Buy Alexandria Real Estate: March 2010

Fashion advice on a real estate blog?  Sure... why not?

Some may see this as fashion, but I see it as practicality and comfort.  To be honest, it doesn't matter to me whether you show up for the home search in a three-piece suit, a leather mini-skirt, plaids clashing with polka dots, or sweatpants.  I just want you to be comfortable and happy for your househunting expedition.

When heading out to go see homes, you'll likely notice that many sellers prefer that you take off your shoes.  This is especially true when the carpets have just been cleaned and/or new carpets installed.  After all, what potential buyer/new owner wants to mess up their own future home with dirt from the outside.  Many homeowners selling their homes post signs admonishing potential buyers to "Please Remove Your Shoes!"

I learned this lesson a long, long time ago and generally wear my slip-on shoes as to avoid the repeated tying and untying of shoelaces during a lengthy home search.  However, some of my clients are not as well-informed about this minutiae of the home search process.

Until today, I had never thought to warn my clients and present them with a dress code.  However, I felt very sorry for one of my clients who had to remove her shoes at the 8 homes we visited today and walk around with bare feet on cold marble, tile, and wood floors!

ATTENTION HOMEBUYERS:  PLEASE WEAR SOCKS WHILE HOUSEHUNTING!

Every community has its cheerleaders -- those who tout the wonderful attractions and statistics of the community and are indeed proud of where they work and live.  As a real estate broker, I often find myself on the cheerleading squad for Northern Virginia.  It's one thing to promote an area because you live and work there and earn your living there and from people moving there (as we REALTORS do).  It's another to be truly passionate about the community.

This morning I met the #1 cheerleader for Fairfax County, Virginia.  His name is Dr. Gerald Gordon and he's the President and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority where he's been working since 1983.  This man lives and breathes Fairfax County and promotes the benefits of Fairfax to just about anyone who will listen. 

According to Time Magazine, "Fairfax County is one of the great economic success stories of our time."  As the head of the Fairfax County cheerleading squad, Dr. Gerald Gordon is a large part of that success in having brought the headquarters of major corporations such as Hilton Worldwide, Volkswagen America, and SAIC to Fairfax.

At this morning's Spring Economic Forecast sponsored by the Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS, Dr. Gordon did some cheering for Fairfax County.  Although an economist by trade, I can see ole' Gerald ditching the suit and tie and shaking some pom-poms and shouting "Give me an F!  Gimme an A! Gimme an I! Gimme an R!  Gimme an F!  Give me an A!  Gimme an X!  What does that spell?"

And Dr. Gordon's got a lot to cheer about! 

Here's 4 things that Dr. Gordon stated this morning that make Fairfax County one of the best places in the country to live (what're you waiting for?):

• Fairfax County public schools are the best public schools in the country.
  
  
• Fairfax County is the safest community of its size in the U.S.
  
  
• Fairfax County has the highest per capita use of libraries in the U.S.
  
  
• Everywhere within Fairfax County you are no further than 4 miles away from a public park!
  

Get me a jersey and some pom-poms and sign me up for the Fairfax County cheerleading squad!

Isn't it time you listened to the cheers and got yourself relocated to Fairfax County?

CLICK HERE TO START YOUR FAIRFAX COUNTY HOME SEARCH

In the efforts of full disclosure:  I do not live in Fairfax County.  I live in the City of Alexandria.  However, many of my clients have bought and sold homes in Fairfax County.  Many of my friends are in Fairfax County.  My real estate office in McLean is in Fairfax County, Virginia.  I drive through Fairfax County just about every day.  My wife graduated from high school in Fairfax County. 

And I truly and passionately believe that Fairfax County is a great place to call home.

Sunday night, my wife and I enjoyed dinner outdoors at one of our favorite Old Town Alexandria restaurants, The Fish Market, where we dined on one of our favorite dishes, the Seafood Bake.  We were treated to our own private car show there on King Street.  The white Rolls Royce was parked right in front of us the entire time.

Then... it was joined by a red Ferrari which pulled in behind it halfway through our meal.  Just about every guy walking up and down the street took a photo of these two luxury vehicles.

After dinner, I considered leaving one of my real estate business cards on the windshield or front seat of each car with a little note asking if either of these car enthusiasts were looking for a luxury townhouse in Old Town Alexandria with a garage to house their precious cars.

What do you think?  Should I have left a business card on each of these cars? (I didn't!)

Do either of these cars belong to you?  If you're reading and need to find a home, I'm at your service!

Just about every home seller that I've ever met has two primary goals:

1.  Get the highest price for the home.

2.  Sell the home fast.

Among other things, homebuyers want to make sure that they don't miss out on the home they want before it is sold.

Here's some interesting and important news for both buyers and sellers.

Most Alexandria, Virginia and Arlington, Virginia homes are selling in less than 60 days!  That's pretty fast, all things considered.  In some price ranges, homes in these areas are selling in an average of 36 days.  That should be welcoming news to potential sellers here in Northern Virginia.

I derived the chart below by pulling up all homes in Alexandria and Arlington that are currently under contract in different price ranges and averaging the numbers of days they were on the market.  Take a moment to study it.

As you can clearly see, except for the over $1 million price range and the $700K-$800K price range, all other homes in every other price range are selling in average time of less than 60 days on the market. While not turbo-charged like much of the rest of the market, Alexandria and Arlington homes priced at over $1 million (which normally take longer to market anyways) are selling in a respectable average of 112 days.

I also took a look at the homes in Alexandria and Arlington that are still on the market.  Of a total of 1,223 active listings on the MLS in Alexandria & Arlington, only 441 have been on the market for 60 days or more.  That's just 36% -- further evidence that homes are selling quickly.

This is good news if you're thinking about selling your home.  If you're thinking about buying, it means there's not much time to delay.  The good homes in all price ranges go fast -- and in the $300K-$500K price range and $800-900K price range -- really fast!

When looking for a townhouse, what do you consider luxury?

Do any of the following fit the description?:

• Almost 5000 square feet of living space
  
• Views of the river
  
• Close proximity to shops and restaurants
  
• Totally renovated
  
• Has a historic plaque outside
  
• Own a piece of history
  
• George Washington visited this home
  
• Overlooking the D.C. skyline and Potomac River
  
• Over $1 million

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then get in the car and head down to shop for homes in Old Town Alexandria. 

There are townhomes available in Old Town Alexandria that match each of the descriptions above.  In fact, of the 165 townhouses currently on the market in the City of Alexandria, 102 of those are within Old Town (zip code 22314). 

All 38 Alexandria townhouses in the $1 million plus price range are situated in Old Town Alexandria.  They've been on the market an average of 135 days and are just beckoning for buyers.

Since the start of 2010, 43 townhouses have sold in Old Town Alexandria -- 5 of those for over $1 million.  An additional 32 Old Town townhouses are currently under contract, with another 2 of these priced over $1M.

Ready to look for an Old Town Alexandria townhouse or just want more information?

102 Townhouses are available in Old Town Alexandria in all price ranges from $379,000 to almost $6M.

This week marks one year since I became the Managing Broker of our RE/MAX Allegiance office in McLean, VA.  It's a good time to look back and reflect on some numbers.  These numbers make me very proud of our great agents here and quite happy with my first year "at the helm."

Here we go:

Over the last 365 days our office had a total of 317 sales for a total sales volume of $128,667,784.

That's over 6 sales per week for an average volume of $2,467,601 every week of the past year.

I compared that with the 365 days previous to my appointment as Managing Broker.

In that period, there were a total of 248 sales for a total volume of $107,373,607.

Thus, we're up 27.8% in the number of sales (69 additional sales) and 19.8% in total dollar volume of sales (over $21 million in additional volume).  We've increased by an average of a $403,000 sale/week.

While I'd like to be able to take all the credit (I think I can take at least some), the fact is that we've got a great crew of dedicated, professional, experienced agents here offering the best service available in McLean real estate that allows me to truly echo the RE/MAX motto:

Outstanding Agents. Outstanding Results.

Three and a half months ago, I wrote Stop Thinking About It. It's Time to Sell Your House. Inventory is Very Very Low in Northern Virginia

I'm not one of those agents who's constantly running around saying "It's a good time to buy.  It's a good time to sell," everyday, everywhere, to everyone.

When asked whether it's a good time to buy or to sell, I always answer with the lawyerly answer "It Depends!"  It always depends on your personal and financial situation and on your life and goals.

However, if you've been considering selling your home, or you HAVE to move, it's time to repeat the advice in my earlier post.

Inventory of homes on the market is up just slightly from then and mostly due to the seasonal slowdown in home sales during the Winter and the grinding halt of business in early February due to the historic snowfall we had in our region.

Here's the advice I gave before and I'll repeat here.

If you've been thinking about selling your house in Northern Virginia, follow these four important steps:

1. Stop what you are doing right now.  Seriously.  Stop!
   
2. Stop "thinking" about selling your house.
   
3. Tidy up the house.
   
4. Call me to help sell your house.  (Call today at 703-626-0715)

Why?

Northern Virginia Housing inventory is at low levels.  A "normal" or balanced market means that there is 6 months of inventory of houses on the market.  More than 6 months inventory favors buyers who have lots of homes to choose from.  Less than 6 months inventory favors sellers who can take advantage of the lack of inventory to entice the buyers to buy their home.

In Northern Virginia, housing inventory is still VERY low.

Consider:

City of Alexandria:

• 519 homes on the market
• 865 sales in last 6 months or 144 Alexandria home sales/month
• Currently ONLY 3.6 Months of housing inventory in Alexandria, VA (compares to 2.4 in early Decembrer 2009)

Arlington County:

• 635 homes on the market
• 1,182 sales in last 6 months or 197 Arlington home sales/month
• Currently ONLY 3.2 Months of housing inventory in Arlington, VA (compares to 2.4 in early December 2009)

Fairfax County:

• 2,611 homes on the market
• 7,271 sales in last 6 months or 1,211 Fairfax County home sales/month
• Currently ONLY 2.15 Months of housing inventory in Fairfax County, VA (compares to 1.77 in early December 2009)

McLean, Virginia (location of my RE/MAX Office):

• 189 homes on the market
• 301 sales in last 6 months or 50.2 McLean home sales/month
• Currently ONLY 3.77 Months of housing inventory in McLean, VA

Okay, review the 4 steps above.  I'll have my cell phone in hand all month.

Oh, one more reason to get started now: Buyers have until April 30th to take advantage of the extended homebuyer tax credit.  You might be able to take advantage of the move-up tax credit yourself.

It's possible that In Just 50 Days Your Home Will be Worth $8000 Less! 
Actually, now we're at T-minus 45!

It can be dangerous listening to the Talking Heads. 

No, not the "Psycho Killer/Burning Down the House" Talking Heads, but the small "t" small "h" talking heads that make major pronouncements about real estate and the condition of the market, predictions, etc.  If you don't know which economist to trust, you can end up having 5 different opinions from 5 different economists, all who believe they know what's going to happen with real estate.

I always believe that it's better for you to listen to someone who's out there in the field every day, "playing in the street", and in the trenches of the day in day out real estate market.  Who do you think knows the trends better?  An economist who studies "the market," or an agent who watches the market in action and whose clients are participating and making the market every day?  No need to e-mail me with your answer -- that was a rhetorical question.

More often than not, the mainstream media sensationalizes the headlines (and they're usually very negative -- doom & gloom).

Nonetheless, here's some positive news headlines today from some of the prognosticators in a BusinessWeek online article (thanks to Tom Royce from The Real Estate Bloggers for pointing these out):

"I would bet even odds that we're at a bottom and that we're going to see improvement in the coming months," said Karl Case, co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index and a professor of economics at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

        "The underlying trend is turning positive," said Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase 
        &  Co. in New York.

The average household had 177.8 percent of the income needed to purchase a property in January, the highest since a record 184 percent in April 2009, when mortgage rates tumbled to 4.78 percent, according to data from the Realtors' association.

         "The underlying trend in home sales is for gradual improvement," Maki of Barclays Capital said. 
         "While activity will remain at low levels for some time, the housing bust is essentially over."

Make your own judgments about these statements, or better yet contact your local, seasoned, professional REALTOR to discuss the market and make your buying and selling decisions.

The countdown is on!  In just 50 days, believe it or not -- for those of you keeping track, that's 7 weeks and 1 day, your home will be worth $8000 less.

No, it's not the apocalypse.  Your roof is not going to collapse nor will all your kitchen appliances start to malfunction on May 1, 2010.  Stains and holes will not mysteriously appear on your hardwood floor or carpets.  Your windows will not shatter and the paint will not start peeling off of your walls.

There's no magic switch that gets flipped causing all home listings on the MLS to suddenly reduce their price by $8,000.  Nor will anyone else tell you this or warn you of this impending and certain eventuality.

Rather, on May 1st, homebuyers across America, and certainly here in Northern Virginia and D.C. will remove their government-issued rose tinted 3-D glasses and in their own minds subtract $8000 from the value of your home.

Of course, I'm talking about the deadline for the Homebuyer Tax Credit.  In order to take advantage of the $8000 Homebuyer Tax Credit or the $6500 Move-up Homebuyer Tax Credit, homebuyers must enter into a ratified contract to purchase a home by no later than April 30th.  Then they must settle on the home and go to closing by June 30, 2010.

Time is running out.  The market already takes into account the presence of the tax credit, meaning that the prices charged for homes today will be worth $8000 less on May 1st from the perspective of potential buyers since they will no longer be able to benefit from the credit offered by the government.

Thinking about selling your home?  It's time to get it on the market now. Already on the market? It may be time to reduce your price and get it sold now. 

It's called the Homebuyer Tax Credit, but it benefits you the seller as well.

Watch the video below for some more details on the tax credit and give me a call at 703-626-0715 to discuss selling your home now:

Are you wondering about Northern Virginia real estate and pondering what has sold recently?

Here's some information about the most expensive home sales in Northern Virginia (Arlington County, Alexandria City, Fairfax City, Fairfax County, and Falls Church City) for February 2010.  All information was obtained through MRIS.

Overall, there were only 24 Northern Virginia home sales topping $1 million during February 2010, half as many as sold in January.

Currently, there are 639 homes on the market in Northern Virginia with list prices topping $1 million just up from the 633 that were on the market in January.

FEBRUARY 2010'S MOST EXPENSIVE SALES

Single Family Detached Homes:

• 7426 Dulany Drive, McLean, VA 22101 -- Sold on February 12th for $2,700,000
  Built in 2008, this 6 bedroom, 4 level home is in the Elmwood Estates area of McLean.  After a long time on the market, it sold for almost $300K below the asking price.
  
  
• 7608 Southdown Road, Alexandria, VA 22308 -- Sold on February 8th for $2,400,000
  Overlooking the Potomac River, this home features a 64 foot by 14 foot flagstone terrace, 2 car garage, custom windows and doors and a library with built-in bookcases.  The house has nearly 4,500 square feet of space throughout 4 bedrooms, and 4.5 bathrooms.
  
  
• 7523 Old Dominion Drive, McLean, VA 22102 -- Sold on February 1st for $2,385,000
  This 6,680 square foot home has 7 fireplaces!  Built in 1984, it is situated on 1 acre with a gated entry.  The custom home provides a great elegant venue for entertaining in McLean.
  
  
• 10495 Hannah Farm Road, Oakton, VA 22124 -- Sold on Feburary 26th for $1,700,000
  In the Hannah Hills area of Oakton, this 5 bedroom home has a gourment kitchen, billiards area, and a pool on just over an acre.  The luxury lower level also includes a full cherry wet bar, card room, and media room.
  
  
• 8718 Woodside Court, McLean, VA 22102 -- Sold on February 23rd for $1,675,000
  On 1 3/4 acres in McLean, this Woodside Estates home was built in 2000 and has a view of Woodside Lake.
  

CLICK TO SEARCH FOR AVAILABLE SINGLE FAMILY HOMES IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA 

Townhouses: 

• 1457 Hampton Ridge Drive, McLean, VA 22101 -- Sold on Feburary 26th for $928,000
  February's most expensive townhouse sale was at the Hamptons of McLean -- a townhouse built in 1988 with a two-story foyer and curved staircase and over 3,270 square feet of space.  The home has 3 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms, and updated kitchen with butler's pantry, and a new roof.
  
  
• 12 Franklin Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 -- Sold on February 26th for $924,500
  This Ford's Landing townhouse in Old Town Alexandria overlooks the Potomac River.  It has 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms on 4 levels.  There's also a one car garage. 
  
  
  
• 2030 Beacon Heights Drive, Reston, VA 20191 -- Sold on February 16th for $875,000
  This large (3,237 square foot) townhouse has 5 levels and is on the waterfront on Lake Audubon in Reston.  Built in 2003, this home has a gourmet kitchen with granite counters and stainless steel appliances, a central vacuum system, security and audio systems and a custom elevator!
  
  
• 3828 N. Tazewell Street, Arlington, VA 22207 -- Sold on February 24th for $873,500
  Just two minutes away from Chain Bridge, this townhouse has 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, three fireplaces, and an elevator.  It also has hardwood floors, a wet bar, and a 1 car garage.

SEE AVAILABLE TOWNHOUSES IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Condominiums: 

• 1401 N. Oak Street #G-1, Arlington, VA 22209 -- Sold on February 22nd for $950,000
  Located at The Weslie in Rosslyn, this first floor end unit is on 3 levels with over 2,600 square feet of living space.  The 12 foot ceiling on the main level faces a 50 foot wall of glass that opens to a large patio with views of the Washington D.C. monuments.  The condo has 3 bedroom and 2.5 baths and was built in 1981.
  
  
  
• 900 N. Stafford Street #2620, Arlington, VA 22203 -- Sold on February 25th for $875,000
  This 2,370 square foot 4 bedroom condo at the Alta Vista is on 2 levels with a fantastic view facing East towards Washington D.C.  It's right above the Ballston metro stop.
  
  
• 400 Madison Street #1302, Alexandria, VA 22314 -- Sold on February 26th for $600,000
  All the rooms of this Alexandria House condo afford views of Old Town Alexandria and the Potomac River.  The complex was built in 1975, and this unit has a sixty-foot balcony, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and 2 garage parking spaces.
  
  
• 888 Quincy Street #1401, Arlington, VA 22203 -- Sold on February 23rd for $600,000
  Located at the recently built Residences at Liberty Center in Ballston, this 14th floor unit has a great view of D.C.  With 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, this condo has a square footage of 1,183, all very close to the Ballston metro.
  

SEE AVAILABLE CONDOMINIUMS IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA 

Contact Brian Block, Managing Broker, REALTOR/Attorney, RE/MAX Allegiance: Licensed in Virginia & Washington D.C.  703-626-0715.
If you are interested in purchasing or selling a property in Northern Virginia including Arlington County, Alexandria City, Annandale, Burke, D.C., Fairfax County, Falls Church City, Great Falls, Lorton, McLean, Springfield, Washington D.C., contact Brian today.