Price Points: estimating housing payments...
I often have conversations with people considering their first home purchase who want to first get an idea of how much they would have to pay for housing on a monthly…
The effects of motivated, equity-laden home sellers
As I regularly mention, even though home sales are down in this area (the number of properties being sold) -- median and average prices are staying steady or increasing…
Rockingham County single family home building activity slows
This is probably no surprise, but the number of single family homes being built each year has diminished for the past few years. The graph below shows the number of…
Go For The Gold: How to compete and win as a home buyer
Are all buyers created equal? Certainly not --- especially from a seller's perspective in our current market. Here's how I would rank buyers, from the most exciting to…
Introducing . . . HarrisonburgHousingToday.com
You may have noticed a new masthead on my blog --- HarrisonburgHousingToday.com. For those who might wonder, I made this change to more accurately represent the…
$7500 interest-free loans, and other perks of the housing bill
The president is expected to sign a new housing bill today (July 29, 2008) that may have significant implications for current and hopeful homeowners. Here are a few…
Are we in this alone? How is the rest of Virginia doing?
For many sellers, this is a challenging real estate market. For buyers, of course, it can be a wonderful time (lots of selection, lots of negotiating power). But back to…
Can I search for homes on your blog?
I have had several people ask me this lately --- people who are planning to move to the Shenandoah Valley, and have been reading my blog to better understand the local…
At the close of the first half of 2008, here's another look at the Harrisonburg housing market.
Here is a quick overview of the current state of the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County housing market: A significantly smaller number of homes are selling this year as…
Housing supply remains steady in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County (except those high-priced homes!)
This past week, I overheard someone at the grocery story telling their friend "Can you believe how many homes are coming on the market? I don't know when they'll all…
June 2008 home sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County close out lower than historical trends would have predicted
Here's my monthly graphical representation of our real estate market in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County to give you a feel for where we are. June 2008 home sales (this…
Seller: "C'mon -- do your job -- convince those buyers to buy!"
If only it were that easy! When I am representing a homeowner in the sale of their property, I am: creatively presenting their home in the best possible light…