Archive for October, 2008
Are You Missing Payments On Your Loudoun Home? What Is A Short Sale?
October 31st, 2008 categories: For Homeowners, Short Sales & Foreclosures
When you purchased your home you never expected that you would be in this situation. Nevertheless, because of the current state of things you are no longer able to make your mortgage payments.
If you are like many who are struggling with making your mortgage payment, it is important that you understand what your options are. Depending on how far behind you are in your payments some options may be better than others.
Options To Consider
1. Refinance your mortgage. If the issue with your missed payments is an increase in your interest rate, speak with your lender to find out if you still have enough equity in your home to refinance in to a lower rate.
2. Try To Sell Your Home. If you still have equity in your home and can afford to sell it, put it up for sale as soon as possible.
3. List Your Home As A Short Sale. If you owe more on your home than it is worth in the current market, a short sale can be a great option. I will discuss more about Short Sales below.
4. Foreclosure. I do not encourage foreclosure at all because of the effects of it.
5. Bankruptcy. I am not encouraging bankruptcy. There are different levels of bankruptcy that may benefit a family depending on their situation. However, it should only be considered after seeking legal advice (which I am not providing).
What Is A Short Sale?
A short sale is when a lender accepts less for a mortgage than what is owed on it to avoid foreclosure or an auction.
For example… Sandra purchased her home for $200,000. However, the home is now only worth $175,000 and she needs to sell it or else she will go to foreclosure. To avoid this she places the home for sale with her Realtor and seeks the banks mercy to accept less for the home than she originally has a loan for. This is a short sale.
Banks are often open to accept discounts because they are in the business of lending money. However, the more bad debt they have on their books the harder it is for them to lend. A short sale usually saves them money they would have to spend in taking a home to foreclosure or an auction and gets the home off of their books.
If you experiencing a difficult time making your payments and would like to discuss a short sale on your home please contact me. Realtor commission is paid by the bank in a short sale transaction.
If you are considering bankrupsy, foreclosure, or a short sale you should legal counsel. I do not provide legal counsel.
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Loudoun County Voting Locations
October 29th, 2008 categories: Local Events
On Tuesday November 4th you have the incredible opportunity to cast our vote for the next elected officials.
The find out where and when you can vote click HERE!
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Why Waiting To Sell Your Home In The Spring Will Cost You Thousands!
October 27th, 2008 categories: Sellers, opinion
The kids are back in school, the weather is cooling down, the holidays are quickly approaching, and the last thing that you want to do this time of year is to pack up your home and move. You are probably thinking about unpacking this time of year… The box of winter clothing and the Christmas tree.
But if your plans include selling your home in the next half of year and you are waiting for the exciting spring market… you could be loosing a lot of money while you wait. Let me show you what I mean.
Below are the home sale stats for Loudoun County in 2007 which was during a declining market. Notice, that during the spring there are many more homes that sold compared to October. Now, look at the 2008 stats.
If you would have placed your home on the market to sale in October 2007 you would have had less of chance to sell it since less homes sold during that time period than compared to April of 2008 (THE SPRING MARKET). However, if you would have sold it during October of 2007 you would have netted an average of $40,000 more on your home! Some would consider this worth moving during the holidays for.
In other words, don’t confuse more activity in the market with higher prices. You must remember that currently we are in a declining real estate market. Though there are months that are more favorable to sell, the prices are rarely increasing making the current time (whenever that is) the most favorable time to sell your home.
There is another reason to move during the fall and winter… Less competition since fewer people try to sell during this time. If you are considering selling in the next 6 months I would encourage you to consider going against the flow… Set yourself apart from others and give yourself a chance to net more money than you will in the spring.
Stat charts where created by daar.org.
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Farmwell Hunt Lake
October 24th, 2008 categories: Farmwell Hunt
I was able to grab this photo the other night at Farmwell Hunt in Ashburn… Enjoy.
This photo is protected under a license. Do Not Use.
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Loudoun County Average Time To Sell A Home
October 22nd, 2008 categories: Market Statistics
If you are considering selling your home it is a good idea to understand absorption rates.
The Absorption Rate is the amount of time it will take to sell off all of the homes currently in the market if the sales activity continues at the same rate it is currently at. In Loudoun County it would currently take a little over 4 months to sell all of the homes available (not including condos). This is actually really good being that it is considered a buyers market when there is over 6 months of criteria on the market.
Purcellville’s Wright Farm… 3+ Acre Lots
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Purcellville’s Wright Farm… 3+ Acre Lots
October 21st, 2008 categories: New Construction
As I mentioned last week… the best deals in the market at this time are in the luxury home communities. And few can compete with the prices of foreclosures except the builders.
I have visited almost every new home community in Loudoun County and if you are looking for a home with acreage the best deal currently is what K.Hovnanian is offering. Wright Farm is a community that is selling their last 4 lots. Each lot is 3 - 3.25 acres. Most of the lots remaining are wooded and the builder is allowing you to choose which of their models you want to build on either one (except lot 118) .
The prices currently range from the mid 500’s to the 700’s. There are incentives being offered at this time by the builder as they are ready to work with each individual purchaser. If you are interested in recieving more information please contact me. Here are a few pics of the the area and community….
Parkgrove At Broadlands; Loudoun’s New Luxury Home Community
Loudoun County Home Sale Stats
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The Presidental Canidates On Capital Gains Tax
October 20th, 2008 categories: For Homeowners, Real Estate News
There are many issues that you will not hear addressed by the media or candidates during the debates. However, after some basic research I found where the Presidential candidates stand on the capital gains tax.
Capital gains tax is a tax imposed on a profit made by the sell of a property if the home has not been lived 2 out of the last 5 years. If an owner has lived in a property 2 out of the last 5 years an owner can currently keep 250k of the profit they make on a home tax free. If they owner is married they can keep up to 500k tax free. The current capital gains tax rate is 15%.
For the sake of a fair comparison, I have copied and pasted directly from the candidates sites what their plans are for their this tax which will effect many home owners in this area who at some point hope to make a profit on their homes.
Obama’s Plan: Families with incomes below $250,000 will continue to pay the capital gains rates they pay today. For those in the top two income tax brackets- likewise adjusted to affect only families over $250,000- Obama will create a new top capital gains rate of 20 percent.
McCain’s Plan: John McCain will maintain the 15 percent rates on dividends and capital gains.
Are You Missing Payments On Your Loudoun Home? What Is A Short Sale?
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Halloween In Northern VA Isn’t Going To Be Very Fun This Year
October 17th, 2008 categories: For Fun
I see the effects of foreclosure everyday so I know that there is nothing funny about it. However, I couldn’t help but to smile at this cartoon. If this is offensive please forgive me.
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Loudoun County Home Sale Stats
October 16th, 2008 categories: Market Statistics
Home sales are out for last month.
The housing trend always begins to decline a bit this time of year because of the transition in priorities for families. Nevertheless, it appears sales have held steady thanks to low prices and interest rates.
*Highlights*
1. Days on market are continuing to decline. This is a good sign since the majority of homes are in dealings with banks. It appears that bank processing systems for short sales are improving.
2. For the last FIVE months the amount of homes coming on the market have been in a steady decline. Less supply is always good.
3. There are less pending sales this month and a major drop from August. I would propose to you that this number has a level of manipulation behind it. As I have mentioned in a previous articles that this number has increased as listings agents have once again began leaving homes active in the MLS instead of placing them under a contract status while they await a bank response. This number therefore cannot be trusted.
Parkgrove At Broadlands; Loudoun’s New Luxury Home Community
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Parkgrove At Broadlands; Loudoun’s New Luxury Home Community
October 15th, 2008 categories: Broadlands, Community Of The Week, New Construction
The best deals in the market right now are in the high end market. But besides re-sales there hasn’t been a variety of luxury homes for sale with any sizable lots in Ashburn for a while. Don’t get me wrong… there are a few but nothing that offers a lot of new selection.
This has now changed. In January of this year Van Metre Homes in The Broadlands began building a new section of homes for their Windsor Collection on 3/4 - 1 acre lots in a neighborhood they are calling Parkgrove. The homes range from 4300-around 6500 square feet (depending on the model and bump-outs).
*A Few Cool Highlights*
1. Many of the homes come standard with a 4 car garage!
2. There is only around a 6 month build time. If you need temporary housing Van Metre will help host you in their apartments with no short term rental fee.
3. You have the option to customize parts of the home. There are very few builders in our area who are offering this.
4. The community is not tied to open band so the HOA fee is only $65.50 a month. You are free to choose Verizon FIOS unlike many other parts of the Broadlands.
SALES EVENT
Currently Van Metre is hosting a HUGE sales event until October 31st where you can take 15-20% off the total purchase
price of a home depending on the lot. You can work with your Realtor (me) and the sales rep at Van Metre to manipulate
this incentive to work in your closing cost and upgrades.
Schools
Mill Run Elementary, Eagle Ridge Middle, Briar Woods High
If you are interested in viewing this community or need representation while working with a builder at no extra cost to you
CONTACT ME!
All information is deemed reliable but should be verified for accuracy. I work directly on buyers behalfs and do not represent Van Metre homes.
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