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Dave Gresham 
Owner & Principal Broker
Smith Mountain Lake Homes & Realty, LLC

16700 Moneta Rd.
Moneta, VA 24121   
(540) 297-6060 or (540) 721-5050
actyourageless@yahoo.com

Looking To Buy?

   You may not know exactly what you're looking for, so you’ll need someone that’s patient while you learn your way around. And I also know you may wind up deciding not to purchase, and that's important, too - no sales pressure. You may, or may not, find your heart’s desire here, but either way, you’ll enjoy searching for it with me.

   As you research Smith Mountain Lake and the surrounding area, remember that while the Internet is good for getting a feel for an area, it's not the way to find property when you get serious. This is because Internet real estate information is often minimal and always incomplete. It's usually very marketing oriented as well. You read "cozy with a rustic feel" and hear charming with a natural setting, but it's more likely the size of a matchbox and feels neglected.

  So call me and put a professional to work for you. There are approximately 70,000 properties in our Multiple Listing Service, which can be searched by some 200 categories. The individual listings you'll get to review will have all the key things you selected, plus they'll contain far more detail. Most important, you'll have an expert on Lake area properties to guide you.

   I can also set up automatic emails that will arrive with any kind of information you want me to program. (It's easy for me to do this.) Simply call or email me and tell me what kind of property and what price range you are looking for. When something new comes up, you will be among the first to know.

   You can get very specific with your automatic information requests, if you want. A very generalized set-up will obviously get more properties to review, but on the other hand it can result in too many emails, (though we can always the modify the parameters later). Be sure to let me know if you want them set up to come daily, weekly, or monthly. (You can unsubscribe, also automatic, at any time.)

Tips

Mortgage Shopping
   Compare everything, then choose without emotions. One buyer liked a particular mortgage loan officer because she was very nice during the 20 minutes they spent on the phone... When it was all said and done, everything was equal between lenders except the nice one was charging 1/4% more for the loan. This means that for $400,000 financed over 15 years, this 20 minutes was costing her over $10,000. That’s $30,000 an hour!  She wasn't that nice!
   Also, if you will be borrowing a part of the purchase price, get your mortgage loan pre-approved because it puts you in a better negotiating position with the seller if you make an offer.

Silt
   This can be a problem on some lots. There are literally a thousand homes here that can barely use the lake any more, and hundreds that can’t use it at all now!  What about dredging? Yes, maybe you can, and it makes sense in some cases, but you’ll need a special permit and a suitcase full of money. 

Visiting Properties
   With 500 miles of shoreline you're going to need to budget a little time. Spend the first day here by yourself, no agent, and drive all around the place. (Begin by purchasing a lake area map at the Welcome Center or at any local gas station.) Now you can spend the second day with me, visiting a variety of different homes in different lake locations. Since you spent a day getting to know the place a little bit, you'll have a general idea where you are wherever we stop, and this will be a tremendous help in building a frame of reference from which to judge. Seriously, with 500 miles of shoreline you need time. We can spend additional days looking at properties, as well, but at some point you'll probably want to go back home to reflect on it all. In all my years of real estate, I have only sold a property on someone's first visit here two times.
   In addition, take notes when you visit listings. Use memory joggers to reference them, for example: "huge fireplace", "great shoreline", etc. I’ll give you an individual printout on every property we visit. Only keep the ones you like, relentlessly throwing away the ones you don't. Everything is a blur after looking at just 4 or 5 places and this helps keep your thinking clear.

Vacation Rentals
   They are a great way to supplement the mortgage payment if the home will not be a full time residence. However, forget the fictional stories about buying the home for free this way. Supplement your 2nd mortgage, yes; cover it, no. That having been said, I have some great tips to maximize your gain on this type of purchase!

Making an Offer
   The #1 rule for how much to offer on a property is virtually always "less", because you just never know what someone will take, and you won't get it for less if you don't try. I tell all my clients that real estate is not an exact science and it's never certain what a seller will take for the actual selling price (and terms) for a property. So always offer less, maybe a lot less.

Lastly, please contact me if I can be of service in any way!  It would be my privilege to talk with you!

                                                   Sincerely,
                                                 Dave Gresham
                                                   Owner & Principal Broker

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