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Are the Stars Finally Aligning? Strange Real Estate Happenings

Star Gazers-Strange Real Estate Happenings Yesterday my clients ratified a contract for a new home. We had looked gone through about 15 homes in Prince William County, including the graffiti house, before landing on one that had all the right stuff.

When I turned in a copy of the contract to our office administrator, she looked it over and asked me if I was sure about the deal. I smiled and said "YES I'm sure."

I dropped a copy of the contract off at the settlement company. They looked it over and asked me if I was sure about the deal. I smiled and said "YES I'm sure."

The home inspector is scheduled for next week and as he was confirming the appointment he asked if I was sure about the deal. I smiled and said "YES I'm sure."

Why does everyone keep asking me if I'm sure?

The contract is for a seller owned property. Not an REO, not a short-sale, no strange addendums, not a thousands cross outs and counter-offers. A house priced fairly for the market combined with responsive seller equaled a contract ratified in less than 12 hours! Whew I'm not even sure if I remember what to do with one of these. I think I have a processing sheet some where that lists all of the steps of a normal sale.

"YES I'm sure" and I'm jumping for joy to end the year with a little bit of normalcy. Hopefully we will all see a few more of these as we turn the pages on the calendar to 2009.

Posted by Cindy Jones-Northern Virginia Real Estate & Military Relocation Services on 12/13/2008 10:52 AM

Comments (43)

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43 Comments on Are the Stars Finally Aligning? Strange Real Estate Happenings

DEC

2008

I just love those "plain vanilla" sales. Of course, there's always some small glitch but it'll be a cake walk compared to the other mess.

Cindy, I think with so many falling through people in the business are getting a little shell shocked. Congrats!

Cindy, what used to be the normal is now the exception. Very weird!!

We are very busy right now with sales as usual....my company did more transaction sides than any other office last year and we have yet to list but 1 bank owned proeprty (as a favor to my own bank) in 7 years and done 0 short sales....

Congratulations. I wish everyone the best....

Cindy... are you sure??? lol Maybe the house is on wheels and won't be there in a few weeks.. lol Seriously, it is nice and refreshing when a plan comes together without a hitch...

On another note... I will be down in the DC area on the 21st and 22nd... I am going to put together an AR gathering together for noon on the 22nd... I might be staying in Annapolis... or in that area. Would love to finally meet you..

jeff belonger

Cindy, I commented to a seller today that he was lucky his home sold in such a short time. The foreclosures and short sales are flooding the market. Not all the good buys are bank owned or in preforeclosure status. Great post.

DEC

Ken-I'll hope that none of the glitches come close to foreclosure messes I've been in this year.

Tim and Pam-I've had one that fell apart on settlement day and I walked around in a daze for a week.

Gary-yes but I've learned a lot from the "normal" sales this year and so I'm hoping this one is smooth sailing.

Julie-There are agents here who have made their living this year on REO and short sale properties. They have created mega teams and are processing the properties by the 100's. I wonder what happens to their business when this mess is over.

Jeff-hmmm I'll have the home inspector check for those wheels!

Kay-in this market if a home is priced right buyers will check buy them. It is the ones that I see that are priced 100K over the comps that I know will be sitting for awhile.

I can't imagine why everyone keeps asking if you're sure about a deal. It must be something in the water in Woodbridge VA, LOL.

Congratulations on the impending sale. Maybe it was due to the full moon?

Maybe it's all the other people that need to be reminded what a normal sale looks like!

Well done! I hope it's the sign of a growth in confidence, too.

Vickie-considering that a large percentage of the sales in Woodbridge have been foreclosures this year it is a rare find to work directly with sellers!

Lorrie-full moon, clear sky orthe holiday spirit. No matter what or who we give credit to my clients are excited.

Bridget-I think we are all so shell shocked with working with foreclosure properties and the paperwork that our standard 24 page contract looks so simple now.

Li-our inventory is certainly coming dowm right not. Plenty of people are buying and if the interest rates stay at a reasonable level I hope that those who have been hesitating will decide to join in on some of the deals.

Cindy, great post !!! That was a lot of negative energy out there that you faced !!! Or maybe just shock ! Im sure for you as well ! Great job and great work !

We are still selling in Iowa. Working on a sale still tonight, hopefully we will get all the papers signed sealed and delviered tonight. Will show some homes again tomorrow. When the going gets tough the tough get going!

Christopher & Stephanie-I think we have become so accustomed to the foreclosures in our area that we almost faint at the sight of a for sale with "real owner".

A "real" seller is the BEST kind of seller. Way to go, Cindy!

Kathy-Glad to hear that things are going well for you in Iowa. I was out again today with other buyers and we are taking a second look at a property tomorrow for a potential offer. And it isn't a foreclosure either :-)

Cindy - that is awesome! Here is for more smooth sailing for 2009. ~Rita

Congratulations on the sale. Are you sure they don't know something you do not !? ;)

DEC

There are always those transactions that go against the grain, that dont seem to make 100 percent sense but they always happen. Its just human nature I suppose, congrats on the sale.

Rita-I'm pushing my luck at the end of the year. I'm going to write another offer on a normal resale tomorrow. I think I may faint :-)

Lauren-they have to get out their checklists too as we are all so used to dealing with foreclosures this year.

Morgan-there were times in the "good old days" when we would have thought of the foreclosures as the unusual sale instead of the other way around.

Wishing you a smooth closing. I think I'll adopt your saying "Yes I'm Sure"... I can sell your home. "Yes I'm Sure" .... I can find a home for you!

Marjorie-great attitude. Positive thinking helps get the job done!

DEC

Aloha Cindy and congratulations on having a normal transaction! You are so right when you say that it is no longer the norm to have something as simple as a seller owned home that is not a short sale and is priced at fair market value. We are lucky here on Oahu as the majority of neighborhoods fall into that category although we have some neighborhoods that have many, many short sales and REO's. I hope this a good head start for a successful 2009 in Virginia.

Are you sure you are jumping for JOY??? I bet you are. I would guess this year no one could make a solid commitment to anything, so you are fortunate to have an easy sale at the end of the year, congratulation to you.

Cindy... are you SURE about this post? Cause I've seen post, that at the last minute turn into a proxy server problem... you think everything's okay... and suddenly WHAM-O... "PROXY".

David-since I have never been considered "normal" myself the fact that I found a transaction that is is almost beyond belief. Appraisal has been done and home inspection tomorrow. Oh joy :-)

Mary-yes it is a great way to end the year. By the way my mom was born in raised in Viola WI just down the road. I had some relatives in Viroqua but can't remember which ones. Small world :-)

Alan-it could be a holigram. I'll let you know when we get to closing whether it was real or just another day on the Star Ship Enterprise.

Cindy: Although I could bore you with a million reasons why things could get worse, It think thats why it is going to get better. Contrarian opinion!

Good Luck, I am sure your deal is good.

Richard

DEC

Normal is GOOD. Sometimes a deal comes along that is just smooth sailing, and what a delight those are! Congratulations!

JAN

Cindy,

You "surely" have done what it takes to get this far with the sale. Great going. :)

Steve

Steve-we are scheduled to go to closing on Friday. So far no glitches!

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