As our parents age, we are forced to make some tough choices regarding their living arrangements.  Not all options fit our requirements, our lifestyle, our parents’ needs, or our financial ability to pay for the arrangements.  If you decide, for now, that the best arrangement is for your mother or father to come live in your home, then you’ve got another thing to think about - making your house a safe place for him or her. 

1.    If your parent is disabled, you have to pay extra attention to the layout of your home and making things as accessible as possible for them.  There are some specific areas of your home you should take a close look at and do everything you can.

2.    The entrance to your home needs to be as safe as possible.  If you have steps, you may need to put a ramp over the top for the parent in a wheelchair or the parent who has hip problems and can’t lift her foot high enough to negotiate steps.  Make sure a handrail is available, firmly attached and not wobbly.  Check to see if the door is easy to open or if you need to oil the hinges or shave the frame to make it easier to open and close.

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When it comes time to sell your Caribbean vacation home, for whatever reason, you want to sell it quick and you want to sell it for as much money as you can.  You may be fortunate and you’re putting your house up for sale in a seller’s market, but even doing the bare minimum of staging can net you a bigger sale.  If you’re selling in a buyer’s market, that means it’s important to stage your house so it stands out as an extra special house.

Tip # 1: Know Who Your Potential Buyers Are!

Staging a house means setting it up to appeal to buyers.  Know who your potential buyers are - young families, retirees, young professionals with no kids, etc.  This is the first step.  You can’t set up your house to appeal to everyone, so know who will be looking at your house and gear your staging for them.  If you don’t know, look to you and your neighbors’ lifestyles.  Are you a 20 something professional and your vacation home is an urban condo near a bike path?  Or is your neighborhood filled with gated-community Caribbean homes, families with young children and playgrounds?  These are big clues.  If you’re still unsure, ask a real estate agent for their input.

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One question I have when I watch my favorite home show on TV is “Why wait until you’re going to sell to increase the value of your home?”  Why not improve it and make it pleasing to you while you’re still living there?  Upgrading your home makes you feel good about living there.  Plus, it’s a lot less expensive to make small changes to your existing home than to buy a new one.

1.   Evaluate & Assess What Needs To Be Done

Before you can decide what to tackle first, you must take a walk around the inside and outside of your home and look at it with fresh eyes.  Take in details and think about the little things you can change that won’t take a ton of work or money, but can have an impact.

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