NRVLiving - Real Estate. Simplified.

April Fools' Day Stories

It's the day before April 1, April Fools' Day.  I thought I'd share some April Fools' stories from across the web - because it's the Internet, and because it's April Fools' Day, there's no telling whether they're completely true or not.  Nevertheless, they're still funny:

• In 1998, Burger King published a full-page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of the "Left-Handed Whopper," specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans.  According to the advertisement, the new burger included the same ingredients as the original, but the condiments were rotated 180 degrees.  The chain said it received thousands of requests for the new burger, as well as orders for the original "right-handed" version.
• On April 1, 1976, noted British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on the radio that at 9:47 am, a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event would occur.  He stated that Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, causing a gravitational alignment that would reduce the Earth's gravity.  Moore told listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment of the planetary alignment, they would experience a "strange floating sensation."  Hundreds of people called in to report feeling the sensation.
• In 1996, fast food chain Taco Bell announced that it had bought Philadelphia's Liberty Bell, our historic symbol of independence, from the federal government and was renaming it the "Taco Liberty Bell."  Outraged citizens called to express their anger before Taco Bell revealed the hoax.  The White House press secretary at the time, Mike McCurry, was asked about the sale, and he said the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., had also been sold and was to be renamed the "Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial" after the auto maker.
• In the movie National Lampoon's Vacation, there is a scene in which Chevy Chase ties a dog to the bumper of his car, then forgets it's there and drives away.  Inspired by this scene, Paul Goobie tied a dead chihuahua to the bumper of his co-worker's car.  The co-worker, Kevin Meloy, got in the car and drove off, unaware that the chihuahua was there.  Obviously, passing motorists were horrified.  But what made the situation even worse was that Meloy was deaf, so he couldn't hear the other motorists frantically honking at him.  Happily he drove on for miles until finally someone was able to get his attention.  The police were not amused by the prank, and charged Goobie with unlawful disposal of a dead animal.
• In 1992, National Public Radio announced that Richard Nixon was running for president again.  His new campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again."  They even had clips of Nixon announcing his candidacy.  Listeners flooded the show with calls expressing their outrage.  Nixon's voice actually turned out to be that of impersonator Rich Little.
• Glenn Howlett's colleagues at London City Hall thought they had dreamed up a great gag.  They sent him a memo informing him that the really big report he was working on was going to be due early, in just two weeks.  The tip-off was that the memo was dated April 1.  Ha Ha.  Except Howlett didn't realize it was just a joke.  He received the memo while on vacation and immediately cut his vacation short and phoned the office to tell everyone to start getting busy.  But as he contemplated the new deadline, he worked himself up into an increasing state of panic, until soon he began to experience heart palpitations.  Finally he collapsed from the stress and had to take leave from work.  As he was recovering, he realized it just wasn't worth risking his health to finish the report, so he filed for early retirement.  At which point someone told him the early deadline was just a joke.  He responded by suing for damages.  As a consequence of his lawsuit, City Hall banned employees from pulling any more pranks.

• And then there was this, last year, from Google about their new Google TiSP "dark porcelain" project ...
• Randy Wood's marriage was over, but apparently he was still a little bitter about the divorce.  So he decided to play a prank on his ex-wife.  He called her up and asked her to come over, telling her he had something to show her.  She drove over, only to find him hanged by a noose from a tree in the front yard.  Terrified, she immediately called 911.  Police, firefighters, and paramedics arrived, but when they went to cut Wood down, he wasn't dead.  He wasn't even hurt.  He had strung himself up to scare his ex-wife, using a lineman's harness similar to those used by utility crews.  He faced a fine of $1,000 and up to a year in jail for his prank.
• Sitra Walker was an employee at a clothing store in Columbus, Ohio.  She had only been working there for two weeks, but already she felt that she knew the manager well enough to joke around with him.  On April 1, 2003, she called him at his home and told him that armed men were robbing the store.  The manager immediately called police, who promptly dispatched four cruisers.  Minutes later Walker phoned the manager again and yelled "April Fools!"  Too late.......when the police arrived moments later, they were not amused and charged her with inducing a panic.  Walker's manager fired her.

And finally, my personal favorite:

• In 1997 an email message spread throughout the world announcing that the internet would be shut down for cleaning for twenty-four hours from March 31 until April 2. This cleaning was said to be necessary to clear out the "electronic flotsam and jetsam" that had accumulated in the network. Dead email and inactive ftp, www, and gopher sites would be purged. The cleaning would be done by "five very powerful Japanese-built multi-lingual Internet-crawling robots (Toshiba ML-2274) situated around the world." During this period, users were warned to disconnect all devices from the internet. The message supposedly originated from the "Interconnected Network Maintenance Staff, Main Branch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology." This joke was an updated version of an old joke that used to be told about the phone system. For many years, gullible phone customers had been warned that the phone systems would be cleaned on April Fool's Day. They were cautioned to place plastic bags over the ends of the phone to catch the dust that might be blown out of the phone lines during this period.

Whatever you do today, enjoy April Fools' Day!  Thanks to Darla for her help compiling the stories.  You can find more stories, and the origins of April Fools' Day, here.  Again, no telling if they're true or not! ;)

Claytor Lake Defined ...

When it comes to Claytor Lake, I know very little.  Well, I know which property owner near the dam lets me and a buddy launch from his boat launch, and I know which cove the bass seem to bite best in ('cause I've watched said buddy pull fish after fish out of there, while I've sat idly by trying to tie another knot). 

Thankfully, I've got Garrett Weddle doing the teaching regarding the Lake, and he just posted some information you might find helpful.

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Start A Business In Blacksburg

I know I'm a few days late on this, but Blacksburg has just been named one of the Top 100 Places In The Country to live and start a business by Forbes.  I'm sure that's just one of the reasons we see companies like Mailtrust and Portaqua doing so well here (and by mentioning those two, I'm leaving out 100 others).  Check out the article ...      

Investing? What's Your DSCR?

Debt Service Coverage Ratio … DSCR.  Steve and I are working with a couple of sets of clients who are looking to invest.  Some are local, some are international, all are interested in what opportunities we have available here in the New River Valley, but not all know how to determine whether the debt service is covered by the income.  I thought this might be a good time to study real estate investing 101 …

Anytime you’re considering investing in income-producing property, you need to know whether or not the income can outpace expenses.  That only makes sense - you’re not investing to LOSE money, right?  And when you take out a loan on the property, the bank wants to know whether THEY’RE going to make money as well, which is why they want to know your Debt Service Coverage Ratio.  It’s really easy to figure out … let’s assume that you’re looking at a duplex that costs $250000, and rents for a total of $2400 a month.  Here’s the breakdown:

•    Gross Annual Rent – $28800
•    5% Vacancy Rate – $1440
•    Gross Income – $27440
•    Real Estate Taxes – $1450
•    Hazard Insurance – $500
•    General Maintenance and Upkeep – $2000
•    Utilities – $1500
•    Management Fee 10% - $2880
•    Reserves – $2000
•    Total Operating Expenses – $10330
•    Net Operating Income (NOI) – $17110

So after expenses, you’d make more than $17000 on this property.  Wait, you put down 20% of your own cash but you’ve still got a loan you’re paying every month, so that debt service has to be factored into the equation.

•    Loan Amount - $200000
•    Interest Rate – 7% at 30 years
•    Annual Debt Service - $15891.24

Now we’re getting somewhere.  To figure out the Ratio, divide your Net Operating Income of $17110 by the Debt Service of $15891.24 = 1.07.

Not too bad – you’re looking for anything higher than 1, which means that you’re making money.  Ready to get started?  Email me to discuss it in more detail.  Have a property that doesn’t have a Debt Service Coverage Ratio of 1.0?  No problem – let’s discuss ways we can improve that ratio.  I just looked at one of my properties, the DSCR is .85 … guess I need to look at some rent increases!

Christiansburg, What Are You Thinking?

More townhomes?  Really, is that what you need?  A follow-up editorial here by Christian Trejbal.

At What Price?

The 2008-2009 Town of Blacksburg operating budget of more than $72 million will be one of the main topics of discussion at meetings held throughout the month of April, and one of the items likely to bite off the largest mouthful of criticism will be the meals tax.  That’s right, eating out in the Town of Blacksburg just might get a little more expensive.

The state currently charges a five percent state tax on all meals purchased within the Town limits, and now the Town is considering a one percent raise in the meals tax, which currently sits at five percent.  The increased tax would go to provide funding for additional police officers and staff, as well as create a cleaning crew that would serve the downtown commercial district.

A one percent increase in meals doesn’t seem like that big a deal.  So I put it to the Jimmy John's test ...

I love to grab a sandwich at Jimmy Johns, which might be $6.00.  At the current tax rate of ten percent, I’ll pay $.60 in tax every time I go to Jimmy Johns, with $.30 going to the Town of Blacksburg and $.30 going to the state.  A one percent increase in the tax rate would mean my bill would soon be $6.06 (I’ve got to find all those pennies that have fallen between the car seats).  If the average restaurant bill is $6.00 in Blacksburg, and 10,000 meals are served there every day, what’s that mean to the bottom line?

•    $6.00 meal, with $.30 going to the Town in meal taxes
•    10000 meals served, Town of Blacksburg receives $3,000 every day in meal taxes
•    Over a full year, that’s $1,095,000
•    An tax increase of one percent on each meal would mean:

•         An additional $960 in meal tax revenue every day, or $350,400 a year

Three hundred fifty thousand dollars can pay the salaries of approximately ten new police officers.  Do you feel like additional police officers are needed in the Town of Blacksburg?  Would you support a one percent increase in the meals tax?  Do you think a public works crew, dedicated to maintenance and cleaning of the downtown sector, could benefit the Town as a whole?

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Real Estate Blogging Explodes In The New River Valley

For the last 14 months, the NRVLiving Real Estate Blog been the only real estate-focused (and the term "focused" could be argued) blog in the New River Valley.  We've written about serious stuff, fun stuff, non-nonsensical stuff - all kinds of stuff.  And we've been the only one doing it.  There are bloggers in Roanoke, namely Marty Martin, but others have recently gotten into the mix, including Renee Wiggins (started in February 2008) and a multi-author blog with a local firm.  In the New River Valley though, the number is even smaller.

Until now.

I'm proud to announce that real estate blogging the New River Valley has TRIPLED overnight.  That's right, tripled, to a grand total of ...

THREE.  That's it. 

Alison Whittaker has joined the fray with her very own blog.  Alison is another great agent with me at Coldwell Banker Townside, and for as long as I've known her she's ALWAYS had something to say so I know she's going to be great at this as well.  She has a wealth of information to share, not only regarding real estate, but also purses and designer accessories.  Sorry Alison, I had to. :)

Seriously though, I'm really happy that she's decided to start writing - she's a great agent and I know has a lot to share, and I'm looking forward to reading her thoughts.

So two agents in the New River Valley are blogging, but Coldwell Banker Townside is getting in on the action as well.  Instead of just reading our blog, they've decided to start their own, using our agents as writers.  Check out the Keepin' It Real Estate blog and subscribe - between Alison, Coldwell Banker Townside and NRVLiving, you should be able to keep with all things real estate in the New River Valley.

Now, if we could just get them on Facebook and Twitter.

An Explanation - Or Not - Of The Credit Crisis

Ask three lenders to explain what's happening with credit in this country, you'll get three different answers.  Ask me, and I'll direct you to three lenders ;).  Apparently, if you ask the Wall Street folks, they don't really know, either.

From the New York Times today ...

Who's Running This Show?

Mariana Wagner posted the following video on her site yesterday and it gave me a chuckle, 'cause it reminded me of when this played regularly on TV and - without fail - I'd laugh every time then, as well!  (I love the arson comment)  The timing of her post is fitting, as well, as I've been thinking about a situation I ran up against in the last couple of weeks that I've wanted to share.

Why doesn't the real estate industry have a positive reputation in the public?  I had a customer tell me - half jokingly - on the phone the other day, "you guys are just a step above used car salesman".  I kid not, she was not referring to anyone on my Team but the comment was pointed, all the same.  How did we grow into that reputation?  Here's one reason:

I'm working with some folks who are buying a home for their college student son to live in while he's here at VT.  It's a common practice here in the New River Valley, probably 20% of my business every year.  We've been working through the winter to prepare them for buying their first investment property, and as we've headed into the spring the market's heated up and they've gotten more serious.  Last Tuesday, we finally wrote an offer.  It was a townhouse in a neighborhood they really liked, and the house needed work - it's actually the second set of clients I've had that have tried to buy this house.  It's been on and off the market for over a year as the owner has tried - unsuccessfully - to sell it, and the tenants he has in place have not helped.  They've trashed it, to the point it needs $15000 worth of repairs and cleaning once they've moved out.  The last time I had clients who wrote an offer, we built in the cost of the repairs to our offer and made an offer 9% off of list price.  The owner countered within 24 hours at full list price, and the offer died there.

This time, we made an identical offer, now at 10% off of list price.  I live in this neighborhood - I know these  homes, and I know the value of this one as it is right now.  We submitted the offer last Wednesday via email, and a follow-up phone call was made to the listing agent.  Voicemail ... I left a message.  That night, nearly 8 hours later, I called the listing agent to see if he had reviewed the offer, and he informed me he was out of town and would look at it when he got back that night.  Okay - the next day came and went, no word from him.  Friday morning, still no word, and despite repeated phone calls I heard nothing through the weekend.  NOTHING, not even a confirmation that he had seen the offer.  Sunday night, he finally picks up his phone and says that they are waiting to see if another offer comes in, and they don't want to counter.

Now I'm upset.  First, I'm upset that I didn't advise my clients to put a time limit on the offer to ensure a swift response.  Even more than that, I'm upset that neither the agent nor his client have taken the opportunity to provide a professional courtesy to my clients, informing them of their intentions.  If they want to sit on the offer, fine - just tell us this.  When I asked why they hadn't even acknowledged receipt of the offer, the agent responded "okay, if you want a counter than we're countering at full price".  He made that statement without consulting his client, is he in a position to make that determination.  Likely not, but it could be argued that a full price counter is in his client's best interests.

The resolution of all of this?  My clients pulled their offer and immediately - within minutes - made an offer on a similar, more expensive home.  The other home?  Still on the market, and will continue to be there for a while, I'm sure.

So why do we as real estate agents feel it's appropriate to neglect an offer, fail to deliver it in a timely fashion and then make decisions without consulting our client?  What sense of power have we created in our minds that allows us to own our client's decisions?  When did the control shift out of the hands of the buyers and the sellers, and in to the hands of agents?

It hasn't, and it never did.  We took it.  We've tried for so long to control the transaction, to pull the strings in the background.   My clients were at the mercy of another agent's actions, and decided they would take control.  I'm glad they did, and I suspect you have plenty of clients who would do the same.  My reminder in all of this?  I work FOR my clients, they're not working for me.  My role should be one of consultation, of putting the pieces in place for them to make informed, quantitative decisions.  That's the changing face of real estate, not a puppeteer pulling the strings. 

I look forward to helping these clients close on this new home ...

Photo Credit:  Dialaphone & Appraisal News

Down Goes NRVLiving

I was afraid of this ... I quietly drown my tears in my coffee as I check out VARBuzz.com and see that NRVLiving has been tossed - unceremoniously - out of the contest.  Queen Blogger Teresa Boardman has moved on into the Elite 8 and I couldn't be happier to go down at the hands of someone so accomplished as herself ...

Of course, thanks to you I didn't go down without a fight.  The difference in votes?  Five.  That's right ... FIVE.  I lost to the Queen Mother by only five votes.  HAH!  There's victory in defeat!  That's awesome!  Thank you to EVERYONE who voted and let me pester their email inbox with bribes and pleadings. 

If you want to continue following the Blog Brawl and voting, subscribe to VARBuzz.com and follow the action! 

Now ... back to the real estate.

Caption This ...

It's been awhile since I did a Caption This ... post, so I thought that in honor of St. Patrick's Day yesterday, I'd post this from the Flickr Blog

How would YOU caption this picture?

Blog Brawl - Round 3 ... Will You Be My Friend (& Find Me A Few New Ones, As Well?)

Round 3 is up and active, please don't wait to head to VARBuzz.com and vote!  You've come up HUGE in the first two rounds, and I need to call in ALL of my favors for this round.  You see, I'm up against the Queen of Real Estate Blogging, the Blog Mama, the Godmother of All That Is Blogging - the one, the only, Teresa Boardman.  If you're a real estate geek like I am, you've heard of Teresa ... in fact, I THINK her St Paul Real Estate Blog was the first blog I ever subscribed to.  So needless to say, I'm thrilled to be going up against her, but know it's going to take EVERY friend I have (and I few I don't know of) to stand a chance.  Will you be my friend?

Here's the deal:

It's a NCAA-style, single-elimination blog tournament.  We survived the first AND second rounds, now we're in the Sweet 16, and it's getting serious.  REAL serious.  I'm not kidding - Teresa Boardman was just featured in REALTOR(R) magazine, and gets up to 5,000 visitors a week to her blog.  Seriously ... FIVE THOUSAND?!?!

For this round, you'll need to click on this link and vote for NRVLiving.Typepad.com, right there at the top of Zone 1.  You can only vote once from one computer, but if you'd like to vote multiple times from multiple computers PLEASE, don't let me stop you!  Voting will close Wednesday, March 18 at 11:59pm so be sure to get your votes in.  And tell a friend - all they have to do is click this link and vote one time - pass it on!

Last round, I offered my eternal gratefulness for your votes, as well as a bag of Skittles.  I don't know that there's a better thank you gift than that, but I'm open to suggestions.  Now ... what are you doing just sitting there?  GO VOTE!

The State Of The Market - February 2008

Wow - March 17th and I'm just getting around to doing the absorption rates for February.  I wrote last month that Coldwell Banker Townside had its best year ever last year, as did the NRVLiving Real Estate Team as well.  Very proud of that, but 2008 is a new year and I need to get on the ball ...

Most of the markets we study here have seen improvements between January and February of this year (except for Floyd).   It's not uncommon to see this happen as we head into the spring, as more properties start to come on the market and more properties tend to sell.  Nothing unusual there, and as I wrote about last week we'll continue to see these markets balance out as we head into the spring and summer.  10.26 months worth of inventory on the market at this point, down from 18.73 months worth in January, so a marked improvement but still very much a buyer's market.  It'll likely stay that way through much of the year - I know, I said last month I thought we might see that change in the middle of this year, but I'm revamping that a bit - as the dollar keeps falling, I just wonder how strong the rest of our economy can stay.  There are a lot of really smart people out there debating this very thing, so I'll leave the analyses to them, but that's just my own perception of things.  Remember, 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	226	29	7.79 Months	Buyer
Christiansburg	278	31	8.97 Months	Buyer
Montgomery County	74	8	9.25 Months	Buyer
Floyd County	73	7	10.43 Months	Buyer
Giles County	56	4	14 Months	Buyer
Pulaski	104	8	13 Months	Buyer
Dublin	102	10	10.2 Months	Buyer
Radford	76	9	8.44 Months	Buyer

From last month (and the month before that, and continuing for most of 2008):

My prediction (which is worth nothing but we'll see whether or not it comes true) - 2008 will be strong for buyers as inventories will remain slightly inflated, and loan rates will remain stable.   Sellers will need to focus more than ever on setting their home apart, and they can do that by having the home ready to sell, and by maintaining an honest perspective of their market position.  If they'll do that, they will benefit from a ready, willing and able pool of buyers.

It's true, pricing is key for sellers and will be for some time.  Market value is only what a buyer is willing to pay for a property, and nothing more.  Case in point - I'm selling my own home for $176500, it closes tomorrow.  My neighbor right next door, with the exact same floorplan, few upgrades and original fixtures, is selling his for $198500.  Can he get it?  I doubt it, but what I believe doesn't matter - if a buyer is willing to pay $20000 more than my sale tomorrow, then market value just increased by more than 10% OVERNIGHT.  I hope I didn't leave money on the table, but if I did then good for him - he's just made a lot of people in the neighborhood very wealthy!

Interest rates are still very low, and values in the New River Valley are stable ... contact me here if you'd like to do a confidential analysis of your situation.   

A Virtual Picture Of Floyd, VA

This post popped up on my Google Alerts this morning, and I'm reposting it here because I think it's a good, factual recollection of what to expect when you visit the Town of Floyd.  So often you hear people talk about Floyd in terms of "eclectic", "artsy", or "unique", which is accurate, in a sense, but this post delves into what makes Floyd so unique - the names, the artistic mediums, the reasons for why Floyd is so distinctly unique.  I just thought it was a really good virtual picture, and wanted to share.

Please Take My Cash

I didnt get dinner, a thank you kiss ... Not even a Christmas card. 
C'mon Shell, how about a little love for my trouble!

Pulaski Area Transit Wins National Award

Congratulations to the folks at the Pulaski Area Transit!  They just received an award from the Federal Transit Agency, recognizing them for their campaigns to reach public transit riders, and subsequently increased their ridership by 25%.

Pulaski was one of two communities nationwide, with populations less than 50,000, to receive the award.

New River Valley Home Expo

Don't forget, the 2008 Home Expo will be held this weekend at the Christiansburg Rec Center on North Franklin Street.  Admission is $4, and will offer more than 140 booths, a silent auction and more!  I know Auz-Bloc will be there, you can meet Bill and check out this amazing product while you're there!

Download home_expo.pdf

Here's a video I did earlier this winter about the thermal mass of the house at 153 Gracie Lane:

Kwikset's SmartKey - The End To LockBumping?

It's just been announced that Kwikset has come out with a SmartKey, supposedly eliminating Lock Bumping as we know it.  At least, that's according to them.  I've written about lock bumping before, and truthfully had never really known it was a problem. 

I'm thinking about putting the SmartKey on my new home, though.  If I do, I'll give you a report on whether or not I've been impressed.