Where are all the homes for sale? (Roanoke, Franklin: real estate, rental)

[swvamom]

I keep reading about the overabundance of homes for sale across the nation in all types of neighborhoods and areas but we are having a hard time finding a home we want in our price range in the neighborhoods we want. Granted, we are being picky about schools within Southwest County, but I was hoping the flooded market was going to work in our favor. Is anyone else noticing this or is it because we want a lower-priced home in Southwest County? Do you think the beginning of May will bring more homes to the market or has the spring rush of homes already peaked?

[headnsouth]

I've spoken with several realtors in the area and they all say there just isn't much on the market this spring. You are looking in the most desirable part of the area too, and if you're looking at the lower-priced end, that limits your options even more. I would suggest working with a real estate agent who can call you when houses are becoming available --- in this kind of market, a listing agent can get a house sold with a couple of phone calls. The local Long & Foster office has been especially helpful for me.

[seanpecor]

I think the mildly motivated potential sellers are staying put with the slow market. Define lower-priced? How do you keep track of listings? Realtor.com? The rvar site?

I think the listings have peaked. Biggest closing months are usually June/July, no? That usually means purchase contracts in April/May so listing now would be post-peak. I don't necessarily know what I'm talking about though

Sean

[swvamom]

We are looking in the low 200s.

I am on rvar and realtor as much as possible throughout the day and evening.

We have asked our realtor and his assistant about how quickly they can get new listings to let us know as soon as possible. They both act as if we are asking too much (both have stated "we can't be watching it every hour") when we have asked how often listings come up. We are not asking them to watch listings every hour but if we can be automatically notified as listings come up instead of once a night like they have it set up, now. We are not too happy with them because they act as if we are a bother and may be looking for a new one-will probably go with Long and Foster as you suggested Headnsouth.

We are giving it through this weekend-then will probably have to find a home to rent (with young children, cats, dogs) while we keep looking. Our buyers close the last week of May, so we are down to the wire after this weekend.

Thanks for your replies.

[seanpecor]

One thing I'd try if you haven't already is creating an account with Realtor.com. Then execute your advanced search, and when you get the results page, and have it sorted in the order you want, then click the Save this Search link which if memory serves is in the left column. Then, you can visit your Saved Searches link, and it will list your saved searches. With each search listed, it will show you the total # of listings and the # of listings added within the past 7 days. I bookmarked this page, so I could check the bookmark and see whether or not the # of new listings changed so I could look, and then the advanced search is just one click away, which was a huge time saver. Then somewhere there will be an option for alert preferences and you can set it up so that you'll be emailed new listings as often as once daily, possible more often but I'm not certain.

There are alot of realtors who don't put in a whole lot of effort. Very few are very proactive. The most proactive and friendly realtor I know personally is Angie Mcghee (Angie McGhee's Real Estate Guide to Homes For Sale in Franklin County, Smith Mountain Lake, Roanoke, and Surrounding Areas!) and I'm not just saying that. I've dealt with her when she was the seller's agent and I've gotten to know her since then as a very thorough professional who goes the extra mile. Once she knows what you need she would be an asset for you.

Sean

[texaschic]

We are also moving to this area and are having a difficult time finding homes to choose from. We started out looking in the high 100's... and have had to raise that to the high 200's.. and still find very few at that. We have looked from Covington, to Roanoke, to Buchanan... very slim market.

[Steve Turner]

Your agent CAN put you on automatic notification. All he has to do is enter your criteria into the MLS computer and you will be notified IMMEDIATELY in Real Time via email of each and every new listing. He doesn't need to "watch it every hour"

[vamtncat]

Believe me it's just as tough for the few of us who are putting our houses on the market. The sign went in my yard (Wythe county) on Wednesday. So now I just sit and wait. It is VERY stressful. I have great faith in my Realtor however.

[Cdshiflett]

Not sure what MLS your Agent belongs to, however they should be able to set up a automatic e-mailing of all listings meeting your requirments. In other words set up an account for you takes about 15 mintues and it will monitor itself and send copys of listings that are just posted to you and the agent as well.

[swvamom]

Thank you for all of your replies and advice. We have a new realtor that set us up almost right away with auto. mls. She seems to really be on top of things and I hope will be able to find us a home quickly! We are on a 2 week countdown and feeling a little desperate to find a home. There seems to be very few new listings even close to our needs, but hopefully we can make it in a rental until we find a home.
Thanks, again.