Well folks ... 2015 is a wrap!  We are well into 2016 and, oddly enough, getting prepared for the spring real estate market, which is just around the corner.  But as we march forward through winter, I think it's always important to know where you've been ... to really know where you are going. This seems to be even more important in real estate. So for all those owners and lovers of Fan real estate, here's how what happened in the Fan real estate market (for single family homes) in 2015. As most of you know, I normally do quarterly updates, so I've also included 4th quarter stats.    Q4 2015 2015 Number of Homes Sold 26 116 Average Sales Price $541,460 $564,782 Average Price Per SF $199 $207 Average Sale to List Price 99.3% 98.4% Average Size 2,718 SF 2,730 SF Average DOM 43 41 Highest ... 01/13/2016

I thought this story was awesome and I wanted to share it with anyone that may not have already heard about it on the news. Silvia Hernandez and Raul Torres are the proud new parents of identical triplet girls! How awesome is that? Catalina, Ximena and Scarlett were born at Corpus Christi Medical Center this past Saturday and the odds of that happening are about a million to one! The pregnancy lasted just under 34 weeks and each of the babies weigh 4 lbs., 11 oz.  Although the triplets appear to be in generally good health there is one serious complication; two of the babies (Ximena and Scarlett) are conjoined at the hip. They were transferred to Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi and have already undergone surgery to ensure that their essential body fluids are not blocked ... 01/12/2016

As an industry professional you already know that the slightest change in an interest rate can make a big difference to home seekers. As an example, a 30 year fixed rate mortgage of $150,000 at a 4% rate would equate to a monthly payment of $1,028.62 (P&I only) but the same loan at 5% would amount to $1,117.73 a month. That’s a difference of $89.11 a month for 30 years! The new homeowner would end up paying an additional $32,079.60 over the life of the loan and just imagine how much that would be if it were in an interest bearing account for the same period of time. This is the reason that home buyers are always so interested (or should be) in obtaining the lowest rate when financing their new home. One of the problems that can occur to someone that is trying to qualify for a home loan... 01/11/2016

Obviously the reason that most people, no, ALL people write a blog is to bring attention to themselves. It may be for business or for personal reasons but no one writes a blog in hopes that no one will read it, right? So, if you are writing your blog to be noticed for business purposes where do you draw the line between ethical and not so ethical?  Well, first of all it should go without saying that lying or exaggerating the truth for financial gain is the worst thing that you could ever do. These types of business practices can often be effective for a short period of time but eventually your readers will catch on and in the end you will be right back where you started, actually, worse. In any business reputation is the most important asset that you will ever own and if you ruin this ... 01/10/2016

It’s a fact that the U.S. has the safest drinking water in the world. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the water where you live is completely free of contaminants. Although it may seem counterintuitive the water systems in our country that serve less than a thousand people are usually where problems occur although large cities have also had problems in the past.  The quality of the water coming into our homes is regulated by standards set forth by Congress that are part of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. Many laws have been passed since then in municipalities throughout the country and are often more stringent and more specific than those passed by Congress. Never-the-less the quality of our water is not always what we would like it to be. There are many contaminants that ca... 01/07/2016

Due to all of the restrictions placed on the owner when selling their home as a short sale it’s easy to understand why some people wonder who the seller actually is. It certainly seems that the bank is the true seller considering the fact that they will ultimately be the one to approve (or not approve) a short sale or to accept/reject an offer to buy from interested parties if it gets that far. While it’s true that the bank is in control of the situation it is also true that in reality it is the homeowner that is the actual seller. Why do I say this? Simple. The title stays with the seller until the seller deeds the home to a buyer therefore the homeowner is in fact the actual seller, not the lender. That being said however, it is important to realize that a short sale can never occur w... 01/06/2016

Let’s begin by defining exactly what “passive aggressive” means. Passive aggressive behavior takes many forms but can generally be described as a non-verbal aggression that manifests in negative behavior. It is when you are angry with someone but do not or cannot tell them. A person that possesses this type of personality trait will not confront someone else directly if they are angry at them but will get revenge in ways that the other person often is not even aware of. Instead of asking you why you did something they did not like they are more likely to strike back at you in such a way that many times you won’t even realize who the culprit was. Even though this type of behavior is not usually dangerous to others it can be and it is always disruptive and counterproductive in the workpla... 01/05/2016

If your company did not have an office party during the past holiday season you are not alone. More and more companies are deciding not to have the usual end of year celebration that was so big a part of the American culture in the past.  A recent study performed by the Society for Human Resource Management reveals that almost 1/3 of H.R. professionals surveyed stated that their organization does not have yearend parties for the employees. This is the largest percentage to date since the survey began in 2009. And the reason is not primarily due to financial restrictions as one might assume. Only 6% of the companies surveyed this year cited budgetary retrains as the reason for nixing the traditional office party as compared to 20% back in 2009 and 2010. So if it’s not due to the expense... 01/04/2016

During the recession a long term trend in housing took a bit of a short lived vacation. For decades the internal migration of people from the Northeast and Midwestern portion of the U.S. slowed down considerably. This was due, primarily to the economy. People simply couldn’t afford to make such a dramatic change at that time. Now, however, that is beginning to change and things are returning back to normal.  The Sunbelt has always attracted large numbers of Americans away from other parts of the country and is again beginning to see large numbers of new resident migrating from different areas. Directly after the housing bubble burst Florida actually lost more residents to out of state moves than it gained and Illinois lost about 105,000 residents – the largest migration away from the s... 01/04/2016

Each and every one of us loves our children and we want to give them all that we can. Few things give a parent more joy than seeing their children’s faces light up on Christmas morning when they see all of the wonderful surprises that Santa has left for them. These are memories that we will cherish together for the rest of our lives but did you know that you can give too much? I remember when I was little that I was very fortunate. It seems that I always had everything that I wanted and for me this was a normal part of life. I didn’t realize that not all of the other children were as fortunate as I was. I remember one particular Christmas morning I had opened up what seemed like a thousand gifts from good ole’ Santa and then I said something that made my parents very angry.  I didn’t me... 12/29/2015

According to Dr. Robi Ludwig, a well known psychotherapist, there are actually times that telling a little white lie to someone else just might be the right thing to do. We all know that lying is never good but sometimes the truth can do a lot of damage and it just might be better for everyone involved if we aren’t 100% honest all the time when dealing with other people. What good does it do to tell someone that their Christmas cookies are the worst we’ve ever tasted or that their new haircut looks completely ridiculous? Sometimes it might be best to “sugar coat” what we say to others. Dr. Ludwig gives us four examples of times when it is OK to tell a little white lie: 1. When honesty is brutal and will only hurt the person that you are speaking to, a white lie is probably your best cho... 12/28/2015

From time to time a client will ask me if changing jobs will affect their chances of being approved for a home loan. There have even been a few times they didn’t mention that this was happening until it was too late. The truth is that most of the time lenders don’t like such a drastic change when deciding if a given person is “credit worthy”.  That’s not to say that changing jobs during the application process will automatically result in a denial of your home loan but it does complicate matters greatly and is always a huge red flag to the lender. If there’s one thing that lenders want to see it is consistency. A person that earns an average wage and has worked at the same place for a number of years is considered much less of a risk than a person that has been making “big bucks” at a ... 12/27/2015

Many buyers are surprised to find out that the short sale home they are thinking about buying is being sold in “as is” condition. There is absolutely nothing unusual about this stipulation in a short sale. It’s important for buyers to understand that in most cases they are saving a considerable amount of money when buying a home that is being sold as a short sale and this must mean that someone is taking a loss, in this case, the bank. Believe it or not, depending upon the situation the lender could be allowing the home to be sold for as much as 50% of the amount that is owed by the current owner(s). This is especially possible if property values have dropped significantly in the area that the home is located. Many times in fact that is one of the primary causes of a short sale occurrin... 12/23/2015

Many of us look forward to a healthy Christmas bonus every year at this time depending on our profession and whether we happen to be self employed or not. I don’t know what the “average” bonus is for most workers. I suppose it depends on your industry and level within your particular company but I do know a huge bonus when I see one! How about a $100,000 bonus this year?! That’s exactly what each and every one of the almost 1,400 employees of Hilcorp received this year for their bonus! Hilcorp is owned by billionaire Jeffery Hildebrand and is the largest privately held oil and gas producer in the U.S. Actually this is nothing unusual for the happy workers at Hilcorp. It is, in fact, a tradition that the employees of Hilcorp have come to look forward to. Five years ago workers were give... 12/22/2015

Homebuyer Receives $5,950 Rebate CheckGet a cash back real estate rebate when buying your home. Recently Equity First Realty was proud to give another cash back rebate check to Dr. Wang and his family. This homebuyer took advantage of the Equity First Realty Cashback Rebate Program on a house he purchased in Glen Allen, VA. Since he was a Doctor in the state of Virginia he qualified for our Richmond Virginia Doctor Home Buyer Rebate Program. Want more money in your pocket for closing? How about being able to afford a bigger/nicer Virginia home? You can with Equity First Realty! Now Equity First Realty Gives YOU Cash Back Buyer Rebates at Closing.Buyer rebates give you cash back at closing. If you have ever wondered how cash back rebates work for real estate? Here is the inside scoop…Whe... 12/22/2015

Am I the only one that feels this way? I was quite surprised to discover just how many Americans had to work on Thanksgiving Day and will work this Christmas as well. Is this normal now? When I was a little girl working on the holidays was almost unheard of in most professions. Clearly there are people that must work regardless of what day it is such as firefighters, police, doctors, etc. but is it really necessary for most people? Traditionally convenience stores and gas stations have always remained open for the holidays but even that has been a controversy for a long time. Now, the requirement to work on holidays has spread to many other industries that at one time were not open for business on these special days. This year a full ¼ of American workers are expected to report for work... 12/21/2015

I have written many blogs about countless things but none has touched me more than the one you are reading right now. 4 year old Prestyn Barnette was a bit shy when meeting Santa at the local mall where he lives in Columbia., S.C. At first he asked Santa for a toy train but his next request was one that this mall Santa had never heard before; he asked Saint Nick to pray for a sick baby that he had learned about via his grandmother’s prayer group on Facebook.  Santa then got down and prayed together with little Prestyn. According to his grandmother some of the bystanders also took part in the prayer. Also present that day was Prestyn’s aunt Rebekah and she had the presence of mind to snap a quick photo as her nephew and Santa prayed together. She then posted it on her Facebook and it di... 12/20/2015

That was the announcement made by the FAA just this past Monday. Starting December 21st if you buy a drone either for commercial reasons or simply to have a little fun you will need to register it with the FAA if it weighs 9 ounces or more. If you purchased a drone before December 21st you have 60 days to register but newly purchased drones are illegal to fly until registered.  The FAA states that the reason for registration is to encourage drone operators to behave more responsibly and to know there will be consequences if they do not. This holiday season it is expected that approximately 400,000 drones will be purchased and the FAA has enacted this new legislation just in time for the expected surge in sales. The fee to register will be $5. Although the FAA recommended free registrat... 12/17/2015

It’s something that happens to every parent sooner or later, the dreaded “Is Santa real?” question from our little angel. When I was little Santa Claus was the most exciting part of Christmas and I can remember the first time another child said to me that there was no Santa Claus and that my mom and dad were the real gift givers.  Naturally I didn’t really believe it but I still felt the need for reassurance. My mom laughed and said “The children that don’t believe in Santa are the ones that don’t get any gifts from him”. That was good enough for me and for a while all was right with the world. I can still remember how upset I was when I finally did realize that Santa wasn’t real. The following Christmas just wasn’t the same. We all need to grow up some time but in my opinion the longe... 12/15/2015

Sold in 48 Hours and Closed in less than 30 Days! 8372 Buckard Drive Mechanicsville VA 23111I listed this property on 11/11/2015.In the morning the phone started to light up.We scheduled showings into the early evening.The seller received an offer on 11/13/2015 afternoon that proved to be worth accepting.As much as I like seeing homes sell, I realized that Equity First Realty's Marketing did a a 5 Star job Currently inventory is relatively low in many parts of Virginia.If you've been thinking of selling, it might be a good time to call the Marcus Rice Team to see what your home is worth in todays market. We offer HD Video/Pics, Drone Video/Pics, Open Houses and amazing internet marketing and over two decades of experience.                      Save Thousands of Dollars When Selling Your... 12/15/2015