SDP Partners LLC

Here is a take on real estate in the Williamsburg area from January 26, 2008  Virginia Gazette.

The Virginia Association of Realtors said home sales statewide fell 15% from 2006 to 2007. While home values continued to grow, by a little over 1%, they grew at a slower rate than they have on average over the last 30 years, more than 6%.

Indeed, during the housing boom of the last few years, the state experienced double-digit growth in home values.

Time on market in Virginia increased from 70 days to 88 days statewide, still below the historical average of 90 days.

Locally, the median price of a home in greater Williamsburg fell from $318,745 in 2006 to $295,000 in 2007 (see box).

Sales were off 12.5%.

However, average days on market hadn’t changed, it was 71 days each year, still up markedly from 56 days in 2004.

Linda Kinsman, executive director the Williamsburg Area Association of Realtors, put things in perspective.
“ Over the last five years the average price of a home here has increased 29 percent,” she said.

Hard times seem to be on the way — VAGazette.com

Here is a recent update on the "Housing Market" in Richmond.  The Richmond Times Dispatch January 25, 2008

Highlights:

The housing market in central Virginia is not likely to improve until the end of this year, housing experts say.

House sales in Virginia and the Richmond area fell last year — 15 percent for the state and 12 percent for the region — much like they did nationally, according to figures released yesterday by the Realtors’ association.

The median price of a single-family home fell to $217,800 in 2007, down 1.8 percent from 2006. The median is the midpoint, with half the homes selling for more and half for less.

Houses statewide stayed on the market an average of 88 days, up from 70 days in 2006. In the Richmond area, it took an average 58 days to sell a home, up from 46 days in 2006.

Source: Housing outlook unchanged - Richmond, Virginia, Business News and Financial Information - inRich.com

From the Dec 30th Richmond Times Dispatch.  Housing 101 a helpful class - News - inRich.com

From the related in formation file:

Worried about foreclosure? Don’t ignore the problem. The further behind you get, the harder it will be to reinstate your loan and the more likely that you will lose your house. Contact your lender as soon as you realize you may be in trouble. Lenders have options to help borrowers through difficult times. Open your mail. The first notices you get from your lender will offer good information about foreclosure prevention options. Later mail may include information about pending legal action. Failure to open the mail will not be an excuse in foreclosure court. Know your mortgage rights. Find your loan documents and read them so you know what your lender may do if you can’t make payments. Learn about the foreclosure laws in your state. Understand foreclosure-prevention options.

If you decide to sell as your solution to falling behind on payments, Get offers from us in 24 hours.

In the Dec 23 Richmond Times Dispatch, there was an article entitled: Virginia Foreclosures Rising. 

Here are a few quotes:

The number of foreclosures in Virginia is expected to rise to about 14,000 this year, up from 4,354 in 2006, and could hit 20,000 next year, according to Housing Opportunities Made Equal Inc., a housing advocacy group in Richmond.

Virginia has one of the fastest foreclosure processes in the country, said Connie Chamberlin, president and chief executive officer of HOME.

Once a lender notifies a borrower of the intent to foreclose, a person can lose their home in as quickly as two weeks, she said. "For many people, that means they don’t have time to deal with the issue."

Because Virginia’s process is so fast, there is very little time to deal with it.  Selling your house Fast is one quick way to address the foreclosure process.  You can Get offers from us in 24 hours.

It’s a Buyers Market. People Are Taking Their Time Looking – Because They Can

I talk with a lot of sellers who just can’t sell their homes anymore.  Inventory is way to high, and sellers are still asking for last year’s prices.  Check out this article about the Virginia housing market

The Washington Post reported that the median price for a house in the United States has declined 4.5%.  Read it at ‘No Real Positive News’ Seen As Home Prices Continue to Fall - washingtonpost.com. 

We talk with sellers on a regular basis that want to sell their house fast. 

However, a home sellers expectation is sometimes the full price at last year’s market value.

Simply put, that’s not economically feasible for us. 

How do we put a price on a house?  It’s simple.  We deal with people who know what they want.  If that price is doable for us, its a fair price. 

A house is worth what two people agree its worth when you have to sell your house fast.

If we can’t come to an agreement, but you still want to sell your house without an agent, visit our sister website – FISBO TIPS , and you’ll notice 3 downloadable ebooks for sale. I also offer a “9 Tips to sell your house FSBO” course that you can sign up for if you wish.

Over at Get Flipping » Home Prices are Falling Faster Than Ever , the author points to statistics about the real estate market nationwide.

In a few weeks, the Virginia association of realtors will release their statistics for the Virginia market.

Selling Your Home Alone
By Harold Febis

Selling Your house is one of the top most stressful human activities. Delays or anything else that disturb the planning only increase your stress degree. Every miscommunication or misunderstanding can lead to frustration. This article provide you with tips to avoid stress and frustration when selling your house.

First you need to decide if you should sell privately or use a professional real estate agent. In a very hot market you may be able to sell privately, but it is not an easy task.

If you decide to sell privately make sure you have the proper time to devote to it and a strategy to marketed the house effectively. You will also need to know about all the legalities involved.

The next step is to set a reasonable asking price by comparing prices in your area. Don’t just look at what other sellers initially asked for, but what price they ultimately got.

Knowing what to say to the potential buyer can sometimes make or break the deal. You have a strong emotional attachment to your home and this alone can make it very hard to remain objective!

When people come through your home if you hover over them and appear anxious to sell, the customer may think you are desperate. This could trigger a lower offer. A good agent knows how to talk to the client and bring them to the table with a fair offer.

Most houses are not perfect and you must admit it to yourselves if this is the case. There won’t be much chance to sell your house quickly if the house is in need of repair. Book a house inspection and act on the recommendations accordingly.
When everything is fixed, you won’t have to bluff your way thru with potential buyers. The money will be well spent when you get a quick sale.

Don’t neglect the garden and outbuildings if you have them. Remember that the people viewing your house could be seeing dozens of others too. A detail like an orderly garden shed could just make the difference and you could sell your house quickly on the strength of it.

When people come around to view the house, they will want to see a clean and tidy home. Remove any clutter and help them to imagine themselves as the new occupants. If you have any unwanted items in the house, you may as well have a yard sale to off load them. The trick of baking bread or making coffee to get a pleasant aroma can’t hurt! At least make sure that there are no bad odors to put people off.

If they appear to be interested, they’ll most likely want to haggle. Don’t be inflexible about the price if you want to sell your house quickly but don’t be a push over either.

For sale by owners often over price their home. This is due to the emotional attachment to the home and not having the training to evaluate a home’s worth.

There are many variables to consider when pricing a home. Your home could be worth substantially more or less than a similar home on the same street. This can affect your bottom line and lose you many dollars if you appraise your home incorrectly. You really should pay for an appraiser to price your home properly, if you are going it alone!
Agents are trained to do proper market assessments of the neighborhood and homes that have recently sold.

In conclusion, it has to be your decision whether you sell privately or hire a professional. Sellers certainly have successfully sold on their own and have done very well. One question to ask is, could the sellers have done even better had they used a professional agent? We may never know!

You may consider trying to sell your own home for a month or so. If you get discouraged because no offers are coming in, you may want to hire a professional realtor.

There are lots of books out there that can help you sell privately.

Harold Febis, Online Marketer specialized in article marketing author of numerous articles, earns hundreds of dollars in affiliate commissions every week!
http://www.qualitycontentarticle.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Harold_Febis
http://EzineArticles.com/?Selling-Your-Home-Alone&id=294931

I have found this  article today at another blog:  Why mortgages have eaten Americans out of house and home | Wise Bread and thought it would be useful in the discussion on foreclosure.

At some point, people stopped calculating what they could afford long-term and started chasing what was just (or substantially) beyond reach, made possible by slim downpayments and variable-rate mortgages. On September 2, 2007, the New York Times quoted President Bush’s diagnosis, which was similar; he mentioned “both ‘excesses in the lending industry’ and unduly optimistic homeowners who took out ‘loans larger than they could afford,’ as reasons for the mortgage woes.”

The mistakes indeed do go both ways, with irresponsible lenders and uninformed buyers engaging in the dance of debt. The terrible irony is that now, even people who responsibly make their mortgage payments on time are confronted with declining equity; their neighbors are foreclosing, so their own house value is plummeting so quickly that they can’t resell.

The current foreclosure market, simplified, has two causes: people getting more they can afford, and lenders too willing to lend. 

The result is a decline in home prices. . . . . . .

Monday November 19, Dreams In Distress focused on a Chesterfield family that is facing foreclosure because of their subprime mortgage adjusting. 

"They are among the estimated 14,000 Virginia households facing foreclosure this year."

Their payment adjusted from $1,250 to $1,650, making the house no longer affordable.  They are hoping for a loan modification, but there is no guarantee of success.

The only way out is to refinance, but options - as the Lovings discovered - are few.

. . . . . . . .

The Lovings tried repeatedly to get in touch with their lender. "Send more money, send more money," they said they were told.

They got the subprime loan because their credit was damaged years ago when they went on a debt-management plan to pay off $30,000 in credit-card debt.

They were locked into their original mortgage because it carried a hefty prepayment penalty.

As soon as the penalty phase passed, they looked into refinancing. "At least a dozen lenders turned us down," Scott said.

They found one taker. The payoff on the old loan — a combo ARM and fixed-rate mortgage - was $137,000.

They walked away with another ARM. This one was for $161,000, which increased their debt. It included $4,000 in cash. Fees and closing costs totaled $20,000.

"We didn’t feel we had any choice," Scott said.

The new payment is $1,623, not much better than the $1,650 payment on the old loan. "But we had a fresh start," he said.

The initial interest rate on the new loan is 9.8 percent, 0.1 percent better than the old loan. It, too, has a prepayment penalty — 5 percent of the loan amount. It resets next June.

The Lovings kept up with their new payments for a few months. Then one payment was put into escrow and the Lovings were one month behind.

Repeated calls to the lender solved nothing. When the couple received notice of a foreclosure sale, they turned to Housing Opportunities Made Equal.

"You can breathe," they said their HOME counselor told them. She had been able to do what they couldn’t - open a line of communication with the lender.

"We’re in limbo," Scott said, as they wait to find out if their lender will work with them. "We should find out right before Christmas if we can keep our house."

A 60-day extension was secured on the foreclosure so the Lovings could ask the lender to modify the terms of the loan.

"Banks are really stepping up, but for many, it’s a day late and a dollar short," said Ann Estes, vice president for ClearPoint Financial Solutions, a nonprofit consumer credit-counseling agency based in Richmond.

The Lovings hang on to the hope that it isn’t too late - that they can keep their house and make payments they can afford.

For others looking at a loan reset, get into a fixed-rate loan and do it today, Estes said. "Don’t put it off."

Virginia’s foreclosure process is brutally fast.  This is another reason the number appears to be so low.  They are processed much quicker here than in other states.

If your house is falling behind in payments, we can help you sell your house quickly to avoid foreclosure.

Give us a call at 804/915-9475, or get your offers from us in 24 hours.