Buying and Selling in Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads is a very military dominated area. Real estate here because of that is very stable. We have recently been ranked 5th most stable real estate market in the country, which should alleviate the anxiety that the media has been putting out there. Nationally, real estate has seen a correction of roughly 10%. Some may have seen more than that, like in the California market, but here locally in Hampton Roads, and especially in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Norfolk, it hasn’t seen much of a correction at all, somewhere around 3%.
The main thing we are seeing right now helping our buyers and sellers is that buyers are asking for closing costs. They are trying to negotiate the price too, but for the most part, they just need their closing costs paid. The main reasoning for that besides being in a Buyer’s Market, is that most of the 100% financing loans out there have gone away, with a few exceptions, and it has become more and more difficult for the average buyer to be able to pay all their closing costs themselves.
For buyers, this is an excellent time, don’t buy into the media hype that it’s unsafe to purchase a home, that will just make issues worse. If you have stable employment, a good mortgage company, and a good loan program that doesn’t allow you to purchase more than what you can afford, you can take advantage of some great deals out there and live in the home until the market turns back around to a seller’s market again. From there you can sell and move up, or just continue to occupy it and reap the benefits of the appreciation and equity to follow.
For sellers, because we are in a buyer’s market, and the inventory of available homes are so great in numbers, you must price your property appropriately. No more pricing 10K above market hoping it will sell, because it will just sit there. The home needs to be in good to great condition too, if it’s not, then you must adjust the price to reflect that. If your home is priced right and is in good condition, and have an agent that will properly market your home for sale, there should be no reason why it won’t sell. The best thing about Hampton Roads is our military and the number of families transitioning in and out of the area constantly. That creates a stream of buyers that will keep coming.
For more information on our local marketplace, and to get some additional info on buying selling, or investing here in Hampton Roads, visit my website at www.JoshSellsVirginia.com