As 2009 draws to a close, I have seen mortgage rates stay historically low and some McLean mortgage insiders forecast that they will stay low for the near term. The terrible economy has a lot to do with it... job insecurity, weak demand, and an unwillingness to enter into a 30 year relationship when rumors are easy to believe. The truth is that Continue Reading
Search Results for: new homes
My 15-year RE/MAX Anniversary
Over the weekend I received an unexpected acknowledgment from RE/MAX International congratulating me for reaching my 15-year mark as a RE/MAX Affiliate. Yes, I started in 1991 at a local firm in Vienna and made the switch in 1994. Now this may not seem like a big deal, but it started me thinking about the last fifteen years and where the world Continue Reading
Vienna, VA | My Buyer Agent tip of the week… compare
Last Sunday I popped into an Open House in Vienna, VA to take a quick look at a home for sale. Yes, I can get in anytime with my SentriCard but, in this case, I was on my way home from showing a listing and it wasn’t out of my way. Market research and /or market knowledge is something my clients like to hear me discuss, so, I try and walk through Continue Reading
Oakton, VA | My Buyer Agent tip of the week… oil tanks
Image by Here in Van Nuys via Flickr I was showing some homes today in Oakton, Virginia that were built in the mid 1970’s and commented to my client, as I always do, that a home had been converted to natural gas heat. In the 1970’s there was a moratorium regarding laying new natural gas pipelines in Fairfax County, VA and I always share that Continue Reading
Buying a home in Vienna over a million?
Over the weekend, many local builders participated in the annual Vienna Parade of Homes tour. This joint marketing venture allows many small, custom builders to showcase their work and I looked at three custom homes built by Staats Developers of Vienna, Virginia. I was impressed, but understand that these are custom homes, not just “new” Continue Reading
Is the economy really feeble?
I was in Ashburn Village over the weekend showing some homes when my clients asked what a home would have sold for just a couple of years ago? In my opinion it would have been close to $775,000 two or three years ago, but the home sellers were asking $575,000 on that cold Sunday in October. Now that's huge. But it is an honest result of a feeble Continue Reading
Closing the Capital Beltway on Friday night?
Dealing with traffic is a fact of life in Northern Virginia and there is one intersection on the Capital Beltway that is the heart of three major projects. It is the Tysons Corner interchange in McLean where I495 meets Route 123... which is the heart or nucleus of the area. The construction of the HOT lanes, Metro Silver Line, and widening of Continue Reading
Upcoming Changes to Conforming Loan Limits
UPDATE: For 2011 Conforming Loan limits for Northern Virginia, click here. Original Post: This is a post of special interest to many of us in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. I was in a NVAR Finance Forum meeting discussing the Economic Summit and Sweth started to talk about the upcoming expiration of the current $ 729,750 conforming Continue Reading