Mark A. Moore, ABR - Virginia Beach Real Estate

"CAPE SANTA - 2008"

On Saturday, December 13th, 2008, the 5th annual Cape Story by the Sea "Cape Santa" event was held on a beautiful and crisp day.

The excitement starts as Santa cruises through the Shore Drive neighborhood of Cape Story on his "sleigh", stopping to talk with the kids. Then he stops at the neighborhood park to give a gift to each child. Hamburgers, hot dogs, and warm cider are served. All parents are asked to bring an unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots.

Many thanks to the Cape Story Civic Association and to neighbors Mark Weiss, Ginny and Tracy Stover, Dan Peters, Matt Angelo, Todd Solomon, Empsy Munden, Bo Bradshaw, and others who helped make this event happen and contributed their time and efforts.

Mark A. Moore is a real estate agent with RE/MAX Alliance in Virginia Beach, VA

www.markamoore.com

Thanks for looking!

There has been much written about these topics, but here is my $.02.

For years I thought coming out of college in 1992, with a degree in economics, put me at a disadvantage employment-wise. I had studied and written about the then recent S&L crisis. I was interested (and had done an internship) in commercial real estate, yet there was an abandoned office tower in downtown Norfolk that was 90 % complete and had gone bust.

At the time I was very financially conservative and focused on building my savings to buy my first home. It was then that I started following the residential market. I had a construction background and I thought Virginia Beach real estate was a bit undervalued compared to other populated areas. I searched for homes to fix up and re-sell or carry as rental property. By ’95 I had my real estate license and by ’99 I had purchased two small homes in a great neighborhood, the first becoming a rental when my wife and I moved into the second home. My goal was now to buy and fix up a modest single family home every few years, maybe build a portfolio of 4 or 5 rental homes, and rent them out for the long run. For this I would need 10-20% down payments along with good credit.

The traditional way of thinking was headed for a change. First, the “Dot Com” stock market correction in ’99 got investors looking more aggressively toward real estate. Then, the events of 9/11 seemed to alter everything. We were told that spending money was the only way our economy would survive. Low interest rates were the name of the game.

Then it dawned on me that a healthy economy now depended almost entirely on consumer spending. How did “Savings” become a dirty word? The low rates that boosted spending also discouraged saving as yields on deposits seemed insignificant.

I had now become unable to pursue my goal of acquiring rental properties as the numbers just did not work. A property that sold for $150k in ’99 and would rent for around $1200/ month, was now $350k in 2004 and renting for $1300/ month. Everyone seemed to want residential rental property. People wanted in no matter what it cost. “Creative” financing took over. We saw homeowners leveraging their own homes to free up money to buy investment property. A terriffic six percent, 30-year fixed investor loan was still not good enough for many.

We saw things such as new construction listings that gave discounts to unrepresented buyers who used the builder’s mortgage company, appraiser, and settlement agent. Buyers had no problem doing this as the motivation to buy overpowered reasonable logic. Even using terms like “liar loan” had actually become acceptable when referring to certain mortgage products. It now even seemed that everyone and their brother had started up a mortgage brokerage.

For most people, a home purchase needs to return to what it had always been looked at as – a place to live that happens to be a good long term investment. When variables such as location, price, build quality, etc., are truly considered, one can still do well buying residential real estate. No one however, should automatically assume that a home bought today will be able to be sold in 2 years and leave a profit for the seller. I welcome a “return to normalcy” even if a few down years are necessary.

Please post your comments and opinions.

-Mark

I have been managing residential rental properties since 1997. Though I handle quite a few properties in northeast Virginia Beach, I am currently expanding the scope of my business.

It in no secret that the real estate market is changing. Many of the mega teams that became popular a couple years ago are disbanding or shrinking in size due to decreased sales volume. I have noticed this in the local RE/MAX franchises as well.

If you are a sales agent that also manages rental property, are you considering any of the following options?:

1. Moving to a company that will not let you, as a sales agent, also handle rentals.

2. Retiring (or semi-retiring) and looking to decrease your rental headaches.

3. Finding property management is not your "cup of tea"?

If so, your rental management accounts have real value. I would be happy to take rental management accounts off your hands and provide your clients with excellent service. I would also like to offer a compensation package to you on a per account basis, upon successful transfer of your accounts.

Do you have any sale listings that you "know" will not sell anytime soon, maybe that the owner has even asked you about the possibility of having to rent the property. I will pay you (with your client's approval) a "finder's fee" for the referral of that client, if they enter into a property management agreement with me.

Are you a real estate broker with a small company looking to "sell the business"?

I am committed to establishing mutually beneficial, long term real estate relationships. I am a member of NARPM, and active in the property management professional community. Here is a link to a page featuring most of my rental properties: Mark's Rental Homes

Thanks for you time, -Mark

Mark A. Moore, ABR

REALTOR, Property Manager
4701 Columbus Street, Suite 200
Virginia Beach, VA 23462

Cell: (757) 409-5658
Fax to e-mail: (757) 282-6724 Email: mmoore@exis.net Website: http://www.markamoore.com/

Blogs:

It's Oyster Roast Time Again!

Shore Drive's best neighborhood puts on a great time!
Bring Non-perishable food items to benefit the CSBTS Thanksgiving Food Drive - Help us make Thanksgiving special for everyone in our community

TIKI Bar Building SATURDAY OCT 25TH NOONISH
NEAR THE CSBTS TOOL SHED (Pump Station) on Poinciana between Bayberry and Sandalwood----VOLUNTEERS WELCOME----- Need READY for Halloween OCT 31st FRIDAY

Here is me and mine enjoying the 2006 Oyster Roast.

This was a great weekend for sailing. I crewed on Jim Lant's Columbia 40 out of Willoughby, and we brought home a 2nd place in our cruising class on Saturday, 3rd place on Sunday. The course was Little Creek to Bay Creek on Saturday, and Bay Creek to Buckroe on Sunday. I got a few nice shots of some nice boats. If yours is pictured here, I would be happy to e-mail you the photo in its original size.

Early on Saturday

Decent Wind

"Drama" in the Channel

Great Looking Boat