Please see future blog entries at the new site for Keepin' It Real Estate. 

Reposted from New River Valley and Roanoke Valley Mortgage Market - From Soft to Stable on Handshake 2.0:

At our sales meeting at Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS® on Tuesday, 2/3/09, Marianne Lane, New River Valley and Roanoke Valley representative of Coldwell Banker Mortgage, shared good news about the Blacksburg, Virginia and Roanoke, Virginia mortgage market: 

“Lending guidelines have dictated that in order for mortgages to meet agency guidelines, every property upon loan submission must have a designation as to what type of market in which the property is located. The designations run from great (stable), good (soft), not so good (declining), and bad (severely declining).”

“These designations are based on many things and much data, but to nutshell it, it is a clear indicator as to how the properties are retaining their value … i.e. stable market means the values are steady, severely declining means property values are down significantly. In a stable market, for some programs, a minimum down payment of 5% is acceptable where as in a severely declining market the acceptable minimum down payment needs to be at least 10%.”

Given the importance of those guidelines, Marianne Lane was happy to announce that the Blacksburg and Roanoke area has been upgraded from “soft” to “stable” in the mortgage market. This means that lenders should have more flexibility in mortgage products they have to offer, particularly with down payment restrictions.

Inventory is high and new listings are popping on the market every day. There have been 500 new listings already this year in the New River Valley and close to 400 of those are new residential listings. Low interest rates in a stable market with high inventory make it a great time to buy homes and investment properties.

Margaret Galecki, REALTOR®
Licensed in Virginia
General Manager
Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS®
www.cbtownside.com
blog@cbtownside.com

If you are considering adding a sunroom or converting a garage to a family room, consider that adding more finished space adds value to the appraisal and almost every buyer would like a sunroom and/or a family room. There are, however, three categories of "but." One is that if you need to sell within a short time, you might not get back the full cost of the work. (Nevertheless, if you do such major projects, don’t scrimp on the quality of the work: make sure the structural work is good and the materials are at least as good as those in the rest of the house. A bad addition can be more of a negative point than neutral!)

The second "but" is that at least in the case of the garage conversion, you are losing the garage space: most people would rather have the family room, if the house is otherwise small, but some potential buyers would rather have the garage. (And a sunroom addition might cut off light to existing rooms in the house – think about skylights or solar tubes, in that case.) The third "but" is that having extra space is good, but if the traffic pattern to get to it is not easy, it doesn’t add as much value as it otherwise would. The point of an addition should be to transform the rest of the house, as well as just adding square footage: then you really DO have enhanced value.

Patricia J. Tracy, REALTOR®
Graduate, REALTOR® Institute (GRI)
Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR)
e-Pro Certification
Licensed in Virginia
www.pat-tracy.com
pattracy@cbtownside.com
540-230-1355

Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS®
www.cbtownside.com
blog@cbtownside.com

Reposted from Showing the Love... on Handshake 2.0:

Agents at Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS® frequently share fun stories about the "above and beyond" service and the "love" they share with their real estate clients. 

 One agent provided the car and served as driving instructor for an international buyer that needed help passing his driver's test.  Three sessions later and a DMV road test with the agent's car, Virginia had a newly licensed driver!

Another agent retrieved a deceased pet from a home and preserved it in a cooler until the seller was out of the hospital and could give the animal a proper burial.

I personally had the pleasure of accompanying  another agent while driving the seller's black lab - fragrant with "eau de dog" - around the neighborhood for an hour while a prospective buyer viewed the property! 

These are some extremes, but real estate agents often become pet sitters, baby sitters, bed and breakfast hosts, marriage counselors, housekeepers, plumbers, interior decorators,  chauffeurs ("Hey, can you give me a ride to get my hair cut?"), and last, but not certainly not least, friends.

I am proud to be associated with a quality group of agents, like those at Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS® who understand that real estate service goes beyond showing property and scheduling home inspections.

Has a REALTOR "loved" you?  I would love to hear your story.  Feel free to e-mail me at mgalecki@cbtownside.com.  And if you'd like to read more REALTOR tales, here are some amusing stories from REALTOR:  The Business Tool for Real Estate Professionals.

Margaret Galecki, REALTOR®
Licensed in Virginia
General Manager
Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS®
www.cbtownside.com
blog@cbtownside.com

Motivations From Financial Author and Speaker Dave Ramsey:

Think back to December 2007. Doesn't seem very long ago, does it?

Well, now we're finished with 2008. We're all making the new year's resolutions that will last to mid-January-lose 20 pounds, get out of debt or maybe even read a book. Statistics show that most of us will quit before we get anywhere close to those objectives.

This year, set a goal to not quit!

If you had stuck with the goals you made last year, then you would already be done. Wow! Last year went by quickly, and so will this year, so don't let the time get away from you. The sooner you make something part of your routine, the less you'll notice that you're doing it, and the quicker you'll be finished.

Don't make a goal and then look at it as something you have to do. That's the wrong attitude. Soon you'll come to resent doing the thing that is supposed to make you better. Remember that every time you pay off a debt, get on the treadmill, or do something else productive, you become stronger and get closer to your target.

Think about when you graduated from college. You were used to going to bed at midnight or later. But now that you have a job, you need to get up earlier. So you start going to bed at 10 or even 9:30 p.m. You didn't like it at first, and it took some adjusting. But now you've done it so much that you don't even notice. It's part of your routine.

Getting out of debt, losing weight, or anything else is the same way. Do it for a while, and it goes from being difficult to being a bother to just another thing. By the time beating debt becomes just another thing, you are reaping the rewards from it, which makes the process fun. And when it's fun, the year passes quickly.

Susanna Lilly, REALTOR®
Licensed in Virginia
Relocation & Marketing Specialist
www.SusannaLilly.com      
SusannaLilly@cbtownside.com
540-320-9444

Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS®
www.cbtownside.com
blog@cbtownside.com

Reposted from from Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS® agent, Jeremy Hart: Want to Sell Your House?  Don't Ignore These Details:

This has been making the rounds across the Web right now - it's a simple reminder of what sellers (and their agents) should be paying attention to.  It doesn't matter if it's a home in Blacksburg, or Christiansburg, or Radford ... all of these things make a difference.  The short list? 

1. De-clutter
2. De-pet
3. Leave during showings
4. Your first offer is often your best offer
5. Lowball offers are simply starting points - they're not insults
6. Update, clean and paint
7. Curb appeal matter
8. De-personalize
9. Lighten up the house
10. Fix broken stuff

And Jim Duncan adds #11 - "Price to the market; what you owe does not matter to the buyers or the market."

H/t to Lani for the link.

Jeremy Hart, REALTOR®
Licensed in Virginia
NRV Living Real Estate Group
www.NRVLiving.com 
Jeremy@NRVLiving.com
540-998-4731

Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS®
www.cbtownside.com
blog@cbtownside.com

This is everyone’s favorite dream project, and usually an expensive and stressful experience for those who take the plunge. If you’re inclined to do a major or minor remodel, here are some thoughts from my own experience and seeing things done badly in some houses on the market.

Don’t put really expensive new countertops (granite, solid surfacing) on old cabinets unless those cabinets are in truly excellent structural condition and are of a very plain style that suits modern tastes for ‘sleek’ looks. I’ve shown houses with fancy countertops on crummy cabinets: the prospective buyer’s thoughts run in a straight path from "nice countertops’ to "how can I fix those cabinets?" to "I bet you can’t move the tops and replace them without breaking them" to (brain freeze) "let’s look at another house." Asking a buyer to pay for something expensive they’re going to want to replace is rarely a good selling strategy. (And don’t try to sell a $400,000 house with kitchen cabinets that have plastic drawers. Put your money into the things that are hardest for the next buyer to change – but if you think you’ll sell in the future, choose a very neutral style and color.)

Think about the flow of people and stuff through the kitchen. How many people will be cooking or preparing at once? Can they get around each other without ‘dance’ maneuvers that would make your grandmother blush? If you’re doing a major remodel, take seriously the professional guidelines about 42" of clearance between a counter and an island (so someone can scoot by if the fridge or dishwasher or oven door is open). Think also about where the armload of things you take out of the refrigerator will be put down (stove-top is not a great location for this). Consider carefully where the trash can (and maybe pet food bowls) will be put.

If you have any other questions about things you can do to enhance your home for the best presentation for sale, please contact me.  I would be happy to help.

Patricia J. Tracy, REALTOR®
Graduate, REALTOR® Institute (GRI)
Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR)
e-Pro Certification
Licensed in Virginia
www.pat-tracy.com
pattracy@cbtownside.com
540-230-1355

Reposted from from Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS agent Jeremy Hart : Ten Easy Ways to Save Green this Winter:

It's the winter time - duh, it's cold outside - and many folks are looking for inexpensive ways to save dollars AND energy in their homes.  I came across this list from GreenCville.com and thought I'd repost it (italics are mine):

1. Seal duct work - this is the number one way to conserve energy during the winter.  Duct work can leak heated air into the attic or crawl space if all the joints and intersections are not sealed with foil-backed tape or silicone caulking. (which is another reason Mt. Tabor Meadows is so unique)
2. Seal air leaks to attic - seal all holes from pipes and wires that run in and out of the living space.  This includes light fixtures, pipes, wires, attic stair openings.
3. Seal fireplaces - never use a fireplace as a heat source for your home.  Even as a supplemental heat source, the cold air introduced to a warm home through an open flue isn't as efficient as sealing off a fireplace and using the primary heat source.  For natural gas fireplaces, turn off the pilot light when not in use.
4. Lower thermostat - in the winter, set the thermostat between 65 and 70 degrees during the day and to 58 degrees at night or when away from home for several hours.  Keeping the temperature at 70 degrees is recommended for homes where there are elderly or infants. (this can be hard to maintain in homes that take a long time to heat - a programmable thermostat might help as it allows the home to begin heating at a prespecified time of day)
5. Lower water heater to 120-125 degrees - many water heaters are automatically set at 140 degrees.  Lowering the temperature on your water heater will reduce the amount of fuel needed to heat the water.
6. Change furnace filters every month - This is the number one reason for furnace breakdowns.  Inspect heating and cooling equipment annually.  Have a professional check and clean furnaces once a year.
7. Weatherstrip doors and windows - inspect doors and windows for air leaks.  If you can see daylight around a door or window frame, then it needs sealing.  Air leaks can be sealed with caulking or weather stripping.
8. Insulate water pipes coming from the water heater - insulate the first three to six feet of cold and hot water pipes near the water heater.  Insulating all hot water pipes is not necessary if pipes are lo cated in an attic or crawlspace.
9. Add an insulation blanket to your water heater -   wrapping the water heater with an insulation blanket can save heating money by slowing the drop in temperature from the hot water tank as it sits unused.  Inexpensive insulation kits are available at most home improvement stores.  
10. Add insulation to attic - when adding insulation, start at the top and word down only after eliminating air infiltration. (I've had clients do this and it drastically reduced their heating and cooling bills).

Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS®
www.cbtownside.com
blog@cbtownside.com

I just helped out with a local Radford “Meals on Wheels” organization. The experience is a pretty awesome thing. It really doesn’t take very long at all. I usually partner up with someone in my office. Today, it was fellow REALTOR®, Diane Boon, who faithfully gives to the organization. After picking up and organizing the meals in order of homes, one person drives while the other takes the meals inside the home to the recipient.

The reaction and smiles you get from these folks is pretty special. They are all so very thankful and appreciative. They enjoy seeing and talking to someone even for only a few minutes. This makes you feel good.

I am thankful that occasionally I can give back a little something. I am the one blessed in this!