Fairfax, Loudoun County Virginia -Residential Real Estate Market Blog

Loudoun County Virginia Public School Calendar 2012-2013

We are still half way through our 2011-2012 school year in Loudoun County. For parents it is good news that Loudoun County School has released their schedule for 2012-2013 out ahead of the time this year. Especially if you are planning vacation or have to make advance child care arrangements this calendar will help you to plan out your child next school year.

Fundraising for MS -Wine and Chocolate Tasting

Jacki's Determined Soles is hosting a wine and chocolate tasting to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The event will be held at Vinifera Wine Bar & Bistro located at 11750 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA.
The event will also include representatives from:

Loudoun Valley Vineyards

Fabbioli Cellars

Tarara Winery

Notaviva Vineyards

...and we are pleased to announce the addition of 8 Chains North Winery and Vineyards to the event!

Each winery will be pouring two wines specifically chosen to pair with chocolate from MC2 Confections.

Wine and chocolate will be available for purchase at the event so you can stock up for Valentine's day!

Cost of the tasting is $15 per person with all proceeds going to the National MS Society.  In addition there will be a silent auction with many exciting items.

To Purchase Tickets: You can prepay for the event.

Date: Feb. 12th 2012

NOTE:  No tickets will be mailed for this event.  Anyone who pre-pays will receive a confirmation notice from paypal and an additional confirmation from JDS a few days before the wine tasting.  Thank you to all who have pre-paid.  We'll see you on Sunday!

 Child care will be available at the Reston Heights Westin during the wine tasting.  There are 40 slots available and the cost is $10 per child which covers up to 3 hours of child care.  Many thanks to our volunteer babysitters!  Child care MUST BE PRE-PAID.  To pre-pay please use the link below.

Craiglist Rental Scam Alert for the Northern Virginia Landlord & Tenants

I recently listed a beautiful town home in Herndon 20171 for rent. The home was active on the market for about couple of days. My current tenants called me with a panic and confusion stating "Some strangers about 3-4 group of people where ringing the door bell and wanted to preview the home?" Speaking to one of them I found out that there was an advertisement of the same home with the property address listed for lot more cheaper price. The advertisement claimed that they are the owners and they live overseas. One of the person I spoke to was standing with cashier's check and so called owner had emailed him a copy of lease.

If you are reading or looking for rental what you can do:
1. Don't send cashier's check to any P.O box address!!
2. When in doubt use any of the search engines and look up the property. If you find the same home listed by a Realtor® call them and confirm the status.
3. Even if you drive by the home which sounds legal property address, ring the doorbell or ask the neighbors around.
4. When you see these kind of advertisement on sites like Craiglist please flag them!!!
5. If you are already part of the scam inform the local sheriff office.

How is the Spring 2012 Housing Market outlook for Northern Virginia Area-Fairfax/Loudoun & Prince William County

Spring of 2010 was filled with home buyers in the market wanting to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit. Spring of 2011 had all the positive data that influenced Northern Virginia real estate market. So what is in for the real estate market in Northern Virginia for Spring 2012?

From the New Construction Perspective: Builders in the surrounding counties including Fairfax, Loudoun & Prince William have raised their base price, incentives/credits have reduced and lot premiums are back.  We have also seen an increase in number of builders and communities opened up since 2010 which were on hold for a pretty long time. Speaking to most of the builders sales rep they are selling ahead of their scheduled sales forecast.  Over all they are very positive about the coming up spring market.

From the Resale Market Perspective: We still facing the same issue we had last year that is low inventory. I have buyers waiting on the homes in subdivisions/area to be on the market so they can submit an offer and purchase a home. This has caused in some cases multiple offers/ bidding war situation. So if you are a seller and thinking about selling your home my advice is you may want to take advantage of the current low inventory market. In winter cold months though we have smaller pool of buyers but they are serious buyer house hunting. In order to create bang in the market for your home do your homework that is de-clutter, stage your home and price it right.

From the Buyer's Perspective: While I personally the buyers are in same mind set that they were couple years back. Some are more prepared to take advantage of the market and others are on the fence about what is unknown in the near future of the market. Fortunately Northern Virginia's low unemployment (4.2%) has attracted tremendous relocation opportunity, increase in consumer confidence especially for home owner who are considering moving up into a large home, buy an investment property and definitely attract lot first time home buyer since rentals are expensive in our area. If you don't want to be caught up in the spring market start working with your Realtor® now.

From the Mortgage/Lender Perspective:  We still keep hearing "Interest are historically at lowest rate". Financial guidelines are getting restrict and more and more regulations are getting in place. Banks have implemented new restriction that requires certain the credit scores which will determine your interest rate and/or down payment requirement. We had a fluctuation of FHA loan amount limit we swing from $625K back to $729K. On the positive note, few lenders had introduce new in house incentive programs for example with Wells Fargo you can purchase a home with 2% down payment. FHA (3.5% down payment) is still the strongest mortgage type loan for most of the primary resident buyers. 203K Loan has attracted the purchase of distress homes. 80/10/10 loans are back with some lenders and No PMI programs are also an option. Speak to your lender to understand your financial qualification.

My Perspective as a Realtor® : In the current real estate market housing is like a half filled glass of water. As I say to my buyers and sellers we are going to have a good percentage of pessimist and optimist house hunter in the market just like any other market place. Depending on what is the purpose/goal of your purchase, housing market can be great for a long term investor or a Northern Virginia home owner. If you are ready to put your roots down, spread your eggs in different investment stream and/or enjoy the pride of home ownership, "HOME" is right for you. Even if the market slides with the uncertainty of the foreclosure or short sale or government spending or who get's elected in a long run the rewards may pay off. Housing was never a short term investment.

For home owners who are under water you have more options than four or five years ago. With programs like Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) and Short Sale you can avoid foreclosure retains on your credit history. Many home owners who lost their homes to short sale or HAFA may be eligible to purchase a home as early as within three years.

January and February typically kicks off with a slow start due to many facts like winter weather and middle of the school year. I am not here to convenience you whether you should buy or not. But knowing the facts will help you decide whether this market is for you or not. Here are few of my related blogs you can review to help you decide if you are ready to become a  home owner.

Jan -2012 Northern Virginia Real Estate Market report

Historic Data of Northern Virginia Real Estate Market

If you are relocating or buying or selling team up with a Local Realtor Ritu Desai at Samson Properties, who knows the market and the Northern Virginia area!

Things to DO in and Around Northern Virginia with Kids

 

Local Library- We are blessed to have so many events at our local libraries that you can either sign up or show up!! So before you drive far away check out your local library that has programs for young kids to teen center.

GEOCaching: I recently learned about it and it sounds like a fun activity to do with kids 10+ year old. Geocaching is a outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location. Learn about it at Geocaching.


Expo Center: Dulles expo center located in Chantilly, Virginia host event pretty much every weekend...From home and garden, FLEA market, cultural, golf, events, crafts, RV, Train show to other events. You do have to pay a small fee as entrance but some of them are well worth the money.  Other place you can look up coming up indoor event is DC Convention Center.

ICE SKATING : Read my blog on hot place for ice skating in Northern Virginia

5 MUST Visit Park: Visit my blog on 5 Must Visit Parks for parents with young child


If you are relocating or buying or selling team up with a Local Realtor Ritu Desai at Samson Properties, who knows the market and the Northern Virginia area!

Northern Virginia Home Buyer-Buying Property at the Virginia Court House Steps

My novice Northern Virginia investors get excited when they read the listings of property for auction starting bid at $10K in local newspaper such as Washington Examiner or Washington Post.  Every investors dream is to buy "steal deal" and flip it for profits. However sometimes these deals can cost you everything!!! So before you run with your hard earned cash to purchase that deal here are few thing to consider.

DID YOU KNOW??? When buying at any of the Northern Virginia Court house steps:

• Auctioneer does not guaranteed clear title
• The home may have other liens apart from the auctioned lien.
  
• Any tax lien including IRS, local county taxes you will be responsible to pay off apart from purchase price.
  
• Title insurance company won't under write the insurance for these properties.
• Without the legal proceeding of foreclosure, all subordinate liens remain attached to the property!! Including: Home-equity loans (HELOCs), any construction liens, second loan, mechanic liens etc. You are responsible for the outstanding debt.
  
• Good luck with getting inside the home...hence you have no clue what inside condition of the home is or inspect the home beforehand.
  
• If the property is occupied you are responsible to evict the occupant. You may have to compensate the occupant to move out of the property.
• All Deals are CASH Deals!
• You have to close within 15- 30 days!
  
• 99% of the homes are repurchased by the banks. They have their representatives at the auction.
• Last minute cancellation! Lot of the auctioned properties are pulled out due to one reason or the other at the day of auction. So if you show up and the property auction is cancelled you wasted all that time, energy and resource in finding the deal.
  
• If the property is truly a deal, beware you will be a small inexperience fish with experienced sharks around you.
  

So here is an example for worst case scenario:

You purchased a Fairfax County home at an auction for $50K. Later found out that the home has tax lien of $15000, HOA lien of $1000 and an HELOC of $100K. You add up you purchase price of the property plus outstanding debts of $116K +50K that is $166K. If the property is worth in a given market for only $125K you now have got yourself into a huge loss.
Apart from the above debt situation, there is no way for you to know the condition of the property. Are the appliances missing, what if property has extensive mold or water damage, any easement or HOA violations and so on? Above all if the renters or the owners refuse to move out you have to go through Sheriff's office or higher an attorney to evict the occupant.

So what you can do before you invest or buy at the court house:

-- Research, Research & more Research...learn everything and anything you can about the property ahead of the time.
-- Go observe other auctions before the auction date for the property you are considering.
-- At auction properties are purchased for CASH only!! Get your funds ready. If you don't close in the time frame given you lose your deposit.
-- Team up with the Title company and/or go to court house and pull up every record related to the property.
-- Go to the property and speak to the occupant on get a chance to preview the home. Be careful some occupant may be crazy.

Your Alternatives are:

As a Virginia residential real estate investors there are plenty of opportunities for an investors for example I met an investor who sends 1000 mailers a month to distress property owner. They will negotiate short sale with the home owner's lenders and take over the title under the company. Some they hold, others fix it and flip for properties. Other option is to bid on a REO (Real Estate Owned) property also known as foreclosure listing on your local MLS. You will receive clean title of the property and you will have option to inspect the property.

Links:

Northern Virginia MLS for your Home search

Fairfax County Court House

Loudoun County Court House

Northern Virginia Real Estate Guide-What Can You Buy for Less Than $350K in Fairfax Virginia (22030/22031/22032/22033)

Condos for sale under $350000 in 22030,22031,22032 and 22033 Fairfax Virginia

Foreclosure Homes for sale under $350000 in 22030,22031,22032 and 22033 Fairfax Virginia

Short Sale Homes for Sale under $350000 in 22030,22031,22032 and 22033 Fairfax Virginia

Single Family homes for sale under $350000 in 22030,22031,22032 and 22033 Fairfax Virginia

Town homes/Townhome for sale under $350000 in 22030,22031,22032 and 22033 Fairfax Virginia

Please visit my blog Purchasing power of $350000-$500000 in the Fairfax County zip code.

Northern Virginia Real Estate Guide-What Can You Buy for $350K-$500K in Fairfax Virginia (22030/22031/22032/22033)

 

Condos for sale $350000-$500000 in 22030,22031,22032 and 22033 Fairfax Virginia

Foreclosure Homes for sale $350000- $500000 in 22030,22031,22032 and 22033 Fairfax Virginia

Short Sale Homes for Sale $350000- $500000 in 22030,22031,22032 and 22033 Fairfax Virginia

Single Family homes for sale $350000- $500000 in 22030,22031,22032 and 22033 Fairfax Virginia

Town homes/Townhome for sale $350000- $500000 in 22030,22031,22032 and 22033 Fairfax Virginia



Please visit my blog Purchasing power of $350000 in the above zip code.

Northern Virgina Home Seller Guide- How much it will cost to sell my Northern Virginia Home?

Biggest question any home owner who is planning to sell their home is what is cost him/her to sell their home. Whether you live in Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Arlington or Alexandria in the Northern Virginia area your costing cost breakdown is as below:

Realtor Commission:

This is your biggest cost while selling your home. For Example: When you selling using my service as a Samson Properties Realtor I charge 4.5% commission of sales price with full service on a regular home sale of your Northern Virginia home. If you list your home for $525000 and get accept a contract on your Fairfax home at $500000 you will owe Realtor commission of $225000 ($500000 *4.5%). As a Samson client 4.5% includes commission for both the listing agent and selling agent side. However each Realtor and their office have different commission structure. Before you decide whom to hire you should compare the marketing efforts Realtor will be doing to get your home the best exposure in the market. If the office is limited service or discounted broker they will have to disclose upfront.

Grantor Taxes:

Whether you are selling your home using Realtor® service or as a For Sale By Owner every home seller in Virginia has to pay Grantor's tax. The way it is calculated is it is 1% of the sales price or your property assessment whichever is higher. For Example: You are selling your home at $500000 however tax assessment on the property is $550000 you will $550 as tax.

Settlement/Title Company Fee:

Whomever you hire as your closing agent you will have to pay fees for their services. Some of the fees I have seen in my experience are:

• Attorney's Deed Preparation fee
• Lien release fees (If 2 loans 2 separate fees)
  
• Closing/Settlement agent fees
• Courier Fee
• Digital Archival fee.

You should compare fees between couple of title companies since it may vary drastically and you can save some additional money.

Others Fees that can affect your pay off:

a. Closing Cost/Seller Subsidy: This would be the second largest cost to you as a seller if the buyer has requested you closing cost assistance. I have seen anywhere from less than a 1% to 5% as closing cost fee.
b. Pest Inspection: This can cost you anywhere from $35-$75 for pest inspection. Buyer's lenders require a clear termite certification before they will allow buyers to close on the home.
c. Home Warranty: Many of the buyers apart from the closing cost or may just ask for home warranty that will cover buyer during first year of the home owner ship. The cost varies from warranty companies to companies average is around $550 for a town home.
d. Realtor's Office Fee: Apart from the commission a Realtor's office may have a fee charged to the seller. For Example Samson Properties we charge $245 per transaction. However I have seen other offices in Fairfax area charge up to $650.
e. HOA/Condo Disclosure Package fee: If you live in a Planned Development Virginia Jurisdiction requires you to provide HOA/Condo disclosure package to the buyers prior to closing. However you can pay for the documents at closing rather than upfront out of your pocket.

Adjustment/Pro-ration:

1. Depending on the month you are closing you may have to pay balance of your taxes for the period you owned the home. Remember if there is any balance left in your escrow account for taxes you will get a refund.
2. Same goes by for Condo or HOA fees, if you have not paid or have already made for your HOA/condo fees you will receive credit or charged for it
3. Propane or other lease charges: If you have lease and the appliance convey with the property you can receive a credit or debit for the appliances.


Other Expenses:

1. Capital Gain taxes: Contact your accountant before you put the home on the market if you have to pay for capital gain taxes on the property you are selling.
2. Repairs: With home inspection buyers may find issues that you may have not known or have over looked to repair. You should plan to keep aside some funds to pay for repairs needed. There are home repair companies that will allow you to pay at closing. Speak to your contractor.
3. FIRPTA Act: If you are a foreign


Bottom Line:

You can download IRS Guide to selling your home. Ask your local Realtor® for a seller net sheet that will help you to itemize all the expenses and understand your bottom line. If you want a seller net sheet for Northern Virginia please contact me I will be happy to email you.

Northern Virginia Home Buyer Guide-Buying a Home with Swimming Pool in Winter

One of my buyer was interested in a beautiful single family home in Oak Hill Virginia 20171 area. My buyers fell in love with the home, they were concerned about in-ground swimming pool. They did not know the pool condition since it is winterize. The sellers were willing to provide all the invoices of the work done in past couple of years. Since my buyers never owned a home with a pool were anxious before making a big decision.

We called around couple of pool company to check what is the best way to ensure that the pool is in working order.  Since lender won't allow escrow till the we can reopen the pool.

Here is what we found:
1. Pool companies can still inspect the surrounding walls, flooring, ladder, fence, walk ways and/or any things that leads to the pool.
2. Secondly on the equipment since it is winterize they can check on the health of the equipment, pump, verify if the winterize was done properly, GFICs, circuit board, plumbing condition and other equipments.
3. Lastly, one of the them mentioned they can do a manual pressure test on few of the short lines to ensure they are not busted.

If you are a buyer in Northern Virginia area or area where the pool are winterize due to the weather condition there are option you can explore before you pass on the home because it has pool and you cannot access the pool.

Northern Virginia New Construction Home Buyers- Did you check how your New Home Builder is Rated?

Many of the consumers rely on their friends, family on recommendation about a community. However when house hunting for a new construction in Northern Virginia area, how do you determine if the builder meets the quality of construction to the value you are paying for that home? Most of the home buyers are carried away with the decorative models that builder has. They based their decision about purchasing a home based on either emotionally falling in love with the home, the price and/or incentive the builder is offering. Little thoughts are put in about quality of construction since buyer either belief the builder has to meet certain constructions standards and county inspects the home so why bother...

Well home buyer you will be not surprised how much dollars are spend to repair some of the newly build home by the home owners due to oversight or cutting cost by the builders. Once you live you will realize the quality and standards of you home.

What you can do before you make a decision to purchase your new construction on in the Northern Virginia area or anywhere in the country:

1. Speak to the home owners who have already moved into their home for a while if they have any issues?
2. Check out JD Power awards Customer Satisfaction Ratings in Washington DC  area.
3. Check out JD Power Home Builder Quality Ratings in Washington DC area.
4. Your Local Realtor, especially you understands the local new construction market.
5. Like any other investment you buy, search home online.

As a local Northern Virginia Realtor I am present at pre-construction, pre-dry wall meeting and walk through with my clients. I may not be an engineer but I do see and learn the qualify of the work that is done by the builders.

Northern Virginia Home Buyer/Seller Guide-What is Home of Choice Contigency?

Dear Ritu, we are thinking about moving up into a single family home from our current town home we own in Fairfax Virginia. However we are concerned, if we sell our home first and we cannot find single family home we want to purchase we will be out of our home. Secondly, if we do decide to move into temporary housing situation this could cost us both stress and money. Are there any other options for us as a home owner to move up in this situation?

Good news is there is a solution in our Virginia Contracts! I have run into similar situation to yours, where current home owner does not want to sell or give up what he/she owns prior to finding their next dream home. There is a contingency in our contract which is called "Home of Choice". The way the contingency works is, if you list your Fairfax, Virginia home in the market and say you get an offer on your current town home. You can give buyer of your home a certain time frame that will give you an opportunity to go find a home you want to move in.

Advantage of this is purely want your concerns are you don't want to make a double move and don't want to be out of the home which you can hold off for some more time if you don't find something you want to move up to. In seller's market you can demand this contingency and secure a buyer for you home.

However every coin has two sides, the disadvantage of having home of choice contingency is if the local real estate market is buyer's market and there is enough inventory of the home that buyers can choose from, they may not want to wait till you find another home for yourself. They will be concerned what happens if you don't find anything and they lose opportunity to make an offer on another home. Lastly biggest concern, the contract contingencies don't commence till you remove the home of choice on your town home. This means this could delay inspections, appraisal and other related contract contingencies.

Discuss with your Realtor what is the best action plan while planing to move up into a larger home or down sizing a home.

Northern Virginia Home Buyer- 5 Questions to help you decided if you are Ready to Move Up to your next Dream Homes???

Northern Virginia Home Buyer- 5 Questions to help you decided if you are Ready to Move Up to your next Dream Home???

Fairfax County/Northern Virginia Real Estate Market Report -Jan 2012

While the headlines about DC metro has shocked many but it is a true fact "DC Metro Closes 2011 with Lowest Inventory Level since August 2005".

The same fact goes about Northern Virginia real estate market. We have seen a deep decline in the inventory of homes compared to last month or a year ago. Some factors may be due to moratorium on foreclosure by the banks during holidays, decreased in  short sale listings and/or typically holiday  housing market.

Fairfax County housing market analyze:

Downward trend: Number of days is bit on the upwards scale that means it takes bit longer to get the home under contract/sold compared to last year. Average sold price, total sales Dollar value has reduced bit compared to year ago.

Positive Signs: Attached homes average sales price was in positive side. New listings is low which reflects low inventory.

Future: January has opened on a sluggish note, we expect the housing trend to be very positive and strong by the time it hits the peak in spring market.

 

 

Northern Virginia Real Estate market report includes : Alexandria City, Arlington County,Fairfax City,Fairfax County,Falls Church City,Fauquier County,Loudoun County,Manassas City,Manassas Park City and Prince William County.