Home Owner Tips: The value of big home improvements

 

What should you spend your money on?

If you want to know what big ticket projects will be of the most value to you (and increase the sales price of your house), the answer is that it really depends on what you'd enjoy, when you think you may sell, and how out of step your home's finishing/repair is with the others in your neighborhood. Please know I'm happy to stop by and chat about this anytime. 703-303-2889

To start your research online, I recommend this article from HouseLogic which is based on data from Remodeling Magazine's 2015 Cost to Value Report (which is very data and add laden, but I have it if you'd like to see it). The short version is you'll get the best ROI from: a steel front door, things that add living space, things that increase curb appeal (like new siding, garage door), energy efficient windows, and kitchen remodeling. It's not cheap, but great kitchens really do sell houses.   

Northern Virginia Real Estate Market Update

Regional Market Update: The DC regional housing market continues to see strong sales activity.  The median prices for all home types in the region continue along a slow and steady rise. 

NOVA Market Update: Northern VA home prices remain stable and activity rising over the same time last year, with the exception of Falls Church which saw a 15% decrease in sales activity over last September. Fairfax County median sales price year to date is $478,000.

Rate Update: After a small increase this summer interest rates are holding steady for the time being. Experts are not forecasting any major change in the Federal Interest Rate this fall, possibly this year. Consensus is the global economy remains too volatile for the Fed to be comfortable at the present time. 

Home Owner Tips: Fall Maintenance

A few items to take care of before the winter hits.
 

Check your gutters and roof
Since it's not at eye level you may not have thought about your roof lately. Take a few minutes next time you're outside to look carefully at what you can see of your roof and gutters (use binoculars if you have them). Is the flashing in tact? Any damage from debris? Gutters should be cleaned twice a year (usually in the fall and spring). 

Feel a draft? 
Homes can loose a lot of heat in the winter from small leaks around doors and windows. Use the back of your hand (or even your face) to feel around these areas for any air movement, and stop up the gaps with weatherstripping. 

Inspect your walkways
Make a special stroll down your homes exterior walkways looking for cracks or loose stones. Repair those now to help prevent falling accidents when things get slippery this winter. 

Prepare your fireplace 
Now is a good time to have your chimney cleaned if you've been putting it off. As far as I know there is not a good rule to follow regarding how often one should have a chimney cleaned, but if you have even 1/8 of an inch of build up you need to have it done soon. When in doubt please er on the side of caution when dealing with fire. 

And after all that, if you're looking for ideas for actual FUN activities this the fall check out http://fall.virginia.org/ for a ton of ideas from the VA tourism authority! 

Northern Virginia Real Estate Market Update

Regional Market Update: The DC Regional housing market continued to see strong sales activity in August. An increase in inventory resulted in a slight decrease in median sales price for the region, and increased median days on market. 

NOVA market Update: The median sales price in Northern VA declined slightly in August, but remains healthy (and higher than the 5 year average). Fairfax Co. median sale price was $476,500, down 0.3% from  August 2014.

Rate Update: Interest rates are still holding steady, though analysts continue to point to the trouble in China's stock market as a possible reason the fed may hold off a bit longer before raising them significantly. 
 

Home Owner Tips: Staging your home to sell

A few simple things can make a big impact with potential buyers.
 

I get asked about staging pretty frequently. With the caveat that each property is unique, there are some good basic rules of staging you need to consider when getting ready to sell your house. 

Getting rid of your stuff.

Put away personal photos, religious or political images/posters. Anything that makes your house yours should be put away when you're not home. You want the buyer to imprint their own idea of what their life will be like in the home, and that's hard to do when looking at Mr & Mrs Seller's beautiful and distracting wedding photos. 

Clutter Kills. Take away everything you can so that the space feels bigger (renting a storage unit can help if you're selling b/c you need more space) organize what must stay, including the pantry and your closets. The buyer will open every door in the house and if the closets are packed tight and unkempt they will assume the house does not have enough storage space

Take good advice regarding color choices.

Neutral is always best.

From paint, to flooring, to counters, to furniture (yes the brightly colored side chair is distracting) have an outside opinion from someone you trust, someone who does not look at the house every day. Someone like your Realtor :)

The way we live in a home is not the way we sell it for top dollar. 

Most home sellers expect to clean the house and make it neat for the photos. To truly stage a house to sell you must keep the property in that condition every day.

All clothes off the floor, beds made, dishes put away, mail neatly stacked etc. This is hard to do, even harder with small children, but it makes a huge difference to the potential buyer when their first impression of the property is a positive one with it in A+ condition. 

Northern Virginia Real Estate Market Update

Regional Market Update: The DC regional housing market continues to see strong sales activity. The median prices for all types of homes in most sectors of the region continue along a slow and steady rise.

NOVA Market Update: Northern VA home prices remain stable. Arlington and Fairfax City saw the biggest gains at 10.6% and 13.0 % median price increases from this time last year. Fairfax County saw an increase as well 3.6%. Fairfax County median sales price year to date is $479,945.

Rate Update: After a small increase this summer interest rates are holding steady for the time being. Sean Becketti, chief economist for Freddie Mac is on record that we may still be looking at a potential rate hike in September.

Home Owner Tips: Keeping Cool in the Summertime

A few simple things can make a big impact on the feel of your home.
 

• It's probably time to change your air filter again. Help your AC function it's best, if you don't have pets, don't spend the extra money on fancy filters. The basic store brand ones will do the trick, and are easier for your unit to pump air through. 
• Ceiling fans have a Summer setting. Your fans have a switch on them that changes the direction the blades spin. One direction will push air down (for use in the Summer) and the other direction will push air up (use this in Winter). It's easy to forget to change the direction for the proper season. 
• Give your vents a taste of freedom! None of the vents in your home should be covered or blocked by anything – doing that makes your heating and cooling work overtime. 
• Invest in a smart or programmable thermostat. Automating the temperature changes in your home can make sure you have it at the appropriate level - to save you time and money. Research shows that a smart thermostat may be the way to go here.