Bill Byrd-Virginia Beach Real Estate

Today I took a little time to run home for a lunch break and while driving through the Little Neck area where I live I couldn't help but notice the awesome colors popping out in my neighborhood!

These early bloomers are only around for a short time depending on wind, rain and sunshine and lately with so much rain over the past week...I wanted to take this opportunity to show off some of the early spring colors in Virginia Beach!

In my 23 year career selling real estate in Virginia Beach and the other Hampton Roads cities this has always been a busy time of year for sales. A big part of it is the warming of spring and the brightness of all of the colors that come along with the new growth on all of the plants and trees. It's a great time of the year and knowing the winter is mostly behind us especially after this past winter which was probably the worst fall and winter I have seen for real estate sales in Virginia Beach.

But now that's behind us, my team and I have been on a role since the 1st of the year and this is a very exciting time to be in real estate! Spring has sprung!

Banked Owned - Reo - Auction

3205 Winterberry Court Virginia Beach, VA 23453

Landstown Meadows

Open House held this weekend!!!!

Saturday March 7th 11 am - 4 pm

Sunday March 8th 11 am - 4 pm

Auction date March 12th - Call for time and location(Jon McAchran 675-7873)

4 bedrooms 2.5 bathrooms 2,077 sqft Huge back yard Located in a cul-de-sac

Cathedral Ceilings 1 Car attached garage Vinyl and Brick exterior

Natural Gas/Forced Hot Air for heating Central A/C for cooling

Carpet and vinyl flooring Electric Water Heater Slab foundation

Landstown High School district Property Sold Strictly "AS IS"

For more information call:

Jon McAchran - (757)75-7873 Bill Byrd - (757)285-6416 Steve Payne - (757)403-9800

To search other listings in this area go to:

www.ByrdReatlyGroup.com or www.VBReo.com

As of December 4th 2008 the Virginia Beach real estate market had a total of 116 REO and Bank Owned listings currently on the market. Also...in the Virginia Beach real estate market we had 25 REO and Bank Owned Homes sell in the last 30 days giving us an absorption rate of 4.64 months of REO and Bank Owned Homes for sale in our market. Also in the last 30 days we had 29 REO and Bank Owned sales close in Virginia Beach averaging 59 days on the market. With all of that mentioned...the most important statistic that most consumers want to know...is the list price to sales price ratio for these REO and Bank Owned Homes and that number is 95%! Meaning that on average REO and Bank Owned Homes in this market are selling for 95% of their list price! So keep this in mind when you want to make an offer and don't be surprised by the banks firmness on their list prices because according to the Hampton Roads MLS these homes are selling on average in less than 60 days of their listing date at pretty close to FULL Price!!

How could this be? The banks do their research that's how! Typically they hire an asset management firm to oversee the process that screens the real estate professionals they hire, order appraisals and market studies, and hire local repair contractors all to insure the highest net return to the bank. Obviously the system is working as the list price to sale price ratio mentioned above is direct confirmation that this is true. Other statistics that support this are the facts that on the South-Side of Hampton Roads we have an absorption rate of consumer owned and listed homes of about 15.5 months as of last week compared to the REO and Bank Owned properties 4.64 months and with and average market time of 80 to 90 days for consumer owned homes compared to 59 days for REO and Bank Owned Homes in the Virginia Beach real estate market! Those are the facts from our MLS I'm not making this stuff up!

In conclusion, REO and Bank Owned Homes in the Virginia Beach real estate market are doing just fine and if your considering buying one do your own market assessment to determine the market value and don't walk away from a home that may already be priced as a great deal! Call us...we are happy to help or simply sign up to receive automatic REO and Bank Owned homes dropped into your inbox as soon as they hit the market at http://VBReo.com or check us out at www.ByrdRealtyGroup.com

Last Sunday, after a grueling Friday and Saturday, Millie & I took off for a little day trip. Our destination; Edenton NC! Just about an hour and a half and a quarter tank of gas round trip, it's surprising how close Edenton NC actually is!

What was interesting to us was how little we actually knew about this town that is so close to our home in Virginia Beach. What we found was a cute, small historic town that had the quaintness of an Andy Griffin-like Mayberry but with the style of a much more sophisticated southern town! Being that it was Sunday just about every business in the downtown waterfront district was closed. That was very different! http://www.edenton.org/

After exploring the park at the waterfront and walking around the town we stumbled onto a little coffee shop. Over looking Edenton Bay on the Albemarle Sound, Waterloo House was a perfect stop for coffee and a muffin. While enjoying a cool breeze on an awesome screen porch with a terrific view we took a couple of pictures.

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After the coffee we decided to check out some of the local real estate and what we found was several blocks of some very incredible homes. Evidently Edenton was a very active port in the 1700's and had it's own little know Tax Revolt against the King! Lead by women no less during a time when that was very unusual! http://www.visitedenton.com/ Check out the pictures below!

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We were surprised that this one was listed for sale with Sotheby's for over 1 million! A million dollar fixer upper in Edenton, I would have never guessed that one!

And last but not least Edenton is really a neat place...check it out sometime but I would recommend a Saturday! You'll be surprised...there's a lot of water down there on the Albemarle!

Could that be...Bubba Gump!? Nope...not a shrimp (or Shemp) boat and too far north!

A well known secret of the rich! Wealthy Americans have prospered from this idea for years! You don't make money when you sell real estate...you make it when you buy real estate! Why does Mr. "Mad Money" stock guru Jim Kramer always advise his viewers to "wait for the market to pull back and buy on the dips"? Because that's how the gains are made and it's no different in real estate!

So let's look at this...if real estate prices go up and down...we also know that each price range of home is moving up and down in parallel...at the same time with the other price ranges with very few exceptions. Because this is true, percentage wise the reduction on a larger number is always a larger number. So when you sell a home and move up into a higher priced market you will always incrementally benefit from the markets pull back! It's just math. Now add in the lowest interest rates in history and a home supply we haven't seen in 25 years (nationally) this makes for some great home shopping conditions!

Warning: If interest rates start to rise, this window of opportunity will diminish.