My First Listing!

I've already got a pending contract under my belt as a buyer's agent, but I'm very excited to announce that I now have my first listing. The best part is that my client is also my family! HSV has recently finished renovating a beautiful colonial in the Brandermill neighborhood. This place has brand new everything...paint inside and out, carpet, refinished hardwoods, painted kitchen cabinets and new appliances, new light fixtures and hardware, an amazing marble fireplace and a brand new deck. For those who aren't familiar with Brandermill, it's a great neighborhood and VERY convenient....you can literally throw a rock to 288 and Powhite...if you have a really strong arm. Anyway, I'm really excited to show off this amazing home and once again Home Solutions did a GREAT job. Check out the website for the property and feel free to get in touch with me if you or anyone you know is interested!! You won't be disappointed!

13603 Cradle Hill Rd.

Enjoy!

Welcome to 2010

I'm just waking up from my long holiday slumber. We took some time off to relax and enjoy spending time with the family, but now it's back to work! I'm excited to announce that I am getting into the swing of being a realtor and I have already sold my first house! Well kind of...my client, Chad, has a house under contract and we are hoping to close at the end of February. It was such a fun process helping him look for a place to call his own, and in the end we really hit the jackpot. This place is great and I know he's excited to get moved in!

Speaking of real estate, I will have my very first listing at the end of next week. Home Solutions of VA is planning on finishing up the home in Brandermill and putting it on the market next Friday. So I will get my first taste of being the listing agent, which I'm really excited about. This property was financed by a private lender who is sure to be satisfied with the end result! As soon as I have "after" pictures of the house, I will post them.

It looks as if 2010 is starting off with a bang and I couldn't be more pumped to get things going. And as always, if you are ever interested in buying a property of ours OR if you or someone you know is interested in investing with us, please get in touch with me at erica@cottageandloftrealty.com.

Another Teaser

Here's another sneak peek of the exterior of a great four bedroom, two and a half bath home we are renovating in Brandermill, in Midlothian. We have done countless updates and renovations (new deck, fresh paint, and new kitchen just to name a few) and are looking forward to completing this project! We are hoping to get this home on the market right after the new year, so be on the lookout! If you know anyone interested in this property, please get in touch with me at erica@rcgva.com.

I should also mention that this property is being renovated thanks to some of our great investors, who will most likely make a nice return on their investment as soon as the property is sold. I wanted to give a big thanks to them and to all of our investors for working with us and being so amazing! If you know anyone interested in investing with us, please visit the following site for a free report and we will be sure to contact you as soon as possible!
www.richmondreinvesting.com

A Sneak Peek!

I wanted to post a picture of one of the houses we are working on right now. This one is located on Strath Rd. off Rt. 5 out towards Varina. It's a great home and I'm looking forward to finishing up the inside so we can get it on the market! We have already had a couple of calls inquiring about it, so I'm thinking it will sell fairly quickly (fingers crossed)!

Have a look!

Tightened Lending Standards courtesy of Fannie Mae

As of December 12, Fannie Mae will tighten their lending standards. Part of the new lending guidelines state that borrowers who are putting at least 20% down will need to have a minimum credit score of 620 (as opposed to the current score, which is 580). The new cutoff for total debt cannot exceed 45% of borrower's monthly income.

Why the tightened standards, you ask? On average, loans to borrowers with less than a 620 credit score are about nine times more likely to go into default.

The Surge of the Decade!

I made this sound really exciting, I know. As we all know by now, the first time homebuyers tax credit has really helped boost home sales as of late. According to an article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, it seems that the tax credit has given the housing market its biggest surge in a decade (a 10.1% increase in the past month). I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited that Congress decided to extend the tax credit deadline and open it up to other buyers. I'm hoping this means good things to come for real estate in 2010.

Of course, the economy is still slow to recover due to other factors-- job creation being one of the biggest. The building of new homes contribues to job creation, but that area has slowed significantly recently. So we still have a ways to go before the economy can fully recover but the boom in home buying definitely helps!

Be on the Lookout!

Housing Virginia and the Virginia Board of Realtors are coming out with a tool to help consumers figure out how much they can afford when it comes to owning (or renting) a home. This index will be available in January on a quarterly basis, so be on the lookout. I'm hoping people can use this valuable tool to measure how much they can afford ahead of time, so we don't see the same kind of mortgage/credit/debt/foreclosure crisis we saw before. Only buy what you can afford, people!

Check out the story from the RTD:
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/local/article/B-INDE21_20091120-221604/307045/