Stevey Sandlin wrote in
:

My last house was 2200 sq foot. It has wall-2-wall carpet, ceramic
tile in the entry way, linoleum in the kitchen, Formica counters. It
was a nice home and I sold it for $140K ( SE USA.)
The realtor described it as an Entry Level home. What does that mean?
A Cheap house?

Cheap as in low quality - no. Cheap relative to the avg cost of homes
purchased where you are - yes possibly.

2200 sq ft for 140k can be an unoccupyable wreck in an area where a 1200 sf
starter/entry level home is 400-700k. It can be a nice brand new palce in
other areas.

I'm in a new home now, a bit nicer then the one I was in,

Nicer is always good.

and bigger
to boot.

This seems to be is important to you? Bigger is good if you were crunched
for space before. If you weren't crunched and you still think bigger is
better then you are more concerned about what other people think of where
you live vs what you think about where you live.

However it also has Formica and linoleum in the kitchen.
When I get ready to sell it, I don't want it to be an Entry Level
Home.

Then don't buy an entry level home. What do you care what they label it?
You are more concerned with that than the selling price. What you should be
focusing on for selling is what can you do to get the most bang for the
buck and make it move fast. In general, a house will only bring what other
homes sold for in the past 6 mos. in the surrounding area...aka the Comps
with adjustments for features. The biggest adjustment - sq footage.

What changes can I make so it is no longer entry level?

Nothing. You can make it a nice entry level. You can make it a great entry
level. You can make it a surperb entry level.

I'd
like to do something that I can get use out of now, rather then 5 or
10 years down the road when I decide to sell it.

Finally thinking of yourself!

Suggestions?


Also, the house had Gas heat and a gas water heater. My summer
electric bill was $350 for a 2 story brick house ( 4 bedrooms, 2 & 1/2
bath great room) I don't know the sq foot but it would have to be
closer to 3k then 2500. The bill seems a bit high and I was thinking
of getting a new HVAC unit.

"Had" gas heat? What the old 2200 sf one? Or do you mean the new one had
gas heat? If so, what happened to it? Where did it go?! And you bought a
new house and don't know how many sq ft it is? But you said the last place
was 2200 and the current one is closer to 3k. I'm really getting lost here.

A bit high? Compared to what the last house? Well when you say it's bigger
to boot and closer to 3k sf (+800 sf), what do you expect? 800 sf is
another 35%. Yes there are many efficency factors involves but it's still a
35% increase. Toss in vaulted ceilings and there's a chunk.


The Electric company gave me a flyer
showing that a heat pump was cheaper to use then gas heat. I've had a
heat pump before and I think it give poor heat v/s gas heat.

Yes they do. We both know that obviously. With gas you get real heat from a
flame. You pay for that but you get it.

But I
was thinking replacing the HVAC with something ultra efficient or
even using geothermal heat pump (if I went that route.)

Comments on both, thoughts, flames?
S


Steve