Short Sales and Foreclosures in Fredericksburg Virginia Area

Jul 21

adminCaroline County, City of Fredericksburg, King George County, Spotsylvania County, Stafford County , , , , , , , No Comments

Data Derived On 21 July 2010

A few minutes ago I spoke with a financial advisor who works in the same office building as I do.  He informed me that this afternoon, after the Chairman of the Federal Reserve gave a speech, the stock market plummeted.  He said “Sometimes people should keep their mouth shut.”  Since I did not hear the speech, I cannot quote what the Chairman said but, apparently, it did not sound good to the ears of stock traders.

Recently, a learned real estate market guru made a statement that the best thing that could happen to our economy was for the banks, and other lien holders, to get rid of all the foreclosures.  That may be sage advice but what would be the impact on local real estate markets?

My area of interest is the Fredericksburg Virginia real estate market; this includes the following: City of Fredericksburg, Stafford County, Spotsylvania County, King George County, and Caroline County.  In general these jurisdictions are located midway between Washington DC and Richmond VA.

There are 188 foreclosure properties for sale in our MLS.  72 are in Spotsylvania County, 65 in Stafford County, 24 in Caroline County, 18 in King George County, and 9 in the City of Fredericksburg.  Recent census data indicates that the populations of those places (from largest to smallest) are Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George, and Fredericksburg.

There are some 300 short sales in those same jurisdictions.  I believe that one could accurately predict that at least half of those homes will eventually end up in foreclosure.  I base this on observing that sellers (those owners who feel unable to keep up making their monthly mortgage payments) are trying to sell at what they feel is a reasonable market value but the lien holder(s) see it from a different perspective.  They are trying to get as close to the amount owed them as they can.  Often this works against both because the market value of a home is predicated on recent sales (which includes all distressed properties).  The recent sales prices are slow to get in to the hands of those making decisions on what is the market price of a specific property.  Could it be an endless circle?

State of the Market – May 2010

Jul 11

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Significant Change

For some reason, I neglected to give you my update on the real estate market for the Fredericksburg Virginia area; this encompasses the City of Fredericksburg, Caroline County, Spotsylvania County, King George County and Stafford County.

For months “short sales” and foreclosures accounted for nearly 50% of the sales in our area.  In May they accounted for 36% of the total real estate sales.

This is certainly good news.  Hopefully, the percentage will continue to decrease.  There are many, however, who have written that there are millions of homeowners who are in serious default on their monthly mortgage payments.  Apparently, it is only a matter of time before mortgage holders initiate foreclosure proceedings.  You may want to check the Free Lance-Star classified to see how many foreclosures take place each week.  This may be a good indication of things to come.

Remember now, I am writing this post after I wrote the one describing the June 2010 market.

FOR SALE BY OWNER – Tip 3

Jun 19

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Homes For Sale in Fredericksburg Virginia

Don't leave your pills out for all to see

I’m not kidding here folks.  Just recently someone was sent to jail for stealing drugs from someone’s home in Stafford County Virginia while they were looking at it while it was for sale.

Furthermore, it was found out during the investigation, that the thief had made a habit of stealing drugs from many homes that were on the market.  Not an isolated incident.

In truth, this is also good advice for those who have employed a real estate agent to sell their home for them.  Common sense tells us that the person intent on stealing anything from your home can do so without you even noticing.

Years ago, there was a family in Prince William County that visited open houses on weekends.  While the “father” and “mother” were engaging the real estate agent, the “child” opened the medicine cabinets and emptied the contents into a purse she was carrying.  It mattered not what the drugs were.  They word sort them out later.  By the time the loss was recognized, the family was long gone.

You can’t be too careful!