Staging on Steroids…
June 10th, 2009 Categories: Alexandria Dirt, Arlington Dirt, Falls Church Dirt, McLean Dirt, Northern Virginia Home Selling, Reston Dirt
Yesterday I decided to hit a few broker’s open houses. Tuesdays are big days in the Northern Virginia – Washington DC Area where real estate agents have opportunities to tour homes for a variety of reasons – some people go to preview potential homes for clients - it’s a time saving way to see a bunch of homes at once without making appointments. Others go to support their fellow agents – show their face, sometimes it’s to network, 
say hello to an old friend. Some go for the food – the food can range from simple deli sandwiches to ornate catered events. (My favorites are the ones with Mother’s Macaroons which is a fabulous Arlington Bakery and they make the most amazing finger desserts!!) Others go in hopes of winning prizes – yes, I said prizes! Anything from a cash pull (where everyone wins something) to a gift certificate to maybe even an iPod!
OK, but I digress - yesterday I went in the home of a listing agent who had many many letters after her name to represent all of the designations she’s earned. One happened to be the Accredited Staging Professional (OR ASP) designation. Now, I think staging a home is really important IF THE HOME CAN BENEFIT FROM IT.
Have you ever had a friend (or maybe your home is like this) that every time you walk into their home it looks perfect? Just the right accessory, just the right colors, just the right candle? Not too much? Not too little? But JUST RIGHT? That’s what staging is supposed to accomplish. A “put-together” just right look!
So, back to my story, yesterday I walked into this house and this particular staging professional went WAYYYYYY overboard. There were throw blankets EVERYWHERE – and I mean EVERYWHERE - sometimes 2 and 3 in the same room, artfully “tossed” over the arm of a chaise or a sofa… There were books and towels tied up with rafia and silk flowers arranged throughout the house as well - there was even a silk flower arrangement in the “his” side of the closet – and it wasn’t even attractive – c’mon! That’s not believable!!! The kicker was the cup of tea that sat on the end table by the chaise with the artfully thrown blanket with plenty of fringed pillows as well, I might add - the cup was full of that brown plastic stuff that looks like liquid, but it’s not – the wrapper from the tea bag was torn off and set aside and it was on top of a book… I had to feel the “water” in the teacup to see if it was real or not – UGH - I left there thinking “staging gone bad”
So, what’s my advice? Look around! Get the honest opinion of your agent and your friends – there are many levels to “staging” – sometimes stagers can come in and work with what you have - re-arrange a few things, pull out some great nuggets that you have tucked away and put away some things that might not be working to their full potential. Staging is great – when used for the right project in the right way. But when it’s not right on – it just looks silly – TRUST ME!
Feel free to call today to discuss listing your home and I’d be happy to tell you whether or not your home could benefit from staging.
Happy Wednesday
Jennifer
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Alphabet Soup of Contingencies - Is the Property Available or NOT?
May 19th, 2009 Categories: Arlington Dirt, First Time Buyers Club, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt
I know a lot of prospective buyers and even prospective sellers comb the Internet regularly to keep tabs on the market - favorite homes, comparable homes to theirs, homes they’d like to see with their agent, homes they’d like to see at an open, etc… Sometimes the status changes and one of the questions I get pretty frequently is “what does ‘CNTG/NO KO’ mean??
So I thought it might be helpful to spell out some of these terms and what happens during the process of contract acceptance to close date.
When a contract is accepted, either there are contingencies or not – if there are NO contingencies (finance, appraisal, home or radon inspection, etc…) then it gets entered into the computer as “CONTRACT.” These days that doesn’t happen very often but keep the definition in mind because it means that it is on it’s way to settlement with the only way out being default.
Normally there are purchaser’s contingencies like an appraisal contingency or a home inspection - in which case the status becomes “CNTG/NO KO” and what this means is that it is contingent but the purchasers may not be “kicked out” or displaced - the only way to cancel the contract lies with the purchaser for the reasons outlined in their particular contract, but NOT the seller.
On rare occasions, a seller will accept a purchaser’s contract contingent upon the sale of their existing home – in this scenario, a purchaser MAY BE KICKED OUT, or DISPLACED from their first position with proper notice, etc… this is depicted by CNTG/KO – when you see this, you should treat the property as available with acceptable terms/negotiation.
The only other thing we sometimes see is “PENDING” – our MLS system (MRIS) doesn’t use this term but sometimes another website might pick up a variety of “contract” status’ and call it “pending” meaning, generally, unavailable.
Hope that clears up some questions – if you have others, like how to buy in this market, how to get your $8,000 tax credit, how to take advantage of great interest rates or how to best get your home sold, feel free to call me today! (or tomorrow - I’ll be around!)
Happy Tuesday
Jennifer
Serving all of your real estate needs in Arlington, McLean and the entire Northern Virginia Region!
Contact me today for a free home valuation or buyer counseling session! And remember, spring is HERE!
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Spring is Springing and Houses are SELLING in Arlington Virginia!
April 21st, 2009 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Market Stats
I just pulled the contract writing stats for last week – the housing market in Arlington is heating up - and WOW is all I can 
say. A few weeks ago I reported that for the preceding week there were 69 contracts ratified - that’s HUGE. In fact, I began keeping these statistics as of the beginning of 2008 – there hasn’t been a week with that many written/ratified since before January of 2008! Now, for 3 weeks in a row, we’ve been in the 60’s – 69, 65 and 62 respectively (and I will say that if I re-run it tomorrow or the next day, a few more stragglers could show up).
These numbers are amazing. In fact, for 2008 only 4 separate weeks reported contract writing in the 60’s - 2 weeks in April, 1 in May and 1 in June. So I’d say between the historically low interest rates, the home buyer tax credit and good inventory, we’re poised to keep this trend going!
If you’re considering buying and are still not sure if this is the right time or not – I would encourage you to seriously evaluate the cost of waiting – higher interest rates, less flexible sellers and less inventory could drive your monthly payment up by hundreds of dollars!
Feel free to call me anytime to discuss – meanwhile – HAPPY SPRING!
Jennifer
PS - the photo is one I took recently while on vacation in Phoenix at the Desert Botanical Gardens – there’s an amazing Dale Chihuly exhibit - it’s worth the time stopping in if you find yourself in Phoenix! His glasswork is extraordinary!
Serving all of your real estate needs in Arlington, McLean and the entire Northern Virginia Region!
Contact me today for a free home valuation or buyer counseling session! And remember, spring is HERE – NOW!
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The High end of the Arlington Virginia Real Estate Market
April 3rd, 2009 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Market Stats
I was preparing today to pull some statistics together for March, although it’s a little early since some agents haven’t yet updated from their late-month settlements. In any case – I noticed a particularly heavy load on the high end and it intrigued me! Currently there are 24 listings under contract whose LIST PRICE is over ONE MILLION. WOW – there are 145 active listings over $1M – so while 24 doesn’t seem like much, I went back over the last few months to see what’s been happening.
Contracts Written Over $1M
March, 2009 – 14 contracts
February, 2009 – 6 contracts
January, 2009 – 7 contracts
December, 2008 – 7 contracts
November, 2008 – 10 contracts
October, 2008 – 8 contracts
September, 2008 – 19 contracts
So I had to go back 6 months to find a month where there was more activity in the $1M+ market. Part of this is a result of the tightened lending restrictions (read: lack of jumbo money over $729K); part of it is the excellent interest rates we have now and lastly, I believe it’s the rebound in the stock market that is allowing those buyers who had tabled decisions to move and they are now seeing increases once again in their investment accounts.
It’s not for everyone - but if you’re considering buying in the high end, I have lender contacts who can get the job done. Likewise, if you’re considering selling and thought it was impossible… think again!
Happy Friday
Jennifer
Serving all of your real estate needs in Arlington, McLean and the entire Northern Virginia Region!
Contact me today for a free home valuation or buyer counseling session! And remember, spring is RIGHT around the corner!
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Home Sale Activity in Arlington Virginia - Strength in Numbers
April 2nd, 2009 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Market Stats
As I like to report, tracking ratified contracts helps keep a pulse on what the real estate market is doing here in Arlington County. For the past 2 weeks, we’ve seen an uptick by almost 25% in contract writing activity - and by this, I don’t mean just the ones written - heck, I’ve written a few lately that haven’t gone anywhere – I’m talking about fully ratified contracts – where both parties have agreed to all terms.
Both this past week (3/21–3/27) and the week before (3/14–3/20) there 
have been 51 contracts ratified. Last year at the same time we were in the high 40’s – so while it’s just a few - for those who feel the market is still slowing, I’m not too sure. It will be very interesting tracking these numbers as we hit April and May – the “spring season.” With interest rates down below 5% it makes me wonder why anyone on the fence is still sitting on the fence. Listen up people – now’s the time. IF you’re in the market and prepared for a purchase to begin with – don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s right for everyone - but if you’ve been on the fence, get off - look around, smell the roses, check out your options. I’m waiting to hear from you!
Happy Thursday!
Jennifer
Serving all of your real estate needs in Arlington, McLean and the entire Northern Virginia Region!
Contact me today for a free home valuation or buyer counseling session! And remember, spring is RIGHT around the corner!
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April 1 brings new recycling to Arlington Virginia!
April 1st, 2009 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Local News
FINALLY - what we’ve been waiting for - expanded recycling options. For many of my long time readers, you’ll remember a post I wrote almost exactly 1 year ago on recycling. It really focused on how limited our recycling options were and what could and couldn’t be recycled.
Our county has listened and as of today, our recycling options have widened tremendously. Soon they will deliver to all single family homes a new wheeled 65–gallon cart and to townhomes, a 35–gallon cart specifically to be used for recycling materials.
You can now recycle aluminum foil & trays, milk and juice cartons, plastic bags, aerosol cans, rigid plastics, books and any plastic #1–7. No sorting is necessary - just toss it all in. Additionally, cardboard boxes no longer have a size restriction and they don’t even need to be broken down any longer. Just place them in or near the cart and voila! You can also ask for a special pickup for electronic items.
This is just one more thing that makes Arlington County Virginia a great place to live! Call me to find out about great Arlington neighborhoods that you could call “home.”
Happy Wednesday –
Jennifer
Serving all of your real estate needs in Arlington, McLean and the entire Northern Virginia Region!
Contact me today for a free home valuation or buyer counseling session! And remember, spring is RIGHT around the corner!
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Have you seen this truck?
March 31st, 2009 Categories: Area Attractions, Arlington Dirt
So yesterday I was meeting a fellow realtor for a bite to eat - it’s always nice to get together and share our ideas on the marketplace, what’s working, what’s not, and have a good laugh or two swapping war stories! I got there a little early (and by the way, for anyone who’s curious Ray’s Hell Burgers on Wilson Blvd in Arlington is NOT open, I repeat NOT OPEN for lunch on Mondays!) and while I was waiting, the writing on the truck caught my eye:
So I thought to myself – wow – interesting tag line indicating the developers are solid, building solid structures, and confident in their abilities.
Anyway, it was a sunny and windy day and I was wandering while I was waiting and I found myself on the other side of the truck and here’s what I saw:
Now I don’t know about you - but I had to read it twice. About this time my colleague joined me and we both said “does that say what I think it says?” Very interesting strategy and I’m still confused by it. And of course, the icing on the cake was the back:
Ok – so my pledge to you is:
99% of the time I’m early – to me on time is the new late
I’m a safe driver
I do at least what I promise and usually more
I don’t leave until the job is done
Call me today to discuss my business practices – I still can’t fathom what this guy was thinking, but it doesn’t set well with me.
Happy Tuesday!
Jennifer
Serving all of your real estate needs in Arlington, McLean and the entire Northern Virginia Region!
Contact me today for a free home valuation or buyer counseling session! And remember, spring is RIGHT around the corner!
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Houses are a-selling around Arlington VA!
March 24th, 2009 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Market Stats
As you know, I am a big fan of numbers. Although I guess I should add that people can twist numbers and statistics sometimes to show what they want to show. However, there’s one set of numbers that just don’t lie - you know what they are… CONTRACTS RATIFIED! And last week we exceeded last year’s numbers for the same week. We ratified 51 contracts in Arlington county last week compared with 49 in 2008. Out of the 11 weeks reported so far in 2009, 3 of them had numbers higher than last year! YES – that’s big.
I’m not sure the story it tells, but one thing’s for sure - there are small indicators all around us that we might be heading for better times… Contract writing is stabilizing - of course, 4.5% interest rates don’t hurt a bit! The stock market is showing some glimmers of some gains (according to CNN, last week saw the 2nd consecutive week ending with a gain since May of 2008) and this week seems to be (so far) heading in the same direction! I’m not getting ahead of myself, a few good markers do not a turn-around make, but I’m optimistic.
I’m working with many buyers right now – after all, if you’re considering buying, why wouldn’t you drop what you’re doing and jump in NOW? Did you read what I said in the last paragraph? 4.5% interest rates? Of course you must have good credit, a job and some assets, but that’s not news. If you’d like to consider getting into the game and would like a friendly competent realtor to show you the way, drop me a line! I always have time for new clients and referrals!
Meanwhile, celebrate spring! The sky is blue the air is clean and crisp – flowers and trees are blooming (ahhh-chooo) and it’s a great time to be alive!
Happy Tuesday
Jennifer
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Listen UP Sellers - Prepare Your Home for 3 Sales… read on…
March 12th, 2009 Categories: Alexandria Dirt, Arlington Dirt, Falls Church Dirt, McLean Dirt, Northern Virginia Home Selling, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt, Reston Dirt
Yes, I said 3 – THREE – When you’re contemplating selling your home in this market, you may feel that it’s an uphill battle - and for most, it is! The 
hardest hurdle (and single most important thing) is to price your home correctly. Remove emotions as best you can; don’t place extra value on your hand printed wall paper or your custom bathroom fixtures. Chances are the next buyer may not even notice those things, or they may be so personal that rather than placing extra value on them, the next buyer is factoring in money to REMOVE them! Then look at the comparable listings – and comparable solds - with your agent. Look as objectively as possible at the positive features of your home (think big here: location, curb appeal, updates, garage, etc..) as well as the negative aspects (small bedrooms, 1 fewer bath than most of your comparables, street parking, etc…). Remove all of the minutiae of custom this or custom that… look at the big picture.
So I’m sure you’re wondering why, after all this, you have to sell your home 3 times…
First you have to SELL YOUR HOME TO REALTORS – this is why we host broker’s open houses on Tuesdays - to give Realtors a chance to walk through your home and get a good look – they may not have a client for it, but they may talk it up at their office, or even write a blog post about it!
Second you have to actually SELL YOUR HOME TO POTENTIAL BUYERS - now this is the most obvious! You want them to walk in and imagine their lives in your home. Remember, it won’t be your home for much longer, but you want them to imagine their lives there and see the value.
Last you have to SELL IT TO THE APPRAISER – yes, the APPRAISER! This is primarily my job as the agent, but assuming we did the steps discussed in the first paragraph and actually priced off of valid comparables, we should be able to sail through appraisal process – but it is an often overlooked step that is as important as any of the others.
So, take the time to price and prepare your home up front for the best possible outcome and I’d be willing to bet the rest will fall into place!
Call me to discuss further – I’m EXCELLENT with the 3–sale approach with every base covered!
Happy Thursday
Jennifer
Serving all of your real estate needs in Arlington, McLean and the entire Northern Virginia Region!
Contact me today for a free home valuation or buyer counseling session! And remember, spring is RIGHT around the corner!
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How’s the Market - February 2009 - Arlington Virginia - NUMBERS
March 11th, 2009 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Market Stats
Hello Folks!
Bet you thought I forgot about you? Not a chance. I have been busy – and had the pleasure of attending the annual Keller Williams conference in Orlando Florida a few weeks ago. Always an inspiring event but takes a while to internalize all of the input – it’s like drinking from a fire hose - so much helpful information to come back and implement in our businesses.
Anyway, that question that’s on everyone’s minds is back… how’s business? Well, I’d have to say February was a significant improvement over January by a long shot. We saw almost DOUBLE the contract writing activity - that’s EXCELLENT because without writing and ratifying contracts, there would be no sales - so that’s our biggest indication of trends, which is why I track that separately as well. I’m also noticing that the lower priced homes are what’s generally moving, with a few higher priced sprinkled in.
Here are February 2009 Numbers:
The low “sold units” number is due to the low contract writing in January of this year. We nearly doubled the contracts written on single family homes from 62 in January to 105 in February. Condos, we increased from 93 in January to 129 in February. This will continue to help those sold numbers push upwards and thus absorption rates continue to come back into line.
Here’s how the contract writing looks - it’s a pretty complicated looking chart, but I’m overlaying 2009 activity on 2008 activity. It’s definitely slightly behind, but trending similarly (which you’re really seeing the beginning of spring season here).
The green line is the 4 week moving average for 2008 and the blue line is the 4 week moving average for 2009. That’s where we can see trends - for the actual numbers, see below. I’ve tracked it in “week 1, week 2, etc” so I can compare 1 year against the next…
You can see that weeks 6–9 basically represent February and it’s very strong! In fact, week 7 showed more contracts written since week 33 last year which is the middle of August! So, are we on track? I’d say so - homes are selling and if you’d like to discuss it further, please don’t hesitate to call. I can perform in depth analyses for your neighborhood and you can evaluate from there.
Happy Wednesday!
Jennifer
Serving all of your real estate needs in Arlington, McLean and the entire Northern Virginia Region!
Contact me today for a free home valuation or buyer counseling session! And remember, spring is RIGHT around the corner!
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