7 Simple Ways to Add More Character and Charm to Your Home

Think about the last time you walked into a home and felt something.

Maybe it was curiosity, a sense of calm, or a shift in energy you couldn’t quite place or describe. A home’s character isn’t limited to unique accents, charming windows, or original hardwood flooring. It is the culmination of individual expression within its walls. It’s the way we add life to an otherwise empty shell. It’s what makes our homes personal. 

Limited budgets, Instagram envy, and overwhelm can all contribute to the feeling that having “character” in your home is out of reach. I am not immune to wishing I had someone else’s floor plan, budget, or broad sense of style. It happens to all of us. So why not look for ways we can embrace what is ours and let the character come from within? It can be easier said than done, but this post is meant to give you a head start.

These are seven of my favorite ways to add character to your home…

1. Consider the unique qualities of your space.

Having an understanding of the details of your home you won’t change is a great place to start. A large aspect of building “character” in a home is figuring out how to create a unique combination of elements that represent your personal style. The easiest place to start is to decorate your home with pieces that contrast the style of the architecture. 

If your space is super traditional, the contrast of midcentury modern pieces could be a great way to infuse more character. Geometric-printed pillows on a traditional couch would make for a beautifully unique statement.

If your space is industrial, a crystal chandelier could shine in a totally different way.

If your space is modern, a bold de Gournay-inspired print on an antique chair would create a stunning focal point. Take the (very) modern apartment where Joe and I first lived together, pictured below, as an example. Amid all of its sharp lines and white walls, I did what I could to infuse character. I added antique pieces, like the trunk pictured below, and substantial furniture that contrasted against the otherwise airy feel of the space, like the adjacent oversized leather chair.

2. Embrace pieces with “imperfections.”

There is nothing I love more than a little bit of effortless-looking wear and tear on a piece of decor or furniture. From the worn spines of books to the nicked edges of a coffee table, imperfections = LIFE, and life breathes energy into a home. A piece like a vintage rug with holes shouldn’t be immediately looked over when shopping. With a patch or repair, it can contribute its own unique quality to the overall story of your home. 

This is a particularly helpful thing to keep in mind when shopping thrift stores, antique shops, and FB marketplace. Those imperfections may be just what your home needs, which brings me to my next point.

A home’s character isn’t limited to unique accents, charming windows, or original hardwood flooring. It is the culmination of individual expression within its walls. . . . It’s what makes our homes personal. 

3. Shop secondhand!

Nothing makes a home feel more unique than one-of-a-kind pieces. I love shopping at places like Target as well, but I find myself more attached to the pieces I’ve found amid the things no one wanted, knowing that sourcing the same item elsewhere is unlikely.

The hunt can feel overwhelming at times, and if your first few trips to the antique shop are not fruitful, you may want to give up before realizing the magic of finding that perfect item hidden behind a bunch of junk. But I assure you, if you stay the course, the search will almost always be well worth it.

4. Display your collections.

Much of my decor is centered around things I like to collect—vases, brass figurines, colorful candles, and lace tablecloths, to name a few. Small decor elements look great in odd numbers (three, five, seven) and can add visual interest to bookshelves, coffee tables, and side tables, especially when styled in varying heights and sizes. Just about anything can become a collection!

5. Make space for hobbies.

In addition to showing off your collections, dedicating space to the fruits of your favorite hobbies can add some life to your home. Love puzzles? Add a little cafe table in front of a window, drape it with a tablecloth, and stack some of your favorite puzzle boxes on top. (Anthropologie always has a lovely selection of puzzles!) Suddenly you’ve added a new seating area, a bit of fabric for texture, and a pretty little vignette that also works as a refuge after a long day’s work.

6. Add color and pattern.

Whether it’s through fresh flowers, contrasting throw pillows (these pillows are so pretty), patterned blankets, or prints on your wall, every space benefits from the life that color brings. That doesn’t mean painting an otherwise “dull” room with a warm coral color is right for everyone, but sometimes we forget that even in the most minimal of spaces, we can find a purpose for something dynamic. It could be a large rug in royal blue or a small-scale patterned print on curtains.

Some homes scream color, while others use it in ways that make you feel it before you notice it.

For more on the power of colorful home decor, read this article: “5 Colorful Homes and Exactly What I Love About Each One.”

7. Dress your windows with texture.

One of my favorite ways to make blah windows look “complete” is to add blinds AND curtains in differing textures. Woven wood shades (these are my favorite) with striped linen curtains? So so lovely and layered, with zero construction required. Valances have a bad rep for feeling stuffy, but if you are decorating a bedroom that lacks architectural interest or simply needs some “oomph,” this can be a great way to make it feel polished.

Read more from Kate Arends on Wit and Delight.

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If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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5 Things Real Estate Appraisers Wish You Knew About Your Home

Before my husband became a real estate appraiser, I have to admit I didn’t really understand what they did — or why they were so important. Now I know that they actually have a ton of responsibility in the industry. 

Appraisers help you refinance, buy, and sell properties by estimating their value, as well as determining and analyzing the factors that have the largest effect on the value. I’ve learned a lot of surprising facts about the process through the years, and asked my husband’s boss to weigh in on what you need to know so you’re in the loop, too.

Your online home estimate might not be too far off.

Over the years, those value estimates you see on real estate sites have become way more reliable (although nothing beats a personalized appraisal). According to residential appraiser Phil Donaldson of Accelerated Appraisal in Austin, this is because “they actually have boots-on-the-ground knowledge of properties now.” Basically, home mortgage companies take all the information appraisers send them about each place they assess, including value and comps, and harvest it to create the ultimate database.

The things you can’t change matter most.

You can renovate as much as you want, but the age and location (and, in some cases, the size) of your home will always stay the same. While real estate agents focus primarily on the cosmetics of a home, Donaldson says those are the things appraisers have to pay the most attention to when evaluating your home’s value — because they’re foundational to the property. 

Not all square footage is equal.

The home down the road may have sold for $500 per square foot, but that doesn’t mean yours will. Remember that the price per square foot is really just whatever a property sells for divided by the square footage. As such, the number can change drastically depending on a multitude of valuable factors, including the view, whether or not there’s a pool, etc. This might not be as much of an issue if you’re in a high-rise condo, but it’s not uncommon to see some variance within a neighborhood.

Your multi-story home could be a problem.

“You’ll never be penalized for a single story as far as value goes, but sometimes you will be for a multiple-level home,” Donaldson explains. This is because markets have different demographics. Buyers in an aging community don’t have the same incentive to spend more on multiple levels that those in a neighborhood of young families do, because eventually they might not be able to use the stairs.

Solar panels can be a bad investment.

Going green is good for the environment, but it might not be for your wallet. Your rate of return on solar panels is typically somewhere between 10 and 15 years, and unless you pay it off, there will be a note tied to the title that the buyer has to pay upfront. “A lot of people don’t know this, and a lot of Realtors and title companies don’t do a great job of discussing this before closing,” says Donaldson. “Your home could end up being difficult to sell as a result.”

Keep reading.

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If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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Just How Hot Will This Summer’s Housing Market Get?

As the mercury rises, will the housing market heat up—or continue to slump?

The story of the housing market over the past year or so has been how rising mortgage interest rates have decimated affordability, sidelining and pricing out would-be homebuyers. However, higher rates have led to an even larger problem: a worsening shortage of homes for sale.

Homeowners have been reluctant to trade up or down, or relocate and give up their record-low mortgage rates. That’s left buyers with very little to, well, buy.

“The housing market’s going nowhere fast,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. “It should be a weak summer.”

“From a buyer’s perspective, it couldn’t be worse. Mortgage rates are high, home prices are high, there’s no inventory,” he says.

It’s not exactly smooth sailing for sellers either. While they’re still in the driver’s seat thanks to the worsening housing shortage, they’re unable to command the high prices of just a year ago. Buyers simply can’t afford to offer as much now that higher rates have resulted in substantially larger mortgage payments due each month.

In other words, buyers are struggling to afford purchasing a home, if they can even find one that meets their needs. Homeowners who would like to trade up or down or relocate are stuck. And sellers can no longer name their price. So the housing market has stalled.

“The summer is going to plod along” slowly and steadily, predicts national real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller. “It’s going to be more of a Goldilocks summer—not too strong and not too weak.”

Problem No. 1: There aren’t enough homes for sale

The biggest challenge confronting the summer housing market is there simply aren’t enough homes for sale.

The number of new listings is down 25.7% from June 2022 and down 28.8% from June 2019, according to Realtor.com® data. And while there are technically more homes for sale than there were a year ago, this is because some properties just aren’t selling.

These are the fixer-uppers, the oddly configured homes, the ones lacking curb appeal, the homes with unrealistically high price tags, the properties that aren’t ideally located. These homes were selling during the COVID-19 pandemic when folks were desperate. But now that housing costs so much, buyers are less willing to compromise on a home that may or may not have potential.

Anything appealing and move-in ready in a desirable area that’s priced to move is still selling very quickly.

“Homes are sitting for longer. We’re just not seeing as many homes cycle through the market this year,” says Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “As we move into late summer and early fall, we might see even fewer homes on the market.”

Many of the homes for sale are newly constructed. Existing-home owners have been loath to give up their low mortgage rates. So they’re staying put unless they have a compelling reason to move.

In April, roughly 29% of the homes for sale were new construction, according to Freddie Mac tabulations of Census Bureau and National Association of Realtors® data. That was the highest share of new construction since the data collection began in 1999.

“The challenge facing homebuyers this summer is more about limited choices than affordability,” says appraiser Miller. “The very limited supply of housing is the bigger roadblock.”

Not surprisingly, the lack of homes for sale has resulted in fewer home sales.

In a typical year, there would be about 5.5 million existing-home sales (which don’t include new construction). A really good year could be north of 6 million sales. But there are expected to be only about 4.2 million home sales this year, according to the Realtor.com midyear housing forecast.

“If we see more homes come up for sale, there are absolutely buyers who have been waiting on the sidelines,” says NAR’s Deputy Chief Economist Jessica Lautz.

Problem No. 2: Mortgage rates remain high

Higher mortgage rates have been a primary culprit behind the slowdown in the housing market.

The U.S. Federal Reserve wasn’t a fan of the big run-up in home prices during the pandemic. It began raising its own interest rates in an effort to tame inflation and cool the housing market. Mortgage rates followed a similar upward trajectory, supersizing monthly payments.

The result: The typical mortgage payment was 91% larger* in June than it was in June 2019 and 9% more than in June 2022, according to a Realtor.com analysis.

Those higher mortgage rates have chilled the housing market. Scores of prospective homebuyers have been priced out, turning the American dream of homeownership into just that, nothing more than a dream for many would-be, first-time homebuyers. And rates are expected to remain high.

Economists anticipate mortgage rates will stay in the mid-to-high 6% range until the Fed cuts its rates. And unfortunately for buyers, Fed officials have said they expect another rate hike or two this year.

“It’s possible we could see mortgage rates tick back up a little bit. [But] I don’t think we’ll go back up above 7%,” says Hale.

“Unfortunately, interest rates have settled in at a much higher rate,” says Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac. “Absent some major shock, I wouldn’t expect rates to dip much lower.”

Problem No. 3: Prices are falling—but not enough to jump-start the market

This summer, home prices will likely continue to fall a little as buyers hit their financial limits.

In June, list prices fell nationally for the first time in years, dipping 0.9% from last June’s record high. That’s not enough to give most homebuyers any meaningful relief as mortgage rates remain high.

And those price declines aren’t universal. Prices fell in the most expensive parts of the country, generally in the West, and in the areas that boomed during the pandemic, such as the South. However, they’re still rising in the cheaper Midwestern and Northeastern markets.

“Real estate is very much more local now than it has been in years,” says Hale.

Exactly how much prices will go down depends on who is asked. Realtor.com expects prices will be 0.6% lower this year than last. Zandi of Moody’s Analytics expects home prices will continue to drop, falling 8% from their peaks last year. Meanwhile, economist Lisa Sturtevant believes prices will stabilize.

“In a lot of markets, we’re not to going to see prices run up,” says Sturtevant, chief economist of Bright MLS, the multiple listing service for the mid-Atlantic region.

The lack of homes for sale, though, is likely to keep the market competitive. Buyers who have their heart set on a property will likely have to compete for it. And they might have to offer more than the list price to win the bidding war.

Existing homes received about three offers each, with the “vast majority” going under contract in under a month, says NAR’s Lautz. (Existing homes do not include new construction.)

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see a modest amount of homebuying and selling continuing this summer,” says appraiser Miller. “The overarching theme of the summer is cautious optimism.”

Read more.

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• Today’s Housing Inventory Is a Sweet Spot for Sellers

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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Today’s Housing Inventory Is a Sweet Spot for Sellers

One of the biggest challenges in the housing market right now is how few homes there are for sale compared to the number of people who want to buy them.

To help emphasize just how limited housing inventory still is, let’s take a look at the latest information on active listings, or homes for sale in a given month, as it compares to more normal levels.

According to a recent report from Realtor.com:

“On average, active inventory in June was 50.6% below pre-pandemic 2017–2019 levels.”

The graph below helps illustrate this point. It uses historical data to provide a more concrete look at how much the numbers are still lagging behind the level of inventory typical of a more normal market (see graph below):

It’s worth noting that 2020-2022 are not included in this graph. That’s because they were truly abnormal years for the housing market. To make the comparison fair, those have been omitted so they don’t distort the data.

When you compare the orange bars for 2023 with the last normal years for the housing market (2017-2019), you can see the count of active listings is still far below the norm.

What Does This Mean for You? 

If you’re thinking about selling your house, that low inventory is why this is a great time to do so. Buyers have fewer choices now than they did in more normal years, and that’s continuing to impact some key statistics in the housing market. For example, sellers will be happy to see the following data from the latest Confidence Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR):

• The percent of homes that sold in less than a month ticked up slightly to 74%. 

• The median days on market went down to 18 days, showing homes are still selling fast when priced right. 

• The average number of offers on recently sold homes went up to 3.3 offers.

Bottom Line

When supply is so low, your house is going to be in the spotlight. That’s why sellers are seeing their homes sell a little faster and get more offers right now. If you’ve thought about selling, now’s the time to make a move. Connect with a trusted real estate professional to get the process started.

Get more like this on Keeping Current Matters.

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If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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4 Tips for Air Conditioning Care to Keep in Mind Over the Summer

As summer heats up, air conditioning usage becomes more and more common.

However, without proper maintenance, it's easy for air conditioning units to break down in the middle of a heatwave. That's why, as temperatures continue to rise, it's important to keep in mind these 4 tips for air conditioning care that will help keep your unit running efficiently all summer long.

Change Your Filter Regularly
One of the most important things you can do to keep your air conditioning unit running smoothly is to change the filter regularly. A dirty or clogged filter can cause your system to work harder than it needs to, which will, in turn, increase your energy bills and decrease the lifespan of your unit.

Keep Your Coils Clean
Your air conditioning unit's coils can also become dirty or clogged, making it harder for your system to cool your home. To keep your coils clean, clean or replace the air filter regularly, and also consider scheduling an annual maintenance check with a professional HVAC company.

Clear Obstructions from Your Unit
Maintaining a properly functioning air conditioning unit is a top priority for any homeowner. In order to ensure optimal functioning, it is important to clear any obstructions from around the unit. Overgrown plants or debris can obstruct the airflow in and out of the unit, increasing the likelihood of expensive air conditioning repairs down the line. By taking the necessary steps to clear any obstructions, homeowners can save themselves from the stress and financial burden of a malfunctioning air conditioning system and, as a result, a possible air conditioning repair. It is important to maintain the unit proactively to ensure optimal comfort during warmer months.

Mind the Thermostat
Your air conditioning unit's thermostat is the key to regulating the temperature in your home. To keep your system running efficiently, be sure to keep your thermostat set at a reasonable temperature, and also consider installing a programmable thermostat to make it easier to keep track of your system's temperature.

Properly caring for your air conditioning unit is essential, especially during the hot summer months. By following these four tips, you can help ensure your unit runs efficiently and effectively all summer. Take the time to educate yourself about your system's needs, and don't forget to schedule annual maintenance checks with a professional HVAC company to keep your air conditioning unit in top condition for years to come.

Get more tips like this on RISMedia.

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