The Senate of Virginia has approved a one-time appropriation of approximately $10 million to be deposited into the Virginia Housing Trust Fund. If ultimately approved, the Fund will be administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The Senate, as a body, has suggested that the majority of the $10 million be used [...]

Great news for your first-time homebuyers-and for you! It’s now possible for more of your first-time homebuyers to qualify for a VHDA loan, thanks to maximum income limits that have increased in all areas of Virginia-with the most significant occurring in the larger Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). In addition to an affordable fixed rate, Virginia [...]

Last week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in conjunction with NeighborWorks® America, launched the Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program (EHLP) to help homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure in 27 states across the country and Puerto Rico. Under HUD’s EHLP guidelines, eligible homeowners can qualify for an interest free loan which [...]

After six months of declining residential home sales, Virginia’s housing market may finally be poised for a recovery. Click here to view the First Quarter 2011 Virginia Quarterly Home Sales Report, or read on for a summary of the latest news. As seen above, first quarter 2011 home sales (16,547) showed a marginal improvement over [...]

As you may know by now, NAR recently rolled out plans for a proposal called “the REALTOR® Party Political Survival Initiative.” In the wake of a recent Supreme Court ruling that will allow corporations to contribute unlimited funds into the political system, the NAR initiative is intended to maintain and cement REALTORS®’ place among the [...]

Can a buyer’s agent use the terms of the purchase contract to negotiate a fee change? This question is one of the most commonly asked on VAR’s Legal Hotline, and is also the subject of the first installment in a series of The Code is Good Business vide…

We all know that foreclosures are hard on homeowners, and that they can hurt a neighborhood’s property values. But you might not realize the effects they have on localities. At the Governor’s Housing Conference in Richmond this week, Jennifer Leona…

The Realtor profession stands ready to respond swiftly and decisively to oppose any specific proposal in Congress to reduce or eliminate the mortgage interest deduction. After all, there’s a lot at risk. However, at this point in time, there is no spec…

This is how rumors are started. Yesterday several major media outlets (WaPo, NYT) ran stories about a sneak peek of a draft report from the Deficit Reduction Commission (DRC), a bipartisan commission charged with recommending steps to reduce the federa…

The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) has levied a special tax on certain property owners to finance needed and costly transportation improvements in Northern Virginia, like Met…