(Continued from Page 1) Spring Nesting Roger Batchelder cites

(Continued from Page 1)

Spring Nesting

Roger Batchelder cites the spring season as the major (actor in his own hectic schedule. “The weather will bring more out,” he says, adding that recent high interest rates didn’t affect Rappahannock much because of “a lot of owner financing.”

He thinks the rise in the stock market is more directly attributable for the improved local market. “When the stock market is up people have more optimism and confidence about the economy,” he says. *The interest rates are more important in the suburbs—in Alexandria and places like that. People will buy here regardless of the interest rates if they can get a sense of optimism. ”

Batchelder denigrates the pleas of other brokers for more listings. While the demand for land in Rappahannock may exceed the supply, it isn’t a one-way street, he says. “Quite a few are leaving. It’s not a Utopia for everyone,” he says. And with that, he rushes off to show a house owned by someone who wants to move to Fairfax.

Major Reasons To Leave

Peggy Clark says such listings are the exception, however. “People tend to hang into the Rappahannock area,” said the Flint Hill Realtor. They leave when they have to, she says, either for health reasons, for retirement near other family members or when they are forced to relocate because of their jobs.

According to Clark, “it looks like it’s going to be a good year even though interest rates may climb again.”

Clark says the lowest rate around is approximately 1114 percent with points and other conditions. Most mortgages are currently 14*4 percent, (13V4 with FHA loans) and up. But Clark says people are beginning to accept higher than former rates and “clients out there are buzzing around again.”

During the recession, there were “very few price drops” Clark added not many “desperate sellers” willing to reduce the listing on their homes to counter the effects of higher mortgage rates. Rappahannock, Clark thinks, as are “all rural real estate sellers are more willing to hold” land during hard times than to take a beating.”

“One thing I’ve noticed in Rappahannock,” she added, is that “land values have held throughout all this. People have not been pressed to sell. ”

In any times Clark says it’s best to “put a price on that makes good sense.”

Clark says she likes to sell close to the list price and advises buyers to “stay in a realistic range.”

“People do tend to be ridiculous when they try to get the cheapest thing possible; it’s not always the best investment,” she added, saying people “should really try to get the best that money will get them” after they have saved for a considerable down payment or commit themselves to a long mortgage.

She added that people have to shop around for “selective financing.” Owner financing is generally the best bet, she said, because a low interest rate is “harder—almost impossible (to find) at the banks.