Buying a Northern Virginia home? Get a full Home Search   Selling your Northern Virginia home? Free Home Price Evaluation I wanted quickly share with you the top four reasons to sell your Northern Virginia home - today! You’re feeling too cramped. Maybe you live in a townhome and you have kids and a dog now. It may be time to sell and find something bigger.You have too much space. On the other hand, you might be an empty nester and you actually have too much space, it may be time to downsize. The neighborhood no longer works for you. You might find yourself on toll roads or a beltway all the time and that hour-long commute is just not working for you anymore. Maybe the HOA president comes around with requests like requiring you to plant a fruit tree in your lawn - you might be sick of it. Your home should fit your lifestyle.You want to take advantage of today’s seller’s market. We’ve been in this market since the bottom in 2009. We’re seven years into the cycle, and historically, the market has gone in seven-year cycles. The other piece is that interest rates continue to be at an all-time low, and we don’t know when they’re going to rise. When they do rise, affordability will take a hit. “ Interest rates continue to be at an all-time low. ” If you want to have a conversation or even just find out a little bit more about your situation, contact me today! Send me an email or give me a call and let’s keep this conversation going.

Buying a Northern Virginia home? Get a full Home Search   Selling your Northern Virginia home? Free Home Price Evaluation Clients often ask me, “When I have multiple offers, which offer should I accept?” It’s important to keep in mind that not all offers are created the same. My job is to advise you on the pros and cons of each different offer. Price is an important factor to consider. However, if you have one offer for $400,000 and another for $405,000, the higher offer might not be the best. You also have to consider things like terms and financing. For example, if you get an all cash offer that can close in 15 days, that might be your very best offer. An offer that uses conventional financing is better than an FHA or VA loan for various reasons. For example. VA and FHA loans come with stringent appraisal guidelines. Also, a buyer using conventional financing can typically put more money down. “ The highest price may not be the best offer. ” You should also consider the earnest deposit. Usually, someone will put around $1,000 into an escrow account to show that they are committed to purchasing your property. The more earnest money a buyer offers, the more skin they have in the game. In other words, would you rather have $1,000 in earnest money or $20,000 in earnest money? You would want the $20,000! Finally, there are inspection and appraisal contingencies to consider. As you can see, all offers are not considered the same. You need someone who has a lot of experience to walk you through the process and help you make the best decision. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Buying a Northern Virginia home? Get a full Home Search   Selling your Northern Virginia home? Free Home Price Evaluation The other day, I was working with someone who had previously listed with another agent who failed to get their home sold. In my opinion, one of the primary reasons it failed to sell was the way they chose to showcase the property. One thing I noticed in particular was how shoddy the photographs were. They did not give online buyers a good idea of just how beautiful the home was. When selling, you want to get the best possible marketing photographs of the property. These photos will be the first impression buyers have when searching for homes online.  This is crucial, as 90-95% of buyers begin the home search online! “ You want to get the best possible marketing photographs of your property when selling. ” In addition to crisp, clean, professionally done photographs, you need to hire an experienced real estate team to assist you. We will do floor plans of your property and present them to buyers in order to give them an idea of the benefits of buying your home, among many other things. We have the tools and resources necessary to get you the best possible selling results. If you have any questions about the real estate market, or if you need our assistance with anything, we’re always available to chat. Give us a call or shoot us an email for the real estate help you need!

Buying a Northern Virginia home? Get a full Home Search   Selling your Northern Virginia home? Free Home Price Evaluation Since the financial crisis ten years ago, this is the first time the Federal Reserve has increased interest rates. It’s been ten years since this happened!  The first increase from last December was only 0.25%. However, they’ve announced that they intend to continue increasing rates. Increasing interest rates impact a buyer’s ability to borrow money and, of course, their overall affordability. This means that buyers will not be able to buy homes that they can currently afford. The maximum amount of money a buyer can borrow is reduced. As a result, this impacts sellers. It causes a pause in the housing market, since buyers gradually lose their buying power. We anticipate a market shift coming up soon.  Now is the time to act! If you’re thinking of buying or selling soon in Northern Virginia, reach out to me today. Let’s plan ahead together. Reach me via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you!

Buying a Northern Virginia home? Get a full Home Search    Selling your Northern Virginia home? Free Home Price Evaluation If you think hiring an expert is expensive, try hiring an amateur. If you don’t hire a tailored professional, you could end up wasting your time and starting over from scratch. To remedy this problem, here are some questions you should ask an agent before hiring them. Are you a full-time or part-time agent? Many agents don’t treat real estate like a profession. Others are committed to it as a full-time career.What are your listings' average days on the market? An effective agent will be able to stay within industry standards and averages. They should communicate an explanation of this average, too.Do you have a team working alongside you? Do they conduct business by themselves? What are their resources? Some other important questions include the following.How many homes did you sell in the last year?What’s your Internet marketing program?How are you going to sell my home?What references can you provide? These questions will help you identify the right, committed agent. You can learn more questions at GreetingsVirginia.com. You can always contact me with any questions or concerns by phone or email.

Buying a Northern Virginia home? Get a full Home Search    Selling your Northern Virginia home? Free Home Price Evaluation Today I have Omar Aburish with us to speak about commercial investments. Specifically, we'll be talking about how to turn residential properties into commercial investments. Omar often talks to landlords and investors that buy residential property and they rent it out. This is the simplest form of real estate investment. Some people will break even and grow their portfolio, and some will make money on top of that and buy other properties. These people occasionally run into issues such as a tenant not paying rent. Tenants can sometimes be extremely difficult to deal with, and this is why Omar suggests investing in commercial real estate. It takes a bit more capital to get into, but it's a more stable investment if you can afford it. If you have a portfolio of residential properties you can easily transform it into a commercial investment. Let's start the conversation today. I look forward to hearing from you!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Buying a Northern Virginia home? Get a full Home Search   Selling your Northern Virginia home? Free Home Price Evaluation You should be able to showcase your home in the best light inexpensively. As an experienced real estate agent, I help several clients earn top dollar on home sales. Sometimes, I encounter sellers who have equity in their homes, but don’t necessarily have the funds to make certain repairs. Some people don’t have equity at all! Either way, I have some simple strategies to help you earn top dollar in Northern Virginia regardless. Paint. Painting a fresh coat on your home adds curb appeal when buyers walk through your doors. It appeals to that emotion which makes a person act on a decision. You want to grab them with their first impression.Clean or replace carpet. You want the carpet to look fresh and polished. It adds tremendous value.Declutter. Reduce the amount of furniture. Lock up valuables. Remove the clutter on surfaces in rooms. Make those surfaces shine! You’re moving out anyway.Clean up. Clean baseboards. Replace light bulbs. Make sure toilet paper rolls are full. Make it comfortable and friendly to prospective buyers.Delay improvements until closing. There’s a way to do this easily. For example, if you need to invest in a new appliance, you can put it on a credit card if you have equity. Ask your agent about contractors. Perhaps your Realtor might know contractors personally or have done business with them in the past. Maybe they do painting or carpeting.If you have questions about this topic or anything else within real estate, give us a call or email today. We’d love to hear from you!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Buying a Northern Virginia home? Get a full Home Search   Selling your Northern Virginia home? Free Home Price Evaluation Let's talk about the 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange. As an investor, you can use this to defer taxes on the sale of investment properties. This is also known as a Like-Kind Exchange. If you sell one investment property and buy another, the gains you had on the first property can be deferred. This is an involved process with a few nit-picky things to know about. Make sure you work with someone who understands all the rules! For example, if you sell your first investment property, you have 45 days to identify the next property that you will ultimately purchase. There is also a three property rule. You can identify three properties within those 45 days, and then you have to buy within 180 days. Additionally, there's the 200% rule, which is a great option if you want to purchase more than three properties. This allows you to purchase four or more properties as long as the value of those properties does not exceed 200% of the value of the property being sold. Finally, there is the 95% exception. If the value of the properties you want to purchase does exceed 200%, then you have to purchase 95% of the properties you identified. Now, I tried to break down this complex process into the simplest terms. I'm happy to answer any of your questions about it! It can be complicated and difficult to understand at first. If you have any further questions and want to learn more details, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you.