David Bruce

Real Estate News and Statistics Category

November 17th, 2008

Spotlight on The Highlands

A Great Golf and Family Oriented Community!

The Highlands is a fantastic golf and residential community in historic Chesterfield, Virginia just a few miles off of Rt 288 and Ironbridge Rd.  Built on 2,500 acres, there is a wide variety of homes including new construction and re-sales. The homes enjoy access to woodlands, open spaces, golf, recreational parks, lakes, and nature trails for year round pleasure. Read the rest of this entry »

November 13th, 2008

Skye Bruce Reports Positive Real Estate News for Richmond Virginia

The following is a quick market update from Skye Bruce, the #1 REMAX Agent in Central Virginia:

Finally some positive news in the press about homes sales in the Richmond area!  We have seen improvement in home sales in the third quarter of 2008 compared to the third quarter of 2007.  More good news? Yes! Many of our less expensive homes are selling.  What does this mean?  First Time Homebuyers are back!  If this trend continues this will lead to an increase in home buyers as people selling less expensive homes trade up to more expensive homes. Read the rest of this entry »

November 5th, 2008

Brandermill Developing New Master Plan

Brandermill should look to its history as it looks to its future!

Chesterfield County’s Brandermill development is holding several public hearings to get input on the creation of a new master plan for the community.  The 4000+ home development along the shores of the Swift Creek Reservoir was developed in the 70′s and was named “The Best Planned Community in America” by Better Homes and Gardens and the National Association of Home Builders in 1977.  Brandermill was the first planned community in Chesterfield County and really the first of its type in the Richmond area.

The design of the original development was influenced heavily by Charles Fraser, the late developer of Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island South Carolina. His influence is unmistakable from the style of some of the early architecture in Brandermill to those large green mailboxes, even the compass used in the Brandermill logo was the just like the one used for Sea Pines Plantation. Read the rest of this entry »

October 29th, 2008

Skye Bruce Properties chosen to represent Scandia USA Homes at Rocketts Landing

Skye Bruce Properties has been chosen to represent Scandia USA builders for their new Rocketts Landing town-homes. These luxury, energy efficient, green built town-homes offer incredible custom features such as granite counter tops, four piece crown molding, Kountry Kraft handmade cabinets, advance security systems, plus much more! Read the rest of this entry »

October 29th, 2008

September New Home Sales Up

Nationwide sales of newly constructed homes rose in September, but the median selling price dropped.The September report from the US Census Bureau finds new home sales were up 2.7 percent from Aug. to an annualized rate of 464,000. Sales are down 33 percent from September 2007, and far below the pace during the boom years. Read the rest of this entry »

October 23rd, 2008

Home Sales Up in Richmond!

A welcome headline this morning in the Richmond Times Dispatch! “RICHMOND-AREA HOME SALES RISE”. They reported that Richmond Area homes sales rose in the third quarter by 1.6% compared to the same quarter in 2007. Hanover and Henrico counties saw positive growth of about 2%.  The average price for a home remained flat in the Richmond area at around 239,000.

The Richmond area continues to out perform the rest of the country, most other metro areas and the state as a whole. Read the rest of this entry »

October 23rd, 2008

Richmond Foreclosures on the Rise!

Foreclosures in the Richmond Metro area are on the rise again.  Over 1100 homes received foreclosure filings almost triple year over year. Bank repo’s, auction sales and defaults are included in this total. In Virginia as a whole, foreclosure notices are up 185% year over year. Notices did fall in September versus August, one bright spot, but nothing you could call trend. The Richmond area ranked 88th among metro areas in the country for foreclosures.

Nationwide there was a 71 percent increase in the number of homes which received at least one foreclosure-related notice in the third quarter of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007. Read the rest of this entry »

October 17th, 2008

Agent Spotlight: Catena Armstrong

Catena Armstrong obtained her real estate license in 2002 and has since established herself as a leader in the industry by obtaining her Graduate Realtor Institute and Accredited Buyer Representative designations from the National Association of Realtors. Catena has successfully worked with buyers and sellers in the Greater Richmond area, supporting investors, first time home buyers, luxury and trade up buyers and many individuals relocating to the Richmond area. A recent client remarked:

“I have moved my family several times over the last few years and it is never easy. Some of the best advice I received from a colleague regarding the move to Richmond was the referral of Catena Armstrong. I am in a consultative selling business and she went above and beyond upfront to understand our needs and interests. I feel her knowledge of the Richmond real estate market significantly reduced our time to contract. In the midst of transition communication was critical and she facilitated negotiations demonstrating she was truly our agent. Catena enhanced our buying experience and I would not hesitate recommending her to my boss or best friend. “

Catena’s style is friendly and low pressure. She employs a proven Home Buying System which is low stress for her clients, information driven and organized.  She ensures you will be in the best position possible to purchase a home at the best price and terms, with the best loan and the best real estate representation available.

October 9th, 2008

The Small House Movement featured on the TODAY SHOW

This morning on NBC’s Today Show there was a featured segment about the Small House Movement.  Since 1950 the size of the average American family has steadily decreased, yet the size of houses has nearly doubled. This movement advocates the building of smaller, more eco friendly and energy efficient homes versus the trend of McMansions and bigger is better as we have seen in the last decade. See full article for video and more information. Read the rest of this entry »

September 29th, 2008

10 Common Mistakes Buyers Make!

For just about any activity we do in life there are usually best practices which give us the best chance to achieve our desired result.  Home buying is no different and just like there are best practices there are also common mistakes buyers make.  Here is a list of 10 common ones, if anyone wants to add to the list based on experience, please share with the group!

1. Getting emotionally attached to house before negotiating a price.
2. Not being pre-qualified for a loan before making an offer.
3. Going it alone and not having a Buyer’s Agent representing you. Read the rest of this entry »