Mother-and-daughter real estate pros Donna and Shannon Freeman break down the best ways to stage a home to sell.
Set your listing price by utilizing area comparables, not based upon what you need to buy that ostrich farm. Put personal collections away someplace safe, like a bank vault in Zurich. Invest in a fresh coat of paint and get 150 percent green back on your investment. Disclose everything, especially the stuff you are tempted not to. Fix all running toilets, or risk flushing profits down the drain. Remember that “outside” is the new “inside.” Show off all of your living spaces. Visit model homes to see how neutrality and spaciousness are made to feel so inviting. Grind a lemon in the garbage disposal – it smells great and it’s such great exercise. Display the kind of plants that aren’t injection-molded and painted in a factory somewhere overseas. Keep your day job. Hire an agent and assist them in doing what they do best. via HGTV
Top 10 Home-Staging Dos
Why It’s Time To Buy
Despite all the gloom, however, there are growing indications that it is a good time to buy. Mortgage rates, which fell to 4.55% for the week ending June 2, according to Freddie Mac, are near 50-year lows. Homes have become more affordable than they have been in years:
Read more via Market Watch
Freddie Mac offers incentives on REOs
$
1,200 bonus to buyer’s agents on sales that close by Sept. 30
Hoping to boost sales of foreclosed homes, Freddie Mac is offering up to 3.5 percent in closing-cost assistance to homebuyers and a $1,200 bonus to buyer’s agents for offers on HomeSteps properties received by July 31 with escrow closing on or before Sept. 30.
Read more via Freddie Mac
Draft bill would hike FHA loan down payments to 5%, slash loan limits
Legislation will likely draw fire from industry groups, Senate Democrats
Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee have drafted legislation that would raise the minimum down payment for FHA mortgages to 5 percent, cut FHA loan limits in most markets, and move the Agriculture Department’s rural housing program to FHA’s parent agency, HUD.
Read more via FHA loan down payments
Oak Grove Theater
A community theater group that performs an annual five play summer season. Plays performed at night just outside of Verona, VA. Read more via Oak Grove website
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Kathy’s Restaurant – Shenandoah Valley Great Finds
One of the Shenandoah Valley’s great finds is located in Staunton. Known as the restaurant “so good” she put her name on it, Kathy’s is located at 705 Greenville Ave. Everyone knows that when you find out where the locals go….that is the place to be!
With over 25 years at this location, locals and tourists will tell you that a better pancake cannot be found. Kathy’s offers an extensive breakfast menu which is served all day, along with daily lunch specials, a great lunch and dinner menu is also offered.
Real food, real people, a real delight! Be sure to pickup a bag of the pancake mix as you leave. Click here for Kathy’s website.
When I can’t get mom’s pancakes, I go to a local Staunton place called Kathy’s.
Check out Kathy’s Restaurant review by the Down Home Foodie blog
Welcome to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia
What to see and do with information on where to stay, dine, and shop.
Discover historic sites, cultural and artistic treasures, museums and fantastic shopping and dining in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Travel through historic towns on scenic back roads that lead to charming picture postcard farms. Shenandoah Valley’s outdoors features the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway, with breath-taking views of the Valley below. Plan your next trip to the Shenandoah Valley today. (This is a very comprehensive list on what is happening in the Shenandoah Valley).
Read more by clicking here –>
Real estate: It’s time to buy again
Forget stocks. Don’t bet on gold. After four years of plunging home prices, the most attractive asset class in America is housing.
Two basic factors are laying the foundation for dramatic recovery in residential real estate. The first is the historic drop in new construction that so amazes Castleman. The second is a steep decline in prices, on the order of 30% nationwide since 2006, and as much as 55% in the hardest-hit markets. The story of this downturn has been an astonishing flight from the traditional American approach of buying new houses to an embrace of renting. But the new affordability will gradually lure Americans back to buying homes. And the return of the homeowner will start raising prices in many markets this year.
Read more via Real estate: It’s time to buy again – Fortune Finance.
Know Your Farmer, Go to the Staunton/Augusta Farmers Market
Opening Day for the Staunton location is Saturday, April 2.
Opening Day for the Verona location is Wednesday, April 6.
For more information goto to the link below
Staunton / Augusta Farmers’ Market
Wednesday Market
Hours: Noon – 5:00 p.m.
Season: The first Wednesday in April until the last Wednesday in October
Location: Market dock (on the south end) of the Augusta County Government Center on Rt. 11 in Verona, VA.
Saturday Market
Hours: 7:00 a.m. – noon
Season: First Saturday in April until the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving
Location: At the Wharf Parking Lot on Johnson Street in historic downtown Staunton.
