I know that most of you are bombarded with September real estate sales data (it's in every free paper at my house), but I always like to keep the info simple and "hyper-local", and the Vienna home market is sloshing along trying to maintain a level of normalcy. If you are a seller with a home priced over $800,000 then you will be excited to Continue Reading
It’s Fire Prevention Week, Virginia!
It was a cold, late fall morning as I read the Washington Post about ten years ago. The Metro Section had an article about a couple escaping a burning home on Dominion Way in Falls Church... I took a sip of coffee. "Dominion Way, don't I have clients on that street?", I thought. "Right, I should call Scott and Jeannie to see if they saw 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
Tell me about the crime rate in Fairfax County?
Last weekend I met with an interested buyer to discuss a listing of mine, and he looked me in the eye and asked me, "how is the crime rate in the neighborhood?" I can understand his reason for asking the question because I certainly would not want to move my wife and children into a crime plagued neighborhood either. But asking a salesman who is Continue Reading
A sick home seller strategy…
This is an angle that many real estate agents have yet to discuss with their seller clients because it may sound a little harsh. Some subjects like current market activity, reductions in asking or list price, keeping the house clean, proper staging, repainting, repairing, de-cluttering, re-carpeting, curb appeal, sanitizing, lighting, scenting, Continue Reading
Your FICO score matters!
Okay, driving through Fairfax County I share my thoughts on the essentials of knowing your FICO Score and the importance of getting a credit report early on in the home buying process. If the FICO Score isn't 700 720 then there may be ways to improve it... since 720+ is the magic number for availability and good pricing. So after you have Continue Reading
Figuring out the McLean Home Market… July 2009
With all you read about the July real estate market, I was surprised to read through the MRIS data for the two McLean, Virginia zip codes, 22101 and 22102. The sales numbers remain down although prices have dropped and mortgage rates were close to 5% on 30-year loans. The strength of the McLean home market is its strategic location keeping this Continue Reading
Figuring out the Vienna Home Market… July 2009
You may be bombarded with July's real estate sales data but I want to keep it simple, and the Vienna home market in the 22182 zip code appears to have picked up pace in July over 2008's numbers. If you are a seller with a home priced over $800,000 then you are still searching for a needle in a haystack. I just looked over real estate resale data Continue Reading