My New Blog

If you enjoyed this blog I have multiplied it times 10.  Its new home is at  

www.therealestatebakery.com

www.therealestatebakery.com

www.therealestatebakery.com

Comedy Night 08

If you are looking for a Local night out in Ashburn and above the age of 21 here is a good opportunity.

 Ashburn Village is hosting a comedy night on Saturday, February 16th from 7pm to 10pm at the Lakes Recreation Center on Cheltenham Circle.  There will be live comedians, food, drinks, and a lot of laughing!  I THINK (sorry) that you have to be a member of Ashburn Village to come. 

 Price- $20 each, $35 a couple. 

For more info you can email cmiller@ashburnvillage.org or contact Ashburn Village at 703-723-7910.

Loudoun County Schools Win Excellence Award

If you have been looking for how your child’s school stands up to the others, this should be helpful. 

On January 10th, 2008 there were 89 Virginia Schools that were recognized and recieved the Governor’s Award for Educational Excellence.  Loudoun County tied Henrico County (?) for the second most school recognitions, following Fairfax County. 

Loudoun Schools include: Hillsboro ES, Lincoln ES, Waterford ES, Belont Ridge MS, Farmwell Station MS, Broad Run HS, Stone Bridge HS, Loudoun Valley HS.

Govenor Kaine says “Students in these schools are soaring far beyond the minimum requirements of the Standards of Learning and No Child Left Behind.  It speaks to the strength of public education in the Commonwealth that the 89 schools that have earned this distinction including schools in rural, suburban and urban communities and schools in every part of the state.”

Congratulations to our local schools and students!  To read more about the criteria of receiving this award check out Governor Kaine’s Web Site.

Is Now The Time To Buy???

The question I am asked the most as a Realtor is, “How’s the Market?”  For those who care to hear my opinion, I will give it a shot.  

If you are a seller…  Don’t waste your time UNLESS you are planning to price it to sell.  You have to let go of the idea that you are going to sell for more than your neighbor sold for 6 months ago.  If your Realtor is not telling you to price it right from the very beginning then you may need to question if they are doing what you hired them to do,  Advise you.

If you are a buyer… its a great time.   You ask:

What if I buy and the prices go down again.  The truth is that it could.  You could buy today and tomorrow your neighbor gets sells for $10K less than you just bought for.  You are already upside down.  That stinks.  But lets put this in to perspective.  Are you going to sell the house next week?  If you are, then yes…  you made a big mistake.  However, if you are going to stick around for 5 or more years then you will most likely be alright. 

The problem in this market is not the lack of buyers.  The problem is that buyers are riding the fence and are afraid of pulling the trigger.  Why???  Because we like to think that we are going to time the market perfectly.  We sit on the edge watching stocks thinking… as soon as it hits the bottom I am going to get in.   Sounds smart doesn’t it?  Well, I will quote what the second richest man in the world says…

“We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”  Warren Buffett

So, if you are preparing to buy and educating yourself then I applaud you.  If you think you are going to jump in at the perfect time and strike it rich then I would love to learn your secret.  I promise, once the Washington Post tells you that it is the time to buy and everyone is excited again then you have already missed “the bottom.”  So, wisdom and education: good.   Following your gut like a rookie day-trader:  good luck.  

By the way… prices are really low right now.  AND- Interest rates are a 2.5 year low.

I am not trying to play the Realtor card to fool you in to buying when you are not ready.  However, I do want to encourage you to think more long term about buying and realize what a great opportunity is taking place in our market.

January Snow Slideshow!

Here are a few pics taken in Ashburn of the snow we had January 17th.  I was able to grab a couple of pics of snow men along with them. 

Vote Against The Congestion Relief FEE!

READ THIS – IT COULD SAVE YOU HUNDREDS OF $$$$

 There is a new law the will cost you selling your home in VA a lot more than it used to.  Below is a link to sign an on-line petition to vote against it.

“The new law authorized the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) to raise the tax from .10 cents/$100 to .50 cents/$100 or $5.00 per $1,000 of a home’s sales price, bringing the tax on a $600,000 home in Northern Virginia from $600 to $3,000 when property owners sell their home.”

I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE YOU to read this petition and click on the on-line link to be sent to our representatives for the purpose removing this tax. 

 CLICK HERE

Loudoun Market Statistics

Opinions are like…..

There are a lot of endings to this statement but the principle holds water.  When it comes to the real estate market this conversation lacks no opinion.  There may be even more than there are concerning politics.  Instead of sharing my opinion in this article I will let the stats speak on their own.

My goal for this blog is not to deceive you in to believing that the market is always great.  I am not blind to what is going on.  However, it is difficult to judge different communities when the stats only show a whole county.   

 This information has been pulled from MRIS.COM  which is the local MLS service of the Mid-Atlantic States.  Click on the picture for a better view.

Topics:

1.  Total Pending Sales in Loudoun VA.

2.  Total Sold in Loudoun VA.

WHAT ARE YOUR MARKET PREDICTIONS FOR THIS YEAR?  I KNOW YOU HAVE AN OPINION…

JD Power Rates Local Builders

Many builders in the area use the rankings of JD Power to rate their quality.  I thought you may find it interesting to know what local builders rank the highest.  This list covers all of the DC area. 

 Click HERE for the ratings.

Builder Financing: To Use Or Not To Use

Every builder is offering them.  It is either the cherry on the cake or the deal that draws you in. 

The major incentive that most builders are currently offering is to cover your closing costs.  This sounds great since you otherwise have to pay it out of your own pocket.  It is never included in the ASKING PRICE.   Oh really?  Yep, it sucks but thats the way it is. 

 So, the builder says, “Don’t worry about them, we will cover them.”  Everyone is happy until you realize that you have to use their lender and their title company to get the incentives.  But you already have your own lender.  You even came in with your own lender lender (well, if you knew it would help you would- maybe next time).

The Problem

1.  Their lender is going to most likely charge you a discount point costing you to loose a lot of the money they just gave you.  So, instead of $10,000 for incentives, its more like $5000.  Will they change their mind?  Maybe, maybe not because they are still giving you money you wouldn’t get if you use someone else.

2.  Their rate stinks… Not always the case but for some reason the rate you get after the discounted point is still more than the rate your lender offered you when didn’t pay a point.  Strike two.

3.  Some times there are addition incentives like a finished basement or extra money to buy upgrades that are also tied to the lending and using a certain title company. 

This makes it a really tough choice.  Most people usually end up gritting their teeth and going forward because they can’t stand feeling like they are loosing otherwise.

Now… before I paint too ugly of a picture about builders (I love builders) and their lenders know that they are not all sticklers.  Some builders have stopped requiring you to use their lenders and will still offer the incentives.  How nice. 

Here are a few tips when writing a new construction contract:

1.  Use a Realtor (I know a good one). 

For those of you do-it-alone-rs it is VERY ODD that you are scared to use a Realtor when BUYING a home.  There are no fee’s for you (unless your Realtor charges them on top of what they get paid?).  The builder will pay them and it won’t cost you any money.  And NO… you won’t get a discount for not using a Realtor because they love all the business that us Realtor’s bring them and don’t want to kill the relationship.  You might realize that they can  SAVE you a lot of MONEY.

2.  Go in with a LENDER APPROVAL LETTER (this is different from a pre-approval letter).

When negotiating a deal the question in the back of the Sales Reps mind is, “I wonder if these guys even have the money or credit to buy this.”  This will show them that you are serious and will demand their full attention. 

3.  Make Your Deal Contingent

**  In other words, tell them… Hey, I want your house and as you can see I am qualified to buy it.  However, for this deal to work I am going to use MY current lender and I still want all of the incentives you are offering.  **

This does not always work but you stand a good chance with a lender letter in your hand.  The sales rep most likely can’t make the decision so they will present it to their boss and get you an answer.

 4.  Pray

It always helps.

If you are interested with finding out about more new construction deals in the area contact me.  I have the scoup on Ashburn New Construction that will help you. 

Lowest HOA Fee’s In Ashburn…

HOA Fees….. Good or Bad???

For those of you who somehow do not know what an HOA fee is, it stands for Homeowners Owners Association fees.  Many communities now (or should I say, almost EVERY) community in Ashburn has them.  The fees go to pay fees associated with living in the community. 

Depending on the community and what is offered, the fees will vary.  For example if a community provides a pool, gym, internet, cable, trash, snow removal, common grounds, a tot lot, etc.. the fees will most likely be high.  A few communities that have higher fees but many benefits would be Belmont Land Bay/ Country Club (inside the gate), Broadlands South, and Lansdowne on the Potomac (Leesburg). 

Depending on ones personal usage of such benefits such as the gym, pool, etc… one could argue that they do not want to pay for such facilities because they do not use them.  For those who do use the facilities the fees are many time justified. 

So obviously it depends. It’s a broad stroke to call them bad since they ALSO provide a level of INSURANCE against odd neighbors.  I have a listing in another local city who does not have an HOA.  Since my client is obviously wanting to sell their home it is never beneficial to have neighbors with COUCHES on their porch along with a dingy old CHAIR (a bad idea for selling your home- a free tip).  The problem is that my client can do nothing about it because he has no one to report it to.  So much for no HOA fee.

Here is a list of neighborhoods with single family detached homes with HOA fee’s under $100.  (This list is not exhaustive.  The fee’s could be different per home and I am not listing all of the benefits.  Forgive me for any mistakes.  Their are a lot of neighborhoods in Ashburn). 

From Least to Greatest:

1.  Ashburn Mews  $30 Quarterly

2.  Belmont Ridge  $36 Quarterly

3.  Belle Terra  $68 Quarterly

4.  Alexandras Grove  $50

5.  Amberleigh Estates  $50

6.  Ashbrook Village $70  (Excersise Room, Basketball Courts, Pool)

7.  Belmont Green $79.75 (Pool)

8.  Ashburn Square $85 (Pool, Basketball Courts, Tennis Courts, Workout Facility)