Loudoun Real Estate Blog

I recently read a great article by David Crook about selling a home on July 14, 2008 in The Wall Street Journal Online. He gave seven points to remember when a homeowner needs to sell their home.

1. It isn’t worth trying to wait out the market or to time the market.

2. Don’t spend a lot of money on big-ticket renovations but do make sure that everything is in good repair. It won’t necessary increase your price but it will help attract buyers.

3. Price your home cheaply. Forget what you THINK the house should be worth or what it was worth three years ago. You must set your price below comparable nearby properties. Look at the asking price of other comparable homes and set your price to beat them.

4. Hire the best, more aggressive listing agent you can find regardless of their commission.

5. Promote the property. The listing agent should pay for the usual marketing costs but oftentimes the seller may need to pay for additional marketing if required.

6. Play the banker. Consider seller financing if possible.

7. If any qualified buyer comes in with a reasonable offer, be prepared to accept it without countering.

To see the entire article you can go to

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121553612650836199.html

Open Houses might expose your home to more than potential buyers. It may expose your home to a possible burglary. A Leesburg woman was recently charged with 34 crimes related to accusations that she used her position at a moving company to attend open houses and burglarize homes. There have been several homes burglarized in Loudoun County since November 2007 many of which resulted from an Open House.  See the full story here.  I am happy to do Open Houses for my clients but do not think it is the most effective way to sell homes. My job is to find the real estate agent that has a qualified and motivated buyer or to find a qualified and motivated buyer myself. The majority of the people who attend Open Houses are considering buying or selling in the future.

Gary M. Clemens, Loudoun County’s Clerk of the Circuit Court, announced that his office is working with the clerks of circuit court from the City of Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County and Prince William County on establishing uniform guidelines related to the refund of the Northern Virginia Transportation Grantor’s Tax paid on deeds recorded between January 1, 2008 and March 3, 2008.The 2007 Virginia General Assembly passed legislation authorizing certain fees and taxes to be imposed by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) which became effective on January 1, 2008. The Virginia Supreme Court ruled that these fees and taxes were unconstitutional on February 29, 2008 and the clerks of circuit court stopped collection of the taxes on March 3, 2008 as directed by the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The clerks of circuit court in Northern Virginia will be required to issue refunds to the real estate settlement agents who paid the taxes to the clerk. The settlements agents are then required to provide the refund of the taxes to the individuals who paid the taxes as part of the settlement of the a real estate transaction.

A listing of the Loudoun deed transactions where the NVTA grantor taxes were paid and eligible for a refund will be posted on the Loudoun County Clerk of the Circuit Court’s website at www.loudoun.gov/clerk to assist citizens and settlement agents. The clerk’s office will also be providing detailed guidelines for the refund process once those guidelines are aproved by all five circuit court clerks in Northern Virginia

Some good news from Martin Crutsinger, an AP Economics Writer, reported this afternoon that sales of existing homes in February nationwide increased after six months of decline. Most experts and economists said it is too early to tell if the decline in the housing market is coming to an end.

There were actually some positive signs in the real estate market at the national level lately. New mortgage applications jumped up in the beginning of March for the first time in more than a month according to the Mortgage Bankers Assocation. Also, the pending home sale index didn’t decline in February as many predicted. It stayed flat. Finally, the Federal Reserve is keeping short term interest rates low. Could this mean real estate conditions are improving? I will keep you posted.

A MSNBC Video with advice on selling your home in todays housing market