Tina Merritt - Virginia Beach Real Estate

Selling your house? Getting ready to sell your house? Don't overlook these 10 things to pay attention to!

1. The windows. When you look out, you should see nothing but the other side. No dirt. No fogging. No cracks. No torn screens. This includes scrubbing the window sills and scraping off the paint left behind when they were re-painted a few years ago.

2. The blinds. Plastic mini-blinds have a tendency to get dusty and break easily. Don't mess with cleaning them - it's just not worth it. Go to Walmart and pick up new ones. If the blinds are broken, replace them. The buyers will be looking out the windows (see above) if they can't get to the windows because of broken blinds, they will get the impression the home is not maintained.

3. The fireplace. Clean it. It doesn't matter that you have never used it or that it is August. If it is wood-burning, no wood or ash residue should be left inside. If it is a gas log fireplace - get the cob webs out! Don't forget the screens and glass doors if you have them. Also, use an acid cleaner to get the ash and soot off of the fireplace hearth.

4. The baseboards. Get a bucket of warm water and Pinesol and wipe them down. They collect dust. Then, get yourself a cup of semi-gloss and a brush and either touch-up or re-paint them. Baseboards get abused by the vacuum cleaner and need to be touched up.

5. The grass. Mowing it is not enough. Edge it. A neat edge along the sidewalks and driveway gives the impression of a well-mainicured yard. Take out the Roundup and hit the grass and weeds growing up in the cracks in the driveway and sidewalks.

6. Under the lower kitchen cabinets. This is usually called a kickplate. It gets abused and usually needs painting, repair or replacement. This includes the kickplates on the refrigerator and dishwasher - those get downright nasty. Also, spiders love making cobwebs under the cabinets - make sure to get the vacuum in there.

7. The upper corners of the room. Dust and cobwebs are at home here. Make them homeless.

8. Ceiling fan blades. Turn off your fans and take a look at the blades. There's probably a layer of dust on them. Clean them. Well.

9. The light bulbs. Every light bulb in every light fixture on the property should be operable. Use the highewst wattage recommended for the fixture. Buyers love light. Burned out bulbs indicate a lack of maintenance.

10. The first 3 stairs on the staircase. In many houses, the stairs are the first thing you see when you open the door. The first 3 stairs trap a lot of dirt and the risers are usually pretty banged up. Clean these well and touch up the paint on the risers. In addition, make sure that bannister sparkles.

Happy Selling!

Tina in Virginia

From May 25th until May 31st 2009, several items will be exempt from sales tax throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

These items include those considered "hurricane preparedness items" such as: batteries, smoke detectors and first aid kits.

Here is the complete list:

• Portable generators and generator power cords
• Inverters and inverter power cables
• Artificial ice, blue ice, ice packs and reusable ice
• Batteries (excluding automobile or boat batteries)
o AAA, AA, C and D size
o 6- or 9-volt
o Cell phone batteries
• Any battery-powered light sources ,including
flashlights, lanterns and glow sticks -- no candles
• Tarpaulins, plastic sheeting, plastic drop cloths and
other flexible waterproof sheeting
• Bungee cords and rope
• Ground anchor systems or tie down kits
• Ratchet straps
• Duct tape
• Carbon monoxide detectors
• Smoke detectors
• Fire extinguishers
• Empty gas, propane or diesel fuel tanks or containers
• Water storage containers, including buckets, barrels,
canteen, cans, cooler
• Nonelectric food storage coolers
• Bottled water, any size and number of bottles,
including flavored, carbonated and vitamin water
• Manual can openers
• Battery-powered or hand-crank radios (including
radios with an electrical power option)
• Two-way radios
• Weather band radios and NOAA Weather Radios
• Storm shutter devices that are made, rated and
marketed specifically for the prevention of storm
damage to windows -- no plywood
• Cell phone chargers
• First aid kits

• Portable generators and generator power cords
• Inverters and inverter power cables

For more information on the Virginia Department of Taxation Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday, please visit their site here.

For those who are new to the area (or who have been under a rock), a little bit of history: the Southeastern Parkway/Expressway has been in the "works" for over 20 years. The plan is for a 21 mile tool road connecting Virginia Beach and Chespeake.

It appears it will not come to fruition in my lifetime.

The major obstacle for the plan has been the environmental impact of the parkway. The proposed road stretches over wetlands; a large portion of the landscape in Southeastern Virginia.

After discussions with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Highway Administration recently voided the "prior concurrence" of the environmental impact statement for the Parkway.

It's just another "bump in the road" for the Parkway that will now cost over $2 billion to build and has no set source of funding. The EPA has shot the project down 3 times: 1989, 1994 and 2005; citing the negative wetlands impact outweighs the traffic benefits. The project could destroy 170 acres of wetlands.

At a meeting this past Thursday, officials from the Federal Highway Administration offered to pay for mediation between the cities of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake and the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers.

Spring is here and that means the flowers are blooming, the birds are singing and it's time for football!

Yes, I said it! FOOTBALL!!!!

The Virginia Tech Orange and Maroon Spring Football game is this Saturday, April 25th at 2pm at Lane Stadium!

The game is FREE, parking is FREE and it's a great opportunity to get a preview of the upcoming football season!

There's even a spring football media guide! Here's a link to it.