Archive for the ‘Loudoun County’ Category
October 13, 2008
Downtown Leesburg could be a contender as the site for GMU’s Loudoun campus.
- 93% of Loudoun County’s high schoolers graduated on time. We’re second in the state only to Falls Church City, which has just 1906 students in a total of 4 schools. [LoudounExtra.com via Our Loudoun Schools]
- Loudoun has its own wiki! [LoudounPedia]
- Want to know how to start a business in Loudoun? [Gateway to Loudoun]
- Where’s the best place for GMU to build its full-service Loudoun Campus: near the to-be-built Moorefield Station (with Metro access), or downtown Leesburg? [Living in LoCo]
- Will larger class sizes be an inevitable result of Loudoun’s budget crunch?[Leesburg Tomorrow]
Recent Loudoun County Posts
Priced to Sell
HGTV “Dream House”
October 10, 2008
The thing I miss the most when the market cools in the fall is the variety of open houses. It’s because I’m so nosy. Even when I’m not actively searching for a home, I still love to walk through homes for sale to get decorating ideas, landscaping ideas, and to get a feel for what you can get for the money.
That being said, I was pleasantly surprised to see that both 20147 and 20176 are having a decent amount of open houses this weekend (20148 only has four). Both the most expensive and least expensive open houses are in 20147. If you’re going to be out looking, you’ve got beautiful weather for it. Happy hunting!
Click here for open house listings in 20147.
Most expensive: Belmont Country Club
19805 Rothschild Ct, Ashburn
Price: $1,350,000
5 bd/5.5ba; 7011 sq. ft.
On the 18th green and directly across from the Clubhouse. Professional movie theatre; main level in-law suite with sitting room and full bath; deck and hot tub.
Open: Sun. 10/12 from 1 to 4:00
Least expensive: Westmaren
21023 Timber Ridge Ter, #101, Ashburn
Price: $170,000
2 bd/1 ba; 925 sq. ft.
Patio with view of common ground/pool; in-unit washer/dryer; home warranty.
Open: Sat. 10/11 from 1 to 4:00
Click here for open house listings in 20148.
Click here for open house listings in 20176.
October 7, 2008
Without a doubt, the most difficult challenge that home sellers face in a buyer’s market is knowing how to price their homes. In a market such as this, where there may seem to be no rhyme or reason as to which homes are selling, and for how much, proper pricing can be especially tricky. (I’ve written about this before, and overpricing is still at the top of my list of real estate pet peeves.) Overpricers (sellers who can’t seem to read the writing on the wall) generally fall into 3 categories:
1. Those who don’t want to face how much money they may have “lost” by not selling a few years ago.
2. Those who believe that overpricing the property will result in a higher sales price.
3. Those who fall prey to realtors who “buy” their listing.
My responses to these types of sellers are as follows:
1. Home equity is purely imaginary, because it is always based on what the bank thinks you can sell your home for. There is no pile of money buried under your house that shrinks or grows with the state of the housing market. Therefore, unless you are upside-down on your mortgage, you will not “lose” money by selling your house for less than what your neighbor sold hers for three years ago . If you are actually upside-down on your mortgage, then I really feel for you – but that doesn’t change the fact that overpricing your house to make up for that loss will only harm you more in the end. I’m sorry, but it’s true.
2. Overpricing your property because you think it will put you in a better bargaining position never, ever works. EVER. If you think your home will fetch $650,000 based on recent comps, pricing it at $675,000 because you know buyers are going to bargain you down, anyway, will not get you an offer of $650,000. It will most likely get you offers that are insultingly low or no offers at all, because any interested buyers will think you are unreasonable. With so many houses on the market, why would a buyer choose to deal with an unreasonable seller? Too many times, I have watched sellers set up this “negotiating cushion”, only to watch their homes languish on the market, have to be pulled off the market, or have to go through a price reduction. Here’s a little tip: You are better off pricing your house 1 to 2% below the most recent comps than you are overpricing and then going through a price reduction. Either approach will likely get you to a similar price. But pricing your house below comps could actually get you multiple offers or your asking price quickly, while overpricing and then going through a price reduction will end up substantially weakening your bargaining stance. You don’t want that.
3. It’s obvious from the sheer volume of overpriced homes on the market that there are some realtors out there who aren’t doing their jobs properly. Realty is like any other business in that there will always be those that will tell you what you want to hear, or who may not stand their ground firmly enough when they do tell you what you don’t want to hear. When a realtor knowingly agrees to overprice your house just so they can get your business, that’s called “buying a listing.” Any realtor who “buys” your listing is not looking out for you – he is looking out for himself. If you’re going to be paying a realtor a chunk of money to help sell your house, don’t you want someone who is going to truly have your best interests at heart? I know of realtors who refuse to take on overpriced listings, and those are the realtors that I would want to hire. Those realtors are the ones who don’t feel right leading you down the primrose path, can’t stomach the thought of adding yet another home to our overstocked inventory that will then sit there, or who take their reputations too seriously to engage in that sort of behavior. Here’s another little tip: A realtor who believes that the home is priced properly will be a much better negotiator and advocate for you than the one who just told you what you wanted to hear.
Now that I got that off my chest…here’s a link to the Loudoun Times-Mirror article that got me thinking about all this again. Entitled, “Selling Your Home in a Buyer’s Market”, it lists seven things to do to prime yourself for proper pricing. Good luck!
October 3, 2008
I had completely forgotten about this! When I wrote my “Wine Country Living” post back in May, I discovered that a Loudoun County winery was going to be featured on HGTV’s “Dream House”. The original debut date was supposed to be July 5th, but (renos and TV production being what they are), it turns out that the show is going to debut this Saturday, October 4th, at 7 a.m. You can see the show’s schedule here, and you can read the homeowners’ blog about the show here. Happy viewing!
October 2, 2008
Two Leesburg families were featured in a Today Show segment on the importance of both Virginia and Loudoun County to the upcoming Presidential election. [MSNBC.com via Leesburg Tomorrow]- Notes from the Loudoun BOS/School Board meeting about land acquisition. [Beyond the Blackboard]
- More about the Broadlands Hospital controversy. [LoudounExtra.com]
- Virginia homebuyers now have the option to purchase title insurance directly. [Leesburg Today]
- $176 million in deficit is not a great place for Loudoun to start FY10. [Leesburg Today]
Image: Artist’s rendering of the Broadlands Regional Medical Center
September 24, 2008
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.
September 20, 2008
If you don’t know by now how important the upcoming Presidential election is, I can only assume you’ve been living under a rock. By all accounts, the race is incredibly tight, which means every vote carries that much more significance.
The blogger at Leesburg Tomorrow has posted several entries devoted to voter registration resources. The most recent one links to the Vote from Abroad site, as well as links up to the Virginia site that allows you to check your registration status. Keep in mind that it’s not just American citizens abroad that can use the absentee ballot; anyone can, and it might be a good idea to take advantage of it if you want to be extra sure your vote is counted or you don’t want to have to endure the history-making lines they’re anticipating.
This time around, Virginia is one of the states up for grabs between the two parties. Loudoun, in particular, has been a bit of a battleground. Whichever side of the aisle you’re on, don’t miss this opportunity to make your voice heard.
Special note: October 6th is the cut-off date for name or address changes.
Voter Sites
VoteFromAbroad.org
Vote For Change (Obama website that includes some cool tools, like the one that will notify you of in-person early voting locations.)
McCain Campaign Voter Registration site
State Board of Elections voter registration website
September 19, 2008
Doukenie Winery is holding its Taste of Italy event this weekend. (Photo credit: My Vine Spot)
Could we have asked for nicer weather this weekend? I don’t think so. Whether you’re looking for something to do or looking for a house to buy, you’ve got plenty of options. Enjoy!
Farmers Markets
Ashburn, 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, parking lot at Kaiser-Permanente building, 43480 Yukon Dr., Ryan Park Shopping Center; Purcellville, 4-7 p.m. Thursdays, 21st Street, across from the train station; Middleburg, 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, behind the community center; Leesburg, 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, Virginia Village Shopping Center, off Catoctin Circle; Cascades, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sundays, Cascades Senior Center, 21060 Whitfield Pl.; Lovettsville, 3:30-7 p.m. Tuesdays, Lovettsville Game Protective Association, Route 287. Sponsored by the Loudoun Valley HomeGrown Markets Association. 703-777-0426 or http://www.loudounfarmersmarkets.org.
Walk For the Shelter
Registration at 8 a.m.; race at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Douglass Community Center, 407 E. Market St., Leesburg. A 1.2-mile walk through historic Leesburg to benefit the Loudoun homeless at the Good Shepherd Alliance shelters. $30; age 25 and younger, $15. 703-724-1555 or http://www.loudounhomeless.org.
Ball’s Bluff Battlefield Guided Tours
11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through October, Ball’s Bluff Battlefield, Ball’s Bluff Rd., off Battlefield Pkwy., Leesburg. Free. 703-737-7800 or www.nvrpa.org.
(Source: WashingtonPost.com)
12th Annual Taste of Italy
Visit Doukenie Winery this Saturday for a taste of Italy. The winery will be serving Italian appetizers, wine, and offering vineyard rides and cellar tours. Visitors will also have the opportunity to join in the wine-making process with grape-stomping. Doukenie Winery is located at 14727 Mountain Road in Purcellville, and Taste of Italy will run from noon to 6.pm. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. You can also purchase tickets online. (Source: LoudounExtra.com)
Now, on to some price reductions…
ASHBURN FARM
43132 Wintergrove Dr, Ashburn, 20147
4 bd/3.5 ba; 3421 sq. ft.
Reduced from $549,900 to $527,900
Days on Redfin: 28
ASHBURN VILLAGE
20720 Sweetair Ct, Ashburn, 20147
4 bd/3.5 ba; sq. ft. unavailable
Reduced from $425,000 to $418,000 (Original Price: $499,000)
Days on Redfin: 109
BELMONT COUNTRY CLUB
43387 La Belle Pl, Ashburn, 20147
5 bd/4.5 ba; sq. ft. unavailable
Reduced from $715,000 to $700,000
Days on Redfin: 28
BRAMBLETON
22864 Ashton Woods Dr, Ashburn, 20148
4 bd/4.5 ba; 4826 sq. ft.
Reduced from $699,900 to $649,900 (Original Price: $799,900)
Days on Redfin: 63
BROADLANDS
42954 Cedar Springs Ct, Broadlands, 20148
4 bd/3.5 ba; sq. ft. unavailable
Reduced from $579,000 to $559,000 (Original Price: $608,000)
Days on Redfin: 113
LANSDOWNE
43480 Calphams Mill Ct, Leesburg, 20176
6 bd/4.5 ba; sq. ft. unavailable
Reduced from $989,000 to $899,000 (Original Price: $1,350,000)
Days on Redfin: 563
September 17, 2008
Image: Some overgrown Loudoun lawns will soon be receiving much-needed trims via a county program. The BOS is considering attaching the costs to the homeowners’ tax bills. (Photo courtesy of WashingtonPost.com.)
Almost 50% of home sale closings in Loudoun have been on foreclosures or short sales – which certainly explains the decrease in Loudoun’s inventory. [Loudoun Stats]- Loudoun’s School Board is weighing the pros and cons of a 4-day school week. I have serious doubts about whether my 7-year-old could handle a 9-hour school day. [Leesburg Today]
- Loudoun’s School Board has also joined the Town of Leesburg in supporting the location of a full-service GMU campus in Loudoun. [Ashburn Today]
- A word to the (real estate) wise: New homes need to be thoroughly inspected, too. [Loudoun Times-Mirror]
- The Board of Supervisors approved the tall grass ordinance. [Loudoun Times-Mirror]
September 12, 2008
A Scroll Saw artisan shows off his talents at the Bluemont Fair (Photo credit; Creative Commons License)
If you’re looking for some weekend fun in Loudoun, The Washington Post publishes a list every Thursday. I’ve highlighted a few events below, but you can find the full list here.
LEESBURG’S FIRST FRIDAY, 6-9 p.m. first Fridays, downtown Leesburg. Visit art galleries, specialty stores and antiques dealers. Free. 703-725-8167.
BLUEMONT FAIR, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 20-21, Snickersville Turnpike (Route 734), Bluemont. Demonstrations, music, farm animals, quilt display, fresh and dried flowers, pie-baking and pickle-making contests, art show, crafts, antiques, wine tasting, slide show, model railroad display, children’s fair and 10K run. No pets. Adults, $5; 11 and younger, free. 540-554-2367 or www.bluemontfair.com.
ESTATE TOURS AND EXHIBITS, “From Swann’s Castle to Governor’s Mansion: Exploring an Old Southern Estate,” 11 a.m.-4 p.m. tomorrow and Monday, Morven Park, 17263 Southern Planter Lane, Leesburg. Guided tours include exhibits, carriage collection, Confederate huts and a walk around the property. Meet at Coach House visitors center. Adults, $5; children, $1. 703-777-6034 or http://www.morvenpark.org.
If you’re looking for a bargain on a property, there are plenty of those to be found this weekend, too. Three of the 6 reduced homes I’ve listed are $550,000 or below. And while the average buyer might not consider the Belmont Country Club home a bargain at $999,900, it’s always fun to just soak in the “wow” factor of a home like that. Happy hunting!
ASHBURN FARM
20958 Huntland Ct, Ashburn, 20147
5 bd/3.5 ba; 3856 sq. ft.
Reduced from $549,900 to $544,900 (Original Price: $589,000)
Days on Redfin: 163
ASHBURN VILLAGE
43880 Felicity Pl, Ashburn, 20147
4 bd/3.5 ba; sq. ft. unavailable
Reduced from $639,900 to $625,111
Days on Redfin: 16
BELMONT COUNTRY CLUB
20156 Black Diamond Pl, Ashburn, 20147
5 bd/4.5 ba; 5993 sq. ft.
Reduced from $1,150,000 to $999,900 (Original Price: $1,215,000)
Days on Redfin: 56
BRAMBLETON
42477 Tourmaline Ln, Ashburn, 20148
4 bd/3.5 ba; 3500 sq. ft.
Reduced from $569,990 to $549,990
Days on Redfin: 84
BROADLANDS
42919 Sundance Sq, Broadlands, 20148
5 bd/3.5 ba; sq. ft. unavailable
Reduced from $519,000 to $499,000
Days on Redfin: 24
LANSDOWNE
44204 Riverpoint Dr, Lansdowne, 20176
6 bd/5 ba; sq. ft. unavailable
Reduced from $897,500 to $848,900
Days on Redfin: 36
