What do you think the most important part of the home is? Are you waiting for my answer? The real estate expert? Ok. I’ll give you my answer.
The answer is that there is no answer, especially in the Northern Virginia Real estate market. The most important part of the home is the part that you feel you will spend the most time in. Will that be the kitchen, the great room, the family room, your master suite? We know that typically, the most expensive to renovate will be your kitchens and bathrooms, and how you go about doing your renovations, whether it is with a licensed professional architect’s guidance and a team of amazing contractors, or if you choose to do any upgrades and renovations on your own, value can be in the eye of the beholder, much like the way that Northern Virginia Real Estate plays out. No matter who you have do any renovation, or what has been done in a home when it is being reviewed as an option for purchase each individual buyer will have it in their own wish list which is the most important to them. Sometimes they won’t know until they get into a property what is the most important to them until they see first hand a true fixer upper.
I recently had a client who was quite excited about how she and her father had just completed a family renovation project in their family home and she very much enjoyed working the hammer and “getting her hands dirty.” When faced with the real life options to purchase her very own fixer upper and have that dirt be her very own… she was more than turned off and the excitement turned into overwhelm and near panic at the thought of all of the work that would go into removing carpet and demoing a wall. My client ultimately chose a very nicely finished new construction project that was still within her budget, but farther out of the city we’d originally been looking in. Compromises have to be made in these situations. Do you want the pretty, or do you want the location; because, if you want both, in Northern Virginia real estate, you’re going to have to pay for it.
Speaking of paying for it, I like to say that most people spend more time in their great rooms, if a kitchen is open to a living and dining space, because it is very communal and to have a fantastic kitchen would be where most of my clients would like to see upgrades and would be willing to put a pretty penny into a property. I also have some clients who walk into a master suite that doesn’t have his and her closets and is only a three piece bath and they want to pivot-turn and head right on out of Dodge. To each their own.
Bathrooms also are total deal breakers for some people. Often times, when a property has the brass fixtures and more dated corian or faux marble vanities, buyers in the Northern Virginia market are turned off by this. Most of my buyers, even those, who have said from the outset that they are willing to do some sweat-equity don’t like to see highly dated properties and when they are faced with the decision between a dated property or a newly-finished property, they will go with the move-in ready freshly-painted, new-everything property. It never fails. Fresh paint, fresh fixtures, getting rid of brass and eliminating carpet makes my buyers open up.
Whether you’re looking to buy a property and understand how the market works in Northern Virginia real estate, or you think you want to sell your property in Northern Virginia, let’s get our heads together, because I’d love to talk to you about my knowledge and expertise in the subject. Let’s get you started in the right direction. Knowledge is power!
