Haymarket Homes Search / Buyer – Seller Tips

DC METRO REAL ESTATE

Serving the Real Estate needs of the communities of Manassas, Bristow, Haymarket, Warrenton, Gainesville and Culpeper  in Northern Virginia


Dave Scardina  
Broker / Owner

703-829-SOLD

866-909-0900

Haymarket Homes Search / Buyer – Seller Tips

Haymarket Lot


Financially that may be a good strategy but take heed and purchase your Haymarket lot with care. Why? Because it can happen that the lot you buy today is not suited at all for the Haymarket home you want to build in the future. Here are some things to watch out for.

Haymarket Home Improvement


Don't underestimate how much projects will cost. Expenses usually are added, not subtracted. Homeowners, even Haymarket homeowners, routinely go 20% to 30% over budget. Remember, it is common to under budget cost and time.

When remodeling for resale, don't waste time with renovations that won't pay off. If you must have a pool, you still may have to lower your expectations on who will be interested in buying. The National Association of Realtors/Remodeling magazine study has identified four renovations that show the greatest return at resale: improvements to siding, windows, kitchens and bathrooms. Remember you have a lot invested in Haymarket.

Haymarket HOME BUYING PITFALLS TO AVOID


Buying your Haymarket 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, the more likely you are to avoid them.

Make sure that when you put in an offer on any Haymarket 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.


Haymarket Real Estate Title Insurance


Buyers in the Haymarket market can be tempted to save money by foregoing a title search but the risks are heavy because title problems are many and varied. Some typical problems that title searches have uncovered include a second mortgage on a home that does not appear to have been paid off. The sellers borrowed money years ago from a parent who insisted that a second mortgage be recorded. The loan was repaid but the title wasn’t cleared. Another typical Haymarket problem occurs when an owner had work done on the property but for one reason or another failed to pay the contractor in full. The contractor filed a mechanic’s lien on the property and it has never been removed. These are liens on the property and if you take title to a property without clearing these liens or encumbrances, you may be responsible them.


Choosing Your Haymarket Neighborhood


The fact is that much of the value of Haymarket and real estate in general rests in its surrounding economic and social environment, which means it’s neighborhood. In addition to being located in the right neighborhood, the Haymarket that you buy must not clash with its surroundings. To picture what we mean here, visualize the most expensive home you can imagine and then place it in the middle of a run down neighborhood. Not so desirable is it?

To sum up, the Haymarket that you buy gets its value from a combination of the home’s location and its size, style, age and amenities. You can change the home’s size, style and amenities but you are stuck with the location.

The Benefits of Selling Haymarket


If your Haymarket holdings consist of both a personal residence and a rental, you can sell your personal residence and exclude up to $250,000 ($500,000 for a married couple) on the gain. Then you move into your rental, live in it as your personal residence for two years and then sell it, again benefiting from the $250,000 or $500,000 exclusion. This is true even though most or all of the increase in value occurred before you converted the property to your personal residence.