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Choosing Your REALTOR ®
With so many realtors competing for your business, how do you know which one to choose? Here are a few things to consider when choosing a realtor.
The most important decision you will make in the sale of your home is the Realtor you choose.
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Final Walk-Through – The Value Of Your Contract
A walk-through is an important step in a real estate transaction. To get the most out of it, make sure you understand the terms of the purchase contract.
Check Things the Contract Specifies
When you signed the contact to purchase your new...
Getting Raw Land Not A Raw Deal
There is more to buying raw land than meets the eye and more than a few individuals have wished they’d had a second chance upon finding themselves duped, conned, misled, ill-advised, uninformed, oversold, undereducated and often unprepared. They...
Investing In Real Estate
Once you purchase your first home you realize the satisfaction in owning a piece of real estate. For many people their interest doesn’t stop there and they decide they’d like to continue investing in real estate beyond the home they live in.
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Making a First Impression When Selling Your Home
So you've decided to take advantage of the booming real estate market and put your house up for sale. As you know, buying a house is the most important purchase a consumer can make.
So it's understandable that when prospective buyers come...
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The Value of Concrete Countertops
The Value of Concrete Countertops Customization Increases
Aesthetic Appeal and Real Estate Investment for Homeowners
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO--From top-dollar homes in the San
Francisco Bay Area to sprawling mountain homes in the Colorado
Rockies, discriminating homeowners are demanding custom designs
and finishes in their kitchens. In particular, they are looking
to express their individuality and distinct design preferences
in their kitchens with the fast-growing design material of
choice--concrete.
In fact, concrete countertops have become somewhat of a status
symbol for kitchens, rivaling granite and other high-end
options. Consumer Reports magazine (August 2004) ranked concrete
highest for its "customization" and "exclusivity" among high-end
kitchen countertops. As a custom product, the amount of time and
craftsmanship required to produce concrete countertops places
them as the most labor-intensive and priciest among leading
countertop materials. "We never quote by the square foot like
granite," says designer and residential concrete expert, Fu-Tung
Cheng of Cheng Design and Cheng Concrete Exchange. "We sell
concrete countertops by the piece, valued for artistry,
pedigree, and craftsmanship--not for size."
However, concrete countertops are becoming more accessible for
those on a modest budget. The latest custom, do-it-yourself
(DIY) project to captivate homeowners and builders is building
your own concrete countertop. This DIY phenomenon has gained
popularity largely due to Cheng's best-selling book Concrete
Countertops: Design, Forms, and Finishes for the New Kitchen and
Bath (Taunton Press, 2002).
"There's little monetary investment yet large creative gains
using concrete as a medium," says Cheng, who has been making
concrete countertops for nearly 20 years and is regarded as the
premier concrete countertop designer in the industry.
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Increasingly, homeowners are moving away from the monotonous,
manufactured look of traditional countertop surfaces and
choosing concrete for its earthy, timeless appeal. Plus, the
options for personalizing concrete countertops are endless: a
do-it-yourselfer can color, polish, stamp and stain concrete.
Homeowners can imbed personal objects like stones, seashells and
fossils into the countertop's surface, adding sentiment and
character. Functional features such as drain boards, soap
dishes, and trivets can also be incorporated to suit homeowners'
own needs and lifestyle. With the help of Cheng's books and the
emergence of contractors around the country learning to build
countertops, concrete is becoming demystified as
characteristically cold and industrial. In contrary, concrete is
warm and surprisingly tactile; people cannot help but touch
their smooth, polished surfaces. "When I had open houses,
visitors gravitated to the concrete countertops--many people
around here have never seen them," said real estate agent Joy
Rasmussen of her recently sold home, a short-term investment
property in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
KJ Otterman, president of Classic Special Custom Homes (based in
Steamboat Springs, Colorado), and Ken Otterman, Joy's husband,
custom built the 2,265 sq. ft. mountain home. They exclusively
used Concrete Countertops as their guide and Cheng's NeoMix
concrete countertop products to build pour-in-place concrete
counters for the home's kitchen and three baths. The
Sand-colored (from the NeoMix color palette) concrete
countertops were polished smooth then paired with natural slate
of varying colors, like charcoal, rust and gold tones, that
function as backsplashes in the kitchen and baths. As a design
accent, small rectangular slate tiles were added to the rim of
the bathroom sinks which provided a unique detail to the custom
vanities.
"We were able to list the house $20,000 over market value, and
had no problems selling it," comments Joy, while discussing her
investment home's long list of upgrades throughout the space,
including knotty pine solid doors, natural slate wall accents,
hardwood floors and wood trim. "The concrete countertops were
easily the most unique and impressive of all the finishes. I
believe they were a huge part in adding value to the home.
Around here, all you see in homes are granite countertops--and I
really think homebuyers are getting quite numb with granite."
"Concrete countertops are a unique offering to homebuyers who
see the same finishes used in house
after house they visit,"
explains Joy, offering her observation as a seasoned realtor.
"Having concrete countertops almost gives you bragging
rights--you have something different from your neighbors."
BUILDING BUSINESS
KJ Otterman and his team of skilled residential builders quickly
became adept to the aesthetic potential and versatility of
concrete, and now offer concrete countertops as a custom option
for their residential projects. According to KJ, builders in the
Steamboat Springs area, a top destination resort town, have to
work harder to differentiate their projects from the competition
since everyone is competing for the same high-end customer.
The creativity and versatility of concrete has opened a new
market for the KJ and his staff. They are confident that adding
custom concrete will grow their business and are forming a
separate concrete company that will specialize in building
concrete countertops, custom floors, driveways, patios and
decks. Cheng's follow-up book, Concrete at Home (Taunton Press,
2005) was a source of inspiration for them to get their concrete
business jumpstarted. The book offers illustrations of detailed
concrete flooring inside and outside of the home among other
concrete applications like water features, fireplaces and walls.
To solidify their business plans, KJ and his team plan to attend
Cheng's Advanced Countertop Design Training in Berkeley, CA.
Part of the training will offer them essential information on
developing and growing their concrete business.
BREAKING THE MOLD
Another advantage of concrete is its adaptability in either
modern or traditional settings especially when coupled with
other materials like varied metals, wood or stone. "Concrete
adds so many [possibilities] to stone, and the combination with
slate, which is hugely popular here, gives the mountain homes an
overall warm, natural touch," says Joy.
Joy and Ken have since built a much larger home (4,000 sq. ft.)
that offers expansive views of the Steamboat Ski Resort that
will serve as a long-term investment for the couple. They've
also expanded their list of custom finishes, including
hand-troweled walls, elegant oil-rubbed bronze hardware, knotty
pine doors that arch at the top, cabinets in a natural, knotty
alder, and their favorite--concrete kitchen countertops.
Unlike in their previous home, KJ and his specialty crew poured
charcoal-colored countertops using the pre-cast method in the
unfinished basement of the new home. Before pouring the
concrete, they sprinkled an array of semi-precious stones in the
mold including Leopardskin, Moonstone, Mother-of-Pearl and
Turquoise. After the surface was ground and lightly polished,
the finished result was an impressive blend of colors, "By far,
the Mother-of-Pearl was the most incredible," says Joy.
The L-shaped concrete countertop has a rough, rustic stone
appearance, complementing its rugged country surroundings. An
integral drain board and trivets provides function and added
interest to the concrete countertop. Natural slate backsplashes,
distinct wall accents, and a butcher block countertop at the
kitchen island all resonate with the traditional warmth and
earthiness of the concrete countertops.
Joy and Ken's respective backgrounds in real estate and custom
homebuilding, and as investment homebuyers, have helped them
realize that concrete countertops can add tremendous aesthetic
and financial value to a home. Concrete's customization and
"show-stopping" appeal is like no other countertop surface.
Cheng is a proponent of emotional aesthetics and building homes
that capture these emotions, as in the case of Joy and Ken
Otterman. Cheng concludes: "People really want differentiation,
something personal, something custom," says Cheng. "And concrete
can do that for them."
For more information about concrete countertops please visit:
http://www.concreteexchange.com/
About the author:
Fu-Tung Cheng, the founder of the Concrete Exchange, is an
internationally known designer and author, who has pioneered the
craft of making concrete countertops.
Fu-Tung Cheng's first book, Concrete Countertops: Designs,
Forms, and Finishes for the New Kitchen and Bath (Taunton Press,
2002) has become a national bestseller.
His much-anticipated second book, Concrete at Home: Innovative
Forms and Finishes for Floors, Countertops,
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