View Bristow Real Estate News / Buy and Sell Wisely

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

View Bristow Real Estate News / Buy and Sell Wisely

Bitten by the Bristow Home Improvement Bug?


Money isn’t everything however so that if the most important consideration for remaining in your Bristow home happens to be the school where your children attend or the proximity to your work or to a particularly attractive recreational opportunity then remodeling may be the best option. On the other hand, if the idea of having your Bristow house torn up for weeks at a time makes your blood run cold, it really doesn’t matter how much money you might make turning a fixer-upper into a model home. You will be far better off selling the home you have and moving to a home that better fits your needs.

Buying a Bristow Fixer-Upper


This, of course, depends on the condition of the Bristow home and the estimated cost of the repairs you must make. Bristow real estate in a good neighborhood that is priced about 25% lower than others that are in good shape may be a good deal if it simply needs cosmetic or minor structural repairs. If the house is a gut job, that is the entire inside will be torn out and rebuilt the 25% rule may work and may not so estimate your costs as closely as possible.

Shopping by neighborhood makes good sense when considering the purchase of a fixer upper. As a buyer, the more you know about the Bristow homes in a particular area the better able you are when it comes time to judge whether or not a home your are considering meets the financial parameters you are looking for.


Buying Bristow Below Market


On most real estate Websites you can enter the parameters you want for your Bristow. Include the price, size, features and location and the technology will notify you automatically the moment a property that meets your needs comes on the market. Now if what you are looking for is a particular type of property for a price that is significantly under market, you’d better be prepared to act quickly because you aren’t the only one who’s looking for a bargain.

Often times, when a home comes on the market priced under the market there are extenuating circumstances. Maybe the house needs maintenance. Maybe the yard needs work. If you are prepared with a certain amount of knowledge about the costs of roofing, painting, landscaping and other types of deferred maintenance, you will be in a position to evaluate whether or not the Bristow is priced well enough that it truly is a bargain and not a fixer-upper nightmare.


Green Remodeling Your Bristow


Energy conservation. The average Bristow today uses systems for heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and most homes are not built as efficiently as they could be, resulting in high energy consumption. The U.S. Department of Energy believes if current buildings were green-improved, they would use $20 billion less in energy per year. Bristow green remodeling puts a strong emphasis on making homes as efficient as possible with modifications such as energy-efficient appliances and thermostats that can be programmed at different temperatures for different times of the day.

Rent or Buy Bristow


For most people, the chance to trade nondeductible rent payments for mostly deductible mortgage payments is a powerful inducement to trade a rental home into a Bristow of your own. This is by far the single most important reason why people decide to buy their first Bristow.

However, whether you are considering your first Bristow investment or planning to move up, the number crunching necessary to figure out how much house you can afford depends on two calculations: one for actual monthly outlays, the other for the true, after tax costs.


Bristow BARGAINS


A bargain exists in the mind of a buyer when entering into an agreement to exchange goods when the buyer thinks the price is favorable. Bargains can always be found in the Bristow market if a buyer is patient and willing to wait for a truly motivated seller. In economic downturns many people believe that foreclosures and short sales are automatically bargains when, in fact, this may not be the case.