How much can I negotiate off of a home's asking price?
Over the past year in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, 93% of all homes sold have sold within 10% of the seller's asking price. Given this market data, keep the…
Home sales increase in February, is our local market poised for a recovery?
Click here to view/print a PDF of my real estate market report. Enjoy! This month’s home sales report (above) has several surprises, the first ofwhich is the increase in…
Examples of Great Deals in Harrisonburg
Yesterday, I mentioned that there are good deals available on investment properties in Harrisonburg, with the key to finding them being: Seek properties listed at prices…
"Good Deals" on Investment Properties in Harrisonburg
I met with a client earlier this week who has funds available to purchase an investment property, and we were contemplating what might make the most sense in the…
Short-term home ownership doesn't always work well
In days gone by (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005) you could buy a home in Harrisonburg or Rockingham County and sell it two years later for a tidy profit. Home values were…
Understanding the Over-Supply of JMU Student Housing
As I explained yesterday, there will be a rather significant over-supply of housing for JMU students in the fall, with an estimated 1,740 empty "beds" across all student…
The Importance of Knowing Thy Area of Expertise
My main area of real estate expertise is in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. I spend a lot of time assisting buyers and sellers in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County…
Determining an offering price in today's market
In making an offer to purchase a home, there are many small and large decisions to make (closing date, home inspection, closing cost credit, etc) --- but the decision…
Why are fewer homes selling in Harrisonburg?
As referenced in yesterday's "My hope for the 2009 local housing market" post, the quantity of home sales has fallen 44% over the past 4 years (between 2005 and 2008). At…
My hope for the 2009 local housing market
I am thankful that we have not seen much of a shift in home values in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County! However, the extremely slow rate of market activity that we are…
What is sustaining home values in our local market?
Over the past few weeks I have examined shifts in home values from several perspectives: The January 2009 Real Estate Market Report showed that even though sales activity…
A quickening pace in the local real estate market?
Our company runs over 60 web sites with real estate listings --- the company site, and a web site for each agent. Over the past year there have been hundreds of thousands…