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| Dennis' Real Estate Scoopage |
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Courthouse Estates Lakefront Beautiful upgraded home with stainless steel, granite, lakefront with spectacular views. http://www.homescopesva.com |
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Custom Home Deep Water Access Beautiful new construction custom home on waterfront with deep water access. This home has it all. http://www.1470hollypoint.com |
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Custom Home Heritage Park Custom home with $150K in upgrades in sought after neighborhood of Heritage Park (Eqi-kids). http://www.dennisblackmore.com/featured-listings/ |
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The Daily Foreclosure Post Get the RSS Feed with real time Foreclosures in Virginia Beach or anywhere in Hampton Roads. http://www.dennisblackmore.com/daily-foreclosure-post/ |
Articles and Advice |
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| Your home's value in the toilet? There's something you can do! Many economists are calling the beginning of the end of the recession, but that's cold comfort for the millions of Virginia homeowners who collectively have seen billions in home equity evaporate over the past few years. You don't want to see your home's value go down any more, and neither does the Virginia Homeowners Alliance.  That's why they've re-launched VaHomeownersAlliance.com with an all-new look and focus. VaHomeownersAlliance.com is your single-best source for maintaining your home's value, with
This isn’t just a refresh of the old site. They’ve totally redesigned VaHomeownersAlliance.com, rebuilding it from scratch with features that make it easier for you to zero-in on the information and news you need to know. Here are some of the new and improved site features:
The Virginia Homeowners Alliance is still working on moving some of the old site content over to the new platform. Some of those features include the Kid’s Corner with information for parents on the Standards of Learning tests and locality-specific real estate assessment information. The new VaHomeownersAlliance.com has been live for just under two weeks, and they’ve posted about 100 stories at this point. If you know about a real estate story in your city or county that you think VaHomeownersAlliance.com should be covering, please send it to them! Join VaHomeownersAlliance.com today, or log back in if you’re already a member. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the new look and focus! |
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List Your Home Like You Are Dying "So Tim McGraw Says" By Dennis Blackmore Live like you are dying, the lyrics of this Tim McGraw song speaks volumes to many different people. As I listened to what this song is advocating, It occurred to me many sellers should heed this lesson. They put a price on a property that they think “someday” it may sell for. If moving on with your life requires the sale of a property you own…there is not an infinite amount of time to accomplish this sale. Life is Short. Read the rest of the story here |
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Simple Guide to Selling Your Home By Dennis Blackmore Simple Guide to Selling Your Home |
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Facebook Me!! Become a Fan of Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads Real Estate By Dennis Blackmore Are you a Facebook user? Did you know that over 25% of web page views are facebook people? Help me by becoming a "FAN" here. |
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ADT Security and Eric von Hirsch Residential Sales Representative By Dennis Blackmore Looking for a Home Security System? Consider Eric von Hirsch with ADT. I have know Eric for over ten years and recommend him highly. You can reach Eric at 651-8135 or get more information about ADT at www.adt.com |
| Make your short sale shine By Dian Hymer Short sales, where the lender agrees to take less than amount due to them, have tended to sell for less than similar homes in the area. One reason for this is that short-sale listings usually don't look as good as the competition. Another reason is that short sales require lender approval. Last year, lenders often took three to six months to respond to a short-sale offer. If the response was no, the buyer was out looking for another home after having wasted a lot of time. Many buyers who expected short sales to be good deals shied away from them altogether after having a few bad experiences. Subsequently, the Obama administration put pressure on lenders to do more short sales and fewer foreclosures. Now a process that was laborious is much easier to navigate. Before you put your house on the market, contact your lender or lenders to let them know you can no longer afford to keep the house and you will be selling it. Also tell your lender that due to the decline in property values in your area, you may not be able to sell for enough to pay off the mortgage. HOUSE HUNTING TIP: Lenders usually won't work on a short sale until there is an accepted offer on the property. But doing a little ground work with your lender(s) can assist the process. Find out how long it will take them to process a short sale. This kind of information will be important to a prospective buyer. If buyers know they can expect a response from the lender in 30 to 45 days and not four to six months, they'll be more inclined to make an offer. Try to work out a loan modification with your lender before you put your house on the market. If your lender agrees to lower the loan amount, your listing will be more attractive to buyers because the lender won't have to take as large a shortfall in order to approve the sale. Most lenders won't allow credits from seller to buyer in a short-sale transaction. It's a good idea to have presale inspections done before you put your house on the market. The more information a buyer has about the property before an offer is made the better the chance that you won't end up in a situation where the buyer discovers defects that weren't previously disclosed and wants credits as compensation. In most cases, it's worthwhile to make your house look as good as possible before putting it on the market. This will bring you a higher price, which reduces the amount you are short. This will make it easier for the lender to approve the sale. You'll need broad marketing exposure to attract a wide range of buyers. It's important to hire an agent who is willing to put the time and effort in both marketing your property and dealing with your lenders. Your agent should be a good communicator who will keep all of the parties informed about the status of the sale. It's important to consult with your attorney and accountant to review any documents that the lender requires before closing the transaction. Some lenders will require the seller to pay back the amount that the seller is short. A seller does not need to agree, but this could cause the transaction to fall apart. You could owe tax on the amount of money the lender forgave, though the Internal Revenue Service does offer tax relief for those who lose their homes through foreclosure or short sales between 2007 and 2012. It takes a lot of patience with him and perseverance to get through a short-sale transaction. However, a short sale might negatively impact your credit for two to three years; it would be five to seven years if you let the property go to foreclosure. THE CLOSING: If possible, try to negotiate with the lender to salvage your good credit. Dian Hymer, a real estate broker with more than 30 years' experience, is a nationally syndicated real estate columnist. |
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| Tips for avoiding surprise defects By Dian Hymer A homebuyer in the hills above Oakland, Calif., recently closed on a home that matched her wish list almost perfectly, which is as good as it gets. Before closing, the new home was inspected and no major defects were discovered. The buyer had plans for upgrading, starting with removing all the wall-to-wall carpets. But when the carpets were pulled up, the house began to smell of cat urine. The new owner called her agent, who recommended several people who have experience eradicating pet odor. Within a week, the odor was gone; the buyer was happy and continued renovating her new home. Another homebuyer was not so lucky. She also bought a house where cats had urinated in virtually every room. The sheetrock and flooring had to be replaced. The remediation cost was in excess of $250,000. She hired a lawyer, went to arbitration, and won. As hard as you try to discover all defects before buying, it's impossible to know everything even if the seller is honest and the house is thoroughly inspected. This doesn't just apply to older homes. New homes sometimes have construction defects that aren't readily apparent. What should you do to keep yourself from ending up in a situation like the two described above? HOUSE HUNTING TIP: Make sure that you are involved in the inspection phase of your purchase. This includes attending inspections and asking the inspector questions. If you don't know what to ask, talk to friends who bought recently. Find out if they discovered unexpected surprises after they moved in. Your real estate agent should be able to provide a list of red flags that could indicate serious problems. Ask your agent if he or she has been involved in any unpleasant after-closing situations, and if there could have been anything done before closing to prevent this. Home inspection, engineering, drainage and termite reports often include recommendations for further inspections. And they note items that won't be inspected, like a sauna or irrigation system. Real estate brokers often give buyers a disclosure document advising them to inspect the property carefully. The disclosure might also indicate important issues that agents will not be looking into, like checking the permit record. Don't be fooled into thinking you don't need to follow up on these issues because the house looks fine. You could get lucky, but I wouldn't count on it. In fact, disclaimers detailing the limits of inspectors' and agents' responsibilities make a strong case for taking charge of your due diligence investigations. Don't be shy about asking questions. For instance, if the sellers have pets, ask if there are, or have been, any odors or damage attributable to the pets. If you're concerned about drainage, ask the sellers if they've had any water problems. If so, what have they done to correct the situation? Find out if the house has recently been carpeted or painted. Document your conversations. Better still, ask the sellers to put any pertinent disclosure in writing, even if it's just an e-mail. Keep this documentation in your transaction file. The first thing to do if you discover a serious defect after closing is to review your transaction file and make sure this wasn't already discovered during inspections or disclosed to you by the sellers. If the documentation reveals nothing, make your agent aware of the problem and ask her to talk to the listing agent so that the sellers are aware of the situation. It will cost less time, money, and aggravation if you can resolve the issue without having to go to arbitration or court. THE CLOSING: If this doesn't work, consult with a knowledgeable residential real estate attorney about how to proceed. Dian Hymer, a real estate broker with more than 30 years' experience, is a nationally syndicated real estate columnist and author. |
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| Hot Links |
| What's My Home Worth http://www.dennisblackmore.com/sellers/ Search All Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads Homes http://www.dennisblackmore.com/ Virginia Beach/Cheseapeake Market Reports - See What is Happening in your Neighborhood http://www.dennisblackmore.com/market-stats/ What You Need a Bailout? What you need to Know about $6500.00 and $8000.00 Tax Credit http://www.dennisblackmore.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-real-estate-home-buyer-tax-credit-virginia-beach-and-hampton-roads/ Breaking News Hampton Roads http://breakingnewshamptonroads.com/ |
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