Blog

Over the last couple of years, I've helped lots and lots of people move to the Richmond area from other parts of the country and one of the biggest questions I get is obviously, why Richmond? What makes it so great anyway? So I'm going to give you my top 10 Of all the things that I love about Richmond that I think makes us one of the best places to live. 1. There is always something to do here. If you cannot find something to do, you are literally trying to be bored. 2. Second, history. With over 300 historical markers throughout the Richmond area, you can always find history. Again, you'd have to really try not to. 3. Third, art is everywhere from the VMFA to the murals all around town. You can find galleries you can find high-end art and street art. It is a really fantastic place to soak up some art culture. 4. Nightlife and adult beverages shall we say. From craft beers to spirits now to wines and everything in between. You can go on tasting tours that last all day or have a great night out with friends. 5. Festivals, we love our festivals here in the Richmond area. And that means any opportunity to get together with friends, have a food truck, have some music, and have some adult beverages. We are in with both feet. We are there in crowds, all four seasons. 6. I grew up in Richmond but I have lived all up and down the East Coast. And one of the best things about our area is we have four actual seasons spring, summer, fall, winter, and none of them last too long. Yeah, it gets a little humid in the summer. But you know you can deal with traffic. People move, from up north especially, and they want a 45-minute commute. No one here has a 45-minute commute. You really have to have a horse farm to get a 45-minute commute. So you can be almost anywhere in the area within 20 minutes or so. 7. Proximity in the Richmond area. Within two hours you can be in the mountains you can be at the beach, you can be in Washington, DC or Colonial Williamsburg take your pick, and you can be just about anywhere in under two hours. 8. We are 6% below the cost of living for the rest of the state of Virginia and about on average with the rest of most of the country so you get a lot of the perks of being in a metropolitan area without paying for them. 9. Food. National Geographic voted us a few years ago as one of the best places in the world to visit for food and we are holding to that whether you want something really unique and delicious that you can eat on the sidewalk or you want to go have a world-class dining experience. We've got it all for you here. 10. Last but not least, the James River. That is probably one of my favorite things and it runs right through the city. So you can literally be in downtown Richmond drop in with your paddleboard or walk right up and rent a kayak and hop right in the river, 10 minutes after you get off work. Where else can you do that?

If you're on social media at all, you've probably seen someone do this trend, "Five Things I'd Never Do As A..." Well, I definitely have thoughts on this, and while there are probably more, these are either the top 5, or the first 5 that come to mind, I'm not sure which. (If I think too hard about it, I'd probably have 50.) Anyway, without further ado, here they are: 1- I would NEVER start looking at homes without talking to a lender first. Knowing your numbers- not only what you qualify for, but also what your downpayment options are, your closing costs, and your monthly payment will be is invaluable info. I cannot stress enough how often people guess incorrectly at this and fall in love with a house that's more than they can (or want to) swing, or start looking at homes and get exhausted because they can't find what they want, and they can actually afford me. (I mean, my clients don't, because I don't show anyone homes before they're preapproved.) 2- I would NEVER assume that Zestimate is accurately valuing my house. These automated estimates are based on an algorithm, so obviously they've not been in your home. Renovated kitchen? They have no idea. No updates at all? Still, they have no idea. It's simply based on the amount of similarly sized homes in the area that have sold recently. That's it. No homes like yours have sold? The more opportunity for it being incorrect. There is no replacement for having a real, live Realtor® walk through and do a thorough assessment and comparative market analysis. 3- I would NEVER buy the most improved house in the neighborhood. Yep. If it's between the $500,000 turn key, HGTV "big reveal" style home, or the "needs a little love" home down the block that is $400,000 (caveat- I'm assuming that the homes in the neighborhood trend closer to that $400k range) I'm picking the $400k home and putting in the work. It will be what I want, probably not cost me $100k, AND give me some instant equity. 4- I would never RELY on a home warranty to cover me for everything. I'm not bashing home warranties (although I could- that's another post entirely), and I do think in some circumstances, they provide a bit of a safety net. But, having had lots of experiences with these, in most cases, you can get the small things done for the same price (or a bit more) with SO MUCH less hassle by just calling someone who does that work. Will they replace your heat pump if it conks out? Yes, but with lots of hoops for you to jump through. 5- I would NEVER expect the inspector on my listing or home to find nothing. There is literally ALWAYS something, and they are paid to find it. I can almost guarantee, too, that if you have one inspector over today, and they give a list of things to fix (and you fix them all), you can have another over the next day, and they'll find a whole new list. Do the best to get your repairs done, but don't expect nothing. And if you're buying? Remember- everything can be fixed. It's just a matter of what needs to be done, how much it will cost, and who pays for it. Did any of these surprise you? I'd love to hear something you'd never do after buying or selling one (or 100) homes!

Let's discuss what I mean by "referral platforms" and what happens when you start your home search using one. Have questions? I'd love to help answer them! Find me on Instagram @cindybennettrealestate or send me a message with the chat button below.

Well, it's been a minute since I bought my first home, but it occurred to me that there are some things that I really wish I had known. So here are the seven things that I wish I had known when I bought my first house. Number one, as soon as you start looking at Pinterest, scrolling through apps, and looking at homes, find yourself an agent. Whether it is your next-door neighbor's best friend, or you find someone online on social media, ask your friends, ask your family, and find an agent that is going to work for you. Number two, the listing agent represents the seller. So if you are scrolling through homes online, and you roll up into an open house on a Sunday, and you love it, the only agent that you have now had any sort of communication or relationship with is the agent that represents the seller, that is not necessarily the agent you want representing you. Number three, don't be afraid to ask questions. And I mean, ask questions, there is no stupid question. Ask your lender, ask your friends, ask your agent, and make sure that all of your questions get answered, I see this almost more with folks who have purchased multiple homes than I do with first-time buyers. So even if you've bought five, six, or ten houses, you probably haven't bought them this year in this market, and maybe not in this state or in this city or county. So don't hesitate to ask, I promise we're not going to judge you and think it's a stupid question. Number four, know your numbers. So you're obviously going to be saving for your closing costs and your downpayment, and all of that stuff. But remember, you're going to want to furnish that house too. You might want to buy some plants, you're gonna have to pay for movers. So make sure that you're accounting for those things. I have some great checklists and your agent probably does too. Make sure that you're preparing for all of those circumstances that are going to come up. Number five know the disclosure laws. Here in Virginia, we are a buyer-beware state which means the seller doesn't have to tell you all of the stories about the times that the pipes leaked or anything else. They are going to say as far as we know, it's okay. Unless as far as they know, it's not. They are required to disclose if they know there's a problem, but proving that they knew or didn't know later is very difficult. Have an inspection with an inspector you trust and again, ask questions. Number six, just to reiterate, have an inspection. You can have any and all inspections as long as you have listed those in the contract and agreed upon that with the seller in your contract for purchase. So not just a whole house inspection, but if you're particularly concerned about the roof, you can get a roofer out there to check it out. You are going to pay for all those inspections but it is a whole heck of a lot easier to do that than pay for a new roof after closing. Finally, number seven, lean on your agent. This goes back to selecting an agent that is somebody that you are comfortable with, comfortable asking questions and comfortable getting referrals from. My clients call me years, months, whatever later and asked me for a great lawn care person or a great gutter guy. If you want somebody who can be a resource, make sure you have all your information. I promise you a will make the process so much easier. If you are looking to buy a house I would love to talk to you. I am happy to help answer any questions whether you are here in the central Virginia region and I would love to help you but I have agents and friends all over the country that I can put you in touch with to give you the same level of service.

If you’re looking for some fun fall activities in Richmond, Virginia, check out my 2022 RVA Fall Guide! Click the link below to get your copy today! https://bit.ly/3y8T9ev

Are you thinking of selling your home in this shifting market? Well, the window where you could just throw a sign in the yard has probably closed and there are definitely five things at least that you need to do before you get your home on the market to maximize the value Number one, this is gonna sound really obvious but clean, clean, clean. Clean like your mother-in-law's coming like the queen is coming for dinner. Clean the windows, the baseboards, all of the surfaces, even the furniture that yeah, they're not buying, but just clean everything. Number two, paint or at least clean up the scuffs touch up the paint where you can see the wire around the corners, all those little spots that show that yeah, you've lived in the house and you've loved the house. But if your living room is hot pink, maybe you want to tone that down so they can visualize themselves there too. Number three, focus on that curb appeal. The first impression can't be redone. So your front door should be freshly painted. Make sure that the hardware is gleaming, and put fresh mulch, weed your lawn, cut the lawn, get all the cobwebs off the lights, and make sure that when people walk up, it feels like a new house, it feels welcoming and for heaven's sakes spend the $13 to get a brand new doormat. Number four prep for your photos. Make sure that even though the house looks great to you with your naked eye, the cameras gonna see the same thing that you think you see. So that means take your iPhone, go through, take some snapshots and see what your naked eye might not have seen. If the flip-flops had been left under the sofa. Your purse is still on the counter or that dog toy is laying in the middle of the living room floor because it's always there. So who notices it? Get those things out. And a good rule of thumb is if it's smaller than a softball, take it off the surfaces of your desks, dressers, and bookshelves, it just clutters the eye you want people to see that house. And finally number five, a great way to get a head start on the marketing of your home is to make a list of all the things that you love about it. If you love that there is a playground two blocks away, or that the sunsets from your deck are the best thing ever. Put that down on a list and let potential buyers see those things. But also make a little list of the things that you've done since you've lived in the home if you just put in a new water heater that might not jump out to the potential buyer but if you pointed it out to me it'll make a difference. If you want more tips on getting your home ready for market, give me a call, or shoot me a message. I'd love to come and help give you a customized walkthrough on ways to maximize your value.

I'm here with your mid-year shifting market review. So, the first thing I wanted to mention is inventory, we are still in an inventory shortage. So, while you might hear a lot of national news information, talk about a crash or an adjustment, or all these words that make it sound like things have really dropped, we are not quite there. To give you an idea of where we should be with a balanced market, a balanced market has six months of inventory. That means it'll take six months to sell all the homes on the market without any new homes coming on the market. We are currently at point nine of a month, so not even a month. So we are still a good bit away from a balanced market. And that has been the case for the last couple of years. So, taking a look at the inventory from last July to this mid-summer. Our inventory of both new listings and active listings on the market has dropped by a few 100. So not tremendously, but it's not going in the direction that I think the national news wants to let you know, what we are seeing are a few different things. The biggest one is where we were in a market a few months ago where we were seeing a lot of homes going for sale with 20 offers 25 offers we're seeing more that are going with four offers or five offers. So if you are thinking of buying it is a little easier to get in and get in the game. At this point, it's easier to get an inspection, it's easier to not have to waive the appraisal. You don't have to give away your firstborn child, you can actually get a house get it inspected, you might even get repairs done by the seller. Another metric we measure things by are the days on market the days on market last summer were 12 they did drop down earlier this spring and summer to 11. This is an average so that means it includes the worst house you've ever seen in your life that stayed on the market for three months. And the ones that go you know in a day or two hours. So keeping it in perspective, the average is still 12 days on the market which is historically speaking still very low. With the days on market being lower you still if you're buying want to move quickly if you see something that you really like. And keep in mind that again, going back to the average our average sales price to list price right now is still 104%. That means on average, homes are getting 4% More than they are listed for our market is still pretty much booming, but there is opportunity there whether you are buying or selling. And if you have questions about either one of those things, and specific to your personal real estate goals. I would love to talk to, you just reach out.

I've got some good news if you've been thinking of buying a home, and the last couple of years have proven to be just too stressful. The market that has been so consistently crazy for the past couple of years is finally starting to calm a bit, making the buying process just that much less stressful. While we are still in a seller's market here in the Richmond area, the wild times of no inspections, no appraisals, and multiple offers driving prices way over asking seem to be waning, and at least a bit of negotiating power is coming back to buyers. Here are a few of the things we haven't seen in a while that are a sight for sore eyes if you're buying: Negotiation and Contingencies are back!  According to a recent survey done by the National Association of Realtors®,  Homes that sold at- or above-asking price peaked at 82% in Feb. and March of 2022 when mortgage rates were below 4% and dropped to 69% for homes that sold within the last month when rates hovered near 6%. By contrast, the share of sellers who sold below-asking jumped from 18% in Feb. and March 2022 to 31% for those sold within the last month. Additionally, 92% of all recent sellers accepted some buyer-friendly terms. Those included: 41% Accepted some contingencies in the contract (appraisal, home inspection, home sale, financing, etc.) 32% Dropped the price because the home didn't meet appraisal 32% Paid for some or all of the buyer's closing costs 30% Had to be flexible on the ideal timeline for closing 29% Paid for repairs to the home after the appraisal 28% Were not able to rent the home back after close despite asking to How about an inspection? An inspection is always a great idea. Remember, Virginia is "buyer beware," meaning unless there is a material defect, sellers don't have any disclosures they are required to provide. (And trust me, not everyone understands what "material defect" means.) Over the last couple of years, we've seen fewer and fewer inspections requested as buyers with stiff competition try to make their offers more appealing to the sellers. Of sellers who sold in the last month, 95% reported that the buyer requested a home inspection, up from 82% of those who sold 6-12 months ago. More than twice as many buyers of homes that sold in the last month asked for repairs as a result of the home inspection (67%) compared to homes that sold 6-12 months ago (31%). The number of surveyed sellers who refused to pay for any repairs during that time dropped from 8% to zero. Keep in mind, we are still in a low inventory market, and most homes are still selling quickly. However, in our area at least, we are seeing fewer double digit multiple offer situations, and more where there are just a few. Every neighborhood is different, and every home is as well. Those homes that are totally "done" are still selling pretty competitively, but there are opportunities in this market for buyers.  If you're selling, checking all those boxes for things buyers love is starting to make more of a difference than it has, and knowing the market conditions and how to price accordingly is important again. Homes are still selling, and selling well, so don't despair that you've missed your window. You haven't! Whether you're buying or selling, I'd love to talk to you about your individual real estate goals and how to help attain them. Give me a call!