Are Andresen

Archive for April, 2012

Serene 2 Bedroom For Rent in Tysons Corner

We now have a top level 2-bedroom condominium at the Gates of Mclean available for rent. It has two reserved parking spaces and is in one of the buildings away from the traffic noise. The large balcony overlooks the interior courtyard with walking paths, lawns and trees. The Chandler model is 1149 square feet and has a wonderful breakfast room with lots of light. The units have an open floor plan with open kitchen and comes with a full-size washer and dryer.

The Gates of McLean is gated and has well kept grounds. There is a clubhouse, exercise room, pool, walking paths, a sports court and picnic areas. The great location is one of the great features of this neighborhood. Nearby major roads like I495, Dulles Toll-road, Chain Bridge Road, I-66 and Rt. 7 provide easy access to almost anywhere.

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My Tenants’ Dog Ate My Hardwood!

Being a landlord is stressful and challenging at times. The move-out inspection and subsequent security deposit disbursement even more so. You may have had wonderful experiences with a tenant that always paid on time. You may have baked them apple pie for the holidays and sent birthday cards to their children.

However, when they move out and it comes time to assess the condition of the property (and return the deposit), that is all water under the bridge. Fights over security deposits is a “favorite” in small-claim courts throughout the country. Fights can and do get personal and in the end it is about being right – not over getting the $200 that one originally was arguing about.

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1br/1ba at Fountains at McLean For Sale

We are just about to list a ground level 1br/1ba at the Fountains at McLean. The unit is inside one of the controlled access buildings and comes with one garage spot. The Elm model is 626 sq/ft and has a nice balcony overlooking the interior courtyard with trees, flowers and fountains. There is also a great storage closet on the balcony.

The unit has just been refreshed with new flooring and paint and is ready for you to move right in.

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1br/1ba at Gates of McLean For Sale

We are just about to list a wonderful 1 bedroom second floor condominium in the Gates of McLean community in McLean, Virginia. The community is located in Fairfax County down the road from the Tysons Corner mall with world-class shopping.

The home has easy access to major roads like I-496, I-66, Rt 123, Dulles Tollroad and also easy walk to the new Silver Line metro (new station being built right down the road.)

The 1br home is updated with granite counters, hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances and new paint. Home is located in a controlled access building and faces the wooded area behind the community. One garage spot conveys.

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New Silver Line Station Names Approved!

The Fairfax Board of Supervisors approved the new station names for the Silver Line this Tuesday. The new station names have gone through a few iterations but the names have now finally been decided. The names are:

McLean, Tysons Corner, Greensboro, Spring Hill, Wiehle-Reston East, Reston Town Center, Herndon, Innovation Center.

Multiple Lots Listed in Arlington

We just listed multiple properties in Arlington on North Barton street that are suitable for builders and regular homebuyers looking to build on their own lot. A total of 4 buildable parcels are available – 3 of the parcels are adjacent to each other. 

Clarendon restaurants and shops are less than a mile away. Clarendon is a very desirable area with a great mix of new luxury condominiums and townhomes as well as older charming homes on tree lined streets. Clarendon is also known for its trendy bars, chic restaurants, vibrant nightlife and a wide variety of shops. Minutes to downtown DC, National airport, I-395 and Rt-50. Nearest metro is less than a mile away (Court House on Orange Line.) On bus line.

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Build A Dream Home on Your Own Lot!

What to do if you like a particular area but like none of the homes available on the market? Well,one way would be to wait for something acceptable to come on the market. However, one often overlooked option is  to purchase a lot and then have a builder put together the home you want (build-on-your-lot.) 

The type of homes and options are plenty and range from fully custom (expensive) to a spec home with few or no structural options available (less expensive.)

Besides the obvious advantage of being able to build your dream home, how much would such a home cost?

Apart from working out the financing (finance lot, construction loan etc) building a typical new home in Falls Church may include the following:

Purchase Lot (Pimmit Hills lot ~ $275,000), site prep (~$75,000), holding cost(~$25,000), options(~$50,000),  home itself (NDI Brittany $274,000) = ~$700,000.

The $700,000 assumes you don’t go totally overboard but get a average home with common new home options. Site prep, permits and possible hookup charges will vary and you have to make sure the lot you choose can support the model and type of home you want (setbacks, resource protect zones, easements and topography of the lot etc.)

There are risks and you will be paying holding cost while the home is being built. But, building a home on your own lot may be a great way to find the dream home for some!

We just listed a few parcels of lands in Arlington that may work great for you to build your own home on - See this post.

Is a Home a Good Investment (what is this leverage thing?)

photo is (c) Gage Skidmore

Let’s say an potential client called Joe Investor called me up on a wonderful Monday morning. I was having my coffee - he had $50,000 sitting in the bank he didn’t know what to do with.  Like most people he wanted to maximize the return on the money. The stockmarket seemed overvalued but he was tempted to just “park” the money into an investment account and hope that he would hit is investment goal of 10% per year.

But, before giving that a try he decided to give me a call. He had received my mailers where I wrote about what a great investment real estate could be – so he was curious as to what return I could get him if he invested in real estate.

I started off by telling him that the historic annual appreciation for real estate may be in the 3-5% ballpark. Pretty quiet on the other end for while… He then asked how come people invest at all with those kind of returns? 10% is a lot better than 3-5%! Heck, it would seem even a 5% return on a mutual fund is better than dealing with real estate investments for only a 3-5% return!

The above logic seems to make sense. So, is Donald Trump a fool? His companies had a bankruptcy or two - maybe he just didn’t learn? Read the rest of this entry »