Renters Beware!

Imagine this: You're at home, having a weekend cookout with friends. There's a knock at your door. It's a real estate agent. He explains your landlord lost the property when the bank foreclosed. He wants to know how quickly you can move. He offers you a hundred dollars if you can move by next weekend, if you can't, they'll start the eviction process immediately. What? Eviction? Wait! You've been paying your rent. You have a lease. The owner never said anything. What's going on? This scenario is happening with increasing frequency. Renters are shocked to learn that even if they pay their rent, landlords have no obligation to use that money to pay the mortgage payment. In most cases, the renters can forget trying to recover their security deposit. What can you do to protect yourself? First, consider renting from a professional, established owner/landlord. For example, apartment or other rental communities are usually a safe bet, plus they often offer other services and amenities not found with privately owned homes. If you can not find a rental community that fits your needs, I suggest you contact a real estate agent who can help you evaluate the risks associated with renting from private landlords. You run a lower risk of running into this situation if the property was recently purchased by the current owner or if the property has been an investment property for many years. If the owner had listed the property "for sale" or "for rent", beware! These are desperation moves by an owner. Owners in this situation have been unable to sell their home and are usually in financial distress. After you've moved in, keep your eyes peeled for other signs. If an owner fails to conduct maintenance on the property, if the landlord seems to be dodging your calls, or you see bank notices addressed to him, these could all be a sign of problems to come. In the "good ole' days" the landlords screened the tenants. Today, smart tenants are screening their landlords, too; and a professional tenant's agent can help you.

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Search for homes for rent or sale using the Home Search tool on my home page: http://www.vickychrisner.com/ and let me know how I can help you!

REOs, Short Sales, Foreclosures! Oh, My!

These buzz words abound within our real estate market today. Headlines about our economy, politics and global affairs keep you from sleeping at night. If those things are not directly impacting your daily life you, you know you’re just waiting your turn. You find yourself wishing you were Warren Buffet or Donald Trump. And then, late at night, when you turn on the TV, hoping to find some mindless show that will help you drift off to sleep, you end up watching a “get rich quick” infomercial… and THEN you can’t sleep because you’re wondering if you ARE missing your opportunity to become the world’s next real estate billionaire. So, what’s the truth?

Well… it depends. It’s true that some people take high risks and make a mint. Other people take high risks and lose, big. I recently received an email from a financial planning consultant that said his firm’s recommendations in today’s economy were to make no decisions based on fear, panic or greed. Good advice, I think, especially when it comes to real estate.

Real estate decisions should be based on the lifestyle you’re trying to create for yourself and your family.

• If you’re ready to settle down, buying a first home can be the best investment you’ll ever make.
• If you’re already stable in your family and financial life, and thinking of moving up, it’s true that selling your current home can be daunting … but you will also get an amazing deal on your next home, so it’s all relative.
• Perhaps you’re considering investing. To the true (well capitalized and long term) investor, I say “go for it”. The rental market is strong right now, and properties can be purchased with positive cash flow from day one. But, with each of these tidbits of advice come warnings.

It’s often said that real estate is a LOCAL business, but I feel it’s a personal business. Buying or selling in any market condition can be a good decision or a bad one, and more important than timing the market, is understanding how these decisions will impact your life and your family - today, tomorrow and for years to come.

If you have an opportunity to buy a home for a rock bottom, absolutely fabulous, amazing deal…if you can not afford the mortgage payments, then you should not buy. Even if the home you’re considering is a terrible financial deal, but you can afford the mortgage payments and you will love every moment of every day of your life because of your new home, then it is well worth it.

Hire the right real estate consultant. I can help you understand the short term and long term risks and benefits of buying or selling, help you make financing choices, and to educate you on the local market place. You'll learn all the terminology in today’s market – like REOs, Short Sales and Foreclosures.

If you’re buying, we’ll help you understand the risks and benefits of buying any of these types of properties so you can make the decision that’s best for you.

If you’re selling, we’ll help you understand if these sales are likely to impact your sale, and how; and help you evaluate the pros and cons of taking the “wait out the market” approach. Let me assist you in evaluating your options in the real estate world today.

More information about me is available at http://www.vickychrisner.com/.

Check out other blog posts to learn the answers to common questions like What is a Short Sale? What do I need to know about buying an REO? and Updates on Market Statistics.

Just follow the links… and, there’s good news for Loudoun County – check it out!

Please note the date of this blog post.  Please get updated information from me personally or at least by reading more current posts.  The market is forever evolving, and therefore, so is my advice!

Homes Sales UP in Northern Virginia!

MRIS reports an increase of 53.92% in the number of home sales in Northern Virginia (Fairfax & Arlington Counties and the cities within them) when compared to the same month last year!

It seems that much of the market has finally corrected, with home prices in September down about 22% from the prior year. In general, it seems that the sellers that sold dropped their prices about 10% in September, and buyers managed to bid them down ANOTHER 8%, from their listing prices.

Also fueling the urgency this past month was the change in legislation requiring any buyers planning to buy "no money down" through the FHA and seller funded down payment assistance programs to be fully approved by October 1st. Over 50% of the homes that sold in this area sold using an FHA loan. Although there is not a quick reference report that would be able to show how many of those buyers used this program, I would venture to guess there were A LOT.

Knowing the transactions I had this past month, and those of other agents and lenders that I work closely with, I'd guess that about 50% of those FHA buyers were using the seller funded down payment assistance programs. That means on top of the 10% price drop, and the 8% further reduction in the selling price, the NET to the sellers was even less - probably another 5% on average. That's a buyer's market!

Even so, many sellers are just happy to have sold. And, with good reason. With the current economic news, many potential buyers in Fairfax & Arlington will be putting things on hold for a while. On an up note, with elections come "changing of the guards" and those of us who have been living in the shadow of the Nation's Capital for awhile know that means real estate activity... homes being bought, sold and rented, especially if there is a change in parties. So, stay tuned for more news affecting the real estate market. See the MRIS reports, available by region, county, and zip code at http://www.mris.com/reports/stats/monthly_reti.cfm. For the most specific and detailed report impacting YOUR HOME... order a FREE, AUTOMATED MARKET SNAPSHOT by clicking here. You will need to enter your real physical address, as that is used as the geographic point of origin for the report. It takes 5-30 minutes to generate, and it will be automatically sent to the email address you use to log in. ======================================

Note: Effective October 1st, FHA buyers must have a down payment, and effective January 1st, the minimum down payment increases. I am happy to help you learn about FHA or other financing options. I can be reached at 703-669-3142.

Loudoun Sales up 56.6%!

Finally, a good news headline! MRIS published their regional statistic reports this morning; and they actually showed that, in September 2008, sales in Loudoun were up 56.6% when compared to the number of sales in September 2007. I had predicted a continued increase in sales activity; but I will admit that this number exceeded even my own expectations. A contributing factor to the increased volume of sales is the change in FHA, with a large number of buyers trying to take advantage of the final opportunity to use the seller funded down payment assistance programs. This change required that all loans be fully approved by September 30, and most lenders were requiring the loans close by that deadline, too. As of October 1st, FHA buyers must contribute a minimum of 3% as a down payment, and as of January 1st, that minimum increases to 3.5%. These changes began adding urgency to the first time home buyer market in August. In September, the number of FHA purchases were approximately 35% of the sales. THE TALE OF TWO MARKETS -There is a distinct price point at which homes in Loudoun are selling. Under $500,000, we have only about a 4 month supply of inventory available. These homes are seeing fast contracts, and multiple offers which sometimes result in a sales price higher than the asking price. One might say that for a seller of a home priced in the lower half of the market, it has been a seller's market for the last several months. For mid-priced homes in the $500,000 to $700,000 range, we have almost a 9 month supply. For higher priced homes, above $700,000, the supply level increases to almost 22 months. It's definately a buyer's market at those price points. The message here is that there is a definate benefit to "trading up" in this market; where you can sell a $400,000 home and buy a $600,000 home and have the advantages of market conditions in your favor on both transactions! EXPECTATIONS FOR THE NEAR FUTURE You can't miss the headlines everyday, one scary thought after another. What will happen in the short term to our overall economy? I really can't even guess. But, I have a lot of faith; and I know, long term, it will all work out. As for how all of this will impact the real estate market, here's my prediction... I suspect we'll still close what we have on the books for October, but the number of new contracts will be reduced. I think after the elections - regardless of which candidate will be our next president - with the media's focus switched, the public will feel a renewed sense of cautious optimism; and people will slowly start thinking about moving and investing in real estate again. That is always somewhat deterred by the holidays, and my prediction - for the moment - is that January will be our next BIG month in real estate locally. Watch and see; and I'll keep you posted.

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