Trends in Housing

Virginia Coastal Connection
Winter Snow Va Beach New Years Day at the Beach Va Beach Early Spring Va Beach
The truth is, our winters in coastal Virginia (“COVA”) are very unpredictable, but that’s one of the reasons why we love coastal Virginia so much.  We will get lots of snow one winter and none at all the next.  Some winters we have even found ourselves hitting the beach on a balmy Saturday to build sandcastles, fly kites, and just let the kids run and enjoy the welcome sunshine and warmed air.  With this being said, coastal Virginia’s real estate market does not go dormant during the winter months.  COVA’s real estate market continues its ebb and flow all year long.  Military personnel, private sector businesses, large medical groups, and corporate headquartered companies relocate their employees and members in and out of our area all year round.  Are winter months a bit slower on the real estate front?  Sure, just as other traditional markets, but real estate sells all year-round in COVA.
Because our weather trends are ever-changing, and spring has proven to settle-in early at times, sellers should be prepared for buyers hitting the spring market.  When the cold weather pushes out early, spring buyers begin to get antsy and they will jump into the market earlier than expected.  Being prepared and having your home ready will give you an edge over the competition.
There is no bad time to put your sale-ready home on the market in coastal Virginia. We should see buyers who have been preparing to purchase homes enter the buying market soon. Other buyers who have been indecisive will start honing down their choices with the knowledge that the economy is showing signs of continued strength.  The housing market has been making a steady comeback through 2013 & 2014, therefore, the prediction that home loan interest rates are expected to rise this year seems spot on.
If you are planning to list and sell your property this year, we hope you consider hiring the professional Realtors at Virginia Coastal Connection.  Now is the time to reach out to one of us.  We will meet with you to discuss your selling needs and create a marketing plan that works specifically for you.  It is never too early to obtain our recommendations for organizing your home, discuss staging needs, and complete any necessary repairs so that your home is ready to hit the market to sell (not just hit the market to get feedback from showings).
Don’t delay.  Reach out and speak with one of our real estate professionals at Virginia Coastal Connection (“VCC”).  Let us at VCC help you get prepared and benefit in this coastal Virginia real estate market.
We live here. We raise our families here. We work here.  We are your local real estate experts.

I came across the article below (A different kind of dining room) a few days after having almost the exact conversation with my mother & a client who is looking to downsize.  My mom cannot fathom the thought of not having a formal dining room.  Is it because she is from up North and has all the fond memories of my Dad presenting the grand turkey every Thanksgiving? Is it because she loves dining in a space that is away from the mess, hustle & bustle of the kitchen?  Is it because when you sit down in the dining room the food and conversations grow in to an event allowing everyone who is visiting to reconnect, laugh and be merry? The answer is an overwhelming yes - and for me, I couldn't agree with her more.  However, the viewpoint of a client of mine is the exact opposite.  Her children are grown, her husband has passed and she is looking to move in to a dining-room-free existence.  She loves the idea of having friends over for scones & coffee in the morning, light lunches or afternoon tea.  She proudly has passed down her dining room traditions to her children and plans on visiting their homes over the holidays.  Having the extra space is not a necessity for her and in fact, she feels it is wasted space.  So in the end, I think the most important thing to remember is to ensure your home is set-up the way you wish to live your life.  In doing so, I believe that you'll be the happiest person ever...and what more could someone ask for?  I would love for you to share your thoughts.

Article: A Different Kind of Dining Room

Despite rumors of its demise, the dining room is not disappearing, but going through a transformation as homes get smaller and more energy-efficient and low-maintenance.

Often thought of as a place mostly for enjoying holiday dinners and birthday celebrations, the dining room is morphing into a friendlier, more intimate space as home owners try to maximize existing square footage rather than add on.

One popular trend today is to take down a wall between the dining room and kitchen to fashion one big, casual cooking and eating space, which can also be used for watching a movie or using a computer, says interior designer Janell Rasper of Callen Construction Inc. in Muskego, Wis. 

Those who build from scratch today often go for a simpler approach: In addition to fewer bedrooms and smaller garages, people frequently opt for more casual living and eating spaces, an open great room with a corner for dining, or a smaller dining room, according to the most recent New Homes Started survey from the National Association of Home Builders in Washington, D.C. “Home owners worried about costs are interested in making trade-offs today,” says Stephen Melman, NAHB’s director of Economic Services, Economics and Housing Policy.
Tom Hackett of Orren Pickell Designers & Builders in Lake Bluff, Ill., says his firm regularly scales back on the size of most dining rooms and lowers once-high ceilings for warmth and intimacy. More dining rooms also have become multipurpose with bookshelves, a bar, or paneling that opens to a desk for an at-home office. And some of these rooms are placed at the center of the house so they lie within the main traffic flow to attract attention and use, Hackett says.

You can help your buyers and sellers analyze a dining room’s importance by discussing the following possibilities, based on how they live. The ultimate goal: to feed the eyes and make the space functional.

Color It Bold
The dining room can be bolder and more colorful than other rooms since it’s often used less frequently, says color consultant Amy Wax of Your Color Source in Montclair, N.J. But Wax advises showcasing just one element with bold color such as walls, furniture, the ceiling, a ceiling fixture, or dishes on the table or wall. For a twist, she recommends painting wainscoting and molding one color and making walls bolder, sometimes by painting 4-inch-wide stripes alternately in flat and satin to create a shimmering look, since satin reflects light.

Adapt to Familial Needs
In her eight years as a real estate broker and salesperson, Melody Bohl, ABR, GRI, with Carpe Diem Realty in Newton, Mass., says she’s found that different-aged buyers use dining rooms differently:
  1. Younger (under 30) and first-time home owners usually don’t care about a formal dining room. “They see it as wasted space that they would rarely use and would repurpose it into a home office, den, or media room. As long as the home has an eat-in kitchen, they’re happy,” Bohl says.
  2. Families with children want a formal dining room adjacent to the kitchen for family gatherings and holiday meals. “You can practically picture them bringing the Thanksgiving turkey to the table, as well as helping kids with homework,” she says.
  3. Downsizing baby boomers are trying to make their lives less complicated. A breakfast nook or eat-in kitchen works fine for most.
 Regional Differences
While home owners should use rooms according to their needs, certain geographic areas and price ranges may inspire different uses. New York designer Mindy Miles Greenberg of Encore Décor says that most of her clients who are fortunate to have a separate dining room want to use them as such. “It’s a feather in their cap to have the luxury of so much space [in New York] and most want to show it off as such,” she says. That usually means decorating it traditionally with patterned wallpaper, chair railing, crystal chandelier, china cabinet, area rug, puddled curtains, silver- or gold-leafed ceiling paper, and a formal, sometimes inherited table and chair. “We try to use what we can,” Greenberg says.  Throughout the Northeast, dining rooms are important for families on weekends and holidays because outside dining is restricted usually to summer, says Anne Millians-Roche, e-Pro, president, cofounder, and qualifying broker of Owens Realty Network in Winter Park, Fla. But in the South, where the climate is warmer, buyers usually prefer large outdoor areas to entertain. “The interior formal room is considered wasted space,” she says.  In the more traditional Midwest, St. Louis-based designer Denise Fogarty tries to break out of expected staidness by painting walls a nonneutral color and upholstering host and hostess chairs, sometimes with different fabrics on front and back.   And in more casual California, Christopher J. Grubb, owner of Arch-Interiors Design Group Inc. in Beverly Hills, says many clients want a room that seats eight to 10 people but looks untraditional so they’re not afraid to use it. Instead of crystal chandeliers and Persian rugs, he might meld black and white family photos, contemporary light bulbs strung on a wire, plants, upholstered seating, and an audio system. If the room is meant to occasionally serve another function, such as an office, he suggests concealing a work surface.  Designer Kimba Hills, owner of Rhumba, a design store and firm in Santa Monica, Calif., follows a similar strategy. She might mix a 19th century dining table with 20th century upholstered chairs and add bookshelves and a modern chandelier hung low for intimacy. She recommends a round table where possible because it’s more conducive to conversations and eliminates favored seating. “You never have a bad seat at a round table,” she says.

By Barbara Ballinger/Realtor Mag. | October 2010