More than twenty years ago I saw a need for housing options for the Boomer Generation. I believe more than ever that many Boomers will need a viable affordable living arrangement that supports and enhances the lifestyle they desire. One such option will be a small scale condominium of 2 to 6 units. This could be a large house retrofitted for the purpose with each unit a nicely finished ‘home’. This house/condo would also have a common area to support ‘community’. Each resident would enjoy total privacy, and can also enjoy the company and support of other residents if so desiring. The residents can manage their own building, and the monthly condo fee can be small (unlike those big complexes). Going on vacation? Someone is home to bring in your mail. Need to relocate? You can sell your unit and benefit from your investment. Privacy, Community, Support, Affordability. Is this idea appealing to someone you know? Please have them contact me.

I’ve helped a number of people purchase homes this year.  In almost every case there were delays in closing caused by the lender, even though my purchasers were well qualified to borrow.  I think this is the situation with virtually all lenders.  They are being very careful and plodding in closing the loan, verifying, reverifying, asking for the same information over and over again.  I do not blame them for being careful, but the delays cause anxiety for both purchasers and sellers.  Some of my purchasers came to believe they were not going to be granted a loan and started calling other lenders.  Some of the sellers came to believe the purchaser’s loan was being denied, even after provisional approval, and were getting pretty angry that their property had been off the market for a month or more waiting for a settlement they no longer believed would happen.  In every case, after a good deal of anxiety and stress, the loans did close and the property did transfer ownership.  The delays in closing spanned from a couple days to more than a month.  Fortunately none of these purchasers had a moving truck parked outside their intended home, and none of the sellers were buying another property that they needed to close on in order to move out of their current home.  My point:  plan for delay.  With luck you will close as scheduled or at least close to your planned settlement date.  But if not planned for, delays can cause you big problems and cost real money.  Hang in there!

 Well maintained and very solid. Super insulation for heating and cooling efficiency. New since 2009: 30 year roof, really excellent insulated windows, and most appliances. Garage and a shed with a reinforced floor (to accommodate owner’s motorcycle). Two covered carports. Large open fenced yard with great garden spots and a close-up mountain view. Convenient to Charlottesville and the Valley, located in a friendly rural neighbor adjacent to the charming town of Crozet. Close to the Crozet Elementary School, Henley Middle School, and Western Albemarle High School. Compare with other Albemarle County homes – this is a great buy and opportunity.

HOW GREEN IS MY VALLEY

. This unique & beautiful home is in both the 31,000 acre “Southwest Mountain Rural Historic District” and “Blue Run Ag Forest District”, preservation/protected areas. The drive down Echo Valley Rd is stunning as are the views from the property. Studio outbuilding is nicely finished and has heat, electric, and a good size storage area. Vintage shed on property as well. This craftsman-like cottage is surrounded by large farm properties. The rustic kitchen was crafted by Blais Gaston, renowned furniture maker. Beautiful wood floors & trim and updated windows. Gas fired water/baseboard central heating. Central Air Conditioning. Invisible Dog Fence. Perfect for someone wanting a very special location, yet only about 20 minutes to Charlottesville. This property & location really are magical — there’s even a brace of albino deers that wander the area. Find Peace & Beauty in the Valley.

Albemarle County, VA

A charming country home, yet proximate to Charlottesville, this 1500 plus finished square feet 1920s bungalow was extensively renovated in 2007. Entirely gutted, and all new in 2007: drywall, floors, roof, windows, HVAC, plumbing, electric, granite counter tops, hickory cabinets, ceramic tile in bathrooms, appliances. Super insulation in attic, blown-in wet cellulose in both exterior and interior walls for energy efficiency and quiet. Very nice features: plumbing & electric fixtures, solid wood interior doors, jet tub… All top notch. There’s even a raised brick hearth with stone surround for the wood stove. The 2 acre lot is gently rolling and mostly open with great garden sites (there are currently active raised beds). Two sheds out back, one with a covered carport on either side. Very quiet location, a very lovely property. Contact me for a showing!

$229,000

1524 fin. sq. ft.

3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, hickory cabinets, granite counter tops in kitchen and bathrooms

1312 Orchard Drive Crozet, VA                  MLS# 491134         $140,000 

Crazy low price for this property.  Perfect Starter Home or investment property. Well maintained and very solid. Super insulation for heating and cooling efficiency. New since 2009: 30 year roof, really excellent insulated windows, and most appliances. Garage and a shed with a reinforced floor (to accommodate owner’s motorcycle). Two covered carports. Large open fenced yard with great garden spots and a close-up mountain view. Convenient to Charlottesville and the Valley, located in a friendly rural neighbor adjacent to the charming town of Crozet. Close to the Crozet Elementary School, Henley Middle School, and Western Albemarle High School. Compare with other Albemarle County homes – this is a great buy and opportunity.

910 Locust Lane, Charlottesville, VA  $225,000   MLS#491179

Looking for a sweet home in the city? This fine town home is located in a wonderful residential neighborhood convenient to downtown Charlottesville, the Pan Tops area and the new Martha Jefferson Hospital, UVA and UVA Medical Center, and adjacent to the Rivanna Trail – the 20 mile walking/running trail that surrounds the city. The owner has done a wonderful job getting this home ready for the market: landscaping just maintained, gas furnace and central air conditioning new in 2010, interior and exterior just painted, and many minor repairs have made this home almost brand new. This home is priced to sell. Come take a look!  Virtual Tour:  http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=2552167

Foreclosure, foreclosed property, REO, bank owned…  Pretty much all the same thing.  It means that a property owner/borrower stopped making the monthly loan payment on his/her home loan and the lender or their representative took back ownership by various legal means (depending on the State the property was located in).  By the time the lender has taken back the property it has been vacated.

The lender does not like doing this.  It doesn’t want the inventory of homes that it needs to turn around and sell.  Given the current state of the economy and the real estate market, there is a huge inventory of foreclosed homes.  Not all are on the market.  When on the market they tend to be priced below what market value should be for their location, thereby causing neighborhoods and the real estate market itself to decline. 

Further, these foreclosed properties are often ‘distressed’, either from deliberate trashing by the former owner or through lack of upkeep.  The lender frequently shuts off utilities, and this can be a disaster during the hot humid months of the summer when shut-up homes become habitats for mold.  The values of these homes continues to drop until they are priced so low they attract investors who buy them up cheap, do fix up, and either rents them out or ‘flips’ (sells) them. 

If you are thinking of buying a foreclosure there are some things to keep in mind:  your purchase offer needs to be very ‘clean’ and straightforward, and you need to be pre-qualified for the loan you plan to apply for.  Keep in mind that if you are going to use a conventional loan to purchase the home, the home itself will need to ‘qualify’.  It cannot be so distressed that the lender will refuse to make a loan on it.  You can buy a distressed property by using an FHA 203K loan, which has renovation funds built into the loan.  The 203K loan process requires patience as there are some hoops to jump through, but it does may possible purchasing a sadly distressed property in a good location for a great (low) price, and at the end of the process have a great home worth more than what you have into it.

Banks, their representative, HUD, the VA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac…  all of them are not interested in purchase offers that have ‘contingencies’ such as the purchaser needing to sell or rent their current home.  Make your offer very clean.  Some of these sellers, Fannie Mae in particular, sometimes offers to pay closing costs for the purchaser (depending on the agreed upon sales price) or to include renovation funding. 

Good luck!  This is a time of great opportunity for potential home buyers.  Home prices can be very low, interest rates are low, and there is a huge amount of inventory to choose from.  A few years from now a lot of people will look back at this time and think “Geez, I wish I had bought property back then when I had the chance.”

Many lenders in our market area will not make a loan on a condominium unit.  Clients of mine recently did secure financing and at advantageous terms.  They are getting 90 percent loan to sales price financing:  an 80% of sales price  loan at 4% interest rate with a 15 year term; and a 10% of sales price loan at 5% interest rate with a 22 year term.  To say the least, they will quickly pay off the smaller loan.  The larger loan at 4% interest rate is a terrific product, and they will save a great deal of money by paying off that loan in 15 years. 

There are loan products out there  that can finance the purchase of a condominium, it just takes a little scratching around to find them.  And as you can see, the loan terms my clients are getting are very good indeed.

Yesterday a story on NPR related the activities of two investors in Baltimore.  These investors enthusiastically spoke of their purchasing as many properties as possible at discounted prices, distressed properties which the investors were renovating and then renting out.  By doing so they are providing needed decent rental homes.  Eventually when the real estate market turns around they plan to sell some of these homes.  It isn’t lost on them that while home prices have declined, rents have gone up.

Much the same is true here in central Virginia.  Foreclosures and Short Sales have made many homes very affordable.  They are sometimes in distressed condition.  There are investors who have made a profitable business buying up homes cheaply, renovating, and then selling those newly made nice homes at an affordable price that is still very competitive and profitable in the current market.  Some of those newly renovated homes are being held by the investor to be rented out and will later be sold when the market turns around. 

In these sad economic times opportunity presents itself.  Why not seize it?