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7 Tips for Staging Your Home

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                                                              By:  G. M. Filisko Make your home warm and inviting to boost your home’s value and speed up the sale process. The first step to getting buyers to make an offer on your home is to impress them with its appearance so they begin to envision themselves living there. Here are seven tips for making your home look bigger, brighter, and more desirable. 1. Start with a clean slate. Before you can worry about where to place furniture and which wall hanging should go where, each room in your home must be spotless. Do a thorough cleaning right down to the nitpicky details like wiping down light switch covers. Deep clean and deodorize carpets and window coverings. 2. Stow away your clutter. It’s harder for buyers to picture themselves in your home w...

FHA Program Gives Distressed Homeowners a Second Chance

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                                                                                By  Scott Sheldon A consumer who sold his or her home in a  short sale  or lost it in a foreclosure would normally have to wait 36 months to purchase a primary residence again with an FHA fixed-rate mortgage. However, the  FHA Back to Work Program  allows a buyer to purchase a primary home just 12 months after a  foreclosure , short sale or a deed in lieu of foreclosure. The program -- which was announced in 2013, and extended through Sept. 30, 2016 -- aims to fulfill a lofty goal: offering families a second chance at homeownership . The sticking point, however, is that you'll need to specifically document the financial problems that caused you to forfeit your prior home in ord...

American Dream: Is Owning Your Home Still Realistic?

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                                             In today's market is the American Dream of home ownership still alive? With rising housing costs and a challenging economy one must ask themselves, what does the American Dream mean to me today and how can I achieve it? Where can I get it?  A budget for my personal   American Dream might mean a small apartment or a Mansion  Search for your perfect home on  www.buyandsellnorthvirginia.com

10 Markets Where Asking Prices Have Risen Most

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2014 While  inventories of for-sale homes are on the rise , asking prices are too. The median list price was 5.3 percent higher in March compared to year ago levels, according to realtor.com®’s National Housing Trend Report for March, which tracks 146 housing markets. Some of the largest price increases are occurring in California and Nevada, which lead a list of metros seeing the largest year-over-year increases in median list prices. But newcomers to the list – Houston and Columbia, Mo. – are also gaining ground. According to realtor.com®’s March report, the following metros had the greatest year-over-year list price increases: Stockton-Lodi, Calif: 38.9% Las Vegas, Nev.-Ariz.: 30.4% Detroit, Mich.: 30% Reno, Nev.: 23.5% Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.: 20.4% Denver, Colo.: 20.1% Houston, Texas: 18.5% Fresno, Calif.: 17.4% Columbia, Mo.: 17.2% Bakersfield, Calif.: 16.4% Source: “ Realtor.com Report: Higher I...

Detroit is auctioning off homes for $1000, But read the fine print!

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Want to buy an incredibly cheap house in Detroit? You're in luck -- just make sure you read the fine print first. A new program introduced by Mayor Mike Duggan Monday addresses one of Detroit's largest problems --  thousands of vacant and blighted houses  -- by auctioning off some of the nicest ones to people who want to live in a Detroit neighborhood.  The Detroit Land Bank Authority's  Building Detroit auction site  initially lists several city-owned homes in East English Village, a residential neighborhood on Detroit's east side, with starting bids of $1,000 each. The auction for each property will last one day only, with staggered dates in May. The catch? Unlike the thousands of properties in the county's  foreclosure auction each summer , a winning bidder in the Building Detroit auction must agree to bring the home up to code within six months, and then actually live in it. Almost every listing in the auction looks like a steal for a grand,...

Welcome to Annandale

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Real estate in Annandale city of Virginia: Welcome to the heart of  Annandale city . A city which offers something for everyone with its amazing parks, hiking trails, creeks, and Shopping choices. See a complete listing of homes for sale in Annandale here http://www.buyandsellnorthvirginia.com/listings/areas/30183/propertytype/SINGLE,CONDO/listingtype/Re...   Median household income  in 22033 is $104,511 with 297 households earning between $35,000 to $40,000 annually For the zip 22033, 35.85% of the people have completed a bachelors degree as their highest education level The  Annandale region  is bisected by Accotink Creek, which in Colonial times was a primary link for ocean-going ships that would load tobacco and other goods where Little River Turnpike - Annandale's oldest road and the first toll road in America - crosses it.  Things to do  in Annandale: It has something to offer for everybody, with its amazing parks, hiking trails,...

5 tips to keep water at bay

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                                                                 Here are 5 tips for protecting a home from water hazards .MARCH 2014 | BY  BARBARA BALLINGER There’s no need yet to acquire an ark, but water certainly has become a bigger menace in many parts of the country. Even storms that don’t escalate into the next Katrina or Sandy can still destroy basements, foundations, roofs, and interiors that once seemed immune to heavy rains. To prevent damage and avoid large out-of-pocket expenses, home owners should stay on top of maintenance and repair needs. The average water damage insurance claim between 2008 and 2012 for a worst-case flood totaled more than $38,000, according to  National Flood Insurance Program data . These are key steps home owners should consider to protect their property from the ravage...