Are Andresen

Archive for August, 2012

Homes For Sale Near the Bike Trail in Falls Church and Arlington

The extensive network of bike paths in the Northern Virginia area is a gift many appreciates. Paths like the Washington and Old Dominion Trail(W&OD), Custis Trail and Mount Vernon trail are all very popular with bikers, runners, walkers and rollerbladers of  all ages. 

On a typical morning the trails will be full of residents doing their morning jog and commuters using the trails to get in from the suburbs to work in areas like Tysons Corner, Arlington and Washington DC. On the weekend large groups of bikers and joggers will take over the trail interspersed with families out for some family fun.

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Should We Give Out More Free Money?

Underwater borrowers have been offered various bail-out programs since the mortgage and market meltdown. Most of those programs failed to make a significant impact as they addressed variable high interest rates and not negative equity. Most financially strapped homeowners won’t pour money into a home where they owe significantly more than it is worth – even if they can refinance.

To help keep the American dream alive and allow struggling homeowners to stay in their homes various schemes have been devised and put forth. Mortgage balance write-downs is one.

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Merrifield Mosaic District Opening Soon!

The Mosaic District in Merrifield is nearing completion and finishing touches are taking place on streets and buildings throughout the urban community. The Angelika theatre will open in September, Target in October and by Christmas most/all of the remaining stores and restaurants will be open.

Mosaic will also house Mom’s Organic Market, Hotel Sierra, Black’s Bar and Kitchen, matchbox, Taylor Gourmet, a bakery, a butcher and other boutique style shops.  The Eya townhomes are for sale in the $600,000 range and upwards. The new development has more than  100 new town homes built by Eya.

Contrary to media reports, I would dare to propose that the construction at the  Rt 29/Gallows Road intersection is incomplete. Construction is still going on and they also seem to have quite a bit of work left on Gallows from Merrifield Garden center and up towards Wilton House and the Merrifield/Dunn Loring metro station.

The Angelika theatre is hosting some “shorts” for the DC Shorts Film Festival 9/14-9/16.
The schedule is here: http://dcshorts.com/films/schedule/ .

Finding Great Tenants – Bad Apples and Genuine Articles

If you followed our earlier articles in this series  ”The Craig’s List Ad“, “7 Questions You Are Allowed to Ask“,   ”The Showing Appointment” and read our articles on Overcrowding, Renters Insurance and “My Tenants’ Dog Ate My Hardwood” you should have a good idea of what lies ahead as a landlord and be prepared for the final step - qualifying and selecting your tenants! 

So, lets say you met some nice tenants at your property and one you particularly liked fit one or more of the following:

• They were as polite can be – they came on-time (actually it looked like they had already been there for a while checking it out) and spoke about how great tenants they are and how much they care about the homes they rent.
• They had all the paperwork pre-filled and ready. Even had a printouts of their own credit reports and a pre-filled lease ready for the landlord to sign.
• They said they were handy and not to worry about the last few repair items. They also offered to paint the “bland and boring” walls and to do any other repairs necessary. 
• They offered to pay two or even three months rent upfront – they offered to write a check right there to prove they were serious. 
• They could move in right away – you don’t have to worry about the house being empty anymore.
• The current landlord gave glowing reviews (landlord may have called even before you showed the home to say how great tenants they are.)

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Unlisted Homes for Sale in Virginia (HUD and others)

With the inventory of homes low in much of Northern Virginia purchasers are looking wherever they can for homes that are not listed in the Multiple Listing services (MRIS.)

The first place they look is typically for foreclosures. The “foreclosures” in the MRIS are not typically true foreclosures though – they are homes that have already been foreclosed upon and are now owned by banks. They are what should be correctly called REO or “bank owned properties.” REO properties are sold by real estate agents on behalf of the bank. These days they are often fixed up and often sell close the market price.

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Woodburn Village Prices Rising!

There has been a good level of activity in Woodburn Village this year with 16 sales this year (up to 8/13/2012.) Last year there was a total of 28 sales, so the number of transactions may end up a little bit down for this year.

One great piece of news is that the number of distressed sales keep going down. In 2009, only 23% of the sales were normal sales, in 2010 33%, in 2011 57% of the sales were normal and this year about 70% are regular sales. That is great news for the owners and the community - and prices do seem to have started going up!

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How is the Tysons Corner Market?

Based on the first seven months of 2012 the Tysons Corner (Vienna and McLean) market will remain strong. The 2012 spring and summer market has followed the trends of 2011 with about the same amount of homes coming on the market. July did see less activity so it will be exciting to see what August will bring. 

The number of closings are up some but overall I expect this year to be the same as last year. For the rest of the summer we’ll probably be at about 65 homes a month selling before things start to slow down again.

Looking at the graphs it is obvious that sellers in Tysons Corner prefer to put their homes on the market in March and April. Purchasers seems to feast on those listings and do their closings during the summer.

In general we advice to buy and sell when you are ready. That being said, many will try to use the market trends to their benefit. So, here are some thoughts on using the trends to your advantage.

As a seller, to avoid the March-April rush you could try listing in January or February. That way you may take advantage of any pent-up demand from the winter months. Alternatively you could try listing in May. Your new listing will look attractive with few days on the market as compared to homes having been listed in March and April. You may also take advantage of the high number of closing sales in the June-August time frame.

If you have a choice – when should you purchase a home? You could try to get an early start on the large inventory being listed in March and April instead of joining the crowd purchasing in May-July.

Every situation is different and the above may or may not apply to you. We know the Tysons Corner area and we would love to talk to you about how we can help you buy or sell a home.

Slow Summer at Idylwood Towers

The market activity at Idylwood Towers has slowed a lot this year.  The prices are also continuing to go down (apart from a small bump in 2010.)  There were 22 homes sold in 2011 – up to this point only 7 homes have sold this year  (8/17/2012.)  The lowest price was a junior 1br/1ba at $135,000. The highest price was a 2br/2ba property at $222,000 (that asked $250,000 initially…)

As can be seen by the graph to the right, the percentage of distressed sales seems to have gone up again this year (due to the small number of distressed sales it can’t really be relied on as a trend though.)

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Pimmit Hills Home Sales 2012

Real estate in the Pimmit Hills subdivision in Falls Church is doing well in 2012. About 30 homes have sold so far this year with high demand for homes. As usual  anything listed in the $300s sell very quickly.  

The foreclosures and short sales in the community keep going down – so far this year there has been a few short sales but no foreclosure.

Prices in the neighborhood have stabilized and there is great construction activity throughout Pimmit Hills.

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Gates of McLean Condo Prices UP in 2012

The sales activity at the Gates of McLean is continuing at about the same pace in 2012 as last year. With the new Silver Line McLean Metro stop “almost there” the community remains very popular with homeowners and investors alike.

There were 24 homes sold in 2010 and 22 homes sold in 2011. In 2012 18 homes have sold so far this year. The average sales price has increased by about $10,000 for each of the models this year –  so we are looking at a slow and steady comeback!

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