January, 2008
What an interesting experience I encountered this evening. It was loud, happy, loud, encouraging, loud, joyful and did I say loud. As a coach and father, I found myself surrounded by my middle school girl’s basketball team and cheerleaders as they celebrated a huge victory.
We went into the home turf of our school’s biggest rival and quite readily handed them their first defeat of the season. Then we celebrated with dinner together at Panera and like I said it was loud. But, it was cool too. I hope and pray that my daughter, her friends and teammates have many such joyous experiences in life. For those are often the moments in life from which you draw strength when things get tough.
But, perhaps the greatest moment came immediately following the game. A fan and parent of our rival team approached our coaching staff and paid us an enormous compliment. He said…
“It is a joy to watch your team play this game. I have seen you win and I have seen you lose. Whether you are winning or losing, the tenor of the coaching staff doesn’t change. You encourage fundamentals, and, unlike many coaches, you are not screaming, cursing and humiliating anyone. That is the essence of sportsmanship.”
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Odds are better than average that when you look at the photo above, you don’t notice the abundance of cabinetry or the stainless steel wall ovens. I bet your first impression is massive clutter. It would be for most buyers I work with and chances are very good that we would never go look at this home for that reason.
I am sure this is a great home, but I would suggest that the amount of showings they receive will be reduced by 70% because of the clutter in these photos.
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The Federal Open Market Committee cut the Fed Funds rate by another half point today. That is 1.25 points in the last 8 days or so. and a half point rate cut was largely expected. Because it was somewhat expected, this cut has not yet resulted in any significant change to mortgage interest rates. You can view more about the rate cut here.
If you are considering purchasing or refinancing a home in Fredericksburg in the next month or so, I would consider locking your rate with a lender very soon.
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It appears conforming loans still would be capped at less than $500,000, under the economic stimulus package deal announced last week.
The deal would raise the cap from $417,000 to 125 percent of a metro area’s median home price, with a ceiling of $730,000, according to Congressional leaders.
For example, the Seattle area had a median home price of $394,700 in the third quarter of 2007, according to the National Association of Realtors. That would put the new cap at $493,375, an increase of $76,375 (18.3 percent) from the current level.
The cap is the maximum loan government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may buy. “Jumbo” loans above the cap face higher interest rates and are more subject to the swings of capital markets, like the one that pushed the gap between conforming and jumbo loans from about half a percent to as high as 1.5 percent last summer.
While $493,375 is nothing to sneeze at, local real estate professionals have been lobbying federal officials to raise the cap above $600,000.
Sources: Inman News/Inman Blog & Mortgage News Daily
Have questions about what all this means to you? Click here to ask a mortgage expert.
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This home obviously has room for horses and a stable. Not sure if Flicka (probably not the horse’s real name) comes with the property or not, but the features and benefits are clearly communicated.
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I have worked hard to provide information to my readers and clients regarding the potential pitfalls of purchasing short sales, pre-foreclosure and foreclosure properties. However, it is absolutely true that foreclosures offer some fantastic buying opportunities. As a result of my writing and educating on the topic, I get a lot of questions about purchasing foreclosure properties. One of the most repeated question is “Where can I get a list of foreclosure properties?”
There are several answers. The most common thought is that you need to watch the newspaper for foreclosure sales. Certainly you can find some there, but it is not even close to being a comprehensive list. Second school of thought is to subscribe to “foreclosure” websites. Same thing, not even close to being a comprehensive list. In the Fredericksburg real estate market, the most comprehensive list of foreclosure properties are culled from the regional MLS (Multiple Listing Service.)
There are currently well over 400 foreclosure opportunities in the area. If you are interested in obtaining a free list of foreclosures, go to this website and I will make sure that you get the list and other information you may need.
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This is a weekly snapshot of homes for sale in Fredericksburg. Or rather, the Fredericksburg area.
Caroline – 395 Active (Up 9) /32 Under Contract (Up 3)
King George – 280 Active (Up 11) /29 Under Contract (Up 2)
Fredericksburg City – 198 Active (Up 2) /19 Under Contract (Up 1)
Spotsylvania – 1312 Active (Up 26) /163 Under Contract (Up 19)
Stafford – 1272 Active/121 (Up 18) / 155 Under Contract (Up 13)
Weekly Synopsis: Interestingly, properties under contract are up in each locality. New listings are also up to balance things a bit… but, it is still a good sign to see contracts going up. In particular, Spotsylvania was up 23 contracts last week and up 19 this week. Hopefully, this is a trend that continues. If so, it will ultimately lead to some balancing of the market. Too early to say anything like that is happening yet.
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Today’s most interesting property photo of the day. What do you think is the point in using this photo in a marketing piece or on the MLS?
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I mentioned awhile back that I intended to run the inaugural Marine Corps Historic Half-Marathon. What I didn’t know then was that I would have the distinct privilege of running this event for someone other than myself.
I and one of my friends have the privilege of running this historic event as a part of Team WFLS, which is the local country radio station in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The beauty is that myself and approximately 44 others are running this event and raising money for TAPS (The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors).
We are pledging to attempt to raise a minimum of $100 per person, and hopefully a lot more for the benefactors of this event. What a blessing to be able to take a God given ability…. the ability to run and to use that to help the families of military personnel who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
This is a brief overview of this wonderful organization:
The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors is the non-profit Veterans Service Organization offering hope, healing, comfort and care to all those who are grieving the death of a loved one in the Armed Forces. TAPS receives absolutely no government funding, but through the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, all families faced with a death of a loved one serving in the Armed Forces receive information about TAPS and our military survivor programs.
So, I encourage you to support this organization. And…. if you would like to support my efforts at running the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon with Team WFLS for TAPS, shoot me an email and I will give you some details on how to support us.
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There is a tale that has circulated for hundreds of years and is often used by motivational speakers. Some attribute the tale to Aesop, a Greek folk hero who lived in approximately the 6th century B.C. and who was well known for his animal fables. Regardless of the origin of the story, there is an absolute correlation to much of our life, and especially to those who need to sell their home today.
The story goes that monkey trappers will place a handful of berries, bananas, peanuts, etc. into a container to bait a monkey. When a monkey finds the container, he will put his hand in the container and grab a handful of the food. However, the container is designed so that the monkey can put his hand in or out of the container, but once he clenches his fist, his hand will no longer come out.
So, the monkey reaches in, grabs the food and then cannot remove his hand from the container. Try as he might, he just cannot get his hand back out of the container. That is exactly the scenario in which the monkey is found when the trapper approaches and then kills the monkey.
The monkey could have lived and survived had he simply let go of the treasure inside of the container. But his greed would not allow him to do so and give himself a chance to survive.
Survival is a mindset in which many home sellers find themselves today. Either their mortgage arms have reset to astronomical monthly payments, they have lost their jobs, they have been transferred or are getting divorced and NEED to sell their home. But, they see a little treasure left inside the container and will not let go.
Their hand is trapped inside the container and they cannot see that they are far better if they will let go of the berries (read lower the price). Letting go of a little profit, is far better than being caught in the trap…. stuck with two home payments, or facing a foreclosure or bankruptcy.
Don’t let greed trap you… price your home to sell… or it may be better phrased to say, “Let go of the berries!”
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