Archive for February 2013
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Founders Way Condominiums: Open Floor Plans, Low/No Maintenance, One(+) Level Living |
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If you are looking for low-maintenance living under $200K in or near Harrisonburg, primarily on one-level, there aren't many options out there --- or there weren't many options, until Founders Way Condominiums started being built. These upscale condos with an open floor plan feature two or three bedrooms and range in price from $150K to $200K. View photos of a: two bedroom condo | three bedroom condo View more details at FoundersWay.com. Let me know if you have questions, or if you'd like to take a tour of these new condos. | |
All months (and market segments) were not created equal |
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If you'll be selling a $300K+ home this year, you should know that all months are not created equal. Last year there was a significant spike in $300K+ buyers during July and August (shown above) -- and this was not a trend seen as significantly in the overall market (shown below). And remember --- if you're hoping to be one of those $300K+ July/August home sales, we should start talking now about:
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Harrisonburg Startup Weekend, April 5-7, 2013 |
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Exciting news --- tell all your entrepreneurial friends (software developers, designers, business-minded people) --- there is a Startup Weekend event happening in Harrisonburg this Spring! From the Startup Weekend Harrisonburg web site.... Ever wondered what it takes to be an entrepreneur?Startup Weekend Harrisonburg will begin on Friday (April 5) at 5pm and end on Sunday evening around 9p. Here is an overview of how these events work.... Friday: Participants arrive between 5-7 PM, begin networking, and eat dinner. After an ice-breaking game and a short introduction by the Facilitator, there will typically be 1 short speech on practical topics ranging from Pitching Best Practices to Lean Startup Methodology and more. Then the "Pitchfire" will commence: anyone intending to pitch will have 60 seconds to give their best pitch. No presentations or props needed for Friday. It will just be you and a mic. After pitches are finished, all attendees will vote on their favorites, and using these votes the top ideas will be selected to be worked on over the weekend. Teams will form organically, consolidate, and begin working.See below (click for a larger image) for the schedule for the weekend.... Are you going to Startup Weekend Harrisonburg? Register today! | |
Today is STEM Day at the Valley Mall (10AM-4PM) |
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Join Harrisonburg City Public Schools as they launch their first ever Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Day today. There will be over 50 interactive exhibits, displays, hands on experiments and so much more! Bring the kids out and foster their love for fun and entertaining education. Click here to view details of the exhibits at today's STEM day, including Wind Energy, Tower of Cards, Hovercrafts, Sink and Float, Puff Mobiles, Recycle Regatta, Robotics, Lego League, Square Wheel Bike, Ooblek Jog, Star Lab, Engineering, Chemistry Sizzles, Computer Drawing, and more! Visit the STEM Day web site here to view a promotional video.... | |
Celebrate Downtown Harrisonburg, Monday, 5p-7p, Clementine |
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Don't miss this FREE RECEPTION on Monday from 5p-7p at Clementine! Enjoy refreshments, toast to another year of downtown success, and hear exciting plans for the future! Awards presented for Design Excellence, Volunteer of the Year, and Partner of the Year. | |
Cool Aerials from Google Maps: Rockingham Memorial Hospital |
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As shown above, our beautiful, recently built regional hospital. Can you spot the helicopter landing pad? Can you count the parking spaces? Click here for a larger version. Previous Cool Aerials from Google Maps: | |
Neilsen Construction to build $2.4M lab for SRI International |
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click here for a larger version of this image As indicated per a recent building permit issued by Rockingham County, it seems that Neilsen Construction will be building out the first floor of SRI International's Rockingham County facility with a $2.4 million laboratory. SRI International is located just north of the Harrisonburg City limits, you'll find yourself at the entrance to the Rockingham Center for Research & Technology, more recently identified as Innovation Village @ Rockingham. click here for a larger version of this image | |
Only (4) Liberty Square II townhomes remain.... |
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Constructing is coming to close in some of the most recently built townhome communities in Harrisonburg, such as Liberty Square II. As indicated above, only four townhouses are left for sale, and they are all current under construction. View: Pricing | 3 BR floor plan | 2 BR floor plan Let me know if you are interested in purchasing a townhome at Liberty Square II. | |
Harrisonburg-Rockingham ranked 9th Safest metro area |
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The Harrisonburg-Rockingham metro area has been ranked the 9th safest in the U.S. --- out of 366 metro areas --- by Congressional Quarterly. Read more....
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You will LOVE this statistic -- home sales up 77% thus far in February |
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Admittedly, I'm a day behind. So, Happy Valentine's Day yesterday, and I hope you LOVE the fact that our local housing market is off to a strong start in 2013. Above you will see that home sales are up 77% in the first half of February, as compared to the same time period last year. | |
City kids can (likely) attend County schools |
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Do you live in the City of Harrisonburg, but want your son or daughter to attend school in Rockingham County? Are you considering moving from the County to the City, but still want your son or daughter to attend school in Rockingham County? Rockingham County is continuing a program that will allow students that do not live in Rockingham County to apply to attend school in Rockingham County. A few notes....
Read today's DNR article on this topic here. | |
JMU to Raze (no, not raise) former Rockingham Cooperative building on W Grace St |
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Source: Google Street View Per the Daily News Record, JMU has announced that they will raze (remove, destroy, demolish) the former Rockingham Cooperative building shown above. This area will be coming surface level parking for now, though JMU will likely building something on it at some point in the future. Source: Google Maps The Rockingham Cooperative building (red "A" marker above) was purchased in 2010 as a natural fit into JMU's expanding campus. As shown above, it is a link between the former Harrisonburg High School building (labeled as Memorial Hall) and the remainder of the JMU campus (all shown in gold). Read the Daily News Record article here. | |
Cool Aerials from Google Maps: Quarry near Smithland Elementary |
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Hidden just out of site between Linda Lane and Interstate 81, there is a huge quarry -- possibly the site of a future 160-Acre Mixed Use Development. Previous Cool Aerials from Google Maps: | |
Overview of Virginia Housing Market in 2012 |
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The Virginia Associations of Realtor has published their annual review of the Virginia housing market, entitled "Pieces of Home" as shown above. Click here to read this comprehensive report. | |
Local Online Real Estate Resources |
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Just a reminder of a few resources to help guide your real estate decisions.... Central Shenandoah Valley Property Search http://www.ScottPRogers.com Monthly Real Estate Market Reports http://www.HarrisonburgHousingMarket.com Ongoing Housing Market Analysis & Commentary http://www.HarrisonburgHousingToday.com Comprehensive Data on Harrisonburg Townhouse Communities http://www.HarrisonburgTownhouses.com New Construction Homes For Sale http://www.HarrisonburgNewHomes.com Half Million (plus) Homes in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County http://www.HarrisonburgLuxuryHomes.com Most Recent Listings in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County http://www.NewListingsInHarrisonburg.com Trustee Sales in Harrisonburg & Rockingham County http://www.HarrisonburgForeclosures.com Bank Owned Properties in Harrisonburg & Rockingham http://www.HarrisonburgREO.com Potential Short Sales in Harrisonburg & Rockingham County http://www.HarrisonburgShortSales.com Owner Financed Properties in Harrisonburg & Rockingham County http://www.HarrisonburgOwnerFinancing.com Lease/Purchase Properties in Harrisonburg & Rockingham County http://www.HarrisonburgLeasePurchase.com Property Transfers in Harrisonburg & Rockingham County http://www.HarrisonburgPropertyTransfers.com | |
Home Sales, Contracts Strong in January 2013 |
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The February 2013 Harrisonburg & Rockingham County Real Estate Market Report has been published, with these bits of encouraging news about our local housing market. January home sales (47) were up 21% over last January (39)..... January contracts (76) were up 29% over last January (59).... When it comes to home values, last January was a bit of an anomaly, with much higher than normal median and average values. As such, it's best to look at 12-month indicators, where we will see small downward adjustments in home values....
Amidst higher sales, higher contracts, and slightly lower prices, inventory levels continue to decline.... It is also important to note that interest rates have started to increase (a bit) over the past several months.... As always, learn lots more by downloading the full February 2013 Harrisonburg & Rockingham County Real Estate Market Report. And, if you have questions about the local housing market, or if I can be of assistance to you with real estate that you own, or that you'd like to own, please be in touch. You can reach me most easily at 540-578-0102 or scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com. | |
Eureka! Median Days on Market more insightful than Average |
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The health of our local housing market has improved over the past year, but the one metric that has continued to appear quite depressing has been "Average Days on Market" -- shown above in blue. This is the average number of days between the listing date and closing date of properties that have actually sold. I have always used AVERAGE days on market, as that seems to be used quite widely in the industry as the best metric, but based on the encouragement of several of my blog readers, I have (finally) looked at how the MEDIAN days on market trend differs. As shown above, the Median Days on Market trend (red) seems to be a much better indication of how long it takes for a house to sell in our market. As the mathematicians among you know, an AVERAGE can be greatly skewed by outliers, for example some houses that have finally (!!) been selling over the past year or two that had extremely high days on market. A MEDIAN value is a better indicator of "central tendencies" when there are a significant number of outliers. Thus, in 2012, half of the homes that sold did so in less than 144 days, and half did so in more than 144 days. I believe that is much more helpful data than an average of 218 days on the market! | |
New Listings in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County |
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Now you can browse the last 14 days of new listings in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County via NewListingsInHarrisonburg.com. Feel free to bookmark this new site, and check back regularly, or.... If you want to keep up every house that is coming on the market, sign up to receive daily e-mail updates with all new listings. You can, of course, also sign up for your own Property Alerts account to set up as many custom searches as you'd like with e-mail alerts. | |
Cool Aerials from Google Maps: Frazier Quarry |
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You might have driven by Frazier Quarry on Waterman Drive and not even noticed this enormous quarry located within the Harrisonburg City Limits! You'll see a lot of the stone from Frazier Quarry located on the bluestone buildings at JMU. Learn more about bluestone, Frazier Quarry and JMU here. | |
How negotiable are bank owned (REO) list prices? |
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As you'll note, above, banks aren't that much more flexible on price than the average seller on the market. That said, their list prices are oftentimes more compelling than typical listings, which makes the "normal" amount of negotiating room less of a concern for most buyers. View upcoming Trustee Sales View current bank owned listings | |
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Scott Rogers
Funkhouser Real
Estate Group
540-578-0102
scott@funkhousergroup.com
Licensed in the
Commonwealth of Virginia
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