Timing Homebuying Decision Relocation Commuters Retirees Telecommuters Job Transfers Sluggers Stafford Orange Fredericksburg VA

How do you (I) time my/our home buying decision to take the best advantage of the real estate market? The answer depends upon many factors. If you are relocating to Stafford, Prince William, Fairfax, Orange, Falls Church, Alexandria, Arlington, Fredericksburg, Stafford, Quantico, Virginia, from another county you might be waiting on a job offer, for the school year/semester to end, to receive an admissions decision from the college or university of your choice, to get an answer on an internship, for a large work project to be completed, for your company to sign off on your job transfer to another locale, and/or for a family member to medically stabilize so he/she can be moved to your area.

When you are relocating and have lived in your home for thirty years and your house is paid off, then you have a lot of flexibility. Plus you might have the ability to choose a less expensive area to live and/or to downsize your home square footage if you have retired to keep your fixed income and total yearly housing budget costs down. There are factors such as how close/far do you wish to live near key friends and family members. Sometimes your decision involves moving a family member to live in your home and you need an in-law/relative suite sometimes with a small kitchen, bedroom and bathroom possibly on the main floor of your home you’re considering buying or with elevator access if living in a condo, high rise or town home. Also, will this additional household member need transportation to/from social activities such as a small bus/van, a local city/county bus, taxi, or do they need transportation with wheelchair access, lift or a ramp since he/she walks with a cane or a walker. Is adult daycare available in the community you’re considering moving to or another option for field trips, classes, and friendship at a local community center or even at one in a neighboring city/county that might have better choices for your loved one.

If you are working at a fixed location and telecommuting is only available once a week, then your moving decisions will be dictated by how many minutes/hours you are committed to driving daily to reach your workplace. Many people decide I won’t live beyond this street intersection on this road because it takes me this many minutes to reach here in rush hour traffic including commutes by train, metro, walking, and driving to/from a slug/carpooling lot.

Are you making your decisions with a roommate(s) or life partner? Are you married? If yes, does your spouse also work outside the home or does he/she stay home with kids and work in a career from home? Also, are kids/relatives kids such as cousins, nieces, and nephews involved in your life either on a monthly, weekly or daily basis? Is there a child custody arrangement that requires you to live within a certain number of miles of your ex-spouse? All of these factors need to be considered carefully before making any home buying decisions.

All rights reserved 2009 and copyrighted by Sherrie Hartzell, licensed Virginia real estate salesperson at Keller Williams Preferred Stafford, VA. Text/Call 540-903-0212.

Shortsale Homebuyers deciding in Virginia Stafford Fredericksburg Alexandria Arlington Orange Spotsylvania Loudon

Written and copyrighted 2009 by Sherrie Hartzell, Certified Distressed Property Expert and Realtor in the Virginia Commonwealth.  All rights reserved 2009 by Sherrie Hartzell, licensed real estate salesperson in Virginia with Keller Williams Preferred Realty, 385 Garrisonville Road, #105, Stafford, Virginia.

Under Inspection

Do you believe a home inspection is important for you, as a home buyer? I hope so. I am not a certified home inspector but there are many people who are, so check out their qualifications and training before hiring a home inspector professional to inspect a home you want to buy for living in or as an investment property.

A home inspection is usually (check with your particular state’s regulations) only valid for the date and time of the actual home inspection. In other words, if something happens after your home inspection, this will have to be negotiated between the home seller and the home buyer prior to the real estate closing date on this particular home. Whatever is written in the real estate contract in your jurisdiction matters and will be followed. This is why it is extremely vital to hire a professional real estate agent to handle your real estate transaction, negotiate on your behalf, and put out fires when necessary during the complicated real estate processes.

Sherrie Hartzell is licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia with Keller Williams Preferred Realty and Sherrie would be happy to assist you with your real estate needs. Sherrie can be reached at: sherriebh@yahoo.com to schedule an appointment. Written, copyrighted and all rights reserved 2007 by Sherrie Hartzell, licensed real estate salesperson in Virginia with Keller Williams Preferred Realty-Stafford, VA.

Investors

in real estate want to find homes, condos, and townhomes with a good cashflow return on their investment. In other words, will the mortgage paid be covered by the rent charged for this home and still allow some leftover money for repairs? A cash flow of $50 or $100 per month is a good place to start, but potential investors need to consider how long a particular property might take to get rented. This could easily take 7 or 8 months especially if the investor is charging too much for rent. Also, how many people own homes already in this area? If homeownership percentages are very high, then the investor might want to consider another geographical area with a lower percentage of homeowners. Also, what are average rents in this area? Will you as an investor have any cash flow? If the answer is no, keep looking for the best rental property you can find.

Investors offer a low ball price to see how interested you as the seller are in selling your home below what your home is worth. Investors are not emotional and base their buying decisions on numbers and returns from investments.

Written, copyrighted and all rights reserved 2007 by Sherrie Hartzell, licensed real estate salesperson in Virginia with Keller Williams Preferred Realty-Stafford, VA.

Lit Up?

Is your house very well lit outside when it is for sale? Lighting on the exterior of your house is crucial for letting animals outside after dark in your yard but outside lighting becomes even more crucial when you have listed your home for sale with a real estate professional.

Consider this scenario…a prospective purchaser of your home cannot tour your home until after it is already dark outside and they want to be able to see the outside of your home clearly and even walk around outside in your yard. If your home does not have extensive outdoor lights around your property away from your house and around the outside of your home, then your home will be at a disadvantage when compared to other homes after the sun has set.
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A better option for a home seller is when your home has more than ample outdoor lights then your home will have a major advantage over your competition, the other homes for sale in your price range and located near your home. Written, copyrighted and all rights reserved 2007 by Sherrie Hartzell, licensed real estate salesperson in Virginia with Keller Williams Preferred Realty-Stafford, VA.

Lenders

revamped their underwriting criteria for loans and there have been many articles on the subject. My favorite one is from an article in BusinessWeek entitled “This is a Correction, Not a Meltdown.” BusinessWeek owns this article, so please read their guidelines for downloading, quoting and other forms of reproduction of this article.

Copyrighted and all rights reserved 2007 by Sherrie Hartzell, licensed real estate salesperson in Virginia with Keller Williams Preferred Realty-Stafford, VA.