Martinsburg, WV

If your considering investing in Real Estate, the wait is over. This could be the Best time to Buy. Interest Rates are really low and should remain low through May, while the government is selling bonds for the stimulus plan. There is a huge supply of homes which means prices of real estate is low! The government has also created a eight thousand dollar ($8,000) tax credit for first time home buyers. First time home buyers are defined as those who dont own and havent owned real estate in the last three years. We are also heading into the second quarter of the year, which is one of the busiest times for real estate sales. If you have been waiting for the Best time to Buy, your wait is Over! Thanks

Aaron Poling

Long & Foster

www.aaronpoling.com

304-283-0214

A few months ago I was finishing up a house for the final inspection. I had a few things to do in the crawl space. I was bent over walking through the crawl space when I tripped over something under the plastic. I pulled up the plastic and was very surprised what I had found. I expected to find some kind of construction debris, a tool left by a subcontractor, or possibly a clump of dirt that somehow didn't get spread out. Instead I found a huge snapping turtle! I was quite freaked out. The crawl space had been sealed up for a long time so I have no idea how he made it down there. I decided to do what any grown man would do, I called my dad to come get it out. I took these pictures of the turtle, please enjoy! Have you found anything interesting in a crawl space or anywhere else? Please let me know.

Thanks

Aaron Poling, Realtor

Long & Foster

I am working for some buyers, and we currently have a home under contract. The home is a bank owned foreclosure. The buyers are getting a great deal. I am a real estate agent but i am also a general contractor that builds and sells new homes. The purchase price of the home is well below the amount it would cost a contractor to build it. That is understandable, it is a foreclosure and the banks want to get it off of their books. The appraisal came in at exactly the purchase price. I had assumed it was going to come in way higher, atleast what it would cost to build. This scares me. If homes are appraising for less than they cost to build, we have a bigger problem than i thought. Part of me thinks that it appraised for that exact amount because the appraiser kept it as low as possible without hurting the deal. Does anyone have an opinion about this or a similar story? If so let me know. Thanks Aaron Poling

My Girlfriend was recently searching for a used car on craigslist. She found what she thought was a great, to good to be true deal, and she was right. When she inquired about the car, that had been advertised locally, she was told that the car was actually in florida. The guy selling the car was stationed in Florida getting ready to be sent to Afghanastan and really needed to get rid of the car. He said he was willing to send the car free of charge to West Virginia, as soon as she sent the money. Just to see his response we replied and said that my father was in Florida and would come pick the car up and drive it back in lieu of flying back. His response was that the car was in some magical ship yard that he had no access to unless he was shipping it across country. After asking around and doing a little research it seems that there are a lot of these scams going on. They may look a little different, but they are all a scam. Just thought i would let you know to be on the lookout. Thanks Aaron Poling

I have been a member of Active Rain for a few months, and have enjoyed everything about it. I have been blogging on a basic membership but i have just decided to take it up a notch. I am starting a Outside Blog, and this is number one. So wish me luck and if there is anyone out there with advice, please please Help!