Archive for January, 2009
What Criteria DO Your or Should You Use when Evaluating a Real Estate Professional?
January 28th, 2009 Categories: Alexandria Dirt, Arlington Dirt, Falls Church Dirt, First Time Buyers Club, McLean Dirt, Real Estate 101, Reston Dirt
There are probably a hundred different reasons to give for selecting (and maybe fewer for having an on-going relationship with) your real estate professional. Some seem very rational and reasonable and quantitative, others a little more intangible, qualitative and difficult to define. I’ve been thinking about this for some time and here are my thoughts, at least looking from 10,000 feet:
Things you SHOULD look for:
Friendliness
You might think this shouldn’t exactly be at the top of the list – but I will tell you that friendliness goes a long way. I was recently successful in a multiple contract short sale situation because I was friendly with the listing agent. People WANT to work with people they like – so choose someone friendly - know that they won’t offend someone or rub them the wrong way and most of the time, it will work in your favor!
Availability – Accessibility — Responsiveness
This is really important… is your prospective agent full time? Are they managing a client load that doesn’t allow for them to make time for you? Do they cancel? Are they late? How easy are they to reach via whatever means of contact you’re comfortable with? Do they text? Do they email? How quickly do they return calls and/or emails? Are their priorities straight?
Experience
This is a tough one – I believe even inexperienced agents can do a good job - after all, we were ALL inexperienced at some point in time. But you need to judge for yourself how their experience level matches with your expectations. Are they experienced in the neighborhood that you’re interested in, but not well versed outside of it? Are they great at understanding the contract but don’t have the “systems” down to manage your transaction seamlessly and painlessly? And when contemplating the brand new agent - do they know what they don’t know? Do they know when to say “I don’t know but I’ll find out for you” and/or when they need to bring in an expert to assist? That’s what you need to gain a comfort level with.
Trust
By this I mean many things but mostly how your relationship develops with 
your agent. Sometimes your agent will need to tell you tough things – you’d rather they were honest with you but sometimes it’s difficult to separate the message from the messenger. Sometimes it’s a discussion about the pricing of your home. Sometimes it’s about the market conditions that help determine an offer price. Sometimes it’s their advice about one property over another from an investment perspective. At the end of the day, the decisions and choices are yours, but you’ve hired a professional to assist in the process – heed the advice which you should be able to do if you have that trust.
What’s NOT so important?
How many “For Sale” signs have their name on it in the neighborhood that interests you?
Why should this be important? It suggests that only the agents who have signs there are knowledgeable of the neighborhood – it doesn’t always work that way. Don’t get me wrong, I love a sign call as much as the next girl, but you have to be sure all of the other factors are in place too!
Just because your boss used him, doesn’t mean he’s right for you…
OK, I’m braced for all the flack I’ll get for that statement – again, don’t get me wrong, I love a referral as much as the next girl, but it’s not always a good fit. I try hard to earn every piece of business I get whether it’s a referral, a reader of my blog, a past client, a sign call, someone I meet at an open house, etc… But at the end of the day, all of the factors I mentioned above need to be there…
How many clients they’ve helped in the past…
While this does tie into experience, as I stated above, it’s not the be-all and end-all in determining if they’re right for you.
So the bottom line is… decide what factors are important to you, do a little research, ask some questions and then, go with your gut. It usually doesn’t let you down. I’m always available to chat if you’d like!
Happy (icy) 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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Contract Writing Surges in Arlington County - January Week 2
January 21st, 2009 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Market Stats
Hello all - what a day yesterday was! The area is certainly a-buzz with Inauguration fever… but in the days leading up to yesterday, contract writing was a-buzz!
In 2009, Week 2, a whopping 41 contracts were ratified - that’s the most in any single week for the past 2 months and a 25% increase over last year’s 31. I can’t say that we will stay 25% ahead of last year, but it was a good week, that’s for certain. I do believe that these extra low interest rates are helping – and we’re starting to see a few great properties come on that are priced well.
So stay tuned – this week isn’t looking quite as strong, but with the MLK holiday as well as the Presidential Inauguration, our focus might have been elsewhere!
Have a great week
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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A Year in Review: 2008 for Lexington Square in Arlington Virginia
January 16th, 2009 Categories: Arlington Condos, Arlington Dirt, Market Stats, Neighborhoods
I promised to give you a snapshot of some condo buildings and some neighborhoods for 2008 – it was overall a good year for Lexington Square - located between Ballston and Virginia Square metro stops. It’s a gorgeous property that was developed right around 2000. It offers a pool, exercise facility, party room, etc… The lobbies are tastefully decorated and I have found the residents LOVE living here!
So, 23 units changed hands in 2008. To get an idea how that looks compared with historical sales, see below:
2003 – 66 units
2004 – 64 units
2005 – 34 units
2006 – 42 units
2007 – 32 units
So it fits with the trend - also, sellers, if they are trying to protect their investments, are waiting for the market turnaround and I expect 2009 to bring more Lexington Square listings than 2008 and for that number to be on the rise each year over the next few years.
Let’s take a closer look at the units that sold this year:
ONE BEDROOM
TEN 1–bedroom units changed hands this year ranging in price from $315K to $357K. We’re seeing on average, a little over 1% of seller subsidy, but interestingly, I only saw it for the 1 bedroom units. They are selling for an average of 95% of list price and on average, the contract is coming after 47 days on the market.
ONE BEDROOM/DEN
THREE 1–bedroom/den units were sold this year, all within a very tight settled price range of $395K-$400K – almost no seller subsidy as I mentioned earlier but these units sold for only 92% of list (on average) and days on market was the longest of all categories as well at 76 days. Perhaps if these units had been priced better at the onset, we would’ve seen that percent of list much higher and perhaps days on market much lower? Food for thought…
TWO BEDROOM
EIGHT 2–bedroom units moved this year selling for an average of 96% of list! Almost no seller subsidy and sales were after an average of 65 days on the market. They sold for as low as $413K (this was a bank owned property - for more information on bank owned properties, email me directly to discuss) and as high as $455K.
LARGE TWO BEDROOMS
TWO of these “jumbo” units sold this year – both are 1,358 square feet and both sold in under 20 days. One was priced at $535K and sold for list price; and the other sold for $575K which was 96% of list. Again, no seller subsidy. These units are a little more in demand as there are fewer of them - they also have an additional half bath.
Overall, while the sales numbers are down, as a whole, the units that sold went for 95.5% of original list price (this takes into account any price reductions) and averaged less than 60 days of marketing time. It’s a good solid property and whether you’re considering purchasing to live in, purchasing for investment, or selling your Lexington Square unit, give me a call. I have a lot of experience in the building (also lived there for a little while) and would love to help you with this great property.
Happy 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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Are we Busy Selling Real Estate in Arlington County?
January 15th, 2009 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Market Stats
Yes – but I have a feeling we’re going to get a whole lot busier. Many of us have been discussing the recent rise in sign calls, open house visitors, buyer showings, etc… which is great news. The official start of spring, while when you look at the calendar is not for another 2 months, the 
“spring real estate” market really begins in February.
As last year, I will continue to report on contract writing because as I’ve said many times before, I believe that’s the truest indicator of market activity and behavior. So, for last week, what we’ll call Week 1 of 2009, we had 23 ratified contracts – on the low side, but it’s what we expect. I will say as a preview of what’s to come for the week we’re in, we already have 26 and we have a few more days to affect that number!
If you’re thinking now might be the time to start the process, give me a call – I can help you prepare for a successful transition whatever that means to 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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Will I Know it When I See It?
January 14th, 2009 Categories: Alexandria Dirt, Arlington Dirt, Falls Church Dirt, First Time Buyers Club, McLean Dirt, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt, Reston Dirt
I get asked that question a lot from buyers, especially first time buyers, as we begin and move through the house hunting process. Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer, no magic bullet to help sort that out. It’s one part analysis and one part gut feel…
I usually tell them that I’ve had clients that looked at 3 houses and bought one of the 3. I’ve also had clients that I’ve shown 50 houses to and they decided to take a break from looking only to end up renting indefinitely. Who’s to say what’s right or wrong?
Steps to follow to make the process a little easier:
1) Get your financial homework done ahead of time. If you know what you are qualified for and you KNOW what you are comfortable with, you will not have to wonder and shift gears as far as price range goes, mid way through the process. Of course there are exceptions - if you begin looking when interest rates are at 6% and there are significant drops, as I’ve written about before it can have a tremendous affect on your purchase power and it’s definitely worth re-visiting. Otherwise, do that homework first and STICK TO YOUR COMFORT ZONE!
2) Have a good list of what you do and don’t want – I would highly 
recommend AGAINST making anything firm. I was once told by a couple that they didn’t want to look at cape cod style homes because they felt the upstairs wouldn’t be large enough for the husband. Well, you can see where this is headed - they ended up purchasing a cape cod that had a great addition on the back that enabled them to have a nice master closet and bath with PLENTY of head room, storage, etc… But back to my point, have some general ideas of what you want and what you don’t – if you have any showstoppers (Cannot live in a particular school district, cannot live with steps, etc…) it’s a good idea to note those too.
3) PATIENCE – some weeks there will be MANY homes to look at and others, slim pickins… Just be patient. When you see something that you can mentally begin moving into, that’s a good first sign that we’re onto something. That’s when it’s time to analyze how the space would work with your lifestyle, the commute, the longevity (how long could you live in that house if you had to? – e.g., there’s no point buying a “cuter” 3–bedroom house than the 3–bedroom one you already have if you’re outgrowing it – right?).
4) Gut Feel - this is the hardest. But if you can imagine your life in this home, imagine being excited to come home every day, imagine inviting your friends over for a party or for dinner or just to hang out; if you can see your furniture here, or what color you’d like to paint the walls or where your dog will sleep - these are all good solid indicators that you might have just found your new home.
It’s a fun process - call me today to get started!
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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Northern Virginia Welcomes SentriLock Lockboxes - why is this good?
January 9th, 2009 Categories: Alexandria Dirt, Arlington Dirt, Falls Church Dirt, Local News, McLean Dirt, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt, Reston Dirt
Hello all!!
During the month of January, Northern Virginia real estate agents will be trading in ALL of our old lockboxes and upgrading to the NEW, FANTASTIC, AMAZING SentriLock system. These are super cool, easy to use new boxes that have great benefits to us and sellers. As for buyers, they don’t really care what kind of box you have just as long as you can get them into the house! LOL
These boxes are HUGE – but they have all sorts of great features that our old boxes didn’t have. To highlight a few:
1) Owners have a “Do Not Disturb” code – as a seller, have you ever worried when you step into the shower that you might find buyers in your bedroom when you step out? Well, never to worry again - you have a code that you can enter right into the lockbox that will allow you complete privacy whenever you need it.
2) Much better tracking to allow us to know who’s been inside your home
3) If you’re a condo owner, you should know the key compartment is SO large that no longer will prospective buyers’ agents have to deal with jammed boxes – there’s plenty of room for keys, fobs, card keys, etc…
4) We will be able to issue one day codes for contractors or appraisers to access the home.
5) Smart Card access - this is really just a better system for us as agents – easier to update, no battery life issues, etc… It’s a much more sophisticated system and that translates to better features all around.
So, look for these new lockboxes and think of them as a sign of the future.
Happy Friday - hope you had a great and productive week!
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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2008 in Review - Arlington County Home Sales - Stats, Stats and more Stats…
January 8th, 2009 Categories: Arlington Condos, Arlington Dirt, Market Stats, Northern Virginia Home Buying, Northern Virginia Home Selling, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt
As we sit her amidst possibly the greatest financial crisis in modern times, we do tend to think “how could this possibly be the best time to buy or sell real estate?” (I’m sure that’s the first thought you have - ok, well maybe not the first, but if it’s on the list at all - keep reading…)
I read a blog post of a colleague of mine a few days ago and a reader absolutely slammed the real estate agents/industry for the mess we’re in – as one colleague so nicely put it, most of us are not representing misguided investors who are looking (or WERE looking) for a quick buck in flipping 
and/or rehabbinb and reselling properties. Most of us were working with people who were looking for homes to live in. Most of us were making sure that they were working with reputable lenders and that they understood what they were getting into - what the tax benefits are of home ownership, and what the risks are. We were (and still are) educating our buyers and sellers about the times and hopefully setting correct expectations… OK, I digress a bit - but a word for the readers, people will always need to buy and sell homes when they outgrow them, or they need less space; when they change jobs, or a family situation changes. There are a multitude of reasons people need to move - but it happens every day – and I will be there to represent at least some of them and I am committed to doing my job well and giving my clients the best representation possible.
OK – on to why you’re here – STATS… first, let me start off with December numbers – some good, some not so good – here’s how the month looked:
In order to provide some perspective, I keep running tallies and here are the stats for the entire year for both Condos and Single Family Homes:
What I see from these is that the condo market seems off – active listings are holding, but contract writing was down – settlements were up from November, but I think that’s a trickle down of the rate and availability of money issues that we saw in the October/November time frame. After all, more condos settled in December than since August.
For the Single Family market, I see somewhat of a trail off in contract writing, but solds are holding – fewer than in the past few months, but not dramatically so…
In any event, I decided I wanted to look at some trending – 2008 as it compared with 2007 - so here are what I think are the most interesting tables of all: the Condo market and the Single Family market broken down by sales, Average Selling prices and Days on Market in 6 month chunks.
Look at the unit trail-off in 2008 - we had a total of 1700 units sell in 2007 and only 1,110 units in 2008. WOW - that’s a 53% decline in unit sales – however, I would say overall, prices are holding; up in the 2nd half of 2007, down in the 1st half of 2008 and back up again in the 2nd half of 2008 – Days on Market have also increased on average. This is interesting to me because being IN the market, it doesn’t feel this way. It could be a result of financing restrictions, fha restrictions on certain buildings/complexes, etc…
Now, for Single Family:
We see the same drop off in unit sales - down from a total of 1,034 in 2007 to just 851 in 2008 for a 21% decline. Average Selling Prices have declined as well - but days on the market have held pretty steady. These are very interesting numbers to look at.
I try not to get too bogged down with numbers and here’s the bottom line I see.
1) Houses are still SELLING – Buyers are still buying
2) FEWER houses and condos are selling this year than last - there are fewer buyers in the market
3) IF you decided you need to or would like to sell your home – you can still expect the marketing time to AVERAGE 60–80 days, depending on what and where you’re trying to sell
4) Interest rates are at record lows - this will begin to bring buyers into the market.
Have we reached bottom? Who knows - depends on who you listen to. We have some exciting changes in store for us and a sort of new beginning to look forward to when our new president takes office on January 20th.
If you’d like to discuss your options, whether buying or selling, I would be honored to receive your inquiry and look forward to working with you on a successful (and pleasant) real estate transaction!
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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It’s 2009 - And our thoughts turn to….
January 5th, 2009 Categories: Alexandria Dirt, Arlington Dirt, Falls Church Dirt, McLean Dirt, Northern Virginia Home Selling, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt, Reston Dirt
selling our homes…. Yes, it’s true. As we move through the fall and into the holiday season, some people have already planned a spring home sale. After all, our spring selling season begins in about 5 weeks! I’ve already gotten calls from past clients and a few inquiries from new prospects who are planning a spring sale and purchase of a new home.
Really, it’s not too early, folks. This is a perfect time to begin the process of cleaning, purging, storing, tidying, etc… so it’s not such an overwhelming process once it is broken down into tiny tasks!
There are some great preliminary tools you can use to see what’s going on in your neighborhood. One of them is right here on my webiste. You can put your address into the sidebar where it says “MLS Market Snapshot” and a report will be generated JUST FOR YOU with local sales and other statistics such as days on market, etc… it’s a cool tool you can start with. It also runs an automatic update every 30 days or so.
Obviously your next move would be to give me a call to get a real pulse on the market - what’s going on? what can you expect? what sorts of things do you need to do in order to get the most out of your home sale? what type of marketing is important? etc…
Depending on who you listen to, we expect 2009 to be a vibrant real estate market. As you know from my recent posts, homes continue to sell, with those that are properly priced still moving rather quickly - certainly inside of 30 days.
So if you are one of those individuals, couples or families contemplating a move in 2009, I would welcome the opportunity to earn your business.
Happy Monday
Jennifer
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