About Clifton Park's Countryman Estates

Clifton Park Homes For Sale, Saratoga County Real Estate. A Home Office: Return on Investment. A home office adds to comfort, convenience, and salability, but isn't among the top projects for adding home value.

More than 20% of Americans do at least some of their work at home, so home offices are an attractive feature for many homebuyers. Image: Feldman Architecture/photographer Paul Dyer

Clifton Park Homes For Sale, Saratoga County Real Estate. A Home Office: Return on Investment. If you're one of the more than 20% of Americans who do some or all of their work at home, a comfortable, functional home office is a must-have. And it's a feature that's growing in popularity: When the National Association of Home Builders asked builders, manufacturers, and marketing experts what features would be important to future home buyers, 94% said a home office would be "critical" or "very critical."

Clifton Park Homes For Sale, Saratoga County Real Estate. A Home Office: Return on Investment. Still, when it comes to adding value, a home office ranks last among the 21 midrange projects analyzed in Remodeling Magazine's annual Cost vs. Value report. Converting a 12-by-12-foot bedroom into an office costs a national average of $28,375 and recoups $13,648 at resale, for a 48% return on investment, according to the 2009-2010 report. Construction costs include custom cabinetry and work surface, wall-mounted storage, a wiring upgrade, and new floor and wall finishes.

Regionally, returns varied only slightly, with the highest rate of return, 56%, in the Pacific region, and the lowest, 41%, in the upper Midwest.

Clifton Park Homes For Sale, Saratoga County Real Estate. A Home Office: Return on Investment.

National average cost to convert an existing 12 x 12 room into a home office:

Job cost: $28,375

Resale value: $13,648

Cost recoup: 48.1%

Clifton Park, Saratoga County Real Estate. Is This A Seller's Market?

Existing-home sales rose 5 percent in 2009, and December 2009 sales were 15 percent higher than December 2008. This suggests many areas around the country are showing glimpses of a balanced turnaround for sellers.

Clifton Park, Saratoga County Real Estate. Is This A Seller's Market? Housing inventories have steadily declined - an indication home prices in many areas have stabilized and could soon return to normal appreciation patterns. Buyers still have good choices but are purchasing near the bottom of the price cycle with historically low mortgage interest rates. The first-time home buyer tax credit has also been a key motivator in moving sales along.

Clifton Park, Saratoga County Real Estate. Is This A Seller's Market? In addition, current homeowners who are in the market to buy a home can qualify for up to $6,500 if they have a contract in place by April 30, 2010, and close by June 30.

Clifton Park Real Estate, Realtors Uniting for Haiti.

The Haitian earthquake disaster prompted humanitarian outreach efforts all across the globe. NAR's Realtors® Relief Foundation is contributing $550,000 to relief of victims of the Haiti earthquake, and is calling upon its 1.2 million members to help.

Part of the contribution came from Lowe's, a partner of NAR's REALTOR Benefits Program, who donated $100,000.

Clifton Park Real Estate, Realtors Uniting for Haiti. $50,000 will go to the Harvest of Haiti program, which was founded by a 2007 REALTOR® Magazine Good Neighbor Awards winner, Patrick Moore. The program supports orphans, delivers clean water and provides medical care in Haiti for approximately 3,500 people every year.

Moore is currently planning his 64th trip to Haiti to deliver six months worth of food to an orphanage in Anse Rouge and help residents in and around Port-au-Prince.

TOWN SUPERVISOR PHIL BARRETT ANNOUNCES TWO H1N1 FLU CLINICS

Town Supervisor Phil Barrett today announced two upcoming opportunities for residents

to receive the H1N1 flu vaccine.

The first clinic will take place on Thursday, Feb. 11 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Shenendehowa

Central School District Office, 5 Chelsea Place, Route 9, Clifton Park. Please note:

• There is no fee and no appointment is necessary to come to this clinic.

• Only the H1N1 shot will be given at the clinic. Please note that there may be

preservative (thimerosal) in the vaccine.

• Parents that want their child to receive the H1N1 nasal mist may check with

their Health Care Provider or call Saratoga County Public Health at 584‐7460

to schedule an appointment.

• Children under 10 years old will need to receive a second dose after 28 days.

You may get this from your Health Care Provider or from Public Health.

Please keep the Patient Copy form that you will be given after the first

vaccine and bring it with you for verification for the second dose.

• We do not anticipate a vaccine shortage for anyone coming to the school

clinic.

• A parent/guardian will need to be present to sign for the consent for any

child under 18 years old to receive the vaccine. If you need to send your child

with another adult, a parental permission letter must be sent in that is signed

and dated. For more information about the clinic, call Shenendehowa Central

Schools at, call 881‐0600.

The second clinic will take place on Friday, Feb. 19 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Saratoga

County Board of Supervisors Office.

• The Board of Supervisors is located at 40 McMaster Street, Ballston Spa, NY

12020.

• The clinic will take place in the Board of Supervisors Office in Building 1.

• Vaccines will be provided by the Saratoga County Public Health Nursing

Service. For more information, call 584‐7460.

According to the most recent Realtors® Confidence Index, 39 percent of recent buyers purchased a home with a Federal Housing Administration-insured loan. Realtors® who took part in the November survey also reported that the number of first-time home buyers continued to climb to 51 percent.

"FHA helps provide affordable mortgage financing to homeowners, particularly first-time home buyers who are so important in drawing down inventory to help stabilize the current housing market," said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz. "These recent survey results reaffirm that, despite its current challenges, FHA is a critical part of the American housing fabric."

The RCI results also indicated that distressed sales increased to 33 percent of all home sales last November, and that both investors and first-time home buyers are competing for these properties. The preponderance of distressed properties on the market has also influenced buyers' perceptions of other homes for sale. Realtors® report that many buyers have pricing expectations that treat every property as if it were in foreclosure.

In addition, Realtors® expressed ongoing concerns with the impact of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct on recent appraisals. According to some survey respondents, inexperienced or out-of-area appraisers continue to rely heavily on sales prices of distressed properties, even when other comps are available.

Courtesy of Josh Gonzalez of Coldwell Banker Prime Properties Clifton Park NY and Stewart Constructions Burnt Hills NY.