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I'm kicking off my Tiny Mic Tuesday series by interviewing my fantastic assistant, Allie Wilckens! Every Tuesday (well, most Tuesdays- let's be honest) I'll be interviewing someone with great information, a great business, or that I think you should know! If you've worked with me over the last year, you've probably met, spoken with, or at least emailed, Allie! She takes care of all the back end paperwork, lots of the marketing, transaction management, and so much more. Take a minute to watch this and get to know Allie. She's a recent Virginia Tech grad (2021), is a very involved dog mom, and loves Taylor Swift, New Girl, reading, and playing with her sweet pup Kai.  

Have you ever heard of an annual equity review? Well, I have an offer for you that you may want to take advantage of. The market is shifting and the news is all over the place, it seems like every day, we're getting some sort of new information about where the market is going and where your home values are going. But whether or not you're getting ready to sell your house, or you are just curious about where the equity is and how much you have in your home, you might want to have what we call an annual equity review. That means I will come to your house, we'll schedule an appointment, it generally only takes about 30 minutes, but it's going to give you a really customized look at the homes that have sold really recently, not in the past two years, but in the past six weeks, give you an idea of how your home stacks up to those homes that have sold and give you a projection of where we anticipate the market going over the next year or so another thing that is really nice about the annual equity review is it not only gives you an idea of where you are right now but if you're thinking of doing renovations, adding on making some changes to your home, even if you're not thinking of selling right away, we can give you an idea of what the ROI on those things are going to be so that you know that with an eye to the future, you're going to put your dollars where they're going to be best used. If you want to know the value of your home in the shifting market or what the value might be if you make changes that you've been planning, give me a call send me a message or click the button on the website and let's get set up to have your custom annual equity Review.

As we close out yet another "unprecedented" summer, it's a great time to check in on the market and give you a few numbers, but also a breakdown of my assessment on things. Here in the Richmond area, we have definitely seen things cool a bit, but it's by no means ground to a screeching halt. A few things to note, number wise. (These are numbers for the Richmond Metro area, so the city and surrounding counties) The average home price has finally dipped a bit month to month, dropping from $429,015 in July to $420,926 in August. If you look at this graph, you'll see how prices have trended generally over the last year, and it's been pretty steadily increasing all along, until now. (July was a bit lower than June as well.) Days on Market has actually gone up in August over July as well, with the average home now staying on the market 15 days instead of 11. Yep, these are not huge differences month over month, and they are still stronger numbers than last year at this same time. We are very much still in a market with low inventory, and we still have a bit of a backlog of buyers that are still looking for homes. So what does this all mean if you are one of those buyers still looking in this market? Good news! We are seeing more negotiation for buyers, with people able to actually "make an offer" in some cases, as well as have full home inspection and appraisal clauses in their contracts. This is something we haven't seen in some time, and as someone who works with a LOT of buyers, I have to say it's a welcome change! But what if you're selling? Have you missed your window? Absolutely not. As I mentioned before, we still have fairly low inventory, and that means there are still more buyers than sellers, and pretty high demand. Did you miss the window of multiple offers with no contingencies and way over asking? Maybe. We are still seeing plenty of multiple offers, but that's a bit unpredictable, even in the "hottest" of areas. If you need to sell, though (or just want to sell), it is still a good time, just in a more normal sense of good, rather than totally crazy like it was 6 months ago. Do you have questions about the market as we head into fall? I'd love to help you get your questions answered, and make sure you have all the information to make any move you need or want to make. Call me!

Hot Buttered Cider Mix 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup honey 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves for each serving: 3/4 cup hot apple cider or juice 1 ounce apple brandy, optional Beat butter and brown sugar until blended; beat in honey and spices until blended. Transfer to an airtight container. Store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks. To prepare hot cider: Place 1-1/2 teaspoons buttered cider mix in a mug. Stir in hot cider and, if desired, brandy.

Okay, so let's talk about rent backs. What is a rent back? That's something that we're hearing all over the place in the market the last year. So, lots of sellers want to stay in their home after they close because maybe they haven't found a home or maybe they have found a home, but they can't move into it right away. So, when you hear the term rent back bandied about basically what that means is the seller would like to retain possession after closing for a fixed period of time. But how does that work? I mean, it sounds like a great idea, but how does that impact you with the buyer of that home? So when we do a rent back, we use what is called a possession by seller agreement and basically, it's just like a lease, you basically become a landlord for whatever it is that you and the seller of the home you're buying have determined you want to do. There are all sorts of ways to structure this. But yes, you do own the home after closing. Yes, you do want to make sure your homeowners insurance covers it. Every little detail of that process needs to be in writing and you need to understand that you basically have a tenant. So, if the washing machine breaks, it's on you, not them in most cases. So, there's lots to go into that. But remember, if you want to do something like that, that is outside of the details of the actual sales contract, we need to have all of that in writing to avoid any confusion and make sure everyone is covered. So remember, anytime we do anything in a real estate contract, listing or selling, we want to have everything in writing. If you have questions about any of those details, or you have an unusual situation, reach out to me I'd love to answer any of your questions.

We've all heard that old adage, cash is king many, many times. But what do you do if you're trying to buy a home in this market and you don't have a dump truck full of cash? Let's unpack that a little bit. Why is cash king anyway? Well, it's all about risk, right? The seller wants to make sure that what you offer them is what they're going to get at the end of the day, and it's guaranteed not going to have any unexpected loopholes throughout the transaction. There are some ways that we can make your noncash deal as competitive or close to a cash deal without you having to have piles and piles of cold hard cash. A few of those things that are going to help your noncash offer feel more like a cash offer to that seller are going to be waiving the inspection or making the inspection less of a question mark for them. Waiving the appraisal or making the appraisal less of a question mark for the seller. So that's coming up with a little bit of extra cash if the appraised price and the purchase price don't quite meet. And another is, and perhaps the most important make sure that you are well qualified with a local lender who might even talk to the listing agent to let them know how solid your offer and your qualifications are. If you have any more questions about writing the perfect offer in the seller's market, I'd love to talk to you. Give me a call, send me a message. Shoot me a DM and let's get started.

So you just saw that that house you offered on sold and it went for less than you offered, how the heck did that happen? Sometimes it's all about the money. And sometimes it's not having an agent that's going to do the research to make sure that your offer is best positioned to be appealing to that individual seller is going to make a huge difference in getting your offer accepted. Just like you may have an individual reason for buying a home, your family has grown, you're downsizing, you're moving to a new city, new job, things like that the seller is gonna have their own motivation as well. Knowing what those things are, are going to help you find that sweet spot that's going to dovetail your needs with theirs and get that winning offer. If you want to find out more ways to get your offer accepted in this market or get started on the process of buying a home give me a call send me a message I'd love to talk to you.

Uncommon mistakes that sellers make in literally every market. Be prepared for the photographer. Don't forget that the photographer is coming at 10 o'clock on Monday and leave your breakfast dishes all over and everything in the middle of the floor from your kid's projects the night before. Be prepared for showings. If you know the showing is scheduled for two o'clock in the afternoon, don't hop in the shower at 1:59. If your home is vacant, and you're letting a stranger stay in the spare bedroom, let your realtor know to let other agents know there's nothing that deters a buyer, like being scared out of their wits and breaking a toe on the way down the stairs. Remember, we are trying to get the buyers to visualize themselves in your home and have it be their home. So if grandma's in her bathrobe or the kids have made a huge mess, or you've got cars under tarps in the backyard, that's probably not what they're looking for. If you have any other questions, please reach out to me I'd love to talk to you

August Means Catching the Last Gasp of RVA Summer Here are a few of my favorites: Head to RVA Big Market Saturdays at Bryan Park from 8-1 and get allll the great produce. Make something you've never made, or just enjoy something simple like a tomato sandwich, before those Hanovers are gone! SuzySno is moving from Jackson Ward to the old Sweet 95 spot on Arthur Ashe Blvd. Opens in August, so go get you some! What says RVA as much as beer, cider, and music?? Head to Brown's Island on August 13th for the JamPacked Craft Beer and Music Festival.  Cool down with the family and learn about sharks (!) at the Science Museum of Virginia's Predator or Prey  Carytown Watermelon Festival is back (40 years!) on August 14, in Carytown, of course. Are you running out of things to do with the kids and it's just. too. hot? The Byrd has great family movies running all month. Click HERE for their schedule! Sunflowers and Sunsets? Yes please! Take a short ride to Burnside Farms and wander as the sun sets (and it's a little cooler, maybe) and enjoy their sunflower bounty. Tickets required. More info HERE

Hot Summer Market Update As summer draws to a close (how is that even possible?), our market in the Richmond area is still pretty hot! Here's a little break down of the late summer happenings. Stay tuned for fall and what's to come! So let's break it down! The average days on market as of July 22 is still 12, up just one day from last month, and the exact same as July of 2021. The "Month's Supply" right now is .9. That means that it would take 9/10 of a month to sell through all the homes currently on the market, if no others came on the market. A buyer's market is generally marked by a 6 month supply. While it may be taking things a bit longer to sell, and buyers have a bit more flexibility to ask for things like inspections, etc, that for a while there were hardly getting accepted, we are still very firmly in an inventory shortage and sellers' market in most of the Metro Richmond area. But how competitive is it really? Well, while the average percentage of sold price to list price has dropped to 104% in the Metro Richmond area, that is a bit deceptive. The median number is 102.6%. That means there are a good number of homes that are going well over that, keeping that average lower.   Cut to the chase- is it still a good time to buy? To sell? If you're buying- rates have definitely gone up from those all time lows, but pricing has, and continues to, become a bit more normal. So, if you look at it in the long term, prices are unlikely to go down (it's more than very doubtful we'll see anything here in the Richmond area that looks like a "crash") but you are less likely to be up against 20 other people on a home. That means you have more negotiating power, and probably won't have to bid up like a few months ago. If you're selling? Well, you may have missed the window of those crazy prices, no inspections, etc, but we are still in a very real inventory shortage, and there are still LOTS of buyers out there. That means you may have to put a little more effort in to getting it ready for market, but it is still a good time!