When you are buying your first home in Williamsburg, understanding the way a home inspection helps facilitate the process will help you to get the most out of the opportunity it represents. It might seem as if the home inspection step is one of those technical legal formalities that only serve to slow down the purchase. Like an automobile inspection the Department of Motor Vehicles demands when all you want to do is get your car legally registered, it can seem like an irritating and time-consuming bureaucratic hurdle. But, like those auto inspections, if it turns up a problem you didn’t suspect, it can be a godsend!

Your Williamsburg VA home inspection and the home inspection professional who conducts it are charged with performing a function that is specifically tailored to protect your interests. For first-time town home buyers, making the most of the process doesn’t take any study or preparation. The best local home inspectors (they’re the only ones I recommend) will make it easy to look over their shoulder during the inspection. It’s not required that you be there, but it’s a very good idea to do so. When you follow along—see what they are looking at, and find out why—you will be taking advantage of this first chance to acquaint yourself with some of the inner workings of your future home.

Most normal-sized home inspections take somewhere between 2 ½ to 4 hours. The ultimate work product will be a written report, which may be computer-generated (those are usually completed quickly—sometimes even onsite) or based on a handwritten checklist. Where specific issues are uncovered, photos may be included for illustration. The plumbing, heating, A/C, electrical, exterior and roof will be examined, with a professional’s opinion on their condition. The object is to give you an unbiased view of the complex items that lie beneath the surface of your future home. Eventually, every house has systems whose components will need maintenance or repair—and even the most candid seller isn’t likely to have a professional quality estimate of what their longevity is likely to be. The home inspection procedure is designed to provide a general idea of what to expect (and how soon to expect it) …although it’s good to remember that the inspector is only able to form an opinion based on what is visible and accessible.

One last important aspect of the inspection process: the written report should be read! Even if you have accompanied the inspector for the entire tour and have discussed the findings, consider the written report “must” reading. It encapsulates all of the findings under one cover—in later years, it can be a valuable reference.

We’re lucky in our town to draw from a variety of skilled home inspection resources. When the need arises, I’ll be happy to recommend the best from which to choose!   

 In addition to our Independence, the Fourth of July also marks a sort of mid-year pause. Families with kids have by now shuffled them into summertime activities. All graduates have graduated; the gardens have all been started (and some parts of it, even harvested!). This used to be the season for television series reruns, resulting in measurably less TV-watching; but cable programmers have obliterated that notion—and this year, the Rio Olympics will draw much attention back indoors.

But for the most part, the beginning of July marks OTY: the undeniably Outdoor Time of Year. It’s the sunny, healthy time of year; time to get out of the kitchen and see how much outdoor cooking can get done. It just feels healthier—even if there are just as many calories in a burger cooked outdoors as in the kitchen. 

For Williamsburg homeowners who have been telling themselves they would get around to the annual home maintenance chores pretty soon, it’s also the time of year when they are uncomfortably within visual range of many the details that call out for some quality maintaining. A sagging gate that really should be reinforced; paving stones that tree roots are slowly but surely upending—they may not demand attention in December, but—let’s face it—it’s already July!!! 

The outdoor features most in need of attention are different for every Virginia home, but here is a universal maintenance checklist culled from some of the items that commonly deserve attention. They may not be precisely those that warrant your ministrations, but may serve to jog your memory about the ones that make up your own maintenance checklist:

Deck & Patio – when the weather’s clear, it’s prime time for staining (it usually is an annual task—no matter what the label on the can promised).

Pots & Planters —new ones and old ones deserve “feet” beneath them…or any solution that facilitates draining. The surface beneath will benefit—and likely need less attention of its own later on.

Mold — it’s really easy to deal with if it isn’t allowed to accumulate for years. The products that make eradication easy can be found at all Virginia hardware stores.

Drainage — while you’re out in the yard attending to everything else, keep your eyes open for evidence of runoff where it doesn’t belong. Trace it back to the source: if it’s just the beginning of a drainage issue, dealing with it early can save a lot of expensive grief later on.

Windows — pests frequently enter through cracks and openings that develop around window frames. You may need a ladder to be able to spot what’s developing on top, but if needed, a little caulk will keep your home’s “envelope” intact.

A/C — every kind of air conditioner needs to have its filter cleaned or replaced to prevent needless strain on the fan motor. If not July—when?

It feels good to have an annual look-see at how your home is standing up to the wear and tear that the past year has rendered. Once any issues have been dealt with, the rest of the summer will be that much more enjoyable. And on the very practical side, if and when you decide to hand your  Williamsburg home off to a new owner, the financial rewards for having kept it in prime condition over the years will be measurable. I’ll be here in the meantime—standing by to answer any and all questions about our area’s real estate market! 

One good way my clients get a head start from the word “go!” is the amount of attention their Williamsburg home sale listing receives. Your listing is by far the most prominent display piece your property will be presenting to the world of potential buyers, it has to be first-rate. The details must be presented in clear and unambiguous language, laid out with the information buyers consider important right at the top. Most important of all is how the data is illustrated. If there is ever a place where top-notch photography will pay off, this is it!

That’s why it’s astonishing when you come across Williamsburg for sale listings where the shots appear to have been taken with casual abandon. You seldom see those when a property is represented by a licensed agent—or if you do, it’s probably the result of a client’s sudden need to sell quickly—in which case the offending specimens are usually swiftly replaced by professional substitutes.

What are the most common amateur photography slip-ups that can’t help but harm a property’s impact? Here are five that seem to lead the pack:

1. Flash. Even most smartphone cameras have flash capability for dark scenes. The problems with that kind of flash is that, since the light provided is right next to the lens, everything that’s illuminated looks flat—it erases the depth that shadows provide. Also, things that are closest to the camera are bright, those distant are darker—making for all the appeal of a crime scene photo. As if that weren’t enough, reflective objects like mirrors and glass reflect the glare of the flash. Professionals use multiple “slaved” flashes deflected off walls and ceilings—an entirely different matter!

2. Illumination. Most Williamsburg listings are more inviting when they serve to emphasize a property’s open, spacious qualities. There are exceptions, but most of the time that means bright and light. Rooms look their best when their natural light is only subtly augmented by additional photo lighting. Photo lights introduce unnatural shadows unless they are skillfully placed…but when that’s accomplished, the result is a bright, clean, color-balanced shot.

3. Selection. When a listing photo portrays an area that isn’t obvious—when a shot doesn’t “explain itself”—the result is confusion for the viewer. More than one or two close-ups of architectural details without a clear indication of where they are found don’t help tell the listing’s “story.”

4. Focal length. Most “normal” lenses aren’t well suited for listing photography. Wide angle shots are almost always more appropriate. They provide more information by showing a greater area—which also conveys a more spacious feeling.

5. Clutter. Experienced listing photographers know how the viewer’s eye is attracted to details which are out of place. The personal bric-a-brac that’s part of daily living can be a show-stopper in listing photography. Amateurs leave clutter in; professionals seek to remove it before every shot!

A superb Williamsburg VA listing is one that features photos that tell a story beautifully and accurately. It’s really the opening act of a presentation which—hopefully—ends with a deed conveyed and front door key presented. I hope you’ll call me when it’s time to get your show on the road!

When you set about selling your Williamsburg home, it’s good to adopt the kind of determined mindset that’s served you well in other pursuits. That’s all well and fine, so long as you keep in mind that when it comes to selling a house, in addition to being a serious business undertaking, it is one that also weighs in with a significant emotional component. Not just for the prospective buyers—but also for you, the seller. And that reality is at the basis of the first of these five major No-Nos that can foul up otherwise flawless efforts toward selling a house in Williamsburg:

1.     Getting emotionally over-involved. Since almost everyone who is selling a house that they have lived in for years is somewhat tied to the place, you can’t expect to be robotic-ally disconnected from its sale. But when a seller can’t distance him or herself sufficiently from what is in fact a financial transaction, it’s harder to make sound business decisions. Self-check hint: if you feel your blood pressure rising at any mention of a deficiency in your property, you may be falling prey to this one!

2.     The odor thing. This No-No is frequently called an Uh-Oh: the odoriferous memories of cigarette smoke, pets, mildew, and the like are sometimes thought to be the most undeniable factor to slam the door on a sale before it even gets started. Extra hint: if the chef in the family is going to experiment with some exotic culinary experiment, best not to conduct it on the night before a showing or open house!

3.     Bugs. Not too much explanation needed. Creepy crawlies need to find other accommodations…and, as summer approaches, keep the fly swatters handy.

4.     Being there. The property is yours until the last ‘i’ is dotted and the last ‘t’ crossed, but if you are anywhere in sight during a showing, visitors can’t help but feel that they are just guests in someone else’s home. Since it’s important to help prospects envision themselves as happy owners of your Willamsburg house, the less in evidence the current owners are, the better. It’s why you remove family artifacts to prepare for showings. If the object is to allow the visitors to hang around as long as possible to really get a feel for the place, make sure you make plans to return after I’ve sent you the all-clear!

5.     That wallpaper. This one is mentioned by many of real estate’s don’t go there pundits, although I find that it is growing rarer as time passes. But if you have secretly come to hate some overly busy wallpaper in a particular room, assume it could take your prospective buyers less time to arrive at the same opinion. It can have a peculiarly off-putting effect on some, giving the whole house a dated feeling. So when in doubt, lose the paper.

These five no-no’s are easy to eliminate if you recognize them as integral parts of selling your Williamsburg house. Selling your house is a team effort all the way—and the first step is drawing up the game plan. In other words, giving me a call!

It wasn’t exactly huge news, but for month-ending May 2016, the revised economic numbers showed improvement! When does that ever happen—when the final revisions come in, don’t they always seem to be in a downward direction? Yet Fridays' release from the Associated Press told a different story. Earlier reports of a slowing U.S. economy had been revised to show a year whose beginning “wasn’t quite as bad as first thought.” The reason was housing—which “got a bigger boost” than first reported.

This is all to suggest that the wider economic climate for Williamsburg real estate—that is, for sellers and buyers midway through this year’s spring/summer selling season—is one that shows improvement (“slight improvement,” according to many—but we’ll take it). Fears of an economic stall seem to have vanished for the moment. Lacking was anything in the economic tidings that would suggest Virginia's real estate picture includes any storm clouds on (or even over) the horizon.

ITEM: Per the ABCNEWS site, economists are forecasting a rebound in the current quarter—to growth of around 2%. That was expected to improve as well: “In the second half of the year, economists are forecasting that growth will strengthen further to around 2.5%.”

ITEM: In what is now the seventh anniversary of economic expansion, Reuters reported that U.S. new homes sales had notched an 8-year high. “New U.S. single-family home sales recorded their biggest gain in 24 years in April…as purchases increased broadly.”    

ITEM: Last Thursday, Mortgage News Daily reported mortgage rates the lowest in “more than a week.” For sharp-eyed Williamsburg VA real estate watchers, this might have been puzzling, given that Freddie Mac had just announced that rate “rose rather sharply.” MND clarified the contradiction by explaining, “that’s to be expected given [Freddie Mac’s] report’s methodology…”

ITEM: U.S. News & World Report disagreed, siding with Freddie. But in a sunny sort of way: Mortgage rates “rose this week but remained at low levels that could entice purchasers amid the current home buying season.”

ITEM: Even if Freddie and U.S. News had been right, and home loan rates were on the rise, another respected real estate voice spoke up to suggest that even that could become good news for real estate. How so was elaborated in Yahoo! Finance’s interview with Toll Brothers Chairman Robert Toll, who turned most commonly held assumptions on their head:

                             “If the Fed goes up and the mortgage rates go up…it probably means price increases are coming soon, which spurs demand and spurs action.”

Summing up, it was, on balance, a quietly upbeat picture—one pointing to a future for Williamsburg real estate clear of any rough patches in the immediate future. Given that there continue to be exceptional offerings in our market—and with home loan rates still being locked at terrific levels, for sure it’s an opportune time to give me a call! 

As Williamsburg’s spring selling season edges toward summer, the allure of vacation houses is more likely to emerge as a front burner issue. The practical rewards of having a second home as a vacation retreat—sometimes one which can also be rented out part-time—is more likely to become an action item as the summer months near.

Earlier this month, we learned about some national trends in a report that detailed the numbers from last year. The NAR^® released the summary which went into detail about 2015’s vacation house purchases and the buyers who claimed them.

Prices across the nation were up significantly, which explained why the volume of year-to-year sales had slightly contracted. Even so, they were still the second strongest since 2006, with more than 900,000 changing hands. More than a third of vacation house buyers intended to use their property for vacations or as a family retreat—roughly twice as many as planned to use it for retirement. The lion’s share were single-family residences, with a quarter preferring condos, and fewer still opting for a townhouse or row house.

None of those figures should come as a surprise for Williamsburg VA readers who are considering the purchase of their own second home. As the rising cost of vacations combines with a seemingly endless escalation in the amount of stress that air travel entails (it’s been called the “anti-vacation” experience), everything seems to argue for practical getaway alternatives. The NAR report showed that typical vacation houses didn’t demand an airport experience. They were distant, but not too distant: the median location was “driving distance” away (about 200 miles).

The biggest turnabout came via the median sales price vacation houses rang up for the year. It’s no exaggeration to characterize the rise as “soaring.” The median sales price was $192,000—a massive 28% jump above 2015 prices! They made up 16% of all residential sales transactions for the year, and although that meant a decline from 2015, last year’s volume had comprised a virtual “explosion” (CNN Money’s characterization): an uptick of 57% over 2014.

The NAR report also sampled the opinions of the buyers, finding that 80% said they believed that now is a good time to purchase real estate. Since they had just purchased vacation real estate, that doesn’t seem to be much of a surprise—although I do have to admit I agree with them! If you’re inclined to agree, I hope you’ll give me a call. Right now Williamsburg’s market has a wide roster of great offerings at prices for every budget!

It’s a great feeling to assist clients on the great adventure of discovering and landing their new Williamsburg home. The final part of the real estate sale comes with the closing, where the papers are executed and house keys handed over.

Virtually all of my Williamsburg real estate sales proceed to closing without significant hitches. That’s not by accident: I’ve helped clear the path by methodically checking off every item on each sale’s unique ‘to do’ list. That checklist has evolved to include the various technical legal and financial items that need to be addressed before a change of ownership can happen. At closing, they’re all addressed.

But—as everyone with many closings to their credit will tell you—even well-laid plans can begin to unravel when the unexpected pops up. Apparently “closing nightmare” stories make for great internet fodder, because you can find scores of them online. Some are tall tales, but others are exactly what’s to be expected if care isn’t taken to head them off.

Here is a list of five of those kinds of closing predicaments. They reflect common missteps that can derail things when everything else is in order. Since most are easily preventable, they’re unlikely to occur at the last minute if real estate professionals have been part of the picture from the start:

1.   Agreed-upon repairs aren’t completed. This can happen for any number of reasons, but innocent or not, if the timetable for completion hasn’t been met, it can threaten to derail the real estate sale. This one doesn’t have to prevent closing. If everyone wants to proceed, the Realtors^® for the parties can work out an escrow arrangement with funds set aside to cover the shortfall.

2.   The house can’t be sold. This rarer situation should have been identified before closing, but it’s possible that a mechanic’s or tax lien can show up late in the day. In cases where there has been a death in the family, it’s also possible that the heirs may mistakenly believe they will have legal title to home in Williamsburg before the probate process can be completed.

3.   The home loan appraisal comes up short. Both buyer and seller may be in perfect agreement about the value of the Williamsburg property— but if the chosen bank’s appraiser demurs, it may be back to Square One.

4.   The buyer’s finances change. When a lender green-lights a loan based upon the buyer’s debt-to-income ratio, that’s considered a key qualifier. If the buyer changes that ratio by losing income or taking on new debt (or even paying off an existing debt!) it alters the ratio, which can trigger a new investigation, stall the loan—and waylay the closing.

5.   Homeowner’s insurance falls through. It’s a bad idea to assume that every insurance company will grant required homeowner insurance. Since their binder or policy will be needed, better to take the extra moments to call to more than one agent.

The best Williamsburg closings are no accident: they happen when all contingencies have been discussed and worked out well in advance. They start at the very beginning—hopefully, with a call to me!