Roanoke Real Estate Blog

Looks like I’ll be working longer into retirement…How about you?

The Wilson Team — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:48:10 +0000

I saw this brief article on Inman News this morning and it rang a bell for me. If you had asked me 20 years ago when I would retire, I would have proabably said “55-60″. Well, I am approaching 60 and I probably will not retire until I am in my late 60’s at this point (I hope). According to this article, at least I am not alone! It seems that we all underestimated the effect of the various stock market crashes due to the S&L fiascos, the dot com busts, the Big Bank debacles, and the real estate crash that we are still experiencing today on our retirement plans. We were all fooled into believing that the booms would go on forever and even when things turned down, they wouldn’t really effect our retirement since we had plenty of time to recover….. Right!

While most of us “Boomers” will be fine in retirement, it is obvious that it won’t be what we envisioned 20 years ago. We will be working longer, living in smaller homes, travelling less and generally being more conservative…..Maybe this won’t be so bad after all!

Check out this article for more info on the retiring of the boomers.

Beth Wilson Voted “Best Real Estate Agent” IN SW Roanoke County

The Wilson Team — Thu, 06 May 2010 18:17:55 +0000

Beth Wilson of The Wilson Team and RE/MAX Valley, REALTORS was voted the Best Real Estate Agent in SW Roanoke County by the readers of the Roanoke Times, SWOCO edition. The readers vote for their favorite things in SW Roanoke County and Beth was Number 1. You can check out the entire list at the following link: http://blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/swoco/2010/04/30/best-of-swoco-2010/

Real Estate is on the Upswing! Buy Now!

The Wilson Team — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:18:46 +0000

Read this great article on Inman News about the positive outlook for real estate. Click Here.

New Lead Paint Renovation Rule Will Increase Costs of Repairs and Renovations

The Wilson Team — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:39:37 +0000

The new EPA Lead Paint Renovation rule goes into effect on April 22, 2010. This ruling requires that all renovations, repairs, or painting on pre-1978 housing units or facilities regularly occupied by children be conducted by contractors that are licensed in safe lead handling practices. If the area disturbed in greater than 6 sq. ft. in the interior or 20 sq. ft. on the exterior, the lead safe rules apply. Even using a paint scraper on a wall where paint is peeling causes the rule to be applied. There are few exceptions, such as, a homeowner can do repairs and renovations themselves as long as it is “not for compensation”. A tenant can paint in a rental unit under the same rule, but if the landlord reduces the rent for the work, the rule applies. Failure to follow the rules can result in a fine of, up to, $37,500 per occurrence.
One of the most frequent and cost effective upgrade to a home has been replacement windows. These are specifically covered and must be done by a certified contractor. Remember that the fine is $37,500 per occurence and that means you could be fined $375,000 for ignoring the rules in replacing windows in a typical home.

In testimony March 11, 2010 before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Connecticut remodeler Bob Hanburystated that roughly 79 million homes constructed before 1978 are subject to the Lead Renovation, Repair and Repainting Rule. Renovations on these homes, including energy-efficiency upgrades, must be done by contractors who have been certified by EPA in lead-safe work practices. EPA has estimated that more than 236,000 remodelers, window installers, painters, heating and air-conditioning specialists and other trade contractors must be trained to ensure compliance with the rule. These contractors must complete eight hours of training, pay a certification fee, and employ lead-safe work practices in homes built before 1978 where children or pregnant women are present. However, EPA has been slow to approve trainers to offer the courses, and in some states there are still no approved trainers. As a result, only about 14,000 people have been certified to date.
With only 135 firms throughout the country approved to offer the training courses, it will be impossible for the remaining contractors to complete the required training before the April 22 deadline.

This new rule is very complicated so watch here for more updates on this new rule that could add $100’s to $1000’s of dollars renovation jobs. For a look at the EPA’s new booklet, “Renovate Right”, click here.

Budget Situation in Virginia is Dire!

The Wilson Team — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:55:19 +0000

I just returned last night from a lobbying trip to Richmond for the Roanoke Valley Association of REALTORS. After hearing the briefings from our state lobbyists and talking with several of our local legislators, it is obvious that Virginia and all the localities are is for a very tough time. The words that were used by the legislators were: “tsunami”, “catastrophe”, “massacre”, etc. Gov. McDonnel issued his proposed cuts to the budget on Wednesday and it was as devastating as expected. There were numbers being thrown around of 25-50,000 teachers being laid off, medicaid cuts (which doesn’t make a lot of sense, since there are matching dollar form the federal government for these funds), furloughing state employees 5 days per year, more cuts to the higher education centers that help the more rural areas without multiple universites (like Richmond), and so on and so on and so on!
There are no proposals for increasing state funding (read that as taxes) since the Govenor and many of the legilators used the “No Tax” pledge in their campaigns. It seems that we can fund re-opening of rest stops(another campaign pledge), but not school breakfasts. If you would like to see a list of all the proposed cuts, you can read them here from an article in the Washington Post.
With the “no tax” pledges that have been used in many campaigns, there is no real and lasting solution to the budget crisis. And, yes, it is a crisis.
The consensus from the Democrats in Richmond that we talked with was that tax increases are the only way to get out of this mess. The Republicans continue to propose cuts in spending and hoping that the economy will improve. I don’t know which group is right, but it would be nice if our legislators would worry more about the citizens of Virginia than just their re-election campaigns and try a little bi-partisanship to look at solutions to this problem. Oh well, maybe the state should just buy more of its own lottery tickets!

It’s Tax Time…Don’t forget the new tax law changes!

The Wilson Team — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:35:54 +0000

Here’s a great article written by Eileen Ambrose from RISMEDIA today about the changes to the tax laws.
“Fortunately, many of the new tax breaks are credits, which are better than a deduction because they reduce your bottom-line tax bill dollar-for-dollar. So before you fill out your return, here’s a refresher on some of the key tax breaks this season: more “

Virigina Year End Sales Statistics

The Wilson Team — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:06:55 +0000

The Virginia Association of REALTORS just released the year and 4th quarter sales statistics. You can get the full report here. This is one of the best and easiest to understand compilation of data anywhere.

….and you think homes are expensive in Roanoke?

The Wilson Team — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:21:11 +0000

‘Skinniest House’ Sells for $2.1 million
A property dubbed New York City’s skinniest house sold recently for $2.1 million.The two-story Greenwich Village property is 9.5 feet wide and 42 feet long and has two bedrooms and two baths. The townhouse was listed last August for $2.7 million by Alex Nicholas, senior vice president of the Corcoran Group. It last sold in 2000 for $1.6 million. It is now for rent for $10,000 per month. Source: The Associated Press (01/13/2010)

For this price you can buy 10 average homes in Roanoke and have money left over for things like food, electricity, etc. Based on our average home, you could have thirty bedrooms, 20 baths, and probably 30 garage spaces. I think I would much rather live in Roanoke anyway. See the post below!

Roanoke VA Named One of Best Places to Live & Work by Money Magazine

The Wilson Team — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:37:09 +0000

Roanoke (Cave Spring) was named as the #9 best place in the conutry to look for a job. It was also named in the top 100 best places to live in the country. See the full article here.

Real Estate Investors Returning to Market

The Wilson Team — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:27:12 +0000

According to this article by Broderick Perkins on Realty Times, Savvy investors are always the first to jump in a potentially profitable housing market and a new survey indicates things are heating up.
More than 12 percent of homebuyers today plan to purchase a home as an investment, compared to less than half, only 5.6 percent, just seven months ago,…..More