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Winchester, VA Real Estate News

By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
In an interesting twist of fate, I had a showing on one of my listings Friday night with a Russian couple.  What a treat.  My Russian is only marginal, but it was so exciting to have someone to communicate with.  This is one of those times where I got a chance to not only offer advice, but I also got a chance to take my own advice.  It worked out very well.  When you write a blog, be ready to live it too.    Keys to Working With Foreign Clients One of the great privileges I've enjoyed in life has been teaching as an adjunct college professor in Zaporozhye, Ukraine.  When communism collapsed, a few US groups went into the Ukraine to set up colleges to help with biblical training for new ministers and children's church teachers.  I was invited to join Greater Europe Mission in the quest, ...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
Life is full of decisions.  Most of us make more decisions in a day than we likely  realize.  I had a situation this week that made me stop and think about one aspect of decisions that sometimes gets overlooked, consequences.  My experience this week wasn't a major issue, but it reminded me that every decision has consequences and those consequences should be thought through before a decision is made. In one of my other lives, I teach an early morning Spinning® class.  It's great exercise, and my morning class is amazing.  I've met some of the greatest people at 5:30 am.  We'd likely meet later in the day, but we're all taking a nap then.  Anyway, we decided to create a cycling jersey that is specific to our class.  We wanted a way to connect us when we're out of the studio and on the r...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
One of the great privileges I've enjoyed in life has been teaching as an adjunct college professor in Zaporozhye, Ukraine.  When communism collapsed, a few US groups went into the Ukraine to set up colleges to help with biblical training for new ministers and children's church teachers.  I was invited to join Greater Europe Mission in the quest, and I gladly took the challenge.  I learned a lot in those early years, and those lessons have helped me with my business to this day.  Every so often, most real estate offices will have someone from a foreign country come in to buy or sell a house.  How you relate to them may make the difference between a deal or no deal.  Here are a few pointers I learned on the streets and in the classrooms of Zaporozhye. Don't speak in slang.  Not only don't...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
So, a short sale means that the Realtor has to be under 5' 3" tall?  No, not really, but there are a lot of scammers out there that are trying to convince people in distress that they are short sale experts.  In the process, the home goes into foreclosure and the homeowner's life is wrecked.  So, let me give a few simple guidelines when hiring a short sale agent. Ignore every TV commercial that promises short sale success.  If the originators are not connected to a local broker you may have trouble verifying their credentials and their success. Don't pay someone up front to short sale your house.  Going further under water will not ensure short sale success. Ask the person you're considering to short sale your house if they've ever conducted a short sale before.  There are a lot of shor...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
When I was a pattern day-trader, I had a saying that is relevant to real estate as well.  I always said, "You never try to catch a falling piano."  Why?  I think it's obvious that your chances of survival are very low.  My wife has a baby grand piano sitting in our living room, and I can tell you from experience, it's really heavy.  The same is true in real estate.  A lot of would-be buyers are sitting on the sidelines waiting for the bottom.  That's where my old piano saying came from.  So many traders were sitting around waiting for a stock that had taken a hit, for whatever reason, to hit bottom.  Normally, by the time it hit bottom it took a big bounce back up and they missed it.  I saw it over and over. Housing prices are currently hovering around 2000 real estate prices.  Interest...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
My lovely wife is not the jealous type, but she does have a unique way of describing my former girlfriends in ways that don't reflect the girls I knew.  One in particular girlfriend seems to get the brunt of her humor.  I made the mistake of telling her that this particular young lady stuck a straw up her nose when she was two or three, and her pediatrician had to go nostril diving to retrieve it.  It appears that she was out with her mom shopping when they stopped by a dime store snack bar for a little lunch.  During lunch, while mom wasn't looking, she slid her small paper straw up her nose until it disappeared.  I guess the fear of telling her mom that her straw was up her nose was greater than the uncomfortable feeling of having a paper straw somewhere between her eyes and her front...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
I realized something today that might be worth a little reflection.  I was at an REO I'm prepping for the market, and I decided to join in the fun by doing a little weed-whacking.  The property is nearly ready to launch, but the most recent rain caused the drought starved grass to spring up for joy!  That meant another mowing before the list.Anyway, I started the trimmer and I was making my way around the house when I got into a thick portion of grass that hadn't been mowed, and then it happened.  As I was knocking the grass down I hit a large section of wild mint.  I love the smell of wild mint.  I lingered there for a couple minutes soaking up the aroma of the freshly cut mint.  It was so sweet.  That got me to thinking.  As high intensity as I can be, and as hard charging as I can be...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
Whew, what a week we've had around here.  First, we had a 5.8 earthquake that shook our houses and rattled the nerves of many residents, and just about the time the local community had stopped talking about that, Irene showed up.  The wind and rain begun to arrive in our little community late Saturday, and in some ways, we're thrilled.  Our area has been short of rain for most of the summer.  So, we'll put up with a little wind to get lots of rain.  Life goes that way sometimes.  Sometimes you're shaking, and sometimes you're wet.  Sometimes everything is great, and you cherish those times.  Other times, things are a lot like our week, uncertain.  How each person deals with the radical shifts in life tells a lot about what is at the core of his/her character.  Much like the people of Jo...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
During a real estate class last year, I realized that Realtors speak in code.  The class was made up of mostly new salespeople.  As I watched the poor newbies in that class, I wondered if they felt like they had fallen into a black hole and popped up in some foreign land where they didn’t speak the language.  Those of us who were experienced in the field rattled off conversation that left the new Realtors looking bewildered and lost.                                      That image led me down one of those spontaneous rambling thought processes that often leads to my blog posts, and it looked something like this:     You might be a Realtor if your dining room table doubles as a desk.   You might be a Realtor if your car cigarette lighter doubles as a charging station for your laptop or I...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
Hurricane Irene needs to head out to sea because Winchester, Virginia is going to be too hot this Saturday night to be inside.  The Second Annual Salsa Fest will be taking place at 126 N. Kent Street from 6-10 PM.  The event will include: Spicy Foods Best Tasting Salsa Competition Spicy Salsa Dance Lessons, and Of course the local Salsa-Fest Dance Contest Local dance teams have been preparing for this exciting event, and they are ready to dazzle everybody.  The dance competition begins at 8:00 PM.  Come out and cheer your favorite dancers on to victory.  Tickets are $10.00 in advance at the Jim Barnett Park - War Memorial Building, or you can pick them up at the gate for $15.00.  Join us, and have a blast!  
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
  One of the great pleasures I have in life is having my sons around me.  Because I own my own business, I've been able to employ them since they started working.  My real estate company is broken down into three parts.  It's a brokerage that lists and sells property, a property management company and it also does REO trash-outs, lawn-care, repairs and cleaning.  That's where my sons come in.  They get to do the muscle work.  Once in a while, if a property is exceptionally loaded with stuff I'll go along to help, and that's what I've been doing all week with Jonny.  We've filled a 30 cubic foot dumpster from this property.  Fortunately, it has just been stuff and not the near bio-hazard material like a few REOs we've had in the past.  I went on this one trash-out, lawn-care and cleaning...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
  During the early part of the 2000s, our office was a selling machine.  Of course, most offices were like that, but when the market began to slide into recession things slowed down.  Our broker, who was a great guy, was managing two offices.  He spent the majority of his time at the other office in a large metropolitan city (approximately 29 out of 30 days).  As the recession became more and more severe, our office began to drop in sales and agents. The worse things got with the economy, the worse sales got with the office.  Our broker was seldom around to encourage and inspire the office, and the agents found little enthusiasm and motivation to overcome the economic struggle the country was entering into.  Finally, a year ago that office closed.  It really was the right thing to do.  ...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
OK, I have a whole new respect for my colleagues in California.  Virginia just had an earthquake.  The epicenter was between Charlottesville and Richmond, but we sure felt it up here in Northern Virginia.  The earthquake has been reported to be from 5.8-6.0 on the Richter scale.  I was on an REO overseeing a trash-out when it hit.  At that moment, I had taken a few minutes to check email and respond to a few others.  While standing in the kitchen, the house started shaking. Ironically, I thought it was Jon, my son, doing something on the staircase.  That made me think, if this house is that easy to shake we need to get a structural engineer in here to look this place over.  Minutes later, my wife sent me a text to see if we were alright.  She followed that with, "We just had an earthqua...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
The state of Virginia keeps getting more good news.  CNBC released a report on Thursday, August 18, 2011, "McDonnell: Va. has nearly $545M surplus for FY11."  The state of Virginia was in the same financial situation as many states just two years ago; under water.   In the report, Governor McDonnell encouraged the Virginia legislature to set aside a portion of the funds as a reserve fund due the uncertainty in Washington, D. C.  The goal is to set aside at least $30 million for a rainy day fund called the, Federal Action Contingency Trust.  Virginia is becoming a frontrunner in fiscial responsibility. CNBC had also labeled Virginia the best for business in a recent article, "Virginia is Tops for Buisness."  Loudoun, Fairfax, Frederick/Winchester City and Prince William Counties are also...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
I was reading a blog by Marco Giancola, "Calling All Cash Buyers" this morning, and it dawned on me that a lot of Realtors may not have financing experience beyond banks and mortgage companies.  There are other ways to get good buyers into homes.  As I've said before, I started in real estate in 1992 as an investor.  At that time, and in my own personal investing today, I buy property with as little money and contact with banks as possible.  There are simple ways to do both.  My ultimate goal is to do away with the need for banks in my own personal life (beyond parking money temporarily). What other types of financing are available to home-buyer? Owner financing.There are homeowners who are free and clear on their property.  One of the properties I bought with no money was through this ...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
I made it!  I reached my goal!  I'm a big goals kind of guy.  Today, I reached one of my most recent goals, 100,000 Active Rain points!  Along the way, I kept increasing the demand on myself.  After a while, it wasn't enough to reach 100K points.  I wanted to reach 20 features.  That's something I have absolutely no control over.  Of course, in a short while that wasn't enough.  I wanted to arrive at 125 subscribers; another control-less goal, but here I am.  Ta-da!  I would like to thank the Active Rain gods for having enough confidence in my writing to feature some of it (about 10%).  Being a Newbie around here, it's always a surprise and a big encouragement!  And, subscribers, you ROCK!  Thank you for wanting to hear what I have to say; even if it is what I call, "Mindless Ramblings ...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
Every morning, I receive a long list of online magazine articles related to the economy and the real estate industry.  And, every day I have moments that make me go, "Great!" and/or moments that make me go, "Uh oh!"  Today's headlines read this way: "Study: More Households Pay Bills On Time and Live Within Their Means."  That's one of those headlines that makes me say, "Great!"  If the recession did nothing else, it has made a lot of Americans, including myself, take a reality check.  Living within your means is old wisdom that is just as true today as it ever has been.  Many Americans who grew up in the 60s were the children of depression era children.  If you grew up with parents who survived the Great Depression you probably lived a slightly more austere life than your counterparts w...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
There is still a great deal of anxiety when people approach the housing market.  One major reason we're having a hard time getting past this period in US housing is because people don't understand why the housing bubble burst to begin with, and that alone has them worried about it happening again.  The explanation is easier than you may realize. Even in a down economy, people need to have a place to live.  So, if someone is thinking about a place to invest money, they should consider real estate.  The most recent real estate bubble had its birth in the political arena in Washington, D.C., and it popped when the realities of failed political policy slammed head on into actual economic reality.    When politicians began putting pressure on lenders to loan money to individuals (late 90s - ...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
There are so many great kid movies that have amused and entertained me that I could highlight one in a blog every week.  The last one that I really loved was, "Despicable Me."  Ironically, I skipped it when it came out because I didn't like the title.  Titles are everything.  That's true of movies, books and blogs.  In that movie, there are three little girls who are just adorable.  The youngest, is Agnes.  Anges is bigger than life.  During the early part of the girl's meeting with Gru, the  criminal mastermind, Gru is telling them all the things they can't do that annoy him.  Then, Agnes, in one of the classic lines in the movie asks, "Does this count as annoying?"  And, she does her cheek popping routine.  It is precious.   That brings me to my topic.  What's annoying to you?  He's s...
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By Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV, Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro
(Cornerstone Business Group Inc)
First-time home-buyers are just that, first time buyers.  Because of that, there can be an assumption that they are not sophisticated enough to purchase anything other than fair market property, but is that true?  I try to make sure my first-timers have as much information about fair market, foreclosure and short sale properties as possible to make a well informed property decision.  Actually, I use the same information for all buyers.  I try to keep it simple, and it looks something like this:   Fair Market Sales Typically the easiest to find, finance and close Not always the easiest to negotiate Can tend to be overpriced, but not always.  Can be negotiated with many sellers Most Realtors are well versed in the fair market process Properties are often not vacant Owner impact on the pro...
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