If you are planning on selling your old Washington, DC house, or its already on the market, one tip that experienced Realtors and Real Estate agents successfully utilize is to commission a complete history of the house. In this buyers market, its the one aspect that might make your house stand out with an extra bit of cache. If a buyer knows about the history of your house, they may just fall in love with the past social aspects and important people that lived there in addition to falling in love with your new Viking range.
A complete history costs less than a single newspaper advertisement, and if done right, it will include information on your architect, builder, owners and renters, and any changes that have been made to the house over the years. You can see good examples of houses histories here.
Kelsey & Associates has been doing this in Washington, DC for over 15 years, and can usually complete a house history in less than 30 days, and combine a fascinating array of deeds, vintage pictures, biographies, building permits, census details, newspaper searchers, passport applications, ships registries, etc. Sometimes even locate a living relative of your home's first owners; they are the people that have those family scrap books that show life in and outside of your house 100 years ago or more. Those kinds of pictures never make it into public archives.
Copies of your house history can be printed out for open houses, or a pdf created for use on websites. You never know who or when someone famous once lived or even rented a room in your DC house, and Real Estate agents agree that every house has a history, large or small. If your listings include vague language like "circa 1900" or "elegant architecture," a house history can change that to "built in 1912 by noted architect George E. Cooper," or "once home to Ice Cream millionaire Jacob Fussell." Which house would peak your interest more?
Find out how much it would cost to research your house history today!
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