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Events and opportunities you can get involved inAugust Posts a Strong End to the Summer Selling Season
August rounded out the summer market with a strong showing, posting gains in volume of sales, median sold price, and units sold and seeing yet another year-over-year decrease in days on market. Total sold dollar volume was up over 6% over August of last year coming in at $177,669,921. Median price was $295,000 for August of 2017, increasing 5.36% over the $280,000 mark in August of 2016. There were 7 more units sold in August of this year than compared to 2016, coming in at 567 versus 560, representing a modest 1.25% increase. “The market continued strong through the summer and didn’t experience the typical slump that comes with vacations and back to school activities,” commented FAAR Board of Director Sandy Pearce.
Days on market, the amount of time it takes from when a listing enters the market until it has a ratified contract, decreased nearly 25%, going from 65 days in August of 2016 to just 49 days in August of 2017. Inventory continues to be a challenge in our market with yet another month of fewer listings than the previous year. August of 2016 saw 1,763 active listings on the market and August of 2017 had 2.5% less at 1,719. At the current time, there is a 3.54-month supply of available homes, which remains virtually unchanged from July of 2017. A healthy market generally has about a 5-month supply of homes.
A bright spot on the inventory side was the significant increase in new listings coming on to the market. August of 2017 saw a 16.14% increase in new listings, adding 878 new homes compared to 756 in August of 2016. “Inventory remains low but there seems to be a steady stream of listings coming on the market which is good news for buyers who aren’t facing a time crunch,” continued Pearce. “Homes that are priced well and in move-in condition are going under contract very quickly. With interest rates remaining low, it could be an active fall for both buyers and sellers.”
FAAR Announces Endorsements for 2017 State and Local Elections
The Fredericksburg Area Association of REALTORS® (FAAR) announces endorsements for local Board of Supervisors and General Assembly races on the ballot for the November 7th general election. The endorsed candidates represent areas throughout FAAR’s service area of the counties of King George, Caroline, Stafford and Spotsylvania, and the City of Fredericksburg.
“As active members of our local communities, REALTORS® have a strong interest in this year’s elections. I am pleased with the impressive slate of candidates that FAAR has endorsed this year. These individuals will contribute much to our local communities by promoting economic development and protecting homeowners’ rights,” stated FAAR’s 2017 Public Policy Committee Vice Chair Robert Cooper. “FAAR strongly supports each of the candidates endorsed for public office and looks forward to working with these individuals either in Richmond or at the local Board of Supervisors. The real estate industry is an integral part of our local economy and it is vital that REALTORS® help elect candidates who understand those connections and are willing to work with us on issues of importance.”
FAAR has endorsed the following candidates:
General Assembly
Bob Thomas (R-House-28th)
Bobby Orrock (R-House-54th)
Mark Cole (R-House-88th)
Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors
Kevin Marshall (Berkeley)
Gary Skinner (Lee Hill)
Chris Yakabouski (Battlefield)
Stafford County Board of Supervisors
Meg Bohmke (Falmouth)
Sharon Foley (Aquia)
King George County Board of Supervisors
Cathy Binder (Shiloh)
3-Month Extension of NFIP expected to be signed into law tonight
You answered the call! NAR is concluding the Call for Action to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program in light of recent actions by the U.S. Congress. The Senate passed a bill on Thursday with the House expected to follow suit on Friday to extend the program for three months. The President is expected to sign the bill into law. NAR will continue to advocate for a long-term reauthorization.
Well and Septic Addendum Form K1360 Changed
The Well and Septic Addendum, Form K1360, was changed July 1st and was revised again in August. The newest Well and Septic Addendum is in all the various form provider libraries. You need to be aware of the changes that were made.
The Well and Septic Addendum released July 1st continued to provide the option of either the Buyer OR Seller, at their expense, to hire a firm to conduct the initial Septic Inspection. The actual contingency was changed to mirror the home inspection contingency process by creating an inspection deadline, a negotiation period and a buyer’s election period. So either party could conduct and pay for the initial inspection, then the parties negotiate in the case repairs need to be made.
The August form change removed the option to have either the Buyer or Seller pay for and conduct the initial septic inspection. Now the paragraph defaults to the Buyer, at their expense, conducting the septic inspection. You can still have the Seller responsible for the septic inspection, but you would need to add that into the addendum.
The new language is listed below:
2. SEPTIC
B. Septic Inspection Contingency
1. Inspection Period:
This Contract __ is OR __ is not contingent (“Septic Inspection Contingency”) until 9 p.m. ____ Days after the Date of Ratification (“Septic Inspection Deadline”). Buyer at Buyer’s expense and sole risk of damage to the Property shall retain a Virginia licensed and insured septic system installer, operator, onsite soil evaluator or professional engineer to inspect the private conventional septic system (“Conventional System”) or private alternative sewage disposal system (“Alternative System”)(“Septic Inspection”).
Want to hear even more? Don’t miss the FAAR EXPO Sticky Scenarios class where it will be discussed! Register for the expo here
Cast Your Ballot for 2018 Board of Directors and the Contested Affiliate Position
Vote for the 2018 Board of Directors, an affiliate position has been added to the ballot and is a contested election this year.
“Additional candidates for the offices to be filled may be placed in nomination by signed petition of at least twenty percent* of the REALTOR® members. The petition shall be filed with the Secretary (Chief Executive Officer) By August 16, 2017. The Secretary (Chief Executive Officer) shall send notice of such additional nominations to all REALTOR® members before the election.”
(As of 6/30/17 there are 1566 REALTOR® members. 313 names are needed to complete the petition requirement and be sent to FAAR by August 16, 2017.)
Sample Ballot
Slate of Candidates- 2018 Leadership
Election September 13, 2017
FAAR offers electronic voting and the ballot will be sent in an email to each REALTOR® member on August 23. Those who want to vote with a paper ballot can do so by going to the Election table in the Lobby of the Expo at the September 13 Expo from 9 am to 1 pm. Election results will be announced after 2 pm at the Expo on September 13.
Candidates for 2017 Election for the Year 2018
President Kevin McGrath- Long & Foster, Inc.
*President-Elect Drew Fristoe, Coldwell Banker Elite, Massaponax
*Vice President Arlene Mason, Coldwell Banker Elite Realty
Secretary Mark Geslock, Century 21 Redwood
Treasurer Carrie Danko, 1st Choice Better Homes & Land, Fredericksburg
(a two-year term)
Immediate Past President Linda Fosdick, ABR, CRS, GRI- Dockside Realty
Directors- Three candidates for three positions. Select up to three.
__ Pam Kuper, Century 21 New Millennium
__ Clay Murray, Coldwell Banker Elite, Spotsylvania
__ Sandy Pearce, Coldwell Banker Elite, Spotsylvania
Three candidates for 1 affiliate position. Select one.
__ Phillip Blake, MBH Settlement Group
__ Barry Moore, ALCOVA Mortgage
__ Donna Schmidt, American Home Shield
*Please note that Drew Fristoe is now running for 2018 President-Elect. Arlene Mason, the current Vice President, asked that her name not be forwarded for 2018 President-Elect. Due to a family medical issue, Arlene requested that she remain Vice President in 2018 and be considered for the President-Elect position in 2019.
FAAR Contributes to Hurricane Harvey Relief Efforts
On Tuesday, September 5, 2017, the FAAR Board of Directors approved a $1,500 contribution to the Realtors® Relief Fund to assist storm victims impacted by Hurricane Harvey. The Fund was established to provide needy victims of disasters and their families assistance with housing-related needs arising out of disasters. The funds can be used for affected relief and rescue workers as well. The Foundation may elect to provide assistance primarily to victims who are members of the National Association of Realtors®.
If you are interested in donating to the Realtors® Relief Fund, you may click here to access the secure online portal. There are many local and national charities and businesses collecting Hurricane Harvey relief funds, Charity Navigator is a good place to research charities and learn more about their services.
Read the 2017 August FAARside
The FAARside is the quarterly news publication of FAAR and the fall edition contains the 2018 Board of Directors Candidate Bios and the latest happenings at the association. CAUTION: This edition contains the secret to putting a smile on a member’s face! Think you know what it is?
Also in this edition:
- DPOR Credit Carryover Process
- Commercial Corner
- Top 7 Activities on Faarmembers.com
- Thank you RPAC Major Investors
- Building the Foundation of FAAR, One GRANT AT A TIME
- Another Year, Another Successful Clothing Drive
- Sasha Farmer Chosen as Keynote Expoand more!
Download the FAARside (right click and save as to download)
NAR Issues Call for Action on Flood Insurance
The National Flood Insurance Program expires on September 30, 2017. If the program lapses that means no new flood policies and lots of delayed closings. Let’s not let that happen! Answering the call is simple and easy, just click here or on the image below and follow the short instructions. Let’s #SupportNFIP and #FloodtheHouse with lots of Calls for Action from Fredericksburg area Realtors!
FAAR Releases Regional Housing Studies
In mid-2016, FAAR members and leadership returned from a conference energized about what great work other associations throughout the country had accomplished with a National Association of Realtors® (NAR) Smart Growth grant. This grant is available to help local associations partner with local governments and other stakeholders to plan for the population of tomorrow.
FAAR engaged with the local Chamber of Commerce, Fredericksburg Regional Alliance, local governments, and other stakeholders to scope out a regional study. FAAR applied for and received nearly $20,000 in grants from the NAR Smart Growth program and the Virginia Realtors® Issue Mobilization Fund to conduct the study. The studies provide a baseline housing assessment of each locality in our service territory to include the City of Fredericksburg, and the counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania, and Stafford. The studies also include projections for how much housing will be needed in each jurisdiction over the next 15 years.
Beware of a suspicious man…
This is forwarded from a FAAR Broker in the King George area.
Please read the following, and feel free to pass it on to the greater FAAR membership, however you feel it should be presented. I know these sort of incidents do happen, and are broadcast by the association. I trust you will share it as you feel appropriate. Feel free to edit and shorten as necessary.
We had an incident at our office yesterday that I feel we should share with our fellow Realtors. At 4 pm yesterday afternoon, we had a walk-in inquiring about homes for sale in the area. The female agent on duty happened to be solo in the office at the time, a rarer thing during our open business hours. Our facility is in a shopping complex of like business units. At that time of day, there’s people milling about, getting their pizzas at Domino’s, dropping their kids off at The Dance Studio, the Veterinarians, etc. Most businesses are fully open and there’s plenty of parking lot traffic. The following occurred in broad daylight:
The ‘prospect’ asked questions about properties, described what he and his wife were looking for, took a business card, and initiated arrangements to see houses this weekend, and generally behaved as one would expect a prospect to. This was all at our front reception desk, which as you know is immediately within our all glass front. He asked if he could use our restroom, which he did, returned to the front desk, asked for some lender cards, which our agent retrieved from some racks we have just around the corner. He followed her there, which she felt a little uncomfortable with, but they went back to the front desk and he left. Presumably the whole guise of being a buyer was intended to give him opportunity to scope out the office and see if she was alone.
About a minute later he came back in and was acting very odd, nervous, and she knew something was up. He made some comment about he and his wife were ‘swingers’ and maybe she would like to join them, and that we wanted to show our her something. She said “no, I don’t want to see anything, go away” (she thought it might be a gun, thank goodness it wasn’t at least), then he exposed himself. As they were standing near the front door, our agent shoved him literally right out the front door (which was simply her reflex under stress), and he left running down the street. Fortunately, he never touched her in any way and she wasn’t injured.
Our agent immediately called 911. The Sheriff’s Department sent over a Deputy who took a report.
Description of the perpetrator: Black male approximately 5′ 7″, bald, stalky with muscular build about 30-35 yrs old. He was wearing black polyester sport shorts, grey or light green T-shirt.
We are so thankful that it wasn’t more serious, but this incident should also serve to remind all of us who work in this profession that we cannot let our guards down, and should be diligent in ensuring our own safety. There are many resources for doing so, and I encourage everyone to take some time to look into how you can protect yourself from being a victim.