Frugal Tips for Making a Home More Appealing

I just ran across this article from Bankrate.com, and like the suggestions it gives....

Homeowners who want to sell but don’t have a lot of cash to spruce up their properties might consider these tips from Bankrate.com for upgrading a property without spending a fortune.
 Polish up the kitchen. Add new cabinet door handles, replace lighting and update the faucet set. Unless the cabinets are mica, give them a fresh coat of paint. Order new doors for kitchen appliances.


Tidy up the bath. Replace the toilet seat. Clean up the floor with vinyl tiles or sheet vinyl applied over the old floor. Re-grout the tub and, if the tub is dingy, add a new prefabricated tub and shower surround.

Paint the walls.


Add closet systems to all the bedrooms, pantry, and entry closets.


Hire a plumber and an electrician to fix anything that is loose or that leaks.


Clean the carpets or, if they are worn, cover them with area rugs.


Replace ceiling lights with inexpensive but attractive fixtures.


Refinish or repaint the front door and replace the hardware.


Mow the lawn, edge the sidewalks, mulch all the beds and put two big planters at either side of the front door.


Source: Bankrate.com (07/14/2010)

Only Top 2 percent will pay new "Sales Tax" on Homes

A big piece of legislation like the health care reform act understandably sparks a lot of questions. The massive law, officially known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was signed into law by President Obama in March but it will take some time for the American public to understand the nature of the changes.

The law includes provisions about how the government will pay for health care services, one of which is a “sales tax” on real estate. It’s important to understand that, while this tax does exist, it’s unlikely to affect most of us. In fact, The Tax Foundation estimates that only the top-earning two percent of families in this country are likely to be impacted at all.

• The 3.8 percent tax on profits from the sale of investments, which includes real estate, applies only to individuals who make more than $200,000 per year, or married couples filing jointly who earn more than $250,000 per year.

• For those who make more than the cut-off, the tax won’t be applied to the first $250,000 in profit from the sale of a personal residence—or $500,000 if a married couple sells their home.

• The exclusion for the first $250,000 in profit (or $500,000 for a married couple) does not, however, apply to vacation homes or rental properties. Those properties—only for those who exceed the income limitations—will be subject to the tax.

• This new rule does not take effect until January 1, 2013.

Georgetown Stats - week of July 5 - 11

According to the MRIS (Multiple Regional Information Systems, Inc), the following real estate transactions have taken place in Georgetown real estate during the week July 5-11.

13 new listings: 8 Single Family (SF) ($949,000 - $2,495,000) and 5 Condo/Co-op (C/C) ($349,000 - $950,000)

3 properties came under contract: 1 SF ($1,045,000) and 2 C/C ($399,000 - $2,100,000)

3 properties went to closing during this time frame: 3 SF ($950,000 - $1,269,000) and 0 C/C

Georgetown Stats - week of June 28 - July 4

According to the MRIS (Multiple Regional Information Systems, Inc), the following real estate transactions have taken place in Georgetown real estate during the week 6/28-July 4.

1 new listing: 0 Single Family (SF) and 1 Condo/Co-op (C/C) ($950,000)

2 properties came under contract: 1 SF ($1,495,000) and 1 C/C ($674,900)

4 properties went to closing during this time frame: 2 SF ($649,000 - $1,299,000) and 2 C/C ($459,000 - $829,000)

Rocking before Rolling

A great deal of the success in selling a property is in the preparation for sale.  If one's eye is on "the sale" rather than the myriad details of preparation, one is likely to overlook necessary details and wind up without a sale, or at a price lower than desired. 

I'm reading a book by Judy Tillman titled "Stroke of Insight".  She is a brain scientest who had a massive stroke, and survived to write this very detailed book about that experience.  In describing the first few days after her stroke, she tells about her desire to recover physically, and on this particular day, her desire to simply sit up.  But before she can even think about sitting up, she has to learn to roll over.  And it takes every ounce of her energy and determination to rock back and forth to gain enough momemtum to roll over. 

Her conclusion is that if her goal had been sitting up, she would have been defeated immediately.  By setting a goal first to rock, and then second to roll, and then third to eventually sit up, she was able to accomplish one goal at a time...leading to sitting up finally.

So focus on "rocking" with your house, before "rolling" with it.

Jobs and Georgetown Housing

Thankfully we live in one of the most stable parts of the world with regard to jobs. That is one of the things which has kept us moving forward in the housing market in general. But the national drag on real estate has been significant as a result of job losses. That, in turn keeps a lid on our Georgetown market. We aren't "hurting" as in the quote below, but it reinforces the concept that while all real estate is local, we are connected globally.

"....many analysts are now predicting that employment won’t revive significantly until 2011. This doesn’t bode well for the immediate recovery of the housing market. "If you're looking for a silver lining in housing, you aren't going to find it here," Mike Larson of Weiss Research said in a report.

"The overall economy is rolling over, consumer confidence is slumping, and, most importantly, we just aren't creating jobs," Larson added. "With so many Americans unemployed or underemployed, the housing market is going to keep hurting."

Source: U.S. News & World Report, Luke Mullins (07/01/2010)

Location, Location, Location.....and Walkability

We all know that location is key to achieving the best possible price for a property. But only recently have we really begun focusing in on the "walkability" of the area in which the property resides. This is good news for DC, including Georgetown. We've always been walkers here, but it's good to know that others are noticing this amenity. Nancy Keates in the WSJ says, "The increasing interest among Americans in walkability is spawning a change in attitude about the desirability of not only urban areas, but also suburbs — both old and new — that have nearby amenities that can be reached on foot.

Having amenities within walking distance can boost the value of a home as much as $3,000, according to one study. Another found that “location efficiency,” a measure of transportation costs, affected the number of foreclosures in a neighborhood. "

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nancy Keates (07/02/2010)