• Recently Written

  • How to buy your first home…and why.
  • Love from The Roanoke Times and AP
  • It’s a beautiful day
  • Virginia real estate developers restricted from removing trees
  • North Roanoke County foreclosures for sale
  • Old Southwest investments in Roanoke
  • What you don’t know about foreclosures (but should)
  • Five things you might not know about me
  • New Construction : Slowing or growing?
  • Bonsack home priced to sell!

• Categories

  • Commercial Real Estate
  • Foreclosed Homes for Sale
  • Mortgage Financing
  • Other Stuff
    • Ramble On
    • Random Thoughts
    • Rants
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • Roanoke Happenings
  • Random Real Estate
  • Real Estate Education
  • Real Estate Facts
  • Real Estate Investments
  • Real Estate Listings
    • Bedford County Real Estate
    • Botetourt County Real Estate
    • Floyd County Real Estate
    • Roanoke City Real Estate
    • Roanoke County Real Estate
    • Salem Real Estate
    • Smith Mountain Lake Real Estate
  • Real Estate News

• Blogroll

  • Roanoke Valley Blogs
  • Roanoke Firefighters Blog
  • Stuart Mease - YA Advocate
  • Southwest Virginia Blog Aggregator
  • Marty’s profile on Homethinking.com
  • Marty’s profile on ActiveRain.com
  • Roanoke Biz2Biz Blog
  • Virginia Blognetnews
  • iRealEstate Real Estate Kiosks
  • Roanoke Farmer’s Market blog

• Real Estate Blogs

  • Roanoke Virginia Real Estate Listings
  • Roanoke Real Estate at Squidoo
  • DC Metro Real Estate Blog
  • Charlottesville real estate blog
  • HipHoods.com Charlotte, NC
  • Sunny Spot Realty blog, Studio City, CA
  • Seattle Real Estate
  • Seattle Homes
  • Real-Estate-Agents.com
  • Phoenix Real Estate
  • Las Vegas Real Estate Blog
  • Bellingham Homes
  • Blacksburg Real Estate
  • Burbank Real Estate
  • Beyond 50 Real Estate Blog
  • Lynchburg Virginia Real Estate
  • Real Estate Blogs
  • Atlanta Real Estate
  • Living Green in the NRV
  • Kennewick Wa Real Estate
  • Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog

• Memberships

  • National Association of REALTORS
  • Virginia Association of REALTORS
  • Roanoke Valley Association of REALTORS

• Local GIS Sites

  • Roanoke City GIS
  • Roanoke County GIS
  • Botetourt County GIS
  • Franklin County GIS
  • Bedford County GIS
  • Floyd County GIS
  • Salem GIS
  • Pittsylvania County GIS
  • Floyd County GIS (map only)

• Relocating to Roanoke

  • Roanoke Statistical Guide (pdf)
  • MyRoanokeStory.com
  • All Things Star City

• Local Government Websites

  • Roanoke City Government
  • Botetourt County Government
  • Roanoke County Government
  • Salem City Government
  • Franklin County Government
  • Bedford County Government
  • Floyd County Government
  • Pittsylvania Co. Government
  • Town of Vinton Government

• Local Chambers of Commerce

  • Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce
  • Salem / Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce
  • Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce
  • Franklin County Chamber of Commerce

• Archives

  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006

Love from The Roanoke Times and AP

Posted on March 27, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate News

There’s an article in today’s Roanoke Times quoting me as a source. I received a call yesterday from a reporter at The Roanoke Times looking for real estate data on home sales in the Roanoke Valley.

We have a large amount of inventory currently for sale as compared to previous years but, as I mentioned in the article, I have already noticed a significant upswing in sales and buyer inquiries since the middle of February. Things are beginning to look up!

It’s a great market to buy a home for you and your family.

Virginia real estate developers restricted from removing trees

Posted on March 10, 2008 | Filed Under Commercial Real Estate, Real Estate News

Last week Virginia Governor Tim Kaine signed a new bill into law that will require Northern Virginia real estate developers to preserve a specified percentage of original trees on the land they intend to develop. The bill is intended to help with air quality improvement with additional benefits being preservation of wildlife habitat and storm water runoff filtering.

The law may not have much bite though in a much-needed area of Virginia. According to this story in the Washington Post, “The bill takes effect July 1, but local jurisdictions can choose whether to follow it.”

Treeless neighborhoods having a lasting impact according to Virginia McGuire who lives in Northern Virginia-

“I keep getting upset with my kids when they try to climb a tree,” said McGuire, who is also chair of Leesburg’s Environmental Advisory Commission. She’s worried about the trees being hurt. “You can’t spare any.”

“This was a farm, and there weren’t a lot of trees here, but there were trees here,” she said. “And there’s just nothing left.”

Another sign with a leaf motif announced the development’s name: Oaklawn.

New Construction : Slowing or growing?

Posted on November 10, 2007 | Filed Under Real Estate News

The Roanoke Times recently published an article giving a cursory look over new home construction in Salem.

The national housing market has been described as slow, gloomy and in crisis. But in Salem, things are booming.

Now that makes the new construction market sound just peachy. The problem with making as assertion like that is it’s not true. Yes, builders are continuing to frantically build new neighborhoods all over the Roanoke and Salem markets, but that doesn’t indicate a healthy market. These builders are already committed to these new developments and financially enmeshed with them and it’s prudent for them to continue but where will the buyers come from?

“There’s a misconception that we’re in a doom-and-gloom market,” Hendrickson said.”

I hope they’re misquoting this guy because it seems to me to be a very ‘head-in-the-sand’ statement to suggest the market hasn’t turned for the worse in the past few months.

iRealEstate Kiosk at Valley View Mall

Posted on August 14, 2007 | Filed Under Random Real Estate, Real Estate News, Roanoke Happenings

The real estate kiosk at Valley View Mall, brought to you by iRealEstate, LLC is finally here.  It took the better part of two days to get this interactive real estate center up and running.  If you’re an agent and are interested in advertising, call (540) 397-0014.  If you’re a homeowner and want your house advertised at the mall, visit the kiosk and talk to the agent on duty!

Here are some photos from the install!

More kiosks coming soon to-

Tanglewood Mall
Smith Mountain Lake
New River Valley Mall
River Ridge Mall

Homes for sale IN Valley View Mall

Posted on July 25, 2007 | Filed Under Real Estate Listings, Real Estate News

Soon you’ll be able to buy and sell your home at a mall near you!

iRealEstate, LLC will be bringing an interactive real estate kiosk at Valley View Mall in August. Valley View Mall has nearly 1 million shoppers per month! Imagine having your home advertised for sale by your agent in front of even a fraction of those shoppers!

This real estate kiosk is new to the area and features 48 back-lit ads of local homes for sale. It also will have advertising for local businesses and two interactive touch screen monitors featuring slide shows for all homes and businesses advertised on the kiosk. There will even be participating real estate agents available to answer your real estate questions!

The iRealEstate kiosk will be located in the food court directly across from the new Barnes & Noble Bookseller on the main level. Visit the Valley View real estate kiosk to list your home with one of our agents and have your home for sale advertised at the mall!

If you’re a real estate agent and are interested in being a participating advertiser, contact their sales manager at (540) 397-0014.

Kudos to Smith Mountain Lake (from NY Times)

Posted on July 16, 2007 | Filed Under Real Estate News, Smith Mountain Lake Real Estate

There was a good article published in the Great Homes section of the New York Times on 6/22/2007 about Smith Mountain Lake and New Englanders who choose SML as a retirement destination.

The article, titled- In Virginia, a Blue Ridge Retreat That’s ‘a Little Undiscovered’ emphasizes the affordability of Smith Mountain Lake for people used to high prices in large metro areas like New York and New Jersey.

“One day I was at work, and one of my buddies said he bought a place on a lake down here and would I come visit him on a vacation,” Mr. Rada, a retired supervisor for a natural gas company, said of his first trip to Smith Mountain Lake, in 1992. “It wasn’t a year before I bought a house here, too. Who in Jersey could have a house overlooking a lake with a dock for a couple-hundred-thousand dollars?”

I think that’s the primary appeal for the Roanoke Valley and Smith Mountain Lake for retirees from our northern neighbors. A home on the water at Smith Mountain Lake is relatively cheap when compared to comparable accommodations up there.

Mr. Rada has since sold that first house — at a 200 percent profit, he said — and now owns a three-bedroom, three-bath town house he bought for $320,000 two years ago in the Mariners Landing development at Smith Mountain Lake. It has a sunset view of the lake from the back covered porch and a sunrise view, only disturbed by the first hole of the Mariners Landing golf course, from the front covered porch.

“It’s all too relaxing here,” he said. “I meet people all the time who come here for a second home or retirement from New Jersey.”

The article goes on to compare life at Smith Mountain Lake to the retiree rat race in Florida and other areas.

Smith Mountain Lake is a great place to live whether you’re a retiree or not. Are you relocating to Smith Mountain Lake? Contact me for help in finding your Smith Mountain Lake home.

tba relocates to downtown Roanoke

Posted on July 10, 2007 | Filed Under Commercial Real Estate, Real Estate News

tba (The Thomas Becher Agency), a Roanoke public relations, advertising and marketing company, has moved to historic Warehouse Row in Downtown Roanoke.

“The move allows us to be more centrally located to service our clients,” said Thomas Becher, president of tba. “Our new home also will give us a fresh new start and will facilitate even more creativity.”

Warehouse Row is a historic three-story office building converted from an existing warehouse with classic hardwood floors, wood supports and brick walls. It is an excellent place for any business looking for a classic, stylized office with great amenities and shared conference room facilities.

tba was represented by Marty Martin, Realtor in their negotiations with the leasing broker.

Regional real estate MLS?

Posted on June 28, 2007 | Filed Under Real Estate News

The Inman News Blog is reporting talks in California of creating a state-wide MLS to supplement (maybe replace?) local MLSs.

The idea makes sense and something I was just talking with Rob Lusk about today.  A regional or state MLS would be better for the public and better for agents.  As it stands now if I want to sell a house in Floyd County, I could list it in either the New River Valley or Roanoke Valley MLS (or both).  I think the real estate multiple listing service is headed down the road of change.  Between the class action lawsuits and new websites like Trulia and Homethinking it is bound to happen, and for the good I think.

Roanoke MLS sales down significantly from 2006

Posted on June 4, 2007 | Filed Under Real Estate Facts, Real Estate News

The sales data for May 2007 is out for the Roanoke MLS.

Real estate agents sold 492 residential properties in an increase of 1.3% over May. However, that is a decrease of twenty-nine percent over 2006 sales from the same month.

The graph below shows the Roanoke MLS sales data from January 2006 through May 2007: