Chris Rooker & The Harrisonburg Homes Team's Blog

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 m...

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 th...

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 he...

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...

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, al...

MortgageCroc has a website that holds a plethora of information regarding mortgages and loans. It features a tip of the day, news, articles, lays out the basics of mortgages (credit scores, types of mortgages, amortization schedules, etc.), and is all-in-all a cool looking site. So if you have a...

Sellers — or homeowners looking to receive top dollar when you’re ready to sell — is your home improvement to-do list overwhelming? Now you can prioritize your to-do list! HomeGain has a helpful calculator on their web site to assist you in determining which home improvement projects to work on ...

A new 160-acre real estate development is proposed to be built on the Harrisonburg City / Rockingham County border by the Post Office on the South end of town. This project is awaiting zoning approval, but is likely to get the “OK.” "The complex will include 384 residences in the form of 62 sing...

It is important to have a good credit score and to save money in order to purchase a home — or even just to live comfortably! Here is a fantastic article published by the Washington Post that gives some great tips on how to save money easily this year, and in turn, improve your credit score. Thi...

If you are like me, for every 10 people you meet, one of them will likely be a Rosetta Stone employee. Even though this is already a large and thriving company here in Harrisonburg, they are planning to expand and add 100 new jobs. This is great news in such a dreary economy. Rosetta Stone is loc...