Top Thirteen Vehicles - American Made

Here are 13 vehicles that made the top-five most American-made 2013 models from DuBois’ index. Several vehicles ended up with tied scores, resulting in multiple winners for each position.



1. GMC Acadia (3-way tie)
1. Buick Enclave (3-way tie)
1. Chevrolet Traverse (3-way tie)
2. Dodge Avenger (2-way tie)
2. Ford F-series pickup (2-way tie)
3. Chrysler 200
4. Jeep Compass, Jeep Patriot and Jeep Wrangler
5. Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain (4-way tie)

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New Home Market Optimism Defies Materials Cost Rises

Disparate Reports Indicate Strengthening New Homes Market

Utahl homeowners don’t have to be planning to sell anytime soon to be curious about the market value of their property. A home is such a major part of any family’s financial picture, it’s only natural.

One important indicator of the direction of Utah home values is how the builders of new homes gauge the future market. After all, if you build new homes for a living, your bottom line is largely dependent on being able to predict future demand. 

That is why this month’s rise in U.S. home-builder confidence in the market for single family new homes is a convincing follow-through to what we have been seeing for a while now. I find two unrelated sources that, taken together, point toward that conclusion.

The first is CNBC’s web site, which zeroes in on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. Current conditions are reported to have risen three points in just one month, while the index measuring expectations for future sales hit 53 — and that’s the highest level since February 2007.

The second, CoreLogic’s Case-Shiller Indexes Report, confirmed the home price increases of 2012 as having grown at the strongest rate in nearly seven years. The report included a (for them) remarkably bold headline: “More to come in 2013-2017.”

The new homes optimism was doubly good news because it comes

despite increasing building materials costs, which usually dampen home-builder confidence. But the impact of rising single family home prices and reported sense of urgency among potential buyers “as a result of thinning inventories of homes” more than compensated for the building cost increases. This may be good news for buyers targeting new homes in Utah: better builder confidence should mean more new homes. 

While we’ve already seen a lot of this spring’s inventory enter the market — whether you’re looking at existing or new homes , there is a good case to be made that today’s low mortgage rates plus the remaining bargains make 2013 a fortuitous year to purchase. If that’s how it looks from your vantage point, contact me today to begin pre-qualifying!

Everything is ‘Onstage’ When Selling Your Home in Salt Lake City and Beyond...

How To Set the Stage For
Selling Your Home

The Real Estate Staging Association is always telling the world that when you are selling your home, you can expect to spend 73% less time on the market if you use the services of a professional staging company. Although this is an outcome everyone aims for, the cost of full bore professional staging can be a budget-cruncher.

A compromise solution is to combine a little personal elbow grease with some of the ‘inside’ tricks stagers use. When selling your home in Salt Lake city and beyond as quickly as possible is the goal, it’s worth following through with these staging pointers:

Magic Act

Everyday living creates clutter — but to establish the look of a well maintained, move-in-ready home, the debris has to disappear. You don’t need to be David Copperfield or Houdini, but you will need a dedicated place to store all that stuff out of sight. No place on the property? Go ahead and rent some temporary storage space.

 Bland is Better

The Swiss are known for remaining neutral despite centuries of European strife. When it comes to selling your home, avoiding controversy can serve you just as well. ‘Neutral’ means sticking to inoffensive color schemes. Stagers know that when it comes to matters of taste, extreme decorating styles tend to drive off some potential buyers. When it comes to selling your home, creams and beiges create the kind of clean look that’s more universally appealing. 

Consistency Wins

When the budget is tight, setting a theme throughout your home may seem beyond reach. So instead of replacing a lot of furniture, see if making subtle changes in home accessories and textiles can’t accomplish wonders. 

Selling your home quickly can hinge on such small touches as placing bunches of uniformly colored flowers with matching throws in several rooms. It can create the kind of uniform look that stagers strive to achieve. If this spring will find you selling your home in Salt Lake City and Beyond, don’t neglect your own version of staging.

If you are just deciding on your choice for your selling team, give me a call: we can start with an in-home consultation!