Does that sound like a lot to you? Were you thinking only 10 people bought and sold real estate in Alexandria VA? Maybe 100, what about 1,000? After all of the media doom and gloom about record high foreclosures, unemployment, recession, and even depression, it may be hard for you to believe, but in 2008, approximately 4,130 people bought a home for sale in Alexandria VA!!!

From Alexandria City (including Old Town, Del Ray, Rosemont, Landmark, Cameron Station, Stonegate and Seminary Walk), to Alexandria of Fairfax County (including Kingstowne, Manchester Lakes, Rose Hill, Stratford Landing, Belle Haven, Belle View, Hybla Valley, and Landsdowne), over 4,000 buyers studied, searched the MLS, got approved for mortgages, viewed condos, townhomes, duplexes, single-family, luxury, and new construction homes for sale, worked with a buyers agent, submitted offers, negotiated, inspected, and CLOSED ON A NEW HOME!

You won’t hear that on CNN or MSNBC, why? Because real estate is and always will be LOCAL!!!

In the sellers market, you were probably afraid NOT to buy because the prices were going up. You probably thought the prices were going to go up forever so you couldn’t wait. You wanted to compete, waive contingencies, buy a home without even looking at it, and pay more than the asking price.

Now, you can be picky.  You can see more homes, and you can probably see them more than once before making a decision to buy. You can negotiate, you can offer less than the asking price, you can ask for closing cost assistance, you can ask for repairs, you can get a KICK ASS interest rate, and you can PAY LESS if it APPRAISES for less.

You have all of the ingredients to buy the cheapest house in the most desireable zip code, school district, or neighborhood of your choice.  Try waiting for the bottom, and all you’ll get may be leftovers.

I recently went back down to ‘The Burg’ to speak to graduating seniors about what to expect in the real world once they leave JMU.  Students had a chance to ask questions and learn about the most common challenges that new college graduates face including:

• Resume tips and how to turn negatives into positives
• How to prepare for the interview
• Maintaining professionalism during office hours, and after close of business
• Preparing for housing costs
• Learning how to budget and live within your means
• Understanding your credit report

Students are stepping out when our economy is facing tough times.  They’ll be facing a world of job offers while others are being laid off.  Many of them will graduate with thousands of dollars of debt including student loans, and credit cards.  As alumni with real world experience, we were able to share our lessons learned in hopes that the soon-to-be-grads are able to successfully build upon their strong educational foundation.

The Washington DC MetroDukes will be sponsoring our annual Job Fair, held Friday January 9, 2009 at the Tysons Corner Mariott from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  Employers can register online, and job seekers can email their resumes directly to MetroDukes@gmail.com.  This event is open to the public.  Washington DC area JMU alumni who are currently looking to hire fellow JMU alums may also post their job openings on the JMU Alumni Professional Network job positings website.

These photos were taken during today’s service in Old Town Alexandria in remembrance of those lost in the September 11 attacks.

There are tons of websites, photos, and links that can take us back to that day, but nothings warms me more than the sound of "The Voice", Whitney Houston singing the Star Spangled Banner.

Gives me goose bumps…

Does the recent news about the government takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have you scratching your head?  Before the news was news, Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors wrote a brief article explaining the current housing situation and what could happen.  Talk about forecasting…

Why are the companies’ share prices falling? Investors fear they will collapse because of rising mortgage defaults driven by home price declines.
What are the default rates on loans held by the companies? For Fannie, 1.22% for single-family loans delinquent 90 days or more, up from .62%; for Freddie, .81%, up from .49%.  The figures are for April and were reported in The Wall Street Journal.
What happens if they collapse? Mortgage rates will rise much higher.
What happens if home prices fall much further than anticipated and the newly raised capital runs out or stock prices fall to zero? The federal government will take over the companies (without a doubt) and assume the mortgage debt default risk.

Yun hit the nail right on the head because the government is now in charge.  But what does it all mean? Here’s a snapshot:

Over the weekend, both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have been placed into a government conservatorship that will be run by the recently created Federal Housing Finance Agency.

·         This was a necessary move to prevent the collapse of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae which would have been more damaging to both US and global financial markets.

·         It is expected that this move will bring stability to the housing market by increasing the available funds for lending, thereby lowering interest rates.  It is also expected to spur buyer activity which will begin the process of reversing the downward trend in property values.

·         Although there is no indication when the conservatorship will end, this move is viewed as a short-term take over intended to increase confidence and lower uncertainty in the housing market. 

·         This takeover has been strongly endorsed by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, "These necessary steps will help to strengthen the U.S. housing market and promote stability in our financial markets."

·         It is not clear how, if at all, this will affect Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s lending guidelines.  Their lending guidelines will continue to depend on how much risk they are willing to accept.

·         For now, this appears to be a good thing for the housing market but the full impact on the economy and the ripple effects this will have to taxpayers and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac investors remains to be seen.