More strange and useless statistics…

• Families who turn off the television during meals tend to eat healthier. This was regardless of family income, or education.
• In a lifetime, the average driver will honk 15,250 times.
• 84% of women say they have sex to get their man to help out around the house.
• In America, approximately 20% of children between the ages of 2 – 7 have televisions in their rooms.
• In an average lifetime, people spend four years traveling in cars and six months waiting for red light to turn green.

Talk about being a bit uptight! Check out the number of water shutoffs this dude put in his house that is for sale in Fredericksburg.

Having just finished a course of additional real estate education I was pondering a lot of the terminology that those of us in the real estate profession use.  As I thought about it, I realized that many of the terms that we use so freely may actually be a bit confusing to clients and customers selling and buying homes in Fredericksburg.  And, unfortunately even some real estate agents are often confused by the terminology.  So, I thought I would write a few mini posts with some terminology clarification.

Let’s start with one of the most important, which is the term ratify.  The dictionary definition of ratify is as follows:

rat·i·fy
[rat-uh-fahy]
verb (used with object), rat·i·fied, rat·i·fy·ing.
1.  to confirm by expressing consent, approval, or formal sanction: to ratify a constitutional amendment.
2.  to confirm (something done or arranged by an agent or by representatives) by such action.

In practice, when it comes to real estate, to ratify a contract meets to have a complete meeting of the minds in terms of a real estate contract.  Here is what to remember… if there are initials or signatures yet to be affixed to the contract, then it is not ratified.  The contract is ratified once all issues and components of the contract have been agreed to via signatures and initials on the contract.

I often hear agents say a contract is ratified, but when you look at it, you find that it actually isn’t.  This can have a lot of legal ramifications and put a buyer and/or sellers interests in jeopardy.

One of the biggest hurdles a home seller can face when selling their home is to avoid the emotion trap.  Not that those emotions don’t have a place in marketing your home… they do (more on that topic to come.)  But a seller needs to move to a mental position of thinking of their home as an asset in a real estate business transaction.  Many times helping a seller keep their emotions in check is one of the real estate agent’s biggest roles.

I understand this can be tough for a seller.  There are usually many great memories attached to the home.  It might have been where babies first came home, there are probably great holiday memories, and so much more.  But when a seller focuses on these things, they tend to assign more value to the home than is practical.

The deeper the emotions of the seller, the more potential issues arise.  Things like overpricing, disregarding their agents advice, disregarding pertinent information, being unreasonable in responding to offers and negotiations, and more.  These things can kill many offers, and ultimately cause a seller to net far less money than they might have otherwise.

Now, what may be a little confusing is that when our team lists a home, we ask the seller to tell us these emotional stories.  We want to know them.  Why?  Because even though we need our seller clients to move to a position of thinking of the home as a business asset, we WANT the buyer making an emotional connection.

See, buyers searching homes for sale in Fredericksburg and the surrounding areas use basic criteria like location, number of bedrooms, etc., to initiate their home searches online.  But the thing that draws them physically in to see a home, and especially to purchase a home is an emotional connection.  So, we take the home owners stories and incorporate them into our marketing materials, helping potential buyers see similar emotions in their future in this home.

So let us tell your story and help the buyers anticipate the emotions that you will need to kind of hold close to your chest… at least for for the time being.

Most seasoned home buyers know and understand the costs associated with buying a home.  But, first time buyers especially may be a bit blindsided by some of these common costs if they aren’t paying attention.  These costs are not hidden.  In fact, they will be disclosed in what is known as a good faith estimate by your lender, assuming you are financing the purchase. But, when a buyer is just beginning to think about buying a home in Fredericksburg they might not be thinking about the costs of closing.

But, before I delve into these common costs, let’s make sure that if you are a buyer that you don’t get frightened away from purchasing by what you read here.   Why do I say not to get too alarmed about these costs?  Because in 68% of the homes sold in the last 30 days in the Fredericksburg area, the seller paid for at least some of the buyer’s closing costs.  In fact here is what the most recent statistics show us…

• 68% of recent sellers paid at least some of the buyers closing costs
• On average the sellers paid 2.2% of the sales price toward the buyer’s closing costs
• The average amount needed by a buyer for closing costs is approximately 3% of the sales price
• Therefore, the sellers are currently averaging paying about 73% of the buyer’s needed closing costs.

So, now that you know it is entirely likely that you can get a home seller to help you offset some of the closing costs, if not all of it, let’s look at what these closing costs actually are.

• Fees to Your Lender – Lender fees are usually the biggest costs associated with closing.  These fees are usually found in the form of things like points, appraisal fees, credit report fees, and interest payments.
• Title Fees – These fees cover title insurance for you the buyer, and your lender, as well as title research.
• Setting Up Your Escrow Account – Your lender will require that you have on deposit an escrow account.  The escrow account is utilized to pay for things like homeowners insurance and property taxes.
• Miscellaneous Fees/Costs – things like underwriting fees, excise taxes, courier fees, etc.

Want more information about buying your first home?  Give us a call or email us and we would be happy to give you more information on the buying process.

In the past few weeks I have had several conversations about leadership.  I am a big believer that a driving force in effective leadership is relationships and respect.  I have seen heavy handed “leaders” who were completely ineffective because they valued their power and results instead of people.

Conversely, one the best leaders I ever worked for was MGYSGT James Hykes.  Master Gunnery Sergeant Hykes was a Marine’s Marine.  He knew how to lead people.  He genuinely cared about those who worked for him, and as a result he built a huge level of trust and respect from his people.  He never had to raise his voice.  He never had to elevate himself to lead people.  He just asked, and it was done.  He was one of those leaders who if he told you to charge the gates of hell, you would begin looking for a bucket.

So, how does one lead in such a way that garners trust and respect?

Today I came across a great article on the blog Leading with Trust that I believe speaks to the foundation for this type of leadership.  This article addresses five ways in leaders, even with good intentions, lead in the wrong way.  Below is an excerpt and a link to the full article.  Check it out.

Few leaders wake up in the morning and say to themselves, “I wonder how I can screw up today?” Most leaders have good intentions and earnestly try to lead in the right ways, but sometimes the actions they think are helpful to their team actually cause harm or frustration. They’re trying to lead right in the wrong ways.

Check out the Five Common Leadership Mistakes

I must admit to being fascinated with numbers and statistics.  While this is a fascination that serves me well in the real estate business with understanding home values and trends… it also leads to coming across strange and useless statistics.  I thought I would share a few bizarre statistics with you here…

Strange Statistics

• 1 out of 350,000 Americans get electrocuted in their life.
• 96% of people put the peanut butter on first when making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
• 1 out of every 25 couples engage in swingers activities.
• 66% of home based businesses are owned by women.
• Annually Americans eat 45 million turkeys at Thanksgiving.

Here is the Fox Point Community update for October 2013.  Fox Point is a community located in Spotsylvania County.  The market update is designed to show recent market activity… homes sold, and homes under contract.  Click here here to see the current inventory of homes for sale in Fox Point.

SOLD

1 home sold at a price of $314,000

UNDER CONTRACT

2 homes are currently under contract, at $279,900 and $324,900 respectively.

Click here to see homes for sale in Fox Point.

Looking for a cool dining experience in Fredericksburg, VA?  Check out Park Lane Tavern at Spotsylvania Towne Center.  Park Lane is one of my favorite restaurants in the Fredericksburg area and offers good food in a fun and festive “European tavern atmosphere.”

My family dined at Park Lane again last night.  As we dined, I began to think that a lot of visitors and even area residents may not be aware of what a great experience they can find at Park Lane.  Outside, the Park Lane website says the building resembles the classic taverns of London.  Inside, you will be greeted friendly host/hostesses sporting kilts and big smiles.

The food is quite good.  I highly recommend the Atlantic Haddock sandwich, which is the best fish sandwich I have found since I dined at Caroline’s in Key West.  Another favorite of my family is the Shepherd’s Pie.  In the mood for some libations? Park Lane’s Beverage Bible is certain to offer something that will delight.

So, the next time you are looking for a great dining experience in the Fredericksburg area that is a little unique, and certainly fun and festive… check out Park Lane.

Thinking of buying a home in Fredericksburg, Virginia?  Here are the interest rates as of today, Friday October 25, 2013.

• Conforming Rates 4.125% (0 points)
• Government Rates 3.75% (0 points)

These rates reflect no change from last week.