Homes By The Numbers
March 13th, 2009 categories: Market Trends, Real Estate News, Relocating
Our local newspaper, the Free Lance Star (FLS), provided us with housing figures this week. First, on Wednesday, it reported the median sales price for the Fredericksburg area had fallen to the lowest level since April, 2003. February sales figures indicated the median sales price dropped to $190,000. RealtyTrac provides current tracking data for foreclosure properties nationwide. Below is a snapshot of the latest picture of Virginia foreclosures.
Yesterday, the FLS followed up with news that Spotsylvania was #1 last month. First in Virginia in the rate of foreclosures, by county. Again, the figures were drawn from RealtyTrac. As the article reported, Stafford County wasn’t far behind, finishing fourth in the state’s foreclosure rate.
While many see the foreclosure numbers as bad news, for those in the market to purchase a home, the news couldn’t be more welcome. There are a couple of obvious attractions for buyers:
1) Coupled with low mortgage rates, depressed home prices provide a market ripe for the picking.
2) For first time homebuyers ( to qualify for “first time” status, you only need not to have owned a principal residence for three years before buying a house), you also benefit from the recent stimulus package’s first time homebuyer’s tax credit.
According to the Metropolitan Regional Information Systems sales data, Spotsylvania home sales increased approximately 40 percent from January to February of this year. Some of the increase may be attributed to the move towards the traditional Spring buying season. But, an increase in the number of foreclosed homes, and the lower prices that accompany them, contributed as well.
While many lenders have taken steps to halt foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac, the number of U.S. homes threatened with losing their homes rose 30 percent in February from last year’s levels. So, from all appearances, it doesn’t appear as if our economic Humpty Dumpty will find himself in one piece anytime soon. And, while buyers may not feel home sellers’ pain, they can certainly benefit from it.
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When It Doesn’t Quack Like a Duck
March 4th, 2009 categories: Real Estate News
While March is upon us, the area is currently experiencing a cold spell. Schools are closed, and many government offices and businesses have taken the past two days off. All because of a little cold…and snow…and ice. Have you ever seen Virginia drivers trying to handle ice? It ain’t pretty!
Most of us are wondering, what ever happened to global warming? While the weathermen frequently seem to overstate their case, this time they were right on the mark. We were told we’d have seven inches, and Stafford and Spotsylvania counties got about seven inches. The brunt of the snowfall descended on Sunday evening and Monday morning. Of course, my high schooler was beside himself with joy at the prospect of additional school days off. Since it appears that it requires all the road clearing vehicles just to take care of the major county roads, many side roads aren’t safe for the county school buses to travel on when there’s snowfall. And, that’s probably good school board policy.
According to the weather channel, temperatures should be warming up next week. The big yellow school buses will be back on the roads, and the roads should be clear. So, it looks like Spring is right around the corner. Then again, maybe I’d better pull out the good old Farmer’s Almanac to double check.
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Does Your Doctor Make House Calls?
March 1st, 2009 categories: Real Estate News
Life is full of regrets. However, my years in uniform aren’t one of them.
Military health care has taken its share of criticism over the years, but, it has always been there when needed. Unexpected hospital visits have been challenging to say the least. Like most families, every now and then, someone in the family has a minor emergency (you know, cut, scrape, broken ankle….skateboard mishap) that requires immediate medical attention. Often, these occur after normal business hours, or more often than not, on a weekend. Unfortunately, as a military retiree, we don’t have the option of the base hospital/clinic to turn to any longer. So, for emergencies, until recently, the closest local hospital was the only local hospital, Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg.
Friday morning, the new Stafford Hospital Center opened its doors. It just so happens that its first patient, Mary Grey, 75 years of age, was already in the parking lot awaiting the opening of the doors for entry. According to Mrs. Grey, she was having abdominal pains and waited for the opening instead of driving the fifteen miles to the nearest hospital. Located on Route 1, just South of Interstate 95, Exit 140, the new North Stafford facility is part of the Medicorp Health System, just like its neighbor to the South, Mary Washington.
The 100-bed facility, offering all the services of any fully equipped medical facility, is just the first of two scheduled to open within the next two years. The other, the Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, currently under construction, will be located a couple of minutes South of Fredericksburg’s Massaponax exit. The 140-bed, acute care facility is scheduled to open its doors in June, 2010.
For those of us making the drive to Mary Washington Hospital for years for emergency care, the new kids on the block are just what the doctor ordered.
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Whose Earnest Money Is It?
February 26th, 2009 categories: Real Estate News, Relocating
When dealing with someone whose got something you’d like, have you ever been asked the question, “What’s it worth to you”? If you haven’t, you will some day. While that question may seem more rhetorical than actual, in the real estate business, often, the answer comes in the form of an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD).
What is an Earnest Money Deposit and why is it necessary when purchasing real estate?
First, sometimes as little as a dollar may suffice as the EMD, and sometimes, nothing at all. While it is customary, it is not essential in all states. Why? Since it is a show of commitment of “good faith” by the buyer, normally, it serves to demonstrate the buyer’s seriousness of intent to purchase through the deposit of earnest money into an escrow account. Is it ususally part of the real estate transaction process? Yes.
Often, in cases involving transactions between friends or family, no EMD is involved. Remember, an EMD is a commitment; a deposit that is held in escrow until settlement. At which time, it is applied to the buyer’s closing or settlement costs.
Earnest money deposits not only provide the seller a sign of commitment by the buyer, it also serves as a source of security as well. If the transaction is not consummated, and the buyer is found in default, the EMD may be forfeited. When the contract is ratified, the earnest money is placed in an escrow account. Once this deposit is made, the money no longer belongs solely to the buyer, but is now jointly owned by both parties to the contract.
The Deposit Will Be Held in Escrow Until:
1. Settlement occurs. In which case, it will be credited to the buyer towards the sales price.
2. All parties have agreed to its disposition.
3. The court has ordered its disbursement.
4. Finally, it is disposed of in a manner authorized by the laws and regulations of the appropriate jurisdiction.
In other words, if the buyer is in default, they will, most likely, lose their EMD.
How Much Should the Earnest Money Deposit Be?
That depends. On the market, and, in many cases, the value of the property. The EMD is normally no more than two percent of the purchase price. In a seller’s market, the EMD is normally larger, indicating to the seller the offer is a strong one. Similarly, popular properties may generate more than one offer, subsequently, increasing the amount of the earnest money deposits from interested buyers.
Good faith, interest, and trust are all components of real estate transactions. The EMD provides security for both the buyer and the seller. The buyer feels they have a “monetary interest” in the property from the day of ratification. The seller, on the other hand, finds security in the commitment the buyer has made, and availability of compensation through forfeiture of the EMD, should the buyer back out of the contract.
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When A First Time Home Buyer Really Isn’t
February 23rd, 2009 categories: Real Estate News, Relocating
The stimulus package recently signed into law has met with praise and criticism. For some, there’s too many billions being directed at the wrong programs. For others, there isn’t enough, and besides, isn’t it too late for anything to work?
Like most legislation that’s passed, there’s plenty of criticism from both sides of the political aisle. While determining the success of the initiative is perhaps better seen in hindsight, there appear to be a number of bright spots that look promising. One of those is the first time home buyers tax credit.
To begin with, to qualify for “first time” status, you only need to have not owned a principal residence for three years before buying a house. So, do you qualify if you’ve purchased homes before? Well, according to Uncle Sam’s definition, almost anyone qualifies, as long as you have not “owned a principal residence for three years before buying a house.” Of course, that’s this house, the one you’re receiving the tax credit for.
Some of the package’s stipulations include:
1. The tax credit is equivalent to 10 percent of the purchase price of the home. While this figure is capped at $8000, it does not have to be repaid, unless the purchaser sells the home prior to owning it for three years. In that case, the credit must be returned to the federal government.
2. There are income limits for the program. To qualify for full credit, single buyers need an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less, while the limit for couples is double that amount.
3. The program applies to those purchasing homes in 2009, after January 1, and before December 1.
With mortgage rates and home prices at bargain rates, is this stimulus package the ideal opportunity for home buyers? As they say, isn’t this the “perfect storm“?
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Never Growing Old
February 17th, 2009 categories: Real Estate News, Relocating
Have you ever wondered whether those daily vitamins people take make a difference? Years ago I ran across a New York Times article indicating seventy percent of Americans took daily vitamins or supplements, convinced that these would make them healthier, and, as a result, add years to their lives. Would imagine, in today’s health conscious, image driven society, those numbers have only increased. But, is that money well spent?
In a report published last week by the U.K’s Daily Mail, researchers found ”no benefits from vitamin pills against cancers or heart disease, and they did not protect against dying prematurely.” However, the good news is the same article indicated the study’s results may have been skewed “by the type of people habitually taking vitamins.” Those being the same people who eat healthier and exercise more. In other words, lead healthier lifestyles, thus making it difficult to pinpoint exactly which acts were responsible for what benefits. So, is it the lifestyle or the pills that are making those studied healthy? While we may not be able to stop the aging process, there are some simple things we can do each day to make the moments we do have a bit better for ourselves and those we come into contact with.
The English writer and poet Samuel Johnson once said:
“The excesses of hope must be expiated by pain; and expectations improperly indulged, must end in disappointment. If it be asked, what is the improper expectation which it is dangerous to indulge, experience will quickly answer, that it is such expectation raised as is dictated not by reason, but by desire; expectations raised, not by the common occurrences of life, but by the wants of the expectant; an expectation that requires the common course of things to be changed, and the general rules of action to be broken.”
In other words, expecting too much can certainly lead to loads of disappointment. How many times has a friend or family member failed to respond to the letter you sent? Or, in today’s digital world, do your e-mails to them (and to clients), containing questions (and, no, not the rhetorical kind), ever go answered? If so, does it ever frustrate you? Or, do you simply shrug it off as being impolite or inconsiderate, or unprofessional? Are you exepecting too much?
Have you ever thought that the receiver is simply making a choice. They have better things to do than respond to you! I can recall my father reminding me that if something is important to someone, they’ll will do it. Logically, it seems that if it is important to the receiver, a response will be forthcoming.
As a Realtor, response time is one of our keys to success with leads, and generally, with clients. As a provider of information – information that is available from many sources - the value of how and when we respond to inquiries can’t be understated. The term normally applied to the “when” is the word, ”timely”. OK. But what does timely mean? How do we quantify it? Is that a response within a day? An hour? A couple of minutes?
Fortunately, with the proliferation of handheld devices, most of us are able to respond rapidly, and oftentimes immediately, to lead or client/customer requests. Even if we’re out of the office, the calls are forwarded to our iPhone or Blackberry, or other handheld device. Regardless of what data the inquirer is looking for, frequently, the details are at our fingertips.
While a rapid response is important, accuracy, some would argue, is more important, especially when it’s the first contact with a lead. As we’ve all learned, first impressions are oftentimes lasting impressions.
While doing our best to enjoy the life we have, and possibly add a few more years to our lives, we’re willing to make some modifications to our diets and lifestyles. While it won’t make time stand still, we hope it improves our quality of life. But, there are some practices and habits that never grow old, whether we do them personally or professionally. Answering inquiries, proving information, and responding to e-mails in a timely manner, aren’t just good business, they’re also common courtesy. And, without them, your business doesn’t stand a chance.
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