LEXpert Neighborhood Review: Dogwood Trace

by John Rice

If Dogwood Trace were a car, it would be a loaded Toyota Camry rather than a Lexus ES350.  People who know cars know that both cars are really the same, only the Lexus has a couple more features and a different logo.  I’ve shown most of the houses in this neighborhood that have been on the market in the past several years and have sold two on the same street this year.  I was trying to describe the neighborhood to one of the buyers and said “It is an upscale neighborhood without seeming pretentious.”  Her face lit up and she quickly agreed with my assessment….hence the Toyota/Lexus comparo.  The fact that Dogwood Trace does come across as upscale without being stuffy about it is one of the most appealing things to me.  It doesn’t have anything to prove and can stand alone on the unique features it offers it’s residents.  It comes across as very inviting and warm.

Don’t know if you’ve been there or not.  If not, check it out on a map.  It is in SW Fayette Co about as far as you can go before hitting Jessamine County.  One of my favorite things about neighborhoods on the outskirts of town is that you don’t have half of Lexington cutting through YOUR neighborhood to get to places.

So, what DOES Dogwood Trace have to offer?  Most of the houses are from the late 80’s/early 90’s.  Most are 2000-3500 square feet depending on if there is a basement and if it is finished.  Due to its age, there are a lot of big trees and it is just super pretty out there, almost park like.  The lots are pretty good size by Lexington standards too.  At the end of the neighborhood, just as you get to the newer Dogwood Glen neighborhood, you have access to Dogwood Park, which is an 18 acre city park with half a mile of paved trails, a playground and a shelter.  Kind of nice since not only does that mean you have recreation, it also means there won’t be any registered sex offenders living within 1000 feet of the park!

While I personally tend to like neighborhoods on the outskirts of town, sometimes you don’t have much in the way of businesses you need that will be close.  Not the case here.  Just a few stops signs away from any street in Dogwood Trace is Bellerive Plaza, which has a Kroger grocery store, fast food, a gas station and a variety of the type of stores you see in any strip mall.

The schools are Garden Springs Elementary, Beaumont Middle and Dunbar High.  That’s a pretty respectable mix!

 

Prices?  You can get a 2200 square foot house without a basement for in the loooooow $200’s.  Most of the ones with a finished basement are going to run you about $300k.  I have been in some that are either super updated or larger than most that have gone for $350,000ish.

Some interesting info:  At the back of Dogwood Trace is a newer neighborhood called Dogwood Glen.  It has a slightly different vibe since it is newer, but house sizes and prices are about the same.  Give it another 10 years for the trees to grow and you won’t be able to tell the difference.  If you want this area, but want more modern features like an open floor plan and vaulted ceilings, you’ll end up back here.   Sometimes realtors like to tag houses that are in neighboring Harrods Point as being in Dogwood Trace.  They are doing this because they know people love Dogwood Trace.  In all reality, Harrods Point does offer everything Dogwood Trace does, just in a smaller more affordable package.  If you want to drop $140-225k in a house, Harrods Point would be a good place to do so….but it isn’t Dogwood Trace.

Like I said, I have sold two houses in this neighborhood this year.  Both the families really love it out there.  When we did the final walk-thru on one of them, all the neighbors were helping the sellers move and throwing a little good-bye party in the cul-de-sac.  I met several of the neighbors since they thought I was the buyer and not the realtor (happens a lot since I always wear shorts.)  Everybody was super nice.

On a scale of 1-10, I give it a 10 in everything.  It is a nice neighborhood, in a good part of town, has a nice school district and is just a nice, relaxing place to be.

John Rice…the house-whisperer

by John Rice

One of my favorite things to do when I list a house is to write the marketing remarks.  I usually sit down in my office with a cup of coffee and look at the pictures until something pops in my head.  I always want to use my words to describe what is unique about the house.  Every house has something that is unique, whether it is natural light, a good floor plan, location, updating……there is always something.

In the old days when the MLS was something just for realtors, you’d see remarks like:  “3/2 split ranch.  Dining room chandelier does not convey.”  You’d also see showing instructions like which door to use or to not let out the cat.  The marketing remarks section has evolved into something more for the public now.  About 15 years ago the trend was to try to get people to picture themselves in the house, so we had remarks like “Have coffee while you read the morning paper on the sun lit patio.”  or “Picture yourself having a dinner party in the formal dining room with wainscoting.”  I kind of like that better than where we are now, which is just generically describing the house or listing all the features that will be in any other house too.  Like “Great 3 bedroom 2 bath ranch with a nice kitchen in a convenient location.”  Let’s face it, the public can tell how many bedrooms and baths it has because all that info is at the top of the listing.  Why waste their time telling them what they already know?  They assume the kitchen is nice, but are going to look at the pictures to see.  Pictures are what makes people want to see a house today, so there is no need to describe the house when they can see it…..and that is why I like to use the marketing remarks to keep the public’s attention and to tell them what is special about my listing.  Here are a few I’ve done recently:

“No doubt, there are a lot of houses in this price range. The seller’s know. They
looked at all of them too before pulling the trigger on this one. Want to know
why? Well, for starters, the way the Great Room & Kitchen are combined got
them, as did all the natural light it gets. Then, the fact that it backs to some
open space made it nice because it means you don’t have a neighbor behind you
 peeking in your window or making noise….you just look out and see space. Then,
the Master Suite got them. It has a nice walk-in closet and the bath has a
double bowl vanity (Two sinks 🙂 Throw in a fireplace, a front porch, a REAL
laundry room….well, you get the point. Come check it out for yourself.”

“Of all the houses I have ever sold, this one is my favorite. Its not the kitchen
with all the granite and practically new stainless appliances. It’s not even the
 extensive updating & fresh paint it has seen. Its not the large covered
deck. It’s not even all the hardwood flooring, gorgeous landscaping or being 5
minutes to Hamburg, the Interstate, or schools. I think what does it for me with
this house is the relaxed & peaceful feel I get when I am here. I think you
will feel that too. Be sure to check out the pictures, but here are some other
unique features *Fresh paint EVERYWHERE *Updated lighting/fixtures *Stamped
concrete landscape edging *Wood Paneled Executive Home Office *Possible 5th
 bedroom or exercize room *MOVE IN READY. Seller is M-O-T-I-V-A-T-E-D
Call/e-mail/text for more info…..Thx!”

” Ever been on Nelson? It is the street where the Legacy Trail begins. This
street is right where Midland/Walton/Winchester Rd come together. Look this
place up on Google and you’ll see that it is surrounded on 2 sides by the new
Equestrian View neighborhood. Also very close to the new Wm Wells Brown
Elementary School. I think this locations rocks for this price range. This is an
ALL ELECTRIC shotgun style house with many of the windows having been replaced
with vinyl. There is a living room on the front of the house, then you walk
through a bedroom to get to the kitchen. The second bedroom area is on the back
of the house and could be a bonus area or dining room. It has recently rented
for $400 and $450 a month, so the cash flow is there!!!”

” Well…..HERE IT IS! That mid century vibe you’ve been wanting, but without
 the mid century decor that seems to haunt so many houses of this era….but
don’t worry, this one has still has the hardwood floors, cut stone fireplace,
original tile in the baths and that cool retro feel in the kitchen. Be SURE to
see the pics, but here is some more info: *Fresh paint *New Kitchen floor
 *Updated lighting *2 car garage *Corner lot *NEW water heater *1 year old roof
 *Walk-out basement *Desireable school district *Awesome neighborhood so close to
 everything & sooooo worth your time to see it. Call/text for more info :-)”

“I just love Suburban Court. It’s a dead end street with 70 houses between
Cherokee Park & Rosemont Garden. That puts it right in that sweet spot of
being just a bike ride away from downtown or UK, but also just moments from the
Suburban type retail/dining just south on Nicholasville Road…..best of the
new/old really. Plus, if you need a popular school district, you get that too
 with Glendover/Morton/Lafayette. But what about the house? Well, its got that
vibe you want in an old house, meaning original hardwood floors, craftsman style
windows, a brick fireplace, front porch & much of the original
 doors/hardware. Plus a fully fenced yard backing to much more expensive
houses-do a Bird’s Eye view to see how far away the houses behind this one are.
Could this be it? You won’t know until you see it for yourself!
 #yousnoozeyoulose”

“Bet you haven’t seen a house like this one? No joke, $5 says this one is NOTHING
like any other ranch you’ve seen in this price range. Why am I so confident?
 Well, This one has soooo much detail. Coffered ceiling in the kitchen,
 wainscotting in the dining room, built-ins around the travertine tiled
fireplace, oil rubbed bronze hardware on doors/lighting/cabinets, tall
 baseboards. The floor plan is super cool too. The position on the lot gives you
loads of light in the Great Room. Plus, you get a real laundry room-not one in a
 closet in a hall or a pass-thru to the garage….a real one! Throw in squeeky
clean move in ready condition and you’ve got your new place.”

“Wanting something with a little pizzaz? You know, a place that doesn’t just feel
like a bunch of boring boxy rooms joined together? If so, how about taking a
look at this place. Here’s a few things I think you’ll like about it: ** The way
the kitchen sink faces out towards the sun filled breakfast area and family
room. The kitchen has a cool walk-in pantry with custom shelving, tile floor
& cherry cabinets. ** The vaulted ceiling in the large family room and all
 it’s windows. ** The breakfast area has windows on two sides & opens to the
kitchen & family room. ** The dramatic 2 story foyer with tile, a beautiful
 staircase, & a waaaaay upgraded light fixture. ** The sitting area in the
HUGE master bedroom that makes a great home office. ** The custom shelving in
the master walk-in closet right off the spa-like master bath. ** The way the
driveway has been widened with pavers so you can park big vehicles easily. **
The way it looks in pictures….Take a look…then make the call.”

“Let’s talk about your wish list for a moment. Does it have BIG OPEN FLOOR PLAN
on it? What about HUGE MASTER BEDROOM with 2 large walk-in closets? If we’re
good so far, let me tell you a bit more about this place before you look at the
pictures. My fave thing about this house is that it backs to a tree line, which
makes for a very PRIVATE back yard. On the other side of the tree line is
Jacobson Park. Yep. All 216 acres of it right there for you to enjoy all the
time and you don’t have to mow it 😉 Plus it is near the end of the cul-de-sac
and doesn’t have a house on one side. Want to hear more? * LOTS OF FRESH,
NEUTRAL PAINT *Fireplace *9 foot ceilings downstairs *Front Porch * Open Living
Space Upstairs *Close to Hamburg & I-75 *Fenced Yard *Look at the pictures
so you can keep going with this list. Call/text/e-mail agent for more info &
quick response :-)”

“So…You’ve probably noticed that most of the houses in this price range have
teeny tiny yards and are so close to each other that the sun never shines
between them. Right? But you’re also a person of taste who appreciates things
like granite counter tops, stainless appliances, and tile flooring, right? Well,
there is no need to compromise here! It has about a 1/4 acre lot with a
gorgeously flat backyard and is recently updated!! Now, be sure to look at the
pictures, but here is a partial list of what all this house offers: **FABULOUSLY
relaxing screened in patio **Recently updated granite, tile, carpet, fixtures,
 kitchen cabinet uplighting, water heater & stainless appliances ** Large
Upstairs laundry room ** Dunbar School district **This house has bigger living,
dining & secondary bedrooms than you typically see. I think this is an
awesome, relaxing place to be & has a really livable floor plan.
CALL/E-MAIL/TEXT for more info……..THANKS!”

 

How to turn $1000 into $5000

by John Rice

 

This bath looks pretty nice, huh?  Would you believe that just a week before this picture was taken it was probably the WORST feature of this house?  It looked like a worn out 1997 Parade of New Homes bathroom.  I can talk about this bathroom like this because this is my old house.  Thought it might be a good example of how you can often spend a little money addressing the worst features and turn it around.

So, here is where my $1000 went:

1.  The ugly and rusty builder grade light was replaced with this oil rubbed bronze one from Lowe’s for $110 and 15 minutes of my time.

2.  The very worn out white and green vinyl floor was ripped up and replaced with ceramic tile for $600.  These tiles were only 57 cents each, but laying them diagonally gave it some pizzazz.

3.  The whole room and pickled vanity were painted for about $200.

4.  The cheap gold hardware on the cabinets were replaced with oil rubbed bronze ones for about $25.

The tub, shower door, faucets, big ol’ plate glass mirrors and the rest are all original stuff.  I wanted to replace the plate glass mirrors with two individual framed mirrors, but I didn’t want to risk slicing an artery since I was doing all the work alone.

As you can see, I don’t even think I spent $1000 to turn this bathroom into one that is nicer than most in my old neighborhood.  Did you catch that?  “Nicer than most.”  That is all you need to do.  Sure, I could have dropped $15k in this bathroom and made it over the top and EVERYBODY would have loved it.  I could have, but didn’t because I wouldn’t have gotten a return on it in a neighborhood where few houses have been updated at all.  See, when a buyer or tenant is shopping, they will always pick the best one they can.  All you have to do to get them to pick your place is to study their choices and make it just a little better……one up the competition.

When you do something like this, you not only make it easier for a buyer or tenant to say yes to your place, you also increase the odds of MORE people saying yes to it.  More people saying yes is called Demand, and economics tells us that more demand means getting a better price.

Have a house that isn’t selling?  Create more demand by doing a few minor things like this.  You’ll be amazed at how the public responds.  I am renting this house out, and 3 of the 5 people who looked at it wanted it before I signed a lease.

Options when you need to sell your old house before buying

by John Rice

So, you want to buy a house and the only thing standing in the way is unloading your old one.  You either can’t or don’t want to get a bridge loan, pull equity out of the old house to fund the downpayment for the new one, or have two mortgages until the old one sells……what are you to do?

You pretty much have two options:  Write an offer BEFORE you sell your old one or AFTER you have a contract on the old one.  You ought to be out looking while your old place is on the market so you can get a vibe for what you can expect for the money and to learn first hand about locations/neighborhoods. Here are some insights on going either route:

WRITING AN OFFER BEFORE YOU SELL YOUR OLD ONE

This is the route most people want to take.  I’ve found people don’t like the unsettle feel of not knowing where they will be living, so they want to focus on signing a contract for a new place before they sell their old one.  I can’t say that I blame them, but you rarely get the best deal and most decent realtors will counter back with a kickout clause.  A kickout clause is where you have an accepted contract, and as long as nobody else comes along before you sell your house, everything is swell.  But, should another buyer come along without such a contingency, you have a specified period to either remove your contingency to sell the old place or bow out of the deal.  Also, most any house that is appealing enough to you to want to buy is also going to appeal to other buyers.  Long story short, you feel like you’re buying a house but you really may not be.  Let’s think this through…….If no other buyer were to come along prior to selling your house, then it will still be available when your old house does sell.  If another buyer does come along, you’d have lost it anyway.  So, really all you achieve from writing a contingency contract is that you feel like you are buying a house.  (Now, sometimes this is a good plan IF you can really remove the contingency should another buyer appear.  In that case, this is a good way of tying up the new house until your old one sells.)

Then there is price.  The seller perception of a contingency offer is that you are giving them a wish list.  To them, they are hearing you say you want to buy their house one day, maybe if, eventually, you sell your house or win the lottery.  I have never seen a seller get really motivated to go to their lowest price when they aren’t even sure all this will even happen.  I think you can get your best deal by waiting until your house sells and then writing a contract on whatever house you want.  Nothing motivates a seller like knowing they are 30 days or so from getting to move.  If you do write a contingency offer, know that basically you are paying a “Convenience Fee” by going this route.  Who knows, maybe paying a little more for the house may be worth the perceived peace of mind to you.  Your call!

WRITING AN OFFER AFTER YOU SELL YOUR HOUSE

I think you are not only going to be in a better position to negotiate, but you can avoid the heartache of losing an awesome house by waiting until you have a contract on your old house.  To a seller, a contingency just to close on your old house is much much stronger than asking them to wait for a buyer to bite on your old crib.

When I have gone over all these options with clients, the big question they have is “What do we do if we sell our old house and we can’t find a new one?”  I always tell them there is a chance that there might not be a suitable house available when they do sell their old one.  I am a darn good realtor, but one thing I haven’t mastered is magic.  I can’t make an awesome house appear out of nowhere.  Unless you are just super specific about your next house, odds are you can find one in time, close both the same day, and only move once.    I’ve never had anybody going this route have to rent temporarily until they found their awesome new place, but it is a risk.  Moving twice isn’t fun, but a few rough months becomes a distant memory once you do move into your ideal new place if totally necessary.  (I did once have a client who intentionally sold their old house so they could jump on the right one when it came on the market.  They were looking in a big time popular area where even in the worst of the market, houses sold fast.  They rented for several months while we looked at EVERY house as soon as it came on the market.  Their plan worked and they are now living large….and writing a contingency contract would not have got this house because there were multiple offers the first few days it was on the market!)

So, like so much in life, there are obstacles to deal with, and there is often no “One size fits all” decision to make.  In some situations, writing a contingency offer makes more sense, but most of the time, waiting to get a contract on your old house is the best way to go.

“Hey John, what do you think about this house?”

by John Rice

I’m all the time getting questions from my clients about certain houses or neighborhoods……Like, “Hey John, what do you think about the house on such and such street.”  If you ever see me pulled over on the side of the road or standing in the isle at Wal-Mart, odds are I just got an email with a similar question.  I try to point out things my clients may not have thought about which could affect their enjoyment of the property and/or its resale potential.  Here are some replies that I cut and pasted.   Thought it might give you a vibe for what it is like working with me.  I’ve removed the names of streets/neighborhoods that were in question since I don’t want to get hate mail from residents in those areas 😉

Here we go:

“That is a nice area, and you do occasionally see some houses go for more, but they tend to back to the wooded area I told you about, or have a pool, or some really unique feature.  The problem with that area is that once you get up around $350k, you start competing with other neighborhoods is that part of town that are in Dunbar High School or Rosa Parks Elementary. (Beaumont, Palomar, Firebrook)”

“I think the absolute ceiling for that house is in the low $400’s.  I don’t see how anybody could buy it for near the asking price, make improvements, and not end up being upside down on it.”

“You know this one has a rear entry garage, which makes the front look pretty but also means your backyard is the driveway and it making fencing a nightmare……and people who want a fence won’t buy the house when you sell it.”

“I think ******** hasn’t sold because it is a $135k house.  The listing agent is just comping square footage without making any adjustments for windows, ages of systems, attractiveness, etc.  ******* is an area where you can get the same square footage in poor shape for as low as $110k or as much as $160k if it is fixed up nice.”

“This end of this street was an infill project.  It is surrounded by a neighborhood of less expensive older houses.  It is about 100 feet from that same railroad track that is near ************.  This particular house backs to some tiny rental houses.  The other side of ******* is preferred.  Also, these newer houses on ******* have always struggled to sell.  I think it is because most buyers wanting newer houses want to feel like they are in a newer area.  This area feels like somebody randomly decided to build some nice houses.”

“It had been listed with another agent and expired.  The people did some painting and carpet and put it on with another agent.  I showed it last summer.  It is a nice house.  It feels like an extremely outdated house that has had just enough updating to make you think it isn’t as outdated.  The deck is nice.  The backyard has power lines running across the back, right at eye level with the deck.  The basement is disappointing.  It feels like the basement of a church where a youth group would have a lock-in.  It too is over-priced if nobody has bought it in this popular neighborhood yet.  Nice ones that are priced realistically move fast.”

“Very nice area.  I am pretty sure that house has a siding material called “Exterior Insulation finishing System”, also known as EIFS. It is a material that caused many houses to rot since it can trap moisture.  I typically advise clients to steer clear of it since it can be hard to resale a property with it. If it is maintained correctly, there is little risk of having a problem. Few people maintain it that well and when people hear the word “EIFS”, they assume the worst.  Google it if you like. I am sure there a videos about it.”