How many of you relocators have the Atlanta Home Show on your calendars? Did you know that Marianne Cusato, ranked the fourth most influential person in the home building industry, will be in Atlanta March 24 for the Home Show?
Marianne, known for designing better, not bigger homes, gives home buying (or renting) a new more thoughtful perspective in her newest book THE JUST RIGHT HOME: Buying, Renting, Moving—or Just Dreaming—Find Your Perfect Match (Workman; April 2013; Paperback). This book is the What Color Is Your Parachute? for house hunting, and provides a number of great interview topics for your readers. Whether moving into a first apartment, searching to buy a first house, or are downsizing in the golden years, Marianne can help you articulate actual needs—not just wants—and offer ideas that will help you find a home that is livable and within an individual’s means.
Some topics she can help you really start thinking about:
· Why proximity—to work, to stores, to schools—trumps location, and what the difference means
· Why a property’s live-in value is greater than its resale value
· How to identify and assess the big three variables: function, cost, delight
· How to get a realistic grip on budget, including factoring in maintenance costs
· How to plan for future needs—children moving out, a parent moving in, or just growing old in a home
· Why all square feet are not created equal
· The ins and outs of zonings, covenants, home-owner associations
· The five elements to look for when walking through a property