What You Should Know About Appraisals

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Today I want to explain the appraisal process to you and explain it in detail. It means different things for buyers and sellers, and you should know the difference.

For starters, an appraisal is usually carried out by the bank to ensure that the home is priced properly. All that an appraiser really looks at is the square footage, the number of bedrooms, the construction style, and the age of the home.

Any part of your home that is underground will not be taken into account for square footage, so we sometimes have difficulty appraising split level homes that have finished spaces below ground.

Appraisals are extremely important to the selling process because if an appraiser's valuation doesn't match the asking price, the sale can be ruined.
 
If you have any more questions about appraisals and how they can impact your buying and selling process, please don't hesitate to contact me.

When Is the Best Time to Renovate Your Home?

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People commonly ask me about home renovations and if they will increase the value of their home. They also ask me about the best point in time to do a renovation on their home.
 
Contrary to popular belief, putting money into repairs and renovations on your home right before you sell it is not the best time to do so. The NAR has done a lot of research on this, and their data shows that most repairs and renovations will not get you a dollar for dollar return on a home. In fact, most repairs will not net you any extra money in a home sale.

In my opinion, the best time to renovate is right after you've moved into a home. That way, you can enjoy the repairs that you've made. It's best to do renovations as you live in your home because you will inevitably have to do them when you move out.

Buyers really dislike wallpaper right now, and if your home is worth more than $250K, you will probably have to install granite countertops if you want to sell for top dollar. Outdated carpet or parquet floors are also things that you should change if they're in your home right now.

If you have any other questions about renovations, please don't hesitate to contact me.

How Can You Win a Multiple Offer Situation?

Buying a Central or Southwest Virginia Area home? 
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The central and southwest Virgina real estate market has been very active as of late, so today we want to explain how to deal with multiple offer situations!

The easiest way for you to win a multiple offer situation is to be prepared. To get ready for the buying process, you need to talk to a local lender and get pre-qualified. If you're using a local lender, while other buyers are using an online lender (or aren't even qualified), you're already well on your way to getting your offer accepted.

If you want to stand out in a crowded market, you need to submit a clean offer. Complicated offers with a lot of stipulations and contingencies are not very attractive to sellers. They don't want to accept an offer that has a lot of interference and difficulty in getting closed.
 
If you have further questions on this topic, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!

Is the Roanoke Economy on the Rise?

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Recently, ZipRecruiter released data that suggests Roanoke is ranked in the top 10 for employment opportunities! We are the 7th ranked community in all of the South!

So, Roanoke is experiencing growth, but where are the jobs to be found? Trade jobs are key in our area: trucking, transportation, healthcare, dental assistants, welders, plumbers, and construction jobs are all in high demand. As tough as times have been in recent years, it appears Roanoke is currently in a pretty good spot!

If you have any questions about our healthy community, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We would love to hear from you!