Buying a New Home In Harrisonburg, Virginia?

Harrisonburg Real Estate Guru

If you are buying a home in the Harrisonburg Virginia area, you’re in luck.  There is an abundance of very nice homes at every price point and there are some real bargains.  

 An example of a great deal on a home is this example. This home is really spectacular with over 7000 square feet of incredible space this home boasts 5 bedroom and 5 and a half bathrooms.  All brick construction this exquisitely crafted home is situated on 5 acres in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with country views, a stream running through the back border of the property and convenience to Harrisonburg, Charlottesville and Waynesboro. Generous sized rooms with indoor and outdoor recreation space makes this a once in a lifetime purchase. Stellar views, Security System,gym,steam shower,home theatre,granite kitchen,studio, game room and more. 

Incredible Home Deal - GONE

 But alas it is gone. And it sold…..hold on……are you sitting down?… for $700,000 when it was originally listed at $1,399,000.00.  Now that is a bargain.  Less than $100 / per sq. ft. in a top notch luxury home. 

Buying a home in the Harrisonburg area has never been better and if you are seeking the services of a highly trained and proven professional Realtor, call me.  I can help you find deals just like this one, but they are moving fast, so don’t wait or you’ll miss them.

Barry Suttles - REALTOR

Kline May Realty

540-246-5666 anytime mobile

540-437-3671 office

www.BestValleyHomes.com

Playing Chess, Time Machines, Beauty Contests, and Ugly Children

Harrisonburg Real Estate News and Commentary

HGTV Can’t Sell Your House

Many people these days are wondering why the home they have loved and enjoyed has been on the market for many days and months without a contract….without a sale. One woman said to me, “I have had a professional designer stage my home, and I had a landscaper help to create the curb appeal HGTV said was so important.”  “We listed our home with professionals, and we have done everything you have asked without success.” “What are we doing wrong?”  She was doing a lot, but the most important thing that lures buyers to your home is price. She priced her home too high and then wouldn’t take sound advice to lower it to market price.

It’s a Chess Game and You Are Protecting Your King

Staging, curb appeal, and all of the other HGTV buzzwords are only a small part of what ultimately helps to sell a home. Like a game of chess there are a number of winning strategies you can employ.  But, protecting your king (price) so fiercely that you ultimately fail to achieve the goal of selling your home is ridiculous and a game loser. Your king may have to move to win the game!  Why are you wasting your time, and your Realtor’s time marketing a wonderful property when you really are not ready to sell?  When you have had your property listed for months with no bona fide offers or interest in your home, what makes you think that holding your price steady will sell your home? It has been rejected by the market! Ouch! 

It’s the bigger sucker theory at play, hugh?  You know the one I’m talking about….there must be someone out there so stupid that they won’t know my home is overpriced.  Likewise a strategy of reducing the price over time while following a retracting market is even more fool-hearty. You’re chasing your opponents queen all over the chess board with your pawn….another losing strategy.  If you consider the time value of money you will find that holding out for a price actually costs you money in the long run.  Like the true chess-master you need to see all the angles of the board in order to beat your opponent (that pretty little rancher or cape cod down the street) and secure that elusive buyer in today’s market.

A Time Machine Would be Helpful Right Now

In a buyer’s market where there are many sellers in competition, your best move is to price your home aggressively below the market right from the start.   Also keep in mind that all of the money you think you’ve made as your home appreciated in value over the years fluctuates up and down.  No real gain is recognized until you actually sell!  So if you are agonizing over the fact that your home would have sold for more money 3 or 4 years ago, try building a time machine, go back, and sell. That will be easier than trying to convince a savvy buyer, who has all of the information of the internet at their disposal, to pay you more today.  No one should try to time the market, buying and selling your home in order to make quick money.  This is a strategy best utilized in the stock market and even there should be done over a long term. 

More Than Just a Beauty Contest

Many people make the mistake of believing “..my house is better, bigger, nicer, newer, prettier, etc.. than they guy’s across the street, so I’ll be able to get more than he got.”  We all think our children are more beautiful than anyone else’s children. Is that the truth or are we deluding ourselves?  Where did all of us ugly people come from?  (Come on….my mother used to tie a pork chop around my neck so that the dog would play with me, but she thought I was beautiful.) Just because you added this upgrade or that addition to your home,.. or built and painted that,..your home will not necessarily sell for more. 

Case in point, I sold a house to someone who installed a beautiful pool soon after they purchased.  Years later they asked me to help them sell their home. We eventually sold it to someone who really loved everything about the home, but the pool.  The new purhaser wanted to pay less for the home because they saw a pool as a liability and they subsequently had it filled in. 

So remember, home buying is more about emotion to the buyer and seller than any other purchase in our lives. Which brings me to my final point…….

Hire a Professional to Help You to Win the Contests

Emotions aside, buying and selling a home is often the most significant financial event in our lives.  After you have uttered these words, “I think I would like to sell my home”, or “I think it is time to buy a home”, the next step is to hire a professional who will put emotions aside and guide you through the myriad of complex processes and negotiations with a goal of insuring you get your best deal. It will pay you dividends in the long run.

Barry Suttles - REALTOR

Kline May Realty

540-246-5666 anytime mobile

540-437-3671 office

www.BestValleyHomes.com 

Buying a Home- An Investment or A Place to Live?

Harrisonburg Real Estate Guru - News and Commentary You Can Use

Buying a home?  Well… why are you buying a home?  Are you buying a home to sell at a huge profit in a few years?  You should be buying a home to live in and enjoy with your friends and family for an undetermined time with the hopes that one day it will be worth more someday.  A home is a utilitarian product used to live in and enjoy and should not be seen as a short term investment vehicle.  However, the people of America were deceived into believing that real estate was much like the stock market or commodities market where you could buy and sell over and over (churning) and make some good money.  Like the dot-com boom, and other similar financial booms, there is always a bust.  Unfortunately we are experiencing the bust in real estate.  Easy money and loose credit created an environment where many speculated and some made money but an awful lot of people were left holding nothing but the bag.  Such is nearly always the case in these “gold rushes”.

 Location, location, location it is said, is the most important aspect or attribute of real estate. Well our area has watched much of our market remain nearly unchanged because of our location and because of the conservative nature of its population.  This is not an insignificant thing to be considered if you are thinking of relocating or retiring soon.

 The long and short is that Harrisonburg and Rockingham County is a great place to live and if you are considering a move, I’d love to speak to you. 

Barry Suttles – Realtor

540-246-5666 mobile anytime

Kline May Realty

Homebuyer Tax Credit Extended and Expanded

Harrisonburg Real Estate News and Commentary You Can Use

The Unemployment Insurance bill President Obama signed on November 13 included included a change critical for Realtors^®: An extension of the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit. Income limits have been raised, and now some existing homeowners can also claim a credit if they buy a new home.

The basics:

• To claim any credit, buyers must have a contract by April 30, 2010 and close by July 1, 2010.
• The income limit has been raised to $225,000 for couples.
• First-time buyers can claim an $8,000 credit, as before.
• Buyers who already own the home they are selling (or have sold), and have lived there for five of the past eight years can claim up to a $6,500 tax credit (on homes worth $800,000 or less).
• Both credits apply only to primary residences.

Barry Suttles – Realtor

540-246-5666 anytime mobile

New Homes Group – Kline May Realty

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The Best Client is a Happy One

Harrisonburg Real Estate Guru

I really love this business.  The best part for me, is when I get feedback from a satisfied client!  I set my personal standards for quality representation extremely high because I think my clients deserve to have an agent who:

•  returns their calls promptly
•  keeps them in the loop with frequent multiple contact channels
• gives them honest and easily understood feedback about market conditions without a bunch silly charts and graphs
• gets them quick and reliable results

Let’s face it, you have many choices.  You can choose anybody to market and sell your home, or you can choose to hire a proven and reliable professional who will work diligently to further your financial goals.  My business is about long lasting relationships and important connections. If you are buying or selling a house in Harrisonburg, or the surrounding areas, you owe it to yourself to be represented by a proven professional.  Call me!

Barry Suttles – Realtor

540-246-5666 anytime mobile

New Homes Group – Kline May Realty

http:\\www.BestValleyHomes.com

Preston Lake

Buying and Selling Homes in the Harrisonburg Area

From farm field, to idea, to conceptual drawings, to reality, Preston Lake is a community in Harrisonburg, Virginia…. a master planned community of unparallelled uniqueness. 

Master Planned communities are common in the U.S., but the idea in Harrisonburg is a new one.  Having housing plats, office parks, recreational parks, along with commercial centers all in one big beautifully manicured location is coming to our area. Generally a master planned community is distinguished by the large size and the number of amenities and conveniences. Communities incorporate extensive recreational options like lakes, golf courses, and expansive parks with bike paths, and jogging trails. However, the typical subdivision may have much smaller parks and recreation areas, and the size of the local neighborhood will be much smaller than found in a place like Preston Lake.

This video is of our first Charleston model. It has sold recently and we have a new model home at 3376 Charleston Blvd

Charleston on the Lake

Call Barry Suttles for more information 540-246-5666

Willow Ridge – Harrisonburg’s Hidden Jewel

Harrisonburg Real Estate Guru

Where’s this beautiful community that everybody’s talking about….Willow Ridge?   Willow Ridge is tucked back in an enclave all it’s own in Harrisonburg, right off Pleasant Hill Road.

Georgeous Home at Willow Ridge - Barry Suttles - Realtor

There is something you’ll notice, a certain something that you realize, when you pass through this community. It must be the subtle ambience or the feel of security, the quality of life that people experience in this place that sets it apart.  From the streetlights and sidewalks, to the architecture, to the very people who choose to live here, it is different at Willow Ridge.  Maybe it is the fact that this community was inspired by a woman who is the builder/developer of Willow Ridge?  Maybe it is because there is a real sense of community and closeness that is unique here? No matter what is is, it is palitable and waiting for you at Willow Ridge.

New “Green” Hospital Opens in Shenandoah Valley 2010

Hospital Helps Mother Nature Get Well

Rockingham Memorial Hospital is building a great new hospital for the people in Harrisonburg Virginia and in the process they are making the planet and mother nature feel better too.  The 254-acre site is located east of Harrisonburg near the northeast corner of Port Republic and Reservoir roads. Other boundaries include Reservoir Road to the west, Boyers Road to the east and Port Republic Road to the south.

This 280 million dollar facility will be be nestled beneath the backdrop of Massanutten mountain and reflects the feelings of a community who is in love with the outdoors. The campus size is a massive 245 acres and will be pleasing at every aspect and angle. Six hundred thousand square feet with 6 floors and 238 beds will be a wonderful addition to an already outstanding place to live.

A new hospital will require new health professionals. Those new health professionals will need help in finding a new home… and that is where I can be of service to you.  If you are relocating to the valley to work at the new RMH, I would be pleased to help you find a great new home. You will be my primary focus and you can rest assured that I understand the special attention that you need and require.

Call me and I can begin your search right away.

Barry Suttles – Realtor

540-246-5666 anytime mobile

New Homes Group – Kline May Realty

http:\\www.BestValleyHomes.com

Last One Out of New Jersey, Turn Out the Lights

Low Taxes, Business Friendly, and a Great Place to Live!

New Jersey has just elected a new Governor. A lower tax, smaller government, pro free enterprise Republican.  In such a blue blue state there must be a reason people have made Chris Christie their new Governor. One reason could be that property tax in New Jersey is among the highest in the nation. That also may be the reason that I have sold 3 homes in the last year or two to fine people from New Jersey.

Our own Shenandoah Valley is a great place to live and work and when I tell folks from “up north” the rate for our taxes, they think I’m lying.  One lady said, “you must have slipped a decimal or something”.

There are many natural reasons to move to our area but the low cost of living here compared to a state like New Jersey can’t be overstated. Fugit about it!

Barry Suttles – Realtor

540-246-5666 anytime mobile

Kline May Realty

Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801

Licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia

Retail Space Near JMU – Opportunity

Students Spend a Lot of Money

Who has all of the money these days?  The answer… students.  Mom and Dad has been good to them for 18 + years and now they are sending them to “the poor man’s Ivy League school” JMU with credit cards and a nice allowances. The highly ranked James Madison University has around 18000 students and they infuse lots of money into the Harrisonburg Virginia economy.  Here’s your chance to have them spend their money in your shop or restaurant.

The Shops @ University

• 1000 feet and up
• 16000 Traffic Count
• $16.50 / sq ft + $3.00 /sq ft CAM
• Space includes concrete floors, HVAC hookup, suspended ceiling, drywall, plumbing rough-in 

Harrisonburg is a great place to live and a great place to do business.  If you need more information, call me.

Brochure

Barry Suttles – Realtor

http://www.BestValleyHomes.com

540-246-5666 mobile anytime