Desi Sowers, REALTOR, ABR, GRI, SRS, CRS - My Blog by Desi Sowers, REALTOR, ABR, GRI, SRS, CRS

Blacksburg wins 2 state environmental awards

Two Blacksburg environmental projects have won the 2008 Governor's Environmental Excellence awards. The awards were presented last week at the Environment Virginia Conference in Lexington to businesses and government agencies that strive for environmental protection and sustainability. The town's electronic waste recycling program, established in 2006 through a federal grant program, won a gold medal in the environmental partnerships category. According to the town's award application, through Blacksburg's partnership with the YMCA at Virginia Tech, 85,176 pounds of electronic devices and 801 pounds of batteries that would have gone into landfills have instead been reused or recycled. Sustainability Week 2007 -- an environmental awareness campaign and celebration put on by Virginia Tech, Blacksburg and numerous businesses, agencies and residents -- won a bronze award in the government environmental programs category. The recognition is "a source of pride" for all the ..(read more)

Roofing Projects Require Due Diligence

As the weather improves, homeowners start to tackle a major home improvement project: fixing or replacing their roof. Often this is a job that homeowners delay doing because it can be a pricey, tedious process. "Some consumers are on top of it and start looking at new roofs well before the life span of their current roof runs out," says Steven James, VP Business Development for Eagle Ridge Construction & Roofing. But that's not typical. Generally a problem such as a leak prompts homeowners to finally get around to checking out what's going on atop their home. Part of the reason homeowners procrastinate is because finding the right contractor for the job is a difficult process. "Year after year, the Better Business Bureau consistently ranks roofing contractors as one of the top 20 most-complained-about businesses," says James. In fact, in 2006, the latest statistics currently available reveal that the Better Business Bureau received 8,089 complaints ..(read more)

Top 10 Best Cities for Home Sellers

Four factors are widely seen as affecting whether a housing market is a good one for sellers: job growth, amount of new construction, vacancy rates, and credit availability.

Forbes magazine used a variety of resources to determine how the country’s 40 largest metro areas fared according to these measures. The result is this list of top 10 cities for sellers.

San Jose, Calif. Because of a tough regulatory environment, new home construction dropped 63 percent last year.
San Francisco. When the conforming loan limit recently jumped from $417,000 to the maximum $729,750, that made credit much easier to get for many of the city's homebuyers.
Salt Lake City. The 3 percent annual job growth rate, paired with a declining inventory of existing homes and one of the nation’s sharpest declines in construction made this market a good one for sellers.
Austin, Texas. Texas is very affordable, plus the city has the nation’s ..(read more)

Dems to Propose Housing Tax Breaks

U.S. House Democrats are drafting a plan for curing the housing crisis by offering tax breaks to home owners, first-time homebuyers, and developers of low-income housing.

The plan, which will be unveiled this week, deliberately snubs the struggling home-building industry.

"We need to provide relief to the buyers and families themselves, not just the banks and builders," House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) said yesterday in a written statement. "The House bill will put families first."

The House proposal would create a temporary tax credit of as much as $8,000 for first-time buyers and increase tax credits for investors in low-income housing. It would create a standard deduction for property taxes, aiding those who don’t itemize on their federal returns. And it would expand the authority of state and local housing finance agencies to use tax-exempt bonds to refinance troubled ..(read more)

What Does The Economic Stimulus Package Mean To You?

Since passed by overwhelming Capitol Hill majorities in January, there has been much talk regarding the economic stimulus package. Yes, it will cost $168 billion, but what does it actually do for individuals? The stimulus package is designed to help the country moderate the worst effects of a slowing economy and perhaps even avoid a recession. The idea is to encourage spending and with more spending to increase economic activity. While the theory looks good on paper, it will likely take months or years to know if it actually works. From a personal perspective the January stimulus package has five major components that will immediately impact individuals with an interest in real estate. 1. Checks from Uncle Sam: According to the White House, taxpayers can receive rebates of up to $600 for individuals and $1,200 for couples. A minimum of $300 per person and $600 per couple will be available to those with at least $3,000 of earned income. This relief will be available to ..(read more)

Is Your Credit Score as High as You Think?

It is common to assume that paying bills on time automatically means having a high credit score. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. There are many misperceptions about how scores are calculated -- and yours could be lower than you might expect. Credit scores are used by financial institutions to determine whether they should lend money to a potential borrower and, if so, what interest rate should be charged. A higher score means an applicant is statistically less likely to default on the loan so they get a lower interest rate. Ignoring your credit score could be a costly mistake. As an example, let's say you bought a $400,000 house with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at a 6-percent interest rate. Over the term of the loan, you would pay interest charges of $463,354. If, however, you had a lower score and your bank bumped your interest rate up to 8 percent, you would pay interest charges of $656,619. That's a hefty difference of $193,265. There are many credit scoring ..(read more)

8 Reasons Why You Should Work With a REALTOR®

Not all real estate practitioners are REALTORS®. The term REALTOR® is a registered trademark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. Here are five reasons why it pays to work with a REALTOR®.

1. Navigate a complicated process. Buying or selling a home usually requires disclosure forms, inspection reports, mortgage documents, insurance policies, deeds, and multipage settlement statements. A knowledgeable expert will help you prepare the best deal, and avoid delays or costly mistakes.

2. Information and opinions. REALTORS® can provide local community information on utilities, zoning, schools, and more. They’ll also be able to provide objective information about each property. A professional will be able to help you answer these two important questions: Will the property provide the environment I want for a home or investment? ..(read more)

Did You Know...

According to Remodeling magazine’s 20th annual Cost vs. Value Report, the top five midrange home improvements that bring the greatest returns are: a wood deck addition (85.4 percent); siding replacement (83.2 percent); minor kitchen remodel (83 percent); wood window replacement (81.2 percent); and vinyl window replacement (79.3 percent). For more information, go to www.costvsvalue.com.

Life Expectancy of Home Components

One way to prepare for the costs of owning a home beyond the mortgage payment, insurance and taxes, is to know the expected life expectancy of your home's components. Such knowledge doesn't supersede the use of a home inspector when buying a home, new or old, but it can help you develop a savings plan so you are prepared for the inevitable. Sooner or later you'll have to repair or replace many of your home's parts -- inside and out. Knowledge of components' life expectancies is what homeowner associations use, in part, to build a reserve fund designed to spread, over time, the cost of the inevitable. When the roof goes, the appliances conk out, or the paint begins to fade, it's a lot easier to come up with the cash if you've already got some socked away for just this kind of rainy day. Last year, the National Association of Home Builders, along with the Bank of America developed the "NAHB/BoA Home Equity Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components" to help you ..(read more)

The Top Ten Reasons It's a Great Time To Buy Real Estate!

Selection, selection, selection. There are 875 homes for sale in the New River Valley! Regardless of the price range a buyer desires, there are plenty of houses from which to choose. Just a few years ago the resale inventory dropped below 5,000 units. A buyer was forced to make compromises if they were going to locate the home of their dreams. There is a great selection of attached homes, condos, and townhouses. You can find large lots, small lots, and a lot that will accommodate your boat or RV. There are lots of options in this market. No Bidding Wars. In 2005 we had one client that made an offer on ten homes. They lost the first nine to the 'feeding frenzy' that existed. Other buyers bid the properties up substantially from the original listing price. There were escalation clauses where buyers authorized their agents to outbid other offers by thousands of dollars. There is no competitive bidding in this buyer's market. You can make an offer. A few years ago ..(read more)

Did You Know?

Did you know an open fireplace damper can let as much as 8 percent of your heat go up in the chimney? According to the National Association of Home Builders, warmth from a fire is confined only to the room that has the fireplace and does not radiate throughout the house. In fact, a considerable amount of heated air from other parts of the house can go wastefully up the cimney when a fireplace is in use.

The Perfect Kitchen

What is the “ideal” kitchen? According to a recent study, many consumers describe it as open, warm, comfortable, organized, family-oriented, bright, happy and homey. The most-wanted appliance upgrade in a kitchen is a cooktop with a built-in grill, wok, griddle or rotisserie attachment. Other desired amenities include commercial-grade appliances, a large dishwasher to accommodate larger dishes, and a double oven. A kitchen island with a cooktop stove is another popular amenity for many homeowners. Men and women have different opinions about the ideal kitchen. Men tend to view appliance purchases as status symbols, while women often see them as strictly functional pieces. Cutting-edge technologies, such as TV screens built into appliances, also appeal more to men than to women. When asked which single item they would be willing to splurge on if they were remodeling their kitchen, consumers named cabinets as their top choice, ..(read more)

How to Handle Low Ball Offers

If your house has been on the market for quite a while, you may have already dropped your price and now you're waiting for the buyers to rush in and make wonderful offers on this now-priced right property. And then it happens. The lone buyer does appear, like a bandit in the night and offers you even less than what you just agreed to. Quite a bit less -- about 10 percent less. So on your $350,000 house, that you just dropped to $324,000, you now have an offer for $299,000. With a seller subsidy request of $5,000. At this point, your net is $294,000. So how do you handle such a low-ball offer. Well, first of all -- don't panic, get angry or lose sleep. Especially, don't reject the offer right off the bat and tell them to come back when they're serious. Remember, it's now a negotiation game and the buyer IS serious or he or she would not have made an offer. Several things have happened before this offer came in. The buyer, with his agent, has researched the market, walked through ..(read more)

Should I Take My Home Off the Market During the Holidays?

When you look at your calendar you may find the months already overloaded with seasonal obligations -- shopping, entertaining, children's pageants, charity work, decorating the house, and so much more. If you are also trying to sell your home, you are under extra pressure to keep your home in "showtime" condition. And that could be the last thing you need before the holiday spirit is broken. It is understandable why you would be tempted to take your home off the market during the holidays. And the list of justifications is long. If you are too busy, buyers may be also, and you may find your efforts unrewarded with not enough showings. And what if you do get an offer? You may be faced with the possibility of packing and moving during the busiest time of the year. Besides, you can give your house a rest, and it will have better momentum after the holidays. Better to just pack it in and start fresh in January, right? But wait! Most top Realtors agree that taking your home ..(read more)

Short Sales Not Just About Cancelling Mortgage

We're hearing a lot about short sales these days. The key words in the Multiple Listing Systems around the country are "third party approval required," or "bank approval required," which is a signal that the property you're looking at is actually being sold by the mortgage holder rather than the deed holder. Before you get involved in one of these transactions, understand what they are not: a short sale is not simply a sale of a property for less than the original purchase price. It is not necessarily a "pre-foreclosure." It is not always a good deal. What a short sale is: A short sale is a pre-foreclosure only in the fact that the lender has decided to receive payment on the note for less than the face amount. The sellers have determined there's no way they are going to get as much for the house as they owe and they can't stay in the property for one reason or another. The terms of such sales will differ lender to lender. Some require that the ..(read more)