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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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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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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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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10 Things you need to know about getting a mortgage in 2010
December 4th, 2009 categories: Financing, First Time Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, 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.
Change is happening
The national housing market has shown some signs of stabilization, and today, the Wall Street Journal reported that mortgage rates set a new record low.
No one can say for certain what 2010 will hold for the real estate market. One thing that is looking more certain, however, is that mortgages are probably going to be harder to come buy for most people in 2010.
Banks have tightened their underwriting standards, and standards will be getting higher for FHA-backed loans, as well.
What does this mean for you?
The tightening of lending standards means that you need to have all your ducks in a row before you apply for a mortgage and start looking to buy a home.
US News and World Report recently published a great article titled, “Getting a Mortgage in 2010: 10 Things to Know.” The article is extremely informative and worth reading from beginning to end.
The article tells you what you need to know about everything from the overall lending climate, to credit scores, to future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
If you’re thinking about buying a home in 2010, then this article is a must-read. If you have any questions about anything in the article, just let us know.
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