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Decision time in Stafford County
Tomorrow is decision day in Stafford County. Will the Board of Supervisors adopt a unilateral downzoning changing the minimum lot size from 3-acres to 10-acres? FAAR has been strongly opposed to this action for more than a year because it could devalue rural land, potentially by up to 50% according to the County itself, and will rob generations of wealth creation from rural property owners. A recent article in the Free Lance Star included some comments about the action that are inaccurate and unfair to Realtors and the work that they do. FAAR sets the record straight below:
- Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer claims that builders are flocking to Stafford County and creating an explosion of growth due to more permissive zoning rules than surrounding counties. The truth is that there were LESS occupancy permits issued in 2020 than in 2019. Stafford County issued 946 occupancy permits in 2019 compared to 875 in 2020, representing a 7.5% DECLINE.
- Supervisor Dudenhefer says that downzoning is the only option the state provides to manage growth, but he fails to mention that his County’s own Healthy Growth report looked at downzoning coupled with Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) to help make landowners’ whole after their land was devalued. TDR is permissible under state law but is not part of this action at all, providing no financial remedy for those whose property value could be taken by the local government. In addition, the Planning Commission is opposed to a unilateral downzoning and presented three other options to the Board for consideration. In order for the Board to consider those other options, they must vote no on downzoning.
- He also states that anyone who dare speak out in opposition or voice concerns about this action is only acting out of financially motivated self-interest. The Code of Ethics by which Realtors® are bound holds their duty to their client and all parties to the contract as their primary responsibility. Furthermore, a property owner is certainly expected to have a financial interest in their own land, especially when the value of that land is often inextricably tied to the financial health of that individual.
- Finally, Supervisor Dudenhefer tries to pit north Stafford residents against south Stafford residents by claiming that properties in the A-1 hardly pay any taxes because they are in the land use program. The Board’s own agenda for their March 2 meeting states that of the 2,321 taxable parcels impacted by downzoning, just 854 are in the land use program, meaning that more than 60% of property owners in the A-1 zoning category pay their full taxes. For those who have their property in the Land Use program, it is not a free pass. Those properties have their taxes deferred for their time in the program and when a property exits the program, the owner must pay 5 years of deferred taxes and a percentage charge on top of that. While the property is in land use, the owner pays full taxes on a 1-acre homesite and the value of the structure. In addition, the more rural parts of the County have long subsidized growth in other parts of the County, namely the Rt. 610 corridor where Mr. Dudenhefer represents.
FAAR Board Member Clay Murray said in a letter to the editor published on Sunday that as a Realtor® and a citizen of Stafford County, he wants “smart growth, housing affordability, and the protection of private property rights.” Murray doesn’t think those ideals have to be mutually exclusive. There are other options out there that can address growth challenges without decimating the financial health of rural property owners and their families.
Concerned about this downzoning action and want to get involved? Click here to access sample talking points and a sample email to send to the Stafford Board of Supervisors.
Virginia Realtors Legal Hotline—Stellar service for all members to utilize
Legal advice is a precious commodity that occasionally everyone needs to access. The Virginia REALTORS® offers the Legal Hotline. A member is required to complete an application before a question can be submitted to the VAR attorneys and must communicate the issue to his/her broker. The broker will receive a copy of the question. Sometimes the Broker’s policy may be more restrictive than the general response of the VAR attorney. Visit virginiarealtors.org/legal-hotline to access the User Agreement & the Terms of Use.
Read other articles like this in the latest FAARside newsletter.
March is for Members March Madness Bracket Contest
Get off the sideline and into this fun FAAR competition! Guess who you think will make it to the top of the March Madness pyramid and will be crowned 2021 National Champions!
Here’s how it works
Fill out the bracket here with the teams announced on Selection Sunday and who you think will triumph in each faceoff. Turn in your completed bracket to lzuza@faarmembers.com before tip-off of the first game on Thursday, March 18th.
Point System
Answer the winner correctly in each round of faceoffs and get the points shown for each correct guess!
First round — 1 pts
Second round — 2 pts
Sweet 16 — 4 pts
Elite Eight — 6 pts
Final Four — 8 pts
NCAA championship game — 10 pts
2021 NCAA Schedule
Selection Sunday — March 14
First Four — Thursday, March 18
First round — Friday, March 19, and Saturday, March 20
Second round — Sunday, March 21, and Monday, March 22
Sweet 16 — Saturday, March 27, and Sunday, March 28
Elite Eight — Monday, March 29, and Tuesday, March 30
Final Four — Saturday, April 3
NCAA championship game — Monday, April 5
Prize
The individual scoring the most points will win a $50 gift card and of course the right to brag!
How To Get More Leads To Your Website
Today we talk about how to get your website in front of clients and how to utilize SEO. If you like this episode and are interested in the FAAR YouTube video on writing bios you can check it out here! youtu.be/K-u_oU_zKZg
Transcript
Welcome
welcome to far louder your official
association podcast
Hey FAAR members it’s MacKenzie and
today I want to talk to you about how
you can optimize your website so that
you start getting more leads from it.
Website Tools
One of the great tools we’ve seen come
out in the past few years are
things like Placester, Realtor.com has
created a place for you to build your
profile, you can use Squarespace but a lot of
people have gone with
the more customizable options of
using things like WordPress to create
their websites because that gives them
more control over the content and where
they’re going to show up.
Some of the major contributing
factors of that (where content shows up)
are the content that goes on the website
so I really want to talk to you about
how to get the right content on your
website to get more leads.
SEO
To understand that, we need to talk
about search engine optimization
more casually known as SEO. SEO is what
happens when you go and you type your
article and they suggest that articles on your
website be between 300 and 500 words
long which is about the
size of an essay that you would have
written in high school. The purpose
for this is because it’s not too long
but it’s not too short
to keep your readers attention. On top of
this, they also suggest
that you use key phrases a certain
amount of times in your
articles depending on the length of your
sentences and the
number of paragraphs.
It sounds really
complicated and really overwhelming right?
Resources
Well, there are a lot of great resources
to find out if the articles on your
website are actually going to be
optimized for the internet so that they
come up higher in search results.
The number one thing that you’re going
to want to look at is Yoast
which is an SEO optimizer that can be
plugged into WordPress.
If you have a WordPress website, this is
my number one suggestion.
it is free to use up to a point. There are some
higher end features that aren’t as
commonly used
if you really want to look into those.
But this is my number one suggestion. If
you want to get your website higher up
you’re going to want to start optimizing
your website
Other SEO Tips
If you’re not using a
website like WordPress where you can use
this plugin,
check out some of these tips:
Have a blog
and again that 300 to word count
It is very important try to use a key
phrase two or three times throughout your
article. something like
“best homes in the area” and then name your
area.
The more you put these things into your
Article, if somebody is searching for
those specific things, they will come up
higher in search results.
What Else You Want To Talk About
You’re also going to want to link to
other websites’ content. Maybe if you’re
talking about
Lake Anna you want to link to the Lake
Anna website because it gives
your website credibility in a search
engine’s processing.
So those are a couple of tips
on how to create
content
You’re also going to want to add
an image and here’s why it’s twofold
the image comes in and creates something
more eye-catching for people to relate
to as they’re going through your website
but also if you have something where you
can
share your content it’ll usually pull
that graphic at the top of the page
that’s associated with the article
so instead of having to create separate
social media content
you’re pushing everybody back to your
website whenever you share
information this is great because it
keeps everything
centralized when you’re looking at
content to share talk about your local
area there are a lot of different services
that each area has something about
schools, something about trails, just really dig
into those things that if you were
moving someplace what would you want to
know. And then you also want to talk
about local businesses because people
want to see
local business supporting local business
and that’s where those photos come in
Again, if you put a photo in your article
About you going to this great downtown shop
and you share that article
to your Facebook page and you’ve got
that photo being shared again and again
and again
it’s just getting that mileage out there
you’re also going to want to talk
about your day-to-day life not everybody
needs to know the
nitty-gritty details of what you had for
breakfast but if you really like to run
in a certain trail share that trail with
people
if you really like to go and make this
recipe but you need to have
this ingredient from that particular
store share that share your life to the
point where you’re sharing your
lifestyle
because you know that other people are
going to want to enjoy that same
lifestyle that you have the privilege of enjoying
because when at the end of the day we
all know that real estate comes down
to selling a lifestyle so if you want to
connect with people
share who you are they’re going to want
to connect with you
I think a lot of people get stuck on
this writing content for their website
or managing their social media. They’re
like I just don’t have the time
you know your clients are going to come
from this
they’re going to find you on the
websites maybe it might not be the first
time they see your name but if your name
pops up on some place like Zillow or
realer.com
they are googling you to find out more
about who you are
It’s very interesting to see the
statistics especially because
a lot of people think that the most
important thing on their website
is that MLS feed and while that’s a
great feature to have
it’s not what drives people to come to
your websites anymore because they’re
going to zillow and they’re going to
realtor.com
So, if you want to hear more about the
exact statistics we actually have a
great episode
on our YouTube page that was taught by
Matthew Rathbun
about how you can get your bio to be
more professional looking and why it really
matters to have that content on your
website I highly suggest you check it out
You really can’t afford not to put
content on your website
it is a driving force especially for new
agents so if you want those leads if you want
to get started make sure you’re
developing content for your website
and as always far is here to help and
support you we have great tools on our
website I highly suggest you check them
out faarmembers.com tools and check out all
the great content we have there for you
Have a great day guys!
Regional Housing Market Starts the Year with a Sprint
The new year began the same way it went out: with so little supply of homes for the raging demand from homebuyers that even houses in the top price points saw multiple offers, a relatively rare occurrence in the in the last 10 years. January closed out with a total sold dollar volume of approximately $184.5 million which represents a staggering 50% increase over January of 2020. The market saw a significant 13% year-over-year increase in median price, going from $305,000 in January of 2020 to $345,000 in January of 2021. Units sold increased over 26%, finishing out the month at 486 compared to 385 units sold last January.
FAAR Board of Director Dawn Josemans comments, “As we keep doing business with our new virtual tools and following CDC guidelines when we physically show homes, we are not seeing the market slow down. We are still seeing more buyers than there is inventory to support, so buyers are not getting the first house they put an offer on. Maybe not even the second or third home they put on offer on. As a result, we are seeing multiple offers quite a bit over list price within days of going on the market. Many sellers are accepting those offers, waiving previous customary contingencies and keeping their fingers crossed for an on-the-money appraisal.”
While Stafford County has frequently driven gains in regional numbers, that was not necessarily the case for this January. While the County’s median price clocked in at $400,000 once again, representing a more than 14% increase from last January, units sold remained flat. There were 154 homes sold in pre-pandemic January in Stafford County, and 159 homes sold in January of 2021. At first blush, this might appear to indicate that demand is cooling in the County but a closer look at the numbers reveals that is not the case. A nearly unfathomably low inventory is responsible for depressing sales in Stafford County. In January of 2020, a time when most agents would agree that the supply was very low, there were 404 available homes on the market. Fast forward to the end of January 2021, and there were just 80 homes on the market, representing a whopping 80% decrease.
The jurisdictions with smaller populations saw the largest gains in January with Colonial Beach, Orange County, King George County, and the City of Fredericksburg posting 100% or more increases in total sold dollar volume, with Caroline County not far behind at 75%. The acceleration in sold volume was driven by a combination of higher price points and many more units sold, sometimes even 100% increases from the previous year. If January is any indication of how the market is going to be in 2021, area homebuyers and sellers are in for a wild ride.
Days on market, the time it takes from when a listing enters the market until it receives a ratified contract and is removed from active status on the multiple listing service, fell nearly 60% with houses averaging a measly 20 days on the market this January compared to 48 days last year.
Not unexpectedly, inventory across the region remains at historic lows. In January of 2020, there were 1,149 homes on the market. In January of 2021, there were just 396 homes for sale, representing a nearly 66% year-over-year decline. New listings were down more than 10% compared to last year, but that number seems moderate compared to some of the decreases the market has seen over the past year. New pendings continue their upward trajectory with a nearly 15% increase in pending contract activity compared to last year.
The past year has also seen a very heated and competitive rental market, altered in many ways by the eviction moratorium and accelerating demand. Josemans, whose real estate specialty is property management, comments, “The rental market remains strong; however, it is an interesting and complicated portion of the market. There are tenants whose income has been affected by COVID receiving Federal protection from being evicted. There are landlords being protected by the State with avenues to seek mortgage and rent income relief. The question is how long are both of these protections going to last. What happens when the protections go away? What happens to the folks who did not receive relief? Market conditions have led to a great deal of landlords deciding to take advantage of the current sales market and sell their investment property.”
Citation system tweaked—fines increased
Recently, the Boards of Directors of the Associations in the region (FAAR, PWAR, BBAR, DAAR and GPAR) voted to stiffen the fines of the Citation System. Second and third offense fines have been added. In most instances, the first offensive fine has doubled from $250 to $500. Second and third offenses average $1,000 and $3,000, respectively.
The system’s focus is on potential violations of Regional Rules and Regulations of the Sentrilock Lockbox System in regards to articles of the Code of Ethics.
Sometimes an ethics hearing can be avoided by an agent agreeing to the guidelines of the Citation System. A potentially offending agent agrees to pay a fine, and the complaint never goes to a hearing. It is a much shorter process and the potentially offending agent does not have to admit guilt.
Download FAAR’s updated Citation System brochure here
Read other articles like this in the latest FAARside Newsletter.
What You Need To Know About Coming Soon
Transcript
Coming Soon
hey chip
um hey listen I saw you got that listing
on main street can I show my client
see I know it’s still in coming soon
status but my buyers are really well
qualified and man they really want to see it can you
get me in?
Hey Kev no
I’m sorry the Bright MLS rules clearly
forbid showing well under the cummings
status my friend
Oh Whatever
listen there’s no harm in trying i mean
lots of agents have let me sneak into
coming soon why are you being so
difficult?
Whoa did you know actually even you
asking me is a potential Bright MLS
violation to you it’s not okay to see a
listing in coming soon status
period I’m sorry those other agents were
acting a little bit unethical but I do
not bend the rules even for my friends
All right Mr. Ethics can you at least let
me know if you change the status to active
absolutely sure to do it happy to let you know whenever it
goes active and just before the date it’s listed
Cool so I want to make sure I see it the
minute it goes active
can I go ahead and schedule a showing now?
sure thing it’s scheduled ready to go active on 11/1 so you can go
through showing time right now make an
appointment show it on 11/1.
Hey I just spoke to my client they
really want this house and they don’t
want to wait till 11/1
how about if I just send you an offer?
What do you think?
I love that, certainly, there’s no rule
absolutely no rule against submitting a
contract to a coming soon listing
I look forward to getting your offer and
showing it to my seller
Great I’m sending it now. Do you got it yet?
Great news Kevin, my sellers have got it
they’ve accepted your offer
please sign or return it and we then will be ratified
Sweet action that is great to hear. My
clients are going to be so happy
can I come see it now?
I’m sorry not just
yet it cannot be shown while
still in the coming soon status once we get
it ratified I’ll change the status to
pending in the MLS
and then it can be shown
Wow I’ve had
girlfriends left it less difficult than
you what is
the deal man
No no no no I’m just being
ethical I’m following the rules my friend
it’s important that we follow the same
set of rules with everyone
playing by the same rulebook there’s no
gray area with coming soon listings they
cannot be shown
Wow we learned a lot today about what
you can and can’t do with coming soon
properties for more information check out the
Bright MLS website
to find out all of the rules and
regulations regarding coming soon
Home Owner’s Insurance
Up next we have Richard Bibb with Goosehead Insurance
talking to us about what
you need to know about homeowners insurance
how are you today Richard
I’m doing great
Awesome
So what are some of the things that
every realtor should know about
home insurance
well home insurance is
obviously required for every property
that’s sold and that they’re the key thing
realtor should be aware of is that
there’s incredible number of variables
that go into calculating the
premium for a home um and so some of the
things that i like to point out to
re-entrance that are important are
things like the age of the roof i mean
you probably don’t know this but
many insurance companies will not even
write an insurance policy
on a home if the roof is over uh older
than say 20 years so while there’s plenty of will
all i want so and the age of the roof is
a factor that every insurance company
wants to know
and the calculations into the premium so
that’s something that should be aware of
when you’re either
selling a property or representing a
buyer that’s buying
that’s awesome so you mentioned house
there are a bunch of different
insurance companies why is it vital that
customers shop among all the different
providers
well insurance companies uh have all
have different appetites for the type of
risk that they like to ensure i mean
some people
only like you know only one insurer properties that say are in suburban neighborhoods and
they don’t like rural properties for
example some companies don’t like
properties that are near water
while there are others that will write
those so that because of so many
different types
of properties out there that their
different insurance companies are going
to be like that type of property and may not
like another type of property so the
only way to find out really is to go
shop among the different
different companies to find out who’s
going to have a good premium for the
particular property that you’re
involved in selling yeah and around
Fredericksburg of course we have all
those different types of
properties you got to King George it’s
like very rural developments
So downtown Fredericksburg has a lot
of historic homes
so what are some things that an agent or
a consumer might need to know about
insuring those
well the most common type of loss
settlement is
where you ensure the companies insure
the property for its replacement cost
which is
as the name implies it’s how much would
it cost to replace the cost that
replaced the house
in the event of a total loss with older
homes
and historic homes
many times we do what’s called a
modified replacement cost or
where instead of replacing exactly as
it’s currently built obviously if it was
built in the 1850s it’s hard to
replicate exactly the constructive
methods and so forth
you may have to have insured to what’s
called a modified replacement cost where
essentially they
build it like it was but using modern
materials and modern
construction techniques and so those are
things that just come into play when
you’re dealing with
properties that are you know say 75 plus
years old or something
so what are some things that people need
to look out for that homeowners
insurance might not normally cover
yeah it’s important to understand you
know what’s covered under your
homeowner’s insurance and the list is
quite long but there’s also a couple of
very common things that the
insurance does not normal home
insurance does not cover
and that’s for damage from things uh
like earthquake
uh and damage from uh from flood uh
earthquake was something that
around this area people didn’t think
about much of until or 15 years ago so
when the event happened in mineral
and now uh you know there’s a disclaimer
that’s provided with every insurance
policy pointing out
to them that the standard policy does
not cover earthquake insurance
damage from earthquake um there are
endorsements available from practically
every insurer to cover earthquake damage
to certain extent
we point that out to the customer but
it’s important to realize that your
standard policy does not cover
things for earthquake also similarly
with flood
flood usually have to get a separate
flood policy either from the national
flood program
or there’s a number of private insurers
that offer flood insurance now
and usually at a much more competitive
rate and so it’s important
to you know when you’re when we’re
dealing with a customer particularly if
they’re in an area where they’re
near a river or
a body of water that’s subject to
flooding to make them aware of that and ensure it
properly secure the property with the flood
insurance in addition to the regular
homeowners insurance
awesome so that is awesome information i
feel like every agent is going to feel a
little bit more prepared now because
honestly insurance can seem so scary to
begin with
and then people are asking me questions
as you’re going
so um if an agent wants to refer you to
their client or insure
their stuff with you how can they get in
contact with you
well this is the thing
just to call me my
phone number is 571-349-9069
um you can reach me by email
richard.goosehead.com
The 2021 February FAARside Newsletter is ready for you!
It’s here, FAAR members! Your copy of the February Newsletter, the FAARside is ready for your review! Crack open a copy to learn about what’s going on at the Association including a letter from the President, 2020 accomplishments, and more!
This edition includes
- 2021 Legislative Agenda
- How to maximize your FAAR membership
- An update on Stafford County Downzoning
- Zoom tips
- Fredericksburg REALTORS Foundation Annual Report
- FAAR’s March is for Members sneak peak
- 2021 Bright MLS Training Schedule
and more!
Right click here or the image and click “Save as” to download
How is the GRI different from other designations?
Of all the residential real estate designations offered through the National Association of REALTORS®, the Graduate, REALTOR® Institute (GRI) is the most comprehensive, providing a broader scope and depth of training.
Designees must complete a minimum of 60 classroom hours that cover legal and regulatory issues, technology, professional standards, and the sales process. Using materials that go well beyond real estate licensing courses, GRI instructors have prepared resources that agents don’t necessarily know they need, helping build their confidence to work more successfully with buyers and sellers alike.
Each state establishes its own GRI curriculum requirements, allowing flexibility to integrate state-specific material with key national topics, including:
Market Knowledge: Neighborhoods and property amenities, considerations for housing types, developing CMAs and impact of MLS, financing options and home-buying programs, inspections and appraisals/valuations
Business Skills: Prospecting, buyer and seller services, creating your niche market, negotiations, creating and implementing your brand
Systems and Tools: Record retention, form platforms and applications, website portals, marketing tools, hardware and software to streamline your business
Avoid Setbacks, Fines, and Lawsuits: Professional standards, contract to close, risk management, agency relationships, and advertising
In some cases, GRI courses overlap with other designation requirements or are eligible for CE credit, providing additional value from your training. You’ll gain comprehensive knowledge and skills you’ll continue to draw upon for many years to come. There are not, however, any annual dues to maintain your GRI designation.
Learn More
Earning the GRI designation is an intensive, in-person experience that gives you the information and tools to grow your real estate practice. Learn more and find courses offered in your area: virginiarealtors.org
FAAR 2020 housing market one of hottest in state
Check out the 4th quarter home sales report produced by the Virginia Realtors® for the FAAR footprint. The 4th quarter did not see the traditional seasonal slowing that we expect to see as the year winds down. Consumer demand was very strong in the last 3 months of the year. The report states, “The supply of homes for sale is tight and continues to dwindle. There were just 635 active listings in the FAAR market at the end of the 4th quarter, a 61% reduction from a year ago.”
Click the button below to access the full report and use it in your business!
Press Releases
NAR Real Estate Forecast: Slower Growth, Price Gains to Continue
From the National Association of Realtors Real Estate Forecast Summit on December 11, 2019.... Slower Growth, Price Gains to Continue“Real estate is on firm ground with little chance of price declines,” says NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “However, in...
Cooler Weather Can’t Chill the November Real Estate Market
The real estate market posted a strong November with gains in total volume, median price, and units sold and a decrease in days on market. Total sold dollar volume increased nearly 24%, going from approximately $120.3 million in November of 2018 to nearly $148.7...
Local Real Estate Market Remains Strong in October
The October real estate market posted a large increase in sold volume fueled by double digit rise in number of units sold. Total sold dollar volume increased from $138 million in October of 2018 to $178.1 million in October of 2019, representing a 29% year-over-year...
Median house price up $20K across Fred region
The local economy remained healthy throughout the 3rd quarter of 2019. Unemployment remains very low along with interest rates with no indication of either situation changing in the near future. Sales continued to grow throughout the FAAR footprint, with 5% more...