Melissa Bristol your Realtor in Bradenton, Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch

 According to the US Census Bureau's recent Quarterly Housing Vacancies and Homeownership report, rates of homeownership look to be holding steady. The homeownership rate clung to 63.6 percent in the first quarter of 2017, virtually unchanged from 63.7 percent the quarter prior and 63.5 percent the year prior. 

 With home prices zooming up with no end in sight, a record number of Americans think it's a good time to sell a home.About 61% of folks said there was no time like the present to put a home on the market, according to Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey for May. That's the highest percentage it's been since Fannie began the survey in June 2010. (Fifty-seven percent of participants said it was a good time to sell in April.)The monthly survey polls 1,000 Americans with more than 100 questions on their attitudes toward owning and renting a home, price changes in the housing market, and the health of the economy. 

There’s a national housing shortage sparking bidding wars, multiple offers and overall higher prices. So are builders putting up more homes to meet demand?June 16, 2017 

The kitchen is one of the places that buyers look closely at when considering whether or not they will purchase your property. According to Zillow Talk, a full-gut kitchen renovation averages a 75 percent return rate (i.e., average cost: $30,000; resale value/ROI: $22,500). However, you may be able to get more or less value depending on what parts you choose to renovate and which you leave as-is.  Let’s take a look at individual updates and keyword listings to see what may be more worth your time and money. And then take a look at some of our other kitchen suggestions in our kitchen guide. 

 If designing an entire landscape from scratch sounds intimidating, that’s because it is. The good news is that if done correctly, your landscape overhaul can save you a lot of time and money in the long run.Whether you’ve purchased the “haunted house” of the neighborhood or just let the yard get so overgrown that your lawnmower sputters in fear, renovating your landscape is easier than you might think.Here’s what you’ll need to know before getting in over your head.

Make safety your priority. If you recently purchased the home, carefully walk around the yard and pick up trash with a sturdy pair of gloves.Purchase a telescopic magnetic stick from your auto parts store, and use it to pick up any fallen roofing nails — that way you won’t find them in your foot later.To avoid digging disasters, call your utility companies before you dig so they can mark any buried pipes or lines.

Even if you have the perfect garden design in mind, remember that you have many years to see it through. Just start with the basics — a narrow foundation planting, a few trees, a small mailbox garden, and a manageable garden patch in the backyard.If signposts, trees, or fences make mowing a hassle, dig up the grass around them, and lay landscape fabric and mulch instead. You can add plantings later.

Before you overhaul your landscape, eliminate weeds as soon as possible so they won’t proliferate and prosper in your newly planted lawn and garden. Their seeds and roots survive everything short of an atomic bomb, and even nearby weeds can colonize newly exposed soil by hitching a ride on the wind or your shoes.Chemicals can kill the “good” grass, so digging is your best bet. To protect your existing plants and grass, find a good, sharp trowel (serrated is best) or weeding tool, and remove the weeds one by one, replacing the disturbed soil with new turf as you go.To prevent new weeds while you work, cover up any exposed soil with landscaping fabric until it’s ready to be used.