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Rancho Santa Fe Real Estate Search
Bitten by the Rancho Santa Fe Home Improvement Bug?
Before you finalize your decision regarding remodeling versus moving, it is wise to get a professional estimate of your Rancho Santa Fe home’s current value, the actual costs of moving to a different home and the estimated return on investment of the most common types of home improvement. I’ll be happy to provide you with a complimentary analysis of your home’s current value. Simply call or E-mail me whenever you are ready. As for improvements that traditionally bring the highest rate of return on investment, here are some statistics. Kitchen remodeling and adding a bath tends to bring rates of return with averaging anywhere from 85% to 95% return on your dollars spent. Compare that with the 64% return on investment for adding a home office.
Buying a Rancho Santa Fe Fixer-Upper
This, of course, depends on the condition of the Rancho Santa Fe home and the estimated cost of the repairs you must make. Rancho Santa Fe real estate in a good neighborhood that is priced about 25% lower than others that are in good shape may be a good deal if it simply needs cosmetic or minor structural repairs. If the house is a gut job, that is the entire inside will be torn out and rebuilt the 25% rule may work and may not so estimate your costs as closely as possible.
Shopping by neighborhood makes good sense when considering the purchase of a fixer upper. As a buyer, the more you know about the Rancho Santa Fe homes in a particular area the better able you are when it comes time to judge whether or not a home your are considering meets the financial parameters you are looking for.
Buying Rancho Santa Fe Real Estate...Will it Pay?
A frequent question from prospective homebuyers relates to building home equity. Rancho Santa Fe buyers like to estimate how much a home may increase in value based upon past appreciation. One of the many advantages of home ownership is that appreciation is based on the home’s market value rather than on the actual dollar amount invested or the down payment so that a $100,000.00 home that appreciates 5% is now worth $105,000.00. This is one way of building your Rancho Santa Fe home equity but there is more you can do.
Does Your Rancho Santa Fe Have Curb Appeal?
From cottages to castles some Rancho Santa Fe have so much curb appeal that passersby can’t help but stop and admire them. When visiting property with great curb appeal, prospective buyers often experience 'Love at First Sight' and this disposes them to love the entire home before they even walk through the front door.
Rancho Santa Fe curb appeal is the result of a perfect blend of architectural style, landscaping, up-keep and color choices. Money alone does not guarantee outstanding curb appeal. I’ve seen very expensive Area homes with costly landscaping that fail to appeal and I’ve seen very modest priced Area homes with outstanding curb appeal. In part, the landscaping aspect of curb appeal is a matter of personal taste.
Does Your Rancho Santa Fe Have Curb Appeal?
Good curb appeal is definitely an advantage to home sellers when prospective buyers visit your Rancho Santa Fe and can be an advantage in advertising in the newspaper and on the Internet. However, it is important to note that even a home with great curb appeal can look bad in an advertisement if the photographer did a bad job with the camera. A photograph of a Rancho Santa Fe home on a dreary day will look quite different from a photo of the same home when the sun is shining. Sometimes it is better to take a picture of a home from an angle rather than a straight on shot that may turn out to be more about the garage door than about the house itself.
The Benefits of Selling Rancho Santa Fe
In order to sell Rancho Santa Fe as your personal residence, you must have lived in it for two out of the five-year period ending on the date of the sale of the property. This means that you can buy a second home and live in it as your personal residence while renting out your first home. If, in a couple years you decide to sell your first Rancho Santa Fe personal residence you can sell it and still benefit from the $250,000 to $500,000 Capital Gain tax exclusion. The law says that the home must be your personal residence for at least two out of the past five years.
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