Neighborhoods
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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Colonial Village 2008 - A Year in Review
December 30th, 2008 Categories: Arlington Condos, Arlington Dirt, Market Stats, Neighborhoods, Northern Virginia Home Buying, Northern Virginia Home Selling, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt
I thought this might be a good time to go over some sales statistics from 
some of the larger and more popular buildings, developments and neighborhoods in Arlington Virginia for 2008. Since I have previously written about Colonial Village, I thought it a good place to start.
Looking back at the condo sales in Colonial Village for 2008, there have been 24 units sold (settled) since January 1, 2008 which is 17 1–bedroom units and 7 2–bedroom units. Let’s first look at the 1–bedroom stats:
Average sales Price: $276K (highest was $286K, lowest was $239K)
Average (net) Sales Price as a percentage of list: 96%
Average seller subsidy: $5,000 (so expect about 2%)
Average Days on Market: 36 (however, the median was only 16 since there was 1 unit that took 196 days to sell)
Then - for the 2–bedroom stats:
Average Sales Price: $343K (highest was $364K, lowest was $315K)
Average (net) Sales Price as a percentage of list: 95%
Average Seller Subsidy: $3,700 (so relatively less than for the 1–bedroom units)
Average Days on Market: 44
As for right now, there are 6 1–bedroom units on the active market listed between $265K-$292K. There is only 1 2–bedroom unit currently available and it’s listed for $349K.
If you are interested in learning more about Colonial Village as a place to live OR if you’re interested in listing your home there, please give me a call to discuss.
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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Kudos to Arlington for a Great Street (or two)
October 21st, 2008 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Neighborhoods, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt
I just found out that the American Planning Association voted the Wilson 
Blvd/Clarendon Blvd corridor one of America’s 10 Great Streets for 2008. The urban feel, street level shopping, restaurants, clubs and other retail combined with commercial and residential spaces above was one of the main factors in determining us as a strong contender. I also learned some interesting facts about the Arlington population:
20% of Arlington residents don’t own a car
50% of Arlington residents walk, bike or use public transportation to commute to work
That’s amazing to me and really says a lot about the residents of Arlington County! The APA cites examples of the forward thinking Arlington County when they were able to get the rights to the metro routing in the 1960’s. This has lead to the creation of a community with above-average use of mass transit (the metro), reduced reliance on cars, mixed-use development, increased density and a reduced carbon footprint.
To learn more about the APA and other cities and streets that won this prestigious award, click here.
Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about real estate along this Great Street, give me a buzz. There are great condo projects like The Residences at Station Square, the Hartford and The Charleston; wonderful townhouse communities as well as single family homes in Lyon Village, Lyon Park, Ashton Heights and other areas as well that offer walking distance to this great area.
Call anytime to discuss!
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! Fall is here!
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High ~ Low - How HIGH or low can you go??
September 10th, 2008 Categories: Alexandria Dirt, Arlington Dirt, Falls Church Dirt, McLean Dirt, Neighborhoods, Northern Virginia News, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt, Reston Dirt
I thought it would be fun today to look at the incredible range of properties that are currently on the market. The format for today is high/low. Here’s how it works…
Arlington County Virginia
Today in Arlington County there are 795 active listings – they range from a LOW of:
$90,000 – 1br/1ba bank-owned property in “Arlington Heights” condominium complex. This property has been on the market for 126 days![GetMedia[1]](http://www.thearlingtondirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/getmedia1-small.jpg)
to a HIGH of:
$8,850,000 – 5br/5ba ~2 acres of riverfront property. This unique home is a 12,000 sq ft contemporary with spectacular views of the river that was originally listed for $9.5M and has been on the market for 607 days.
Fairfax County Virginia
Today in Fairfax County there are a whopping 6,021 properties for sale. They range from a LOW of:
$69,100 – 1br/1ba bank-owned property in Colchester Towne Condominium complex. This property has been on the market for 55 days.
to a HIGH of:
$16,500,000 – 6br/8ba (+5 powder rooms) country estate on 2.1 acres in Oakton. This property has 4 levels, 8 fireplaces and has just come on the market 2 days ago.
By the way, in Fairfax County there are 33 listings priced over $5 Million (21 of which are located in McLean, Virginia and 303 listings priced BELOW $150,000.)
Alexandria City, Virginia
Today in the City of Alexandria there are 728 active listings from a LOW of:
$89,900 – 2br/1ba bank-owned property in Saxony Square – this property has been on the market for 322 days.
to a HIGH of:
$3,500,000 – 4br/4ba townhome in Old Town – This is an historic mansion built in 1805 and has been on the market for 70 days.
Loudoun County Virginia
Today in Loudoun County there are 2,388 active listings. They range from a LOW of:
$74,900 – 1br/1ba bank-owned condo in Country Club Green condominium complex. This property has been on the market for 20 days.
to a HIGH of:
$7,500,000 – 7br/7ba Georgian home sited on 217 acres including a pool, large barn, sheds and other out-buildings. This home is in Bluemont and has been on the market for 138 days.
I find all of this information fascinating. Not only is it fun to imagine living in some of these super luxurious, high end homes, it’s just amazing at the variety of properties that are currently available for sale in our region. I do think it’s interesting to note that in every single case that I looked at today, the lowest priced property was bank owned; and if the days on market is any indication, they are NOT flying off the proverbial shelf. There are deals out there for those with a strong stomach!
If you’d like to see a mansion or a great deal, please don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and give me a call. I’m game for either end of the spectrum or anywhere in between!
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! Fall is here!
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Arlington Virginia House Styles… Part 7 - What’s Left?
August 12th, 2008 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Neighborhoods
Today I simply offer a few photos that I took while researching my house styles series… I wasn’t too sure what to do with these, so I simply offer them to you for consideration…
I’m sure these styles could be identified by someone more qualified than myself - however, they’re just a bit unusual for around here and caught my eye!
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! Fall is right around the corner!
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Arlington House Styles Part 6 - The Colonial
August 6th, 2008 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Falls Church Dirt, McLean Dirt, Neighborhoods, Northern Virginia Home Buying, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt
Here we are – at the granddaddy of them all… The Colonial. Around here, this is definitely the most prevalent house style and there are many iterations. From very small, to very large and grand.
This house style can be traced here in the US all the way back to the European colonization that took place from the 1600’s through the 1800’s - and each country brought their own twist on the colonial style – Dutch, German, Swiss and others.
Some of the more notable characteristics of the colonial style home are:
Square and boxy in shape
Usually very symmetrical
Medium pitch roof lines - both hip roof and gabled roof styles can be seen
Paneled front doors
Sometimes columns and a small front porch adorn these homes
They are found all over the area – from Arlington to Leesburg (and beyond), big and small, simple and very ornate. Usually they are brick, and generally very traditional in appearance. Here are some examples:
(the above is a great example of symmetry, but had an addition put on one side)
the above photo represents a Dutch Colonial with a Mansard roof.
Many have stately settings like the one above, but here in Arlington, those are few and far between.
If you love colonial architecture and would like to find out what options there are out there for you and there’s one for EVERY budget! Call today to discuss.
Happy Wednesday
Jennifer
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Arlington House Styles Part 5 - The Contemporary
August 1st, 2008 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Neighborhoods, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt, Real Estate 101
We’re ending the week on the Contemporary home. This can mean so many things to so many different people. I went searching for a definition on the internet this morning before beginning the post – it was difficult to find - even in wikipedia! The best definition/description of contemporary house design I found came from about.com. It said that modern or contemporary homes (defined as built in 1965 to present day) could be characterized as:
Contemporary houses have many of these features:
- odd, irregular shape
- lack of ornamentation
- tall, over-sized windows, some with trapezoid shapes
- open floor plan
- natural materials such as cedar or stone
- harmony with the surrounding landscape
I would also add that many contemporary homes, along with achieving harmony with the surrounding landscape, they are also more interested in sustainable design – eco-building, eco-friendly, green homes, etc…
Although we don’t have an over abundance of these homes here in the area - there are some and when done well, they are spectacular! Let’s look at some examples:
While some of these may look dark and windowless from the front - the insides are usually open and stunning!
There are so many wonderful contemporary properties to see and if they interest you, and you’d like to take a look, call me!
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! Spring is HERE!
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Arlington House Styles Part 4 - The Split Level
July 31st, 2008 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Neighborhoods, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt, Real Estate 101
Today’s lesson will be a short one – in all actuality it probably should have been included yesterday. Today I’d like to discus the split level home. These were wildly popular in the 70’s although I’m not quite sure why, but we see quite a lot built during that time period – of course some earlier, some later.
The main characteristic of a split level is that the home is quite literally split into two halves and they are 1/2 a story apart from each other. MOST of the time, the split is side to side. So, what you can expect from a floor plan is to enter into a foyer and have a living room, dining room and kitchen on that same floor. Then, you can turn to the left (or right) and choose to go UP 1/2 a flight of steps to the bedrooms (anywhere from 2–4 depending on the size of home) or DOWN 1/2 a flight of steps to a rec-room. Sometimes you can continue down 1/2 flight zig-zagging through the house from side to side to lower level bedrooms or even an unfinished storage area, laundry, etc…
You’ll hear references sometimes to a 4–level split. Conceptually, if you flattened the house out, you’d have a rambler on a basement. Instead, this just gives some interest to the spaces. The most I’ve seen is a 5–level split. Also, and I’ve only ever seen one of these, I once saw a back to front split - it was a very interesting home but you wouldn’t be able to tell it’s a split level from the outside…
Here are our photo examples: This first one is a little tough to read, but look at the window heights on the left side of the home compared with the top of the door frame…
Here’s another one that’s easier to see:
In this second example you see a more typical roof line change.
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! Spring is HERE!
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Arlington Virginia Home Styles Part 3 - The Bi-Level and the Split Foyer - Cousins of the Rambler
July 30th, 2008 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Neighborhoods, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt
Yes – I thought before the description of a rambler became a distant memory, we’d cover a few relatives – remember, a rambler is single level living, most of the time on a basement. In today’s examples, it it ALWAYS on a basement…
What primarily distinguishes between the 3 styles is how and where you enter the home. In a rambler, you enter on the main level and can then proceed downstairs into the basement. Generally these were built on any type of topography ranging from fairly flat to gently sloping downwards to steeply sloping downwards. This gives a nice walk-out basement in the back and brings a lot of light into the home.
In a bi-level, the entry door is IN the basement - you enter generally to a foyer with a garage perhaps to one side, rec room to the other – it’s like a daylight basement but to the FRONT. You then proceed UP the steps to the main level living, laid out exactly as described in the rambler. These are generally only placed on lots where the land slopes upwards.
Here are a few examples:
Some might confuse the bi-level with a colonial, and as we haven’t defined a colonial yet – look at the windows to see if you can determine if it’s 1–level living upstairs (living room, dining, kitchen, bedrooms) all together – the 2nd picture is a little more deceiving, but a bi-level nonetheless.
The second example for today is called a split-foyer – not to be confused with a split level… a Split Foyer is the same house inside as a rambler or bi-level, however, the entrance is BETWEEN levels – so you enter the home to a very small landing to make a choice to go upstairs to the main living level or downstairs to the rec room/basement, garage, perhaps storage and laundry. You can easily spot these once you know to look for the door placement between levels:
So there you have it – relatives of the rambler – all offering lots of living space.
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! Spring is HERE!
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Arlington Virginia Home Styles Part 2 - The Rambler
July 29th, 2008 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Falls Church Dirt, McLean Dirt, Neighborhoods, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt
Yesterday I mentioned my series on house styles found here in the local area – today I thought I’d hit a biggie – The Rambler. This comes in many shapes and sizes, but it’s basically a 1 level home – most of the time here it’s on a basement, but it could just be built on a concrete slab. You will generally find a living room/dining room “L” and kitchen on one side with bedrooms/baths on the other side – a rec room in the basement perhaps with another half bath – and maybe an unfinished utility room. That’s it! Many people have added on perhaps a den on one side or a family room off the back. Let’s look at some examples:
Here is a fairly small (but super cute) rambler:
Here are some additional examples:
Ramblers are also a FABULOUS starting point for a renovation. There are many things one can do with a rambler, and what makes it most attractive for renovating is the large footprint. You have to figure if the entire living space is on 1 level and you double it by adding a 2nd story, you don’t necessarily have to create an addition.
The other fantastic thing about renovating a rambler is that you can turn it into a colonial by going straight up and keeping with colonial architectural aspects. You can add a steep roof with dormers and create a LARGE cape cod. You can create an arts and crafts style (see example below) or a farm house style. You can even create a contemporary.
Here’s an example of a rambler that underwent a whole house renovation taking the square footage from about 1,900 to 4,800.
Before:
And here it is AFTER:
Yes, it is the exact same house!
So, there’s your lesson on ramblers… If you’re in the market for something to renovate, give me a call - I can help you find a great property TODAY!
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! Spring is HERE!
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