I got a call from a lender yesterday on a deal we're working on together. She's got some potentially bad news for my clients and wanted to let me know the scoop. It's the kind of heads up I very much appreciate!

But she also proceeded to tell me that she wasn't going to call my clients with this information for a couple of days. She wanted to research all the options and have every potential question answered before she called them.

I understand that instinct. It's hard to call someone and know they'll have questions and know you won't instantly be able to answer all of them.

But, I have a basic belief that I shouldn't know something about your transaction that you don't. This is NOT part of the canon of ethics for the National Association of REALTORs. There are plenty of other agents who think this goes a step too far and that in some cases we should be protecting our clients from things they don't really need to know.

But, I don't necessarily appreciate it when other people decide what I should and shouldn't know. I can't believe most of my clients would appreciate that.

In this instance, it's not permanently hiding information from anyone. It's just a couple of days delay in relaying the information. We're not talking about someone doing something immoral or unethical.

Still, it's the kind of thing I struggle with.

So, what do you think? If you're a consumer, do you want to know everything I know as soon as I know it? Would you rather I only told you things when I think you must be informed and that I spare you some of the scary details? If you're an agent or broker,  how do you deal with this question?

There are a couple of big changes in 2008 in Virginia real estate. The first business day of the year seemed like a good time to tell you about them.

First the bad news! Depending on where you're selling a home in 2008, the cost may be going up. That is, the cost of taxes. While the current rate for the grantor's tax, paid by the seller, is $1 per $1000 of the sales price of the home; beginning January 1st, the rate in certain VA localities increased to $5 per $1000. This is to fund transportation initiatives in the Northern VA area. And, as you'd expect, Northern VA is the area generally affected. The counties where this increase is in effect are: Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon and Prince William. The cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park are also impacted.

If you sell a home for $400,000 the tax would go up from $400 to $2000. It's a hard time to be hitting sellers with this. But transportation funding in this region certainly needs a boost.

So, will Fauquier see an increase in buyers as a result of this? After all, those buyers will some day be sellers and they may not want to add that tax burden onto the already significantly higher property taxes of Prince William County for example. Fauquier homes may look like a little better bargain. Time will tell.

The second big change this year is the move from the choice between a disclosure form and a disclaimer form, to one form covering both options. This is very limited good news. Yes, there's one less form. But I'd have liked the Commonwealth to go directly to a disclosure form and eliminated the disclaimer. Virginia's way behind the national trends on this one. Hopefully, this is the first step in a move in that direction.

If you have your home currently on the market, your real estate agent will be getting in touch with you to sign the new form in place of the one you've already signed.

If you've got questions about any of this, let me know. I'd be happy to clarify.

And, Happy New Year to all!

As of July 1st there's a new property disclaimer/disclosure form in the state of Virginia. This form replaces the old forms and has three main changes.

First of all, you must indicate whether or not they are aware of whether the subject property is in a defined historic area.  This would potentially make the property subject to many additional restrictions regarding how the property is used, how it is remodeled, etc. The form instructs potential purchasers to do due diligence to research this for themselves.

Secondly, the owner is representing that there are no enforcement actions pending against the property that effect the safe, decent and sanitary living conditions of the property.

And thirdly a notice that the owner makes no representations as to the whether the property encompasses any Resource Protection Areas pursuant to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. Here again, purchasers are advised to do their own due diligence.

If your home was on the market as of July 1st, it is affected by this change.  The older disclaimer/disclosure forms are no longer valid. So if your house is currently listed and the agent hasn't contacted you about getting the new form signed, give them a call!