Northern Virginia Real Estate Blog,
Carolyn Capalbo

In a press release announcement this week Fannie Mae has taken a sharp stance against those borrowers that walk away from their obligations and pursue what the industry has termed a Strategic Default.  Fannie Mae would ban those borrowers from obtaining a new Fannie Mae backed mortgage for 7 years and take legal action to pursue deficiency judgments to collect outstanding mortgage debt against those in states that allow deficiency judgments.  In that same statement Fannie Mae also expressed that some distressed borrowers who seek work out options with their servicers could be eligible for a new Fannie Mae backed mortgage in 2 to 3 years. 

It has been interesting reviewing blogs and conversations on this subject.  The feedback is mixed.  There

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Confucius said “He who will not economize will have to agonize.”  These words ring very true today.  An alarming trend is continuing.  I read that consumer debt rose again last month.  In a time when foreclosures are on the rise and the US economy is poised for another potential dip, climbing consumer or credit card debt is not good news.   The economy reported growth last month; however, is current consumer spending relying on credit, instead of income growth, to expand the economy?  This underlying trend will keep us from a true recovery as we put off debt reduction and spur growth on borrowed dollars.  Income must rise again to allow healthy consumer spending to return.   Households should be taking a conservative approach to ride this troubled

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The future of a historic Northern Virginia landmark is looking uncertain, as developers fail to find volunteers willing to take responsibility for its long term survival.

The Broad Run Tollhouse and bridge, in Loudoun County, was among the first buildings to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places back in 1970, but now the site, which has fallen into disrepair, may be facing something of a bleak end.

Built in 1820, the bridge and original tollhouse served travelers using a section of the Leesburg Turnpike, from Alexandria to the Shenandoah Valley. Although tolls were removed in 1924, the bridge remained in use up until the late 1940s, after which users crossed Broad Run by a newly constructed steel span. The distinctive old stone bridge escaped…

Here's a brief video clip!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNQiva0U1LA

Those that know me know that there's another Carolyn Capalbo out there; one with a notorious daughter. This little fact has complicated my life, particularly online, where the other Carolyn Capalbo dominates the search results when users type in my name.

To help me get my name back, Real Estate Webmasters and a wonderful community of Realtors have pitched in to help by having a contest to help me rank higher in the search engines.

The response has been amazing, with realtors from around the country showing their support by blogging and spreading the word online. To all those who participate, thank you so much! As you know, reputation means a lot in the real estate industry, and I'm so grateful to get mine back.

Taking a break or a window of opportunity!

Buyers are taking a break!  Unbelievable as it may seem, just 2 weeks ago, buyers were stepping all over each other, offering higher than ask and appraised value for homes and battling it out in multiple offer situations to capitalize on the Governments tax credit.  And now, it appears that buyers are taking a break.  Showings have dropped by 40% on our current inventory.  We have homes available without any offers for purchase.  That would have been unheard of just 2 weeks ago.  Interest rates are still amazing!!  So how much has the promise of a tax credit influenced the buyer market? 

If you are a person waiting to purchase a home; NOW is the time to act.  If an $8000 tax credit is the only

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Seller’s market continues in Northern Virginia.  As the spring market heats up, we are still facing an inventory shortage here in Northern Virginia.  First time home buyers have less than 30 days to find and contract on a home to have a chance at qualifying for the tax credit.  Many step up buyers also face the clock to qualify for possible tax credits.  In addition, lending is getting tighter and tighter.  FHA guidelines are changing and requirements for homebuyers are becoming more challenging.  If you are purchasing a home and have not reviewed your qualifications in the past week or two, it is imperative that you do so to confirm your qualifications.  With local inventory still so dramatically low below $400,000, it is very important to work

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The following is really important information I received courteously of Mike Farrell at Bank of America that I would like to share with all of you:

 

Hopefully you are watching the news or reading the paper daily.  The economy continues to throw things out daily that have a direct impact on our customers and our business.  Let’s discuss this:

 

In a rare intra-meeting move, the Federal Reserve increased the DISCOUNT rate from 0.25% to 0.75% late yesterday afternoon.  The discount rate is the rate the Fed charges a bank for an emergency loan.  This move was done to wean the banking system off of government credit and encourages them to borrow from private sources.  The governing body cited improvement in the financial sector as the reason for the

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I was doing a little research on line today trying to find updated information comparing short sales versus foreclosures and bankruptcy.  I ran across some interesting investor sites and investor written materials that alarmed me greatly.  The advice given on these sites were to have homeowners work directly with investors to short sale their homes and NOT contact Realtors.  The investors warned against high Realtor fees and said that the banks did not want to work with Realtors because of their commissions.  Several sites boasted that the banks understood investors better and preferred to work with investors over agents.  In addition, one site in particular stated that the banks understood that the investor would need a 15% to 20% profit margin on

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HUD will approve financing on a property that had been previously purchased and rehabbed within the past 90 days.  This is great news for investors and first time buyers alike.  For our FHA buyers out there, this means no more waiting for an investor flip to be eligible for FHA financing.  It has been frustrating to see investor flips only going to those with conventional loans and/or VA loans.  Since over 80% of our first time buyer market is pre-approved for FHA financing this is a huge win and opportunity for our investors and buyers alike.  It could also allow for investors to either, improve their profit margins or increase their initial purchase prices and purchase more homes since their holding costs will go down significantly.  Our buyers out there…