• purchaser's income and credit history
• loan-to-value ratio
  
• loan program requirements
• appraiser
  
• loan underwriter
• loan closer

• Avoids monthly expense of Mortgage Insurance    
• Lower monthly payments

• Finance 100% of Sales Price plus portion of closing costs
• Lower Credit Scores Allowed
• Second Mortgage rate same as first

• Avoid paying Private Mortgage Insurance
• Lower Monthly Payments
• 30 Year Fixed rates and ARMS available on second mortgage

• Prices keep climbing --- while the number of home sales decreased in February, by 20% (from 64 to 51), the average sale price increased 2.46% (from $227,788 to $233,385).
  
  
• Sellers are POURING their homes on the market.  There were 148 new listings in February 2008, compared to 93 new listings in February 2007, and compared to 51 homes coming off the market by selling in February 2008.
  
  
• Buyer activity is high --- 93 properties went under contract in February 2008, as compared to only 89 in February 2007.
  

Yesterday's issue of the Daily News Record included a letter to the editor from Dr. Bob Alotta commenting on the "local rock blasting" taking place at Urban Exchange -- or, as Dr. Alotta put it, "the new luxury condominiums on East Market Street."  (the site of the demolition is pictured below)



Dr. Alotta (intentionally or unintentionally) makes a few false implications:

1.  Dr. Alotta states that "Since work began on this project, the water department had to replace three sections of sewer line in the middle of Newman Avenue..." 

I guess, technically, this is true, if you consider the start of Urban Exchange when the developers started making plans for the site . . . and if you don't assume (as many did) that the sewer line replacements were a result of the Urban Exchange project. 

In fact --- the sewer line replacements were not and are not being made to allow for the development of the Urban Exchange project. 

(Source: Marilyn, at Harrisonburg Water & Sewer, 540-434-9959)

2.  Dr. Alotta goes on to say that "A gas line was also ruptured." and that "...the city shouldn't have to absorb the cost of repairs..." that the builder should. 

I am not aware of a gas line rupturing --- but as the Urban Exchange demolition and site work has begun, a gas line did need to be relocated that traversed the Urban Exchange property.  However, despite Dr. Alotta's assertion to the contrary, the developers did have to pay for this work --- not the city! 

(Source: The developers, who had to pay for the work)

• Sales are down --- this year's 44 closings compared to last year's 63 closings shows a 43% drop in number of sales.
  
• Prices are up --- this year's average sale price (in February) of $234,908 compared to last year's average sale price (in February) of $227,788 shows a 3% increase in prices.
  

• The photo is a stock photo of a bank-owned home in Las Vegas. Apparently, even though foreclosures are really on the rise in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, they hide themselves well, such that they can't be photographed. :)
  
• The photo caption seems a bit backwards: "...The nation's housing bust has begun to be felt in the Valley, as well, sending local foreclosure rates higher." The "housing bust" is (partially) being caused by foreclosures --- I'm not sure I see how the housing bust would cause the foreclosures.
• In the article, William Wood, an economics professor at JMU, states that "Housing prices had risen to a point that a correction was inevitable..." and later, "...the Valley's correction was not as painful [as other parts of the country]." I'm not sure what correction William Wood is referring to, as average sales prices continued to trend upwards in 2007.

• Some sellers look at pricing psychologically -- they want to sell their home for what they paid for it plus improvements, or at the price the neighbors sold their house, etc.
• Real estate is an expensive asset to hold, given mortgage principal, interest, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc.

• A property owner in a newish subdivision only recently discovered (after having owned the property for many months) that they must pay Property Owners Association (POA) dues, as their subdivision has a POA. There may have been other reasons why this homeowner didn't find out about the homeowners association, but their deed does reference the restrictive covenants for their neighborhood, and that document references the existence of the POA.
  
• A few days before closing, a buyer discovers that the property they are purchasing has deed restrictions affecting their future use of the property. The restrictions are not entirely unreasonable, but they go beyond the restrictions otherwise imposed by zoning ordinances.