Well, not really in Northern Virginia! In the grand scheme of things, we should see home buyers having the best of times with this real estate market. The available home buyer tax credits, home prices are the lowest in years, mortgage interest rates are still around 5%, spring is in the air... okay, that's a stretch. As I went over NVAR's end Continue Reading
Yes, the buyers are out there… but move-in-ready homes aren’t
I was searching for a town home with a client last week in Centreville, Clifton and Fairfax and saw an interesting trend. The trend was in homes that were regular sales, not the foreclosures or short-sales which seemed to be about 50-60% of the market. So, let's consider the regular sales to be 40% of the market in the under $425k price range Continue Reading
An escalation clause?
People are now realizing that some prices are just too low, and they want to do whatever it takes to get the property. I don't think it is the right strategy to win the prize... if it really is a prize at all. Continue Reading
Home Buying Course 409 (Spring Semester)
Prereq: loan pre-approval 305, buyer consultation 206, cost estimate review 108, time frame 201 Okay, this isn't a real college level class but it is at the level a home buyer needs to be if they want to take advantage of today's real estate market. There is an "on-sale" mentality that has taken hold in our area, and home buyers who have been on Continue Reading
Best home buyer’s market in 20 years!
AN UPDATE: Please note the date on this blog post. Here I am in May 2012 and the tide has turned in favor of home sellers in most of Northern Virginia. If you really want to see a contrast, take a look at this blog post on the Vienna Virginia real estate market in 2012! -Cheers I wrote an update post on the expanded tax credit for home Continue Reading
Skimming the bottom in home prices?
Heard any good economic news today? But wait, the Dow and Nasdaq have jumped up, and it is exciting to watch CNBC's Erin Burnett discuss stocks on the floor of the exchange again. But then the truth hits again when you see that your retirement plan is still down 46% from a year and a half ago. Head down, blinders on! Okay, imagine that you are Continue Reading
