Archive for the 'For Sellers' Category
February Sales of Lake Monticello Real Estate
March 9th, 2010 categories: First Time Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, Lake Monticello, Market Statistics and Information, Monthly Statistics, News
It’s time to take a look at the February sale stats for Lake Monticello Real Estate. . .
Luckily, things are warming up and Spring is just around the corner. In looking at the February stats for Lake Monticello, it looks as if the snow and the tough winter put quite a freeze on the market.
Lake Monticello sees only 3 sales in February
- February was a tough month for Lake Monticello real estate sales. A total of only 3 homes sold in the month of February, 2010. This is half as many as the number of homes sold (6) in February of 2009.
- The highest price of the February sales was $199,500. The lowest was $153,000. The average of the 3 homes was $174,833.
Lake Monticello ahead of 2009 pace
Through February, there have been 13 sales in Lake Monticello in 2010. This number is much better than the 9 sales that Lake Monticello saw during the first two months of 2009. Despite the low number of February sales, the 2010 Lake Monticello real estate market is ahead of last year’s pace, so far.
February sales market analysis
Below is an analysis of the February 2010 sales in Lake Monticello. The analysis gives you information on each of the homes sold, and cumulative data for all of them. As always, if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re happy to help however we can!
February 2010 Lake Monticello Real Estate Sales Analysis
All of the statistics and data provided come from the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS MLS. The information provided is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed.
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Lake Monticello Waterfront Market Update 2/23/2010
February 23rd, 2010 categories: Communities, For Buyers, For Sellers, Lake Monticello, Market Statistics and Information, Waterfront Updates
The prime selling season is beginning to heat up in the Lake Monticello real estate market. That means that the prime selling season for waterfront homes is coming, as well. We wanted to update you on what activity there has been in the Lake Monticello waterfront market so far in 2010, and what the market for waterfront homes looks like right now. . .
DISCLAIMER: The following information is from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors MLS. We believe it is accurate, but it can’t be guaranteed.
Waterfront listings currently on the market (main lake, as of 2/23/2010):
- 18 active listings
- Lowest price is $345,000, highest price is $945,000
- Average price is $474,933
- Median price is $464,900
Waterfront listings sold in 2010:
- One waterfront listing has sold so far in 2010.
- The home was a 4200 sq. ft., 6 bedroom, 3 bathroom home, built in 1984.
- It was listed for $525,000 and sold for $507,000 (96.5%).
Waterfront listings under contract in 2010:
- One waterfont home has gone under contract in 2010
- The home is a 3100 sq. ft., 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home, built in 1995.
- When it went under contract, the home was listed at $515,000
- The home was on the market for 253 total days, and began at at list price of $549,000
This information gives you an up-to-date picture of what the waterfront market is like right now, as we head into the selling season. There are sure to be more waterfront homes coming on the market at Lake Monticello, and activity should pick up over the next few months.
If you have any questions about this information, or would like to know more about waterfront homes at Lake Monticello, please feel free to contact us. We are happy to help however we can. If you want to see for yourself why people are attracted to the waterfront lifestyle that Lake Monticello offers, please take a look at our video tour of Lake Monticello.
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Join us on our Lake Monticello Video Tour
February 2nd, 2010 categories: Communities, First Time Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, Info, Lake Monticello
We work with a lot of people who are interested in buying real estate in Lake Monticello. Many of those people have never been to Lake Monticello when they first contact us. That means that one of the first question they ask is, “What is Lake Monticello like?”
That is a tough question for us to answer because, until you’ve been here, it is tough to describe to someone. We love living here, and we love telling people all about it; but it is really tough to give people what an idea of what it is really like to live here. Sure, you can see pictures on the internet, but they really don’t give you a feel for how it all comes together into such a unique and wonderful community.
If you’re interested in Lake Monticello, our video tour can help!
We decided that an effective, convenient way for folks to become more familiar with the community would be to take them on a tour that they could watch right from the comfort of their own homes. That’s why we created our Lake Monticello Video Tour.
The video tour was shot, narrated, and created by us, and it will give you a more complete look at everything Lake Monticello has to offer. During the tour, we take you to all five of Lake Monticello’s beaches, the clubhouse, pool, marina, tennis courts, fishing lake, and the golf course. We’ll take you around Jefferson Drive and share some of the history of Lake Monticello and valuable information that will make you more familiar with Lake Monticello and all that it has to offer.
The tour lasts about 30 minutes, but if you are interested in real estate in Lake Monticello, then we think taking the tour is well worth your time. . .
Please share the video tour with your friends and family!
One of the things that we know very well, being that we all live at Lake Monticello, is that friends and family are always asking us what the community is like. If you live at Lake Monticello now, or are interested in moving here, you’ll probably get the same questions from your friends and family.
That’s one reason that we created the video– so that people who know how great Lake Monticello is can share it with folks who want to know what it is like. We would love it if you would bookmark and share the video with other people when they ask you about Lake Monticello. All you have to do click here.
That page is the permanent home of our Lake Monticello Video Tour. We encourage you to bookmark it and share it any time someone asks you about Lake Monticello. We know how hard it is to explain to people, so why don’t you let the video tour do the talking?
As always, if you have any questions about anything in the video, or anything at all about Lake Monticello, just let us know. We’re happy to help however we can!
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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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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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