This month’s REALTOR Magazine is out, and in it is a fascinating article entitled “Overcoming Buyer Reluctance.” We are regularly speaking with home buyers about their wants and needs for a new home, but many times — especially now — they are reluctant to actually go through with a transaction. This article hits the nail on the head in terms of explaining why buyers are feeling this way. A great illustration in the article to allow buyers to visualize the real estate market:

A simple technique to prove to potential buyers, or even sellers, that they can’t perfectly time the market is to do this easy demonstration: Take out a blank sheet of paper and pen. Now, starting at the top of the paper, draw a line going down and at the same time ask the buyers to stop you when the market has bottomed out.

As long as your line keeps going straight down they won’t be able to. The moment you start back up, they’ll say “there!” but of course they missed the bottom. Now, keep drawing your line up while asking them to tell you when the market has peaked. Again, they won’t be able to tell you until you’ve rounded the top and started back down. Then they’ll say “there!” and once again they’ll be behind the peak.

So, once the home buyer understands that he/she can’t time the market perfectly, we can move on to see if that buyer is able, ready, and willing.

If the buyer isn’t able, meaning, he/she doesn’t have financing in place or hasn’t even spoken to a mortgage broker, we send them to speak with one immediately.

Once the buyer is able, are they ready? Our team consults with each buyer to determine their wants and needs for purchasing a home. “It is the ‘why’ that leads them to buy.”

Now we’ve tackled the ability and readiness. Is the buyer willing? No matter how able and ready a buyer is, if he/she isn’t willing, there is no point in trying to find them a home. The buyer needs to be willing to make the decision, to be mentally and emotionally willing to take that plunge (for lack of a better term).

Buyers, are you able, ready, and willing to purchase a home? We can’t tell you enough how great of a time it is to buy right now. Interest rates are low, sellers are willing to bargain (sometimes a lot, sometimes a little), there are lots of properties on the market to choose from, there are even some great loan programs available, especially for first-time home buyers. Give us a call to get started on your home search!

Rockingham Memorial Hospital (RMH) in Harrisonburg is building a new (enormous) hospital at a site on the East end of town off of Port Republic Road. It is awesome. Here’s why:

Location, Location, Location! The new site is located near I-81, a short distance from Route 33, and is on the popular Port Republic Road. Because the new hospital will attract a lot of traffic, Port Republic Road is also undergoing some major renovation. (Right now, they are adding lanes by the new CVS Pharmacy.) Harrisonburg is growing mostly Eastward, so having the new hospital site on that end of town is a plus.

Building Green. RMH is focused on building this new hospital “green” because buildings, materials, and the environment have an impact on our health. Some specific things they are putting in this new hospital: good indoor air quality, energy efficiency, water efficiency, wetland and land preservation, and thoughtful waste management.

Future Growth. The new building design “supports future growth of existing and new programs, such as cardiac surgery,” according to their website. The new facility will also support emerging technologies, such as wireless communication.

To see renderings, photos, floor plans, a project time line, and videos, check out the RMH - Destination Health website. (It is awesome, too!)

Due to the slow real estate market, I get a LOT of phone calls, emails, and inquiries through our website from people who are looking for a home to rent. Our team typically does not broker leases between owners and renters — however, I want to help when someone contacts me. So I’ve put together a list of good online sources for rentals in the Harrisonburg area:

1. The Daily News-Record (in case you have not moved to the area yet, the DNR is the major newspaper)

2. Two brokerages that almost exclusively practice property management: Mountain Valley Management and Riner Rentals.

3. Harrisonburg’s Craigslist page (look under the “housing” section)

4. The e-classifieds page of Eastern Mennonite University

The Fifth Annual Farmers Insurance Study reported that Harrisonburg, Virginia is the 8th most secure place to live in the small town category of the United States. MarketWatch.com published an article with the rankings, and how Farmers Insurance ranked each locale.

The rankings, compiled by database experts at www.bestplaces.net, took into consideration crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, housing depreciation, foreclosures, air quality, life expectancy and job loss numbers in 379 U.S. municipalities. The study divided the communities into three groups: large metropolitan areas, mid-size cities and small towns.

Other towns in Virginia that made the list are Charlottesville, Roanoke, and Lynchburg. Read the rest of this article here.

Interest rates are low right now… really low. So, is now a good time to refinance your home mortgage? Here are some things you’ll need in order to qualify. Note: To know for certain, talk to your mortgage broker. He or she can give you the facts about your specific situation.

• Impeccable credit is always a great asset. You’ll need a very good credit score — like 720 and above — in order to qualify for refinancing at a new low interest rate.
• You’ll need a lot of equity already built into your home. Most mortgage lenders are not able to help you with refinancing unless you have at least 10% - 20% of equity.
• If your mortgage exceeds the value of your home, you likely will not qualify

For more information about refinancing, check out this article published by the New York Times. It gives some good insight into the qualifications of refinancing. Another good web reference is this Essential Refinancing Guide. It answers pretty much every question you could possibly ask when it comes to refinancing.

If you don’t have a mortgage broker and would like to speak with one, we have some that come highly recommended. Give us a call or shoot us an email and we’ll be glad to help you out!

Downtown Harrisonburg is a place filled with history, shopping, dining, and local businesses. It carries a wonderful ambiance. When visiting, it feels like you are in a different world, so here are some good reasons for not just visiting, but frequenting Downtown Harrisonburg.

• Shops: There are many local retail shops in Downtown Harrisonburg. You can find anything from vintage clothing, to books, to jewelry, to art, to flowers… the list goes on! For a full list of Downtown shops, click here.
• Restaurants: Eating is one of Harrisonburg’s favorite things to do. Step Downtown one evening and find folks dining in every restaurant — on the rooftop at Dave’s Taverna or sitting cozy in the Earth&Tea Cafe, or drinking a homemade brew at Cally’s Restaurant and Brewery. Find any type of cuisine on any budget. It will take more than one visit to enjoy all the tastes of Downtown Harrisonburg. For a full list of Downtown restaurants, click here.
• Rejuvenation Project: If you’ve visited Downtown Harrisonburg recently, you’ve noticed it undergoing some renovation. After a meeting in September to discuss the vision for the project, this construction began. Eddie Bumbaugh, Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance Executive Director, says, “Every downtown changes over time – some in a positive direction and some move backward – some with a plan for the future and some without an overall vision.” Harrisonburg is moving in a positive direction to achieve growth and stability. Visit often to truly appreciate the beauty that is Downtown Harrisonburg.
• Local Businesses: Many locals have started their businesses in (or moved their businesses to) Downtown Harrisonburg. Help the local economy by frequenting these locally owned establishments. The farmer’s market is a great place to buy local produce and hand-crafted goods. Other locally owned businesses are You Made It! Pottery Studio, OASIS Gallery, Downtown Wine & Gourmet, Glen’s Fair Price, and La De Da.
• History: It only takes a few seconds to realize that once you step Downtown, you are in a historical spot. Court Square was originally a two and a half acre piece of land owned by Thomas Harrison. In 1779, he deeded that land to the city. A year later, 50 more acres were deeded to the city and because of that transaction, Harrisonburg was considered the county seat. Downtown Harrisonburg has been around for centuries, and is still thriving! Isn’t that reason enough to visit, and visit often? For the full history of Harrisonburg, click here.

Hmmm… I’m feeling a bit like eating a plate of Biryani at the Indian & American Cafe for lunch. Anyone want to join me?

This morning’s edition of the Daily News-Record ran a story reporting that the unemployment rate in the Harrisonburg-Rockingham area has dropped to 3.5%, which is down from 4.2% a month earlier. More good news on the stability of our local economy can be found on this very cool web resource provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. (Thanks to JoDee Lambert of StellarOne Mortgage in Harrisonburg — she sent this to me earlier today in an email.) You can find the foreclosure rate for almost every city and county in the country on this map. Here are the rates for some nearby localities:

Augusta County, 0.87%

Staunton, 2.64%

Waynesboro, 1.23%

Shenandoah County, 1.62%

Page County, 1.58%

Rockingham County, 0.53%

Harrisonburg, 0.77%

The rates for Rockingham County and Harrisonburg (especially the county) are among the lowest in Virginia — and the nation. This is great news for local property owners, and for our local economy in general!