Posted in House For Sale

Luxury Properties in Crystal Lake, Illinois

There’s a magically beautiful place located 40 miles NW of Chicago, and it’s called www.lazywillow.com. This classic chalet style home is as peaceful and gorgeous as can be. Lazy Willow is one of the luxury properties for sale in Crystal Lake, Illinois, and it’s a place that comes with a wealth of history to go along with its natural beauty.

This 5400 square foot home sits on the site of the property’s original log cabin residence. The original old cabin (built by a Chicago architect in 1930) was torn down and the new home was rebuilt on the cabin’s footprint in 1998. This opulent home (which is also used as a Christian day retreat center) sits midway up a 80 foot hill, with a spectacular view of the surrounding yard. The 14.6 acre woods around the home were once used as a private hunting ground.

The main house at Lazy Willow is beautifully designed with a French country interior and a brick exterior. The overall feel is of a country chalet surrounded by incredible waterfalls, ponds and views. The pool house, which is near the beach, was originally the bedroom of the old log cabin. The residence’s main outbuilding was rebuilt in 2004, and today is an elegant country meeting room and bunk room. It’s a 1600 square foot space, and below it, downstairs, is a 1600 square foot shop.

The lush areas surrounding the property at www.lazywillow.com are perfect for relaxing or for enjoying outdoor sports or recreation. The home is located one quarter mile off the road and it has a private 14 car parking area. A 400 foot long creek runs nearby, and two large decks sit inside two sparkling waterfalls, to create a unique outdoor experience.

This amazing residence with its spectacular outdoor surroundings has hosted over 7,000 people at church, youth and elder retreats. The five beautifully appointed bedroom suites here, which glow with natural wood floors and finishes, make it an opulent setting for a private getaway or meeting center. Come pay a visit to www.lazywillow.com and see how beautiful a home can be.

Selling your House? Ways to Boost your Home’s Value

Most homes could use a little boost, especially when it comes time to sell. Unfortunately, some homeowners think that all they need to do to increase their home’s value is to clean up a bit. The truth is, the housing market can be a competitive one and homebuyers are looking for more bang for their buck. This is where the following ideas for increasing your home’s value come in handy. Keep in mind, however, that some of these tips will require a large investment. But the overall pay out of increasing your home’s value more than makes up for the sum of money you lay down to improve your house and thus increase the chance of selling it.

A HVAC installation in northern VA will go a long way in increasing the overall value of your home. This is especially true if your current heating and cooling system is an older model. Older HVAC units are typically not designed with energy efficiency in mind. The newer models, however, all about efficiency to not only save money on energy costs but to also reduce the carbon footprint left behind. And having a new, energy efficient HVAC system is a selling point that will increase the amount you can sell your home for.

Don’t fret if installing a new HVAC system isn’t in your budget. There are still plenty of ways to increase your home’s value. Keeping the landscape, for example, neatly maintained with trees and shrubs that are pruned is a wonderful way to improve your home’s curb appeal while increasing its value. If you don’t have any decorative plants in the front of your home, consider adding an ornamental tree, shrub or garden to improve the look of your home.

Another way to boost your home’s value is to replace old, outdated windows. Windows are one of the most common culprits when it comes to air leaks, which will decrease the energy efficiency of your home. Replacing old windows not only improves the overall look of your home, but it will also lower energy costs while increase its value. For an even added boost, consider hiring a professional window replacement company that offers a transferable warranty. This means that the warranty for the windows can be transferred to the new owners. This is a major selling point that can help tip the scale in your favor when homebuyers are shopping around.

Getting Your House Ready For Resale

When it’s time to sell your property it pays to look at your own house with a very discerning eye. The small faults that you may have walked past 100 times can be disconcerting for a potential buyer. The key is to start from the top, work down and take a good hard look at your home with the view of a buyer in mind. Here are five key areas to assess when putting your property on the market.

Eye’s Up, Folks

Nothing says a house is unloved quite like a shabby exterior. So start from the top and work your way down. How’s your roof looking? Does it need a recoat, guttering replaced or tiling tended to? Fixing a roof will often seem daunting and expensive to a buyer. It also makes people wonder what nasty surprises may lurk beneath it, so consider getting in some roofing experts such as Roofmasters to rejuvenate your roof quickly and in a cost-effective manner.

Exterior Paint

There’s no excuse for chipped paint on exterior walls, doors or window frames. If your paint has seen better days or better colours, consider a professional repaint. However, often you can get by with a touch-up to tidy up walls and trims. This particularly applies to exterior doors – a new coat of stain or fresh colour on your front door provides a wonderful welcome to any potential buyer.

Gardening

No one demands you be a natural green thumb but do ensure your garden is at its best. That means removing all weeds, trimming the lawns and cutting back overgrown trees. Remember if you have tree branches touching your house, it’s a path for termites that will be flagged during any potential buyer’s pest inspection. Should your lawn look patchy, throw down some grass seed and get that bald spot growing again. Mulch on gardens also makes the world of difference to how a property presents, so grab a trailer and pick up some woodchip. It’s an amazing effect for a minimal price.

Interior Walls

A fresh coat of paint inside gives your property a new lease on life. Go for neutral colours that allow the potential buyer to imagine their furniture or personal touches in the home. Painting is a true DIY job that can be done quickly and effectively. Fresh paint may even allow buyers to forgive that retro 1970s kitchen.

De-clutter

In the interests of allowing others to imagine themselves living at the house and to provide a feeling of greater space, you should make the effort to de-clutter. Put away the trinkets, endless photo frames and children’s toys. You may even consider popping some items into storage while the property is on the market. Any house for sale should always appear clean, crisp and free of extraneous living items, so really pare back on your items around the home.

Once you’ve made the decision to sell, allow yourself the time to get your property up to scratch. Time spent now on clearing up, cleaning up and touching up will be time well spent when it comes to a sale and buyer interest.