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DC
METRO REAL ESTATE
Serving
the Real Estate needs of the communities of
Manassas, Bristow, Haymarket, Warrenton, Gainesville
and Culpeper in Northern Virginia
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Dave
Scardina
Broker
/ Owner
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703-829-SOLD
866-909-0900
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Buying and Selling Bristow CondosBristow Home Buying Pitfalls
Buying your Bristow home whether you are a first time buyer or an ‘Old Pro’ involves legal, financial and emotional considerations. The more you know about the most common buyer mistakes in Bristow, the more likely you are to avoid them.
Make sure that when you put in an offer on any Bristow home that you have spent time narrowing down just what you are looking for. When the sellers accept your offer, you are involved in a binding contract that could cost you your deposit and other damages should you decide to back out. The opposite scenario, waiting for the 100 % perfect home can be an exercise in futility. With the thousands of variables available in housing, including location, style, size, amenities and condition, perfection is almost always an unreasonable goal.
Bitten by the Bristow Home Improvement Bug?
Before you finalize your decision regarding remodeling versus moving, it is wise to get a professional estimate of your Bristow home’s current value, the actual costs of moving to a different home and the estimated return on investment of the most common types of home improvement. I’ll be happy to provide you with a complimentary analysis of your home’s current value. Simply call or E-mail me whenever you are ready. As for improvements that traditionally bring the highest rate of return on investment, here are some statistics. Kitchen remodeling and adding a bath tends to bring rates of return with averaging anywhere from 85% to 95% return on your dollars spent. Compare that with the 64% return on investment for adding a home office.
Buying Bristow Real Estate...Will it Pay?
The only factor being considered here is Home Equity. In individual cases it may be wiser to invest than to pre-pay your Bristow loan. It also may be wiser to pay off high-interest, non-deductible loans before considering your home equity building options. Your financial advisor is the one to consult for these matters. If you would like up-to-the-minute information about home appreciation values in your area, please call or E-mail me today.
Does Your Bristow Have Curb Appeal?
Good curb appeal is definitely an advantage to home sellers when prospective buyers visit your Bristow and can be an advantage in advertising in the newspaper and on the Internet. However, it is important to note that even a home with great curb appeal can look bad in an advertisement if the photographer did a bad job with the camera. A photograph of a Bristow home on a dreary day will look quite different from a photo of the same home when the sun is shining. Sometimes it is better to take a picture of a home from an angle rather than a straight on shot that may turn out to be more about the garage door than about the house itself.
The Benefits of Selling Bristow
As you know, you are allowed to sell your Bristow principal residence once every two years and exclude up to $250,000 ($500,000 for a married couple) of the gain of the sale on your Federal income tax. Please note: This is not a once in a lifetime tax savings and you don’t have to be any certain age or buy a more expensive property. If you meet the two-year residence test you can sell your principal residence every two years if you are so inclined and the market cooperates. But this tax saving does not affect rental property unless you convert the rental to your personal residence, live in it for two years and then sell it.
Tips for Buying or Selling Bristow
Most people, when they want to buy a house, contact a real estate agent or broker. That is why it is true that the best way to sell your Bristow is to list your property with a qualified agent. Make sure that the agent you select will list your home in the local MLS and will make sure your property appears on the Internet. Since most buyers start their search online, you want to make sure that your Bristow is available to those who search the Internet.
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