co-worker - most Americans think right now is a bad time to buy a home - 79% in fact, according to a recent poll .  Photo by Jimmy Dean on Unsplash And for the average person in our greater Philly market, thats probably true. Rates are still incredibly high at 6%+ (in comparison to the 3's and 4's we had been seeing).  But what it you WANT to buy a home? What if you had been waiting and hoping to buy in 2021 and 2022 and it just wasn't happening? Should you sit it out?  Well I think that greatly depends on your financial picture....  - Do you have a house to sell? Will you benefit from that sale, better balancing the higher cost to purchase?  - Do you currently rent? Is that rental rate particularly high and costly based on the continually rising rental rates ...