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Can you guess the top 7 remodeling projects for the money (% of investment recouped at sale)?  Log onto Blog In The Burbs tomorrow for the answers. First person who gets the most right gets coffee on me! You can email the answers at tina@goodchildhomes.com or FB them to me.

10 Winter Staging Tips To Sell Your Home

Making your home warm and inviting in the winter months is important, especially when your curb appeal is effected by the hibernating outdoor foliage. Here are some ways to stage your home in those cold winter months:

1.  Take Down Holiday Decorations - Who wants to pull up and see a plastic Santa in February?

2.  Keep Your House Warm - You might enjoy setting your thermostat to 65 in the winter months, but you want potential buyers to be warm and cozy while navigating through your house.

3.  Clear Walkways - Clear walkways and stoops of any snow and ice. Not only does it look more appealing but you could be opening up yourself to a lawsuit should someone slip and become injured.

4.  Light Up! - Turn on all the lights in the house especially since it gets dark so early.

5.  Scent Up!  - Since doors and windows are closed in winter months, make sure your house doesn't smell like last night's dinner.  Light a few (nicely) scented candles for a subtle scent.

6.  Background Music - Leave on softly playing classical music. It makes a home feel warm and inviting.

7.  Let The Light Shine In - Clean windows and blinds so the light can shine through!

8.  Fake a Fire - If you have a fireplace, put a votive candelabra in it and light up. It will give your fireplace a nice warm glow giving buyers a sense of coziness.

9.  Cut The Clutter - Make sure hats, gloves, boots etc. are out of view.

10.  Add Inside Greenery - Since the outdoors lack greenery, add plants and fresh flowers to inside areas.

Are Houses Selling?

According the the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 12,108 homes sell every day in the US!  That's about 85,000 per week. Additionally, 72% of transactions were accompanied by a mortgage. So houses are selling AND people are getting mortgages. We have also seen an increase in pending home sales for the past three months.  FINALLY some positive housing information.

Looking For Indoor Fun With Kids?

I know I am not the only mother who searches the internet, Oaklee's Family Guide, or Family Magazine in search of new and exciting things to do with the kids when they are off school. How many times can you  go bowling or the movies!!! I was pleasantly surprised when I took the crew (ages 15, 12 and 8) to try a new place called Xtreme Trampoline. Located in Buffalo Grove and Carol Stream, Xtreme Trampoline offered all my kids a great place to expend some energy for a few hours. They have trampolines for three different age groups as well as dodge ball arenas for two age groups, reducing my fear of big kids bumping into little ones. The cost was $12 per jumper for the first hour and $7 for each additional hour. Take off your shoes and join the kids, it's great fun (and you'll burn calories while your at it!)! If you have any other ideas for day fun on days off, please feel free to share them.

Just 5%

Can one American man with one predominantly American home make a difference in American jobs? Yes he can! Anders Lewendal from Boseman, Montana set out to build a client's house with only American-made products. Mostly just to see if he could. Turns out not only could he accomplish this task but figures if everyone allocated just 5 % of our spending to American-made products, we could create 3 million jobs! His project was not intended to convince builders to build exclusively American homes, but, "to use the home as a model for how easy it really is to reallocate more of our spending to domestic products". As far as cost, Lewendal states his All American Home was about one-half of 1 percent over normal construction costs. Home Remodelers: You can find his list of suppliers at theallamericanhome.com. For everyone else:  Make even a small effort to purchase everyday products from American companies. More American jobs means a stronger economy, a stronger housing market and a more encouraging future for all of us.