Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Smith Mountain Lake Real Estate agents and their guests gathered on Thursday at the elegant Waterfront Country Club to celebrate our 2025 Network Awards Dinner. The evening brought together our team for a well-earned celebration of the past year’s accomplishments and the relationships that make our work meaningful. Guests enjoyed a lively cocktail hour, catching up with colleagues and setting an upbeat tone for the night ahead.
Buying a waterfront property at Smith Mountain Lake feels like you’ve found a slice of lakeside paradise, but what actually controls your access starts at an invisible line: the 800-foot contour.
Getting a dock permit at Smith Mountain Lake isn’t as simple as staking your claim along the shoreline. Appalachian Power holds the keys to anything below the 800-foot contour, and their rules can surprise even experienced buyers.
You may have heard homeowners today have a lot of equity built up. But what does that really mean? Let’s break it down.
Because your equity isn’t just a number, it’s a powerful asset that can help you take your next big step in life.
Here’s how it works. As you pay down your loan and home prices rise through the years, the share of your home that you own free and clear grows. That’s your equity.
If you’re planning to buy a home this year, you may be focused on the spring market. And hoping that when spring does hit, you’ll see:
But here’s what most buyers don’t realize. Buying just a few weeks earlier could mean paying less, dealing with less stress, and feeling less rushed.
Here are three reasons why accelerating your timeline over the next few weeks could actually be a better play.
As we move into 2026, the national housing market is settling into a more measured and sustainable pace. After several years of pandemic-driven surges, rapid interest rate increases, and tight inventory, conditions are settling into a more predictable pattern. The extremes are behind us. What remains is a market defined by moderation and stability.
If you’re one of the thousands of homebuyers waiting for rates to fall, you should know it’s already happening. And they recently crossed an important milestone. Rates officially dipped their toes into the 5s – something that hasn’t happened in about 3 years.
Want to know the #1 thing homeowners regret when they sell without an agent? It’s that they didn’t price their house correctly for their current market.
According to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), those sellers agree pricing their home effectively was the hardest part of the process.
Top 5 Most Difficult Task for Sellers Who Didn’t Use an Agent:
Wondering what to expect from the housing market in 2026? You’re not the only one. For the past few years, affordability has been the biggest barrier standing between most people and their next move. And a lot of buyers and sellers have been holding their breath waiting for things to get better. The good news? It’s finally happening.
Momentum is quietly building in the housing market. New data from NerdWallet shows more Americans are starting to think about buying a home again. Last year, 15% of respondents said they planned to buy a home in the next 12 months. This year, that number rose to 17%.