Aside from National Factors that affect Real Estate and the Foreclosure Market, there are also Local Factors that affect our market. Again, there are five factors.

The first Local Factor that affect your Real Estate Market and the money you can make is Migration and Job Growth. If the area has an increase in jobs and people come to the area, Real Estate prices go up. The reverse happens if the area loses jobs and people leave. This is one of the reasons that Charlottesville is doing so well in a market that is bleak right now. The area keeps expanding in jobs with the University of Virginia to the NGIC expansion. Like anything else you want to track the results. Right now, Virginia's population is increasing by 6%, while the Charlottesville population is increasing by 25%. These things affect the "demand" side of the Supply and Demand Curve of Real Estate.

The second local factor that affects Real Estate are Development Plans. Is there new construction panned for the area? Shopping malls, restaruants, offices, etc? Get to know someone at the Planning Commission and attend the meetings. Find out the answers to these questions, they have a lot to do with where the market is going to go.

The third local factor that affects Real Estate is New Construction. New construction of any type means that the area has positive future potential. New Construction affects the supply side of the Supply and Demand Curve in Real Estate. Property owners will have a hard time increasing prices if new construction is selling for much less. Check with local building departments to find out home many new permits are filed each month. Then compare them to last year and the year before.

The fourth local factor that affects Real Estate is Supply and Demand. Supply and demand create the local business cycle. During an up cycle, the demand is greater than the supply, driving prices upwards. During a down cycle, the supply is greater than the demand, driving prices downwards. Again, track results. Keep track of the area's monthly home sales. That's sales, the number of homes that actually sold. Then compare homes bought in the current month to previous months to see buyer demand and use the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) to figure out the current supply. Understand that Real Estate can be seasonal. For example, more homes are sold during the summer than the winter. Currently in Charlottesville, the supply outweighs the demand.

The last local factor that affects Real Estate is Neighborhood Trends. If you are looking at buying a foreclosure or an investment property, drive around the neighborhood at different times of the day. Are there a lot of broken down cars? Are the yards maintained? Is it a few homes or the entire neighborhood that needs work? Are some houses being fixed up? What are the local employment statistics? Has the population grown? What is the median income? And so on. Use a combination of objective data and instinct.

Keep in mind that a single Local Factor can outweigh multiple national factors. Know your area throughly and invest where you live. If you don't know the streets, you don't know the area. Do your research up front and have your ducks in a row. All these will help minimize the risk of investing.

Here is a list of people you might need during the process of buying a foreclosure or investing"

Mortgage Broker

Real Estate Agent

Attorney

General Contractor

I can make suggestions on any of these if you need them. Just let me know.

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