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RAI - Realty Alliance Incorporated
RAI is an organization dedicated to the funding of 501(c) charitable entities. Our program is designed to allow individual donors to donate to the charitable organization of their choice without spending any of their own money.
The concept is simple: register with RAI to buy or sell real estate and RAI will receive a 30% referral fee from either the Realtor of your choice or a Realtor we have hand selected to be a source for your referral. (If you are a Seller, you still negotiate the commission you agree to pay with the Realtor.)
Upon the completion of your transaction, the Settlement Attorney or title company will forward 30% of the commission earned by your Realtor to RAI. Upon receipt of the funds, RAI will send 65% of the funds received to the 501(c) charity or charities designated by you. The donation will be made in your name and you will receive confirmation of your donation immediately.
RAI is committed to providing a seamless transaction which will prove to be no different than any other real estate transaction with one big difference: the support of the charitable organization of your choice.
RAI…laying a foundation for a better tomorrow.
Check out the website www.raidonations.com
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The two charts below show the average sales price (left) and number of transactions (right) in our surveyed market. It is easy to see that after our prices bottomed out at the end of 2009, our prices have risen substantially. That is good however it reflects a decrease in lower priced properties and a increase in higher priced properties being sold.
We can also see a very dramatic decrease in the number of transactions. This is a bad sign for the future.
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A recent USA Today article contained the following:
“Negative home equity will last for years
Sunken home prices have left millions of home owners underwater, owing more on their homes than they are worth. In a study for USA Today, First American CoreLogic estimates when typical underwater borrowers will see their negative equity turn positive. Difference between value of homes and unpaid mortgages.”
I will assume that the numbers for our market, reported as Washington D.C.-Arlington-Alexandria Va., are correct and are reflected in chart 1 below. ( 2009 -$75,118 2015 +$1713 2020 + $80425).
This represents a light at the end of the tunnel for those buyers who are upside down!
If you look at chart 2 below you will see a very positive picture for the local future! This chart represents those same mortgages if they were taken out in 2009 going forward which many recent purchasers have done! This is a very positive outlook for the future and we should all be excited.
In a perfect world there would be no losers only winners, but in reality history has shown that the buying decisions and many of the refinancing decisions made in the 4 years between 2003-2007 were not rational and those borrowers will continue to experience difficulty. Going forward the people who have been able to take advantage of the reduced prices should see a return to a far more rational market, and although there will be small up and down shifts there should be gradually increasing prices for the forseeable future! As always location will be the key.
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There has been a simple, easy to follow “rule” for my entire Real Estate career, Location Location Location! It is an easy way to emphasize that the single most important consideration is location. This has been true and will be more so in the future, however things are no longer as they were in the past. We have benefited from a massive movement of “Baby Boomers” for the last 60 years. They have affected everything in this country as they have advanced through the years but nothing more than our housing trends beginning in the mid 1960s as they became adults. Initially came the starter homes in places like Levittown, Bowie, Silver Spring, Arlington, Alexandria, Annandale and 1000s more across the US. Then along came the move ups, vacation homes and finally the “McMansions”, they were on a role!
So what is going to be important now? Location will always be a prime consideration, but we will have to add to that the current population, what age group they are in and what the projection is for that area. Some areas are much more top heavy in “Boomers” than other areas. Most of these people will retire in place and this will seriously change the nature of the neighborhood. In the past only 65% retired in place, now I would guess that number will increase to about 85%. The continuing recession has seriously eroded their ability to move and they have no prospect of replacing that loss of equity and income. Other areas have very strong employment trends, Northern Va. for example, and others like Detroit have to re-invent themselves. You can drill down in your local area and actually make a pretty accurate assessment yourself. It will be vitally important that you consider the population and employment trends in your decision to buy or sell. Although a home is not really an “investment” it can become a valuable asset if you make the right decision.
I will be comparing Fairfax and Loudoun in my next article. There will be some surprises!
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