FC Realty

Big Cracks Over Door Frames

Susan Krancer, Your Ford's Colony Connection! (Ford's Colony Realty) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:42:32 -0700

Hi, All! I am working with buyers who have taken early occupancy in the home they are under contract to buy. The home inspector suggested a structural engineer to evaluate cracking over one of the door frames. Engineer said it was normal and nothing to worry about. During the walk through before they took occupancy, they saw another crack in a different place that looked worse than the first. So, they called the engineer back. He went into the crawl space. "Blessed" the foundation. Said it wasn't a structural issue. Then proceeded to describe a complicated "fix" should this come back again. Buyers were not happy, but willing to accept. Now, they found the crack in this photo hidden behind the curtain. Either the home inspector didn't see this or it's a new one. This home was built in 2005 by a reputable builder. Buyers feel seller should pay to "fix" not patch these issues using the fix described by the structural engineer. By the way... $725K! Seller feels that buyers had their inspections, moved into the house, and it's all over but the accounting (closing next week). Other agent feels that walk throughs are not the time to evaluate these sort of issues, and the buyers have no right to make any demands at this point. What would you do? Obviously it's my job to support my buyers. And, in their position, I would be equally upset. They have retained a lawyer in case this gets ugly. I welcome your comments and thoughts here.

Gated Security - Are your buyers willing to pay for this?

Susan Krancer, Your Ford's Colony Connection! (Ford's Colony Realty) — Mon, 07 May 2012 03:45:39 -0700

I live in an area where we do have a few gated golf communities. Sometimes, the buyer prospects balk at this. They don't feel they get enough value for the extra cost and they also see the "gated" concept as bit "snooty". However, in some of the communities, security is a lot more than just controlling access. Take a look at this summary written by the chair of the security committee in Fords Colony, Williamsburg, VA.... Click Here

How unusual is this housing market, anyway?

Susan Krancer, Your Ford's Colony Connection! (Ford's Colony Realty) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 07:14:56 -0800

I'm sure many of you have been selling real estate for a long time. You've been through "ups and downs" before. But, can you ever remember a market like this? Here's a home price chart that illustrates perfectly the oddity of the current market. This chart shows nominal and inflation adjusted home prices from 1970 to the present. (click for a larger version). This really puts it all into perspective. I put together some data for our market in Williamsburg, VA. Our market hasn't behaved quite the same way. We did see the sharp run up in prices, but we didn't see prices fall as sharply... (even though most of our sellers will disagree!). Since we are a retirement destination, our population isn't like the norm. We don't have as many "motivated" sellers here, and they haven't responded to the downturn in the way you might expect. Our sales volume has dropped tremendously because our prices have not responded to the market pressures. How has your market behaved? Were your price moves more like the national chart? Do you think we have hit the bottom? When are you projecting that we will see a recovery? I'm expecting to see us bump along the bottom for quite some time, but I would love to be surprised on the upside!

So, How Do You Sell A Building Lot in This Market?

Susan Krancer, Your Ford's Colony Connection! (Ford's Colony Realty) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 07:25:46 -0800

Hi, All, I'm a real estate agent in Williamsburg, VA, and during my career, I have sold lots of building lots. However, in this market, the lot sales have come to a screeching halt. Prices have come way down... and still no action. Anybody out there have any suggestions? I have beautiful properties for sale at rock bottom prices. Has anyone tried proposed construction? Our builders are not going to put up any specs... and that's unfortunate. Historically, the spec market has driven lot sales. View Thanks!