About Chesterfield County, VA

Whether or not to refinance your current mortgage is an important decision to consider while owning your home.

The goal of refinancing should be to reduce your monthly mortgage expense (lower monthly payment) and reduce overall interest paid on your mortgage loan. Refinancing is not recommended for cashing out the equity in your home to pay bills or short-lived assets. This could put you upside-down on your mortgage in a declining market and/or erase necessary funds required to sell your home and pay off the mortgage balance at a later time.

Whether or not to refinance your home depends on several factors:

1) Is your home mortgage balance less than or equal to the value of your home? Lenders will not loan more than the value of your home.

2) Does your refinance require an appraisal? If so, it will need to appraise for a value equal to or more than your current outstanding mortgage balance.

3) Can you recoup the cost of refinancing within two years? or Is the refinance interest rate 2 or more points lower than your current interest rate? Tip: Try to find a mortgage loan refi that requires no closing costs.

4) What are your credit scores? If your credit scores are in good shape (720 and above) you'll get the best rates. If your credit scores have improved significantly since you established your current mortgage, you may qualify for a lower mortgage insurance rate (PMI), further lowering your monthly mortgage payment (if you have less than 20% equity in your home).

5) Are you planning to move within 2 years? Plan on staying in your home at least 2 years if you want to refinance otherwise refinancing is not recommended.

6) Does your current mortgage or mortgages have any pre-payment penalties? An important factor to consider if you're considering refinancing.

For more information contact your loan officer or consult with your real estate agent.

I am a local real estate agent working with RE/MAX Capital. I work with first time buyers, all military personnel, relocations and in all aspects of real estate servicing. I would love to help you find your next home near Fort Lee or the Richmond area. I also can list your home for sale and have great success marketing my listings on the internet! I will buy you a 1 year Home Warranty for your new home that will protect you for the 1st year! If you are listing your home with me - the warranty protects you while your home is on the market and conveys to the buyer after the closing! It is a great bonus for buyers! I also have experience and success working with VA loans!

Contact Susan Oliver today at 757-903-5268 or 800-867-3089. You can also e mail me at sueoliver1@cox.net. Please check out my web site at http:// www.williamsburgpremierproperties.com to set up an MLS search or search for listings.

It's a great time to buy real estate! Call Susan Oliver today!

As I sit here grumbling about the amount of work that went into my latest short sale that just closed, I have come to accept that in any business, change is THE only constant and you must react effectively to it.

When sailing a boat you can't change the strength or direction of the wind but you can change the set of the sail.

My market is changing. My overhead cost structure is changing. The skills required in this market are changing.

We must all get on the front side of the change curve so we won't be gobbled up by it. We must become and continue to be proactive rather than reactive or non active.

Greetings all! I hope everyone had a great and safe holiday. I had a little mishap at my house over the holidays that could have been avoided had I been a little more diligent in maintaining my own home. I wanted to pass this info on so someone else might avoid the aggravation my family has recently gone/is going through.

You know those little drain holes that are cut into the bowls of most sinks in baths? Well, they're for handling overflow of water should the sink fill up. Now, these holes don't have the capacity to handle a large volume of water for an extended period of time but they're intended to handle the forgetful person that gets distracted and wanders off and leaves the faucet on with the stopper either closed or the drain plugged. I check these all the time as part of my inspections and always flag them when they're clogged or not draining properly. Does anyone ever check them periodically to see if they've gotten clogged over time? I don't but I will from now on!

The weekend after Christmas my family went out of town to visit family. Sunday evening my two older sons returned home to find part of our kitchen ceiling on the floor and water dripping from the ceiling. We think the culprit was one of our cats. He's big and loves to drink out of the faucet when he has the chance. We think he jumped up into the bath sink and rubbed against the handle causing the water to trickle out. One of my sons had put his contact lenses in prior to leaving and had left the stopper pulled so the drain was shut. The overflow for the sink was clogged and didn't drain sooooo... it overflowed and caused some pretty extensive damage in the kitchen, bath, hallway, and family room. The flow was slow enough where the overflow would have easily handled the trickling water had it been clear! Oh well, with a $500 insurance deductible it's an expensive lesson for me and a maintenance item I will not forget to check every now and then. I will certainly mention it to my clients in the future!

Here are a few pix of the damage (the blue things are heated blowers to dry things out!). Amazing what a little trickle of water over about 24 hours can do!

"Selling your home to the next Generation of Buyers"

In case you have not heard Echo Boomers are the kids of the baby boomers. They way out number the baby boomer generation, and they are the new home buyers over the next few years. There is a projected housing shortage in 2011 because of their demand. They want 24/7 info. social networking, lots of information and most of it anonymously

if you are selling your home, it is important to hire and agent to seek these buyers out. Your want to hire an Internet savvy agent with lots of credentials, like ABR( Accredited Buyers Rep), CRS ( Only 4% of real estate agents have this coveted designation,Certified Residential Specialist), and GRI ( Graduate of the Real Estate institute.

Today's seller should want their listings on Zillow, Craig's List, and 30+ other major sites. The seller's agent must go where the echo boomers go for information and to get the listings sold.

As a seller, you may think that you do not need help putting your listing on these web sites.

A professional agent that does this as a full time career agent is the best source of where to, and what to, put on these sites.

Seek out a CRS Designated Agent today, a listing agent that has taken the social networking and technology courses in the last 2 years;

One that is keeping up with our challenging and changing times.

As a seller you will be glad you did.

These are not amateur times we are in.

Go to www.804property.com
Free market reports about on your home’s value

24/7 Marketing?

This means that I market your home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. What the consumer wants today is information quickly, easily, honestly and without the traditional hassles. Successful marketing hinges on this exact concept and this is exactly what my 24/7 marketing plan offers.

Why Use 24/7 Marketing?

The traditional Realtor ® guards information as secret and privileged. Ever tried to find out the information you want on an advertised home? Frustrating, isn’t it?

I take a different approach. My 24/7 marketing plan is designed to offer the consumer all of the information they need easily and at their convenience without all the hassles.

And How, Exactly, is This All Achieved?

My pledge to you, as my client, is to get the highest price for your home, the most favorable terms, in the least amount of time and with the least inconvenience to you. Even in good real estate markets, the competition is tough. My job is to market your home to get it sold. My Pro-Active Marketing Plan includes, but is not limited to, the following:

My Marketing Plan

• First, I analyze the recent sales and current listings within your geographical area and conduct a detailed inspection of your home. I use this information to determine your home’s fair market value as well as for marketing purposes. The market analysis enables me to develop a target market for your home, that, together with the right price, will generate the optimal number of prospects.
• A Long and Foster sign with my name on it will be promptly placed on your property, if possible. I will be marketing your home in a number of ways and the strong Long and Foster sign attracts prospective buyers. My name and contact information appears on the sign to ensure that interested callers will be directed straight to me, the agent who knows more about your home than anyone.
• I promote your home 24 hours a day to the entire real estate industry and the world through the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS). With MLS entry, your home will be exposed to thousands of agents and their buyers immediately.
• I will take multiple photographs of your home and/or arrange for a virtual tour to be used in both color brochures and other advertising. My attractive, colorful advertising materials are very professional and promote the best features of your property.
• An open house for local real estate agents will be scheduled as soon as practicable. This is an outstanding opportunity to provide your home with early exposure to salespeople who are working with today’s buyers.
• I promote your home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through my explosive Internet marketing plan. Hundreds of people visit my website and e-mail me with requests for more information regarding listings and local area real estate. In addition, your home will be marketed on the top real estate websites in the country.
• I email home information to prospective buyers. My interactive website offers 24/7 access to information on any homes for sale. Buyers are automatically updated daily via email if they desire. This innovative tool is invaluable for marketing my listings.
• Unlike many agents, I always give complete details to prospective buyers who inquire about your property. That includes price, street address, bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage and whatever else the prospect might want to know.
• In addition, I use the reverse prospect search feature on the Multiple Listing Service. This allows me to match your property with the vast resource of buyers in the system and proactively notify other agents even before they have the new listing information.
• In short, you will enjoy a wide spectrum of full media advertising opportunities. Your home will enjoy the full impact of my broad, professional coverage, including: display advertising, national and international advertising in magazines and web sites, Internet advertising (every day, 24 hours a day, until it’s SOLD!), target marketing, brochure boxes, yard signs, brochures, open houses, agent-to-agent advertising, and more. My Pro-Active Marketing Plan is designed to encourage prospects to call me.

If you can have 24/7 MARKETING, why settle for anything less?

Wanda Fears, ABR GRI CRS Realtor Long and Foster Richmond Va.
wanda@wandafears.com Call 804-909-2777