Residential Architecture and Design in New York’s Westchester County… and Beyond
Have you visited the new website built by The National Association of Realtors? It’s loaded with valuable information.
From HouseLogic.com:
You care about your home. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® cares about homeownership. To help you become the best, most responsible homeowner you aspire to be, we want to provide you with free information and tools you can use to make smart and timely decisions about your home.
Living Well Link of the Week: HouseLogic
For my new readers, I want to share a link to my Squidoo lens; The Complete Guide to Residential Architecture.
This lens includes links to architecture and design blogs, resource guides, information based websites, organizations, directories, conferences, awards programs, magazines and a list of very talented residential architects from across the country. If you are looking to find information on residential architecture and design, there is no better place to find it.
My friend Peter is a branding consultant. He’s been contracted by several large corporations (names we all know and love). He is developing a structure in which they promote their many brands to us consumers and design professionals. Occasionally, he’ll stop by the studio to pick our brains.
What makes us specify one product over another?
Well, after we contrast and compare all our options and create a shortlist of the products we like most, we look for CAD files and PDF product specs.
My message to manufacturers… make your products simple to spec. Give us CAD files. Give us cut sheets to share with our clients and give us a simple specification that we can email or print for the contractor. Don’t hide it at the back end of the site. Make it easy to find and make it easy to use.
If our short list includes two products and one gives us CAD file and the other doesn’t. Which do you think we are specifying?
Want a few examples of companies doing it right? Check out Kohler and Subzero/Wolf.
I’ve updated my Squidoo Lens on Residential Architecture and Design. If you’re looking for anything related to residential architecture, start your search here.
I have links to blogs, magazines, event calendars, guides, code resources, organizations, directories, award programs and a full library of books and videos available to buy direct from the lens. All proceeds go to Soldier’s Angels.
I have not posted about my Squidoo lens lately. For those of my readers who don’t know, my lens is a comprehensive resource for all things Residential Architecture and Design. It includes links to online guides, organizations, directories, conferences, awards programs, magazines, books, videos and a list of leading residential architecture firms in the nation.
Check it out. If you don’t see what you are looking for, please let me know and I will add it. My mission for the lens is to become the most comprehensive resource for information on residential architecture and design on the web.
All proceeds from the items for sale go to Soldiers’ Angels. May God bless the brave men and women of the US Armed Forces.
What does the average major kitchen remodel cost in the NY Metro area? According to the Remodeling Online 2007 Cost vs. Value Report, you will need to shell out about $58,000. Don’t worry though, you’ll recoup more than 70% of that when you sell the house.
What is the most valuable project, in terms of recouping your investment? Siding Replacement using fiber-cement material…86%. Simple curb appeal adds the biggest bang for your buck and, in terms of disruption to your life, siding replacement is an easy project.
Be careful of “project creep” though. When you replace your siding, it is also a great time to replace your windows. Your simple project just got much bigger and much more disruptive.
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Thanks Dad for the link.
Interested in what that big house around the corner sold for? Who bought it and when?
LoHud.com, the official website of the Journal News, has a great database of local real estate transactions. The search tool allows you to be as general to county, or as specific to street address, as you want to be.
Click the “Map/Details” link at the left of results table and receive a complete sales history and a Google map of the exact location of the property.
Isn’t the Internet great??
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The Bedford house in the photo above isn’t listed in the database. It’s for sale for $30,000,000 if you’re interested.
From K+BB Green:
The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Foundation and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) have partnered to create the first nationwide green residential remodeling guidelines for existing homes. The guidelines, comprised of best practices using a “whole-house” approach… [read more]
For more “green” posts click here.
Very often I’m asked how one can research the history of their home. Today, Charles and Hudson posts with a few tips and some great references. Happy hunting!
