Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt
Basement or No Basement?
August 19th, 2008 Categories: Alexandria Dirt, Arlington Dirt, Falls Church Dirt, McLean Dirt, Northern Virginia Home Buying, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt, Reston Dirt
I just received an interesting question from a reader – he has found a house that he really likes and it is built on a crawl space (the 3 ways homes are built are on a concrete slab, on a crawl space or on a basement - or some combination). He’s been advised by a family member who is out of state to be leary of any home that’s not built on a full basement. The reasoning was that it’s less than a full house. So he asked me what my thoughts are.
My initial words of wisdom to him were just to be sure he’s comfortable knowing what he’s getting into. A lot of people WANT that basement as overflow space – rec rooms, play rooms, home office, guest rooms, etc… Some want it for just storage – in which case, an attic or a well built shed would suffice. Also it depends on the area – for example in an area where half of the homes are basement and half are basement, it might not matter. But it’s not something that can EVER be added – so what you get is what you get.
I decided to do a little research. We know anecdotally that here in Northern Virginia most homes do have basements – so I took a look through the active listings for detached single family homes in the various surrounding counties to get a sense of what percentages have basements vs. not… Here are some statistics on homes WITHOUT basements compared with the total available home market (at least as of today).
So, this is just good info to keep in mind in terms of market expectations. There is a home buyer for EVERY home – a lot depends on what the market conditions are at the time of trying to re-sell. But that’s a topic for another day.
If you’d like to see homes with OR without basements, I’d love to hear from you. I’m experienced either way!
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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What Were They Thinking??
August 18th, 2008 Categories: Alexandria Dirt, Arlington Dirt, Falls Church Dirt, McLean Dirt, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt, Northern Virginia Real Estate Finance, Reston Dirt
Lately, I’ve been showing a lot of property that was foreclosed upon and is now bank owned. I’ve seen bank owned properties in all sorts of locations, neighborhoods, buildings, etc… even in the “luxury” market. In considering making an offer on one, I called the listing agent to ask my usual barrage of questions:
“When can we expect a reply from this bank?”
“Are there any other offers on this property?”
“How quickly can we settle?”
“Is the bank willing to pay closing costs”
“Is the bank willing to allow for home inspection repairs?”
“Can we settle with our own real estate attorney?”
“Can we hold the earnest money deposit?”
…. the list goes on ….
Certain banks (and agents, unfortunately) have earned unfortunate reputations of being difficult to work with. It makes me wonder how we’ll ever get out of this situation unless the banks (and the agents) realize that they have to be at least somewhat agreeable, approachable, responsive, etc…
So here I sit - wondering “How did we get here?” Don’t misunderstand, I know HOW we got here, but I wish I could know who was responsible, don’t you? Which lenders? Which ORIGINATORS? It dawns on me that just 
because Bank of America (JUST AN EXAMPLE) holds a loan now, they may not have originated that loan. They may have just made a bad business investment decision. So I wish there was some report that indicated WHO took these risks? WHO was writing B paper loans? WHO was ignoring (or turning a blind eye) to underwriting guidelines with respect to debt ratios? WHO was outright lying? I wish I knew.
I’m glad our credit restrictions have tightened up. I hope that my buyers who are buying now are well qualified and prepared to be homeowners for the foreseeable future!
If you need a good lender, give me a call – I know several who are excellent and in whose hands you’d be well taken care of!
Happy Monday!
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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Arlington Virginia Home Styles - Part 1 - The Cape Cod
July 28th, 2008 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Neighborhoods, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt
I was having a conversation with a new client last week and we were talking about architecture. Just general terms really, he was telling me that he didn’t like boxy rooms, tight spaces, etc… but he really can’t afford a large home. I said, “oh, so you probably don’t want a cape.”
He looked at me and said, “I don’t know; I don’t know what a ‘cape’ is.”
So I went to the MLS listings and began describing house styles and what he could expect from the different floor plans – in general terms. It dawned on me that a lot of folks probably don’t know the difference between some of these styles. So I thought it might be best to write this series of posts to illustrate the different types and styles that can be found around Arlington. Now, of course you can also find these in Alexandria, Falls
Church and other surrounding towns and cities – but all of my photos were taken in Arlington.
Today, I want to focus on the ‘cape’ – or as it’s formally known as, “The Cape Cod.”
Here is a classic photo of a cape:
This is a beautiful example of a cape cod style home - they are known for a fairly small footprint, a very steep roof and dormers upstairs revealing usually 2 (or maybe 3 in a big home) bedrooms and a bath. There are obviously bigger and smaller examples, but most of the time you can expect to find a living room, dining room, kitchen and most of the time, you’ll also find a bedroom and full bath on the main level. Some, like this one, has an addition on the side, which is probably a family room.
Here’s another photo I took:
You can find these homes scattered all around the east coast – in fact, the first home we owned in California was a cape cod! It certainly looked out of place there, but here, they are beautiful sightings around Arlington County and the surrounding areas!
Over the week (or more) I hope to cover Ramblers and Bi-levels, Split Levels and Split Foyers, Contemporaries, Tudors and Colonials. There are a few others, but these make up the majority of what we find here. If I run across other great examples while I’m out and about, we’ll toss those in too!
Happy Monday – stay tuned as tomorrow we’ll another exciting house style!
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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Ladies Night at the Washington Nationals - Sounds like Fun!
July 25th, 2008 Categories: Area Attractions, Friday Fun, Local Events, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt
I just received an email that I thought I’d share with my readers – at many places in the blogosphere, Fridays are reserved for fun - so this seems fitting.
On Thursday, August 14th, the Washington Nationals will be hosting what I think is their 2nd annual Ladies Night. See the flyer below:
Sounds like a great opportunity (and at a sweet deal, too!) to go out and support our local baseball team with all your gal-pals - it says guys are welcome, but if it were me, I’d leave ‘em at home!
Enjoy the weekend – 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 Virginia June 2008 Housing Sales Statistics
July 9th, 2008 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Market Stats, Northern Virginia Home Buying, Northern Virginia Home Selling, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt
Hello – me again…
I’ve been running numbers and statistics for a few different publications I author for the past few days and I find the data very interesting. Here’s how the numbers stacked up for June sales in Arlington:
Doesn’t look remarkable one way or the other… compared with last month, inventory levels and “solds” are stable but contract writing is up significantly (except in the condo market where things are stable).
And here are the current absorption rates:
Pretty good – however, upon further inspection, looking at year-to-date, and year over year comparisons, this really gives us the picture. Here’s year-to-date 2007 to 2008 comparison for the condo market:
WOW – that’s a 42% decrease in unit sales – with average selling prices AND Days on Market remaining somewhat constant – odd…. Here’s what it looks like for single family:
Single family is not as gloomy, but still seeing a 29% decline in unit sales again, with average selling prices only experiencing a 4.3% decline and days on market virtually the same. Somehow out in the world it just doesn’t seem this way. I’m having a busy sales year (don’t get me wrong, I ALWAYS have time for a new client or two!), it does seem like homes are taking longer to sell - but perhaps in my mind it’s always a comparison with 2004 when things were nuts!
So, you might wonder, what’s happening to all of those homes that are “excess inventory?” Many are simply being withdrawn – those will choose another time to sell – if they can. The rental market is up almost 14% this year - so some are being rented rather than sold.
A lot to ponder - but if you are a buyer – there is a lot of inventory to choose from. However, please keep in mind that market conditions aren’t such that sellers just roll over – yes, they would like to sell their homes, but for fair prices with fair terms.
Should you like to discuss it further, I’m always happy to talk real estate!
Happy (gloomy) 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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