2709 Johnny Baker Virtual Tour $109,900 Willow Springs

Now selling this rural gem, a thoroughly remodeled 1120 Sq Ft ranch on the Wake County side of Willow Springs with new vinyl siding, new deck and porch, new kitchen floor and custom tiled backsplash with tiled insets, new oven, new hardware and fixtures, smooth ceilings, ceiling fans, some vaulted (cathedral) ceilings, reconditioned hardwood floors, wood-burning fireplace, large master suite with separate dressing area, large level and cleared lot, tree-lined at back for privacy. Home is in USDA-eligible territory (USDA offers low cost loans in rural areas, to be verified by buyer's lender as the territories are regularly redrawn, and buyer must meet certain qualifying criteria). Home is better than new. 919-795-5973 Meg Russell of Allison James Estates and Homes, a licensed Realtor, Ecobroker, ALHS, ABR (Accredited Buyer's Representative), Green, SFR and SPS.

Your Tax Refund: Are You Thinking of Upgrading Heat & Air or Windows?

These are two of the best strategies you can implement for saving on your utility bills as well as making your home more competitive in the resale market.

Buyers will be looking for energy efficiency. About 40% of all current new construction is being built to Energy Star standards and the new building code is incorporating requirements that will ensure efficiency at 15% higher than the previous standard. That means, quite literally, that if you don't plan to sell for five years, you will be competing against Energy Star homes.  As long as there is land to build on in North Carolina, and we have a ton to go, your resale will need to illustrate its ability to stand up to the new inventory if you want to maximize your profit at sale. So upgrading IS a good idea; I have blogged on this many times before.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/print-edition/2011/07/08/home-builders-in-nc-must-meet.html

So how does one choose one's contractor and equipment?

First, let's see a) how far you are going with your remodel b) are you open to very cutting edge technologies such as geothermal air conditioning?(will depend on your lot size) and c) what fuel and heating system are you currently operating on to heat your home? Natural gas? Propane gas? Oil? Electricity only? Here is North Carolina as I suspect other parts of the country, both natural gas and electric heat are far cheaper than propane gas driven heat. You'll want to be sure your contractor is knowledgeable in Energy Star version 3.0 strategies for saving energy. Heating and Air Conditioning contractors (HVAC) are soon to be certified for this purpose since Energy Star 3.0 guidelines are rolling out but the list is not yet available. However you can read all about it on the Energy Star site with tips for picking your contractor: 

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.

Look for heating and air and then 10 tips for choosing a contractor.

There is also a more up-to-date site for credits that expired in 2011 or changed for 2012:

http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=US43F

The brand of unit you pick is something you should discuss with your qualified contractor, since local fuel rates vary in different parts of the country. A geothermal unit may or may not be possible.  They are VERY expensive up front, but there is a 30% Federal Tax credit with no ceiling in place for a Geothermal unit, and the energy efficiency achievable is amazing.  We have a Geothermal in our Energy Star home and, for instance, we increased the home size from 2400 sq ft to 4200 sq ft and the utility bill stayed even simply because we went with geothermal heat and air in the remodel. Windows should DEFINITELY be Low-E - these contain an argon gas that helps prevent heat loss in winter and sun-heat gain in summer. Make sure all the windows are thoroughly caulked and also use a qualified contractor.All these strategies, besides saving on utilities and making your home more competitive, will reduce your consumption of fossil fuels thereby reducing your greenhouse gas emissions, and don't you feel good about doing your part to help save the planet? I hope this gets you all  off to a good start!

Staying On Track with your Real Estate Story

It's 2012, Happy New Year!

They say New Year's Resolutions are a waste of time, a passing fad and soon forgotten, but what about your long range planning for your real estate future? And do you have a plan? How you implement your plan becomes your story. Are you the author of your story?

I think it is of ultimate importance to have a plan, a dream, and to design the real estate path that will get you there. The New Year is a great time to write down that long range plan, commit to it and refer back to it often to be sure you stay on track. Like anything else, committing your plan to writing makes you accountable to your own destiny. Don't we all want to someday retire comfortably at the beach or to the mountains or to a far off countryside? Creating the plan and committing it to writing is important even in these tough economic times when it seems you may be forced to live in your current home forever. Take heart, the economy is as fluid as an amoeba and WILL change; your situation WILL improve, and by the time it does you may have missed out on some great real estate opportunities if you haven't committed to a plan.

First, summarize your long range plan in a single paragraph or two. Get down the concept, the ultimate goal of where you want to be in five or ten years, confirm it with family and spouse, and say, "I can!"

Next, break the plan down into many baby steps. Here is the secret of all good planning. Folks often are looking so directly over the forest to the horizon that they miss the trees. It is not enough to dream, to envision, to imagine the big picture. The most successful people know that once the plan is designed, one must commit to putting one foot forward at a time; commit to a timeline in which to accomplish baby steps. The is the proactive approach to your dream. Think of each step as a microcosm slice of the long range plan, and understand the importance of accomplishing the baby step and focus on only IT. OK, now let me get to specifics.

This is the example of Mr. and Mrs. Average Joe: They live in a home built in the 1990's, and it is their second home. They have always envisioned selling it to move into a larger home and ultimately selling that to move to the mountains with a comfortable retirement when the kids are gone. So their long range goal is to use their real estate turnover to help supplement their retirement nest egg and it is a 10 year plan. Sometimes the plan seems hopeless because their home is almost under water based on the last appraisal and their retirement nest egg took a 50% hit when the market crashed and hasn't quite recovered though it's on the rebound. They are still making good household income, paying all their bills, have reasonable debt and no problems servicing that debt. The kids are paying their own way through college.

They have just finished putting their Christmas decorations away into an oh-so-overflowing attic and of course this has set the stage for tension. So they decide to write down a few paragraphs about their long range plans and start to wring their hands over the loss of house value, the hit to the portfolio, the face that the landscaping is now overgrown and needs attention, the driveway is cracked, the fixtures are looking dated and the house is too cluttered to show very well. This makes them more depressed and they begin to argue about what the house is worth and when they should sell it, and how are they ever going to pay for their daughter's wedding never mind retire to the mountains :).

Does any of this sound familiar? As they argue, the dream is feeling further and further away and the feelings of hopelessness are making them less and less motivated to take any action at all. Now, I am not a psychologist nor marriage counselor :) but it seems to me that they could lift their spirits by breaking the long range plan down into some very manageable steps -- the microcosm approach.

They might begin a list that looks like this:

1. January: Purge everything in the attic right now while it is top of mind and you have just looked at a number of things that you might be able to toss or give away. If you haven't touched it in two Christmases, toss it or offer it for free upon pickup to your contact list. Don't try to make any money off these items unless they are antiques. I promise you, you will waste more dollars of your time and money prepping it, posting it, packaging it and letting strangers into your house than this process is worth. Think quick purge. Deadline, end of January.

2. February: Start changing hardware, one room at a time, to update it to current buyer preferences -- just one room at a time. Again, give away the old fixtures unless they are rare or very valuable. Do this step until early spring when it's time to trim all the landscaping!

3. March: Trim all the landscaping way, way down. Most evergreens, knockout roses, privets and hollies can handle a hard cutback. I've gone down to 14 inches and they spring back much more beautiful. Confirm with a gardener before you trim. Plan to remulch your yard at this same time.

Now I could give you 9 more steps that would be microcosms of what Mr. and Mrs. Average Joe need to be doing right now in order to stay on track with their long range goals, but it is time for me to stop and explain why I am choosing these steps.

First of all, cleaning, purging, trimming and updating are extremely satisfying - they are their own reward. Besides involving some good old-fashioned fresh air and exercise, which is good for the psyche, they are also slowly adding equity back to their home. In tiny degrees they are preparing it for that ultimate sale. The sale is critical to the balance of the long range plan! If your home is unable to complete with current new inventory in its look, style, bells and whistles, you could have trouble pulling out the equity you need for the plan. Furthermore, as long as there is still land in the Carolinas to build on (and there's a ton) there will be a need for resellers to compete with that market, to provide compelling evidence to the buyer that their home is as fine in look and lifestyle, but has the edge of being tried and true!

Because Mr. and Mrs. Average Joe are SO down in the dumps, they might just cover up the entire list EXCEPT the January goal. Don't jump around. Concentrate on doing the one month task and doing it well. The focus is very rewarding. Both spouses need to contribute to the month's target task. I promise you will stay on track if you approach your plan very deliberately in this fashion. As always, if you want help evaluating the condition or readiness of YOUR home, call me 919-795-5973 and I will help you with that list. Don't try to rush it, the market is still not ripe for your resale. You have at least a full year to make the home sparkle!

Remember, Baby Steps! And Happy New Year again, make 2012 count!

Warmly,
Meg