While bargain hunters have been avidly focused on foreclosures and, to a lesser extent, short sales; another segment of the market also offers some spectacular bargains.

Builders who have inventory already built want to get rid of that inventory quickly. In this area, builders haven't been building spec homes for some time now. These homes are generally homes where a contract fell through. Occasionally, you'll see a model home for sale where the builder has finished building in that subdivision.

These homes can be tremendous deals. Builders don't want and usually, can't afford to sit on inventory. It ties up cash they need to pay off loans and move forward with other projects. And, so they're typically priced attractively to start and an even better deal can be negotiated.

Unlike typical new construction, these homes may have the basement already finished. And you're likely to see a fair number of upgrades already included. And, if you don't like exactly what you see, don't be afraid to ask for what you want. While they're not going to gut the house and redo it to suit your taste, there is probably room for some changes.

True, there aren't as many of these bargains as there are foreclosures. But you also don't have as many of the problems as arise with a typical foreclosure. The odds of you settling on time and being in your new home when you expect to are exponentially higher with new construction. You're likely to receive an answer to your offer much more quickly. And there's much less likelihood of last minute deed problems.

There are still builders with inventory in most local counties, including Fauquier, Culpeper, Prince William and Loudon.

If I was a buyer in the market to buy, I'd be looking for some of these gems.

Every month in this space I give you the statistics on what the market is doing in Culpeper, Fauquier, Rappahannock and Prince William counties. (With Warren thrown in occasionally!)

What I haven't really talked about is where this data comes from and what inherent flaws there might be in this data. It now seems like I'm overdue for that discussion.

Each month the data I use as the basis for my analysis comes from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The MLS that serves our area is called MRIS. The data in this system comes from what the agents input. They input their listings and they input the information when it gets sold.

So, here's the first weakness in the system, the human factor. People forget, get lazy, get busy, etc. It's the same problem with every system, anywhere, run by people!

There are brokerages that still don't list properties in the MLS. They are few and far between, but a few of them still exist. (By the way, if you really don't want your house to get sold, just keep it out of the MLS!)

Builders generally don't list every house they have for sale in the MLS. They'll list, perhaps, one of each model they have. So the MLS always understates the total inventory and seriously understates new construction inventory.

While many For Sale By Owner (FSBO) properties are now in the MLS, many more are still not, relying on the handwritten sign in the yard. Again, this understates inventory.

But for whatever flaws there are, the MLS is the best system we've got. It's as close as I can get to getting a total snapshot of the market at any given time.

John Tuccillo was once the chief economist for NAR, a position currently held by Lawrence Yun. I continue to find John's insights some of the most accurate and enlightening out there.

This post on his web site goes through how we got into this mess and what John sees as the prospects going forward. I think it's one of the best analyses I've seen.

One of the most interesting pieces of this is the third point about how large national home builders began to replace family businesses and how they're driven by different economic realities. It's a piece of this puzzle I hadn't heard before and I think it's right on.

I'll be interested in hearing what you think; what John's gotten right and where your opinion differs.

I heard a story on Marketplace last week about the National Association of Home Builders.

Apparently, they've decided to withholding donating any money to political candidates this year because they believe that Washington has not done enough to take care of the housing crisis.

I applaud their actions while completely disagreeing with their rationale.

Here's hoping every PAC feels the same way and stops donating!

Don't let anyone kid you, PACs donate money in the hopes of influencing policy. Anyone who tells you otherwise is also likely to try and sell you the Brooklyn Bridge. And, if you look at the history of how politicians vote, it's pretty rare to see one vote against the interests of those who have donated large amounts to their campaign.

As far as NAHB's belief that the government has not done enough to help them, I'd be interested in seeing their proposals for what the government should be doing on their behalf.

I believe the government has a role to play in this crisis. I believe they need to make sure that the credit markets stay liquid. I believe it's in everyone's best interests for them to try and help families stay in their homes, so long as they can truly afford them. But I don't see bailing out individual businesses as either desirable or necessary in the current climate.

If the government does what it can on the above two items, if it works to put a floor under the real estate market, the builders, like everyone else in the industry will recover over time.

So, NAHB, please do keep your money, and not only this year! Now if only we can convince some of the other PACs to do the same!

A proffer is an offer of a fixed amount of money from a builder to a county or community, intended to offset the cost of increasing infrastructure to handle the expanding population associated with a new residential development. The amount of proffers varies by county here in Virginia, but here is a sampling:

*For single-family detached dwellings

In theory, proffers are voluntary. In practice it's easy enough for a county to find another reason to turn down a request from a builder for a new subdivision if they don't like the proffer.

Proffers have been in the news here lately because of the largest proffer ever by a builder to a county. Fauquier County briefly thought they'd won the lottery with a $22 million proffer. But that was subsequently withdrawn and negotiations are ongoing.

Proffers are a mixed blessing. Someone does, indeed have to pay for the infrastructure to support all the additional people that move into the new subdivision. There will need to be more schools, hospitals, sewers, firefighters and improved roads. But the builders are businesspeople, not charities, and will likely pass most of that cost on to the ultimate consumer, the purchaser of the home. This drives up the costs of homeownership and hurts affordability. But if not proffers, how do we propose to pay for the infrastructure? I'm not seeing anyone lined up to ask for increases in property taxes!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. It's a hot issue in Virginia and here locally. Who pays for the costs of development and how? Let me know your opinions!