Loudoun Fixers

Eastern Loudoun may be known (or reviled, depending on how you look at it) for many things – income, traffic, McMansions, traffic, its school system, traffic – but being full of fixer-uppers is not one of them. Sure, there are parts of Loudoun that have older homes in need of a little love, but most people move here to get away from that sort of thing, and some of those neighborhoods are on the shady side. Still, one refrain I’ve been hearing recently is that housing in Loudoun has gotten too expensive for some residents who work locally to reasonably afford. Yes, that’s even after the huge drop in housing prices over the past few years. 

So, what’s a buyer to do who wants to enjoy all that Loudoun has to offer, but can’t afford a newer home? What are your options if even the foreclosures and short sales are out of your reach? 

In general, it’s best not to get your heart set on developments like Lansdowne, Belmont Country Club, Brambleton and Broadlands. It’s not that there are no bargains in those communities; it’s that even the bargains are still pretty pricey. And many times, low-priced homes in these communities have something REALLY wrong with them: horrible lot, mold (a Lansdowne home with a mold problem sold recently, after going into foreclosure, at about $100,000 off recent comps), an addition gone wrong, etc. And when a well-priced home in good condition does hit the market in those neighborhoods, they still tend to go pretty quickly – sometimes within just a matter of days. 

If you don’t mind putting in a little elbow grease (and maybe a few thousand dollars worth of carpet, paint and window treatments), the more established parts of Ashburn Village and Ashburn Farm are both chock-full of fixer-uppers that might actually yield you a profit in a few short years.  Smaller communities that are also more likely to have true bargains are Belmont Greene (which is actually one of my favorites), Ashleigh, and Ashbrier in Ashburn; and Potomac Station and Edwards Landing* in Leesburg.  

The homes below are all examples of properties that offer a chance at a good financial return. None of them needs a major overhaul, and the kind of work they do need is relatively low-cost. These properties all have fairly good bones but have been overlooked in a market where buyers want the Pottery Barn look but don’t want to have to do the work themselves. The best part? An “older” home in Ashburn is still relatively young when compared to the rest of the DC area, so you won’t have to worry about issues such as outdated building codes or lead paint. 

Keep in mind that when you go to make an offer on a place that needs some work, it is completely reasonable these days to factor that into the purchase price. You can either ask for concessions or you can deduct the anticipated costs off of your offer. Most of the homes I’ve highlighted here have been on the market for a loooong time, so the sellers should know by now they’re not going to get their full asking price, anyway. And while conventional wisdom has been that banks aren’t negotiating on short sales or foreclosures, that has recently changed. I know of several buyers who negotiated and got lower sale prices on a foreclosure or short sale. I imagine that kind of flexibility is only going to increase given the state of the economy. And remember: When you’re figuring out an offer price, be sure to take advantage of Redfin’s Neighborhood Pages feature, which provides useful data like median list price, median sold price, and information on price reductions. There’s a link at the bottom of each listing that will take you there. 

*All single families under $500k in Edwards Landing are under contract, so there are none available to list here. 

Artist’s rendering of the Village Center at Belmont Greene, currently under construction.

ASHBRIER
21486 PLYMOUTH Pl, ASHBURN, VA 20147
Price: $344,900 (Original Price: $369,900)
3 bd/2.5 ba; 1762 sq. ft.
Year built: 1999
Days on Redfin: 12 

ASHBURN FARM
21152 HAYSHIRE Ct, ASHBURN, VA 20147
Price: $399,950 (Original Price: $421,000)
6 bd/3.5 ba; sq. ft. unavailable
Year built: 1988
Days on Redfin: 107 

ASHBURN VILLAGE
20720 SWEETAIR Ct, ASHBURN, VA 20147
Price: $418,000 (Original Price: $499,000)
4 bd/3.5 ba; sq. ft. unavailable
Year built: 1996
Days on Redfin: 113 

ASHLEIGH
20592 TWELVE OAKS Way, ASHBURN, VA 20147
Price: $415,000
4 bd/3.5 ba; sq. ft. unavailable
Year built: 1997
ays on Redfin: 69 

BELMONT GREENE
42860 KIRKLAND St, ASHBURN, VA 20147
Price: $454,900 (Original Price: $469,900)
4 bd/3.5 ba; 2,475 sq. ft.
Year built: 1999
Days on Redfin: 49 

POTOMAC STATION
43218 PARKERS RIDGE Dr, LEESBURG, VA 20176
Price: $416,900
4 bd/3.5 ba; sq. ft. unavailable
Year built: 1999
Days on Redfin: 18 

If you really, really, really want to build new and have a budget of about $400k, consider Village Green in Leesburg’s 20176 ZIP. It’s located off of Route 15 just north of downtown Leesburg, and is 3 miles from the MARC train.