Harrisonblog

EXCITING NEWS: The Kline May Companies are starting up a new property management company called Priority Property Management! Now Kline May customers and clients can find quality property management that provides the same attention to detail and customer service as the rest of the Kline May family of companies.

Priority Property Management will be operated by Roy Brooks, who has extensive backgrounds in accounting, home building, and managing his own properties over the past 10 years. He has a passion for the rental community, and with this, developed RentalMatchup.com, which has become a very valuable resource for local landlords and tenants.  This is a great fit for Kline May!

Are you a landlord looking for quality property management? Call Roy Brooks to learn about the services that are going to be offered — online rental payments, online record keeping (landlords can view their financial status at any time), and the ability for tenants to send maintenance requests.

Priority Property Management
Attn: Roy Brooks
contact@choosepriority.com
541 Acorn Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22802
540-578-4974
www.choosepriority.com

An article in the Wall Street Journal was published on October 11th titled “Ten Tips to Up Your Home’s Value During an Appraisal,” and we thought these were excellent tips — not just for an appraisal, but also for getting your house ready to sell and helping to maintain your home’s value while you are still living there! Too good to not pass along, here are ten ways to update your home and gain value:

1. Spruce the house up. Make your house broom clean and try to clean up the toys and dirty dishes and much as possible. For valuations and appraisals, its what is on the outside that really counts. In other words, don’t worry about dust bunnies under the couch, but rather what is visible should be orderly and clean.
2. Curb appeal matters. Mow the lawn, trim the hedges, pull the weeds, paint the front door (if needed), plant flowers, sweep away dead leaves, etc. (This will also help set your house apart from any foreclosures that may be lurking down the street!)
3. Keep a list of all the updates. This is huge. A simple, yet often overlooked step in home ownership is maintaining a list of all the updates you have completed, and when you did them. (I.e. painted living room in 2008, new hardwood floors in 2009, new appliances in 2010.) Not only will this help your appraiser, it will also be a wonderful tool in selling your home because buyers love recent updates.
4. Have comps on hand. “Comps” are comparisons of properties similar to yours and within close proximity. You want to provide recently sold comps to get to the closest value. Listed properties don’t really carry much weight in valuations because they haven’t sold yet, which means a buyer hasn’t put an amount on it yet. This is technically the appraiser’s job — to get the comps — but if you provide some, it will help tremendously, especially if you know of a similar house that sold recently without the help of a real estate agent.
5. Be mindful of peeling paint. Houses built prior to 1978 adhere to loan laws (like FHA and veterans’ loans) requiring that peeling paint be removed from the house. If there are marks on the walls, though, no worries about affecting the appraisal report.
6. Focus. Spending money on things that don’t improve or affect value isn’t worth it. Focus on updating light fixtures, carpet, paint, plumbing fixtures, and things of that nature.
7. Location still matters. New amenities that have come to the area within close proximity to your house are worth mentioning. Think new parks or playgrounds, new grocery stores, shopping centers, restaurants, etc.
8. Keep the $500 rule in mind. Appraisers often value homes in $500 increments. Repair items that could easily cost $500 or more, like leaky faucets, cracked windows, broken railings, and structural damage. Don’t let those go by the wayside because they will count against you!
9. Also remember the concept of “effective age.” The age the appraiser can assign to a home after taking into consideration updating and condition. “Say you have a cracked window, thread­bare carpet, some tiles falling off the shower surround, vinyl torn in the laundry room, and the dog ate the corner of the fireplace hearth, these items could still add up to an overall average condition rating as the home is still habitable, however your effective age will be higher resulting in comparables being utilized which will have the same effective age and resulting lower value,” says Ms. Zimmerman, who wrote the book “Challenge Your Home Appraisal” and runs a web site by the same name. [source: WSJ]
10. Lock up Fido and Fifi. Appraisers don’t like being followed around by growling dogs and clingy cats. Simply for keeping the appraiser happy, put the pets away. Also, if it is hot outside, turn on the air conditioning (likewise with cold weather and heat) so the appraiser knows your HVAC system is working in proper order.

There you have it. Simple ways to update and/or maintain your home to up the value. Keep these tips in mind when you have a valuation/appraisal coming up, or if you are getting your house ready to sell. For other selling tips, check out our staging advice!

* Author of WSJ article: S. Mitra Kalita

We’re one-third of the way through the third quarter of 2011. Can you believe it?! Last month, we reported in the August Market Report that the gap in residential sales was closing from last year to this year (in July, the difference in YTD sales was -6%, in August it was -2%). Well, we have great news… September’s numbers are in, and that gap has closed and moved into the positive! Sales in 2011 are up 2.2% over 2010 so far. Lets take a look at some of the other stats below.

[Click any image below to view larger version]

See that statistic in the top right corner of the chart above? It says 2.2%. That is a positive number in the YTD change in residential sales over last year! We’ve seen the same number of sales occur in September as we did in August, so the YTD stat reflects a higher number of sales this September over last September. Price per square foot (or home value) is down by 7.4%, unfortunately. As of now, it rests at $101.76, whereas last year at this time, it was $109.93. This number is down because sales prices are down. Buyers aren’t having to pay as much for homes this year as they did in 2010, so sellers are getting less, and values are still declining.

Above is a graphic showing how sales have occurred thus far in 2011, starting with just 39 sales in January, and moving up to 79 sales in September. We’ll likely see about the same number of sales in October as this past month, and then a decline in November and December as the holiday season sets in.

Contracts are also way up from last year at this time. We’ve seen an increase in contracts by 15.3%! This bodes well for the coming months as most of those contracts will close and be reflected in the sales charts later on. Comparing month-to-month, though, contracts are down quite a bit (21.2%). Folks are looking to buy larger homes this year, and those homes are sitting on the market for an average of 16 days longer.

As you can see in the graphic above, contracts held steady throughout the summer, and dropped in September. This is to be expected as fall usually comes with less production. The “busy season” for real estate is coming to a close, but we suspect we’ll see about the same number of contracts in October as we did in September, maybe a little less.

Stay tuned for next month’s market report! Until then, check out some other posts we’ve written about Market Trends…

Have you ever seen Mama’s Caboose driving by, or stopped on the side of the road in Harrisonburg or Rockingham County? Established just weeks ago, this cheery red mobile kitchen serves up home cooked meals like Chicken Parmesan, Ham and Green Beans, and Steak and Cheese Sandwiches. The owner, Diane Roll, features one selection each week — a $20 meal for four — and is available for pick-up on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.

Mama’s Caboose can also be found at Monger Park in Mount Crawford serving the public from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM on Wednesdays. (This park is located on Route 11, just North of what used to be Mrs. Rowe’s.) Lunch anyone?

Roll also caters from Mama’s Caboose, and serves meals to factories in the area. Flexibility is part of Roll’s business plan. She takes orders by any means — text, phone call, email, Facebook — and advertises the week’s menu (and future menus) on the Mama’s Caboose Facebook page.

Those who appreciate a good home-cooked meal can also take relief in knowing that all of the food prepared in Mama’s Caboose is minimally processed. Potatoes are cut by hand, meatballs are made by hand (no mystery meat here!), and everything is fresh.

Contact Info for Mama’s Caboose
540-908-0029 (call or text)
mamascaboose@gmail.com
Facebook

According to our last post about the National Flood Insurance Program, the temporary extension ended yesterday. So, Congress has now passed (and the President signed) a bill reauthorizing this program prior to the program’s expiration. The Travelers Insurance Flood Team states, “The bill contains a short-term reauthorization that extends the statutory authority to issue flood insurance policies pursuant to the NFIP until November 18, 2011.”

So, if you need a flood insurance policy written up, now would be a great time to do so. Your insurance agent should have no problems writing new policies until November 18th.

Of course, many folks are working together to get this problem resolved once and for all. Stay tuned for more updates!

Another fantastic annual event hosted by Downtown Harrisonburg is coming up on October 21st — Block Party in the ‘Burg! This party is focused on introducing college students to Downtown Harrisonburg, and will be located at Turner Pavilion and the adjacent grassy lot. Time? 5:00 - 9:00 PM.

Students will have the opportunity to find out what Downtown Harrisonburg is all about and what the community has to offer, including restaurants (along with food samples!), entertainment options, and cultural offerings. Also during the event, local college bands will be showcased in “Battle of the Bands,” and attendees can vote for their favorites online.

Like scavenger hunts? Block Party in the ‘Burg is offering students the ability to participate in a scavenger hunt around Downtown using Foursquare. Bonus: there will be prizes!

Block Party in the ‘Burg
Turner Pavilion in Downtown Harrisonburg (where the Farmer’s Market is normally held) [map]
October 21, 2011
5:00 PM - 9:00 PM

We posted on September 1st about the National Flood Insurance Program potentially lapsing, beginning on October 1st, which is tomorrow! Well, yesterday, the House of Representatives approved a temporary extension of government funding (which includes funding for the National Flood Insurance Program). This had been previously approved by the Senate.

This resolution keeps the government running until next Tuesday, at which time the House and Senate will vote to keep the funding going for 6 more weeks while they continue to debate about the details.

For more information about this issue from an insurance underwriter’s perspective, read this article regarding the temporary extension of funding.

Stay tuned to find out more about this conflict…

If you’ve worked with a Kline May agent in the past few years, you know that after each transaction, the client receives a satisfaction survey. Kline May takes very seriously the opinions and feedback received from clients in these surveys. To date, Kline May Company (which includes Kline May Realty and Cottonwood Commercial) has over a 98.9% satisfaction rate for both buyers and sellers.

Our team, The Harrisonburg Homes Team, is part of Kline May Realty, and we also take very seriously the needs and wants of each of our clients — both buyers and sellers alike.

Because of this extreme care in customer satisfaction, the Company has surpassed $100 million in sales volume for 2011! (In 2010, this milestone was not met until 72 days later.)

Just a little tidbit, allowing us to toot our horn, for just a little while. Toot, toot!

Harrisonburg residents have long been known to hold the view that taking care of our environment is very important. As such, many have started using rain barrels, compost bins, solar energy, electric cars, etc. Well, the leaders of Harrisonburg have taken notice, and in October, Harrisonburg Electric Commission (HEC) will be providing a charging station to those with electric cars!

The new charging station will be located behind HEC in Downtown Harrisonburg, and yet again, Harrisonburg will be “on the map” because according to the press release from Downtown, it “will become the first city in the Shenandoah Valley and one of only a handful of cities in the state with a public, Level II electric car charging station.”

An unveiling ceremony will take place on October 5 at 10:00 AM in the HEC parking lot. There will be electric cars to test drive (including the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt), as well as demonstrations of how the new charging station will operate.

This whole operation came together through a community effort, including a variety of Downtown businesses and organizations: HEC, City of Harrisonburg, Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance, David Miller on behalf of the Downtown Dining Alliance, Virginia Main Street, Eaton Corporation, Virginia Clean Cities, and Rexel.

*image credit: Scooter the Photographer

Dayton, Virginia, is located just a few miles south of Harrisonburg off of Route 42. It is a quaint and friendly town, known for its buggies, farmers market, and the annual harvest festival (which is coming up next Saturday, October 1st!). Recently, the Dayton Town Council voted unanimously in favor of rerouting truck, trailer, and semi-trailer traffic away from the downtown area.

In essence, the ban (or rerouting) would cause less traffic to occur on the main streets of Dayton, and would provide a safer environment with less risk of accidents in the town, which is quite popular with bicyclists and joggers — not to mention children.

This proposal still has to be approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board, and no one really knows how long that will take.