Are Andresen

Archive for October, 2011

Eya Townhomes and Mosaic District at Merrifield

There is swift progress taking place at the Merrifield Town Center at the intersection of Gallows Road and Route 29 (Lee Highway) in Fairfax County.

The Eya town homes are scheduled to start selling in January 2012. According to the signs and their website the homes will start in the upper $500′s. That likely means that to get exactly what you want could put you in the mid $600′s before you are done with options and lot premiums (if there are any.)

Eya is a well reputed builder and I cannot wait to see how these contemporary  homes with roof decks wil blend with the new Silver LEED Mosaic district.

Underwater Mortgage? New Rules Could Allow You To Refinance!

One reason for the large number of foreclosures and short sales the last few years is the inability of homeowners that owe more on a home than it is worth to refinance. 

Many that purchased their homes during the hot market in ’05/’06 the 2004-2007 time-frame purchased with adjustable mortgages – some of them with very unfavorable rates after the first few years. The “plan” at the time was that you would buy as much house as yo could afford based on the initial lower ARM payment – and simply refinance when the rates went up.  However, when prices started falling and credit became scarce people ended up with homes they could not afford and could not refinance or sell.

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Park Crest in Tysons Corner Sold Fall 2011

Since our last post in early June Park Crest has seen some activity. Like back in June, the number of sales in the MRIS is low - only 5 new sales show up since 6/1/2011. Either agents are involved on the purchaser side and do not put in sold information into the MRIS – OR most of the homes are sold directly to unrepresented purchasers by the developer.

Per the tax records the number of sales are still keeping up though. Since early June, 18 homes have changed hands. Not too bad of a pace considering that 28 homes sold the first 5 months.

Park Crest are still promoting the community quite a bit through their email marketing campaign. I received 2 or three emails lately touting their move-in ready homes and “1 bedrooms to penthouses from the upper $300′s to over $1.2 million”.

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Can I Back Out of My Virginia Contract Based on the Condo Documents/HOA/POA packet?

In Virginia, a purchaser of a home in a condominium or a homeowner association  has a right to review certain documents regarding the home they are purchasing prior to going to settlement. They also have a right to cancel the contract within a given time frame if those documents are not satisfactory to them. The document package typically will include the rules and regulations of the association, status of the reserve funds, the budget, outstanding fees,  violations for the property, pending lawsuits as well as the recent minutes of the association.

It is very important that you receive this information (often called the “resale package”) and that you review it thoroughly. If you have any concerns or objections your time to act is very limited. Associations do from time to time have legal issues or are in financial trouble. You may think twice about purchasing in a community where there are large association fee increases or special assessments planned. Also, there may be limits on renting out a unit, the number and types of pets, limits to the use as no pianos, water beds and so on.

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Just Listed – Renovated 5br/3ba in Herndon

This wonderful home has been renovated inside and out and is ready for you to move straight in. It features 5 bedrooms and 3 full baths. It is a split level style home on a large lot with a double garage.

Recent updates includes a new deck, new roofing, new garage doors, paint, carpet. The bathrooms and kitchen were also updated a few years back and shows great. More Information below.

Open House has been planned for Sunday, October 23rd from 1-4pm (Next Sunday.)

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2011 Idylwood Towers Sales and Rentals – Where Are Prices Going?

While the market activity at Idylwood Towers is on par with the 2010 number of  homes sold, the prices this year seems to struggle to maintain the momentum from 2010. There were 19 homes sold last year – up to this point 16 homes have sold (10/7/2011.) The lowest price was a junior 1br/1ba at $138,600. The highest price was a  3br/3ba property at $265,000. The highest priced 2br was one that sold at $238,000.

As can be seen by the graphs above, the percentage of distressed sales seems to have peaked in 2009 and has been stable since.

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2011 Gates of McLean Sales and Rentals – Doing Well!

The sales activity in 2011 YTD at the Gates of McLean has been great with prices remaining stable. With the new metro getting closer to completion and the new noise barriers the community is getting more and more attractive. There were 24 homes sold in 2010 and 18 homes sold in 2011 YTD.  The lowest price was a 1br/1ba at $200,000. The highest price was a 3br/2ba property at $360,000.

The number of distressed sales keep going down. In 2009 about 40% of the sales were foreclosures or short sales. In 2010 about 33% were and in 2011 we are down to just 16% distressed sales.

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Woodburn Village 2011 Sold and Rented – Fewer Distressed Sales!

There has been a great level of activity in Woodburn Village this year with 20 sales up to date this year (10/10/2011.) Last year there was a total of 30 sales, so the number of transactions may end up a little bit down for this year.

However, the best piece of news is that the number of distressed sales have gone down significantly. In 2009, only 23% of the sales were normal sales, in 2010 33% were and this year so far 55% of the sales are normal sales! That is great news for owners and the community and prices do seem to have stabilized.

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2011 Pimmit Hills Sales and Rentals – What is Going On?

Real estate in the Pimmit Hills subdivision in Falls Church is doing well this year.  Up to this point in 2011 (10/5/2011) 40 homes have sold as compared to 50 homes the whole of 2010. Does the encouraging activity translate in to higher pricer? Has the ”double dip” in mortgage rates and the struggling stock market made a difference? Are there still forclosures and short sales in the pipeline? And how long is the typical home taking to sell this year as compared to last year? Read on and you will get the information needed to answer those questions!

The percentage of distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales) have been in the 25%-35% range the last few years. In 2011 the percentage of distressed sales is down to 15%. That is a great thing for homeowners in the community. It does also look like foreclosures are being replaced with short sales this year.

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Condominium FHA Certification Requirements

For a condominium community to be qualified for FHA loans, the following requirements must be met: