Localism: Roanoke, VA

A day that will live in infamy...

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 12:59:39 -0500

Whoa! You've got to be kidding me, did this day really happen? Or rather, did this week really happen? Or maybe the real question is: DID THE PAST 6 YEARS REALLY HAPPEN? Today Hank Paulson announced that the government is opening up the Federal Government's check book to bail out the very troubled financial market.

I'm going to assume that if you are reading this that you are an American (frankly, I don't care if you're not, though I need to direct this towards a certain demographic.) So that being the case, Hank and his homeboys Ben Bernanke, W, and the rest of the goons we elected decided that they needed to put us on the hook for this mess. It is ironic that this happened after they took a very hard stand that they weren't going to do this anymore, this stance as recent as Monday (today is the Friday following the Monday in question.) And please remember that Monday was a very sad day for Leheman Brothers......that was the day Homeboy Hank let them fall. I know of one woman who lost $20 million dollars on that one. It is also ironic that Hank and the gang changed their tune when it was Goldman Sachs who was next on the watch list (Hank was the CEO of Goldman Sachs before taking the government job.) Odd? Pehaps.

Needless to say, there will be significant finger pointing and speculation in the next few months....read more here...

You Can Build It, But Will They Come?

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:14:00 -0500

This was the comment that I just received from the reluctant listing agent of a vacant home I recently staged. He loved the staging but was not convinced that "just staging" was going to bring more buyers and in some ways he is probably correct.

It takes more than just staging to generate activity and bring about a successful sale. It takes the following things all working together to change a listing from "For Sale" to "SOLD":

A Price Point that is in line with today's market and current conditions. You can not stage an overpriced home and expect it to generate activity and a sale. When I stage a home that has been on the market for a while, I want to know if it is being shown. If it is not being shown...that is a definite clue that the price is too high for today's market and in addition to staging, the price will need to come down. If it is being shown but no offers, then it probably a staging issue and staging can usually take care of the problem without a price reduction.
A strong web presence for the staged home. Virtual tours, agent to agent eblasts, placement of the staged home on major real estate portals such as realtor.com, trulia, craiglist, activerain, and much more are essential in today's market since 85% of all home buyers will find their next home online.
Agent Promotions to encourage the local real estate community to take a look at the staged home. There are hundreds, and in some markets, thousands of homes on the market at any given time. To get agents to show the staged home, you have got to offer incentives to get them inside the home. Realtor Opens, Realtor Luncheons. Give-Aways, Drawings for Prizes (check out my recent promotion http://www.showsgreat.biz/cruise1.htm) are just some of the ways to generate agent interest and activity.

At Shows Great Home Staging and Web Solutions, we offer staging packages that include online web marketing and agent promotions.

I would love to hear what other stagers are doing to make sure their staged listings are receiving the exposure and market activity that is needed to generate buyers in today's market.

Shows Great Home Staging and Web Solutions
We stage homes in Roanoke, Lynchburg, Smith Mountain Lake, The New River Valley, and Surrounding Areas! 540-343-0051 / www.showsgreat.biz

210 S Church ST , Fincastle , VA 24090

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:52:03 -0500

Completely remodeled to Like New Condition! New kitchen, & appliances, new bathroom, refinished HW floors, fresh paint, new roof, new carpet, new heat pump, re-placement windows, new doors throughout, nice landscaping, upgraded 200 amp elec., new water lines, crown molding & all new fixtures! Backyard poses a canvas for any landscaper.

Offered for sale at $219,950

Click Here to see the Real Estate Show >

For More Details About This Fabulous Home Please Contact:

ROBYN K FLINT, ABR
MKB, REALTORS-NORTH
Home - (540) 473-2164
Mobile - (540) 588-0243
Rflint@MKBrealtors.com
http://www.robynflint.com

MARTHA MCGUIRE
MKB, REALTORS-NORTH
Mobile - (540) 580-5982
marthamcguire@usa.net
http://www.marthamcguire.com

This home has been professionally staged by Shows Great Home Staging and Web Solutions.

Staged To Sell In Cortland Meadows in North Roanoke County

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:11:15 -0500

We recently staged a wonderful home in Cortlant Meadows located in the Orchards of North Roanoke County for Joan Turner of Long & Foster Real Estate. This home offers many extra features and some of the best views in the Roanoke Valley. Furniture and accessories made a huge difference in this home. By adding furniture and accessories to a large empty space, you can transform it into a room that is warm and appealing. Check out our before and after photos.

Before:

After Staging:

Building Equity Faster...

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:55:44 -0500

As the real estate industry contracts, to survive you need to add more value to your client relationships than the next agent. To do that, you need to deeply understand the challenges your clients face, and be the first agent to present new ideas to your clients that may offer them real value.

One area that clients struggle with is building equity.

They want to extract equity to make further investments, but struggle to find extra cash monthly for extra principal payments. Or, they want to get their primary home paid off in time to retire free-and-clear. (Baby Boomers, in particular, are starting to wake up to the fact that they have to have a better strategy for taking control of their home financing to pay it off on their retirement schedule, not the lender's.) Either way, they need help achieving their goals. So, add value to your relationships by introducing clients to new financing tools that help build equity more aggressively, without straining their personal finances.

The most interesting product to date that helps accelerate equity build-up is the Home Ownership Accelerator^®, a loan that combines a fully-functional checking account with a first-position line-of-credit. This innovative combination allows the client to flow all of their monthly cash flow against their own loan balance instead of lending it to the bank. Doing this saves interest charges, which become extra principal reduction. Compound these savings each month, and the client can significantly accelerate their loan pay-off, often by as much as twenty years!

A recent article in The New York Times noted the arrival of loans like the Home Ownership Accelerator as a viable financing alternative.

"For borrowers who cannot face the prospect of paying more interest than principal over the course of a loan, mortgage lenders have begun to offer alternatives more aggressively. (Lenders) have unveiled mortgage products in the past year that allow borrowers with good credit and above-average incomes to accelerate their payoff schedule and reduce their overall interest liability, all without increasing their monthly mortgage payment.

''These aren't for everyone,'' said Tom LaMalfa, founding partner of Wholesale Access Research and Consulting, a financial industry consulting firm based in Columbia, Md. ''But for those who are reasonably affluent and good savers, it makes a good deal of sense and reduces the overall loan cost.''

Doing the right thing by your clients will pay off for you, too. A paid-down loan means more available equity for new real estate purchases. A paid-off loan creates a happy client willing to send more referrals. Keep your clients on the cutting edge of home financing. Introduce them to products like the Home Ownership Accelerator.

Please feel free to call/email & let's set up a conference call to talk about other options now available. Specializing in Virginia, Tennessee, California, Florida, & North Carolina...

Josh Perrington - 1^st Metropolitan Mortgage | Roanoke, VA

Josh@1st-Metropolitan.com | www.1st-Metropolitan.com | Direct: 540.904.0842