Culpeper Farm Tour

On October 7th and 8th the annual Culpeper Farm Tour takes place.  This event is part of the larger Culpeper Harvest Days and is, for us, one of the highlights of the fall season!

There are about 17 locations on this year's tour; plenty to keep you and your family busy for at least two full days!  Being a farm girl at heart, my favorite locations are always the ones where you get to get up close and personal with the animals.  (Goats are high up on my list!)  Mike is always excited to see the farm machinery. We've both enjoyed some of the demonstrations, whether it be of old time farm operations or how to rope a calf from horseback.

This is a very kid-friendly event.  And it's pocketbook friendly as well as there's no charge.  As entertainment, it's very hard to beat!

For more information including a list of all participating farms, what activities are at each and how to get to them, visit the official web site:

http://www.culpeperag.org/farmtour2006

I hope to see you there!

Increased Education Requirements

I spent last week at the VA Association of Realtors annual convention. The best news I heard all week is that there is a proposal working its way through the system to increase the education necessary both to get a license and to keep one. This can only benefit consumers!

In order to get a license you are currently required to take 60 hours of course work and then pass the licensing exam.  Going forward once you pass the exam, you will then have to take 30 hours of practicum prior to obtaining your license.

Right now that 60 hour course is really designed to help you pass the test. It has very little to do with the actual practice of real estate.  In fact, the vast majority of the course material is never used again! The course does not deal in things that would seem to be required to any thinking person, such as how to actually write a real estate contract! So this would be a big step in the right direction!

In addition, the proposal would raise the current requirement of 16 hours of continuing education every two years to 20 hours.  While this is certainly a step in the right direction, I would have liked to have seen this increased even further.

Now the work begins to get this approved and implemented!

VHDA

VHDA (Virginia Housing Development Authority) is the state's home mortgage finance agency. It exists to help first time home buyers in the state of Virginia. Unfortunately, far too few homebuyers are aware of this agency and its programs. Not all lenders participate and if the lender you talk to isn't a part of the program you will probably never hear about it.

VHDA has programs that allow you to buy with no money down.  They have programs that allow you to purchase a home at a lower interest rate. There are a large number of programs available to meet a variety of needs.  But the bottom line is always their goal to make owning your own home more affordable for more Virginians.

There are income eligibility requirements and most of their programs are aimed at first time homebuyers.  There are also limits on the sales price of the home you can purchase.  Given the wide disparity of real estate markets in the state of Virginia, it's a good thing they've set those numbers based on region/area. The table below gives you the latest information on income and sales price limits.

VHDA Eligibility Guidelines

AREA	GROSS HOUSEHOLD INCOME (2 persons or less)	GROSS HOUSEHOLD INCOME (3 persons or more)	SALES PRICE LIMITS
NO. VA	$86,900	$100,000	$408,100
Warren Co.	$63,000	$73,000	$408,100
Norfolk/VA Beach	$63,000	$73,000	$352,600
Richmond	$64,100	$74,300	$288,500
Louisa	$63,000	$73,000	$288,500
Charlottesville	$63,300	$73,300	$293,900
Winchester	$63,000	$73,000	$284,900
Culpeper	$63,000	$73,000	$326,600
King George	$64,700	$75,000	$326,600
All Other Areas	$63,000	$73,000	$225,100

If you think VHDA might have a program that would be beneficial for you, you can check out their web site at http://www.VHDA.com

Or, you can contact me Julie@JulieEmery.com and I'll put you in touch with a loan officer who works with VHDA. It makes sense to take advantage of every program available to you!

Buyer Guarantee

There are a lot of real estate agents and real estate companies working to convince buyers that it's a good time to buy.  And the thing is, I absolutely believe they're right!  But it's easy to say when it's not your money on the line, right?!

So, I'm going to put some skin in the game, so to speak!

Here is my guarantee to you, the buyer.

If you purchase your house with me as your agent, own the house for at least three years, and sell the home with me as your agent...

if you do not net at least the original purchase price of the house and the broker commission, I will work for free to sell your home!

The only caveats are that the house must be in substantially the same or better condition as when you bought it.  (i.e., if it burns down I'm not working for free to sell your pile of ashes!) And, I must still be a licensed REALTOR in the state of Virginia.  If I retire 20 years from now and move out of state I won't be moving back and getting my license just for you! (Although I'll be happy to help you find the right agent!)

It is a good time to buy!  And I'm putting my money where my mouth is! Call me and let's talk about helping you find that next house!

The Family Piggy Bank

Americans are taking enormous amounts of equity out of their homes. That "giant sucking sound" that Ross Perot heard from south of the border is now the sound of billions of dollars of equity being sucked out and, in many cases, thrown away.

The numbers over the last few years are pretty remarkable:

Equity Taken Out of US Homes (In Billions)

YEAR	DOLLARS
1999	9
2000	26
2004	139
2005	450

While some of this equity was taken out for items that have the potential to increase the homes value (35% was for home improvement), much of it did not.  42% was spent on consumer purchases, or, in other words, to buy more stuff!

As we head into a period of time when much of the country is likely to see significantly slower appreciation than we have over the last few years this is worrisome. Add to this the number of homeowners who bought their homes with interest only and/or adjustable rate mortgages and it can get very frightening.

My concern for the overall real estate marketplace is that there are large numbers of foreclosures coming. If that should happen the downward pressure on prices is likely to be more significant than what we've seen with the current market slowdown.

And, of course, in the larger economic picture this would be very bad news for the economy and certainly has the potential for sending us towards recession.

So...if you've been contemplating taking out that home equity loan, think about it again! If you've already got one, time to work on paying it off as soon as possible.

And, if you've been wondering about selling your house and worried about the current market this certainly factors into considerations about timing. While it may seem like a tough time to sell, there are no guarantees it's better a year from now!

Interest Rates

While buyers have been sitting on their hands waiting to see what happens in the real estate market, mortgage interest rates have been dropping for five straight weeks.  While this still doesn't make them the lowest interest rates ever seen, it's pretty close!

Historically, these rates are truly exceptional!  Take a look at what interest rates, in general, have looked like over the past 20 years.

• March 1985: 13.15%
• October 1987: 11.12%
• November 1990: 10.01%
• January 1995: 9.4%
• April 1997: 8.31%
• June 2000: 8.62%

With rates currently under 6.5% for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, it looks like a great deal historically!

What will rates do next?  It's hard to say. But it's worth noting that the federal budget deficit and the increased price of oil will certainly continue to put pressure on rates to increase.

When's the perfect time to lock in the lowest interest rate? No one knows and if they tell you they know you ought to be suspicious! The truth is, interest rate movements frequently confound us all.

Now might be an excellent time to lock in!