Buy Alexandria Real Estate: February 2008

Single family homes in Alexandria?  No way!  Alexandria's a condo and townhouse kinda town, you say.

Yes, that's true.  Many of the homes in the City of Alexandria are spread throughout some of the large townhouse communities such as:

Cameron Station

Stonegate

The Townes at Cameron Parke

Condominiums are located throughout Alexandria:

Watergate at Landmark

Carlyle Towers

Various Alexandria Condos 

Yet single family homes in the City of Alexandria remain more elusive.  In fact, less than 16% of the homes currently on the market in Alexandria are single family homes.  Believe it or not, the 118 currently available detached single family homes in Alexandria are available in all price ranges from $400K up to $3.5 million. 

Review the chart below for the number currently available in each price range.

Including all housing types, there are 755 available homes in Alexandria Virginia.  With just 77 home sales in January 2008, the inventory is creeping up on 11 months worth.  Single family homes are closely aligned with the overall housing picture.  January 2008 saw just 11 sales (or 10% of current inventory) of Alexandria single family homes.  One of these sales included the over $5.1 million sale of a historic Old Town Alexandria home.

While single family homes are scattered throughout Alexandria, 40% of the ones available for sale are concentrated in 6 neighborhoods.  Click on each link to view details on a representative home in each Alexandria community:

Beverley Hills            Braddock Heights            Del Ray            Old Town            Rosemont            Rosemont Park 

Many more single family homes are for sale (almost 550 homes as of 2/25/08) outside of the city limits in Alexandria (Fairfax County).  Confused?  Read When is Alexandria NOT Alexandria?

CLICK HERE & START YOUR HOME SEARCH IN ALEXANDRIA (OR ALEXANDRIA, FAIRFAX COUNTY) 

On Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria, centered smack dab between the blue line Van Dorn metro stop and Whole Foods Market at the gateway to Old Town Alexandria lies the popular townhouse community Townes at Cameron Parke.  This neighborhood of 230 townhouses offers stylish living with easy access to area transportation and attractions.

Whether you work in Old Town Alexandria, Washington D.C., elsewhere in Northern Virginia, or even Maryland, living at the Townes at Cameron Parke makes your commute easy.  The DART bus stops on Eisenhower Avenue right in front of the neighborhood.  Old Town is a quick and easy 2 mile drive east.  The on-ramp for the Capital Beltway, Route 495 to Tysons Corner and 95 to the Wilson Bridge and Maryland is only a mile away.  Van Dorn metro station is just two miles west down Eisenhower.

DISTANCE TO PENTAGON:  5 MILES

DISTANCE TO FORT BELVOIR:  < 10 MILES 

Maybe you work at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  You won't have to worry about your commute at all if you purchase a home at the Townes at Cameron Parke.  Your office will be about a mile and a half down the road, an easy walk or bike ride on the nearby bikepath.  Similarly, 1.5 miles in the other direction will lead you to the currently under redevelopment Victory Center, a 1.25 million square foot office building expected to house many military personnel being relocated by BRAC.

The townhomes at Townes at Cameron Parke offer one or two car garages and range in size from 1,566 square feet to 2,432 square feet of spacious living space.  During the last 6 months from August 2007 through mid-February 2008, there have been 11 sales at an average net sales price of $507,226, approximately 96.9% of the seller asking price.  The neighborhood also features a small clubhouse and pool in the center near the main entrance, and a tot lot playground in the back end of the community.

What else is nearby?

• How about fishing?  Fishing?  Yes, you read right.  Lake Cook, an urban fishing location is just adjacent to the Townes at Cameron Station and a popular site for trout and channel catfish. 
  
  
  

• Water slides, wave pool, miniature golf, and batting cages, woohoo!  Fun Summer activities for kids and adults await at Cameron Run Regional Park.  On every Summer afternoon, you'll find hundreds of soaked & smiling faces young and old riding the waves and sashaying down the water slide at this popular park.
  
  
  
  
• Bike paths, running, ball fields.  For about 4.5 miles from the West End of Alexandria to Old Town, Eisenhower Avenue provides a very flat, picturesque venue for running, bicycling, or even taking a spin on rollerblades.

Does The Townes at Cameron Parke sound like a community you'd like to call home? 

Here's some of the currently available homes in this Alexandria neighborhood:

TOWNES AT CAMERON PARKE            4 Bedroom  3.5 Bathrooms        $535,000

TOWNES AT CAMERON PARKE            3 Bedroom  2.5 Bathrooms        $499,900

TOWNES AT CAMERON PARKE            3 Bedroom  2.5 Bathrooms        $549,000

START YOUR ALEXANDRIA VIRGINIA HOME SEARCH 

People who are selling their homes need be cognizant of the questions that buyers ask when viewing homes. 

The first question on every buyer's mind is invariably:  How Long Has That House Been on the Market?  A close second and closely linked with the first question is the ever present query: Will the Sellers Come Down on the Price?

Other variations of this question include:

• For how much do you think we can buy this house?
  
  
• What would the seller's accept for their home?
  
  
• Is there negotiating room on this one?
  
  
• What should our initial offer be?
  
  
• How low should we go?

Knowing that potential buyers will ask these questions and submit low-ball offers, many Northern Virginia homeowners wishing to sell their homes continue to price their homes at above the price that the market will bear, hoping to provide themselves some negotiating space or wiggle room.  Read why this strategy for selling your home may not be your best option: "We can always reduce the price later" -- Price Reductions are NOT A GOOD MARKETING PLAN for Northern Virginia Homes.

Both buyers and sellers in Northern Virginia need to be aware of an important statistic regarding the real estate market, namely the ratio of sales price to asking price. This telling number provides solid proof that sellers are coming down on price and buyers and their agents are negotiating lower prices on listed properties.

How much?  It varies by location.  Take a look at this chart showing the statistics for home sales in January 2008:

In these areas of Northern Virginia, we're seeing sales prices ranging from 80.93% of the listing price (in Manassas City) up to 93.6% (in Arlington) and 94.51% (in Falls Church).  Considering that the average listing price in Arlington was just a hair under $600,000, this amounts to approximately a $38,000 final price reduction.

Another consideration:  These numbers DO NOT even include seller subsidies which further reduce the seller's net proceeds, nor do they take into account prior price reductions already inherent in the listing price.  Thus, all signs indicate that the actual negotiating room for Northern Virginia buyers is substantially greater.

Within counties and cities, these numbers can further vary.  If you are planning to buy or sell, ask your Northern Virginia REALTOR for the statistics in your area of interest.

As an example, here's a breakdown of the January 2008 numbers in the various zip codes in the City of Alexandria:

22301 (Del Ray / Rosemont):               93.13%
22302 (Braddock Heights):                   95.72%
22304 (Landmark / Cameron Station):  92.57%
22305 (Beverly Hills / Warwick):            82.93%
22311 (Stonegate):                            94.56%
22314 (Old Town Alexandria):             92.04%

Whether you are buying or selling in Northern Virginia, these days, more than ever, Choosing a Good Negotiator for Your Real Estate Deal is essential.

Imagine for a moment that you own a pizza shop.  In January 2007, sales were slow, but you still managed to sell a respectable 1,322 pizza pies.  Some were plain cheese, others pepperoni, a few vegetarian's delight, and assorted other pizzas with various toppings.  Expecting that January 2008 would reflect similar results to last year, you stocked up on supplies, continued advertising, and even played around with your prices a bit -- raising the prices on some of the more popular orders and lowering the price on the less frequently ordered pies.

You did everything right.  You advertised in the same places.  You made the same good quality pizza.  You even offered special incentives, like a free 2 liter of Coke with the purchase of a large pie.  However, not only did the customers fail to show up, the pizzas that you did sell took longer to sell and your shop just was not as busy as in the past.  In January 2008, you managed to squeak out just 709 pizza sales -- a mere 53.6% of your sales from the same month one year ago.

If you were that pizza shop owner, you might decide to shake up your sales strategy.  Maybe you would lower your price, offer more incentives, change your advertising campaign.  Perhaps you need to make your pizza store stand out from the rest in your town by cleaning it up and dressing it up.  You can't change the facts that there's just less demand for pizza.

Well, if you look at the Northern Virginia real estate market, this scenario describes exactly what has happened.  Combining the sales figures for Arlington County, the City of Alexandria, and Fairfax County, there were 709 closed home sales in January 2008, compared to 1,322 in January 2007.  While average sales prices were slightly increased in Arlington and Alexandria, Fairfax County experienced a decline of over 11% from the prior year.  Homes stayed on the market for more time and sold for a lower percentage of the asking price in each jurisdiction in January 2008 than they did in January 2007.  Add to that, the current high inventory of homes on the market (sure to increase with the coming Spring season), and there's a situation where sales are literally sliced in half by the real estate market's sharp pizza cutter.

What to do?

SELLERS:

If you plan to sell your home in 2008, you need to be realistic about your pricing.  Please read the following articles:

• Come on Down! You're the Next Contestant on The Price is Right
  
  
• How Many Homes Sold in 2007? How Many Will Sell in 2008? Will Yours Be One of Them?
  

You might consider using the services of a professional stager to make your home stand out from the rest (You've seen those ubiquitous pizza boxes with the slogan "You've tried the rest, now have the best!").  Read:

• HGTV? No, it was me: A Realtor Learns to Stage a Home
  

BUYERS:

Planning to purchase a home in 2008?  This may be a great opportunity to negotiate on price.  In January 2008, homes in Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax Counties, sold for 6.4%, 8.29%, and 9.11% below the asking price, respectively.  This represents a significant amount of negotiating room, equivalent to between $38K-$50K below average seller's asking price!

If you are thinking about buying in 2008, why not attend our upcoming free homebuyer's seminar on Saturday, March 8th? 

MORE DETAILS:  You're Invited to a Free Homebuyer Seminar -- Learn & Lunch

Whether you are buying or selling or both, I'd strongly advise you to read the following report:

Buying or Selling in Virginia? Get Educated about the Market

How do you like your pizza?  I'll take mine with extra cheese, mushrooms, olives, and green peppers, please.

Hot of the heels of finding out that Alexandria, Virginia was ranked as the Most Romantic City in the United States (just in time for Valentine's Day), I've now learned that Alexandria is a "Cool City!"  Yes, I've known for a while that Alexandria is a cool place to live with its great restaurants, exciting nightlife, historic Old Town homes, varied housing options, the Potomac River, and the new environmentally friendly T.C. Williams High School.

In November 2005, the Sierra Club recognized the City of Alexandria as a "Cool City," due to its commitment of environmental sustainability and other efforts of keeping green.  According to the Sierra Club, a "Cool City" is a city that has made a commitment "to stopping global warming by signing the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement. Begun in 2005, the Cool Cities campaign empowers city residents and local leaders to join and encourage their cities to implement smart energy solutions to save money and build a cleaner, safer future." 

Alexandria made the list of 278 "Cool Cities" around the country.  Check if your city is on the list.

While this news is a few years old, it was reiterated this week and highlighted by the City of Alexandria in their official resident newsletter sent to all residents of the City, "FYI Alexandria."  The article details some of the City's efforts to keep Alexandria "green":

• replacement of old vehicles with low-emission vehicles including hybrids in the City's fleet
  
  
• new multi-family residential and business recycling program in 2006
  
  
• green roof at the new Health Department Building and at Duncan Library
  
  
• municipal waste-to-energy facility operated by COVANTA generates 25 megawatts of electric power from municipal waste
  
  
• promotion of sustainable transportation options
  
  
• T.C. Williams High School's green features

Not to mention, that the City of Alexandria government and police department was very responsive to my call to remove graffiti from a building in the West End of Alexandria several weeks ago.

Alexandria: Romantic, Cool & a Great Place to Live & Work!

CLICK HERE TO START YOUR SEARCH FOR A HOME IN ALEXANDRIA   

You wouldn't buy that new or used car without taking it for a spin would you?

Everyone test drives a car before purchasing it.  Whether you are buying it from a dealer, a neighbor, a friend, or an advertisement on Craigslist, you'd be silly not to spend a little time taking a test run around the block or neighborhood.  A test drive gives you a sense of confidence that the automobile is in normal working order, that there's no obvious defects, and that you can trust the car to get you from point A to point B.

Having the home you are going to purchase inspected by a professional home inspector allows you to "test drive" the house.  In years past, at the height of the frenzied Northern Virginia seller's market, many buyers (much to my chagrin and against the advice of REALTORS) were waiving home inspection contingencies, in order to position their contracts to compete against multiple offers for the property.  This was a dangerous path to follow.  Imagine moving into your new home only to find out that you have a $20K, $30K or more expensive problem that you immediately have to remedy.

Professional home inspections in Northern Virginia typically cost somewhere between $200 and $750, depending upon the size and price range of the home being inspected.  Do you remember that old maxim?:  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!  No truer words could be spoken about a home inspection.  Better to spend $500 upfront and find out what problems exist in the home, than to save a few bucks and be saddled with a major problem once the home is yours.

A home inspector will spend his time thoroughly examining the home you wish to purchase, testing all the major systems (electrical, heating, cooling, plumbing), checking for damage to the home, making sure that the appliances work, looking for evidence of leaks or other problems.  Depending on whether he's inspecting a 2 bedroom condo or a 5 bedroom colonial house, a home inspection can last anywhere from an hour or so to 3 or 4 hours.  During that time, the home inspector will take notes on any problems he finds with the home, often times taking photographs of major problems as evidence to be submitted with his report. 

The home inspector will point out any major and minor problems that exist in the home.  Additionally and very importantly, a professional home inspector will itemize any crucial walkthrough issues that are apparent in the home which MUST be fixed by the seller prior to settlement of the transaction.  Make sure that you familiarize yourself with crucial Paragraph 7 of the Virginia Regional Sales Contract.  READ Mighty Paragraph 7 of the Sales Contract

Remember that when you go to look at a home to buy, you'll tend to look at the amenities, the location, and the aesthetics.  You're not a professional home inspector and neither is your REALTOR.  You need that critical and trained eye of the home inspector to point out those behind the scenes things that you may have missed on your initial walkthrough. 

Even if there is nothing at all wrong with the home you decide to purchase, there's still plenty of value in a home inspection.  For one thing, it gives you the piece of mind that there is, in fact, nothing wrong with the home.  Secondly, home inspectors will also walk you through the home and point out things of importance about how the home works (i.e. where's the main water shutoff?) and give you details about what to budget for in the future.  For example, an inspector may tell you that as of today the water heater seems to be working just fine, but it is getting towards the end of its predicted useful life, and you should budget for replacement in the next 3 years.  These are significant bits of information that assist you in your overall homebuying decision.

I always attend home inspections with my clients and through dozens of dozens of home inspections, I find that I learn something new from the home inspector about homes and how they work, what to look for, etc., every single time.

Once the inspection has been completed, if there are any faults in the home, you'll have the opportunity to negotiate with the seller to have these issues resolved either by having the seller repair the faulty items, or providing you with a credit to be discounted from the sales price of the home.  In cases when there are serious major home inspection issues with the home, the home inspection contingency provides you with the protection of being able to void the contract and get out of the deal without penalty.

Nobody needs to tell you to test drive that $5K, $10K, $25K car before accepting the keys.

Don't forget to test drive the $500,000 house you plan to purchase.  Make sure to have a professional home inspection before accepting the keys to your new home.

Have you ever shopped for clothing at Syms?

Besides brand names at great prices, Syms advertises that

An Educated Consumer is Our Best Customer ®

The same thing holds true for my business -- professional real estate sales.  My goal is to ensure that my current and future clients have the most detailed and comprehensive information available to help them make the important decisions necessary in buying or selling a home in Northern Virginia. 

As a professional REALTOR®, I spend a good deal of time keeping up to date on the latest news, statistics, market reports, and events that effect the local real estate market.  I read it so you don't have to spend the time.  After all, you've got better things to do, like concentrate on earning your living so you can afford to live in the increasingly pricey metro-D.C. area.

Besides reading the major newspapers, The Washington Post and Washington Times, I scour through real estate and mortgage industry publications, subscribe to Google alerts about relevant real estate topics, read hundreds of blog posts weekly related to both local and national real estate trends, review market statistics for local neighborhoods, and preview local homes both on my own and with clients.  Additionally, I regularly attend real estate industry conferences on the local, regional and national levels to keep current on all of the latest news that directly affects my clients and business.

One of my most crucial roles as a professional REALTOR® is to distill this knowledge and provide it to my clients so that they can make educated and informed decisions when it comes to buying or selling a home.  By writing my own Northern Virginia real estate blog, I'm able to communicate valuable information to current and future clients. 

Every once in a while, I come across a report or an article that deserves to be read in full by anyone thinking about participating in the real estate market.  Recently, Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS) which runs the Washington D.C. area Multiple Listing Service, issued a report in conjunction with Delta Associates, that warrants such a look.  The report is entitled Trends in Housing at Year End 2007.  

Click here to download the complete year-end report. 

Or call me or send me an e-mail requesting it and I'll be happy to e-mail you the full report. 

The report covers the following topics:

• an overview of the Washington D.C. metropolitan economy with an outlook towards the future
• report on home sales for 2007
• report on condo sales for 2007
• impact of foreclosures in the D.C. metro area
• potential impact of the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure plan (BRAC)
• an overview of the commercial real estate market

Some of the interesting key points made in the report:

• Washington D.C. metro area is the 4th largest job base in the country
• Northern Virginia accounts for 54% of payroll jobs in the area, followed by D.C. with 25% and suburban Maryland with 21%
• 95% of jobs in the D.C. area are in the services sector
• D.C. region has only 3.0% unemployment
• The Northern Virginia and D.C. real estate markets are largely insulated from the national housing slowdown
• Foreclosure rates vary widely by jurisdiction -- quite low in D.C., Arlington, Alexandria; much higher in Loudoun and Prince William Counties
• Affordable housing is still a big issue
• BRAC will have a significant impact on the region, especially in southern Fairfax County because of approximately 19,000 jobs moving to Fort Belvoir in the next 3 years

If you have any interest in real estate in Northern Virginia or D.C., and/or you plan on purchasing a home or selling a home within the next few months or year, I highly suggest you read this report closely and educate yourself on the real estate market.

I want my clients to be educated. 

Just like Syms, An Educated Client is My Best Client.

Straddling Braddock Road in Alexandria, the community of townhouses at Stonegate is a stone's throw away from Northern Virginia Community College, Fort Ward Park & Civil War Museum, Route 7, Route 395, and everyone's favorite hamburger joint Five Guys.

What many people do not know is the archaeological significance of the community.  A Washington Post article from last year, "5-in-1 Community is Still a Discovery," details that "Several uncovered "chipping clusters" and projectile points ranging from 3,500 to 1,000 B.C. led researchers to believe the site served as several temporary settlements where Native Americans would form tools from cobbles found in the streambed."  My bet is that few homeowners in this popular Alexandria neighborhood are aware of the historical significance of their location. 

Additionally, the Stonegate neighborhood, while primarily townhouses, also includes some garden style condominiums.  Stonegate's an ideal neighborhood for those who need a spacious home without spending the dollars required to purchase a single family home in Alexandria.  Condominium units and townhouse models range from 1524 square feet to 2804 square feet.  Plenty of room for furniture and growing families. 

The community is comprised of separate communities under the Stonegate aegis:  Manors at Stonegate (condominiums), Stonegate Mews, Highpointe at Stonegate, Hamptons at Stonegate, Stonegate.  Each has its own homeowner's association, even though the only sign you'll see in the community is the large Stonegate sign at the entrance.

The most recent sales of homes in Stonegate have occurred in the $500K - $700K price range.  

The Stonegate community of Alexandria also has a pool and clubhouse, with a child's playground available to all residents.  The quarterly homeowner's association fee of around $300 covers the playground, pool, snow removal, trash removal, and outdoor landscaping maintenance (which by the way looks great during the Spring, Summer and Fall).

Some of the currently available Stonegate townhouses:

Stonegate Townhouse                                    3 Bedroom     2.55 Bathroom      $659,900

Stonegate Townhouse                                    3 Bedroom     3.5 Bathroom        $684,900

Large Stonegate Townhouse                         4 Bedroom     3.5 Bathroom        $774,500

To set up a private showing of any of these homes in the Stonegate community, call Brian Block of RE/MAX Allegiance at 703-626-0715.

START SEARCHING FOR NORTHERN VIRGINIA HOMES  

What the heck does he mean by that title? 

In Northern Virginia, A is not always A. 

To make sense of this, you must understand that in addition to counties, Virginia also has independent cities, with separate city governments and services that are not part of any county.  Thus, the mailing address of that home you saw may say Alexandria, but it is actually within Fairfax County.  The same holds true for Falls Church versus Falls Church City and Fairfax County and Fairfax City.

All of this can be quite confusing for visitors and people looking for homes in Northern Virginia.  

Why does this matter? 

One reason is that independent cities have their own school systems.  Do you want your children going to the new T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria?  If you live in Kingstowne or down by Mount Vernon, both areas that have Alexandria mailing addresses, your children will not attend T.C. Williams, but will go to other schools within the excellent Fairfax County school system.

A second distinction is property taxes which vary from one Northern Virginia jurisdiction to the next.  Each county and independent city has their own authority to set tax rates.

Northern Virginia also has areas with the distinction of being towns, such as the Town of Vienna, Town of Leesburg, and Town of Clifton.  Unlike independent cities, towns are part of a larger county and thus are serviced by the county's government and public services.  Some of the towns do have their own town governments that provide some limited services, even though the majority of issues are addressed by the county.

When searching for a home in Northern Virginia, it is important to recognize where the home you will be purchasing is located.

Here are some helpful links to the county and city governments in Northern Virginia:

Alexandria City

Arlington County

Fairfax City

Fairfax County

Falls Church City

Loudoun County 

Prince William County 

CLICK HERE TO START YOUR NORTHERN VIRGINIA HOME SEARCH 

Still circling ads in the Sunday real estate classifieds?  That's so last century!

Put away your newspaper and the red pen and enjoy your morning coffee.  

What?  You're looking to buy a home and want to search listings on the internet.  At home... At work...

There's a better way.  I know.  I know.  You're a do-it-yourselfer.  You're at Home Depot every weekend picking up supplies.  You skip the mechanic and change your own oil. 

However, there's no need to do your own home search.  Let me do it for you and relax while homes in your price range, preferred location, and specific criteria are e-mailed to your inbox every morning for your review at your leisure.

Announcing SearchHomesByEmail.com

Whether you are looking for a home in Northern Virginia or Washington, D.C., this free service will enable you to save your time and energy, yet stay on top of the real estate market.  If you are just researching the local market, thinking about a move, or ready to buy next week, SearchHomesByEmail.com will keep you apprised of the latest home listings as soon as they hit the market.

Within 24 hours of entering your criteria on the easy to use website, you'll start getting e-mails with descriptions and photos of houses, townhouses, or condominiums in Northern Virginia or D.C.  Follow pricing trends, neighborhood sales, and find that perfect home.  You can change your criteria at any time to focus your search.  If you have specific requests, just enter them in the comments box and I'll adjust your search accordingly.

Why waste your time with a manual home search when you can effortlessly get e-mails each and every day with homes that match your needs and budget?

Sign up today at SearchHomesByEmail.com.  A free service offered by Brian Block, REALTOR, RE/MAX Allegiance.