8 Home Maintenace Tips That May Help You Protect Your Property Values

With all of the turbulence in the real estate market, many of us may feel slightly out of control when it comes to the value of our homes.  And while there are some things that are out of your control (the foreclosure down the road, anyone?), there are a few things that you can do to influence your home’s value.

1.  Schedule a Home Inspection every few years.  Having an experienced professional Home Inspector take a look at your home every couple of years can be very valuable because it will help you stay on top of any repairs that need to be made, especially ones that may not be obvious.  CLICK HERE to learn more.

2.  Keep your home under termite bond.  Termites are gross, they are destructive, and therefore, they are expensive.  Need I say more?  The South is particularly at risk for termite infestation given our warm humid climate, so shop around and find someone who can help you protect your home from these pests!  Personally, I think our Bayshore neighbor, Casey Bennett (with Value Pest) is the best around!

3.  Give your home a fresh coat of paint, and don’t forget the ceilings.  Keeping the walls AND ceilings of your home looking clean and fresh will go a long way towards maintaining your home’s value.

4.  Add crown molding.  Crown molding really can help your home appear a little bit more “finished.”  With new lightweight composite products, this can end up being a pretty easy project.

5.  DECLUTTER. DECLUTTER. DECLUTTER.  I don’t think it can be said often enough that staying on top of the clutter is a great way to protect your property values.  Afterall, if you do decide to sell your house, you don’t want it looking like an episode of Hoarders when the appraiser comes out.

6. Deep clean.  It goes without saying that most people would prefer to buy a clean house.  And since property values are based on what someone would actually pay for your house, keeping it clean is a good idea.  There are great professional cleaning companies who can help, but recruiting your teenager isn’t a bad idea either.

7.  Replace outdated light fixtures and plate covers.  This is a really simple project than can improve the overall feel of your home for a potential buyer.  This can be done by making a trip to your nearest home improvement store for brand new fixtures or by simply spray painting old fixtures to give them an updated look.  Some ideas include using an oil rubbed bronze or brushed nickel finish spray paint to cover old 80’s brass.  Google some home improvement blogs to give you more ideas.

8.  Improve curb appeal.  This one is easy and fun!  Sweep off your front stoop, knock down the cobwebs, put out a fresh welcome mat and some flowers and you are good to go.

If you are thinking of listing your home then, of course, we just covered some great tips, but you can also  CLICK HERE to read more about how to prepare your home for sale.

Bayshore Estates News

• This Saturday June 8th, 2012, the first Bayshore Estates Paddleboard Meet-Up Event “Let’s Get Out on the Water” will be held.  CLICK HERE for more information!  We would love to see y’all out there!
• The next Neighborhood Watch Meeting will be held on Thursday June 21st, 2012 from 6:30 to 7:30 at the Lutheran Church of the Reconcilliation.

Bayshore Estates 6 Month Market Update

#of Homes Sold	Avg. List Price	Avg. Sold Price	Avg DOM*	List Price per Sq. Foot	Sold Price per Sq. Foot
10	$250,070	$241,100	196	$109	$106

HTML Tables

*DOM=Days on Market

The six month market data for Bayshore Estates is in!

During this time period there were 10 houses sold in Bayshore that range in price from $130,000.00 to $300,000.00, which means that our volume has increased significantly from the 4 houses that were sold in the last market update.

Our days on market (DOM in the table) are higher than the last market update at 196.  There was one house that sold in 20 days and another that sold in 515 days, with 5 houses being sold in 0-90 days, and 5 houses being sold in 120+ days.  Of the two homes that took the longest to sell, one was a short sale and the other sold for 92% of asking (the average ratio in the neighborhood is 96%).  Of the two houses that sold the quickest, one was a foreclosure and the other sold for 100% of asking.  I am proud to say that this was my listing.  CLICK HERE to learn more about preparing your house to sell and the importance of pricing your home correctly for the market.

In conclusion, the price per square foot continues to drop, but the list price to sold price ratio seems to be stabilizing.  This is a trend we are seeing throughout Wilmington.    CLICK HERE  to read more about how the Wilmington market as a whole faired in 2011.

We’re Back…and Some Statistics on Neighborhood Watch Programs

Hello Bayshore Neighbors!

After a brief hiatus (ahem!) we are back!  Sorry about the lapse in activity!  A Neighborhood Watch meeting is in the process of being organized.  As soon as the details are  ironed out we will let you know.  In that vein, we thought we would post some information about Neighborhood Watch programs.

According to a 2009 article published on the America.gov website (this site is no longer active, but it is archived, so all content is still available), the U.S. Neighborhood Watch Program was started to “unite law enforcement agencies, private organizations, and individual citizens in a massive effort to reduce residential crime.”  Amazingly enough, it has nothing to do with a wrist watch that  neighbors share!  All jokes aside, it seems to be working.  The state of Virginia has determined that neighborhoods that have started a Neighborhood Watch program have crime rates that are 40% lower than those with no program.  (CLICK HERE to read more)  Plus, the Lakeland, FL Police Department claims that “Neighborhood Watch Promotes Neighborliness”!  (CLICK HERE to read more) So, check back on the blog and find us on Facebook so that you can be “neighborly” and come to the next Neighborhood Watch meeting!

Bayshore Estates Yard Sale!

Greetings all! Tomorrow is the Bayshore Estates Yard Sale! This is an effort to maximize traffic at your yard sale by letting people all of us conducting a yard sale on the same day. If you are participating, all you need to do is have set your things out. If you’d like to, you can email me and let me know that you are participating (cb@finecoastalliving.com).

I have put a sign in the front of the neighborhood announcing the yard sale and hope that you will participate. Please let me know if you have questions!

Community Yard Sale

Good Morning Bayshore! I hope that you are doing well today. We are going to have to postpone the community yard sale by about 1 week as I have broken my elbow and lost a week of planning etc. So, we’ll plan on having the yard sale on Saturday May 14, 2011. More details to follow later this week. I apologize and appreciate your patience with this!

6 Months to Closing for Bayshore Sellers

The stats are in for the Bayshore Real Estate Market!  To provide some context, we’re going to take a look at 2010 stats and then we’ll move look at 2011 year to date stats as well.  All of this data was collected from the Wilmington Multiple Listing Service.

In 2010, there were 17 homes sold in Bayshore:

Year	High	Low	Average	Median	Avg DOM*
2010	$482,000	$159,000	$271,985	$251,000	120

HTML Tables

*DOM= Days On Market, or the number of days from the date of a property was entered into the MLS.

On average, these homes sold for $120.03/SF.  Newer and waterfront homes sold for more and older, interior homes sold for less.  All in all a pretty successful year!

At this time, there are 12 homes for sale in Bayshore and one that is Under Contract.  Additionally, there were 4 sales through March 31.  Here are the stats for our sales so far this year:

Year	High	Low	Average	Median	Avg DOM*
2011	$544,000	$154,000	$302,265	$256,520	153

HTML Tables

*DOM= Days On Market, or the number of days from the date of a property was entered into the MLS.

On average, these homes sold for $131.73/SF.  With only 4 homes sold, its hard for some of these numbers too mean much.  In this instance, the average price per square foot is heavily influenced by one home that sold, 922 Bayshore, for $544,000 or $210.20/SF.  Without that home in the mix, the average $/SF is $105.57, significantly lower than the total average price per square foot from last year.

Finally, we see that in 2010 there were six sales in the first quarter of the year, averaging $109.67/SF.

To summarize, we’re seeing that sales in Bayshore are slower than the were last year at the same time.  Also we’re seeing that the average sales price and price/SF may be falling, although it is too early to tell.  With the average days on market at 153, you should expect that it will take 6+months for your home to close once it is listed in Bayshore.  Thats 153 days from the date of listing to the date of a contract plus an additional 30-45 days until the property actually closes.

At this time, I’m proud to say that of the 4 sales here in the neighborhood, I had one of them, giving me 25% market share!  I’d love the opportunity to work with you or anyone that you know that has a real estate need!  Please let me know if there are any other stats you’d like to know about our Real Estate Market!  If you’d like to see an overview of the Wilmington Market, please visit my Wilmington NC Real Estate 1st Quarter Review.

Bayshore Estates Community Watch Minutes

Greetings All!  As promised, here are the minutes from the meeting last week.  Several important points:

1) Let’s work together to become PROACTIVE about keeping our neighborhood safe.

2) Please report ALL suspicious activity to the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office by either dialing 911 or 910 452 6120.

3) Please come to our next meeting on May 5, 2011 at the Lutheran Church of Reconciliation.  Once we’ve completed that meeting, we will receive 2 Community Watch signs for the neighborhood.  We will need more than that so, in the meantime, please be on the lookout for posts about raising money to buy some extra signs.

To read the minutes from the meeting, click here: Bayshore Estates Community Watch Minutes- April 7, 2011

Thanks for all you do and hope you enjoy this wonderful weather!

Bayshore Estates Facebook Page!

Good Morning Bayshore!  I’m sure that you have all noticed a challenge getting to the Bayshore Facebook Page if you follow the instructions on the Flyer!  So sorry about this.  We do have a Facebook Page, as many of you know, and here is the correct address:

www.Facebook.com/BayshoreEstates

Please click on the link above and “like” our page.  My hope is to make sure that this page becomes a valuable resource for all of us!

Also, please let me know whether or not you are interested in a community wide yard sale- in my conversations with neighbors over the past few days, there seems to be a definite interest!

Thanks and enjoy your April Fools Day!  Happy Friday!!

Neighborhood Watch Flyer!

Greetings All!  Thanks for being so receptive as I have been handing out flyers for our upcoming Neighborhood Watch Meeting.  Its been great to see everyone and thanks to all of you who remember me!  Here are some more details about the upcoming meeting.  We are going to work on dividing up the neighborhood into sections and assigning “area captains” to each section.  Also, we’re going to get an overview of how watches work from a member of New Hanover County’s finest, Sgt. Barnhill.  We will also be setting up regular meetings in the future.  When we’ve hit some specific goals, we’ll be able to get Neighborhood Watch set up around Bayshore.  Also, we’ll be working on having McGruff the Crime Dog make an appearance and have our kids photographed and fingerprinted by the police department.

Next Thursday we’re going to leave some time for socializing and getting to know one another as well.  To learn more about our meeting, view the flyer here:  Neighborhood Watch Flyer.