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Visit the Harrisonburg SVBA Home and Garden Show This Weekend! |
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Don't miss Harrisonburg's SVBA Home Show this weekend! Saturday: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PMLearn all about the MANY fun activities happening at this year's home show here. | |
The balance between buyers and sellers in our local housing market |
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(this one deserves a larger image, click here to view it) Q: Have we reached a balance between buyers and sellers in our local housing market? A: We're not quite there, but we are a lot closer than we have been anytime in the past six years! Here's the methodology behind the chart above....
Read more about the local housing market in my most recent monthly housing market report.... Jump to the full online market report, or download the PDF. | |
April 2015 Monthly Housing Market Report |
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Learn more about this month's Featured Property: 1344 Meadowlark Drive 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.... There were quite a few very positive overall market indicators this month, especially considering we are now working with all 1st Quarter home sales data....
Buyers signed 25% more contracts in the first quarter of 2015 than in the first quarter of 2014. This likely bodes well for the pace of closed sales in April and May of this year. Overall, inventory levels are down 5% as compared to where we were a year ago -- but that statistic masks an interesting contrast:
For regular readers of my market report, you'll find everything a bit mixed up this month -- but hopefully the new organization will be more helpful for you as you study the market. My monthly report is now organized into the following categories..... OK, that's it for the summary -- read the rest of my market report online or by downloading the full PDF. And above all, 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. | |
Walk Through This Home, 1272 Settlers Lane |
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Take a few minutes to walk through this upscale, recently built, end unit townhouse offering lots of natural light and features nine foot ceilings on the main level and hardwood laminate floors throughout the main level and in the bedrooms and upstairs hallway. Enjoy features such as a kitchen with an island and generous dining area, a pantry with a pocket door, ceiling fans, brushed nickel light fixtures, a storm door, blinds on many of the windows, a recently painted interior with contemporary paint colors, and a back patio for entertaining or relaxing. This townhouse is in impeccable condition, ready for you to move right in, and features two large master suites, one with a vaulted ceiling. 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.... | |
Home Sales Profile of Dayton, VA |
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Looking to purchase a home in Dayton, VA? Understand the market first! As shown above, the number of homes sold in Dayton in any given year fluctuates quite a bit more than in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County as a whole. Over the past three years we have seen an average of 17 home sales per year in the Town of Dayton. Of note, there are more than 17 homes currently for sale in in Dayton! With a small number of home sales per year in the town of Dayton, we also see quite a bit more variability in the median price of the homes that sell. That is not to say that home values bounce up and down from year to year in Dayton - but more so that the median sales price fluctuates quite a bit based on which homes actually sell in a given year. Find homes for sale in Dayton, VA here. | |
Walk Through 1690 Sherry Lane |
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Take a few minutes to walk through this gorgeous restored Victorian home is located in Heritage Estates, an active adult community located in Harrisonburg, Virginia where you will enjoy spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the golf course immediately beside Heritage Estates, the community swimming pool, and a maintenance-free lifestyle. Come check out this spacious home on a full, unfinished walkout basement. The master suite is extremely spacious with a fireplace, sitting room, walk-in closet and 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.... | |
What did home buyers buy in March 2015? |
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How did buyer activity and seller activity compare in March 2015?
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March 2015 Home Sales Highest Since August 2007 |
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Editor's Note: In recent years, home sales figures reported on April 1 have been shown to be unusually inaccurate and only occasionally funny. | |
Real Estate Tax Increase Proposed in Rockingham County |
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The proposed budget for Rockingham County includes a four cent increase in the real estate tax rate for 2016. This would not be the highest (or lowest, clearly) that we have seen in the past 20 years. Read more about the proposed budget in today's Daily News Record article. | |
March 2015 continues trend of increasing home sales |
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We still have another few days when March 2015 home sales will be reported, but we have already seen more sales this year (56) than during the month of March last year (55). This continues the trend of improving monthly home sales. Now, 10 out of the past 12 months have shown the same number of more home sales than in the same month during the previous year. | |
Canary appears to be a pretty slick home security and monitoring product |
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Canary is a $249 wireless security system with no required ongoing costs. As noted above, it offers many features in the home realm of home security, and beyond....
Learn more here or buy one today here. | |
3D Design, Printing, Scanning now available in Downtown Harrisonburg |
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Now Open - in Downtown Harrisonburg - HATCH3D The Shenandoah Valley's Source for 3D Printing Technologies From the HDR blog.... "3D printing is revolutionizing industries, from education and medicine to military training. It's a game changing technology so we couldn't be more excited to have a company downtown that specializes in this unique field. Hatch3D is a brand new 3D printing, scanning, and design business located on West Market St. in the Wetsel Seed Building. "Read more on the Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance blog, or learn more.... | |
New floor plans now available at Heritage Estates, an active adult community in Harrisonburg, VA |
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Exciting News! We have several new, more affordable, floor plans now available at Heritage Estates! THE OAKMONT This to-be-built home features French Country architecture, a stone and stucco exterior, all located in an active adult community pool with a swimming pool. Enjoy an open floor plan, upscale kitchen cabinets, granite countertops, a kitchen island, an expansive walk-in pantry, and a spacious first floor master suite. Three new floor plan options....
If you are considering a home purchase in Heritage Estates, an active adult community in Harrisonburg, Virginia, you'll want to check out these new floor plans. Let me know if you'd like to set up a time to view the model home and review these floor plans. | |
Attention Sellers, The Buyers Are Here! |
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Contract activity has been RED HOT so far this year -- with 249 contracts signed in the first 82 days of this year -- as compared to only 178 in the same time frame last year. If you are planning to sell this Spring, think about jumping into the fray now or soon before you have LOTS of other competition from other sellers in the late Spring and early Summer markets. | |
High End Home Sales Relatively Stable in 2014 |
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Exploring home sales over $500K, we see that home sales levels in 2014 stayed relatively on track with where they were in 2013.... Despite the drop from 20 to 18 sales over $500K, the $600K+ market stayed completely stable.... And the sale of $700K+ homes actually increased.... As a side note, you may recall that 2014 marked the first $1M+ home sale (in the MLS) since 2010. Looking for a full listing of all the $500K homes currently for sale? Check out HarrisonburgLuxuryHomes.com. | |
Will you compromise on your home purchase? And how? |
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Most buyers (67%) have to compromise in some way when it comes to finding the home of their dreams. Most (23%) of those buyers who compromise do so on price, though many (20%) compromise on home size, and quite a few (18%) compromise on the condition of the home. Of note, most buyers do not seem willing to compromise on the neighborhood or location where they purchase. | |
Understanding Buyer Representation |
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OK, here it comes, a long one, folks....everything (or close to it) you need to know about buyer representation.... THE HOME BUYING PROCESS 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. FOUR TYPES OF BUYER REPRESENTATION Exclusive Representation: The Seller and Buyer are exclusively represented by separate Agents and separate Firms. The Agent and the Firm are solely representing the interests of their respective clients. This representation arrangement is created through a written Exclusive or Non-Exclusive Brokerage Agreement.
OK.....who made it to the bottom? If so, and if you still have questions? Let me know, and we can chat briefly -- by phone, email, or in person. More soon, on everything you need to know about buying a home. | |
Navigating the Home Inspection process |
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How does the home inspection process work? Can I (as a buyer) walk for any reason if I don't like the results? Does the seller have to fix everything I complain about? Take a look at how the process typically works to understand how things might work out for you.... | |
Mortgage Interest Rates Edge Up, A Bit |
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Fear not, you will still (likely) be able to obtain an interest rate below 4%. That said, rates have ended up a bit over the past month -- now close to 3.9%. | |
Despite the snow, there were a LOT of showings in January and February 2015 |
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Showings do not always result in offers -- but absent showings, offers are quite unlikely. :) Recent months have been quite encouraging as to the number of showings compared to the same month a year ago....
May it continue, especially with this beautiful warm weather we're experiencing this week! | |
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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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