I had a showing appointment at an older home in the Rivermont area of Lynchburg and I arrived early. Instead of waiting in my car, I decided to drive to the end of the cul-de-sac and was rewarded with this magnificent view of the trestle bridge that spans the James River and the Blue Ridge Mountains beyond. Thanks to my dad I have a fondness for the sound of a far off train whistle...   Wishing you all a wonderful Sunday!   10/04/2014

October is National Adopt a Shelter Dog Month!   The entire month of October is dedicated to the shelter dog and the Lynchburg Humane Society  has set a goal of finding forever homes for 125 pets. Last year they adopted out a total of 75. The Lynchburg Humane Society will waive the $75 adoption fee on October 4th and 5th. The rest of the month, the fee will be $35. Adult cats may be adopted for $10 instead of the usual $60 fee. Take a look at all of the available DOGS and CATS who are looking for their forever homes, one of them could be yours!       Lynchburg Humane Society: HOURS Tuesday-Friday 11:00 - 6:00 Saturday & Sunday 11:00 - 5:00 Closed Monday ADDRESS 3305 Naval Reserve Road Lynchburg, VA 24501 (434) 846-1438         09/30/2014

This Property Has Been LEASED... BUT WE HAVE MORE!   New to Londeree's Real Estate & Property Management: 3 BEDROOM ON TIMBER LAKE, Lynchburg VA $1,000 Per Month 3 BEDROOM WITH DOCK On Smith Mountain Lake $1500 Per Month   Updated Home in Lynchburg Available For Rent OverviewMapsPhotos $850 Residential Rental Main Features 3 Bedrooms2 BathroomsInterior: 1,335 sqft Location 516  Oak Ridge BlvdLynchburg, VA 24502USA Debbie Malone, Realtor Londeree's Real Estate & Prop. Mgt.(434) 546-0369malone1981@aol.comhttp://www.my-lynchburg-home.com   Listed by: Debbie Malone, Realtor- Londeree's Real Estate & Property Management Nearby  rentals For information on Homes for Sale or For Lease in the Lynchburg or Smith Mountain Lake area, call Debbie Malone, (434) 546-0369 08/23/2014

I get several calls every week regarding the Lynchburg Redevelopment & Housing Authority Voucher Program from people who have found an old Section 8 blog I wrote several years ago. I use to call each  person back with the contact info but it's become unmanageable. Unfortunately, the Lynchburg Redevelopment & Housing Authority has closed its waiting lists indefinitely for both its Public Housing and Section 8 programs. The News and Advance ran a story with more information. For people who are currently on the list- you will be assisted as properties become available.  Currently they each have a waiting list of 400 people and are closed to new applicants. For information regarding  housing in Amherst, Appomattox and Bedford Counties, surrounding Lynchburg, VA you can contact Lyn-CAG and c... 07/07/2014

On Commercial Real Estate Investments here is how we calculate Rent Per Unit & Per Square Feet of Improvements Apartments: 100 Apartment Units, 750 Sq.Ft. Unit with Rent of $800 per Unit per Month  100 Units X 750 Sq.Ft. = 75,000 Sq.Ft.$800 Rent X 100 Units = $80,000 X 12 Months = $960,000 When analyzing Real Estate we always use Annual Numbers except for Apartments where we use: Rent Per Unit  &  Rent Per Square Foot Per Month ( $800 Rent ÷ 750 Sq.Ft. = $1.07 per Sq.Ft. per month)    **By using the rent per Sq.Ft. per month we can more accurately compare various apartments. Office, Retail, and Industrial Properties:  Use Square Feet as the Unit of Measurement.    We also quote an annual rate when giving the rental rate. Warehouse: $20,000 Sq.Ft.Rental Rate: $5.00 per Sq.Ft.Annual Rent:... 09/27/2013

According to ICSC Redevelopment is the new development in retail real estate, as landlords renovate and rehabilitate existing assets rather than building new ones, said speakers at ICSC’s NOI+ Asset Management Conference this week in Washington. Rockville, Md.–based Federal Realty Investment Trust says a site must be a proven retail location if redevelopment is to be successful; simply renovating an asset will be no help if that is not the right formula for that market, said Donald Wood, president and CEO of Federal Realty. “Every corner is unique,” he said. “Every customer base is unique.” For privately held, Miami-based Terranova Corp., the goal of a redevelopment is a high return rate, because that is what investors are looking for. This means a payback of 500 to 600 basis points, sa... 09/26/2013

Financial Indicators For Commercial Income Properties: Gross Rent Multiplier (GRM) Price of the Property Divided by the Gross Potential Income (GPI) PRICE ÷ GPI = GRM What Does This DOWN & DIRTY INDICATOR Tell You ??? For Apartments: 3.5X to 4.5X = Low Income Property 4.5X to 6.5X = Median Income Property 6.5X to 8.5X = Upper Income Property For low income property , since the price is low the GPI (Total Potential Rent) divided into the price will produce a small number. As the price of the property increases the GRM generally increases. For Gross Leased Office Buildings: 5.5X to 6.5X = Class C 6.5X to 7.0X = Class B 7.0X to 8.5X = Class A Modified Net or Gross Leases will cause the multipliers to vary. When we have a Net Lease (Sometimes referred to as a Net, Net, Net Lease) the GRM wi... 09/24/2013

Commercial Real Estate has Financial Indicators that are generally used in determining the value of Real Estate… “What Is It Worth” Financial Indicators: SUMMARY OF CALCULATIONS  Price Per SqFt: Price ÷ SqFt  Price Per Apartment Unit: Price ÷ # of Units  Gross Rent Multiplier: Price ÷ Gross Potential Income (GPI)  Vacancy Per Apt. Unit: GPI X % Vacant  Economic Vacancy: Actual $ Value of Vacancy ÷ GPI  Expenses Per SqFt: Total Expense ÷ Total SqFt  Expenses Per Unit: Total Expense ÷ Total # of Units  Expenses As % of GPI: Total Expense ÷ GPI  Cap Rate: NOI ÷ Price  Cash On Cash Return: Cash Flow ÷ Cash Invested  GEI Return: GEI ÷ Cash Invested  Loan To Value Ratio: Loan ÷ Price  Taxable Income: GEI - Depreciation  Theses indicators are based on income and expenses here is a easy to use ... 09/24/2013

Mortgage rates remained steady last week with Retail Sales coming in lower than expected. This will be an interesting week with the Federal Reserve meeting scheduled to decide whether or not to begin the expected bond tapering. The markets celebrated Larry Summers taking his name out of the running as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Summers had been a critic of quantitative easing and the markets are thrilled he will not be in charge of dismantling the taper. Many analysts expect the Fed will slowly decrease its bond purchases by $10 Billion per month. If the Fed announces a similar tapering policy, mortgage rates should rise. A further delay in tapering could be interpreted as the Fed believes the economy is stumbling again and rates could move downward. 09/17/2013

Senior housing investment sales, which have been slowly creeping up this year, could see a big boost in activity in the near future. Investors in the sector see senior living assets continuing to benefit from the ongoing recovery in housing, which is making it easier for older owners to sell their homes in anticipation of moving to a senior housing facility. Seeing this trend, several major public REITs are beginning to sell some of the their commercial assets, which are getting premium pricing in the current market, to raise money to redirect towards senior housing and care facilities, in expectation that the prices will rebound.  Sales volume of senior multifamily housing properties, including assisted living and congregate care facilities, in the first half of this year is ahead of v... 09/17/2013

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a win for big-box retailers looking to expand in the District of Columbia, Mayor Vincent Gray has vetoed the controversial Large Retailer Accountability Act. The city council voted in July to pass the act, which would have imposed a $12.50 hourly living wage on businesses that have annual corporate sales of more than $1 billion and spaces greater than 75,000 square feet. The living wage is a 50 percent premium over Washington, D.C.'s current minimum wage of $8.25 an hour. Mayor Gray vetoed the legislation, citing “that the bill is flawed and will fail to achieve the intended goals.” The city council approved the bill, claiming that it was a victory for income equality and low-income workers.    The proposed law had big-box retailers, especially Walmart, reconsideri... 09/16/2013

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT FUNDAMENTALS NOI is also used to calculate the value of a property. The value is often expressed through the Capitalization Rate (Cap Rate). The Cap Rate expresses the relationship between NOI and value (price). The relationship between NOI and Cap Rate is an inverse correlation; that is, the higher the Cap Rate, the lowe rthe value ofthe property. The lower the Cap Rate, the higher the value ofthe property. Cap Rate = NOI/ Value (Price) Examples: • A property with $50,000 of NOI that is valued at $625,000 has an 8% Cap Rate.  (50,000/625,000 = 0.08) • A property with $75,000 of NOI and a 7.5% Cap Rate would have a value of $1,000,000.(75,000/0.075 = $1,000,000) Net Operating Income (NOI) is a key figure it is what is left after collecting rents and pay... 09/16/2013

Cap Rate, which is a very commonly used measurement and comparison tool, reflects a one-year relationship between Net Operating Income (NOI), and price (or value). NOI, which is a very key figure in investment analysis of all types, is defined as rents received from all sources, minus owner-paid Operating Expenses. For our purposes, we will use the simplified rent minus Operating Expenses equals NOI. In the real world, NOI Calculations usually involve an allowance for Vacancy and Credit losses (VNC losses). These VNC losses used in the calculation of NOI could be the actual vacancy for the property, a “Market” VNC percentage for that type of property, in that particular market, or the stated VNC losses. Stated VNC losses could be dictated by a lender, or potential Investor, and would us... 09/13/2013

Investment analysis information is critical in assisting the investor in their decision whether to buy a particular investment, and if so, at what price. Investment analysis provides vitally important tools for assisting investors in evaluating various investment alternatives. The Internet and the advent of various commercial real estate data resources have multiplied the number of sources of information on potential investment properties. Investment analysis provides us a means to measure the performance of various alternatives. And with that measurement we can compare it to other investment properties, or even non-commercial real estate Investments.  Yield for commercial real estate is sometimes referred to as Internal Rate of Return (IRR). The derivation of IRR can be difficult to un... 09/12/2013

Keller Williams Realty Lynchburg is Upgrading Associates to Google Apps for Business Agents to receive new productivity tools at no additional cost   LYNCHBURG, VA (July 1, 2013) - Keller Williams Realty, the largest real estate franchise company in the United States, announced today that it is adopting Google Apps for Business. The move includes transitioning associates' email and calendar systems to Google Apps, which will provide enhanced mobile access, increased storage, and collaborative tools for teams. SEARCH LYNCHBURG MLS KELLER WILLIAMS HOMES FOR SALE  "Consistent with Keller Williams Realty's agent-centric philosophy, we're excited to be able to provide our associates with the powerful productivity and collaboration tools that comprise Google Apps for Business," said Executiv... 08/23/2013

Keller Williams Realty Ranked Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Home Buyer and Seller Segments by J.D. Power and Associates   LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA — According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Home Buyer/Seller Satisfaction StudySM released earlier this month, Keller Williams Realty, Inc. ranks highest in customer satisfaction in both the home buyer and home seller segments. Keller Williams Realty, Inc. achieved the highest scores in all measured factors across both segments, receiving the highest JDPower.com Power Circle RatingSM among its competitors overall.     SEARCH LYNCHBURG MLS HOMES FOR SALE     “We are so proud to have our associates be recognized once again for leading the industry with the influence and reputations they have in their local communities. They continual... 08/23/2013

BUYING A HOME MADE EASY - LYNCHBURG TIPS The very best and most enjoyable reason to purchase real estate in Lynchburg by far is in buying a property in which your family will live and grow together. There is a lot of fun involved in finding the perfect place for you and your family to call home. There is also a great deal of stress involved as well and that should not be overlooked. Kellie Shearer a local Realtor (MLS) with Keller Williams Realty shares with us some tips to make buying your next home easy and much less stressful.  SEARCH LYNCHBURG MLS HOMES FOR SALE Kellie Shearer shares things to keep in mind when searching for the perfect property for your family are the following:  1) Make your first step the step of finding a local Lynchburg REALTOR or buyer’s agent that you are con... 08/21/2013

Search Lynchburg MLS Listings and find homes for sale and rent as well as commercial real estate listings, covers Lynchburg and the surrounding counties of Amherst, Campbell, Appomattox and Bedford Counties. You can save searches for listings as well as get all the school ratings and neighborhood information. The Lynchburg MLS is the source for real-time Real Estate homes for sale and commercial property listings. Be the first to know and get great deals with our automated listings updates. FREE Full Details http://www.lynchburgrealestatelisting.com/listing/mlsid/560/propertyid/278589/syndicated/1/cgltguid/B63BE362-836D-4525-88A0-89AD832C9A90/?ts=crg Listing Courtesy of Kellie Shearer, Keller Williams, Lynchburg Licensed in Va 08/19/2013

Returning College Students Boosting Lynchburg Economy   Lynchburg, VA - Some area colleges are already back in session, and others will be soon. Local businesses say they are thrilled to have their shops filled. Parts of Wards are normally busy anyway. Now, the students have really kicked it up a notch. Busy roads mean busy stores, and that means more money for the local economy. Students like Kate Thornhill and Magen Simmons have been busy strolling through store aisles. "Just picking up extra stuff that I need like pens, paper, stuff I haven't done yet," Simmons said, laughing. Simmons begins her sophomore year at Lynchburg College on Thursday. Thornhill starts at Virginia Tech next Monday. "It looks like everybody put everything off until the last minute," Simmons added. There's a st... 08/19/2013

Lynchburg Councilman:  "thuggish people" to describe African Americans    Lynchburg, VA - Lynchburg City Councilman H. Cary said something that has shocked a lot of people; but at the same time, Cary is receiving some support. We told you at a work session last week Cary used the term "thuggish people" to describe African Americans that hang out at Riverside Park in Lynchburg. Some are saying Cary's point was spot on, but others not so much. Cary has since apologized for his comments. What he defends though is his point that some city parks are riddled with crime. And now he's receiving an affirming thank you about that point from some of his constituents. "That's when the thuggish people arrive after that. Whites in the morning blacks in the evening in large part. That's unfortunate" ... 08/19/2013