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Harrisonburg, VA Real Estate News

By Kai Degner
(Rocktown Realty (Harrisonburg))
See all the homes for sale in Harrisonburg: luxury homes, starter homes, single-family residences, townhouses, duplexes - find them right here! Use the search below to narrow down your choices and click on the property for more information - it's easy! Please feel free to contact me for more information about properties of interest to you!
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By Kai Degner
(Rocktown Realty (Harrisonburg))
Search all properties in Harrisonburg or the rest of the Shenandoah Valley. Contact me for information about any of these properties, or - if you are tired of searching yourself - just use this form and tell me to search for you!
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By Kai Degner
(Rocktown Realty (Harrisonburg))
Yesterday, we looked at townhouses under $150,000, and today we'll highlight single-homes under $200,000 in Harrisonburg. Many of these homes are available for terrific prices in today's buyers market, so it's quite possible you can get more than you pay for by being a savvy home buyer or investor. Many of these could be good options for starter homes for people interested in entering the world of home ownership! Interested in seeing a property or learning more? I'm happy to talk with you! Contact me today.
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By Kai Degner
(Rocktown Realty (Harrisonburg))
If you are in the market for an affordable townhouse in Harrisonburg, you're in luck: there are dozens of townhouses for sale under $150,000 right now! Most of these multi-story townhouses have at least 2 bedrooms and bathrooms and ready for a new owner. While there are also townhouses priced higher, there a number of great values available $150,000 at this moment. Use the map below to see where they are, and click on any icon for more information.
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By Kai Degner
(Rocktown Realty (Harrisonburg))
I've spoken with a number of peope over the last few weeks who say, "I've been searching online forever," but they are never satisfied with their results.  However, when I do a custom search using the super-duper property search tool I have access to as a real estate agent, there is always a handful of properties that the self-searcher has never found. Searching alone online can be a frustrating experience - but it doesn't need to be!  Hire a buyer's agent like me, and I'll do an custom search for exactly what you need and give you a full report with information and pictures about what properties fit your interests.  Then, we can wittle down the choices and put together your own personal tour of homes! Just fill out this short form and we'll get started today - yesterday, someone filled...
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By Kai Degner
(Rocktown Realty (Harrisonburg))
Thursday night has become synonymous with "Salsa Night" for many dancers seeking an outlet for their talents. The Artful Dodger attracts the range of novice to seemingly professional salsa dancers ($5 cover charge). And there are free salsa lessons from 8:30-9:30pm each night! This lets you learn the basic steps at a slow pace before the music and fun starts to speed up. And, if you're like me (i.e. can't dance salsa!), it is still entertaining to watch those who know what they're doing. The best ones show up sometime after 10pm. See www.SalsaBurg.com for information about special event.
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I recently watched an episode of Sesame Street with my toddler, and on it was a bird real estate agent, Freddy Flapman, doing business with Big Bird. The show was all about habitats, and this bird real estate agent was trying to sell Big Bird on moving to a different habitat than Sesame Street. Watch this clip on Sesame Street's website to see what I'm referring to. To sum it up, Freddy Flapman was showing Big Bird different habitats that birds live in, and trying to convince him to move away from Sesame Street. The beginning of the clip shows Big Bird having fun and enjoying his day on Sesame Street. He was then approached by the bird real estate agent, Freddy Flapman. At first, I was put off by how the agent was portrayed... as a pushy salesman. But later, I realized that he was just ...
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By Chris Rooker
(Kline May Realty)
Normally here on ActiveRain, we like to post about issues geared towards agents, since that is a large portion of the audience here -- for our local commentaries, statistics, and musings, go to Harrisonblog -- but this local tidbit couldn't go unpublished! For those of you who don't know all the restaurants in Harrisonburg like the back of your hand, especially those who have just relocated, you will find this restaurant guide extremely helpful. It is filterable, too, which makes it so easy to find the restaurant of choice on any given day. In the mood for Greek food on a small budget? Fine dining in Downtown Harrisonburg? Fast Food by the Mall? The possibilities are endless, and the developer of this tool is continually adding more to it. We're impressed. Check out the Harrisonburg Foo...
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It is amazing how relatively easy it is to get a real estate license. Okay, so there is a lot of studying and testing, but then what? When you pass, are you automatically qualified as a good agent? In a word... NO! Agents should have systems in place for gathering referrals, leads, forms to use (and when to use them), checklists for getting things done between contract signing to closing and beyond, listing presentations, advertising campaigns, social networking, blogging, the list goes on. Not all agents have these systems in place, and those that do, aren't always able to implement them well. So if you are looking to buy or sell a home, do your homework! Search for the right agent for you. Make sure they "know their stuff," have some experience in working with both buyers and sellers,...
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The Harrisonburg area is blessed with lots of online activity, meaning that highly tech savvy folks in our area have devoted much of their lives to providing locals with up-to-date news, happenings, issues, events, etc. in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. If you are looking for this type of information at your fingertips (instead of, say, waiting around for the evening news), head on over to www.hbblogs.com (Harrisonburg Blogs) -- a real-time feed of a variety of blogs in the area. When someone puts up a new blog post in the area, it will feed into this site! A very small sampling of blogs that feed into Harrisonburg Blogs: Harrisonblog - The Harrisonburg Homes Team blog HburgNews - Harrisonburg News We Will RockDem - A discussion page for free-thinking individuals throughout the She...
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Whether you've been using Twitter for a few days, or a few months, or a year, you know that it is important to strategize who you follow on Twitter. Why follow people that will offer you no benefit? Here are some folks that we follow on Twitter, and we've found them to be extremely helpful, influential, and inspiring in one way or another. -------------------------------------------------------- @mashable: The hottest Twitter news, Twitter tips and Twitter help. Plus, the best social media links around! This Twitterer is constantly sending out helpful blog posts about social media, networking, and the latest news with both. The posts are written by different experts in the social media field, and every post is helpful and informative in one way or another. You will get lots of great tip...
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By Chris Rooker
(Kline May Realty)
Twitter is a (free) social networking platform where users can post 140-character texts updates. You can follow others, others can follow you, and you see the updates from those who you are following. Insert links if you like, or simply write about what you are doing or how you are feeling at the moment. It's called micro-blogging, and it is brilliant! Here is why real estate agents should use Twitter, and use it often! Send updates to your followers. Short and sweet messages about what you are doing will usually interest your followers. They choose to follow you, so they want to hear from you! A good example would be "Just got my 5th lead today through my web site. Yes!!" It shows that you are a top notch agent who is getting business. A bad example would be "On the toilet. Back in 5."...
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By Chris Rooker
(Kline May Realty)
**posted by List Oates, Marketing Director of The Harrisonburg Homes Team at Kline May Realty in Harrisonburg, VA** Ah yes... blogging! I first started blogging a few years ago on a personal blog. I was convinced by some friends that I needed to blog, especially since I was pregnant at the time and needed to be able to post my feelings (and of course, photos) of my new experience as a mother. After having my daughter, I started my career in real estate. Then I got to go pro in my blogging, so to speak. There is a change that occurs when you start blogging. You see things differently throughout each day. You notice the details. "Ooooh, I could blog about that!" you declare to yourself. That is a great thing! Keep your mind turned on for blog food. It isn't just about posting regularly, i...
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Our brokerage, Kline May Realty, created a short list of FAQ's regarding the new First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. We are passing these out to home buyers to educate them on this exciting new credit.   If I have owned a home in the past, but don't own one now, can I be considered a first time home buyer? Yes, in some cases. If you have not owned your primary residence in the past three years, you will qualify for the credit as a first time home buyer.   What is the maximum credit I am eligible to receive? The lesser of $8,000 or 10% of the sales price of the home.   What types of properties are eligible? All types, including townhomes and condominiums, as long as the home is your primary residence.   How do I get the credit if I am eligible? When you file your 2009 tax return, the credi...
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By Chris Rooker
(Kline May Realty)
The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales rose 6.5 percent from November 2008 to December 2008. This a rare bit of good news for the national real estate market, which saw a drop in sales prices around 15% in from 2007 to 2008. Read more here. The local real estate market found its way into a front-page story in the Daily News-Record. The gist of the story is the same as one of our recent blog posts: home prices are stable in the Harrisonburg area. In that post I complained rather pointedly that such positive news does not often get highlighted by the local media. So I was pleased to see this! But I would have liked to see it above the fold. (Am I too demanding?)
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By Chris Rooker
(Kline May Realty)
Maybe. It is certainly a buyer’s market, which means that home buyers have the advantage in negotiations, as well as a broad range of choices. However, since it is a difficult market for sellers, our team’s counsel to inquiring would-be buyers is that they need to be reasonably confident that they will live in the home for a minimum of three years, preferably longer. (For certain properties, renting rather than selling is quite feasible.) For most people, this means they need to have job security. If there are rumors of major layoffs where you work, it would probably be best for you to take a pass on home ownership for now (or leveraging yourself any further). But if you ARE prepared to “buy and hold,” it is hard to imagine a better time and place to buy real estate than here in Harris...
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By Chris Rooker
(Kline May Realty)
The Daily News Record reported today that a real estate developer out of Charlottesville, Virginia, will be going in front of the Harrisonburg City Council this evening to propose a 66-apartment project on 2 acres to be developed in Downtown Harrisonburg. "A developer will seek City Council’s help tonight to get state financing for a proposed downtown four-story, 110,000-square-foot building for apartments and commercial space." Read more about this proposal here.
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By John Knauf
(Valley Realty Associates)
Everything is new this year for our firm. We have dropped our affiliation with a major brand and gone independent. It is our hope that the huge sum of money we were paying monthly to be associated with a brand can now be used to promote our new brand, "Valley Realty Associates." We have downsized to accomodate the more challenging market, but have increased our level of client service. Our business is now more focussed than ever on client referrals. Focussing on client referrals makes us even more dedicated to providing the highest level of service possible. And yes, I realize the everyone promises the same thing, but we are making every effort possible to be available, to be professional, ethical, and ready to earn our clients' trust and in doing so, earn the highest compliment possibl...
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By Chris Rooker
(Kline May Realty)
As I wrote in a post a couple of days ago, home prices in the Harrisonburg area did not drop significantly in 2008. When I ask friends and clients how much they think prices have dropped, on average, from 2007 to 2008, the answer is reliably between 10% and 25%. On a $250,000 home, that would be $25,000 to $62,500! They are probably basing this guess on what they have heard and read in the news. Indeed, many cities across America had year-over-year declines in that range. When I tell them that prices in the Harrisonburg area have dropped less than one-half of one percent — their jaws drop. Often, their next thought is that something must be fishy with the data. For instance, if proportionally fewer homes sold in the lower price ranges, and proportionally more homes sold in the higher p...
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There’s no glossing over the fact that 2008 was a difficult year to get a home sold. The demand for homes decreased due to tightening loan requirements (which is largely a good thing) and a rather poignant feeling of caution among buyers. The sharply receding economy has produced those fears, along with bad news reports about the real estate market in particular. Supply levels have been boosted — at least nationally — by job losses and foreclosures. (But click here to see a previous post about low unemployment and foreclosure rates in the Harrisonburg area.) As a result, home sales in the area decreased significantly… Homes sold in 2007: 1,248 Homes sold in 2008: 932 That’s a drop of 25% from one year to the next. There was a similar drop in the total dollar amount of sales — the sum t...
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