A well-preserved Victorian home will usually sell for a premium. These lovely houses with decorative trim, intriguing rooflines and lively color schemes are often out of reach for the average home buyer
However, if you know where to look, Victorian bargains are out there. We found seven Victorians priced under six digits. With most of these homes you will have to be handy, because they are in need of varying degrees of repair. But if you desire gingerbread trim and decorative spindles, these budget-friendly options are just waiting for a little elbow grease to restore their inner (and outer) beauty. 80 Curtis St, Franklin, NCPrice: $89,900 The decorative detail: Bright and cherry, this 1897 home has an unusually cool, round, wrap-around porch out front, and it is stuffed with period features inside. A wood-burning cooking stove, bay windows and ornate fireplace mantles are just a few of the intriguing features in this painted-lady-to-be. click here to read more
0 Comments
Nobody seems to have told Kanye West that pools aren’t always the smartest real estate investments.
The rapper is building a pool the size of a lake in the backyard of the home he’s renovating with wife Kim Kardashian, according to TMZ. It will reportedly be five times larger than any other pool of the homes in their Hidden Hills, CA, community. Classy! But such a warm-water basin can actually deter prospective buyers who don’t want to keep up the maintenance or worry about it not being environmentally friendly, say real estate agents. West clearly hasn’t won any awards for his financial savvy. He tweeted about his $53 million debt earlier this month. “The prevailing wisdom is that you never receive a dollar-for-dollar return,” says John Lucy, a real estate agent at the Keller Williams office in Los Angeles’ Hollywood Hills. “The best reason for [installing a pool] is for personal enjoyment only, rather than increasing the value of the home.” Pools don’t have to be money pits, though, say real estate agents. Below are the three ways that mere mortals (aka those who don’t fly on private planes or dress their kids in designer fur coats) can use the popular amenities to increase the value of their personal palaces: click here to read more You probably already know that owning a home comes with some sweet tax benefits, like the mortgage-interest and property-tax deductions. But did you know there’s a whole list of other homeowner-related tax breaks that you might be leaving on the table?
We’re not talking chump change, either. Homeowners already save an average of $3,000 a year in taxes from mortgage-interest and property-tax deductions, according to the National Association of Realtors. When you add in some of the lesser-known homeowner tax breaks, you could really be amping up the savings—and beating the IRS at its own game. Back in December, Congress passed the Protecting Americans From Tax Hikes Act of 2015, which extended many exemptions that were about to expire and made others permanent. But to reap the benefits, you first have to know about them. So, here we go! Check out these common—and not-so-common—homeowner deductions that you should take advantage of this year: click here to read more A home inspection can be a terrifying process to newbie buyers: What if the house you adore has major problems hiding beneath that shiny new coat of paint? If you lie awake haunted by visions of mold or “foundation issues,” it’s time to take a deep breath. This installment of our weekly 2016 Home-Buying Guide illuminates everything you need to know about home inspections, and how (as scary as they might seem) they exist to protect you from a very bad deal.
Here are some insights into how to make the most of this all-important step. OK, exhale. Hire a top-notch inspectorWhile it may be tempting to hire any run-of-the-mill home inspector to get the job done—particularly if the price is right—the inspection is no time to cut corners. After all, buying a home is an enormous investment. “Everyone does themselves a disservice when they shop by price alone,” says Alan Singer of Sterling Home Inspections in Armonk, NY. “Plenty of inspectors don’t know what they’re doing and set up shop because it’s easy to do.” click here to read more Fred Couples, formerly the world’s No. 1 ranked golfer, has relisted his Spanish-inspired, four-bedroom La Quinta, CA, estate for $3.95 million, a quarter-million-dollar price cut from its last turn on the market in late 2011.
Couples, known as “Boom Boom” for his driving ability, has won 15 PGA Tour events over the course of his distinguished career, including the 1992 Masters Golf Tournament. He received the PGA Player of the Year award in 1991 and 1992 and was named to the U.S. Ryder Cup team five times. Currently plying his trade on the Champions Tour, Couples was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013. click here to read more When you first envisioned your renovation project, it was the stuff of rainbow-colored daydreams. A few weekends of manual labor, a forcibly fun painting party, and your house would be totally transformed. A new you!
Indeed, it was fun for a while. The first weekend you blasted out the walls, ripped up the floors and channeled your inner Bob Vila. That was 11 weekends ago. Since then you’ve taped some stuff off, laid down some plywood and covered everything with plastic tarp so the settling dust wouldn’t get into your morning coffee. Is it time to accept you are in over your head? Maybe. Or maybe not. You might need a good contractor, but you also might be able to rally and get this done yourself. Here’s how to tell: 1. Are you on the highway to the danger zone?Even small DIY home projects are risky (safety first, kids!), but have you tackled something that really could land you in an ER waiting room? Some projects are better left to the pros. “Anything that involves permitted trades like electric, plumbing, or HVAC repair,” saysSabine H. Schoenberg, founder of PrimeSitesCT and host of ThisNewHouse. “Trade licenses mean something, and you really do not want to learn on your own house.” Look at your project from a safety perspective. If you could do serious damage to yourself—or your house—you might be better off quitting while you’re ahead. click here to read more Sorry, home buyers. And congrats, home sellers. Home prices are continuing their inexorable, upward climb. And one unlikely, long-downtrodden city is even being pulled into price-increase frenzy.
Yes, friends, Detroit is officially a hot housing market. Honest. Overall, the cost of buying a new abode was up 5.4% in December over the previous year, according to the most recent data from the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. Prices were also up 0.1% from November. “Prices are going up, and it’s being aided by low mortgage rates, tighter supplies [of properties on the market] and lower unemployment,” says Chris Bennett, a senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. The market got even tighter for buyers in Portland, OR, San Francisco and Denver. These cities posted the largest year-over-year cost hikes in December. Portland housing prices shot up 11.4% in December 2015 compared with December 2014, and jumped 10.3% in San Francisco, according to the report. Denver wasn’t far behind, with a 10.2% increase. “We have a lifestyle that people like,” says Dawn Barry-Griffin, a Portland real estate agent at Portlandia Properties.“People are very accepting and laid back. You have nature close by.” In the last year, she’s begun seeing an influx of folks who are being priced out of the more ridiculously expensive parts of the country, such as the San Francisco Bay Area, and relocating to Portland. This has put a squeeze on the housing market, driving prices up, up and away. click here to read more “Join the movement!” is how broker and Modern Homes Realty CEO Monique Lombardelli expresses her love for Eichler homes on her website.
Lombardelli has become a leader of the movement. Not only does she sell the Mid-Century Modern tract houses in the San Francisco Bay Area, she’s inspired a second wave of Eichler builds. With the blessing of the Eichler family, she secured the exclusive license to the plans, andoffers them to builders at $10,000 a piece, updated to current California building codes. click here to read more After a tectonic shift in the National Football League, folks from the Rams franchise are now making the trek from Missouri to California. One of the people behind the team’s return to Los Angeles from St. Louis, its COO Kevin Demoff, is the latest to list his Show-Me State digs—a $1.25 million house in Creve Coeur.
The 2003-built house is an impressively large Traditional American with five bedrooms and four full bathrooms. It’s listed as “open and airy,” and there’s certainly enough room to spread out in its 5,800 square feet. click here to read more Are you an aspiring home buyer? Better get moving now, suggests a new report from the National Association of Realtors®. The lack of available properties for sale is making it harder—and more expensive—for buyers to close on the home of their dreams.
To the dismay of wannabe homeowners everywhere, the number of residences on the market in January was down 2.2%, to 1.82 million properties, from the same time a year earlier, according to Tuesday’s NAR report. However, it’s up 3.4% from December, so maybe there’s a glimmer of hope on the low-inventory horizon. Maybe. The association only counted existing homes in its tally, not newly constructed residences. Meanwhile, the median price tag for existing homes was $213,800 in January, a 8.2% jump from a year prior. The lack of homes on the market is one reason behind the nearly across-the-board price hikes. “With a much lower level of homes for sale, buyers that are hoping to close early this year can’t afford to wait,” says Jonathan Smoke, chief economist of realtor.com®. “It’s only going to get worse as demand reaches its peak in the spring.” click here to read more |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
February 2016
Categories |