Category Archives: Uncategorized

Clever ways to make your home look expensive on the cheap

Posted on January 23, 2016 | Leave a comment

table

Take the humble couch for example. If Scandinavian minimalist (found in most mass retailers) isn’t your style, you could be looking at upwards of five or six grand for a sofa.

Speaking of soft furnishings, it’s those final touches that make a house feel cosy and personalised. And while interior trends do come and go, they don’t move as fast as fashion trends — meaning that you can pick up great pieces on sale that won’t scream ‘out of date’.

Temple and Webster is a great online service that acts like an aggregator for homeware sales. Household brands host sales on the site so you can pick up anything from premium bedding, kitchen utensils, lighting and furniture at discounted prices. Sign up for the newsletter to receive alerts regarding new sales. Once they’re gone, that’s it.

New Real Estate apps can help renters, buyers, sellers and remodelers

Posted on January 6, 2016 | Leave a comment

app

For people making an offer on a home:

After a mortgage, utility expenses are often the next highest cost of living in a home. Now with Enerscore anyone can find out more about the total monthly cost for a home before they move in, even before they make an offer on the property.

Enerscore uses public records to make up a profile of a home and then determines an energy performance rating. Using this information, the site estimates the monthly utility costs based on local rates for that neighborhood.

For buyers:
Mozaic is a new mobile-optimized social platform that connects buyers and their real estate agents directly to listings in the multi-listing service (MLS) database. It is currently available in Washington and its surrounding markets (i.e. all of the areas served by our MLS for the Mid-Atlantic).

disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

More Housing Predictions for 2016

Posted on January 4, 2016 | Leave a comment

Interest rates
All eyes are on the interest rates. They have been so low for so long that just about everyone expects them to rise several times during the coming year. The increases will start off in small increments, so we don’t anticipate a sudden impact on the housing market, but it could make it more difficult for some buyers to qualify for a mortgage.

However, the pent-up demand for buying a home in the D.C. area is large enough to offset the potential loss of those who won’t be able to qualify for a mortgage as rates increase. After all, buyers have had a few more years to save up for larger down payments and improve their credit scores so there are more qualified buyers than even a few years ago.

Timing
Given the predicted rise in interest rates, the selling season might kick off earlier than usual. Buyers will want to lock in as low of a rate as possible. The ones who know that they want to buy a home this year will most probably try to get a head start on finding one that fits their needs before rates rise again.

Spring real estate activity is also always weather-dependent. Heavy snow late into February and March can deter people from going out to tour homes. That has a domino effect in delaying any offers, which then delays the final closing date. Thus, only if we have a mild winter do I predict an early start to the spring market.