BuyRenovatedForeclosures.com

Thanks to everyone who came out to our open house in Fredericksburg to see the results of all our hard work. We received many compliments on all the design changes made to the house, which made it bright, open and modern.

We also got a lot of positive feedback about the benefits of doing a preview open house instead of a traditional open house. With a preview event, all major work has been completed but the finishing touches–such as paint colors, carpet colors, and appliance models– are undone, which gives potential buyers the ability to customize their home so they don’t have to change anything after moving in. And one lucky family is doing just that!

Here are some photos from the open house:

We are making great progress on our full renovation of 225 Colebrook Road in Fredericksburg, VA. And I do mean FULL renovation: from completely tearing out all of the old, worn out interior to changing the layout to now starting to add all the luxury details. Let us know what you think!

We would be happy to give you a tour of the house before we open it to the public. If you’re interested, just email us at deals@prsproperties.com or give us a call at (703) 378-7466.

I recently found a notice that The National Association of Realtors put out regarding using the $8000 first-time homebuyer tax credit for a down payment or closing costs on a FHA-insured mortgage.

According to the notice, 11 states — including Virginia — offer this program. For more information, visit www.realtor.org/government_affairs.

If anyone out there has used, or tried to use, this option, please comment or write us so we can share your experience.

I’m not an accountant, mortgage broker, attorney or any other type of financial advisor. I just saw this info and wanted to share it. If you want to take advantage of this option, you should get professional help–maybe start by asking your mortgage broker.

As I have written in the past, the lure of buying a junker bank-owned property and fixing it up yourself to save money can be both exhilarating and crushing–sometimes all at the same time!

Here is an example of how easy it is to entangle yourself in all the many elements of a renovation. These are all changes we’ve made to one of our current properties. No doubt the future buyer will be ecstatic about all of the lovely changes and updates we’ve made…but before you buy a fixer upper, ask yourself whether this is something you can handle on your own. If so, more power to ya! If not, why don’t you give us a call to see what already-renovated properties we might have available.

(more…)

Having a large room available in the house at 255 Colebrook Road, we decided to create a spacious second master suite, complete with a luxury bathroom and big double-headed shower.

After our personal experiences dealing with elderly family members, we decided to go the extra mile to make the whole suite handicapped accessible. We created a shower that has no step-over threshold. In the event a buyer or family member is in a wheelchair or requires a walker, they won’t have to worry about rolling or stepping over the threshold to get into the shower. For future needs, there is wood blocking installed in the framing of the walls for hand rails and a shower seat.

Having wheeled many a stretcher into homes during my long career in the fire department, we decided to install 36-inch wide doors to the master bedroom and bath in the event the suite will be used for an elderly or infirm resident. You’ve got to start thinking about these things as you get older, or reach the age when you find yourself caring for aging parents.

This foresight adds a bit more time and effort up front of course, but we know how much of a difference it can make to someone’s quality of life in the future, which makes it a no-brainer!

Hey everyone, it’s been a while since last writing. We’ve been working so hard, taking care of business, that I almost forgot to take care of the real business — YOU.

Recently we’ve invested in three properties that need various amounts of renovation. The one I want to speak  about now is our Fredericksburg single family home on one acre. This place was owned by a man who had many difficulties keeping the place up. After he passed away, his son inherited the property and realized that he had neither the time, the resources, nor the energy to tackle the renovation needed to either live in the property or to sell it conventionally. And this guy is even in the building trades, so you can imagine the amount of work we were up against when we got the call to consider purchasing the property!

A careful assessment was completed and a renovation budget was prepared. The potential of this property is awesome, but we knew we would have to roll up our sleeves to tackle this baby! Even with our many years of experience, this one posed a couple of challenges:

(more…)

We’ve got two properties for sale in Durham, NC: 916 and 918 Elizabeth Street. Check out these videos on YouTube to see the finished product!

916 Elizabeth Street

918 Elizabeth Street

For more info about these houses, sign up for our buyers’ info list by using the form to the right. Or call Kita Graham, our Durham representative, at (919) 332-3157.