Home and Garden Show offers tips on home improvement
A different ideology was used at this weekend’s Cape Coral 2nd Annual Winter Home and Garden Show, one that steered clear of the struggles the city has faced during the foreclosure crisis.
Instead, vendors and attendees alike took a “best of a bad situation” approach to the local housing mess.
There were some hoping that kitchen and bath improvements would fill the void until they could sell their homes. Then there were those not looking to move, only thinking of upgrading their homes for their long-range enjoyment.
“There’s another segment of people here in the Cape where our houses are paid for,” said longtime Cape resident Jerry Pim. “We’re in no rush to sell.”
Pim was waiting for an afternoon workshop by HGTV personality Jim Parks.
Parks, host of “New Spaces,” gave a series of lectures at the two-day event, each one focusing on different home improvement techniques.
Parks echoed Pim’s sentiments, saying most people are using the foreclosure crisis to increase their property values for when things eventually rebound.
“We’re finding there are those out there with money that want to improve their homes,” Parks said. “People are very clever … they are improving their home’s standards now, getting those processes started.”
Scott Bologna, president of Stilwell Solar, was one of more than 83 vendors at the show.
He estimated that 10,000 people visited the event’s tent over the weekend.
The event moved from last year’s Club Square location to Coralwood Shopping Center to accommodate the large crowds.
Bologna added that he has grown tired of the negativity surrounding the foreclosure news.
“The past six weeks has been the busiest in the past year,” Bologna said. “People are putting a lot of money into their homes, or they’re buying these houses and putting money into it. Things are picking up.”