Buy Alexandria Real Estate: June 2010

How much can you afford?  Where can you afford to live?  Can you get a single-family home, townhouse, or condo?  Is this town more expensive than that one?

These are all questions that cross every homebuyer's mind.

And, of course, every seller wants to know: How much can I get for my home in [Insert City/Town]?

Everyone buying or selling a home wants to know average home prices in the different local areas.   Home prices vary greatly from one locality to the next.  I like to tell folks that in Northern Virginia if you drive 5 miles, you're in a different housing market!

Here's a brief guide to the average prices in different cities and towns in Northern Virginia -- note that within each of these areas prices can vary widely depending upon particular neighborhood.  This is a general guide just to prices within these cities and towns.

The prices are broken down by type of home -- detached single family, townhouse, and condo.  You should also note that these averages are based on MRIS data of currently listed homes.  The data does not include for sale by owner properties, and does not necessarily indicate the prices for which these homes will eventually sell. 

It's also important to note that in some areas, homes priced at extreme ends of the pricing spectrum may have unproportionately skewed the numbers slightly.

ALEXANDRIA

Detached         $1,031,907
Townhouse       $773,693
Condo             $301,291

ANNANDALE

Detached          $614,271
Townhouse       $364,759
Condo              $178,095

ARLINGTON

Detached          $1,002,546
Townhouse        $591,284
Condo              $468,231

BURKE

Detached          $551,077
Townhouse       $329,044
Condo             $231,450

FAIRFAX

Detached        $728,022
Townhouse      $430,283
Condo            $296,489

FALLS CHURCH

Detached        $864,031
Townhouse     $628,314
Condo           $516,691

MCLEAN

Detached       $2,344,803
Townhouse       $939,235
Condo             $490,107

RESTON

Detached        $719,586
Townhouse     $412,198
Condo           $316,847

SPRINGFIELD

Detached       $525,911
Townhouse    $350,943
Condo           $173,599

You can certainly see the disparity between the different locations.  Use this as a handy-dandy guide to helping you choose where to purchase your next home.  The average home in McLean is obviously very different from the average home in Springfield.  Reston condos are obviously more priced than those in Annandale.  Etc.

For a more detailed pricing guide broken down to a micro level including zip codes or particular neighborhoods, feel free to contact me anytime.

Yesterday I had the unique opportunity to take a part in someone else's 15 minutes of fame.  Jay Markanich was scheduled to meet me in Cameron Station in Alexandria, VA to conduct a home inspection of a great condo that I have under contract for a buyer.

Jay called and asked if I could meet him there early because Fox News wanted to meet him there to interview him about Chinese Drywall issues.

I said sure and met Jay a few minutes before reporter Melanie Alnwick, her camera man, and her summer intern showed up on the spot.  While I love my time in front of the news camera, the video camera, or any camera, this time I got to watch and take some behind the scene snapshots, as Jay did a fantastic job on his interview.

Congratulations Jay!  Please read Jay's post below and watch the video on the important topic of Chinese Drywall.  Fortunately, Jay said that there's not a lot of issues (or any that's he heard of) with Chinese Drywall in Northern Virginia, but that it has been a concern in other parts of the state and in many other areas.

Here's some behind the scenes shots of Jay's FoxNews interview:

Are you a Civil War buff? 

Whether you call it the Civil War, the War Between the States, the War Against Slavery, the War Against Northern Agrression, or The Late Unpleasantness, there are many opportunities in the Commonwealth of Virginia to visit an historic battlefield.

There's Manassas, Richmond, Appomattox, Lynchburg, Petersburg and the list goes on...

But did you know you can get your dose of Civil War history in close-in Alexandria, Virginia?

Fort Ward Museum & Historic Site, located in the City of Alexandria at 4301 West Braddock Road is "the best preserved of the system of Union forts and batteries built to protect Washington, DC during the American Civil War (1861-1865).

According to its website, Fort Ward Museum interprets the site's history and offers exhibits on Civil War topics, education and interpretive programs, tours, lecture and video series, bus tours, and living history activities throughout the year.

This Saturday, June 26th, Fort Ward is hosting a Civil War Camp Day and Skirmish.  This will be Alexandria's largest Civil War event of the year.

Running from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., this event includes a tactical skirmish, Civil War artillery demonstration, Union and Confederate camps, drills, food preparation scenario, medical impressions and civilian
interpretations.

Admission is $5 per adult and $10 for families with children.

For more information, visit www.fortward.org or call 703-746-4884.

Forbes has an interesting interactive mapping tool that lets you see how many people are moving in or out of any county or area of the country.  I stumbled upon this or rather was directed here by Lani Rosales of Agent Genius magazine.

The site provides a map of the United States and then allows you to click on any county.  It will then display a series of black and red lines of various thicknesses.  Black means net inward migration to an area and red means net outward migration from an area.

If you hover on any of the highlighted counties, you can see exactly how many people migrated from or to there in connection with the destination county.  It's a pretty neat tool for determining where people are going and what areas of the country seem to be desirable (or at least have the jobs!)

Here's some screenshots of areas in Northern Virginia and Washington D.C.:

Alexandria, Virginia

Here's the map for Arlington, Virginia:

Washington D.C.:  People are moving here for sure!

Fairfax County migration:

As you can tell from these maps, more people are moving to the D.C. and Northern Virginia area than are moving out.

Compare that with Detroit (located in Wayne County, Michigan):  All the red on this map seems to represent the bleeding of the American auto industry!

Play with the Forbes interactive map yourself.

So, Thursday evening, I was relaxing on the sidewalk patio in Shirlington at the Capitol City Brewery (a local watering hole) with a few fellow REALTORS. One of my friends asked the waiter whether it was still Happy Hour, to which he replied, "No, sorry.  Happy Hour ended at 7 p.m.  It's now 7:45." 

Okay. No harm.  Cathy orders a pomegranate margarita, Nancy gets a glass of wine, I order a beer.  At the end of the evening we get the bill.  Cathy's margarita's were $10 a pop, the wine $6.50... my beers... 2 bucks.  Wait a second, mister, I thought it wasn't happy hour.  Yes, that's what we all were thinking and Cathy was a bit upset at having ordered her drinks when she could have had the beers for $2. 

When our server came back we questioned him. 

"We thought you said it wasn't happy hour.  What's with the $2 beers?"

"No, it's not happy hour, but we have $2 beer special all night on Thursday."

"Well you didn't tell us that!"

"You didn't ask."

Being REALTORS, we discussed this among ourselves and compared it to real estate.  We all felt that he should have properly disclosed that there was a $2 beer special upfront when we were ordering.

All of this begs the question:

When is Something a Material Fact that a Real Estate Agent Must Disclose in a Virginia Real Estate Transaction?

First, as regards to what a seller must disclose in a transaction, read the following:

Mighty Paragaph 7 of the Sales Contract  and   Are You Buying an "As Is" Home? Buyer Be Very Aware!

Virginia has the Virginia Residential Property Disclosure Act which imposes property disclosure obligations on sellers and real estate licensees.  In addition, under agency duties, a real estate agent must disclose material facts about the property and/or the transaction.

According to Virginia law, real estate agents must disclose all known material facts related to the property or concerning the transaction of which the agent has actual knowledge.

Agents representing sellers must disclose to prospective buyers all material adverse facts pertaining to the physical condition of the property which are actually known by the agent.  This refers to the physical condition of the land and any improvements on the land and does not refer to:

• matters outside the boundaries of the land or relating to adjacent properties
• matters relating to governmental land use regulations
• matters relating to highways or public streets

Here's a partial list of material facts that an agent must disclose if they are aware of these conditions:

• inaccurate representation of lot or improvement size
• pest infestations
• toxic mold
• problems with structural items
• encroachments or easements affecting use
• adverse land and soil conditions
• problems with conditions of appliances
• potentially uninsurable property
• problems with condition of electrical or plumbing systems
• existense of environmental hazards

Notice above that the material facts disclosures relate to the physical condition of the property.  One thing that is specifically exempt from disclosure in Virginia is what's called a "Stigmatized Property"  This is a property in which an event or condition occurred such as murder, suicide, or even haunting by ghosts, but it does not affect the physical nature of the property.  In Virginia, there is no requirement to inspect for, investigate, disclose, or otherwise verify whether a property is stigmatized.

I have now disclosed what needs to be disclosed and have also disclosed that beers are $2 every Thursday at Capitol City Brewery in Shirlington!

Enjoy!

Looking to buy a single-family home in Alexandria?

As of June 11, 2010, there are 89 single-family detached homes on the market in the City of Alexandria.  They range in price from $349,900 up to $3,900,000 with an average listing price of $1,058,306.  This includes 29 homes that are priced at over $1 million.  Excluding the million dollar plus category, the average price in Alexandria is a more affordable $709,849.

Considering that there were 44 sales of single-family homes in Alexandria in the last 30 days, there is only a 2 month inventory supply of detached homes, making it a strong seller's market, at least in this sub-category of the overall Alexandria market.  Typically a 5-6 month supply is considered a balanced market and more than 6 months is a buyer's market, making it more difficult for homeowners to sell.

With the low inventory, if you're thinking about selling your Alexandria home, this may be a great time to do so!

The homes in Alexandria are located throughout the city, with larger concentrations of inventory available in the following neighborhoods: Beverly Hills, Braddock Heights, Del Ray, Old Town, Rosemont and Rosemont Park, and Seminary Valley.  There are also 2 rare single-family homes available in Cameron Station, a community of mostly townhouses. 

Alexandria home for sale are spread among Alexandria's zip codes 22301, 22302, 22304, 22305, 22311, 22312 and 22314, with some areas having significantly fewer on the market.

The average amount of days on the market for the currently available Alexandria homes is 71.  Alexandria single family homes that sold in the last 30 days rangeed in final sales price from $345,000 to $1,797,500. 

Are you thinking about moving to Washington D.C.?  You should! 

It's the Capital of the Nation, there's a great job market, lots of culture (museums, arts, restaurants, theater, monuments, history, etc.), and some revived sports teams (thanks to Stephen Strasburg's amazing debut for the Washington Nationals)

So, what's holding you back?  Perhaps it's your fear that D.C. is a very dangerous city and not just the political capital but the murder capital of the nation.

Let me help put those fears to rest.

Shannon, from the blog WeLoveDC, recently wrote a post entitled "DC Mythbusting: Danger!" in which she reviewed current crime statistics in the District of Columbia.

Here's an excerpt from her post:

"So is DC the murder capital of the country?  This claim may have been true at one point, but that was about twenty years ago.  The District went through a trying time in the early 90s, when crack cocaine took over the city and murders peaked at 479 in 1991 (an astounding 78.92 murders per 100,000 residents, Borderstan points out).  But last year, there were 143 homicides in the city, continuing a decades-long downward trend.  So yes, at one point the District may have had the highest murder rate in the country, but that's definitely not the case now."

Click to read the entire blog post DC Mythbusting: Danger! on the WeLoveDC blog.

One neat little application I've found for exploring your way around D.C. neighborhoods is an iPhone app called "AreYouSafe Washington DC."  They call themselves the "Geiger counter for crime."

Here's a screenshot:

Using the GPS in your iPhone, this application links to detailed police crime statistics for your location within the city.

Alternatively, you can always check out the crime reports and statistics on the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department website.

While D.C. does not yet hold the ranks of the safest city in the country, it's not by any means the most dangerous, and much of the crime is localized in certain neighborhoods.

Come see how wonderful a place D.C. really is... to work, to play, and to live...

Real Estate Business Intelligence, a subsidiary of MRIS (our local MLS system in Northern Virginia and D.C.) recently released a short 2 1/2 minute video discussing the real estate market in Northern Virginia including statistics regarding median price of homes, inventory, sales, and a forecast for this summer.

One of the main issues right now is a lack of inventory.  With only 2.8 months supply in Northern Virginia, there's very few homes to choose from for the buyers who are currently looking.  I've certainly been experiencing that with my clients who are hoping to purchase homes.

The video also discusses mortgage rates and forecasts for a relatively stable real estate market.

This is good info for any of you thinking about buying or selling a home in Northern Virginia in the near future. 

It only takes a couple minutes to watch.  Stop reading my commentary and click play.

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Ballston is a bustling and very popular area of Arlington, Virginia.  Centered around the Ballston Metro stop and the Ballston Common Mall, there are many high-rise condominium and apartment buildings in this location situated in a triangular area in the corner between Glebe Road and Fairfax Drive (see the interactive map below) 

The last Arlington stop on the Orange Line of the Metro, Ballston remains a very popular place to live for commuters.  As of early June 2010, there are 30 condo units currently available in Ballston in the following high-rise buildings:  Alta Vista, Ballston 880, The Continental, Hyde Park, Lexington Square, and the Residences at Liberty Center.

The average listing price for the available Ballston condos is $425,141 and they have averaged 46 days on the market.  1 bedroom condos range from $279,000 to $429,000 with an average price of $357,580.  2 bedroom condos range in price from $419,900 to $749,900 with an average price of $568,122.  There are also a few studio condos available in Ballston with an average price of $285,300

CLICK HERE TO START YOUR SEARCH FOR A BALLSTON CONDO

The Alta Vista located at 900 Stafford Street is literally right on top of the Ballston Metro station.  It was built in 1989 and offers the ultimate in convenience with indoor overstreet walkways to Ballston Mall and the movie theater.

Ballston 880 is located at 880 Pollard Street and was built in 2000.  An easy walk to the mall and the rest of Ballston's restaurants and shops.

The Continental at 851 Glebe Road was the pinnacle of luxury when it was built in 2003, just a block from the Ballston metro.  While some great views are still available from some of the higher units, unfortunately some views have been blocked by other newer construction in Ballston.

Hyde Park is an older building located at 4141 Henderson Road and built in 1973.  It is convenient to Ballston Mall and the ever-popular Harris Teeter supermarket.

Lexington Square is on the edge of Ballston and actually closer to the Virginia Square Metro.  It was built in 2000 and offers some great options for condo living in the area.

The Residences at Liberty Place is a huge building completed in 2008 right next to the Ballston Common Mall.  Condos here have all the luxury touches.

Here's an interactive Google Map of these Ballston high-rise condos (click on any of the pushpins for more information about the condos and to start your Ballston condo search):