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Walk Through This Home, 2336 Breckenridge Court |
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Take a few minutes to walk through this spacious, brick-front, Stonewall Heights townhouse in close proximity to Sentara RMH Medical Center and the JMU campus features a finished, walkout basement, a professionally landscaped courtyard, three bedrooms and a full bath on the second level, and an additional full bathroom in the basement. Enjoy hardwood floors in the living room, a large eat-in kitchen (with pantry!), an expansive deck and a vaulted ceiling in each bedroom. Don't miss the basement that offers a family room (or office), plus plenty of storage and a workshop. The courtyard was professionally landscaped by Fine Earth and features a mature tree, a paver patio, raised bed garden with stone retaining wall, and a recently painted privacy fence. 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.... | |
Update on Stone Port Development |
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click here for a larger version of this image or click here for a text-free version This is an unofficial update on Stone Port. I'm not in any way affiliated with the marketing, sales or leasing of the property -- but I am always curious when I see progress on this mixed use project. For more complete information, check out the Stone Port website here. That disclaimer aside, thus far Stone Port consists of....
And yes -- Bellaire at Stone Port is the structure you'll see under construction on the right side of the SouthEast Connector Road if you are driving from Port Republic Road towards the wellness center.... | |
Mortgage Interest Rates Edge Up Past 4% |
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Average interest rates on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage have edged up past 4%. Above you will note that interest rates have been lower than current levels (yellow area) during most of the past year, though we were seeing rates higher than 4% once we look back about seven months. | |
Walk Through This Home, 768 Woodland Drive |
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Take a few minutes to walk through this well maintained brick home on a cul-de-sac that features an open floor plan, hardwood floors on both levels, a bonus room off the master bedroom and is within minutes of dining, shopping, the JMU Arboretum, the JMU campus and Sentara RMH Medical Center. The yard is filled with maintenance-free blooming perennials, and the fenced backyard features mature trees. Don't miss all of the storage space, the Trex decking and the covered front porch. Recent updates include the heating/cooling system (and ductwork) in 2013, an insulated crawlspace, wood stair treads, a new dishwasher, and much more. 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.... | |
4.2 Acre, $5.5 Million Park planned for downtown Harrisonburg |
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A 4.2 Acre, $5.5 Million Park is planned for downtown Harrisonburg, the potential layout of which is shown above. Click any of the images above/below for a larger/clearer version. Read more about the park and its status in last week's Daily News Record article, an excerpt of which follows.... "It [the park] would include a ship-themed children's play area, a "great lawn" that would host events and performances, and a broad tree-lined promenade arching from South Liberty Street south of the Turner Pavilion to Bruce Street at Blacks Run." Connect with the group behind this effort, Plan Our Park, via Facebook. | |
Home prices edging up a bit more quickly? |
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After several years of 1% - 2% increases in median price per year, could we finally be seeing a larger (faster) increase in the median sales price in the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County market? The data thus far in 2015 shows a 6% improvement in median sales price as compared to 2014. Let's see if we can stick with that 6% improvement as the year goes on! Learn more about local market trends via my most recent housing market report.... | |
June 2015 Harrisonburg Housing Market Report |
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Learn more about this month's Featured Property: 2550 Ramblewood Road I just published my monthly report on the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County real estate market. Jump to the full online market report, or download the PDF, or read on for highlights.... Overall (year-to-date) market indicators look FANTASTIC in this latest report....
Technically, we saw a slight decline (106 to 105) in home sales when comparing May 2015 to May 2014 -- but I'll live with that given the overall positive trends outlined above. How do we know that home values are increasing in our local real estate market? When we see sustained upward movement in long-term trends -- and it seems safe to say that we're seeing that now. After over three years of a sub-$180K median price (when looking at a rolling 12 month period) we saw that ceiling shattered in April 2015 after over six months of steady increases -- and now, this 12-month rolling median sales price has jumped up to $185K! Stay tuned, folks, but it looks like we may be starting to see some increases in sales prices, and thus home values. Now, to provide a balanced look at things, I should point out that despite my exuberance about the above-referenced market trends, the pace of buyer activity (as measured by properties going under contract) was a bit disappointing in May 2015 as compared to May 2014. It was certainly a solid month of contracts being signed (114) but a far cry from the 135 we saw last May. It will be interesting to see what happens in June 2015 as last June there were a whopping 145 contracts signed! As one last indicator of where we are these days -- it is worth noting that inventory levels have remained relatively stable over the past year. There were 679 homes on the market a year ago -- there are 659 on the market today. In theory, we'll see a slight increase in inventory over the next few months as we continued into and through the Summer market. OK, that's it for now. I'll hit some high points here on HarrisonburgHousingToday.com in coming days. In the meantime, you can read the full June 2015 Harrisonburg Housing Market Report online or by downloading the PDF. 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. | |
Finding Bank Owned Homes (for sale) in Harrisonburg |
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If you are looking for bank owned properties (for sale) in Harrisonburg or Rockingham County, I would recommend starting at HarrisonburgREO.com. This provides a listing of all listings in the local MLS that are identiifed as bank owned (REO) properties. | |
Walk Through 2826 Brookshire Drive |
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Take a few minutes to walk through this spacious, upgraded home in Barrington subdivision is located on a cul-de-sac in close proximity to Sentara RMH Medical Center. The main level features a large living room with a gas fireplace and vaulted ceiling, a custom kitchen with maple cabinetry, granite countertops, a pantry and brand new Whirlpool stainless steel appliances, a formal dining room, a master suite with a vaulted ceiling, walk-in closet and upgraded master bath with a double vanity, shower and Jacuzzi. In the walkout basement with plenty of natural light, you will enjoy a large family room / rec room, fourth bedroom, full bathroom and a home theater. Don't miss the fresh Behr paint through, the oversized two car garage, laundry room and the deck off the kitchen. 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.... | |
$81,000,000 Sale of Three Student Housing Communities |
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Click here for a larger version of the map above.Three college housing communities in Harrisonburg, VA sold in May 2015 for over $81,000,000 to a Chicago-based company. These complexes included:
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Single Family Homes Under $100K in the City of Harrisonburg |
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Buying a single family home in the City of Harrisonburg for less than $100K is becoming more difficult again as the market improves. While the 2015 data point (above) is an estimate based on YTD sales, it is clear that fewer and fewer detached homes are selling in Harrisonburg for less than $100K. This is a sign of market improvement, which is encouraging for homeowners, but not as exciting for would be home buyers. Here are the currently available detached homes for sale under $100K in the City of Harrisonburg: search now (2 listings as of 6/5/2015) | |
Home Warranties for Buyers and Sellers |
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Click here to download the full information packet on home warranties from American Home Shield -- or read on for more details.... What is a Home Warranty? It's a one-year service agreement that covers the repair or replacement of many major home system components and appliances that typically breakdown over time due to normal wear and tear. Homeowners Insurance and a Home Warranty - What's the Difference? You sensibly protect your house with homeowners insurance. While homeowners insurance covers many appliances and system components in the event of a disaster (such as a fire), having an AHS® Home Warranty will cover those items against the high costs of repair or replacement in the event a breakdown occurs. Who is AHS? The leader in home warranties, AHS was founded in 1971 to help homeowners across the country protect their hard-earned investments. Recognized with the 2013 Best in Service Award from HomeWarrantyReviews.com and the 2014 Women's Choice Award, our customer service is well-respected, with professional agents ready 24/7 to accept your service requests. AHS Home Warranty Packages There are three AHS Home Warranty packages available during the real estate transaction, making it easy for you to get exactly the coverage you need, at a price you can afford. ShieldEssentialSMAHS offers the same high level of coverage across all three packages, such as repairs and replacements for mismatched systems, undetectable pre-existing conditions, improper installations, lack of maintenance, rust and corrosion, and more. Click here to download the full information packet on home warranties from American Home Shield. | |
Now is the time for $300K+ Home Sales! |
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As is usually the case, we are starting to see our annual boom in $300K+ home sales. The graph above shows home sales over $300K during each month in 2014. You can see that June and July were the most active months for sales in this price range. | |
When selling your house, we can most easily affect these areas |
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What will it take to sell your house in today's real estate market? The age-old adage of "Location, Location, Location" still rings true – but since it is not cost effective to move your house, it may be helpful to focus on three areas that are under your control. These three areas are all essential to successfully selling your home. Price: Find Your Place In The Market. Before listing your home for sale it is essential to understand the dynamics of the current housing market – but don't stop there. Not only do you need to understand the general trends (sales pace, sales price, inventory, etc.) you also must dig deep to explore the specifics of the market that pertain to your particular home. How many houses have sold in your neighborhood in the past six months, and at what prices? What other neighborhoods will buyers be exploring? Are there 10 other houses on the market just like your house, or just two? For a thorough understanding of the local housing market, please refer to HarrisonburgHousingMarket.com. Condition: There's Old, Then There's Dilapidated. Even if your house is priced well compared to recently sold properties and currently available properties, we still need to position it to sell by optimizing its condition. Sometimes this is de-cluttering or simplifying. Sometimes a staging consultation will be helpful. Quite frequently, some minor repairs or cosmetic updates will help your property to sell. As we work to prepare your house to go on the market we will be focusing on improving the overall impression that buyers have of your house (old and dilapidated versus old but meticulously maintained) as well as eliminating potential objections that buyers might have that can easily be remedied before listing your home. Marketing: Put The Storyline On Display For Buyers. A well-priced home in excellent condition must be marketed well to attract potential buyers to come and view the property. These days, real estate marketing should start with excellent photography, and with special attention to lighting – a few photos from a smartphone aren't going to cut it. Beyond photography, it is important to focus on the storyline of the home – what are the selling points and the most attractive features? With photos and storyline in hand, we must then focus on widely exposing your home both online and in the real world. This likely means a brochure box next to your yard sign with color brochures, as well as an individual property web site, and broad syndication to a variety of online real estate web sites, and much more. Let's discuss how to best position YOUR home through the lenses of price, condition and marketing. | |
City of Harrisonburg Real Estate Tax Rate To Rise To $0.735 |
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Per today's Daily News Record article, the City tax rate will be increasing to 73.5 cents per $100 of assessed value. This is a good bit (but not a whole lot) above the new Rockingham County real estate tax rate of an effective $0.67. | |
How to buy a house (everything leading up to moving day) |
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Purchasing a home can be fun, exciting, thrilling, and fulfilling….but that very same process can also have its moments of being hard, frustrating, disappointing and overwhelming. In my role as a Buyer's Agent, I will be working with you through the entire home buying process to make it as educational and stress-free as possible. The very first step in this process is for us to discuss your needs, goals, dreams and desires. This may involve specifics such as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, or may focus more on the layout of homes, the feel of a neighborhood, and the long term plans for your growing family. I will be focusing on listening well, and hearing what it is you are working to achieve with our home purchase – and then helping to identify the best housing options for accomplishing those goals. An important, parallel, part of starting the home buying process is to identify a target price range. This can best be determined through consultation with a reputable, local mortgage lender (just ask… I know who they are) but will involve more than just determining the highest priced home that they would allow you to purchase. It will be important to consider both your purchasing power, and your goals for how your housing costs will fit into your overall budget. You will also talk with your mortgage lender about how different loan programs might work better (or worse) for your situation. Once we have a shared understanding of what you are hoping to purchase, and we know what the price tag can and should look like, we can start to evaluate homes that are currently on the market. This will usually start online, perhaps through an exchange of emails, and saving some searches in your account on my web site. Then, you might choose to drive by some of the prospects before determining a list of homes to go view – or you may be ready to start seeing all of the homes on the list right away. As we view this first set of homes, we will learn a lot – about the opportunities in the market, and about your preferences. If we don't identify a home after looking at all of the homes on the market that seem to offer what you are looking for in a new home, we will either re-evaluate our criteria to expand our search, or we will wait to view new listings that come on the market. This extended home search process might take us weeks, or months, depending on the type of property you are hoping to purchase, and how often such a property becomes available. All along the way, I'll be following up on previous homes we have viewed to let you know if their prices have dropped, and will be letting you know of new opportunities as soon as those houses hit the market. Once we have identified the home you are hoping to purchase, we will prepare to make an offer. This will include researching similar home sales to guide our discussions of price, creating a negotiation strategy, and preparing and reviewing the pertinent contract documents. There is quite a bit of paperwork involved in making an offer on a home, and I want to make sure that you understand these contract documents and make sure that we have drafted them in a way to protect your best interests. Negotiating the final deal on the property you purchase may take a few hours, or a few days. We may go back and forth with the seller on price alone, or on many terms of the contract such as timing, contingencies, and more. Once we have a final agreement, all parties will sign and initial the final documents, and we will have a full ratified contract. Immediately following the ratification of the contract, we will need to schedule and perform a home inspection and radon inspection (assuming you are conducting both) to learn more about the property you are purchasing. If these inspections reveal new (detrimental) information about the property, we will have the opportunity to request that the seller make repairs to the property, which may result in a renegotiation on price. Typically, we are able to work through this second round of negotiations relatively quickly, so long as the seller is being realistic and rational given the new information about their property. Simultaneously with conducting these inspections, you will need to be starting the financing process to work towards obtaining full loan approval. This will start with signing your loan application and paying any applicable loan application or appraisal fees. Your lender will then be diligently working to further qualify you as a purchaser as well as the property via an appraisal. You will be providing many documents to your lender during this process as they work towards securing a loan for you to purchase the property. Within the first few weeks after your contract is in place, we will need to select service providers to coordinate the additional aspects of your home purchase. This will include a settlement agent or attorney who will conduct a title search of the property and prepare all documents for your settlement. You will also need to set up a new homeowners insurance policy on your new property, as well as schedule utility service to start in your name as of the settlement date. We'll now be just a few weeks before closing, and the final pre-settlement details will include reviewing the settlement statement (which shows all of the funds coming into and going out of the closing), conducting a final walk though of the property (to confirm the condition is as we expect it to be), and obtaining a cashier's check to bring the necessary funds to settlement. All of the details should be falling in place now, and if all goes well, we will be set for an on-time settlement. In nearly all real estate transactions (in this area) at your real estate closing you will sign all of the loan and settlement documents as well as receive the keys to your new property. The house will now be your new home, and you can take possession and starting moving in immediately after settlement. Later that day, the settlement agent will record the deed at the courthouse that officially transfers ownership of the property into your name. You are bound to have questions about the home buying process – before you begin, as we go, and even after settlement. I am here to answer all of those questions, or to guide you to the professional who can. There is plenty to learn about the home buying process, and I am here to help guide you through it and to help you make excellent decisions about your purchase of a home. | |
Mortgage Interest Rates Edge Up Slightly |
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30-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rates have edged up slightly over the past few weeks, to a national average of 3.84%. That means that there have certainly been lower rates in the past five months (shown above in yellow) but the current rates are better today than they were for the last seven months of 2014 (shown above in blue). If you're buying soon, talk to a lender ASAP so that you are ready to lock in a rate once you have a contract on a home to purchase. | |
The Shenandoah Valley is in ZONE 1 for Radon |
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As you can see above, Rockingham County is in Zone 1 -- which means we are in an area that is likely to have high radon levels. What is radon, and what does it mean for you? Read on, from the EPA.... Radon is a radioactive gas that comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water and gets into the air you breathe. Radon typically moves up through the ground to the air above and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation. Radon can also enter your home through well water. Your home can trap radon inside.Learn more about radon and real estate here. If you are buying a home with a basement, I would recommend that you consider a radon test as a part of your home inspection process. | |
Lots of Showings! (and contracts, too, of course) |
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In each of the past six months there have been more showings than in the same month during the previous year. This increase in showings has amounted to a 30% year-over-year increase in showings when looking at November - April. It should be no surprise, then, that contracts and closings are also increasing. | |
What are home values likely to do over the next few years? |
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Based on recent trends, I believe we will see 2% - 4% increases per year in the median sales price over the next few years. If we take this year's YTD median sales price ($182,250) and use a 3% per year metric, here's what the next few years would look like....
That would mean that a median priced home ($182K) may increase in value by about $17,000 over the next three years. | |
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Scott Rogers
Funkhouser Real
Estate Group
540-578-0102
scott@funkhousergroup.com
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Commonwealth of Virginia
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