2024 Housing Market Forecast There are a number of economic indicators that we look at when trying to forecast what the real estate market will do in the next 12 months.  So let’s look at each of them and see where we stand. 1.  Interest Rates: Changes in interest rates can significantly impact the affordability of mortgages, affecting both homebuyers and sellers. Lower interest rates often stimulate demand in the real estate market. POSITIVE:  Coming out of a year with the highest interest rates we have seen in over 20 years.  Fewer sales, fewer listings and fewer buyers ..read more

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Buying a home can be a competitive process, especially in a hot real estate market. Bidding wars can quickly drive up the price of a property and make it difficult to secure the home you want. Here are some tips to help you avoid a bidding war when buying a home: Get pre-approved for a mortgage: Having a pre-approval letter from a lender can show sellers that you're a serious buyer with the financial resources to purchase the property. This can give you an edge over other potential buyers who haven't been pre-approved. Set a budget and stick to it: Determine your budget before you start looki ..read more

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This is one of our favorite client events.  This year we have a professional photographer taking fall family portraits so come dressed for your free photo session.   Here are the specifics about the event.  Let us know if you can make it! Date:  Sunday, October 24th, 2021 Time: 1- 4 PM (photo's from 1:00 to 3:00) Where:  Greenbrier Farms  Address:  225 Sign Pine Rd. Chesapeake, VA 23322 RSVP to eric@ziemerrealestate.com ..read more

HOW TO NAVIGATE THIS CRAZY MARKET Pretty much everyone knows that we are in a sellers market.  What I mean by that is, we have way more buyers than sellers.  A home hits the market and within 24 hours the home has 7 offers.  In order to win, buyers are offering above asking, no inspection and guaranteeing the appraised value.  That is a challenging market for a buyer.  Especially a buyer that doesn't have a ton of cash to compete against the buyers that do.  Cash is a safer bet for sellers so if given the choice between a 100% financed offer and an offer that has ..read more

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Market Update - Winter 2021 Well 2020 was quite the year in real estate in the Hampton Roads area.  The theme for the year could be summed up in one word... INVENTORY.  Lack of inventory and low interest rates made buying a home a challenge because simply put there are more buyers than sellers.  As we finished up the year we started seeing multiple offers on homes which put the sellers in the driver seat during the negotiations.  As we entered 2021, the lack of inventory and the abundance of buyers has only gotten worse.  This has made the first quarter of 2021 one fo ..read more

2020 Real Estate Market Review 2020...... What else do I need to say.  A year of fear and chaos.  Well here we are in 2021 and as much as no one wants to look back at 2020, in the real estate world it is always good to look at where we were to try and figure out where we are going. In February of 2020, we had no idea what the rest of the year would bring for our real estate business.  We were down right fearful that the bottom would drop out and we would be in uncharted territory.  Well, thank goodness that wasn't the case.  While many sectors of our economy took a bea ..read more