Barbara Reagan - Your All Around Richmond Realtor!

Henrico County, Virginia  -  Announcing a price reduction on 56 Skipwith Green Circle, Henrico, VA 23294, a 1,870 sq. ft., 4 bath, 4 bdrm townhouse "3 Story". Now MLS® $179,000 - Best Buy!.

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Laurel Meadows, Mechanicsville  -  Announcing a price reduction on 8204 Melinda Kay Ct., Mechanicsville, VA 23111, a 1,552 sq. ft., 3 bath, 3 bdrm 2 story. Now MLS® $229,950 - Hanover's Best Buy!.

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As a Realtor® you would probably think my answer would be a resounding “YES”! But you may be wrong!  It would be a qualified “YES”!  I have talked to many buyers and lots of first time homebuyers and there have been quite a few I have advised to hold off on buying a home!  Why would I advise that?  There are some buyers who are concerned that prices will continue to go down and they are concerned that if something happens to their jobs in the near future they may be upside down on a home!  If that is a big concern, I would not recommend that you buy a home!  There are some buyers I have talked to who want particular features in a home, a particular location for their home, etc. and based on what they can afford to buy, they cannot get what they want at their price range.  If they are not willing to compromise on their criteria, then I recommend that they do not buy a home right now and instead wait until they can afford what they want in a home!  And there are some buyers I have talked to who are just not ready to take on the responsibilities of home ownership, so, again, I do not recommend that they buy a home right now!

But if my buyers do not fall into any of these categories and are ready to take that plunge into homeownership, then I resoundingly say “YES” it is a great time to buy a home!  So if you are ready to make that leap from renting to homeownership, what should you know? 

·         Do your research:  The internet is a great tool but you should be careful when researching!  There is lots of valuable information, but also some incorrect information.  But lots of sites are available to let you know about pre-qualifying, the home buying process, home values in the area, and much more.  But don’t accept it blindly – talk to your Realtor® about what you have found, ask for referrals to other professionals that will ultimately become part of your team helping you become a homeowner and ask lots and lots of questions!

·         Learn the areas & neighborhoods:  One of the great things about the internet is the ability to be set up with a no-obligation Personal HomeFinder link, generally through MLS.  This link should let you know everything that is on the market in your area that matches what you are looking for in a home.  Take the time to go out and learn something about the neighborhoods, the schools, the area , etc. by driving around the neighborhoods.  If you find a neighborhood you like, some buyers have talked to the neighbors to find out what they like and don’t like about the area!  But be careful here – talk to more than 1 neighbor to make sure you get an accurate picture of what the neighborhood is like.

·         Get your finances in order:  Talk to a mortgage lender to find out what you can afford, what payment you are comfortable with, to get pre-approved for the loan and to find out how much cash you will need to bring to closing.  Be comfortable with these figures because you will be in your new home for the next few years and you will be making that monthly mortgage payment!

·         Know that this purchase is a long term investment:  If this market has taught us anything, it has taught us that we are no longer in a “buy, fix and flip” kind of real estate market.  When you eventually sell your home, you will have certain costs associated with the sale – commission, attorney fees, and other fees.  You will want to make sure that you are in your home for at least 5 years to allow the home to appreciate in value enough to cover your future costs of sale and give you some money to cover the downpayment and costs you will incur on your next home purchase.  If you cannot envision yourself living in the home for the next 5 to 10 years, then perhaps this is not the home for you.

·         Know that this is an excellent time to buy a home:  With prices down, foreclosures & short sales in plentiful supply, motivated sellers, and interest rates at historically low levels, as well as the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit, if you want to take that jump off the fence, then this could be one of the best times to find that new home. 

·         Know that real estate is a great wealth builder:  Although the real estate market has had it’s challenges lately, and prices have declined from the highs we saw in 2006, historically real estate is cyclical and will eventually come back around.  Although I don’t anticipate we will see a return back to the frenetic pace of the hot sellers market that we saw only a few years ago, real estate will eventually come back to a normal market, with moderate appreciation rates each year!  When that happens would you rather be in a rental continuing to build up your landlord’s wealth, or would you rather be in your own home, building up your own equity!

As a Realtor®, I truly do believe that homeownership for everyone is the American Dream, but I also feel that if you are not ready to become a homeowner, then you should not jump off the fence!  Good luck to everyone, no matter what you decide to do!

Barbara

What Are You Waiting For!

• 1,870 sq. ft., 4 bath, 4 bdrm townhouse "3 Story" - MLS® $189,000 - A Great Buy!

Skipwith Green Townhomes, Tuckahoe  -  Welcome to this move in ready home in a great location, close to everything! Park the car & open the door and step inside! A large living room with new laminate floors leads to an open kitchen (with lots of counters & lots of cabinets & a great pass through to the great room)! The great room is big enough to hold your largest dining table and any other furniture you have, making this a great space to entertain friends & family! A wood burning fireplace, a half bath, a laundry area & the door to the fenced patio area (with storage shed) completes the downstairs level. Come up to the second level, where you will find a large master bedroom (with walk in closet & access to the half bath & separate tub area)! Another 2 guest bedrooms on this level, as well as access to another 1/2 bath (accessible to the same tub area)! Finally, come up to the third level, where you will find a large finished space with closet, ceiling fan & a full bath - possibly a second master suite! Outside, there is a wonderful small yard that is fenced, allowing you to relax after a hard day's work! A detached storage shed gives you ample storage for all the garden tools you need! So what are you waiting for? This home is move in ready and just waiting for you! And with the $8,000 tax credit and great interest rates, what are you waiting for?

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Best Buy!

• 865 sq. ft., 1 bath, 2 bdrm single story "Ranch" - MLS® $107,500 - Renovated!

Chesterfield Gardens, Richmond  -  Say goodbye to your landlord! Move in ready home w/many renovations including: vinyl siding, new replacement windows, new hardwood floors, new vinyl floors, fresh paint throughout, new fixtures in the bathroom! The boiler has been completely revamped (receipt will be provided)! Although the tax records shows only 865 SF, the upstairs & the side porch have been finished (but not heated)! Privacy fenced yard, a 1 car detached garage, screened porch, small deck, brick patio & brick BBQ grill will give your family lots of enjoyment this summer! And with interest rates at such low levels, an $8000 tax credit, this is a great buy! And w/a Job Loss Protection Policy proided by the seller & seller paying $1000 in closing costs, you won't find a better buy!

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Best Buy In Chesterfield!

• 1,238 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm single story "Ranch" - MLS® $169,950 - Move In Ready!

Mason Woods, Chesterfield Court House  -  With interest rates below 5% AND an $8,000 tax credit, this is the perfect home to become a homeowner! This is one you don't want to pass by! If you are looking for the perfect first home that you don't have to do anything to, then you won't find anything better than this move in ready vinyl sided ranch! The sellers have done it all - and then some! New vinyl siding, trim & soffits in 2005 (with a 50 year transferable warranty); new double width paved driveway in 2005; new 4 foot picket fence in the rear in 2008; new appliances in 2006 (and they convey), new berber carpet in 2005, new laminate floors in 2005, and gutters with leaf guards in 2006! Throughout the home, you will find neutral decor (professionally painted in 2005). Outside you will find much to love about this home - a full front porch (a great place to put the rocking chairs & talk to your wonderful neighbors) and an oversized deck (measuring 25' x 7'), as well as large stand up crawl space (giving you great storage)! And, of course, you don't want to forget about the great location - only minutes to the Chippenham Parkway, Powhite Parkway and I-95! Award winning Chesterfield County schools, great interest rates, an $8,000 tax credit, great location & a move in ready home - you won't find anything better than this one! So don't delay - take the virtual tour, then call to schedule your showing!

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Since the $8,000 tax credit was passed into law for 2009, I have been getting many, many calls from buyers who are looking for a great deal out there.  Many of these buyers have been first time homebuyers, but a number of the buyers are also past clients, who have homes that could potentially appeal to the first time home buyer!  Of course, one of the first questions I get from everyone is:  would a foreclosure home be right for me? 

That, of course, has no right or wrong answer!  I could give the standard answer of "possibly", but that really doesn't answer the question.  So in this post, I would like to give a brief "primer" on foreclosures, in the hopes that it may answer questions for some people out there!  Of course, I don't expect that this post will answer all the questions, and as always, feel free to email me with any questions you may have if you are thinking of buying a foreclosure home!

First we need to know:  what is a foreclosure?  Most foreclosures that you see on the market today are actually properties that the homeowner, for whatever reason, could not make their mortgage payments & fell behind on the payments, necessitating the bank to take back the house in a foeclosure sale.  Once it becomes a foreclosure, it is now owned by the bank and not by the person who had previously purchased it.  Not too very long ago, most people had in their minds that if the house was a foreclosure, then it was in really really bad shape and would need lots and lots of work.  Today, I am seeing many foreclosures that are really not in bad shape and many of which may only need cosmetic work.  So I do advise my buyers that they should look at the foreclosure listings as many times they can represent a very good buy.

Next, many buyers want to know:  where do we find foreclosure listings?  There are several different avenues a buyer may have to try to find foreclosures.  They can look in the paper for notices of trustee sales, which is where many lenders will advertise that a home is about to go into foreclosure.  There are also different websites that have listings of foreclosures - Realty Trac is probably the most well known.  My company's website, Long & Foster has a section with foreclosure listings on it.  There are also a number of other sites that will have listings of foreclosures.  Another great option, however, is to call a Realtor, who should be able to set you up with a link into MLS showing all foreclosures that have been listed in the MLS.  Another source is to look at the HUD and VA websites, where you will find HUD and VA foreclosures.  It should be noted that, at least in Richmond VA, the HUD foreclosures are listed in MLS, whereas VA foreclosures are not listed in MLS.

Next, many buyers want to know:  what do we need to know about these homes?  When it comes to foreclosure homes, each bank is somewhat different in how they will respond to you.  For instance, if you are thinking of purchasing a HUD foreclosure, they will have probably done a home inspection of the home and that will be made available to you, so you will know just what is most likely wrong with the home (of course, you should always do your own inspection).  However, most other banks do not do this.  Look around the home when you are inside it - sometimes there will be utilities on, sometimes there won't be.  Do you need to update the house?  Are there obvious repairs that you will need to do?  Does the kitchen need new cabinets or counters?  Does the house need paint and carpet?  Does the yard need landscaping?  How does the roof look?  You should look carefully and note anything you will need to do, as you should be taking these things into consideration when you are trying to decide on the price that you will offer the bank, should you decide to try to purchase the home.  You should keep in mind that the bank will not do any repairs, and the sale will be completely "as is"!

Next, many buyers will ask:  if the bank is selling it "as is" can I do an inspection and what if the inspection shows a lot of things wrong with the house - do I still need to buy the house?  Over the past 6 months I have had a number of purchasers buy foreclosure homes and all of the banks have allowed the buyers to do a home inspection.  The banks have, however, required that the inspections be done within a very short time frame (usually 7 days) and the buyer normally has a right to rescind the contract based on inspections, as long as it is done within the specified time frame.  Some cases the bank will have utilities already on in the home, other times, the buyer may have to put the utilities on in their name for the time frame needed to do inspections.  If the home has been winterized, you need to be careful when turning on water, as I have found that sometimes the water has not been completely drained out and when you put the water on, it can sometimes cause plumbing issues inside the home.  My advice:  be prepared for anything to happen when the plumbing & other utilities come on!

Next, many buyers will ask:  If I have a house to sell, will the bank take a contract that is contingent upon me selling my house!  The short answer to this question is always:  NO!  If I have a buyer who is looking at buying a foreclosure home and they have a home that will need to be sold in order to buy that home, there are several pieces of advice that I give these buyers:  put your home on the market, priced to sell quickly; find out if you can buy the home without selling your home first so that you can make an offer on the house (and then put your home on the market priced to sell quickly if you do end up getting the foreclosure home), or put your home on the market and if it does sell before you have found another home, be prepared to make a move to an apartment.  When you are making an offer on a foreclosure listing, have your financing options secured in advance (whether you are buying with a home equity line of credit, cash, renovation financing or a mortgage).

Next, many buyers will ask:  how do I decide on how much to offer - is there a formula?  There really is no winning formula to deciding on how much to offer the bank.  The banks are, of course, motivated to get the home sold and off their books, but some of the foreclosure listings out there (at least in Richmond VA) have recently been going into multiple offers!  This doesn't always mean that you need to go in with a full price offer!  The best way to decide on how much you want to offer the bank for a foreclosure listing would be to look at the repairs, cosmetic items & any updating that the house will need to have done and then look at a Market Analysis for the neighborhood and see just what a fair price would be for the home!  You don't want to buy the home and then have to put in so much money in renovations & repairs that you have now overimproved the home for the neighborhood! 

Finally, many buyers will ask:  how long do we need to wait for the bank to respond?  Here is where I tell my buyers that it will become a lesson in patience!  When the bank has been a smaller local bank, I have gotten a much quicker response than when it has been a larger bank located in another part of the country.  But even at that, we have sometimes had to wait several days to several weeks to get an answer from the bank.  If the bank counters back to your offer and you then counter back to their offer, this can drag the process on for a period of time.  And then most recently, I had a buyer who, because of delays caused by the bank's settlement agent, was not able to close on the house he was buying for almost 2 weeks after the closing date shown on the contracts/addendums!  So again, patience is the key here when dealing with foreclosures!

There are many many questions that a buyer will have when they are thinking of buying a foreclosure!  My advice to them is:

• Do your homework!
• Know the top limit of what you are willing to pay for the home!
• Get your finances in order before you begin looking for a foreclosure!
• Be patient - the process doesn't always move fast!
• Use a Realtor who has foreclosure experience!

Barbara

10 Acres - And MORE!!!

• 1,296 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm single story - MLS® $190,000 - Priced To Sell!

Rural Louisa County, Louisa  -  This property is priced to sell - and offers so much potential!!! 10 Acres zones A-2, making subdivision possible (but check with the county for specific requirements)! The doublewide is on a permanent foundation (so you can get FHA or Rural Development Financing) and has almost 1300 SF! The doublewide has a great open floor plan - two bedrooms & a bath on one side of the home, with the master suite on the other side of the home! A modern eat in kitchen with microwave, dishwasher, stove, lots of cabinets & lots of counters makes this an easy home to live in! There is a fireplace (currently not hooked up, but just order the propane & it will be working!). Finally, there is a 100 year old general store that is currently in poor condition, but could be renovated into a fabulous home! Finally, location, location, location! This property is only 7 miles from I64 making this easy access to Richmond, Short Pump, Charlottesville and the town of Louisa! There is lots & lots of potential with this property and it is priced well under the tax assessment of $264,000 making this a great buy! Hurry to see this one - it won't last at this price!

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