The Housing Interpreter May 2017

Housing InterpreteR CURRENT TRENDS IN REAL ESTATE AND THE RICHMOND REGION A PUBLICATION OF THE RICHMOND ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

MAY 2017

Richmond Homearama Returns at NewMarket Estates in Chesterfield County

IN THIS ISSUE: • THE HOME BUILDING ASSOCIATION OF RICHMOND PRESENTS HOMEARAMA 2017 • GET READY FOR RICHMOND’S 10th ANNUAL BROAD APPETIT • LOCAL REALTOR® BECKY MCNEER RALLIES THE TROOPS TO COLLECT BOOKS FOR CMoR

WeAreTheR.com

The Home Building Association of Richmond Presents: Homearama 2017 at NewMarket Estates

Images courtesy of the Home Building Association of Richmond

May

6th through May 21st, the Home Building Association of Richmond will host its signature spring event, Homearama, once again featuring a community south of the James.

The homes featured this year are located in NewMarket Estates, a master-planned community in Chesterfield County at Otterdale Road and Sultree Drive.

The popular home show will feature ten unique models from ten different local builders open to the public, along with special dates when food, beverage, and entertainment will be hosted on-site. Each new home showcases the latest decorating ideas and designs, hot trends, and new technology built specifically for the show. Some of the specific trends featured this year are: a hidden pantry, dual master bedrooms, dutch doors, outdoor living areas, and keeping rooms.

General admission is $10 for adults and free for children under 18. “Taste of RVA” tickets, a special food sampling event on May 11th, are $20 for adults. Advance tickets can be purchased online at RichmondHomearama.com with major credit cards. Cash is also accepted at the gate.

Some of the event highlights include:

May 6 & 7, 12:00p.m.-4:00p.m.

ASK Family Fun Weekend, sponsored by Main Street Homes & Village Bank Mortgage: Bring the whole family for some enjoyable activities for everyone. There will be face painting, a juggling act, food trucks, and live music—featuring Kari Smith on Saturday and Joselyn Oldham on Sunday. No additional ticket is required, besides the general admission ticket.

May 11, 5:00p.m.-8:00p.m.

Taste of RVA, sponsored by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage: Richmond’s top builders and restaurants come together for

this amazing night with extended show hours. Enjoy live music by Joselyn Oldham. Adult tickets are $20 and can be purchased online. Those under 18 are admitted free. Special event admission begins at 4:00 p.m., allowing admission to tour the homes, as well as tasting menus from some of Richmond’s hottest restaurants. The current restaurant lineup includes: Latitude Seafood Co., Southbound, Mosaic Restaurant, Casa Del Barco, Rappahannock Oyster Co., Gregory’s Grill, Tarrant’s Café, Kona Grill, Home Sweet Home, and Tazza Kitchen.

May 13 & 14, 12:00p.m.-4:00p.m.

Mom’s Day Out, sponsored by HHHunt Homes:

There will be some extra love for mothers this weekend at Richmond Homearama. All mothers will receive $2.00 off from Cafe Caturra until 2:00 p.m. and there will be live music with The Usual Suspects on Saturday and the Pat Russell Band on Sunday. No additional ticket is required, besides the general admission ticket.

May 18, 5:00p.m-8:00p.m.

Brews, Tunes & Tour, sponsored by SunTrust Mortgage: Enjoy live music by Flat Elvis, beer, food trucks and gorgeous custom homes. No additional ticket is required, besides the general admission ticket.

May 20 & 21, 12:00p.m.-4:00p.m.

Bluegrass, Beer & BBQ Weekend, sponsored by George Mason Mortgage: Richmond Homearama will be featuring BBQ, craft beer, and local, live bluegrass music to celebrate the final weekend.

Enjoy music by The Slack Family on Saturday and East of Afton on Sunday. No additional ticket is required, besides the general admission ticket.

Proceeds from the event will benefit ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation, Central Virginia’s largest and most comprehensive provider of support services for children with cancer and their families. Their support begins the moment of diagnosis and extends through treatment and beyond. ■

Participating builders this year are:

Biringer Builders

CraftMaster Homes

Covenant Building & Design

Lifestyle Home Builders

LeGault Homes

Ray A. Williams Custom Homes

Perkinson Homes

River City Custom Homes

South River Custom Homes

TimberCreek Building & Design

“We are committed to helping you increase your visibility, expand your market share and improve the customer journey.”

Realtors

today operate in a fast-moving, competitive environment, constantly striving to satisfy their client’s needs and exceed their expectations. At TowneBank Mortgage, we share those same goals.

improve the customer journey. With an in-house print, digital and video marketing team, we can help create co-branded marketing products that help grow your business and satisfy your clients’ needs.

TowneBank Mortgage is dedicated to providing borrowers with the personal experience expected from a hometown lender with the most advanced technology available to offer affordable loans, quick processing, and exceptional service.

TowneBank Mortgage uses on-site processing and underwriting, so your buyer’s loan file never leaves the Richmond area. Our focus on a team approach ensures that clients are kept informed every step of the way, and that their loans close on time. Our loan officers know communication is critical during the mortgage process, and keep both clients and Realtor® partners updated throughout the entire process.

®

Local lending means fast approval from a team of mortgage professionals who are committed to the buyer’s needs. TowneBank Mortgage offers a variety of loan products, including FHA, VA, USDA, VHDA, Construction/Perm, and Reverse as well as Conventional loans with as little as 3 percent down. Our loan officers provide borrowers with a comprehensive overview of our loan products and process, tailoring their loan to fit their exact needs. Homebuyers who use TowneBank Mortgage feel a sense of relief that they’ve made the right financial decision for themselves and their family.

“I’m privileged to be part of the Towne family where our client’s individual needs and experience are always the first priority. This is exemplified by our CEO and President’s willingness to personally call my clients and referral sources to ensure that the process is running smoothly,” said Rob Magruder, Richmond Area Manager with TowneBank Mortgage.

TowneBank Mortgage is not only dedicated to our clients, but to our Realtor® partners as well. We are committed to helping you increase your visibility, expand your market share and

“Here at Towne Bank Mortgage we pride ourselves on offering exquisite service, and in the mortgage industry, this is hard to achieve.

But we believe that by offering a great customer experience, we, and the agents we work with are creating more than just customers, but relationships for life. With our processors, underwriters, and closers all in the same office as the loan officer, we feel that the entire team starts to develop a relationship with that real estate agent, which helps the client feel more at ease. Recently, we have run a few different cobranded marketing pieces to try and develop a larger client base, and the results were just fantastic. We can help those Realtors® who do not have a marketing division to create quality content, and help get their message out,” said Nate Smith, Vice President and Sales Manager of TowneBank Mortgage in Richmond.

To learn more about TowneBank Mortgage, please visit us at: townebankmortgage.com or reach us at 888-637-1321.

NMLS# 512138

■

If you have a message for Richmond REALTORS®, homebuyers, or homeowners, please contact kwhitlow@rarealtors.com

Get Ready for Richmond’s 10th Annual

Broad Appetit

For one day, 70-plus local chefs offer $3 small plates

When it comes to the food scene, among other things, Richmonders are

spoiled. Not only do we have a wealth of top-notch local restaurants and craft breweries, we also have an event each year that showcases a large representation of both on one street. If there are five Richmond restaurants that you’ve been meaning to try, chances are at least a few of them will be present at Broad Appetit.

This perennial Richmond foodie event will return on Sunday, June 4th, from 11AM-6PM, bringing a smorgasbord of $3 mini-dishes from 70-plus Richmond chefs and Virginia wines and beers for sampling. It all happens on West Broad Street, between Henry Street and Adams Street.

Broad Appetit is organized each year by the Downtown Neighborhood Association to promote the exceptional local food, art, and music scene, and to benefit FeedMore, Central Virginia’s core hunger-relief organization.

In addition to a one-stop opportunity to graze up and down the arts district on Broad Street and sample dishes from a multitude of participating restaurants, the event offers a lineup of cooking demonstrations and live music performances.

To throw a bit of friendly competition into the mix, awards are presented to restaurant vendors in the following categories:

• “To Dine For” – best signature dish • “To Diet For” – best dessert dish • “The Healthy Dish Award”- best well-balanced dish • “The Ambiance Award” – best decorated booth • “The People’s Choice Award” – determined by the public

Attendees of the event can vote in the “people’s choice” category by picking up a ballot at the event or by using a QR code on-site that will lead to instructions on how to vote from a mobile device.

Additional details, including a full music performance lineup and map of all participating vendors, will be available closer to the event date at broadappetit.com.

Local REALTOR® Becky McNeer Rallies the Troops to Collect Books for the Children’s Museum of Richmond

by Kate Landis Marketing and Public Relations Manager Richmond Association of REALTORS®

Five years ago, local REALTOR® Becky McNeer

heard from a friend about an opening on the junior board of directors for the Children’s Museum of Richmond and decided to attend one of their meetings. She wanted to get more involved in the community and visited the museum frequently with her children.

“Before attending that meeting, I didn’t realize how much the Children’s Museum did,” McNeer said.

The junior board is organized into subcommittees that focus on development, volunteers, and nominations. Becky was selected and has served on the development committee for the last five years, helping to organize fundraising efforts like the annual “Twilight Carniball” gala.

The “Twilight Carniball” is CMoR’s largest fundraiser, including food, drinks, dancing, and both a live and silent auction at the museum. The development committee secures auction donations from local businesses. “The last event this March was the most successful so far, bringing in $160,000 from ticket sales and auction items,” Becky explained.

The day or week following the event, CMoR hosts a children’s “Carniball” during the daytime, with activities included in the admission prices. For both the children’s and grown-up “Carniballs,” the museum is transformed into the theme of a different country each year. The food, music, and decorations typically all follow the culture of the selected country, providing a unique experience at every event.

to step in and help the volunteer committee with their book drive efforts.

“My daughter loves to read, and my younger daughter is starting to become aware of the benefits of reading as a family.

And you realize that some kids don’t have as much access to books,” she said.

Becky recruited her daughter’s girl scouts troop to help drop off bags and information sheets around the Salisbury and Robious Road corridor to collect book donations from local residents.

“The Girl Scouts loved the responsibility, and my kids loved it too,” Becky said.

“We got a wagon out and made it an activity. In one week, we collected 650 books.”

“One of the big reasons we host the event is to raise money for CMoR’s scholarship fund,” Becky said.

“It provides free access to the museum for kids who can’t afford to visit.”

Another activity of CMoR that Becky was not previously aware of is its ongoing effort to collect books for children in the community with minimal access to these types of resources. This particular cause struck such a chord with her that she decided

Thank-you letter from a CMoR book recipient

After Becky and her family got involved in the book drive, they were shown a letter from a child, thanking them for her book. “It was awesome to be able to show my kids what their

work helped accomplish,” McNeer said. The junior board has a goal for number of books to collect each year. Last year’s goal was between 2,000 and 3,000 books, and this year it has been kicked up to 10,000. Once collected, the books are sorted at the museum to make sure they are in good condition. Then children are invited to come to the museum to select books to take home.

CMoR also owns a corporate-sponsored “book buggy,” used for transporting donated books. “The museum would like to ultimately begin driving it around various neighborhoods like an ice cream truck to help solicit donations,” Becky explained.

In addition to providing an outlet for Becky to make a positive impact on the community, her experience serving CMoR has affected her in numerous ways. She has built close friendships, grown increasingly aware and appreciative of the work of CMoR, and found opportunities to instill altruistic values in her children.

Becky has fond personal memories of visiting the museum herself as a child.

CMoR’s ‘Book Buggy’ is used to transport donated books.

Images courtesy of Children’s Museum of Richmond.

“I want to make sure it’s still around for my grandkids,” she said.

CMoR is currently recruiting additional applicants for its junior board. If you would like to get involved as a junior board member, please fill out an application at tinyurl.com/cmorjuniorboard and follow the listed instructions for submission. ■

Books are gathered inside the ‘Book Buggy’ for transport to CMoR