NRVLiving - Real Estate. Simplified.

Bad Fashion & Child Care - You Had No Idea They Were Related???

Fashions come and go (well, hopefully we don't see ALL of them come back), but there's one that's sweeping the New River Valley you just don't want to miss.  It's one of a kind ... I guarantee there's nothing like it.  And you don't want to miss it.

It's the NRVLiving Store, and it's now open.  And from now until October 31st, all proceeds will go to benefit the Valley Interfaith Child Care Center.  That's 100% of all monies earned!  VICCC is a charity that we here at NRVLiving support on a regular basis, and we want to make sure you can too. 

Did you know?

• Every day in Virginia, 30% of our youth are living in poverty (<$16090), and 12% live in extreme poverty (<$8045).
• 31% of 4th graders are scoring BELOW basic reading levels.
• Children who enter kindergarten ready to learn are more likely to read at grade level by the 3rd grade.
• By age 5, a child’s brain will reach 90% of its adult size, yet public investment lags in these critical years.  That investment can be as low as $232.
• One child in our juvenile detention centers will cost taxpayers $79,355 a year. 
  

We're not supporting VICCC because it looks good, we support VICCC because it's the right thing to do.  And we want you to support them as well.  Read this document (Download early_childhood_facts.doc) and if you feel it's the right thing to do, then we hope you'll visit the Store and join the cause.  There are plenty of  organizations out there you can support - this is one you can't afford to miss. 

So put away the parachute pants, lock up your NASA-inspired hair spray, and turn off the Go White Boy Go music.  Maddi says go shopping instead ...

Blue Is The New Green

Think Crayola's got a new color?  Think again.  It's called BluWood, and it's REALLY blue.  Don't adjust your monitor, that's the real color.  Manufactured by WoodSmart Solutions in Boca Raton, FL, it's as Elizabeth Hock of the Roanoke Times writes, "It's as much green as it is blue."

With better construction techniques and energy-efficiency in mind, homes have less air flow, thus moisture gets trapped in tight, small places and mold and mildew fester.  They love it.  But BluWood lumber goes through a treatment process that keeps mildew and mold, as well as termites, at bay, according to the manufacturer.  And they believe in their product so much, they offer a lifetime warranty of up to $6 million per house against the growth of mold or mildew.   

Capps Home Building Center in Moneta uses the product throughout the Smith Mountain Lake area, among others, and says that consumers have been all about the Blu.  But the warn that, as is the case with so many other "green" products, it ain't cheap.  Considering that it costs 15-20% more to frame a house with BluWood, that's not a real bargain in my book.  But if you're interested in truly going green by going Blu, than this might be the right product.

The Sky Was Laying On My Sidewalk This Morning

It's true - I walked outside this morning and the mortgage landscape was lying right on my front sidewalk.  I took a picture ...

(Okay, admittedly it's not my best work but hang on, I'll try and resurrect this post.  That's really bad, isn't it?  Two sentences in and I'm already apologizing.)

Here's the point.  The steady drone from the media over the last year has been "FORECLOSURE!  RISING RATES!", and it's true that there has been some really awful things happening to a lot of people throughout the country.  But that's not the whole picture ... consider that nationally:

• 97.4% of mortgage payments are being paid on time.
• 2.6% of prime borrowers with fixed rate loans are paying late.
• In 34 states, the rate of new foreclosures decreased. (note the emphasis?)
• If it weren't for California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, foreclosure filings would actually be falling, not rising.

Those aren't my numbers, they were reported by Kenneth Harney of the Washington Post.  His point is that perhaps the picture being painted isn't telling the whole story.  This isn't to say that Mr. Harney's article isn't scary - it is!  Read the whole thing, look at the statistics for states like Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, and subprime statistics for economically-depressed states like West Virginia and Mississippi.  How's Virginia doing?  Very well, according to Harney.  The rate of delinquencies among prime borrowers is at 1.89%.  California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona are skewing the foreclosure numbers because there was so much speculation going on there in the last few years. 

Looking even closer at our neck of the woods, the numbers are even more encouraging.  For months I've been saying that the New River Valley has been avoiding many of the pitfalls befalling other parts of the country, and it's true.  Exhibit A ... or B ... or C, for that matter.   And it's really true, we've been very fortunate and have some built-in economic factors that have kept us afloat.  Very similar to Charlottesville, which Jim Duncan pointed out so well when he wrote of Charlottesville:

"We still have the University of Virginia; they remain the “800 pound cavalier in the county.” We will continue to have people cycling through our economy - professors, doctors, medical, law, business and graduate students, not to mention the huge number of government contractors in the area.  The transience that is inherent in being a college town will never go away."

I guess we have a gorilla as well here in the New River Valley, and while the Charlottesville market is a little higher than ours in terms of average sales price ($276000 to $208361, respectively, in 2006), they're very similar in a lot of other ways.  Mortgage rates are still great (I was just quoted a 6% rate by one of our recommended, local lenders), the financial markets continue to stay pretty strong, and unemployment is low.  I realize that might sound like a broken record, but here's the thing ... if the sky were falling and your mortgage rate just broke the all-time "record" of 18.1%, shouldn't things be bad?  Why, then, have average prices risen from $191945 in 2005 to $208361 in 2006 here in the New River Valley?

That scrambled picture of the real estate market?  I'll have my eggs scrambled, please.

The NRVLiving Store Is Open For Business!

You asked for it, and you got it!  The NRVLiving Store is now open!  Check out all the swag and pick up some of your own!  Seriously ... we're begging you.  Okay, begging would be the wrong word but just go check it out and pick up something nice.  Christmas IS coming you know, and mama wants a new hoodie.

How To For Sellers: Set Your Home Apart From The Rest!

Sellers, set your home apart from the rest and sell for more money!  "How", you ask?

By clearing out all the junk!

Then read this great post by Greg Swann of BloodhoundRealty.com.

Hello, My Name Is Jeremy And I'm An Addict

70%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

That's right, I'm an addict.  At least I'm not Ben Martin ...

An Interview With Ben Martin

Jim Duncan of Real Central VA recently interviewed Ben Martin, new Director of Communications and New Media at the Virginia Association of REALTORS, and Jim is excited.  I've had the opportunity to speak with Ben as well, and I'd be willing to throw my hat in that excited ring as well.  Since his hiring, Ben has been contacting a bunch of us techno geeks that also happen to sell real estate, and he's made it clear he's interested in doing away with the Association's Pony Express mentality. 

Since I'm not a fan of reinventing the wheel, and Jim just naturally says just about everything better than I, I've reposted the entire interview.  Hope you'll take a few moments to sort through it - an Association that's willing to provide more for it's members offer it's members the opportunities to do more for the clients they serve, so I think it's worth knowing what's happening with our Association in Richmond.  Thanks Jim, for putting this together.

Part 1 of 3
Part 2 of 3
Part 3 of 3

Tired of the broken record?  Sick of hearing me talk about how the New River Valley is a great place to be?  Fine.  I don't care.  How about listening to someone who actually made the decision to move here because they believed it?  So it might not be about the New River Valley per se, but the Roanoke Valley and the New River Valley are virtually indecipherable in a lot of ways, and it more than applies in this case.

This from Stuart Mease's blog ...

Need I say more?

The State of the Market - August 2007

Well well well.  Truth of the matter is, I have no idea what the market is doing!  But that's okay, we'll let the numbers speak for themselves. 

Last month, I was excited to see that the summer buying season had officially kicked in.  Sellers were seeing more activity, and buyers were looking at everything under the sun.  I've been saying for some time now that as the market has adjusted, we've been working with many more buyers than sellers and that's certainly reflected in August's numbers.  At the NRVLiving Group we are working with far more buyers than we are sellers, and those buyers have the pick of the best listings.  It's awesome, one of the best times to buy I've seen in the last several years.  Look at the chart - average time on the market as a whole is 7.27 months (last month was 7.30 months so it's a wash), which is ranging from 4 months in Blacksburg to as much as 12.4 months in Montgomery County!  Typically, areas like Floyd and Giles and Pulaski are lagging behind, but this month Pulaski is pulling 3.6 months - very much a seller's market there right now, and I have no idea why.  Again, we're looking at how long it would take to sell the existing residential inventory in a particular area, if nothing else came on the market until supply was exhausted.  Anything over 5 months is typically a buyers' market, and anything less than 5 months is typically a seller's market.

Area	Active	Sold	Absorption Rate	Buyer/Seller Market
Blacksburg	208	52	4.0 Months	Seller
Christiansburg	276	43	6.41 Months	Buyer
Montgomery County	112	9	12.4 Months	Buyer!!!!!
Floyd County	92	8	11.5 Months	Buyer
Giles County	99	12	8.25 Months	Buyer
Pulaski	137	38	3.6 Months	Seller
Dublin	105	16	6.56 Months	Buyer
Radford	81	14	5.78 Months	Buyer & Seller

Watch the mortgage industry over the next few months.  It's important to remember - the shake-up we're seeing is primarily NOT among reputable lenders like Bank of America, ABN-AMRO and Wells Fargo (all lenders that our recommended mortgage brokers use).  Instead, it's among Fly By Night shops like Lend2U.com and ShakeYourPockets.ca ... I made those up of course, but check out the Implode-O-Meter for a complete list of firms going out of business, or that have already closed up shop.  The vast majority of these were funding subprime or no credit/no problem loans and it's caught up with them!  Conventional loan products are STILL the best, don't overlook them!  If you don't know what kind of loan you have, feel free to call me and my team at (540) 552-6500 or email me and we can help you find out!  If you'd like more specific data about this report, or anything else pertaining to real estate in the New River Valley, don't hesitate to contact us by email or Instant Messenger!

Lights! Camera! Action!

I know I'm days behind on this ... Daniel Rothamel covered it already, and numerous other sites have mentioned it, but we've been "plum covered up" - inside joke - these last two weeks and just haven't gotten around to it.  But ...

Sit through any meeting with multiple real estate agents in it and you'll notice some pretty funny things.  As Daniel says, "plenty of drama, and no shortage of bizarre situations."  Very true.  The saying "it takes all kinds" is certainly true in this business, good or bad.  And this new movie, Closing Escrow, seems to find all the bad.  And it looks hilarious ... check out the trailer below.

Starring Bruce Thomas, unsung hero in such classics as Beverly Hills 90210, Legally Blonde and The Bold & The Beautiful (hmmm, truthfully some of those titles could be real estate shows as well), is the "star" and I've got to tell you this one looks great.  You can find the DVD on Amazon, let me know what you think!

It's A Girl!

Not mine.  I swear.  But Aaron's ...

Aaron and her husband Brian welcomed Hadleigh Elizabeth into the world last night, September 4, just before midnight.  Aaron is telling us she's got a healthy set of lungs, but everything appears to be just fine. 

Congratulations guys!