Archive for the 'Charlottesville' Category
2009 Lake Monticello & Fluvanna Real Estate Market Year-in-Review
January 28th, 2010 categories: Albemarle County, Charlottesville, Communities, First Time Buyers, Fluvanna County, For Buyers, For Sellers, Info, Lake Monticello, Market Statistics and Information, News, Quarterly Reports, STR Market Info Blitz
As promised on Monday, today is the day we release our 2009 Lake Monticello & Fluvanna Real Estate Market Year-in-Review. This report is just the latest edition of our Quarterly Market Reports.
2009 was in interesting year for real estate in the Charlottesville area, and especially in Lake Monticello and Fluvanna County. The year began with historically low sales numbers, but ended on a high note, spurred by the first-time homebuyer tax credit. All of this is reflected in the statistics in the report.
The report contains pages of statistics and analysis about the Charlottesville area and Lake Monticello and Fluvanna real estate markets. Here’s just some of the most interesting questions we answer in the report:
- Two counties in the Charlottesville area had more sales in 2009 than in 2008. Which ones were they?
- How many sales were there in Fluvanna and Lake Monticello in 2009? Which months were the best?
- What was the median home price in Fluvanna and Lake Monticello in 2009?
- What was the impact of the First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit on the market?
- How was the Lake Monticello waterfront market impacted in 2009?
These and many other critical pieces of information are included. We’ve been hard at work compiling the stats and doing the analysis because we want our clients to be the most informed clients in the area about the real estate market. This information is critical for you to have and understand so that you can make good decisions and reach your real estate goals.
Once again, you can find the report here. From that page, you can download, print, or even share the report with others. If you have any problems viewing the page, and would like us to email you a PDF copy of the report, just send us an email, and we’ll get it out to you right away. If you want, you can also scroll down and view the report right here in this post, and you still have the option of downloading or sharing the report with anyone you think might benefit from it.
As always, if there is anything you need, or any questions we can answer, don’t hesitate to ask. We’re always here to help you however we can.
2009 Lake Monticello and Fluvanna County Real Estate Market Year-in-Review
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Charlottesville Named one of America’s Best (and Healthiest) Neighborhoods by Men’s Journal
January 21st, 2010 categories: Albemarle County, Charlottesville, Communities, Fluvanna County, Fun Stuff, Lake Monticello, News, STR Market Info Blitz, Uncategorized
This post is part of the Strong Team REALTORS Market Info Blitz. We’re heating up the Winter market by giving you three-months worth of the information you need, November through January. Check out the latest posts in the blitz, here.
Life is good in the Charlottesville Area.
Buying real estate is always about more than just the square footage of a house, or whether or not is has a garage. We move into a house not only for the house itself, but for the area where that house is found. It is often the area around a house that helps turn it into a home.
Residents of the Charlottesville area know how valuable the area is to their quality of life. Sure, there are great houses in Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, and Lake Monticello, but it is often the quality of life in the Charlottesville area itself that attracts people to these properties.
Charlottesville is consistently recognized by national publications for its high quality of life. One of the latest publications to recognize Charlottesville is Men’s Jornal. Charlottesville was recognized in the June 2009 edition of Men’s Jornal as being one of the best neighborhoods in America. Charlottesville was once again recognized by Men’s Journal in the January edition as being one of America’s 5 Healthiest Towns, using statistics from BestPlaces.net
It is always good to see the Charlottesville area receive recognition for the things that really set it apart and make it a wonderful place to call home.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/maong/ / CC BY 2.0
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10 Things to Know About the Charlottesville Area Real Estate Market in 2010
January 4th, 2010 categories: Albemarle County, Charlottesville, Communities, Financing, First Time Buyers, Fluvanna County, For Buyers, For Sellers, Helpful Tips, Info, Lake Monticello, News, STR Market Info Blitz, Uncategorized
This post is part of the Strong Team REALTORS Market Info Blitz. We’re heating up the Winter market by giving you three-months worth of the information you need, November through January. Check out the latest posts in the blitz, here.
10 Things to Know About the Charlottesville Area Real Estate Market in 2010
We recently came across a very interesting article published a few weeks ago by U.S. News & World Report that was all about the national real estate market. The article was called, “10 Things to Know About Real Estate in 2010.” The article is well done, and definitely worth reading.
We thought that the predictions in the article were spot-on. All 10 of them, in fact. We realized, however, that the article focused on the national real estate market. Since you aren’t buying or selling all over the country, but rather buying or selling real estate right here in the Charlottesville area, we though it might be a good idea to adapt the 10 things from the article to the Charlottesville areal real estate market.
In fact, the article itself mentioned the need for local real estate analysis:
“. . .anyone interested in buying real estate next year can’t just read the national headlines. Instead, find a good blog that covers the local housing market and consider speaking with a real estate agent with experience in the area. “
We’d like to think that we fit squarely into that category. 
So, let’s get started. . .
10 Things to Know About the Charlottesville area Real Estate Market in 2010
1. Prices to bottom: We think this will be true in the Charlottesville area. In a few days, we will be releasing our 2009 Real Estate Year-in-Review Market Report. The data in that report should give us a good idea as to how prices will react in 2010. Given the trends that we saw in the 4th quarter of the year, it appears that prices have stabilized. It is important to note that reaching a bottom is very different from climbing. While we expect prices to stabilize, we certainly don’t expect to see a tremendous appreciation of prices. As we’ve been saying for a long time now, the days of 10% appreciation per year are over for the foreseeable future.
2. Mortgage delinquencies up: This is unfortunate, by probably true. We expect to see more foreclosures and short sales in the market this year than we saw in 2009. The state of the economy is a major factor in the rise in delinquencies, as is the fact that many homeowners owe more than what the home is worth. Those two factors inevitably lead to a rise in delinquencies. That being said, the Charlottesville area has fared much better than many parts of the country. While their may be increased foreclosures and short sales here in 2010, it will be much less than other areas, even in our own region.
3. Foreclosures move upstream: This is a rather interesting prediction that is made in the article. Basically, economists are predicting that foreclosures will increase among “prime” borrowers, and homes in higher price ranges. Remember how everyone was saying that the chief cause behind the mortgage meltdown was the “subprime” borrowers? Well, many of those borrowers are already in foreclosure, or have been through foreclosure. There are a lot of “prime” borrowers out there who might now be in danger. Most economists think this is due in large part to the number of Adjustable Rate Mortgages that are set to have interest rate resets in 2010. It is difficult to predict whether or not this will be true in the Charlottesville area. It stands to reason, however, that if there a high number of ARMs in the area, we might see increased foreclosure numbers in higher price ranges.
4. Mortgage rates to rise: Since mortgage rates are not geographically dependent, any national prediction about mortgage rates will be just as true here in the Charlottesville area. Mortgage rates have remained at historic lows, thanks primarily to programs put in place by the Federal Reserve. As those programs expire throughout the course of the year. Expect rates to rise. Their is a very good chance that rates could be at or near 6% for 30-year mortgages by the end of 2010.
5. Buyer’s market remains: With prices at the bottom, and mortgage rates at historic lows, this is obviously a buyer’s market. That most certainly will continue throughout 2010. As previously mentioned, however, mortgage rates are sure to rise, and prices probably won’t continue to fall in the Charlottesville area. This means that the leverage buyers currently have will probably decrease as the year goes on. One factor that will play a big part in the market shift will be inventory. If inventory numbers remain high, buyers will have continued leverage just because they will have a greater selection, and more competition among sellers. If inventory numbers start to fall, that will erode that leverage more quickly. By the end of 2010, the market should still favor buyers, but things will be much more even than they are now.
6. Modification plan could be modified: The Federal loan modification program is a mess. It simply hasn’t done what it was intended to do– keep borrowers in their homes. The program doesn’t address two of the key factors that lead to loan delinquencies– negative equity, and job loss. While job loss hasn’t been as big a problem in the Charlottesville area as it has in other regions, negative equity is certainly a concern. Only a relative handful of people have been helped by the program. If the government really wants to do something, the program is going to have to be modified. If that does happen, it could stem the tide of foreclosures and delinquencies predicted by numbers 2 & 3.
7. FHA lending standards may increase: This one is pretty much guaranteed. Loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration have been very popular. Unfortunately, that popularity has meant that FHA loans have also been hit hard by foreclosures. This has lead the FHA to push for increased standards. Increase the standards might have the effect of eliminating potential buyers from the marketplace. While such an increase should help stabilize the market in the long-term, it could have a short-term chilling effect.
8. Tax credit available through June: We’ve talked about what extending and expanding the tax credit might mean for the Charlottesville area before. November certainly saw an increase in closings due to the originally proposed expiration date for the tax credit. It is difficult to determine if the extension and expansion will have the same effect of bringing more buyers into the marketplace. Overall, we feel that the impact made by extending and expanding the tax credit program will have only a slight positive effect on the Charlottesville area real estate market.
9. Markets will vary a great deal by region: This is true every time, all the time. It is true on a macro level, and also on a micro level right here in the Charlottesville area. The different localities have been effected differently by the market changes. Albemarle has been effective differently than real estate in Lake Monticello or Fluvanna. Even different neighborhoods have been effected differently. As the article suggests, it is extremely important to find an agent who is knowledgeable about the market conditions in the area and/or neighborhoods in which you are interested.
10. Mobile maps can help: This one was a bit of a stretch by the author of the article, but it is still applicable in the Charlottesville area. Both Trulia and Zillow have iPhone apps that will allow you to search for homes by your current location. It is a neat feature, to be sure. We have found that our clients appreciate the visual feedback that map-based searching can provide, which is why our Charlottesville area real estate search engine has a map-based element to it. Since all three of us are dedicated iPhone users, never hesitate to ask when you have questions about mobile real estate applications. Between the thee of us, we’ve tried just about all of them.
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23727257@N00/ / CC BY 2.0
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FAQ About the Homebuyer Tax Credit
December 16th, 2009 categories: Albemarle County, Charlottesville, Communities, FAQ, Financing, First Time Buyers, Fluvanna County, For Buyers, For Sellers, Info, Lake Monticello, Louisa County, STR Market Info Blitz
This post is part of the Strong Team REALTORS Market Info Blitz. We’re heating up the Winter market by giving you three-months worth of the information you need, November through January. Check out the latest posts in the blitz, here.
Take advantage of the homebuyer tax credit!
We told you about the extension of the homebuyer tax credit as soon as it was extended and expanded back in November. Since then we’ve received a lot of questions from folks looking to buy a home in the Charlottesville area about the homebuyer tax credit and how they might be able to take advantage of it.
We thought it might be a good idea to answer some of the most common questions about the homebuyer tax credit right here, so that anyone interested in it will have a better understanding of how it works. As always, if you have additional questions about the tax credit that might not have been answered in this post, please feel free to contact us, and we’ll be happy to help you.
How much is the first-time homebuyer tax credit worth?
The first-time homebuyer tax credit is $8000. If you are a married couple who files your taxes separately, the tax credit is $4000 each.
Who is considered a “first-time homebuyer?”
In order to be eligible to receive the first-time homebuyer tax credit, you must not have had an interest in a principle residence for 3 years prior to your current purchase.
How much is the tax credit worth for current homeowners?
Current homeowners may receive a $6500 tax credit. If you are a married couple who files your taxes separately, the tax credit is $3250 each.
<Who is considered a “current homeowner?”
In order to qualify as a current homeowner, you must have used the home being sold as a principle residence consecutively for 5 of the previous 8 years.
When does the credit expire?
The credit expires for both first-time homebuyers and current homeowners on April 30th, 2010. In order to take advantage of the credit, you must have a binding contract by midnight on April 30th, and the home must close by July 1, 2010.
Are their limits to eligibility?
Yes. The income limits for eligibility are $125,000 annual income for single persons, and $225,000 annual income for married couples. There is also a limit of $800,000 for the home being purchased.
Is there paperwork
As with any government program, there is some paperwork to be done in order to receive the credit. The IRS has special forms for your purchase, which you can get from your closing attorney or accountant. You will also need to attach to your tax return documentation of the purchase, which will at least include the signed HUD-1 statement from your closing.
Will the government send me a check?
Maybe. When you apply for the credit, it will be applied to your tax bill. That means that if you owe less taxes then the amount of your credit, you will receive a check from the IRS. If the amount of the taxes you owe is more than the credit, it will simply reduce your total tax burden. Some people who took advantage of the tax credit early filed amended 2008 returns, and were able to receive a check, since they had already paid their 2008 taxes.
Are their homes available that will work for me?
Of course! We’ve worked with a number of buyers this year who have taken advantage of the tax credit. There are plenty of homes for sale in Lake Monticello, Charlottesville, and Albemarle that are perfect for people who want to take advantage of the tax credit. We can help guide you through the process every step of the way. If you are interested in taking advantage of the tax credit, just let us know, and we’ll be happy to help you!
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/ / CC BY 2.0
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Don’t miss The Virginia Glee Club’s 69th Annual Christmas concerts
November 29th, 2009 categories: Albemarle County, Charlottesville, Communities, Events, Fluvanna County, Fun Stuff, Info, Lake Monticello, STR Market Info Blitz
This post is part of the Strong Team REALTORS Market Info Blitz. We’re heating up the Winter market by giving you three-months worth of the information you need, November through January. Check out the latest posts in the blitz, here.
One of the reasons that people choose to live in the Charlottesville area is because of the amazing diversity of live entertainment that is available. This is especially apparent during the holiday season.
One staple of live entertainment during the holiday season in the Charlottesville area is the Virginia Glee Club. For 68 previous years, the Glee Club has entertained residents and visitors with the best songs of the season. We have been to the shows before, and it is one of the things that we most look forward to seeing during the holiday season.
This year, the Glee Club will be performing two shows– December 4th at Old Cabell Hall, and December 12th at the Paramount Theatre. You can find more information, and order tickets, here.
If you’ve been looking for some quality holiday entertainment that the entire family can enjoy, you won’t be disappointed in the Glee Club holiday concerts. They are fabulous.
And in case you don’t want to take our word for it, here is video of their performance of the Carol of the Bells from last year’s concert. . .
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