I have no idea what la la land these real estate people are from,but its certainly not Christiansburg or Blacksburg VA. You will blown away by the overpriced real estate here. You can buy a very nice lake house in NY for the same money. You can expect to pay about 2 times the actual value. but if you travel two hours to the south into NC you can buy new construction with a garage and basement for the same money a 50 year old ranch house costs here. The real question is why is the property so expensive here? The economy is like the land that time forgot , so there really isn't a reason for the overinflated pricing. I do not plan on buying here adding to the the mess. I certainly do not want to live here when it all comes crashing down in the next year.

Christiansburg is one of the most stable markets in the US today. I say this due to the influence of two great colleges... Virginia Tech and Radford University, and the businesses that have developed on their skirt-tails. The economy is stable, so the Real Estate market is stable. Now, that might not mean you can make a mint like in some foreclosure heavy markets. But you can certainly count on a solid gain in a reasonable time frame.

Christy, David's 100% right. The townhouse market in Christiansburg has flattened out a bit, so if you are looking at that kind of product you should know that. You mentioned that you were interested in single-family homes, however, and if that's the case I'd give you a resounding "YES"! As a potential buyer, there are sellers out there that are willing to price their homes according to the current market and not to years past, and that means there are great homes to be had at very good prices. Three years is probably a good estimate on David's part - if you're going to be in the home for that long than it's likely you'll see some very noticeable gains on your investment.

The average length of time on the market for a home in Christiansburg last month was 8 months, and as of October 1st there were 286 homes on the market there. That tells us that it's really a good opportunity for buyers to seek the home that really meets their needs, and get it at a price that matches the market. You can find out more about the current market at my blog, referenced below, and if I can get you in touch with a local, recommended lender I'd be glad to do so. All the best in your search!