Both perspectives (minimizing repair costs, addressing previously unknown property condition issues) are reasonable, most of the time, depending on how it plays out related to specific deficiencies of a home.

So, what is a buyer to do?  A few thoughts....

1. Consider asking for a credit in lieu of repairs so that you can be in charge of how the repairs are made.
    
2. If you are asking for repairs to be completed by the seller, be very specific about how you want them to be completed.
    
3. Understand that it is not always reasonable to ask a seller to make a repair with a 10 year future in mind. 
    
4. Be willing to compromise with the seller to find a way to move forward on the home that you are, presumably, still excited to buy!

I have shown a few houses lately to buyers where we couldn't help but notice a lingering cigarette smoke odor in the home.  That smell was not the only factor that kept these buyers from making an offer on these houses -- but it certainly was a part of the discussion and decision.

So how in the world do you get a pervasive cigarette smoke smell out of a house? 

I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that you may need to consider some or all of these techniques:

I think it is reasonable to be willing to compromise on some aspects of your dream home in order to live in your dream neighborhood.  For example...

Enjoy -- and let me know if you have questions about multi-family properties, or real estate investing in general.

Something I am hearing with increasing frequency goes something like this...

A few thoughts and notes as it relates to this increasing common occurrence...

It's harder and harder to find a (detached) home in the City of Harrisonburg under $200K.  As shown above, there have been fewer and fewer such home sales over the past few years.

As a side note -- the 48 such homes that sold thus far in 2019 have had a median days on market of 5 days.  So, when these under $200K homes do come on the market they usually go under contract quickly!

As of today, there are 11 such properties on the market - but 7 of them are under contract.  Explore all 11 of them here.

 

As shown above, inventory levels keep on dropping in the City of Harrisonburg!?!

Today, you'd have only 50 options for a home in Harrisonburg, compared to...

 

No, Amazon can't deliver you a new home tomorrow -- even if you are a member of Amazon Prime. 

We are so used to being able to find everything, do everything, learn everything, buy everything, online.  And when it comes to real estate, it is easier to understand houses for sale from behind your computer (or more likely - phone) screen.  You can now devour plentiful information about a home for sale to include:

BUT -- nothing replaces actually being in a home.  It's then that you get a true sense of how big rooms are, how spaces are connected, what updates you might want to make to the house, how well the space and flow will work for your family and lifestyle, how the topography of the lot affects your use of outdoor space, how close the neighbors feel, how distracting nearby sights or sounds might be, and so much more.  These intangibles can't truly be understood until you are inside a home.

SO -- if you are starting the home buying process, or deep into it, don't think you should just search, explore and learn online until you find your absolute 100% dream house.  It will be more productive for us if we start going to see some houses inside, in person, in real life!

  

It's been the story for quite a few years now (at least 10 years, it seems) that inventory levels are dropping -- buyers have fewer and fewer homes from which to choose when they are looking to buy in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

Here are how many homes have been on the market in October for the past 10 years...

So, it's certainly a more challenging time to be a buyer than anytime in the past 10 years -- but inventory levels seem to now be bottoming out around 275.  Here's what the past six months have looked like...

So, over the next year, I wouldn't be surprised if we never dipped lower than 250 and we never rose above 300. 

Given these limited inventory levels, it is more important than ever that buyers in today's market are ready to be patient and then to ACT QUICKLY!  :-)  Buyers can make it a bit easier on themselves by knowing the market, knowing the process, knowing your buying power, and closely monitoring new listings!

 

If you're looking to buy a house right now, this might be a familiar experience...

A new listing hits the market that seems to fit ALL of your needs...

Welcome to Island Ford Estates in McGaheysville, VA!

The same builder who brought you The Glen at Cross Keys is now building a very similar floor plan just a few minutes further East in McGaheysville...

The site is being prepared for these duplexes -- and wow -- what amazing mountain views!

Island Ford Estates duplexes offer an open floor plan on the main level which includes a kitchen, dining area, living room, master bedroom, office or sitting room and laundry room. Enjoy spectacular mountain views and a cul-de-sac location in these thoughtfully designed homes. These homes feature 9 foot ceilings in many areas, light-filled living areas, luxury vinyl plan flooring, upscale cabinetry, granite countertops and many options and upgrades.

Visit IslandFordEstates.com to find floor plans, a site plan, standard features, a vicinity map and more!

 

Most folks who buy a home this year will not be paying cash. An important early stage of the home buying process is to talk to a lender to become pre-approved for a mortgage. As you meet with a lender, remember that there is often a difference between:

• How much money you can borrow to purchase a home.
   
  
• How much money you want to borrow to be comfortable with the monthly payment.

When you are just starting the home buying process, I recommend that you talk to one lender to get a rough idea of the price range of home you will pursue and to make sure there aren't any credit issues that would be a surprise to you. Once we are ready to make an offer, or after we have a contract on a house, it then makes sense to check with at least one additional lender to make sure that the interest rate and loan terms offered by the first lender are competitive.

If you are looking for a qualified mortgage professional, shoot me an email (scott@hhtdy.com) and I can give you some recommendations.

As you are navigating the home financing process, I am happy to help you understand the information you are receiving and the decisions you are being asked to make. There are a variety of loan programs that can likely work well for your situation, but we'll want to make sure you are aware of all of your options.

Learn more about the home buying process at BuyingAHomeInHarrisonburg.com.

 

In summary - not yet.

If you need to sell your house in order to buy a new house -- and if your house is not already under contract -- then even if you find your DREAM HOME -- resist the temptation -- do not make an offer yet!

If you make an offer on a house with a home sale contingency without your house already being under contract...

So -- if you view your dream home and you are ready to make an offer but have to sell in order to buy -- don't make the offer yet -- instead...

 

Most buyers looking to spend over $400K (or certainly those looking over $500K) will also be considering building a new home.

Typically, the tension between buying vs building is one of:
     1.  Goals
     2.  Money
     3.  Timing

If you build, you can get the house you want, but you'll pay more for it and it will take a lot of time and attention. 
     1.  Goals = Win
     2.  Money = Lose
     3.  Timing = Lose

If you buy an existing home, you won't get exactly what you want, but you will pay less for the house and the process will not be a drain on your time.
     1.  Goals = Lose
     2.  Money = Win
     3.  Timing = Win

Don't let my oversimplification of this issue fool you -- this is something that buyers can get stuck debating for months, or even years, often while looking at resale homes to try to convince themselves to buy instead building.

If you are stuck in this quagmire, I'd be happy to meet with you to talk through some of the pros and cons and try to help you come to a decision you'll be pleased with in the short and long term.

 

If you have lived in Harrisonburg for a while (more than a few years) which side of I-81 do you live on?  The East or the West?

Would you consider moving to the other side of I-81?

Regardless of which side you are on now, I'm guessing most of you wouldn't flip-flop to the other side.

Most people stay on one side of I-81 after they buy on that side -- because they get used to the patterns of life on that side of our community.  Nothing is necessarily better or worse on one side or the other -- but they are different, that's for sure.

EAST:  Most of the residential development over the past 15 to 20 years has been on the East side of Harrisonburg, in the general vicinity of the new hospital.  This makes it an exciting place to live -- for some people.  There are many newer developments where homes have recently been built, and there are newer commercial destinations (Stone Port, Martin's grocery store, Target, etc) all on the East side of town.  But this also makes it a bit more hectic for getting around.  Of note, there is also plenty of outbound traffic East of town, towards Massanutten, Elkton, Charlottesville, etc.

WEST:  There hasn't been as much residential development West of Harrisonburg over the past 15 to 20 years (other than Belmont and Monte Vista Estates) and this is just fine with most people who live on the Western side of Harrisonburg.  Things are a bit calmer, without as much hustle and bustle, and in some cases with more established neighborhoods.  The towns of Dayton and Bridgewater end up falling into this side of town as well for many people.

I am not doing justice to all of the differences between the East side of town and the West side of town, but I believe that most people in this area are oriented towards one side of town or the other, for very specific reasons.  Furthermore, most people who have spent any considerable amount of time living on one side of Harrisonburg likely wouldn't think about moving over to the other side of Harrisonburg.
 
So -- if you're just moving to the area -- choose East or West carefully -- you might never switch to the other side!  :-)

 

Let me know if you have questions about how I have described these sequences -- and let me know if you would like a few recommendations for lenders in the Harrisonburg area.

 

If you have three non-negotiable home search criteria, it is important to reflect on (or at least be aware of) how much overlap exists between these criteria. 

Above are two examples of this way of thinking about your home search....

The first set of buyers will likely have lots of options (large yellow overlap area) because many homes share these criteria:

The second set of buyers will likely have very few options (small yellow overlap area) because there are very few homes that share these criteria:

These are fictitious illustrations -- they don't represent the actual amount of overlap that does or does not exist based on the criteria noted above -- but you should give some thought to how small of an overlap area you are creating for yourself based on what you are defining as non-negotiable in your home search.

If that area is too small, you'll have very few options to consider, and eventually you may decide to flex a bit on what you had previously considered to be a non-negotiable point.

 

Only 3% of local home buyers spend $500K or more on their home purchase (per sales data over the past year) but this segment of the local housing market has been strong over the past few years.

As shown above, there were 40 home sales over $500K last year - more than any time in the past decade.  This year we seem to be on track to possibly match that, with 33 home sales over $500K in the first eight-ish months of the year.

Reigning in our enthusiasm a bit, though, this is a relatively small number of buyers.  If you are selling a home over $500K, you need to keep in mind that only about 40 buyers per year (just over 3 per month) spend that much money on a home in ALL of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County!

Let's look a bit further into even smaller segments of the high end local market...

While last year (15 home sales) wasn't quite the strongest year for $600K+ home sales -- this year looks like it will be.  We have already -- in eight months -- matched the highest number of $600K+ home sales seen in a year when looking back for 10 years.

And one more look at an even higher price point...

Above, you'll see that most years there are only 5 or fewer home sales over $700K.  But back in 2015 there were 11 (which was more than double the norm) and this year there have already been 10 such home sales!

So -- overall, the high end home sales market is doing well -- comparatively, but that is not to say that selling a home over $500K is an easy task - it's not.  Home sellers over $500K are aiming for a tiny pool of potential buyers -- even if that pool of buyers might be slightly stronger this year than last.

 

Mortgage interest rates kept dropping lower - and lower - and lower all summer long!  The current average rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is only 3.55%, well below the 12 month average of 4.3%. 

If we look back even further, we're approaching the lows of mid-2016...

All of this adds up to VERY favorable times to be buying a house - in that you can lock in your monthly housing costs at some of the lowest long term interest rates ever seen.