Get tips and advice for remodeling your kitchen -- and every space in and out of your home -- at HGTVRemodels.com.

Ever wanted to remodel your kitchen but felt overwhelmed by the idea of starting the project?

A lot of people do.

That’s where HGTVRemodels.com comes in. Your beloved HGTV has created a new website that helps you make your design dreams a reality, bridging vision and execution.

No more fear about where to start. No more confusion as to what to buy. No more anxiety about creating a budget.

Kitchen. Bathroom. Front yard. Even that new guest room addition you desperately need. HGTVRemodels offers tips to renovate any space, create any project.

As one of the many people who worked on this wonderful new site (ok, I’m a bit biased), I have to say there’s no other site with resources and guides like this out there.

I’m especially inspired by the planning guides. The Kitchen Planning Guide makes me want to create an awesome entertaining kitchen where my family and friends can enjoy my husband’s amazing cooking.

Hmm, but my tiny Manhattan apartment isn’t really conducive to entertaining. If only I had a house.

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Remember, it’s not about how much you spend, but where you spend it. FrontDoor’s Maximum Value Projects is a great resource for homeowners looking to invest their remodeling money wisely.

Find out which projects offer the best return on investment at frontdoor.com/mvp!

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Among the latest mixed bag of housing data:

• Commerce Department: New home sales rose 14.8% from March and are up 47.8% compared with a year ago. Median sales prices are down 9.5% in the past year to $198,400. Housing starts rose 5.8% from March, but building permits fell 11.5%.
• Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller: Home prices fell 3.2% in the first quarter of 2010 from the previous quarter, but rose 2.3% from last year.
• National Association of Realtors: Existing home sales rose 7.6% from March and are up 22.8% from 2009.
• Federal Housing Finance Agency: House prices fell 1.9% in the first quarter of 2010 from the prior quarter, and are down 3.1% for the year.

Whatever you make of all this housing data, one thing is clear.

How much your home is worth is not based on what economists say or how much you put into it; it’s purely based on what someone else is willing to pay for it.

The best way to calculate your home’s market value is to compare it to similar homes in your neighborhood that are sold now. With time, value changes, so your market value may vary at any given time.

If you’re selling your home, learn how to calculate your market value and set a reasonable price for your market with FrontDoor’s Pricing Guide:

FrontDoor.com/pricing

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Need more motivation? What about $3,000 in cash?

You’ve got 5 days to enter to win HGTV’s FrontDoor Home Face-Lift Sweepstakes.

That means 5 more entries (once per day) until it ends on May 25, 2010.

So get to it!

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Replacing outdated bathroom fixtures or adding roll-out shelves and drawer organizers to your kitchen cabinets are inexpensive upgrades.

If you’re looking to spruce up your home, whether you’re selling or in it for the long haul, enter to win HGTV’s FrontDoor Home Face-Lift Sweepstakes. One lucky winner will win $3,000 in cash to help with home improvements. Enter once a day until May 25, 2010.

In the meantime, find inspiration and start planning your remodel with these ideas:

• FrontDoor’s Maximum Value Projects
• Top 10 Updates That Pay Off
• Tips and Advice for Increasing Your Home Value

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You still have a chance to win $3,000 in our “Designed to Sell” Sell-It-Fast Sweepstakes. The contest ends Tuesday.

Enter now at
www.frontdoor.com/Sell/Designed-to-Sell-Sell-It-Fast-Sweepstakes-Entry/55243

And if you’re selling a home, be sure to check out our valuable tips and advice so you can get your home ready for buyers and make it stand out from the competition.

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See how a well-planned, “green” renovation can increase home value and learn more about the Upper West Side, a suburban-like, family-friendly neighborhood with the benefits of a big city lifestyle.

Click here to view the embedded video.

• Get insider tips and advice in FrontDoor’s New York City Guide
• Search homes for sale in the Upper West Side
• Browse property listings in New York City
• Watch more real estate videos on the FrontDoor Unlocked Vlog

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Enter now at
www.frontdoor.com/Sell/Designed-to-Sell-Sell-It-Fast-Sweepstakes-Entry/55243

And if you’re selling a home, be sure to check out our valuable tips and advice so you can get your home ready for buyers and make it stand out from the competition.

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I caught up with Robert Shiller (of the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices) at the “Distressed Real Estate Summit” in New York City, where he shared his insight with more than 700 real estate developers, investors and other professionals. Hear what he has to say:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Shiller told attendees that current government efforts seem “like a big bailout,” and rather, we should focus on setting up “the framework for new economic systems” and “create a liquid market for real estate.”

Shiller is founder and chief economist of investment management firm MacroMarkets and co-developed the methodology behind the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, which track changes in home prices in 20 metropolitan regions across the United States. Each month, investors look to the data for insight into the housing market.

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As a real estate editor and licensed real estate salesperson, friends and colleagues often ask me what I think about the market and whether a property they like is actually a deal.

Sometimes I feel like Howie Mandel on “Deal or No Deal,” except on my game show, instead of opening random suitcases looking to eliminate low dollar amounts, homebuyers are looking through houses hoping to eliminate potential money pits.

They weigh the pros and cons of holding on to their current property — their “suitcase” if you will — or taking advantage of what they think is the “ultimate deal.”

To them, I’m the quintessential expert, on topics like home value and foreclosures, because I don’t stand to benefit from the purchase the way their official agent will and they know I’ll give them a straightforward, honest opinion.

So when my Seattle friends showed me a bank-owned property they were interested in, we talked about what needed to be fixed and how much they would need to put into the property to get it into move-in condition.

The exercise proved helpful. If I posed Howie’s question “Deal or no deal?,” the answer would be a resounding “no deal.”

Buying a home? Try these resources from FrontDoor.com:

• Pricing and Home Value
• Home Finance Guide
• Drama-Free Real Estate

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