The City Council is scheduled to vote later this month on the first affordable dwelling unit ordinance in Hampton Roads later this month.   The plan centers around incentivizing developers into voluntarily including lower cost housing units in their developments through density bonuses and other factors.  This strategy, called inclusionary zoning, has been used in many other localities in the country. 

The Hampton Roads Transportation Authority has delayed implementation of the increased taxes and fees intended to fund transportation improvements until April 2008.  This allows the General Assembly to make changes to the law and the fees prior to implementation.  This also means the grantor tax increase will not take effect until April 2008.

Whether you're getting ready to put your home on the market or you simply want to get a fresh start in 2007 -- clearing clutter is the answer.

Your REALTOR® will tell you when they show buyers a cluttered home, no matter how lovely it could be, prospective buyers just can't picture it and will usually pass or make an offer for much less than the seller thinks the home is worth. Yes, packaging matters. It matters when you're buying a product in a store and it matters when you're selling your home.

Think about the way model homes are packaged for display. There's so little in them; yet they look just perfectly appealing. Of course, that's not how any of us really live. But it's how consumers want to see the home. The fact is, maybe we could live with a little less -- at least while our home is on the market. After all, much of the clutter ends up collecting dust! And since you are moving, packing up some of your belongings before you actually move out (or even getting a tax credit for donating items to a charity) will help you when you finally sell your home and are ready to move.

Even if you're not in the market to sell, clearing clutter will give you a sense of freedom (and the ability to eventually accumulate more). Since the holidays just passed, you probably are already bombarded with stuff and maybe even wondering where to put it all.

The problem is many of us have a hard time letting go of things. So clutter builds up fast and furious and undoing the clutter becomes a frustrating task. But it doesn't have to be. Here are some tips on de-cluttering. Wouldn't it be nice to have a home that when you stepped inside you felt a sense of spaciousness -- everything seemed to have a place rather than items jammed into every last inch of the room? Cabinets and closets closed properly -- not like when you've gone on a three-week vacation to Italy and now you have to sit atop your luggage and tug roughly on the zipper to get it closed.

De-cluttering is a project that once you take the time to unload a few items, you often find they're never missed. And consider this, studies have shown that people waste several weeks a year looking for misplaced items that are buried beneath clutter. So let's get started.

First, don't de-clutter by making more room for clutter. As crazy as this is, true pack rats merely move their clutter from one location to another throughout the year without ever throwing anything out. When one area is too cluttered, they add shelves or even room additions to house their clutter.

Start with non-emotional items and rooms. You're less likely to have trouble throwing out things if you don't have an emotional attachment to them. Do you really need 12 different measuring cups? But here's a tip, I don't recommend throwing out your spouse's trinket collection (no matter how tempted you are) without first consulting him/her. Otherwise, you might end up listing your home by divorce default! Instead, start with your own stuff and lead by example.

Next go to the bathroom cabinets. Get rid of old prescriptions and products that you rarely use.

Clean out the clutter from under the bed. There are likely items that you haven't used in years underneath the bed just collecting dust. Nothings worse than viewing a home and the buyer lifts a corner of the bed's dust ruffle to reveal a mixture of clutter, dust, and pet hair -- yuck!

Walk-in-closets are so named because you should be able to move about in them. But some people have them overflowing. Buyers can't even squeeze inside, nor would they want to in that condition. So, the desirable walk-in-closet now becomes a negative for the buyer. Chances are there are clothes in your closet that probably haven't been worn in a long time.

Clearing clutter not only makes your home appealing to others, it's a richly satisfying feeling to create a sense of organization and space. And just think what you could do if you didn't have to spend weeks looking beneath clutter to find something you've misplaced.

 

 

 

Written by Phoebe Chongchua

Here's a look at what's new in real-estate markets across the U.S. from around the Web. (Some links may require registration or subscriptions.)
Housing bubble deflates
Across the U.S., home prices are falling, with many metropolitan areas expected to see large reductions, according to a report on CNNMoney.com. The city that may see the biggest drop is Las Vegas, where prices are predicted to decrease by 8.2% this year, the Web site says. What's in the cards for your local market? Check out CNNMoney.com's forecast for 379 cities across the U.S. While the outlook is grim for many of the housing boom's best performers -- places like New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. -- the future looks bright for several cities that missed out on the action, the Web site says. Among the markets the article reports are on the way up: Houston, Memphis, and Rochester, N.Y.
More luxury-home sales in Seattle
One of the buzz-words in residential real estate today is affordability, specifically, the lack of it (at least in some areas) in the housing market. Yet, in Snohomish County, Wash., high-end buyers apparently don't have difficulty affording luxury houses. In the Puget Sound region, which includes the county, the number of home sales above $1 million jumped from 23 in 2004 to 83 in 2005, according to an article published by The Herald. Many of the residences sold were either new or had impressive views, the paper says. Skyrocketing prices in nearby Seattle and a lack of buildable land also worked to drive buyers to the area, the article says.
High-end not lagging in Charlottesville
Buyers are starting to call the shots in Charlottesville, Va., but not when it comes to the luxury segment of the market, says The Daily Progress. Although sales are generally starting to slow in the area and buyers are getting "picky" as inventory builds, the paper says, houses priced at $1 million and up continue to sell well. In the million-plus price range, there have been no signs of an increase in the number of homes up for sale, the article says. This is in sharp contrast to the general housing situation there, where the number of properties on the market in early April was double the amount of residences available a year earlier, the paper says.
To rent or to buy? That is the question
In San Francisco, Honolulu and New York, the cost of renting a home for some people is now less expensive than owning one, challenging conventional wisdom that paying rent is akin to throwing money away, says the Washington Post. The housing markets in Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington, D.C. are moving toward the point where renting a home may soon be more affordable than owning one, the paper says. The calculations are based on how much it would cost to buy or rent a home that is valued at the area's median selling price. The cost of owning a home was computed using the assumptions that a homeowner had a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, put 20% down, paid 1% of the home's total value in annual property taxes and claims a mortgage-interest tax deduction equal to a quarter of the tax amount. However, the article says, the decision whether to rent or buy is not a purely financial one, and can vary depending on personal and lifestyle preferences.
List home in Chicago, sell months later
In Chicago, sellers anxious to find a buyer for their properties might have to wait months -- even up to a year -- to successfully get their homes off the market, says an article published by the Chicago Tribune. Thanks to a rising inventory of homes for sale (Chicagoland's single-family inventory is up 30% from last year), sellers have to be prepared to sit back and wait for an offer, or reduce asking prices, the article says. In this more "normal" market atmosphere, the paper says, some buyers are asking for price cuts and getting them. A real-estate agent quoted in the article says to expect price appreciation to drop from last year's 8% to 3% this year.

 

By Lauren Baier Kim

It would make sense that homeowners who make energy efficient improvements in their home would see a near 100% payback in their investment come sale time. A new heating system is a wise investment, but does not deliver the payback that other "SMART" renovations do.Recent data show that "Curb Appeal" investments such as new siding and windows deliver the best returns in home sale value. Many real estate professionals support the notion that a visitor to an "open house" initially develops a positive or negative reaction at first glimpse.The National Association of Realtors and Remodeling Magazine annually complete the Cost Value report for the industry.Another shocker was found in the cost/value return of building a Home Office which only delivers a 72% payback. Caution is advised because in some parts of the country the same renovation project delivers different percentages of recovery. For an extensive review of the data you can visit this resource (This info spans several pages)Overall a general expectation of recovery: Finally, it's wise to avoid overbuilding for your neighborhood. And to get an assessment of what curb appeal ideas are popular in your area and info on Overbuilding.... Click CONTACT on the right and ask your Sponsor.Some do-it-yourselfers get so involved in working around the home that they actually upgrade the home far beyond what they should, and can never recover their investment when the home is sold. Try to resist this tendency, or at least understand that not all home improvement projects are investments that can be recovered. For more information on Improving Curb Appeal-- there is a show every week on HGTV ..... Wednesdays at 10PM (est) ( Watch 10 Online Videos )