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8805 Stewart St – Burke, VA 22015

This beautiful Lawter built home in Burke, Virginia has over 5600 finished sq. ft. on .53 acres. Airy, innovative floor plan. The screened porch exits to a fenced backyard with an in-ground heated pool, & 2 sheds. Other amenities include 9 ft. ceilings, walk-in closets, granite counters, wood and marble floors, tray ceilings, wainscoting and extensive crown molding.

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6272 Rathlin Dr – West Springfield, VA 22152

Built in the newest part of popular Shannon Station, this home is rock solid. The owners have
recently made many updates including: roof, soffits, gutters, windows and water heater. To prepare the
home for sale, the owners have also given this wonderful home new paint throughout including
the doors, as well as new electrical switches, outlets and covers. The attention to detail is extreme.

Homes in Shannon Station tend to move pretty quickly. This home is priced below comparable
properties for a quick sale and interest rates have NEVER been lower. It’s a GREAT time to buy!
Hardwood floors, Marble accents and wet bar, New bathrooms, Recently replaced roof and windows and Backs to woods!

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or take a camera phone tour:

Free Money

Yes, you still have to file your tax return by April 15′th but the deadline for the $8,000 1st-time homebuyer credit is April 30′th.

Do you know anyone who could use $8,000? If that person is thinking about buying a home this year, they need to have a contract by the end of this month to receive the free cash. (I believe they can even send in an amended tax return and get the $8,000 this year, rather than waiting until next year!)

Even if someone has owned a home, they may be eligible for a $6,500 credit.

Please pass this along to anyone who might be in a position to buy this month.

The Northern Virginia Way…

… to sell a house (instead of getting Capone). Everything within the law, of course!

We did everything right. It took almost a week but we got our house in great shape to sell it, we’ll… mostly my wife did. We went through the house one room at a time, painting and fixing things when necessary. We took about a third of our belongings and furniture and put them into storage. We installed some new carpeting and flooring and then we listed the property at fair market value. There was another New Reynard model in an older part of the subdivision that was listed for $555K and they got full price, so we priced ours at $549,950 – Quick Sale, right? Read more

7412 Calico Ct – Springfield, VA 22153

A large, rarely available New Reynard model in the newest part of the neighborhood, Orange Hunt Estates West. This home is on a cul-de-sac off of a dead end, so it is extremely secluded but moments away from both the Elementary School and South Run Recreation center, as well as the trails that connect to Burke Lake Park.

UPDATE – SOLD!! for $525,000

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Orange Hunt Estates in West Springfield, VA

Cover of the original new home brochure for the community. I wish it showed more of the cars and people from 1975! It was only 34 years ago but things were a little different. No computers, no cable television, no mobile phones, I can’t believe it sometimes but I was around way back then. Of course… I was just a kid… a really little kid!

Here’s a very brief snapshot of just some of what our community has to offer.

Commuting

• Metro-bus runs through the community providing both morning and evening rush hour service to the Pentagon Metro Station – it’s about a 40 minute trip
• Additionally, it is a relatively short drive to the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station for subway service to Washington, DC and all other stations on the subway system.
• It’s approximately a 20 minute drive to Fort Belvoir.
• The Springfield Interchange of I-95, I-395 and I-495 is approximately 15 minutes away
• Orange Hunt Estates borders the Fairfax County Parkway and Old Keene Mill Rd
• This is the link to the Metro Map and this is for the VRE

Schools

• Sangster and Orange Hunt - Elementary Schools are both are located in our community.
• Washington Irving Middle School on Old Keene Mill Road is for seventh and eighth graders.
• West Springfield High School is for ninth through twelfth Grade

Information on all these schools can be found at Fairfax County Public Schools main site. On the main site, you may also find the maps for the school boundaries.

Libraries

Pohick Regional Library is located just outside Orange Hunt Estates at Sydenstricker and Old Keene Mill Road. Additionally, Burke Library and Kings Park Library are both minutes away.

Pools

1. Cottontail Swim and Racquet Club
2. Fox Hunt Swim Club
3. Orange Hunt Swim Club

Shopping

• Huntsman Square – Moments away
• Burke Town Center – Minutes away
• Rolling Valley Mall – Minutes away

It is also an easy commute to Target, Kohls, Walmart, numerous Grocery stores and dozens and dozens of other shops and restaurants in the West Springfield/Burke area.

Recreation

• South Run Recreation Center has a year round pool, very nice exercise facilities including a full line of free weights, machines and cardio equipment and other activities and is located across the street from one edge of our community.
• Burke Lake Park has a golf course, camping, picnic areas, small boat rental, fishing, carousel, miniature train and ice cream parlor is just up the road. You can drive there or just walk, run or bicycle from your home. The trails from Burke lake come right by Orange Hunt and also connect to Lake Mercer which is in the community. We have wonderful trails, streams and lakes to enjoy!
• We are also semi-close (10-15 minutes) to the Audrey Moore Recreation Center, Wakefield State Park and Lake Accotink Park.

Orange Hunt Square

This neighborhood sign is really hard to photograph. This little community within a community is a delight.

There are only 130 town homes located on either side of Reservation. They are a stones throw from both the South Run Rec Center and Sangster Elementary School. We have many friends on both sides.

Here’s a very brief snapshot of just some of what our community has to offer.

Commuting

• Metro-bus runs through the community providing both morning and evening rush hour service to the Pentagon Metro Station – it’s about a 40 minute trip
• Additionally, it is a relatively short drive to the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station for subway service to Washington, DC and all other stations on the subway system.
• It’s approximately a 20 minute drive to Fort Belvoir.
• The Springfield Interchange of I-95, I-395 and I-495 is approximately 15 minutes away
• Orange Hunt Estates borders the Fairfax County Parkway and Old Keene Mill Rd
• This is the link to the Metro Map and this is for the VRE

Schools

• Sangster and Orange Hunt - Elementary Schools are both are located in our community.
• Washington Irving Middle School on Old Keene Mill Road is for seventh and eighth graders.
• West Springfield High School is for ninth through twelfth Grade

Information on all these schools can be found at Fairfax County Public Schools main site. On the main site, you may also find the maps for the school boundaries.

Libraries

Pohick Regional Library is located just outside Orange Hunt Estates at Sydenstricker and Old Keene Mill Road. Additionally, Burke Library and Kings Park Library are both minutes away.

Pools

1. Cottontail Swim and Racquet Club
2. Fox Hunt Swim Club
3. Orange Hunt Swim Club

Shopping

• Huntsman Square – Moments away
• Burke Town Center – Minutes away
• Rolling Valley Mall – Minutes away

It is also an easy commute to Target, Kohls, Walmart, numerous Grocery stores and dozens and dozens of other shops and restaurants in the West Springfield/Burke area.

Recreation

• South Run Recreation Center has a year round pool, very nice exercise facilities including a full line of free weights, machines and cardio equipment and other activities and is located across the street from one edge of our community.
• Burke Lake Park has a golf course, camping, picnic areas, small boat rental, fishing, carousel, miniature train and ice cream parlor is just up the road. You can drive there or just walk, run or bicycle from your home. The trails from Burke lake come right by Orange Hunt and also connect to Lake Mercer which is in the community. We have wonderful trails, streams and lakes to enjoy!
• We are also semi-close (10-15 minutes) to the Audrey Moore Recreation Center, Wakefield State Park and Lake Accotink Park.

Searching Homes For Sale in Northern Virginia

Most people like to search online to find homes at the same time I’m searching. Ideally they are using my IDX or a Brokers IDX solution. Some people though, can’t help themselves and search on one of the dozens of real estate-like sites and are always disappointed by the results.

There are lots of places to look for listings but unless it is a REALTORs or Brokers IDX solution, the data is highly suspect. Those other sites get their information from real estate agent advertising but they keep it for content even after the home sells. They don’t have access to the MLS, nor should they, so they have no idea when a house sells. I use those sites to market homes and meet new buyers as well so I guess I shouldn’t speak ill of it but once you meet me or your REALTOR of choice to represent you with the purchase of your home, stop using Trulia, Zillow, realtor.com and the rest and start searching with your agents search tools.

Just the other day, Google announced that from any Google map, you can click “More” from the map itself, not the “More” at the top left of the page but the “More” that’s actually on the Map between “Traffic” and “Map” “Satellite” and “Terrain” It’ll show listings that… Google has found from various advertising outlets. It’s fun to try out as long as you don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s accurate. By way of example, one of the homes I found as “Active” on Google had gone to settlement 3 months earlier.

Again, a lot of fun but not practicle when your home search turns serious. That’s what I’m for ; )

Real Estate Sales Funnel

OK… I’m not a graphic artist. The sales funnel is mental tool I use to help me stay on track with acquiring future business. It sounds very impersonal thinking of leads in a sales funnel but until you meet someone, they are a stranger and they don’t really exist

- Not to go off on a tangent but that is the main reason real estate can be so difficult. People hold you at arms length until that moment when your eyes meet, you shake hands and you get to know each other, even a little. Then all the trepidation melts away and a good and trusting relationship can occur. At least that’s how it happens for me. -

OK, back to the funnel. It can be applied for any time period but I apply it to what I’m doing right now. At the top are anonymous visitors, which are those people who find one of my advertisements or web pages, which for me have completely replaced print advertising.

When they register on my site, become a friend/fan, visit me at an open house, send an email or call me, it’s my hope that they move down into the communication part of the funnel. Some simply vanish but I always try for a little “back and forth”.

When I’m able to make appointments, that is by far, the most important part of the system. Appointments are with home sellers to see their home prior to listing it for sale or meeting with people as a buyers agent for either counseling or to actually look at homes. This is the most important step because it gives everyone a chance to get to know each other and more importantly, to decide if we want to work with each other at all – and yes… occasionally I decline business.

Of those people with whom I have appointments, we have occasional successes. We may have to find several to choose from and write offers on 3 or 4 different homes before we actually get one in this competitive market. As people go under contract, I’ve got to be nurturing the rest of the funnel to keep the appointment part full.

One of the most difficult things for many REALTORs is trying not to focus entirely on only one part. That causes an inconsistent business model. In order to be successful, I need to remain aware and stay focused not only on my wonderful existing client base but also on those wonderful people, I have yet to meet.

Today, the appointment part of my funnel only has 6 or 7 people in it. If you’re thinking about selling and/or buying a home, now is a great time to pick up the phone! (Whoa…Did you hear that hint hit the ground after I dropped it)

New Homes in Northern Virginia

There’s nothing like a new home. No one has ever lived there and you’ll know everything about the home since the day it was built. If you buy it before construction begins you’ll even know what it looks like under the drywall and you may have some input into it’s design.

Approximately half of my business is helping people buy new homes, especially over the last couple of years. I’m asked questions from time to time and thought I’d share them here.

1. Are new home prices firm or are they negotiable?
2. Do builders offer any other incentives?
3. Can I work with a buyers agent on a new home too?
4. Why do I need a buyers agent?
5. Isn’t the new home sales rep an agent?
6. If the builder isn’t paying a REALTOR, why can’t I have that money?
7. What are the steps involved in a new home purchase?

1. Are new home prices firm or are they negotiable?
It depends on a variety of things. Once we get into the process and I can start asking some questions, I can help determine builder flexibility. I will say that generally, “spec homes” or homes that are already built on the speculation that a buyer will need a house quickly, are more negotiable than a house that needs to be built. The builder usually puts in popular options and has a set price but they will entertain offers that are less than full price. “To be built” homes are negotiable with some builders and are completely set in stone with others.

2. Do builders offer any other incentives?
Usually there are incentives. They will offer either free upgrades or money you can use towards upgrades or closing cost help and they’ll usually offer another cash incentive to use their lender. They make most of that money back in the cost of the loan.

3. Can I work with a buyers agent on a new home too?
Not only can you work with a buyers agent, you’d be foolish not to. Especially an agent with new home sales experience. If we’ve written offers for other buyers in the same development that you’re interested in, we can even provide information about what the builder may accept. We also have insight into other parts of the process.

4. Why do I need a buyers agent?
A buyers agent works in your best interests to get the best price and terms available for you. We’re also able to share with you both our experiences and the experiences of numerous buyers who’ve recently purchased new homes. Most people buy a new home once in a great while, we help people buy new homes several times each month. We know what the sales rep will say and can point out what he/she skims past or omits. Our service is invaluable.

5. Isn’t the new home sales rep an agent?
New home sales reps are not at all like career REALTORS. They are more like new car salespeople. They have inventory and are selling a product. Career real estate agents have a skill set and what we sell is our expertise. We won’t sell you something if you’re not ready or change your mind. We’ll wait and keep in touch until you do need us, our knowledge and our expertise.

6. If the builder isn’t paying a REALTOR, why can’t I have that money?
Reputable builders would never shoot themselves in the foot by trying to undercut a professional real estate agent. A vast majority of new home sales occur as a direct result of REALTORS. Builders rationalize it as spending money on a REALTOR or on advertising. If someone comes in and asks to save money because they don’t have a REALTOR the builder will not only say no but they’ll probably negotiate less knowing they are working with someone who is not experienced. A REALTORS commission is a normal cost of doing business and the beneficiary is you!

7. What are the steps involved in a new home purchase?

• I can’t express the importance of this enough. Especially the first time, ALWAYS visit the new home site WITH your real estate agent. If you don’t, it may still work out for you but sometimes, you may not get to enjoy the benefit of having a buyers agent. The builders want us there initially so agency is understood (who represents whom).
• Make an offer. This is usually done informally before paperwork is drawn up. We’ll lay out our what we want and we’ll be told, “well, I’ll bring it to the boss and see what they say” or “the builder never says no, they’ll say yes or counter with something that works for them” you get the idea. This is also the point at which you should start the loan process if you’ve decided to use the builders mortgage company. If you’ve decided to use your own lender, you should have already started the process before making an offer. Speaking with a lender is critical. You won’t know what to offer or how much cash you’ll need to close without doing this.
• Write the offer. This is after you’ve come to an agreement verbally. A verbal agreement isn’t worth the paper it isn’t written on so you’ll want to make sure everything is signed. You’ll also have to put an earnest money deposit down which goes towards your down payment or closing costs. Finish getting your loan if it’s not already finalized.
• Inspections. Depending on what stage of construction the home is in, you can opt to do a pre-drywall inspection. At a later point you’ll do another home inspection. You’ll have a final walk-through to see if anything still needs to be fixed and then you’ll go to settlement.

Earnest Money Deposit

What is it, is it required and how could I lose it?

During the process of crafting an offer, one of the things you’ll need to decide is how large a deposit you’d like to make. You want the “earnest money deposit” to be large enough to show the seller you’re serious, but not so large you’re risking a significant amount of money. The amount should be an amount that is substantial to you. If you wrote a $200 earnest money check, there’s not a lot holding you to a particular house. I recently had buyers who insisted on writing a $1,000. We were told the sellers didn’t consider ours a serious offer and decided to work with another.

During a hot market (Like the one we’re in!) there may be multiple offers on the house that interests you. A large deposit may impress a seller enough so they will accept your offer instead of someone else’s, even when your the competition is offering the same price or slightly higher. If it’s a buyers market the amount can be smaller but it should still be substantial for the offer to be taken seriously

What amount is substantial? I don’t have a good rule of thumb but I’ll give a couple of recent transaction examples. On a sale of about $300,000 people have written checks for $2,500 – $4,000. On a sale of $700K-$800K the checks have been $7,000 to $15,000. Several years ago in a hotter market, I had a buyer write a $25,000 check on a $600,000 home because he wanted to make sure his offer was noticed.

There are usually several contingencies that need to be removed before your money is at risk and your agent should make you aware of those deadlines. Contingencies may include:

• Financing
• Appraisal
• Home Owners Association or Condominium Document Review
• Home Inspection
• and possibly many more

After you’ve done a home inspection and you know you can borrow the money required, you’ll know that you comfortable with you choice so your money won’t really be at risk anymore, it’ll be going towards your new home. At settlement your earnest money deposit is given back to you in the form of a credit or a check.

Want to Get Your Real Estate License?

I don’t know if all REALTORS are experiencing the fantastic market that I seem to be enjoying but if you’ve considered becoming a licensed real estate professional, now may be the perfect time.

I received the following email from our training center coordinator:

Do you know anyone who wants to get their real estate license? Yes… despite the negative media about the real estate market, there are still people eager to join the business.

Last month, I had a dozen people take my pre-licensing class. At least three of them were referred by agents at RE/MAX Allegiance.

Starting next Monday, July 13th, I’ll again be teaching the Principles of Real Estate Course. The class runs for two weeks, Monday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and is being taught at our Training Center. The cost is about $300/student.

If you know anybody who’s thinking about getting their license, please have them contact you to sign up. I’ll be offering the same class again in September, starting on September 14th

So, if you’ve thought about this exciting career change, feel free to contact me or call 202-345-7399 to find out more! I would be happy to discuss the pros and cons or answer any questions you may have.

Why Isn’t My House Selling?

Your home is overpriced.  If it were only so simple… Your home probably is overpriced but not in the literal way you’re thinking. Even if your home were identical to the house next door that sold for the same price your asking for, you may have several disadvantages forcing you into having to lower your price. Disadvantages may include:

• Your home doesn’t look it’s best, because you weren’t advised to paint, make repairs and/or perform general cleanup
• You’re not allowing a lockbox or sign to be placed on the property
• You’re insisting on “appointment showings” only
• You hired a “part time” Realtor who wasn’t always available to take calls and answer questions
• Your home had inadequate traditional and online exposure
• Inadequate signage
• Priced comparably to other homes but not for the “unique” location of your house
• Too many other houses for sale to compete with

Any real estate agent, or any person for that matter, can only give you their price opinion on what your home should sell for. Of course real estate agents are far more practiced at giving those opinions than the average homeowner who sells a house once every 7 years or so. Many of us give price opinions many times each week in dozens or in hundreds of different subdivisions. In the end, the only way to judge whether your home has been priced right, is by the offers you receive and the speed of your sale. True market value is a combination of:

• Current market and economic conditions
• Competition
• Relative merits of your unique home, property and location
• Ability to appraise properly

Protect yourself, Use a Checklist!

Every contract is unique but all of them have time frames for actions to be completed. Even the cleanest of contracts will have a small handful of deadlines that need to be met. If something isn’t done on time, someones money could be at risk or the whole thing might fall apart. Examples of items may include:

• Inspections and follow-up deadlines for the home (systems, structural, pool, etc…), radon, lead based paint & others
• Loan application & more importantly approval
• Appraisal
• Potentially many more

Without a checklist, even a seasoned professional may occasionally slip up. My paranoia has been with me for well over a decade. Back when I was a new agent and everything seemed so complicated, I worried over the timing of items set forth in the contract. So much so that I started using a handwritten checklist, which progressed to one which was typed on an IBM Selectric II, before I finally discovered technology and became a Wordperfect 5.1 user to create that same list, remember Wordperfect 5.1? These days I use Excel of course and every new buyer or seller client that goes under contract gets a checklist. I open up an old checklist and change the names and addresses and then start going through the contract. I usually go through it twice just to make sure I’m not missing anything and then I sort the data by the date due. Not only does the client get a copy but the other agent in the transaction gets one too, just in case he or she doesn’t have a system in place. The most important reason for the checklist though is so that I never forget anything. Especially when working with multiple clients on different transactions.

Should I Buy or Sell First?

One of the fears people have when they decide to sell is not being able to find a new house to buy. Most buyers know they can write an offer on a house and make the offer contingent upon their ability to sell their existing house. If they’re unsuccessful selling their house, they aren’t bound to close on the new house. Sellers should be pleased to know they have the same opportunity to add a similar contingency.

The seller can accept a buyers offer and add a contingency which will give them a time period in which to find their home of choice.
An offer with a home sale contingency isn’t as attractive to a seller as a non-contingent offer so a contingent buyer usually will not be as aggressive in the negotiation. A seller with a “home of choice” contingency, in my view, has a little easier time of it and the contingency seems appropriate. A buyer can see the sellers side and the contingency is seen as a smaller risk. The sale of the buyers one home is an all or nothing condition, while the seller has potentially hundreds of homes from which to choose.

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