Peter Korthy

Hi Sarah, great question. Primary reason here is the sudden jump in mortgage interest rates over the past year. Many home owners currently have interest rates at 3% or less, as they either bought or refinanced over the past few years. Now, if they were to buy a new home, their monthly costs would go up significantly due to the higher interest rates and overall higher price in the market. As a result, homeowners need a REALLY good reason to put their homes on the market and move. This, along with an overall lack of new construction, has created a log jam in the market and very limited inventory.

Hi Betsy, good question! Short answer, keep as little on the counter as possible. You want your space to feel clean, open, and fresh- anything on the counter takes away from that. If the coffee maker looks nice or the knives/spoon container look decorative, that is ok. If it is a small kitchen you want very minimal items on the counter, bigger kitchens you have some wiggle room.