Selling Charlottesville real estate in Central Virginia since 1927
http://www.inmannews.com is a leading source when it comes to real estate news and information. Read their most recent post as to the top sites when looking for real estate. http://www.inman.com/news/2011/03/18/top-20-real-estate-websites-in-february When looking locally, check out http://www.caar.com or our site at http://www.roywheeler.com
There has been lots written and said over these last few weeks about what the Obama administration wants to do in reforming the mortgage industry. Many would be surprised that 95% of all mortgages in our country are somehow subsidized by the government. For there to be true recovery, the government needs to find a way to loosen the banks dependancy on the govenment holding down interest rates. Click on this link to hear FHA Commissioner, David Stevens, talk about why the reform is needed and also why it is important to restructure or get rid of FNMA and FreddieMac altogehter. http://www.wina.com/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=5199522
David has been in the private sector for over 30 years and has worked in all aspects of the business including the secondary market, large mortgage companies, and most recently, the COO of Long and Foster Real Estate. He wants the housing market to completely recover and with his experience, he is the right guy for this job at this time in our economy.
Staging your home could be the most important aspect of selling your home other than price. Listen to Denise Ramey and Liz Blankenship talk about Staging your Home is some you will want to consider before putting your home on the market. http://www.wina.com/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=5189557
http://www.nbc29.com/global/story.asp?s=14137102
Click on this link to hear about the results from the annual Chamber survey. The good news is that businesses expect to increase hiring and expect better profits in 2011 compared to 2010
The Virginia General Assembly is in session in Richmond. Items such as refinancing reform, how the grantors tax is determined, and transportation issues can all have an impact on Home Ownership and property values. Listen to this podcast to hear Realtors, Benton Downer and Mason Graham discuss what these issues are and why they are important to people of the Commonwealth. http://www.wina.com/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=5175676 You can also go to http://www.vahomeownersalliance.com/ and register to get timely information on what is happening in your part of the state
President Obama released a white paper that outlined the administration's stance on what needs to happen in these next few years to ease the government's role in home mortgages. The following link outlines what was said. http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/Realtors_Worry_Mortgage_System_Overhaul_Will_Send_Rates_Up_115943669.html
I think it is important to note that this changes will not happen overnight and in fact, the announced time period is up to 5 years. the reason this is important is that 90% of all home mortgages are bought by FNNA or Freddie Mac which are agencies the White House hopes to sunset as part of the overall plan. If and when mortgages are all privately funded you can expect interest rates to rise and long term mortgages will be harder to find as private investors will not want to bet on 30 year mortgage rates and will have more of an appetite for short term adjustable rate mortgages. One can expect this to be a long term process because the government knows it has to be careful with this very fragile housing market and these changes could dampen any type of recovery that might be underway.
Steve Harney, one of Inman's 100 Most Influential in real estate, posted an interesting blog on what can happen while you wait for the right time to buy. Click on this link to read what he had to say http://kcmblog.com/2011/02/11/the-cost-of-waiting-for-prices-to-fall/
Here is one person's take aways from this chocked filled one day conference for women. Congrats to the Athena Winner, Liza Borches from Myers Automotive.
