Wicks Tips

VIDEO: What You Need to Know About Kitchen Remodles

Hi all, Wick here.

As you know my wife and business partner Katoline is the true force of nature on this real estate team:) She helps you get top dollar when you are selling your home. Recently Karoline helped get this house ready to hit the market. It closes today at an over list sales price and it had multiple offers.

Last May the owners of this home Nicole and Greg found Karoline online and reached out to her to help them list this house. Through our videos and great client testimonials 🙂 Nicole loved how Karoline helps you get your house ready to sell.

So through all of last summer Karoline guided Nicole and Greg through this kitchen remodel. And of course they wished they had done the remodel sooner so they could enjoy it a little longer:)

Karoline knows kitchens and baths help sell homes. Today I wanted to walk you through the actual cost of this kitchen! Maybe this will inspire you to do a remodel sooner than when you want to sell your home:)

The total cost of this kitchen drumroll please…. is around $16k. Let’s look at some prices!

Countertops, $2000 from Ikea. On sale 10% off. Quartz. Custom fit. Includes the sink. Super nice!

Cabinets, $11,000. This sounds high but in the world of cabinets it’s not. That’s because they kept the original cabinet boxes and installed new fronts and hardware. The $11k also included the cost of painting all of the cabinets and painting the kitchen itself (as well as the dining room). If I had to guess the cabinets were about $9k and all of the painting $2k. For a total of $11k.

Backsplash was $200 just for the tile alone. The homeowners installed the tile themselves. If you were to sub this out to a tile pro the total cost would be under $1000.

The floor which initially was a concern all of a sudden looked fine with the non-competing white paint. Floor was free!

Appliances (all new) were about $3k. Remember there are 2 major appliance sale days throughout the year. Black Friday and 4th of July.

Light fixture was on sale at the annual Rejuvenation sale.

And lastly, to save the most money the layout was kept the same. No plumbing or wiring had to be moved.

In America the average kitchen remodel costs about $65k. Return on investment for this range is about 50%. Interestingly (is that a word?) your return on investment goes up if you spend less money. A $20k remodel would yield about 80% roi. Typically bigger bang for the buck options are employed first. Paint goes a long way:). And this sink? I can wash dishes in this sink the same way I can in a $2000 sink. You catch my drift:)

You might be wondering who all of these awesome vendors were who helped Nicole and Greg? Please give us a call and we would love to share then with you!

As always thanks for watching!!!

VIDEO: Winter Prep Tips for Your Home

Hi all! Wick here. As Jon Snow says, Winter is coming. It’s also what normal people say IRL. (That’s “in real life”. Just want you to know what the kids are saying nowadays:)

Are you ready for the cold and the rain? Here are a bunch of house “get ready for winter tips” to help you enjoy your winter in style!

(Btw (that’s “by the way”) Today’s video is inspired by our inside scoopers: … who are requesting we do a monthly checklist for home maintenance. We are currently working on that! Thanks for the idea!)

Let’s get the tip counter started!!

Drain your hose bibs or put insulation cups on them. This will keep your hose bibs from freezing.

If you have an irrigation system, have the system blown out. You’ll have to hire a pro for this. This keeps any water in the system from freezing and bursting the lines.

Clean your gutters! This keeps your water flowing down your downspouts (and not into your basement).

And remove leaves from your street gutter too!

Also make sure your downspouts aren’t clogged. Shove a running hose down there and see if you can dislodge the leaf build up.

Use Mosskill on your roof.

And use a hose to simulate rain to find that nagging roof leak!

Have your chimney cleaned if you have a lot of fires in your fireplace!

Clean out your window wells and make sure the gravel is clean and deep.

Have your furnace cleaned and serviced and replace the filter!

Some people might disagree but the pros tell me there’s no need to cover the ac unit for winter.

Wrap your bathroom fan ducting in insulation. It will keep drips from falling down on you and extend the life of your fan!

Here’s a tip: I would say clean and cover your bbq but we use ours all winter:)

Keep a good flashlight by your back door. We use rechargeable batteries for this baby. It’s good for a lot of things but mainly Sparky and I like to look for raccoons:)

Increase the temperature on your water heater if you are hosting guests this holiday season. More hot water for everyone! On the contrary, turn your water heater down or put in vacation mode if you are headed out of town:)

Get the snow shovel out of storage and keep it somewhere handy. You never know!

And lastly, if you aren’t motivated to brave the rain or icy roads use Insta cart to have your groceries delivered to your door! We love using it even when it’s sunny out!

I hope this is a helpful list! If you have other winter readiness tips please share them with us on the Inside Scoop. And if you have a video idea for me please let me know!

And as always thanks for watching:)

VIDEO: The Layman’s Guide to Leisure | Backyard Summertime Ideas

Hey everybody! Wick here.

Summer is upon us. Let the leisure begin! Here is my layman’s guide to summer leisure. My top 3 backyard leisure upgrades are:

1) A hot tub. I know you’re probably thinking hot tubs are only good for the winter but not so! Karoline and I use our hot tub year round. I would say we are frequent users. We are in it almost every night. Now they are pricey but you can of course find used ones on Craigslist or refurbished ones. Since we use it often it’s very easy to maintain. Just a dab of chlorine every so often. As a side bonus it’s very therapeutic for any relationship. Since you can’t bring your phone into the tub you are forced to look at and converse with each other 🙂

An upgrade to the hot tub is the cold plunge tub. We found this on the side of the road but you can find these at any feed store. Hop in here. Does wonders for your complexion:)

2) The sauna! Gaining popularity recently. There was an article stating you’ll live longer if you sauna. Easier to maintain than a hot tub too. I’ve seen a few outdoor ones at recent listings. Costco carries a good one for about $2k.

3) Lastly the humble hammock. This is the most affordable item from today. Karoline picked this gem up recently and it’s quilted and comfortable! I love hanging out in the hammock. It pairs well with a beer and shade in the hottest days of summer.

Please share your backyard highlights with us! And if you know anyone who needs to buy or sell a home please send them our way! And as always thanks for watching!

VIDEO: 3 Tips For Maintaining Your Painted Walls

In this month’s video, Three Tips for Maintaining Your Painted Walls #WicksTips. Happy Summer, everyone!

VIDEO: A Crash Course on Misused House Terms

Hi All! Wick here. It looks like I play the banjo but I don’t. I just know that one strum and do it forever. This reminds me of house terms. I hear a lot of people use house terms like they know them but they don’t. I’ve labeled this common ailment “mishouseanunciation”. Today let’s look at the most commonly misused house terms!

Let’s talk electrical:

“220. 221. Whatever it takes.” Be the first person to let us know what movie this classic phrase was first uttered and win a prize! There are 2 types of systems that provide electrical power inside your home. 220 volts and 110 volts. 110 volt system is a safer way to deliver electricity because it has half the voltage running through it. You appreciate that fact when you accidentally electrocute yourself installing a gfi outlet. Larger appliances like your water heater or dryer run on 220 volts which typically need double the power.

Fuses vs breakers. Fuses are older style safety devices found in a fuse box. They are one time use. If a power surge happens the fuse blows (just like the fuses in your car) which protects the house but you then need to install a new one. A breaker on the other hand (found in a breaker panel) can be used multiple times.

Let’s chat chimneys:

The firebox is where you put the wood and make a fire. The hearth is what you make the fire on top of. The flue is the channel from the fire box to the top of the chimney where the smoke escapes. The damper is the small door you can open and close to allow smoke to exhaust out or close it off to keep the cold out when not in use. For example my chimney has 2 flues. One for my fireplace and an older one that was used to exhaust an oil furnace. My fireplace flue has a damper on it. The flue for my old oil furnace does not because it’s not needed.

Lastly:

Let’s talk framing. Headers, joists (roof and floor), collar ties and rafters.

Headers span an opening. They are a single beam or a sandwich of 2 2x’s of differing widths (maybe 2×8’s or 2×10’s) that span an opening. Found over openings like this or doors or windows. Headers allow the opening to exist.

Floor joists are the boards going across the floor that make the floor and support the wood floor or tile floor that’s on top of it. Ceiling joists are the same but for the ceiling. They hold the drywall up.

Rafters are pretty much like joists but they specifically are the sloped pieces of wood that hold up the roof shingles.

Lastly, collar ties are the shorter pieces of wood that connect one rafter to another rafter providing support to the roof to keep it from collapsing in on itself. Ceiling joists help with this effect as well.

That’s it! Now you too can walk around your house, pulling up your pants every so often and start throwing around house terms.

I hope this was helpful! As always if you know anyone wanting to buy or sell a house please let us know! We would love to help them out:)

Thanks for watching!!

VIDEO: Tips to Step Up Your Professional Wardrobe with Scarlet Chamberlin

Today is Scarlet’s tips! Style tips for every person. Scarlet has taught us a few tricks when it comes to organizing and caring for our clothes + accessories as well as how to build a professional wardrobe that makes sense for our lifestyle.

Wick: I know you guys think about home improvement all the time, but have you thought about how to step it up a notch in the fashion department? Scarlet’s joining us to elaborate! This is Fashion tips with Scarlet! Tip one: invest in the best you can afford. (Outfit #1)

Scarlet: Invest in one signature piece each season. Just like in your home, quality makes a big difference and is usually a more sustainable choice. Categories worth splurging on are a pair of handmade leather shoes, a densely woven cashmere sweater, a tailored wool coat or a slim fitting suit you can wear as separates.

Wick: Tip two: Mix high and low. (Outfit #2)

Scarlet: Too often I see people treat the more expensive things as precious leaving them to gather dust in the closet–don’t be afraid to wear those quality items you splurged on! Mix them with “low” which simply means less expensive or mass produced. For example, always have a pack of white t-shirts to pull from, they don’t have to be expensive but a fresh white t-shirt always looks smart next to a tailored pant and sneaks. This blend achieves the look of effortless style.

Wick: Tip three: Play with pattern and texture! (Outfit #3)

Scarlet: A little bit of pattern (think wallpaper) or texture (think rugs or pillows) can go a long way in your wardrobe (or in your home!). If you are new to pattern, pick something monochromatic in a color palette you are already comfortable with like dark grey houndstooth. If you are averse to pattern all together but want to mix it up, try a new texture like suede, angora, velvet or corduroy. This will add depth to your look without being flashy. Take a look at your industry. Is everyone dressing a certain way? Use these tips to step it up a notch. Stand out in a sea of black and you will get noticed. More importantly, you get dressed every single day, so have some fun with it!

Wick: Thanks for joining us! We hope you learned a few fashion tips from Scarlet. Thanks for your time today Scarlet!

Scarlet: Thank you!!