It’s that time of year when we all gather to express our appreciation for all of the wonderful things we have in our lives.
With that in mind, I would like to take this moment to thank you for all of the opportunities you have shared with me over time, and for your continued support with referrals and business. I’ve been very lucky to work with some great people this year, and I look forward to continuing my relationships with you, both in real estate and life.
So with that, I want to say wholeheartedly,
~ Thank You and Happy Thanksgiving ~
Sincerely,
The stats for October in Falls Church, VA includes both the city of Falls Church and the part of Falls Church within Fairfax County.
Detached Houses
Average Net Sale Price: $492,878 after 59 DOM
Range: $210,000 – $1,321,650
Avg Sold Price was 96.33% of Original List Price
Townhouses
Average Net Sale Price: $382,943 after 88 DOM
Range: $120,000 – $555,000
Avg. Sold Price was 90.57% of Original List Price
1 Bedroom Condos
Average Net Sale Price: $184,527 after 36 DOM
Range: $85,500 – $260,000
Avg. Sold Price was 95.66% of Original List Price
2 Bedroom Condos
Average Net Sale Price: $314,677 after 44 DOM (median was 4)
Range: $160,000 – $600,400
Avg. Sold Price was 95.81% of Original List
Of the total 120 sales in Fall Church – 16 were short sales, and 13 were bank owned properties.
Falls Church has stayed pretty steady from month to month. Volume is still up, number of sales is almost double October 2008, and days on the market is down.
Search Falls Church Condos and Townhomes for Sale
Search Falls Church Homes For Sale
Search Falls Church Foreclosures (REOs and Bank Owned)
McLean VA is home to many businesses and personal residential pieces of real estate. The zip of 22101 is heavily populated with Businesses, so I’ve broken out the October statistics by zip code:
22101
Detached Houses
Average Net Sale Price: $1,496,948 after 176 DOM
Range: $513,500 – $3,500,000
Average % of List Price: 89.89%
Townhouses
Average Net Sale Price; $641,458 after 242 DOM (median was 34 days)
Range: $460,000 – $775,000
Average % of List Price: 95.77%
22102
Detached Houses
Average Net Sale Price: $2,004,667 after 426 DOM (median was 351 days)
Range: $1,025,000 – $3,668,000
Average % of List Price: 85.25%
1 Bedroom Condos
Average Net Sale Price: $213,500 after 47 DOM
Average % of List Price: 95.87%
2 Bedroom Condos
Average Net Sale Price: $321,590 after 14 DOM
Average % of List Price: 96.75%
Townhouse
Average Net Sale Price: $622,533 after 18 DOM
Range: $562,100 – $740,000
Average % of List Price: 98.41%
Interestingly enough, average sales price is up for October, compared to 2008 in 22101, but down in 22102. Volume and days on the market are up for both zip codes.
Of the 59 properties that sold in October, 2 were short sales, and 6 were bank-owned.
Search the current Homes For Sale in McLean VA
A 76-unit townhouse community located along the 400 block of N. Park Drive and N. 4th Rd, Arlington, VA 22203. Built in 1980 and 1981, units come with assigned parking.
Realtors(R) get a really bad reputation. Most of the time I think people assume we get into real estate because frankly, we couldn’t do anything else (or do it well, anyway). Honestly…isn’t almost every industry out there like that? How hard is it to find a GOOD CPA? How about a doctor who is good and you really like?
Whenever I meet with new clients, the inevitable question comes up: How did you get into real estate?
Here’s my answer: “I believe people deserve a higher standard of service for their experience when you’re buying or selling a home. There are too many people out there who really don’t know what they’re doing. I thought to myself: I could do this better.” A side note: the biggest challenge in our industry – is other agents.
But don’t get me wrong: I have met some PHENOMENAL agents all over of the U.S. since I got into real estate. These are highly educated, highly motivated, great people – both in real estate and all around.
I have an undergraduate degree in Statistics and Economics, and a Master’s Degree from John Hopkins in Applied Economics. I didn’t get into real estate because I couldn’t do anything else. I chose to do real estate because I was bored and unchallenged by everything else I did.
So when I see listings with blatant disregard to very important things (and minor details too), I get angry, really angry. In fact, it makes me livid. I’ve worked with a lot of buyers this past year, and I have seen some things that really hit my hot buttons. I wrote a blog post about the “Top Mistakes Agents Make,” but the list continues to grow everyday.
I may not be able to single-handedly change your opinion of an entire industry,
but that’s not going to stop me from trying.
So you want to live near Clarendon in a condo, huh? Well here are your immediate options for condos in Clarendon:
1. 3. The Hartford
4. The Phoenix
These buildings are 1-3 blocks from the metro, and are the most centrally located. The Hartford is the only building of the 4 that does not have a pool, as it’s a smaller, boutique condo building.
There is a slew of other buildings that are under a half mile away from the Clarendon metro (and frankly, may be closer to the VA Square or Courthouse metro stations), but are walkable to Clarendon. They are:
1800 Wilson
Astoria
Cardinal House
Charleston Condo
Courthouse Hill
The Monroe
The Odyssey
Virginia Square
Wentworth Place
Williamsburg
If you’re interested in seeing price differences between these building, please call/text me at 703.283.6120 or email me!
Contract time! Whenever I have someone considering buying a place, I always offer to meet them for coffee to go over the process from start to finish, and the details necessary to the process of buying and/or selling real estate.
A very important part of the buying process right now is the appraisal. An appraisal is an independent 3rd party opinion of the market value of a property (regardless of the type of property – condo, townhouse, detached single family home, etc.) If you’re getting a loan, you’re getting an appraisal. Your lender will “hire” a licensed appraiser to do an analysis of value based on recent sales, active listings, type of property, condition, location, etc. This is your reassurance that the price you’re paying for a place is in line with current market values.
Now, if the appraisal comes in equal to or above your contract sales price – you’re good to go! (Remember, if you’re getting cash back from the seller for closing costs, the appraised value must be on the GROSS price of the contract.) If it comes in above the price you’ve agreed to pay – congrats! instant equity!
However, IF the appraisal comes back low, you really have 2/3 options:
1. Approach the seller, provide them a copy of the appraisal, and try to negotiate the contract price to match the value of the appraisal.
1a. If the seller is unwilling to come down in price, and you’re not able to fund the difference, you can void the contract.
2. If you still want to buy the place, even with the low appraisal, you have the option of coming up with the extra cash to fund the difference. Banks will only loan as high as the appraised value.
2a. If you’re unable to gather the funds to make up the difference and the seller is unwilling to come down in price, you can void the contract.
3. If both parties come to some acceptable terms that is a combination of the above – either the seller comes down a little and the buyer comes up with the difference – then you can also proceed.
3a. If this is not a feasible option, you can then void the contract.
Feel free to take me up on my coffee offer, anytime. We go over the process in detail, and I promise, it won’t be scary or overwhelming.
The owners of Liberty Tavern are at it again. Construction is currently going on in anticipation of the grand opening of Lyon Hall, a new restaurant coming to Clarendon in February 2010. The restaurant will be located on the ground floor of the commercial building of the Phoenix Condo at 3100 Washington Blvd, Arlington VA 22201 – located across the street from Mister Days, and just 1 block from the Clarendon Metro.
Lyon Hall will feature over 20 different beers on draft, and Eastern European cuisine, which will be overseen by the head chef at Liberty Tavern, Liam LaCivita. Their tag line is “casual neighborhood brasserie.”
The restaurant will be 3 levels, with private dining upstairs, an 18-seat bar, outdoor patio, and open kitchen in the basement.
In a recent conversation with one of the owners, Brian Normile, he mentioned their idea for the name came from being located between Lyon Park and Lyon Village.
Scheduled to be open for dinner from Tuesday – Saturday.
Time to bring out my statistician side again! Here’s the breakdown for Arlington County real estate sales in October 2009, for both North (22201,22203,22205,22207,22209,22213) and South Arlington (22202,22204,22206).
Total Arlington Sales: 221
North Arlington Sales: 140
South Arlington Sales: 81
Studio Condo
North Arlington
Average Sales Price: $243,248
Range: $191,090 – $262,000
Average Days on the Market: 16
Median Days on the Market: 6
1 Bedroom Condos
North Arlington South Arlington
Average Sales Price: $299,144 Average Sales Price: $260,081
Range: $169,000 – $437,000 Range: $123,500 – $337,638
Average Days on the Market: 33 Average DOM: 40
Median Days on the Market: 15 Median DOM: 14
2 Bedroom Condos
North Arlington South Arlington
Average Sales Price: $487,708 Average Sales Price: $325,294
Range: $208,000 – $730,000 Range: $136,000 – $670,000
Average Days on the Market: 44 Average DOM: 40
Median Days on the Market: 35 Median DOM: 10
Townhouse
North Arlington South Arlington
Average Sales Price: $702,524 Average Sales Price: $380,269
Range: $427,000 – $1,130,000 Range: $130,000 – $670,000
Average Days on the Market: 36 Average DOM: 29
Median Days on the Market: 15 Median DOM: 9
Detached – Single Family Homes
North Arlington South Arlington
Average Sales Price: $787,559 Average Sales Price: $472,311
Range: $350,000 – $1,866,107 Range: $175,000 – $900,000
Average Days on the Market: 66 Average DOM: 58
Median Days on the Market: 27 Median DOM: 33
As a whole, Arlington had 9 short sales and 14 foreclosures (bank owned properties) that sold in October of the 221 units. Also, 43 of the sales sold at or above list price – thats almost 20%.
Volume and the number of units sold are both up in 2009, compared to this time last year. Average sales price is down by about 7% and the days on the market is down about 30% (selling faster!).
The market in Arlington, VA 22201 is moving QUICKLY. Check out these stats:
Total Sales: 40
Sold in less than 30 days: 26 (65%)
Sold between 31 – 60 days: 4 (10%)
Sold between 61 – 90 days: 3 (7.5%)
Sold in over 91 days: 7 (17.5%)
Shows you the importance of pricing the property correctly. Research shows that a property has to be within 10% of the perceived market value, by buyers, for an offer to be made. If you price right correctly to begin with, you’re more likely to get more for the house, rather than chasing the market.
Some overall statistics for 22201:
1 Bedroom Condos 1 Bedroom with Den Condos
Average Sale Price: $324,708 Average Sale Price: $371,438
Average Days on the Market: 30 Average Days on the Market: 45
Median Days on the Market: 8 Median Days on the Market: 42
Range: $241,350 – $437,000 Range: $295,000 – $459,000
2 Bedroom Condos Townhouse
Average Sale Price: $516,248 Average Sale Price: $781,000
Average Days on the Market: 46 Average Days on the Market: 43
Median Days on the Market: 33 Median Days on the Market: 22
Range: $451,900 – $543,000 Range: $570,000 – $1,000,000
Single Family House
Average Sale Price: $801,086
Average Days on the Market: 82
Median Days on the Market: 11
Range: $499,000 – $1,440,500
