Frequently Asked Questions?

How Can I reach Bernard?

Bernard Davison
REALTOR®
US Preferred Realty
1255 W. Baseline Rd.
Mesa, AZ 85201
480.560.0604
Info@BernardDavison.co

What are Home Comps?
Comps, or "comparables," are simply a collection of recent sales prices of similar homes in your area.

If you are considering selling your home, your Realtor will show you comps – what houses of the same approximate size in your neighborhood – have been selling for. That will help you both determine the best sales price for your house. If you are buying, comps are also worth looking at to help you measure the value/condition of the homes you are considering to what other buyers have thought appropriate prices were for similar homes in the neighborhood.

If a house exactly like yours – same size, same age, same condition - on the other side of town is selling for $200,000, don’t think you’re made in the shade at the same price. A host of things in your own neighborhood can affect your home’s price – the quality of schools, the crime rate, or the street you live on. For instance, you may have a stellar home, but if it’s on a busy street, its value will undoubtedly be less than a comparable home on a road less traveled. Potential rezoning of adjacent areas also can affect comps: If that lovely forest behind your home is due to become a sea of condominiums, your home’s value is likely to be less than a similar home that will retain its forest view.

So just remember: Your house is not’t compared to one across town; it’s compared to those across the street or around the corner.

What is an Improvement?
An improvement is a positive alteration to a home or its land. It can be an upgraded kitchen, a new bathroom, a renovated basement and other obvious structural changes. A new roof or fresh interior or exterior paint can be an improvement, as can updated electrical and plumbing systems.

Think, too, in terms of what stays with a house when you buy/sell it – lighting fixtures, window treatments, flooring. Updating all of these can be viewed as improvements from a buyer’s perspective.

Amenities like swimming pools, hot tubs, brick vs. asphalt driveways, sunrooms, and enclosed porches are other possible, positive additions to a home.

Additional structures like sheds or guest houses or garage apartments can constitute improvements, as well.

Landscaping is another strong way to make improvements to a home. Well-designed trees, shrubs, flowers, walkways, fences and yards can make a huge difference in a home’s curb appeal. (You’ve probably noticed that homes with stately, mature trees tend to have more value than homes with no trees or very young ones.)

If you’re considering an improvement to your home or land, be sure your local zoning code allows for the changes you want to make. In some areas, a rental apartment over your garage or in your basement may not be allowed. A fence may only be allowed to be a certain height or constructed out of specific material. (Some areas, for instance, don’t allow chain-link fences in the front yards of residential areas.) Your lot’s setback requirements may mean you can’t extend your family room as far into your back yard as you’d hoped. Also, know that permits are often required before you (or a contractor) can make many improvements on your home.

How Do I Increase My Home Value?
The list of ways to increase a home’s value often is endless and depends a great deal on how much you want to spend. A house that’s more than 50 or 70 years old likely will benefit from upgraded electrical and plumbing systems, a new roof (if the existing roof is deteriorating), etc. While those add value, they’re not alterations that are easily seen.

To make more obvious changes that will increase your home’s value, think in terms of expanding rooms, adding rooms, updating bathrooms and kitchens.

Paint – interior and exterior – is an easy, inexpensive way to increase a home’s value. Landscaping is another way to quickly improve the appearance and value of a home.

Of course, amenities appropriate for your area can help – adding a swimming pool, finishing the basement for added living space, and adding a fence.

Another way to increase a home’s value is to advocate for the neighborhood. Are there properties on your block that are not well kept? If so, they’ll detract from your own home’s value. Talk to the homeowners or city code enforcement officers about ways to boost those homes’ appearance. Are the schools declining or overcrowded? Work with the school board to turn that situation around. A Neighborhood Watch program can help nip crime in the bud, making your block more appealing. Keeping an eye on the city’s zoning plans can help assure that your street isn’t expanded to four lanes or that an adjacent undeveloped block isn’t going to become the ugly, unappealing back of a strip mall.

What Can Negatively Affect House Values in My Area?
Plenty of things can lower home values in any given neighborhood:

Condition of the houses. Do your neighbors maintain their homes well, or are their lawns overgrown with weeds and their yards full of junk cars and decrepit appliances?

Condition of the streets. Does your city/county/homeowners association maintain your streets well, or are they pocked with potholes? Do they drain well during spring rains? Are they plowed frequently enough in the winter? Are there sidewalks or bike paths?

Crime. How does crime in your neighborhood stack up with rates around the city? Are the police responsive to problems? Do you have a Neighborhood Watch in place, showing that neighbors work together and take crime seriously?

Schools. How are test scores in the schools where your neighborhood’s kids go? (Remember, with constant school redistricting, sometimes the school around the corner is NOT the one where kids in your area go; they may have to go to another school.) Are the schools overcrowded? Are they old and in need of repair or expansion or updating? Are there discipline problems?

Zoning. Will all the neighborhood streets remain quiet, or does the city or county have plans to widen streets to accommodate more traffic – using your neighborhood as a path from one side of town to another? Will that block of decrepit homes nearby be redeveloped into pretty new houses, or will your city put a strip mall or convention center or low-income apartments there?