When you buy a primary residence, you benefit from numerous perks—if you occupy your home long enough. Not only can you get tax breaks for the mortgage interest you pay—up to $750,000 of debt if you bought after 2017—you can avoid paying capital gains on your home when you sell—up to $500,000 for married joint filers and […]

When people picture Smith Mountain Lake, they often imagine a serene escape: smooth waters, mountain views, and luxurious lake homes perfect for unwinding. While this picture is true, there’s so much more to the story. With wide-open spaces, endless adventure, and a close-knit community, Smith Mountain Lake is the kind of place where kids can […]

Every year, Remodeling Magazine ranks the national average costs of various home remodeling projects by the highest resale value and costs recouped. While most projects impact only parts of a home, their resale value is estimated in the sales price when the home is sold. For example, the top project is a garage door replacement that costs […]

First-time homebuyers may not be familiar with the best ways to choose plants that will thrive for their new home, but a good starting point is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Plant Hardiness Map. The USDA’s 13 Plant Hardiness Zones are defined by the by the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature, with each zone covering […]

Getting an older home ready for sale is a lot of work, sometimes requiring extensive repairs and updates to make it attractive enough to today’s homebuyers. But if you don’t want to “spend money to make money”, there are some advantages to selling your home for lot value. Lot value simply means the value of […]

After years of juggling work, school calendars, and back-to-back schedules, you finally get to choose how your days play out. For many people, that decision starts with where they are going to live. Resort communities offer more than just scenic views; they’re designed to support the lifestyle you truly want, whether that means early morning […]

When you see “Days on Market” (DOM) next to a listing, it’s more than just a number—it’s a measure of how long a home has been chasing its next owner. DOM starts ticking the moment your agent feeds the property into your local Multiple Listing Service and stops once buyer and seller sign on the […]

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) save money and manage network traffic by “throttling” broadband connections, resulting in “slower loading times, buffering during streaming, and reduced download or upload speeds.” The average internet speed is 214 Mbps in the U.S. Most providers put data caps on the amount of gigabytes (GB) they provide, which favors denser populations. AT&T DSL caps at 1,500 […]

Your credit scores are numbers that creditors, landlords, employers, insurers, and others use as shorthand or an educated guess to determine your attitude toward borrowing and how you might repay a loan. Credit scores are calculated individually by the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, from the information found in your credit reports: Liens, child support obligations, […]

If your home has had few to no showings or offers, it’s likely overpriced to homebuyers. They’re willing to pay fair market value, but little more. You’ll be successful with a price reduction if you act on the following: Accept the current market. Ask your Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network professional for an updated comparative market analysis with […]