Take a few minutes to walk through this four bedroom, two and a half bathroom home with a two car garage in the Turner Ashby school district offers a spacious and open floor plan with a two-story foyer, formal living room (or study, music room or art room), an eat-in kitchen, a large family room and a formal dining room with a gas fireplace. This home adjoins farmland in the rear of the house and offers beautiful views from the deck and many rooms of the house. Don't miss the hardwood floors in the foyer, living room and dining room, ceramic tile in the kitchen, the laundry room with a sink, the extended garage with lots of storage space, and the storage building in the backyard.

Click here to walk through this home, on your computer, phone or tablet.

Or, visit this home's property website.

Or, view high resolution photos of this home by clicking the collage below....



Find out more about this 3D Walk Through technology at WalkThroughThisHome.com....



 

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Olive Garden and Krispy Kreme **MIGHT** open in Harrisonburg.  Per today's Daily News Record article....

• Krispy Kreme has signed a lease to build in Shoney's old location as shown above, but they are in a due diligence period, so everything is not finalized.
   
• Olive Garden is researching the possibility of building a new location on the site of the Best Western as shown above.  This is even less certain than Krispy Kreme at this point.
  

Click here for a larger map.

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It has been a while since I posted a sales update on Preston Lake -- the area's largest (intended) mixed use community that was started just before the real estate boom, was foreclosed on, was purchased by a new developer, and now seems to be gaining some momentum.

The pace of single family home sales jumped up quite a bit in 2015....



Sales of rowhouses - the original, large, upscale, ornate townhouses built by The Hine Group slowed (stopped) in 2015....



The new developer at Preston Lake launched several new townhouses concepts, which started selling in 2014....



Finally, a new "villa" product was launched in 2015 -- at the lowest price point (and size of home) yet....



Of note -- these sales (above) are all of the sales shown in the MLS.  It is likely that there have been a few other sales direct from the builder/developer to buyer that are not reflected in the MLS.

If you have questions about Preston Lake, check out their website, or email me (scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com).  My dad lives at Preston Lake and I am over there quite a bit.
 

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This was another helpful data set in the housing study prepared for the Harrisonburg Housing and Redevelopment Authority....

Non-Student Apartment Complexes in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County:

• 250 Metro (10)
   
  
• Reserve at Stone Port (168)
   
  
• Urban Exchange (194)
   
  
• City Exchange (32)
   
  
• Ice House (34)
   
  
• Livery Lofts (12)
   
  
• Loop Modern (9)
   
  
• Sancar Flats at West Rock (48)
  

Now -- to be clear -- some students do live in many of these apartment buildings/complexes -- but this is a reasonable list of apartments that non-students could/should consider if they are looking for an apartment to lease in Harrisonburg.

 

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A recently completed housing study prepared for the Harrisonburg Housing and Redevelopment Authority had a helpful and informative snapshot of recent economic development announcements.....

• Symi International, a water importing company, announced in January, 2014 that it would open an office and a warehousing and distribution center in Harrisonburg within 18 months where it would employ 18 people.
   
  
• DBT-Data, which operates a data processing center in Harrisonburg, announced in January, 2014 that it would expand by adding 35 new jobs.
   
  
• Ice House. Construction was completed in the summer of 2014 on this fully renovated 80,000 square foot structure that was originally built for ice and cold storage in 1934. JMU leased approximately 30,000 square feet of office space at the building to house university departments, such as Communications and
  Marketing, Public Affairs, the Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center, and the Center of Economic Education. The building is located on the corner of South Liberty and West Bruce Street.
   
  
• Approved Colleges, which markets services focused in online education, announced in January, 2014 that it would hire 40 additional employees in Harrisonburg in a newly renovated space at 126 West Bruce Street.
   
  
• Shenandoah Processing announced in December, 2013 that it would open a new poultry plant in Harrisonburg where it would employ 102 people. It will serve the market for organically raised and "all-natural" chicken.
   
  
• Bellaire at Stone Port. This is an assisted living community currently under development along Stone Port Road across from the Rockingham Memorial Hospital. The facility will include 64 assisted living apartments and 24 memory care apartments in an 80,890 square foot complex. Completion is expected by mid-2016. At least 40 new jobs will be created.
   
  
• Walmart is constructing a 128,000 square foot store in Timberville. The supercenter would create about 300 jobs. Construction is planned to be completed by 2016.
   
  
• Sentara RMH Medical Center. Ground was broken in November, 2014 on this two-story, 52,000 square foot medical facility that will better serve the needs of advanced imaging, orthopedics and sports medicine patients. The facility opened in Fall, 2015.
   
  
• Bridgewater Retirement Community plans to renovate and add 36,000 square feet to the Huffman Health Center, which houses approximately 130 residents in long-term nursing care. The project is currently in the schematic design phase. Currently most residents are in shared rooms, but in the new model, about 70 percent of the rooms will be private. Completion of the project is anticipated for late 2016 or early 2017.
  
  
• Serco, a records management and patent processing company, announced in November, 2014 that it would expand by adding 40 new positions at its Harrisonburg location.
   
  
• Special Fleet Service, a commercial truck body fabrication company, announced in September, 2014 that it would add 45 employees to its Harrisonburg location.
   
  
• Shenandoah Growers announced in March, 2015 that it would expand its organic herb nursery greenhouse and production facility in Rockingham County by adding 15 new jobs. Shenandoah Growers will install a new 78,000 square foot nursery greenhouse at its current facility.
   
  
• AXON Ghost Sentinel, a Harrisonburg-based cyber security firm, announced in June, 2015 that it would expand in the City, adding 29 new jobs.
   
  
• The Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative announced in July, 2015 that it would build an 80,000 square foot turkey processing facility in Hinton over the next three years. The move is expected to create six jobs and increase the co-op's production by more than 45 percent. The company also plans to invest in its feed mill in Broadway and its grain elevator in Linville.
   
  
• Hotel Madison and Shenandoah Valley Conference Center. Construction on this 21,000 square foot hotel is slated to begin in the spring of 2016. The 205-room facility will be constructed and operated by dpM Partners on land leased from JMU. The project is expected to create nearly 60 full-time jobs once the facility opens.
   
  
• Sentara Healthcare Clinic. Ground was broken in June, 2015 on a new medical facility in Timberville in northern Rockingham County. The free-standing 13,580 square foot facility will house the physicians and staff members of Timberville Health Care and Springbrook Family Medicine in Broadway. The center will also offer X-ray, laboratory and rehabilitation services. The project is expected to be completed in early-2016 and generate 20± new jobs.
  

Most of these announcements did / have / are coming to pass, showing some strong economic development activity in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

Do you know of any additional recent economic development announcement?  Are any of those on the list above now inaccurate or out of date?
  

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The list above shows the 50 properties in Harrisonburg with the highest assessed values per the 2016 assessments.  As you can see, JMU, apartment complexes and City schools are many of the most valuable properties.

Let's take a closer look at the top 10....


017 B 1
900 S MAIN ST
VISITORS JAMES MADISON UN
$314,295,600


085 A 3
UNIVERSITY BLVD
COMMONWEALTH OF VA VISITORS OF JMU
$183,758,900


017 C 0-17
235 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR WAY
VISITORS OF JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
$72,134,500


081 A 17
250 CHESTNUT RIDGE DR
COPPER BEECH TOWNHOME COMMUNITIES
$49,952,800


018 D 2 3 5
VISITORS JAMES MADISON UN
$47,061,600


086 D 1
UNIVERSITY BLVD    VISITORS
JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
$45,777,400


117 A 2
935 GARBERS CHURCH RD
HARRISONBURG CITY SCHOOL BOARD
$44,560,100


078 C 3
1925 E MARKET ST
SM VALLEY MALL LLC
$41,596,500


051 A 1
1301 HILLCREST DR   
EASTERN MENNONITE COLLEGE & SEMINARY INC   
$34,447,800


072 A 16
LINDA LA
SCHOOL BOARD OF THE CITY OF   
$33,905,400

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Sorting properties in the City by their owner results in the data outlined above.  These are likely some of the most prolific property owners in the City of Harrisonburg.  One important disclaimer, however, is that this summary does not account for people who own properties under multiple ownership entities.

A more owner specific notes....

• The 134 properties owned by Charleston Townes LLC are a single student housing complex that happens to be legally split up into separate individual properties.
  
• The 103 properties owned by Pheasant Run Townhomes LLC have since been sold to a new entity.
  
• The 87 properties owned by WRP LLC appear to all be townhouses at The Townes at Wellington Park.
  
• The 42 properties owned by THH II LLC are all (student rental) townhouses on Devon Lane.
  
• The 34 properties owned by Village at Forest Hills LLC are all (student rental) townhouses on Village Lane.
  
• Most (31) of the 33 properties owned by Hi-Sky Enterprises LLC are condominiums at Madison Manor.
  
• The 33 properties owned by the Chatham Land Company are undeveloped lots in Chatham Square, a recent City subdivision.
  
• The 23 properties owned by Pheasant Run LLC appear to (mostly?) be undeveloped lots in Willow Hill, a recent City subdivision.
  
  

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Did your 2016 tax assessment go up or down?  As shown above, most properties had the same tax assessed value in 2016 as compared to 2015....

• 71% of properties saw no change
  
• 11% of properties decreased
  
• 18% of properties increased

Also of interest....

• the average decline in assessed value was 4%
• the average increase in assessed value was 20%

 

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According to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development....

A cash proffer is (a)any money voluntarily proffered in a writing signed by the owner of property subject to rezoning, submitted as part of a rezoning application and accepted by a locality pursuant to the authority granted by Va. Code Ann. Section 15.2-2303 or Section 15.2-2298, or (b) any payment of money made pursuant to a development agreement entered into under authority granted by Va. Code Ann. Section 15.2-2303.1.

In other words, cash paid by a developer to a locality for the ability to rezone a piece of development land.

There are several bills in the General Assembly that would amend Virginia's proffer system by requiring that proffers be limited to impacts directly attributed to a new development.  Apparently, some localities in the more densely populated areas of Virginia (Richmond, Northern Virginia) are using cash proffers for projects unrelated to the new developments.

As per today's Daily News Record article (County Officials Blast Development Proposal), officials in Rockingham County are not in favor of this bill being passed, because it would require that the County would hire an independent body to examine all proposed proffers in the future, which would be an added cost the County, and thus taxpayers.

My read on the matter is that a reform of the proffer system would improve how things work in Richmond and Northern Virginia (making sure that proffers are really only for projects related to the new developments) but would add additional requirements, processes and costs for the rest of the localities throughout Virginia.
 

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As you start shopping around for a mortgage, you should ask each lender for a "Loan Estimate" as shown above.  This is a relatively new document that lenders are using, and outlines all of the terms of the loan you are considering. 

Even better -- the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has created this interactive Loan Estimate Explainer.
  
Let me know if you are looking for a recommendation of a local lender....

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Most housing market analysts consider six months of inventory (active listings) to be an indicator of a balanced market (between buyers and sellers). The "BUYERS" trend line above is illustrating how many buyers are buying in a six month period. The "SELLERS" trend line above is illustrating how many sellers are in the market (active listings) at any given time. As you can see, our market had an extreme imbalance several years ago, with more sellers in the market than were needed based on the buyers in the market. Over the past four years we have been seeing a steady increase in buyers in the market and a decline in sellers in the market.

Read more about the local housing market in my most recent market report....



  

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Learn more about this month's Featured Property:  3853 Traveler Road

I just published my monthly report on the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County real estate market.  Jump to the full online market report, watch the overview video below, or download the PDF, or read on for highlights....

A Video Overview....



 
Let's start by taking a look at the overall market performance in January and over the past twelve months....



Strong Sales Pace....

As shown above, we saw a strong month of sales in January -- with 67 home sales, as compared to only 49 last January.  This 37% year-over-year improvement in January 2016 contributed to a 6.42% year-over-year increase in the annualized pace of home sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

Increasing Prices....

While the median price ticked down 0.51% when only looking at January 2016 figures, the median sales price over the past 12 months increased by 2.83% to $185,000 compared to the previous 12 months.

Faster Sales...

Homes are also selling faster -- at a median pace of 55 days on the market based on sales in the past 12 months.




When looking at a rolling 12-month time frame in the graph above, we note that:

• After increasing from $175K to $185K roughly a year ago, median prices have been quite stable since that time around $185,000.
   
• The annual pace of sales has been steadily increasing over the past several years to its current level of 1,143 home sales -- the third highest level of annualized home sales seen in the past eight years.
   
  

Buyers and sellers signed 74 contracts in January 2016 -- as compared to 76 last January.  This is despite a large snowstorm that slowed down the market for at least a week during January.  This is an indicator that we are likely to see a similar number of February home sales this year as we did last year.
  

Inventory levels (the number of homes for sale) are at their lowest levels seen anytime in the past eight months.  This is not surprising given the time of year we are in -- though year-over-year inventory levels have also declined by 2%.
 

More and Much, Much More....

There is more, oh so much more, in my full year-end real estate market report.  I have even made it very easily accessible for you to read online....



And as is always my encouragement -- if you will be buying or selling a home in the near future, become a student of the housing market!  Learn what has been happening recently, what is happening now, and what is likely to happen next.  Being informed will allow you to make better real estate decisions.

If you are ready to buy or sell a property in Harrisonburg or Rockingham County, contact me at 540-578-0102 or scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com to get the process started.

  

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For planning purposes, just a reminder that the tax rate in Rockingham County was both $0.66 and $0.68 during 2015 -- but we can likely now just plan on it being $0.68 (or higher?).

The tax rate for the first half of the year (2015) was $0.66 and then it increased to $0.68 for the second half of the year.

The City of Harrisonburg continues to have a slightly higher ($0.72) tax rate than Rockingham County.
 

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Walmart, Gabe's and Hobby Lobby were some of the major participants in the commercial real estate market in 2015, but as noted in today's DNR article....

[...] it's a nonbuilding project, the completion of the half-loop connecting U.S. 33 east and west of Harrisonburg known as the Southeast Connector, that's predicted to have the greatest effect on commercial real estate.

Read the fully Daily News Record article for an overview of some of the changes and new developments seen in the Harrisonburg commercial real estate market in 2015.
  

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If we take NoVa (2.9M), Virginia Beach (1.7M) and Richmond (1.2M) out of the mix, we're left with the eight MSA's listed above.  You'll note that Harrisonburg and Rockingham County have an estimated population of 133K, compared to Staunton (next smaller at 121K) and Blacksburg (next larger at 183K).
 
Click here for a larger version of the graph above.

Of note -- this graph does not include:

• NoVa (2,909,438)
  
• Virginia Beach (1,700,609)
  
• Richmond (1,263,617)

  

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Many of my savvy investor clients wait for the winter months to acquire additional rental properties.  Their reasons are pretty logical....

• In the Spring/Summer/Fall they have to compete with more owner occupant purchasers.
   
• In the Winter, many sellers are less hopeful about the likelihood of finding a buyer, and often are more flexible on price.

Of note -- this advice is most applicable to townhouse properties that might be purchased by investors or owner occupants.  This does not necessarily apply to multi-family properties or student housing properties.

If you are looking for some advice on how to get started with real estate investing, check out HarrisonburgInvestmentProperties.com.

  

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   (don't worry -- this is not really one of my client's homes)

Preparing your home to go on the market can be challenging (and tiring), and often sellers-to-be need a second (or third) set of eyes to provide suggestions about where to focus their time and energy.  There are many different theories about how to best prepare your home to be on the market and viewed by buyers --- and ways of expressing those theories. 

• take a minimalistic approach, removing absolutely every knick knack in sight
• removing all family photos
• de-cluttering and get rid of extra "stuff"
• remove furniture to create an open feel
• stage the home with place settings on the dining table, and more
• always have fresh flowers in the home

There are countless other theories, ideas or suggestions -- all of which can be helpful to consider as you are preparing to put your house on the market.  Another perspective that I'd throw out there for your consideration is eliminating distractions and objections.

Distractions are the things that keep a prospective buyer from focusing on your house.  That might be knick knacks, or family photos, or refrigerator magnets, or an overflowing pantry, or fascinating artwork, or an abundance of indoor plants, or a strange odor, or brightly colored wall hangings.  Whatever it is --- if a buyer is focusing on one (or more) of these items, they're not focusing on your house.  They're reading all of the Far Side comics on the fridge instead of marveling at the granite countertops, tile back splash, recessed lighting, and stainless steel appliances.  They're amazed at how you fit 234 board games into the coat closet instead of taking in the quality workmanship of the trim detail in the foyer, and the mountain views out the picture window in the family room.  As you prepare your home to go on the market, close your eyes for a few moments when standing at the entrance to each main living area.  Then, open your eyes, and take note of where your eyes are immediately drawn.  Or, walk slowly through the space (or ask a friend to help) seeing where your eyes (and your mind) linger.

Objections are those correctable physical characteristics of your home that give a buyer a reason to mark your home off their list, or to move it down a notch in their preferences.  Perhaps it is that the vinyl siding needs to be power washed, or that three bi-fold closet doors need to be adjusted, or that there is poor lighting in the kitchen, or that the deck needs staining.  There are oftentimes small home maintenance items that should be attended to before putting your home on the market.  There are two potential dangers of having these items unresolved --- first, a buyer might become too overwhelmed by the work that they need to do to the home once they move in, and second, a buyer might extrapolate from what they can see to imagine what they cannot.  A classic example of this is the dirty furnace filter that makes a buyer assume that the HVAC system has never been serviced, is in a terrible state of disrepair, and will need to be replaced immediately. 

As you're preparing your house to go on the market, I'm happy to provide you with another set of eyes and to give you some new perspectives on how to best prepare your home to be shown to buyers.  When you're ready, just give me a call (540-578-0102) or send me an e-mail (scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com).  Also, don't fret about having your home in perfect "show condition" before you call me --- I'm happy to give you some guidance and feedback while you're still in the process of preparing your home to go on the market.
 

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Fear not, interest rate watchers, while mortgage interest rates were on the rise -- climbing up above 4% at the end of December, they have now tumbled back down to 3.79%.

When the Fed raised its key interest rates, it seemed that mortgage interest rates might finally be leaving the sub-4% range for good.

Not so much.

It's anyone's guess where mortgage interest rates will end up in December 2016 -- but their recent trajectory (down, down, down) no longer has me worrying (as much) that we will see a steady increase through the year up to and beyond 5%.
 

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If you're thinking of selling this Spring or Summer, and you have trees (especially large house-obscuring trees) we should discuss taking some exterior photos SOON rather than waiting until later when we can't see your house at all.

Oh, but yes, we should make sure all of the snow has melted first....

It's all about the timing!
 

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