Harrisonburg Real Estate Guru

Smart Housing For Your Student in Harrisonburg

June 23, 2008 on 4:43 pm | In Harrisonburg Virginia Real Estate, Investment Properties, Rental Properties, Townhouses | No Comments

  

How To Avoid Paying Rent For Your College Student

Many students at JMU, EMU and Bridgewater College, come to Harrisonburg each year and look for reasonably priced and safe housing.  Many of those same students soon find out how difficult it is to find both together.  College is expensive enough; so if you can save some money, why not? 

Some smart parents are finding that it may make more sense to purchase a property and take the advantages of home ownership for the 4-5 years of college.  Purchasing a townhouse, or small home can make it a financially smart move. Allowing your student to rent a room to a roommate or two, can offset some of the mortgage payment but care must be taken to obey the local zoning rules. Also, there is a certain risk along with the headaches that go with rentals, but with the help of a great real estate agent, and that of your financial adviser, you can make this arrangement work for you.  Imagine looking back on the 4 years of school your son or daughter spent here and calculating that you actually came out ahead.  It can happen.

Best to begin the search with the help of a professional

There are lots of companies who can help you buy and sell real estate in the Harrisonburg area, but you should always do your due diligence and get the help of a professional full time agent.  Also, work with a CPA or other financial expert and run the numbers. It’s not necessarily for everyone. But if this arrangement works for you, you can do much better than throwing your rent money away each month.

Wrappping Up

Making your son or daughter a landlord while juggling the responsibilities of college life may not be for everyone, but if you work it just right it could help defray the high cost of a great education.

Barry Suttles – Realtor

www.BarrySuttles.com

www.ProvidenceValley.com

www.KlineMay.com

Leverage In Today’s Market

June 15, 2008 on 6:19 pm | In Best Deals in Real Estate, Harrisonburg Virginia Real Estate, Hot Deals on Homes, Real Estate Advice From a Pro | No Comments

  

Purchase Your Next Home From A Position of Leverage

If you are thinking about buying a home in today’s market, many would say you’re crazy.  Everywhere you turn you are inundated with negativity about real estate and the problems with buying and selling a home.  I’m here to tell you something very different.  Real Estate purchasers, and investors can really do quite well today if they possess a few key attributes and follow a few steps. 

Great Credit = Strong Purchaser 

Credit worthiness has never been more important when purchasing a new home.  In the past, credit worthiness for a mortgage meant that you had a pulse, and could sign a stack of unintelligible paperwork half the height of Massanutten peak.  Almost anyone could get a mortgage! 

I recall going to a seminar where representatives of Fannie May did a Power-Point presentation quiz asking questions about whether, or not, these fictitious people would qualify for a mortgage.  I missed many of the questions because, like many people of my generation, I was under the mistaken impression that someone who recently filed bankruptcy could never get a mortgage.  However, at that time, low credit scores, legal judgments, and bankruptcy would not necessarily preclude you from getting a mortgage and owning a home.

Today we live in a very different world.  Recently I heard a mortgage professional tell me that a 720 FICO score could have a problem getting a mortgage. A 720 score is pretty good credit.  The same professional told me that my client who was moving to the area and would have 40-50% to put down on a home, but had not yet secured a job in Harrisonburg, would not be able to purchase a home.  WHAT? Are you kidding?  Not without a job, he said. If you have great credit and verifible income, you will be negotiating your next offer from strength.

Contingencies

Strength without the Contingency.  

Buyers who create an offer for the purchase of real estate that is full of contingencies make their offer less attractive to a seller. Contingencies are provisions in a contract stating that some or all of the terms of the contract will be altered or voided by the occurrence of a specific event,   Common contingencies are the financing contingency, the home inspection contingency, and the sale of an existing home, along with others.

A contingency in an offer tells the seller that something might void or alter the contract in hand, so by having a contingency free, or virtually free contract you become a stronger buyer to the seller with more leverage in the buying and negotiating process.  Work with your agent to create an offer with few, or no contingencies and you will be negotiating from a stronger position.

Quick Close

If you have done a lot of the homework in advance and you have put yourself in a position to be able to move quickly, you strengthen your offer even more.  Telling the seller that you can close in 30 days with no contingencies, a letter of qualification from a local lender, is just about the best a seller could ask for in today’s market. Remember, an offer to purchase real estate is not only about the price which the seller is asking, it is more often about terms of the closing.  A savy buyer can purchase at a much lower price if they do some work up front.

Wrap Up 

All of these tips will make your offer even better to the seller.  I recently worked with a client who was able to walk away from the closing table with over $60,000 in equity after closing using these techniques.  He had excellent credit, could close quickly and had a virtually contingency free offer.  The seller was motivated and needed to sell and after some hard negotiation my client came away the with a great new home and a lot of equity. Understanding the market can literally be worth thousands of dollars. 

Barry Suttles

Manager New Homes Group - Kline May Realty http:/www.barrysuttles.com