Freddy's Bristow VA Real Estate Blog

For those of you with your head in the sand last weekend, or recovering from a Hurricane Party………..the Gov’t has announced it will be taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which allows the US Treasury to back the bonds offered by these companies.   This added strength to the bonds and the price of the Mortgage Backed Securities jumped higher based on this news.  Barring this past February, this puts these bonds at near the highest level they have seen in over 2 years!!

Rates have improved and are continue to add to their gains.  Currently the bond pricing is up over 150 bps since its close on Friday (9/6/08). This is good news for Mortgage Rates as we anticipate improved pricing in the future!!  Below is a graph showing the current bond activity.  Remember, when the Bond price goes up, mortgage rates DROP!!

Anyone who is currently locked into a Mortgage Rate should now be calling their Loan Officer to get Improved Pricing!!!!   FINALLY!!  Let’s hope this trend continues.

Read what US News has compiled after talking with many individuals involved and dealing in the real estate industry as the six signs that indicate a client might be dealing with a crummy real estate agent.

I included have encountered agents while in the process of purchasing my first home (before I became licensed) some individuals who I would describe to have some of the characteristics listed below. I once had this agent who made an appointment to meet us a Saturday but never show up and then had the face to tell us he had waited for us for two hours.

One of my first clients were my parents I asked them to be honest with me about everything if they were unhappy or if they felt neglected trough out the transaction, that input from my parents was something that helped me out in the future, from then on I have always treated my client as family, someone who I dearly want to help and to advice in the complicated process of buying or selling a home.

Read the article

 Limited Marketing
There are two obvious marketing tools that nearly every seller uses: open houses and classified ads. Unfortunately, these two tools are rather ineffective. Less than 1% of homes are sold at open houses, and less than 3% are sold because of classified ads. In fact, Realtors® often use open houses solely to attract future prospects, not to sell that particular house.  Does your Realtor® have a website?  There are very few successful real estate professionals who don’t, and for good reason.

A Realtor® should employ a wide variety of marketing techniques and should be committed to selling your property; he or she should be available for every phone call from a prospective buyer. Most calls are received, and open houses are scheduled, during business hours, so make sure that your Realtor® is working on selling your home during these hours (many Realtors® work part-time).

Incorrect Pricing

Most sellers naturally wants to get the most money for his or her property. The most common mistake that causes sellers to get less than they hope for, however, is listing too high.  Listings reach the greatest proportion of potential buyers shortly after they reach the market.  If a property is dismissed as being overpriced early on, it can result in later price reductions.  Overpriced properties tend to take an unusually long time to sell, and they end up being sold at a lower price than they likely would have had they been priced properly in the first place.

Project Lifeline:

Help for homeowners who are behind with their mortgage payments?

Homeowners who had counted on being able to refinance their risky adjustable-rate mortgages before they reset to sharply higher rates have been caught in the sharp downturn of the real estate market as home sales and prices have plunged in many parts of the country.

Maybe help is coming soon.

The Bush administration announced Tuesday that Project Lifeline a coalition of the largest mortgage companies (lenders) will offer relief to homeowners currently behind with their payments for 90 days or more.

Project Lifeline intends to give the homeowners and lenders a thirty day pause so they can work out a new payment plan or some way to modify the loan, being able to modify a high risk loan will help thousands of homeowners now, and many more in the future. Will this project help minimize foreclosures in the near future? That is the million dollar question, but for sure the higher loan limits will allow more home-buyers access to conventional loans now at $730,000 max.

Read this paper by the Boston Federal reserve that provides the first rigorous assessment of the homeownership experiences of sub-prime borrowers.

Critics are already attacking this plan by saying it falls short of what is needed to solve the current problem that so many families face in this very turbulent financial market.

Freddy Solis

703-943-7844 Direct
703-955-3528 Fax

Email Me

Braemar Homes for Sale Listings

Prices 

At the Braemar community in Bristow Virginia there is currently 86 properties for sale of those 10 are located in Dunbarton an Active Adult Community. The prices range from the lowest $234500 to the highest $735350 for an average listing price of $398749.

The Home

The average days on the market is 142, the average home has 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 1 half bath, 3 levels, 1 fire place, and, 2 car garage and average of 0.15 acres.

Most homes currently listed are a Colonial style; there are some homes at excellent locations just waiting for a new homeowner to claim it.

Freddy Solis

703-943-7844 Direct
703-955-3528 Fax

www.freddysolis.com

Bristow VA a Rural Community transformed

Many years ago when I moved to Manassas, the Bristow area was mainly a rural community located by a railroad crossing just off route 28. It was a place to take long drives and admire the natural beauty and to take in the fresh clean air.

Now with so many new roads and builders competing for land to develop Bristow has grown 10 times over, it is still one of the most beautiful places in Northern Virginia, most developers have maintain the natural landscape and built awesome communities that have attracted families from all over the Washington Metro area.  being so close to DC and all of its government agencies there is plenty of families that have moved from out of state. The Nizzan Pavilion a place to see your favorite concert is close by they offer a large music venue to keep you dancing all summer long. 

The Braemar community with all the bike trails and walk paths offer many distractions to their residents to enjoy, with two large pools and playgrounds the summers in Braemar are almost like being in vacation.

To the north of Bristow is Gainesville with many shops and new stores being build it is within a 10 minute drive to the many restaurants for the weekend outings, new shopping centers, and the Linton Hall Road expansion are creating Bristow into a very desirable place to live.

To the east the city of Manassas offers many more options to satisfy your family' shopping needs being just within 15 minutes driving distance.

Visit this posting again, I will continue to update it with new links to local places.

Capitalization Rates

The Capitalization Rate or Cap Rate is a ratio used to estimate the value of income producing properties. Cap rates are rents relative to real estate value. While rents stay relatively stable, real estate prices fluctuate. As the demand for real estate increases, so do prices, causing cap rates to fall. The cap rate is net income divided by the value or sale price of a property, expressed as a percentage, the resulting figure reflects a return on and of capital.

The seller is trying to get the highest price for the property or sell at the lowest cap rate possible. The higher the selling price, the lower the cap rate.

The buyer is trying to purchase the property at the lowest price possible which translates into a higher cap rate. The lower the selling price the higher the cap rate.

Real estate valuation is a very complex business with many variables that affect price. Individuals who invest in real estate using income-producing properties should have a method to determine the value of the properties they're considering it is so critical to verify existing income and expense before establishing value.

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