Oh, Those Dastardly Appraisals!

Hello all!  Here’s just a quick note to clarify a couple of things that can be confusing when selling your house.

Credit: woodlandsappraiser.com

Most folks don’t really think about how important an appraisal is when getting ready to list their house.  It’s common for sellers to fall asleep dreaming of their property being so popular that a bidding war breaks out, and the winner overpays by even more than the property was listed for.  This is actually a common occurrence in some places in the country, but there are pitfalls to having that situation.  Let me explain why.

If your winning buyer is making his purchase of your home contingent on his obtaining a mortgage loan, this scenario may run you into trouble because his lender will require an appraisal of the house –after all, no bank will lend you more money than the home is worth.  If your sales price is higher than the home appraises for, the buyer will be responsible for paying the difference between the sales price and the amount he can secure for his mortgage loan.  If you accepted his offer because it was the highest offer, and he suddenly cannot secure the loan because the appraisal was lower than the sales price, the entire deal could fall apart — leaving you with time wasted, at the very least.

You may remember the Franconia property I mentioned a while back…well, we are delighted to say that we got it under contract in just 26 days, and are marching confidently toward an October 15th settlement date.  This is the market’s way of telling us that we priced the property right from the start, especially since it appraised for the sales price.

Have a great week, and I hope this post makes the process just a little easier to understand!

Open House Alert: Who Do You Know Who Is Looking In Franconia?

Hi all, I just wanted to take a quick second to make you aware of an open house that’s coming up tomorrow (Sunday, August 23, 2015) from 1-4pm. This place is really a little gem in Alexandria — right off of Franconia and Beulah. It’s less than a mile to both the Franconia Springfield Metro stop and the Landmark mall, it’s minutes from the Mixing Bowl, giving you quick and easy access to all of our major highways.

6543 China Grove Ct, Alexandria, VA 22310

It’s a 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 half-bath townhouse, but not just ANY townhouse. It’s an end unit, and it’s got everything you could ask for as far as updates and appliances. Stainless everything, not one but TWO refrigerators (there’s one in the finished downstairs as well), upgraded front-load washer and dryer, granite countertops, a separate dining and living room, hardwood floors, genuine Oak staircase, crown moulding, downstairs fireplace…the list goes on and on. And it opens up from the finished downstairs into a beautiful, fenced backyard with a large deck on it. You are backed up to woods, also — no nosy neighbors creeping on your privacy. This place is beautiful!

Cozy Living Room!

Charming Large Backyard!

You’ve got to see this place! The price just dropped and at $399,999, I anticipate this property will go quickly. Come out and join us from 1-4 to see a gorgeous house on a gorgeous summer afternoon…plus, you don’t want to miss my wife’s s’mores bites — graham cracker, marshmallow and chocolate all in one little bite…makes the fat kid in me go crazy! Realtors, check out listing FX8719264 for full details. Thanks for showing it, and I’ll see you there!

Realtors: We ARE The App

Many would consider this the heyday of real estate, but necessarily for real estate professionals.

As consumers, there are tons of real estate sites out there with the singular goal of connecting you to whatever facet of real estate you need to find.  Things you may not even have considered to be part of real estate — like finding a place to rent, or a moving company — are all easily accessible via the internet, and many have customized search engines and can send notifications right to your phone.  It truly is real estate in real time.

Credit: http://www.mom-psych.com

There are many benefits to being able to leverage technology.  For example, if you’re looking for a home, you can tell Trulia or Zillow to show you any property in any price range in any location, and ask it to send any properties with these criteria to your email.  (Trulia is owned by Zillow, by the way.)  You can look to rent.com (owned by eBay) to find rentals exactly the same way, and finding a place to rent on Craigslist is becoming a more and more popular option.  But as a Realtor, I hold myself to a higher standard, and I want to help you to have an accurate picture of what to expect.

First, it’s important to know who you are dealing with.  I have customers all of the time who ask me to help them find a place to rent, and they will often supplement their search by surfing Craigslist ads (which are commonly not listed on the MLS, since it costs money).  The challenge is finding out if the person who owns the property you want to rent is a legitimate landlord, or if you will end up giving your rent deposit and social security number to a total thief who has extra copies of the house keys.  That’s a pretty risky move if you have no way to verify who they are.

Second, it’s important to recognize that Zillow and Trulia, as helpful as they can be, are generally outdated.  Often, I have clients who shoot me great properties they’ve found on Zillow, only to find out they’ve been under contract for a week or two already.  Also, Zillow provides a property estimate called a “Zestimate,” and they are very hit-or-miss when it comes to accuracy because the algorithms they use often do not take everything necessary into account to produce a proper valuation.

Luckily for you, that’s a large part of why Realtors are still so valuable — we have the resources to augment the tools you have at your fingertips.  We have access to a tool that is better than Zillow — we call it the Multiple Listing Service.  In fact, do you know where all of those bright, shiny pictures that pop up on a Zillow property came from?  Yep, Zillow took them straight from our MLS.  If you’re looking at my listing on Zillow, I took those photos myself.  Also, we can set our MLS up to deliver the best new listings with all of your criteria — it goes straight to your email, the day the listing hits the market.

How about after you’ve bought a home, or you’ve owned one for a long time and want to see what it’s worth on the market today?  Setting your house at the right price is a critical determinant of whether your home sells or sits.  That’s a fair bit of knowledge to want, and Realtors are the only professionals with access to programs like RPR, which can help us show you all of the on-target data you’ll need to make the right decision for you.   You can do it.  I can help.

If you can use my help renting, buying, or selling a home, don’t hesitate to contact me at jeff.grana@gmail.com, or check us out at www.thehardmanteam.com.  Have a great week!

Did You Know Realtors Can Help You Find A Place To Rent?

Realtors are like the Swiss Army Knives of moving.  Need a school district assessment?  We can point you toward the best information.  Need to find reputable movers?  We probably know a few.  It’s your first home and you’ve never had to paint a room yourself before?  We can give pointers on how to avoid getting roller marks on the ceiling.  Need to find a place to rent but can’t stand massive apartment complexes?  We can help with that, too.  

The rental market out here in Northern Virginia is really vibrant, and I’m sure yours is too.  I meet folks all the time who happen to mention in passing conversation that they are looking to move soon, and they are continually surprised when I sit them down and show them what’s available right now on the MLS, in exactly their price range, with exactly the number of bedrooms they want, as close to their desired location as possible.  Our MLS isn’t just for homebuyers or sellers, people!

There are more than a few advantages to approaching a Realtor (once again, not every real estate agent has that capital “R”) about finding a place to rent — particularly if you are new to the area.  First, you’ll be getting physical access to a rental place without any sales pressure from a leasing agent, like you’d find in an apartment complex.  And very often, the agent knows the area and can offer helpful advice about the easiest way to the highway, or where the nearest bus or train station is.  Also, the agent can set you up on a recurrent email search campaign, where you dictate the search terms.  You can specify to search for only properties which are brand new to the market (I have a friend who kept losing great rentals because they got snatched up by the time he saw them on Zillow…not anymore!), or only properties available after x date, or only properties with finished basements.  You can use almost anything as a search qualifier.

I saved two of the most important benefits for last.  One of them is that the service we provide to help you find a great rental is completely free to you.  We are paid by the owner or property management company if you rent a rental we showed you.  And the last, most important benefit is simple:  You get to “try out” your future Realtor before the time comes to work together on buying or selling property.  We can help to facilitate the rental application process (though very often it is a quick and easy deal, and you won’t need our help), but I hear horror stories all the time about how a Realtor they blindly picked didn’t work out.  Maybe he/she wasn’t available easily by phone during a home purchase, wasn’t likable, had no customer service, only was in it for the money, the whole thing was two months of misery…people don’t realize it at first, but’s a really personal relationship that you enter into when you hire a Realtor (which I always recommend — stay protected!).  Wouldn’t it be nice to already know you’ll like the one you hired?

Of course, I’m educating “yous” (as my Italian grandparents used to say) in hopes that you will let me know if I can help you find a rental, or buy or sell your home…but I also really want you to feel comfortable moving to a new place.  It’s hard enough moving to a new place (especially if you don’t know anyone when you get there), and I want you to know you’ve got options.  Friendly help is just a phone call away.

Have a great week!

Save Some Moolah: Protect Your “Nest” Egg

Here at The Hardman Team Realty, you may think we are all dependable, old-school professionals, sticking to stiff, old-school professional ways.  That would be true during business hours, but in our off-time, we are into all kinds of cool stuff.  When you’re a first-time homebuyer, there are all kinds of things to worry about while the contract is being executed.  But once you sit down at the settlement table, what’s the best part of walking out with the keys to your new house?  Making it your own!

Out With The Old…

I just did a post on simple home security, if that’s something you’ll need to update or upgrade.  Check it out here, and feel free to leave comments, likes or shares on Facebook!  (Also, I am in no way paid to endorse or criticize a product, these are my own honest opinions.)

Today, however, I want to help you get started on the right foot, right out of the gate.  You just moved into your home, and are now paying a mortgage.  Every dollar counts, right?  Lets save you some money!

Let’s face it: Ultility costs aren’t getting any lower.  So one of the first things we decided to do once we got some paint on the walls was upgrade our thermostat to a Nest Thermostat.  Let me tell you, it has already paid off.

Our electric bill this past month was under a hundred bucks for the first time all year.  Granted, it’s Spring and the windows are open and keeping things comfortable, but the Nest learns when you’re home and not home, and keeps track of when you adjust it, and to what temperature.  Not only that, most thermostats are set to either hot or cold, and that’s it:  If it gets warm during the day, you have to manually switch the thermostat over to “air condition” in order to get cold air.  With the Nest, you can set a specific temperature range you want your house to stay between, and it manages the heater and air conditioner appropriately (pretty handy for days like now, when you need A/C during the day and heat at night).

Easy Installation!

It was easy to install, with the website even giving you the ability to do a compatibility check before you disconnect your old thermostat.    And the plate where the wires plug in in a simple affair, where you plug and play with the wires you have.  It’s hard to see in the photo, but they even included a little bubble level so you’d know you were installing it plumb with the ground.  It makes the wall (and the house) look that much more handsome, in my opinion.

We are also planning on getting a pair of the Nest Protect, the CO/smoke detector that Nest offers.  They aren’t cheap (about $100 each is the best price I’ve seen) but there’s a lot of built-in logic to them.  The smoke detectors talk to each other and to the thermostat, and this is beneficial in ways you might not have thought of.  First of all, the most likely cause of a carbon monoxide (or CO) leak in your house is your furnace, if it is gas-burning.  Well, when the Nest Protect senses CO, it tells the Nest Thermostat to shut off the furnace.  Duh, right?  Why hasn’t someone thought of this sooner?  Also, if it senses fire, it will shut off the A/C or heater, so as not to spread the smoke any further through your house.  (FACEPALM) I am so behind the curve.

…In With The New!

Anyway, we are happy with our Nest, and get comments on it from our guests all the time.  It shuts its display off when you aren’t near it to save electricity, and you can program it to come on when you walk by it.  Lights up nicely when you use it, gets out of your way when it’s on autopilot.  We love this thing, and think it’s well worth the money.  It’s already on its way to paying itself off.  Good luck with yours, and cheers!

Don’t forget — If you know someone who can use my help buying or selling their home, don’t hesitate to give me a call 630.306.3537 to introduce us.  Thanks!

Shut The Front Door!

So you may have become aware lately of certain parts of your home.  For example, the first thing we did when when my wife and I moved in was change the locks.  I don’t know about you, but I’m the type of guy who lies awake at night wondering about the weak spots in my home security net — constantly wondering, “If a burglar was to break in, where would he start?  And how much early warning would I get if it happened?”

Old Lock On The Left, New Lock On The Right

I feel we’ve been quite well-prepared because of a few solutions that aren’t for everybody (namely, weapons within reach of my pillow, and a big, hyper-sensitive dog with a huge bark), but I figured the easiest and simplest way to boost security was to pick a set of the best deadbolts money can buy.  After much homework, we settled on the Medeco Residential Single Cylinder Deadbolt.  (By the way, the “single” part of the “single cylinder” just means that it’s got a key on the outside and a twist knob on the inside.  If it was a “double cylinder,” it would require a key on both the outside and inside to actuate the lock.)  Here’s more of what I’ve learned.

This deadbolt is the leader because its core cannot be drilled out by some schlep with a common hand drill and some bits from the Home Depot.  It’s also designed to resist common picking.  It’s made of beefy, super-hardened metal.  The lock itself weighs nearly five pounds, and the keys are some no-nonsense keys.  Seriously — each key is inscribed with a serial number, and you have to be on the buyer/owner-approved LIST before a locksmith will allow you to get copies made.  It’s also a lock that is far more difficult to pick than a regular KwikSet or other common BigBoxStore special.  I first came across Medeco locks when I worked on private jets.  If it’s good enough to protect a $60 million aircraft, it’s good enough for all of the priceless things I put in my house.

And Get A Load Of These KEYS!

It was actually fairly easy to install, honestly.  The lock and throw fit correctly the first time, though I did have to widen the hole in the door to accommodate the oversized core.  They even provided an easy-to-use template that makes it difficult to goof up.  Of if you don’t know anyone who is half-way mechanically inclined, you can always get a locksmith to install it for you.  (I recommend getting the lock(s) from Amazon, by the way…our local locksmith told me the lock retails in his shop for over a hundred bucks more than I paid to have it shipped to my house.)

Kwikset and Schlage make products that hit a similar price point, and newer locks are even beginning to incorporate Bluetooth to sense when your phone is near for automatic operation.  They have met with limited approval from UL, from what I understand.  I’m a bit old-school, I guess…I don’t need lights or automation on the very devices I expect to withstand exterior attacks, I need a device to stand up to the abuse it’s designed to encounter.  And the thick, almost-oversized key has gone a long way toward my own peace of mind when I lock the doors and leave the house.

If you are looking to beef up security for (comparatively) not a lot of moolah, this will help do the job!

Thanks for reading!

Newbie Homebuyer? Have No Fear.

When you are a first-time homebuyer, it’s easy to get worried about things.  You’ll be thinking things like, “It’s a LOT of money.  What if the house has termites and we don’t know it?  What if the roof has holes in it?  What if the seller is hiding something major from me, and I get screwed later, after the sale?  What if MY Realtor is like those other horror stories I’ve heard?  WHAT IF?”

We Have You Covered.

Well, that’s what I’m here for.  I’m here to tell you that I’m not like the Realtors you’ve heard horror stories about.  My team and I have a combined 31 years in the business.  The Hardman Team Realty’s ethos is never about chasing the dollar, but rather providing an uncommonly high level of service so that everyone in a transaction wins.  Heck, if you allow me to help you buy or sell your home, I’ll give you a 20% rebate (that is, 20% of my own commission at closing) if you are a Federal employee.  I’m not greedy, and I have your best interest at heart at all times.  I am not shy in negotiations, and have some pretty great successes under my belt.

Also, there are more than a few precautions we take to make sure that you won’t be “duped” into a home you aren’t expecting when you buy it.  I have no fewer than three trusted home inspectors, all of whom carry various certifications in construction, carpentry, electrical and plumbing.  These guys know what they’re looking at, and can tell you what to expect and what to steer clear of.  We have an inspection to determine termite damage before you close on the house, so you will have the opportunity to discuss any findings with the seller.  Also, my lenders are amazing, constantly finding ways to save you money while coming up with creative solutions to difficult problems.  And my Title companies have constantly proven to fix headaches before you even know they were headaches.

So let me put your worries at ease.  My mom raised an honest, ambitious man of high morals, and I can’t bear the thought of you being any less thrilled with your house than I am with mine.  Once you (or I) find a place that fits your needs, I have you covered.  

Contact me at Jeff.Grana@gmail.com, or on my cell at 630.306.3537, whenever you are ready.  Talk to you soon!

Commence Experting.

So.  Back in January, I mentioned that my wife and I finally found a home we liked.  We bought it, moved in, and began to paint and unpack.  Please forgive me for not having blogged since then — having new projects for every spare moment we have has overwhelmed me the past few months!

Credit: http://www.cyberwarzone.com

We care very much about our community now that we have a place we can call our home, and I am working diligently to become an absolute expert on the market in Falls Church, VA and her surrounding areas.  In the future, you will see posts specific to Falls Church, and specific to the Northern Virginia area.  So, my friends, here is a starter taste of what the market is doing out here:

Falls Church, VA is a unique little market.  In March, it carried just about seven weeks of inventory (remember, inventory is the length of time it would take to sell all existing homes on the market, if no new homes were listed).  This is about a week longer than the 5-year average for March, and right about equal to last March’s, if memory serves.  The average amount of time it took to sell a home was about 40 days, with a median sales price of $476,000 (19.3% lower than last year, and 13% lower than last month).  I’m not sure yet why home values dropped, but I am working to figure out why.  There were 21 homes sold in our zip code in March 2015, which is nearly 62% more than last year.

The good news for buyers is that a slight dip in home values (combined with easing conventional and FHA loan down payment requirements) can allow first-timers to get into an area that is highly sought after in the region without paying as high a premium for it as in years’ past.  (Heck, it worked for us.)  I’ll be watching our market very closely in the future to keep you posted!

Now this is just my opinion, but if you are getting ready to buy or sell your home, you need to ask your Realtor (only Realtors can use the trademarked Realtor logo, by the way) what area he or she covers.  If they tell you they will cover anywhere, or an overly broad area in your market, turn the other way.  If they have never sold homes in the area you are looking to buy, they will be nearly as blind as you about the specifics (like local laws and ordinances, being up to date on ongoing news and events, crime rates, and population trends).  All of these things will affect the purchase price of your home, as well as your home’s value once you live there.  Didn’t know they were planning on putting a nuclear power plant behind your house two years after you bought it?  In many states, it is your responsibility to have all pertinent knowledge at the time of the purchase, not your Realtor’s.  But wouldn’t it be nice to have a Realtor who does?

Thanks for your time, and we will talk again soon!

New Year, New Loan Requirements!

Hello!  The new year is upon us, and I wanted to touch base with you — there are so many new things happening in real estate that many of last year’s presumptions are no longer correct.  For example:  Still think lenders require ten, or even twenty percent down?  Think again!

It has been the better part of a year since my wife and I began looking for our first home.  We offered on a couple of them last year, but nothing panned out.   We have finally found one that we really like, got our offer accepted, and we’re working through executing the contract right now.

I’ve known all along that there are three types of loans (Conventional, FHA, and VA), and because I am not a US military veteran, a VA (or zero-down) loan was out for us.  My lender let us know that we could probably qualify for a conventional loan with just five percent down, but we opted to go with an FHA loan, which requires only 3.5% as a down payment.

For both conventional and FHA loans, primary mortgage insurance (PMI) is required when the loan-to-value (or LTV) ratio of the mortgage is greater than 80%.  This means that PMI is required until you pay enough to have 20% equity in the home.  Well, as of last Thursday, FHA has said that it will drop the PMI rate requirement from 1.35% of the loan’s value to 0.85%.  According to my lender, this is going to save us nearly $140 a month on our total mortgage payment — an extra $1,680 per year in our pockets. What luck!

Since this is our first home together (a nice town home in Falls Church), we are below the maximum $625,500 property value limit for an FHA loan in Fairfax County.  We are anticipating the possibility of having to bump our closing date because FHA expects a glut of people to cancel their current loan applications and apply for new ones to take advantage of the lower PMI rate for their clients.  Heck, if the timing hadn’t been so lucky, I would’ve too.  If you are in this position, please be patient with the process.

Also, we locked our interest rate at 3.25% APR for a 30 year fixed — almost free money for a home.  Interest rates are down again, and lenders are trying to make homes more affordable as the economy sees a return to relative normalcy.  If this makes you take another look at whether or not you are ready to buy a home, PLEASE give me a call at 630.306.3537, or email me at jeff.grana@gmail.com.  I will put you in touch with one of the best lenders I’ve met in the industry (if you haven’t contacted one already), and I can even put dream listings in your email box on a regular basis.  You’ll get access to listings weeks earlier than you’ll find them on Zillow or Trulia.

Have a great week, and we will talk again soon!

Jeff Grana, Realtor with The Hardman Team Realty

Interest Rates Are Rising! What Does That Even Mean?

Our inventory here in Fairfax County has remained steady for the last little while…February numbers aren’t quite out yet, but January stayed about the same as December did.  Click here for a link to the graphs.  But the bigger story here is the rise in interest rates over the past few months…take a look at the difference from 3.5% (where rates were six months ago) to 4.5% (where they are now):

3.5%

4.5%

   Since the average “Sold” price of a home in our county was $491,144 last month (down 2.41% from last year at this time), I picked a nice, round number  to illustrate the difference between the rates.  With a  mortgage of $495K, you will 3.5% on the left — a monthly payment of $2,738.40 — and on the right, you’ll notice it has jumped to $3,023.72.  That’s only one percent on your loan payment, yet payments on the same house have jumped by $285.32 each month.  Basically, an it will cost you another $3,423.84 per year to live in your house — and that’s assuming fair credit and zero down payment.  

The point I am making is that the longer you wait to buy a place, the less “place” you will be able to afford.  Do you want to be renting for another five years, or paying that same money toward a home of your own?