Archive for the 'Helpful Tips' Category
How do I get a boat slip at Lake Monticello?
May 13th, 2010 categories: Communities, Helpful Tips, Info, Lake Monticello
Lake Monticello Marina offers boat slips
As you might imagine, people who choose to buy a home at Lake Monticello usually want to be able to enjoy the lake. That means that many of the people who live at Lake Monticello own a boat.
Of course, owning a boat means that you need a place to put it. For the waterfront homeowners, that is usually pretty easy, since the vast majority of waterfront homes have their own boat dock.
Okay, but what if you don’t have your own boat dock? How can you find a place to put your boat so that you can enjoy the lake during the boating season?
Options for getting a boat slip at Lake Monticello
Luckily, if you don’t own a waterfront home, but you do own a boat, you aren’t totally out of luck. There are some things you can do:
1) Ask around to see if you can rent a boat dock from a waterfront homeowner who isn’t using theirs. This might sound odd, but it does happen. There are waterfront homeowners who don’t use their docks. Sometimes, they will rent access to their dock out to someone who would like to use it. Obviously, you would have to negotiate a price with the individual homeowner, but if you can find someone, it might be a decent option.
2) Ask to be put on the boat slip waiting list at the Lake Monticello Marina. This is the most popular option for people who don’t have a boat slip. All you have to do is call the Lake Monticello marina at (434) 589-1692 and asked to be place on the waiting list. You should know that there are two different waiting lists, one for v-hull boats, and one for pontoon boats. You should also know that the waiting lists are quite long. If you would like, you can download the 2010 pontoon waiting list, and the 2010 v-hull waiting list.
3) Your last option would be to simply store the boat on your trailer at your home, and take it over and put it in the lake and take it out at the marina every time you want to use it. Lake Monticello allows owners to park their boats in their driveways, so while this option might not be ideal, it does give you a way of using the boat without a boat slip.
No matter what you choose to do, you should know that there are plenty of ways to enjoy all the fun that Lake Motnicello offers out on the water.
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Why doesn’t my listing agent show my home more?
March 15th, 2010 categories: For Sellers, Helpful Tips
When you are selling your home, you obviously want to have as many showings as possible. While it might only take one showing to sell the house, the reality is that you’ll probably have many more showings than that before your buyer comes around.
With all those showings, there will be plenty of agents bringing their clients through the house. With all those agents, it seems reasonable to think that your listing agent will be bringing clients through, maybe even showing it more than other agents.
Well, not exactly. . .
What is my listing agent doing, anyway?
The primary purpose of your listing agent is to represent your interests. Presumably, your interest is to sell your home, right? That means that it is the job of your listing agent to do everything within her power, expertise, and ability to get your home under contract, and then guide you through the process to the successful closing.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that your listing agent will be the one who actually brings the buyer, nor does it mean that this should be the focus of your listing agent. In fact, the focus of your listing agent should be to expose the home to as many potential qualified buyers as possible, regardless of where they might be found. That means that your listing agent is going to use every tool available to her to market your property to the largest possible pool of qualified buyers.
The role of proper marketing
A lot of people have the mistaken belief that the more a home is shown, the more likely it is to be sold. That isn’t necessarily true.
Think about this– if list your home for $250,000, and it is shown 50 times to buyers who only qualify for $200,000, how likely is it to sell?
As we stated before, the role of proper marketing is to expose the home to as many potential qualified buyers as possible. So, having 4 showings to people who are qualified and interested in buying your home is much better than having showings to 15 people who can’t afford your home, or aren’t ready to move yet. Does that make sense?
Another role of proper marketing is to uncover those qualified buyers, no matter where they may come from. If your listing agent has a qualified buyer, that’s great. The more likely scenario, however, is that your buyer is represented by another agent. To you, it really shouldn’t matter where the buyer comes from, or who represents him.
The world has changed
It used to be that there was no such thing as buyer’s agency in the real estate industry (hard to imagine, isn’t it?). That meant that every real estate agent represented the seller. That also meant that buyers often had to go through the very time-consuming and tedious process of calling listing agents just to see homes. It didn’t make much sense for a listing agent to show the properties of other agents, since their job was to represent sellers.
Now that the vast majority of buyers have their own representation, that means that seeing the home through the listing agent is no longer necessary. Years ago, if you were interested in 5 houses, you had to work with 5 different listing agents to see the homes. Now, you have your own buyer’s agent, who shows you all 5 homes.
What does this mean? Obviously, if buyers no longer have to contact listing agents to gain access to homes, that means that listing agents are far less likely to show their own listings. They don’t have to, that function is being performed by the buyer’s agent. Sure, the listing agent is still going to field a call or two, and show the listing when they need to, but that happens far less often than it used to.
The numbers game
The proliferation of buyer’s agency had the automatic side effect of reducing the number of times that listing agents were showing their own listings. This is especially true now, with the modern MLS, and the internet-based marketing that is attracting buyers. Just how much has it been reduced? Let’s take a look at some numbers. . .
Consider that the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS has about 1000 members.
Let’s just take the top 20% of those agents (the ones doing the most business, and the most likely to sell your home). That equals 200 agents.
If your home is listed in the MLS (and it should be, in order to expose it to the widest possible pool), that means there are 200 potential agents who could show your home.
Now, let’s say (for the sake of argument) that each one of those potential agents actually does show your house. That would be 200 showings.
If your agent is included in those 200, your agent represents .5% of the total showings of your home. .5%!
Are you going to complain if your home is shown 200 times, just because your agent only showed it .5% of the time? We hope not.
The reality
The reality of the modern real estate market is that your agent probably won’t show your home nearly as much as it is shown by other agents. The real estate world has changed so much over the last few decades that this is entirely normal. So, don’t worry if your listing agent isn’t showing your home as much as other agents.
If your home is getting showings, and is generating interest, than you can rest easy knowing that your listing agent is doing her job, and doing her best to represent your interests– exposing the home to the widest pool in order to get the home sold, no matter who represents the buyer.
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Got info? Sign up for the Strong Team Newsletter!
March 12th, 2010 categories: Albemarle County, Charlottesville, Communities, Fluvanna County, For Buyers, For Sellers, Helpful Tips, Info, Lake Monticello, News
Learn about the Charlottesville Area
We know that you’re busy.
That means that, sometimes, you don’t have time to check our website as often as you want to get the latest information about the real estate market here in the Charlottesville Area.
That’s why we’ve created our Strong Team Newsletter.
By signing up for the newsletter, you’ll get the latest, most-up-to-date information available about the real estate market in Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, and Lake Monticello. We’ll also share interesting general information about the area so that you can keep informed about what is happening.
We've got info on Lake Monticello, too!
You’ll get information about everything from upcoming local community events to expert real estate market analysis. We’ll keep you up to date on everything that’s happening all around the Charlottesville area.
The best part is that all you have to do is enter you name and email address, and the newsletter will be delivered straight to your email inbox. We’ll be sending out 2-4 updates a month, depending on what is going on in the market and the area.
So, if you want to be kept up-to-date on all the happenings in the Charlottesville area real estate market, sign up for the Strong Team Newsletter Today!
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Submit your Comments to the State on the Aqua Virginia Rate Increase
February 5th, 2010 categories: Helpful Tips, Lake Monticello, News
If you live at Lake Monticello, then chances are, you’ve heard about the rate increase being requested by the water and sewer provider, Aqua Virginia. You can read the request here.
What does this mean for Lake Monticello Residents?
Here is how the rate increase would affect Lake Monticello Residents:
- Lake Monticello residents’ current charge for water service is $12 (base) plus $4.07 (per thousand gallons usage). Aqua Virginia’s proposed rate for water is $20.77 (base) plus $4.78 (per thousand gallons usage)
- Lake Monticello residents’ current rate for sewer service is $26.49 (base) plus $7.95 (per thousand gallons usage). Aqua Virginia’s proposed rate for sewer is $40.77 (base) plus $12.19 (per thousand gallons usage),
What can residents do about it
If you are a Lake Monticello resident who is concerned about the rate increase, the good news is that you can make your voice heard to the State Corporation Commission. The SCC is going to hold a hearing to decide whether or not to approve the changes. The deadline for public comments on the increase is February 17th.
If you want to send a comment to the SCC, we’ve got instructions on how to do that:
1) Visit the SCC website for public comments. On that page, look for the case number that references Aqua Virginia. It will look like this:
Look for this case reference about Aqua Virginia
2) Next, click on the “submit comments” button. It will open a form that looks like this:
Once you click on the link, you will be taken to this form.
3) All you have to do is fill out the form and leave your comment. It will be sent directly to the SCC. You should note that if you decide to leave a comment, you will have to leave your name and other information, which will be available for public review.
If you need any help submitting a comment, just let us know.
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3 Things You Should Know About Buying a Short Sale in the Charlottesville Area
January 20th, 2010 categories: Financing, First Time Buyers, For Buyers, Helpful Tips, Info, 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.
There are many short sales in the Charlottesville Area
Over the last year, there has been a surge in a type of sale that was previously unknown to most people who were interested in buying a home– the short sale.
Now, if you are looking for a home in the Charlottesville area, it is a good bet that at least one of the homes that you want to consider is a short sale. A few years ago, this would not have been the case. The reality is that short sales are here to stay for the foreseeable future in the Charlottesville real estate market, so it is a good idea to know what to expect when you come across a short sale property.
If you want to buy a short sale property, then there are some things that you need to know so that you can give yourself the best chance for success.
What is a short sale?
Because of the downturn in the real estate market, and falling property values, some people owe more money on their mortgage than their house is currently worth. Sometimes, those people need to sell their homes now, and can’t wait for property values to rebound.
When a person needs to sell their home and the amount that they owe on the mortgage exceeds the value of the home, they are sometimes able to proceed with a short sale. When someone asks their mortgage bank to do a short sale, they are basically saying to the bank, “I can no longer afford to pay my mortgage. I need to sell the house, but I can’t afford the difference between the value of the house and my outstanding loan balance.”
If the homeowners are able to prove to the bank that they cannot afford to continue to pay the mortgage, and prove that the house is worth less than the remaining mortgage balance, the bank might approve a short sale.
So, what should you do when you are looking at homes, and you find out that the one you want to buy is a short sale? What should you expect? What should you know?
3 Things to know about buying a short sale
Navigating through the process of buying a short sale can sometimes be frustrating. There are 3 things that you need to know before you go into the process that can help you avoid some of the frustration that can occur and get you in the right frame of mind for successfully buying a short sale property.
1. Be very patient. The short sale process can take a LONG time. In a typical buying transaction, you would identify the house you want to buy, submit a contract to the owners, negotiate the contract, come to an agreement, and then go through the normal steps before closing. Usually, this might take 30-60 days. The short sale process adds another step that can significantly increase the amount of time it takes to successfully close on the house– the bank.
In a short sale, you will still submit the offer to the sellers, and you will still need to reach an agreement with them. Once that is done, however, the contract will still need to be approved by the bank (or banks) that hold a mortgage on the property. Banks are being flooding with short sale requests, and as of yet, they haven’t committed a lot of resources to processing these requests. That means that simply getting bank approval can sometimes take months, and this is after you have already agreed to a price with the sellers.
There is very little you, or the sellers, can do to speed up the process. Once the bank has all of the required paperwork, they will take however much time they want to either approve or deny the sale. If you are in a situation where you need to close on a house in 30-60 days, you are probably not going to be successful buying a short sale. Short sales routinely take twice that long, or longer. If you are in a short sale, then the best thing you can do for yourself is to remain patient. If it really is the house that you want, and you have the time to wait it out, then all you can do is wait.
2. Don’t expect the sellers to fix any home inspection items. If you are buying a short sale property, you already know that the seller cannot afford their mortgage payments any longer. Obviously, this indicates that the sellers are cash-strapped. If you are going to have a home inspection on the property, and you should, then you need to go into the home inspection assuming that you are going to be responsible for addressing any of the items that are found. Sure, you can ask the sellers to fix items, but don’t be surprised when they tell you that they don’t have the money to fix any of the items.
You should also keep in mind that you probably won’t receive any credits for home inspection items. Doing so is usually frowned upon by the banks involved, and getting approval for such credits merely serves to delay the process even further.
If you are going to have a home inspection on a short sale property, your best approach is to understand that you will be responsible for anything that is discovered, if you choose to go through with the purchase of the house.
3. You are negotiating with a bank, not a person. Sure, the sellers still own the house, and you submitted your offer to the sellers, and they are going to sign it. The reality, though, is that the bank is calling the shots. If the bank denies the short sale, the sellers can’t sell the house, and you can’t buy it from them.
All of this means that patience once again becomes paramount. Because the bank is the party that is really in control, there is going to be more paperwork involved. The bank may want you to sign agreements that wouldn’t be included in a normal purchase transaction.
Appeals to humanity probably won’t get you very far, either. Sometimes, you can endear yourself to a seller by telling your story, helping them get to know you so that they know where you are coming from in the process. The bank doesn’t care about you. For the bank, this is purely a financial transaction. It is purely a business decision that must go through the prescribed process. That is it.
Don’t get frustrated because you think the bank is ignoring you, or not considering your point of view. That might be true, but the bank really doesn’t care that you are frustrated. They just don’t.
Buying a short sale can be worth it
We’re not telling you these things to discourage you from buying a short sale property. We just want you to understand that buying a short sale property is different from going through the normal purchase transaction.
We have helped many buyers and sellers, from Lake Monticello to Albemarle, navigate the sometimes turbulent short sale waters. All of them felt that the process was worth the time and effort that it required. It might be worth it for you, too. It is just important to understand what you are going to be going through before it actually happens. That way, you are prepared for the success that you want achieve.
If you have any questions about buying a short sale or what to expect during the process, just let us know. We’re always happy to help people and prepare them for success.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thetruthabout/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
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