Archive for November, 2007
Sean: We Hardly Knew Thee
November 27th, 2007 Categories: Life in the District, Outside The Beltway, The Road Less Taken
We here in Washington DC walk with a heavy heart today as we come to grips with losing one of our beloved Redskins– Sean Taylor. He was 24 years old.
The Redskins is Washington’s team. Win or lose we love them. While they are named the Washington Redskins, their training camp is in Ashburn, VA and they play at FedEx Stadium in Landover, MD. So they belong to all of us here in the metropolitan area. When we lose one of them- we have lost a family member.
We are sad not only because he was one of our Redskins- but because he had overcome a troubled youth and was on the road to becoming a great person first, a great football player second. He became a new father this year and that changed everything for him. He was having his best year professionally and truly a fan favorite.
He was out with a knee injury which is the only reason he was at his home in Miami and not with the team. His home had been broken into last week and he asked permission from Coach Gibbs to miss the team meeting on Monday to be at home. That visit turned tragic early Monday morning when it appears that the intruder returned – with a gun.
Last night the fans held a vigil at Redskins Park. We went to sleep last night with some hope as the 11 o’clock news reported that Sean had squeezed the hand of one of his nurses and opened his eyes. We are all shocked and saddened this morning with the news.
The fans are back at the Redskins training camp to pay respect as the team struggles with the loss of Sean.
There are plans for another vigil tonight at Redskins Park, and the Redskins organization has yet-to-be-announced-plans for this home game this weekend.
As we grieve the loss of Sean, here are some fan videos as we celebrate his life and career.
| Discussion: 5 Comments »
It’s Christmas Time in Shirlington
November 26th, 2007 Categories: Blue Plate Specials, Shirlington
It’s become an annual event– lighting a Christimas tree in Shirlington. Hope you can make it. Click on the picture to find out more details.
| Discussion: 4 Comments »
Over the River and Through the Woods: Happy Thanksgiving
November 21st, 2007 Categories: Outside The Beltway, The Native Tourist, The Road Less Taken
By the time this is posted, I’ll be up in the Maryland mountains spending the weekend with friends at an undisclosed location in their “cottage.”
Have a great holiday with your friends and family, whoever that might be.
Thanksgiving 2005
| Discussion: 5 Comments »
3Q07 Arlington Sales: 1,831 Reasons Why Arlington Beats the National Trend
November 20th, 2007 Categories: Around Arlington County, Ballston, Buyers, Clarendon, Columbia Pike, Courthouse, Crystal City, East Falls Church, Local Real Esate Sales Numbers & Things, Nauck, Pentagon City, Real Estate News, Rossyln, Sellers, Shirlington, Virginia Square
I haven’t been known to publish much Arlington real estate sales data on this blog. Mostly because I’m still testing the best way to present it. So bear with me while I give you some numbers. Sooner or later I’ll find a format that I like.
And don’t worry– I’m not going to list 1,831 lines of data. But– you know what that number is? It’s a way to get your attention. NVAR released it’s 3Q07 sales data. They publish all sorts of interesting and not so interesting stuff. It depends on your point of view. If you want to see it all– by county for the metropolitan area, by zip code, I encourage you to visit their website to get your number fix.
But, if you don’t have the time and want to know the Arlington sales for 3Q07, stick around.
Note– these numbers does not discriminate between condos, townhomes and single family homes.
1,831 – the number of homes still on the market 9.30.07 – the last day of the quarter.
45 – the average number of days on the market for all Arlington homes sold in the third quarter of 2007.
$571,900 - the average sales price for homes sold in Arlington.
95.9% is the average amount of money a person got in their sold price when compared to their original list price.
11.1% – the average increase– yes, I said increase, in the sales prices for Arlington homes sold in 3Q07 when compared to the 3Q06.
Now, these numbers are put together by economists employed by the Realtors Association. So you would expect a certain spin. Well, the data doesn’t spin. Sometimes my head spins when I have to look at all this data- but the data, in itself, doesn’t spin.
What does have spin– after all, we are in Washington, DC, where everything has spin; where the term spin doctor originated; where people make a very good business out of being Spin Drs, but I digress. What does have spin: the economists’ opinion. And what is their spin? That on a scale of 1–5 where 1 is a total buyer’s market and 5 is a total seller’s market, Arlington is a 3. Yes - it’s right in the middle.
I don’t depend on an economist’s opinion to tell me how the Arlington real estate market is running. After all– I’m in the middle of the market everyday. I know how I feel about the market. So I look at the data– toss is around in my head. Then I agree or disagree.
This month I agree.
Here’s why:
- I’ve been busy all year with people interested in buying Arlington real estate;
- All my appraisals for my sales have come in OVER the sales price;
- I have competed– yes competed– with other buyer agents for the same listing;
- Arlington unemployment is still under 2% (1.9% to be exact). That’s considered a worker’s shortage. So people are moving here with new jobs.
I spend a good amount of time trying to make this chart look pretty and fancy and use colors that match my blog. I just have to post it here. It is all the Arlington zip codes and the percent change of sales of 3Q07 sales when compared to 3Q06 sales.
This chart says that all the zip codes in Arlington, except for Shirlington, have seen an increase in the average sales price when you compare 3Q07 to 3Q06. Why Shirlington? After all– I write about Shirlington all the time and what a great place it is to live. Well I don’t have the answer for that right now- but I’m going to look a little deeper into it. I suspect it may have something to do with Fairlington sales, which make up the largest part of the sales.
Just in case you can’t read the chart- here are the data points:
- 22201: 11.79%
- 22202: 2.9%
- 22203: 2.72%
- 22204: 2.39%
- 22205: 12.65%
- 22206: -4.23%
- 22207: 17.26%
- 22209: 50.76%
- 22213: 3.65%
So– if you are waiting for the prices to drop in Arlington, maybe Arlington isn’t for you. Maybe you aren’t ready to buy. Maybe it’s a lot of things.
But I can tell you this– it isn’t because the real estate market is bad in Arlington. The data doesn’t lie.
| Discussion: 8 Comments »
Welcome To the Neighborhood Stanley
November 18th, 2007 Categories: Around Arlington County, Buyers, Shirlington
I stopped by the sales office late this afternoon. Although they claim to be open, the office was severely under-staffed. With only one sales person working with previously scheduled appointments, anyone who walked in had to wait. There wasn’t even a receptionist. I don’t think they are writing contracts yet. It seems to be a meet and greet this week.
At least while I was there, any walk-in had to wait to get any information.
Three people walked out without talking to the sales person while I was waiting to introduce myself to the sales person and another couple was told they would be contacted for an appointment. I guess there was a high volume of people who registered on the Stanley Martin website. They are trying to met with all those people. Although the couple that was turned away did registered on their website.
I was there for a less than a half hour and and there were six groups that passed through the office. That’s pretty good traffic for a market that supposed to be slow.
But, for gosh sakes, people– HIRE A BUYER’s AGENT! Not one of the groups I saw had an agent. Tell me why you don’t want someone to represent you. I want to hear from you.
I guess Stanley Martin wasn’t expecting such a high turn out– especially the weekend before Thanksgiving. As we say in this business– it’s a good problem to have.
They are working quickly to put up the first models.
This was the first row of town homes last week.
This is that same row today.
At least I was able to pick up some floor plans today. I’ll post more once I can finally meet with the sales person. I wasn’t expecting to get her time today, we’ve been communicating through email and I knew she would be busy today.
Welcome to the neighborhood Stanley.
Related Posts:
Shirlington Crest Sales Office Opens Saturday November 17, 2007– Are You Ready?
Stanley Martin– A Builder With a New Approach
Five Reasons To Use A Buyer Agent When Purchasing New Construction
| Discussion: 4 Comments »
Arlington Transportation Plan for the Next 30 Years- Short on Detail.
November 15th, 2007 Categories: Around Arlington County, Commuting, Going Green
Arlington issued this press release this week on adopting the 2030 transportation master plan.
While I commend the county for even having a plan, I don’t see how it can plan out until 2030 when the local area can’t even agree on how to extend the metro to Tyson’s corner.
I guess it’s good to have a plan. Whether you can meet it or not. And I guess that’s why the plan is short on details and long on objectives. That’s ok– they got 27 years to think about it.
The county’s overarching goals are:
- Provide high quality transportation services for all users & modes
- Move more people without more traffic
- Promote safety (why is this a goal & not an assumption?)
- Establish equity
- Manage effectively & efficiently (I should hope so!)
- Advance environmental sustainability (What does that even mean?)
With emphasis on:
- Expanding system of high-frequency transit routes
- Upgrading walkways
- Expanding the bikeway network
- Expanding the traveler information program
For once I want more from the county on transportation issues than goals. Traffic is the one issue in Northern Virginia that will make or break any elected official. Maybe second only to raising taxes. (Even that is debatable!) I’d like to see some solutions and I don’t want to wait 27 years. I’ve already waited 20.
Upon further research– it’s good to know that Arlington has also supported the Regional Transportation Plan. That plan has more details:
Double the number of Metrorail stations in Northern Virginia as a result of Metrorail extensions in the I-66, I-95 and Dulles corridors.- Add light rail transit and/or bus rapid transit to the Route 7, Route 28, Crystal City-Potomac Yards and Columbia Pike corridors.
- Add 600 miles of on- and off-road trails.
- Increase highway capacity by 8 percent above what is already planned in the region’s Constrained Long-Range Plan.
We should be hearing more about this TransAction 2030 Transportation Plan in the near future. Because, well you know, it has it’s own web site. Let’s hope they do something more than issue press releases.
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
Skyline Drive- Those Mountains Really Are Blue!
November 14th, 2007 Categories: The Native Tourist, The Road Less Taken
It’s that time of year when those of us who don’t hike or camp love to escape to Skyline Drive for a scenic drive of the changing leaves through the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Shenandoah National Park. I grew up in NYC – my idea of camping must include an indoor bathroom!
About 70 miles west of Washington, DC the native tourist can enjoy this cornucopia of nature. Skyline Drive, the Appalachian Trial, Harpers Ferry and the Blue Ridge Mountains–are all close to DC. Whether you want to partake in a some outdoor fun or just take a scenic drive through the two lane byway through mountain tunnels, it’s a great escape for a day, overnight or weekend getaway. It is a real jewel in this part of the east coast.
Skyline Drive is a National Scenic Byway through the Blue Ridge Mountains starting in Front Royal, Virginia continuing 105 miles south to Waynesboro, Virginia. The Blue Ridge Parkway continues through the Blue Ridge Mountains down to Cherokee, North Carolina.
This park is rich in American history, rich in things to do and rich in wild life. And if none of that tickles your fancy, you can just drive and stop at the many scenic overlooks.
When I was riding motorcycles, we used to love to ride these winding roads. It’s a joy to escape around a curve only to see the edge of the road– it’s the closest any human will get to flying while still on the ground. A true break away from the daily grind of traffic around the beltway. Here are some good tips for driving on Skyline.
Whether you want to enjoy the fall colors, the hiking trails or just the quite- you’ll be sure to see some wild life. There is no hunting in the park, so the white-tailed deer or even the black bears are not afraid of the people or the cars. 
They will not see you and run. Although I wasn’t fast enough with my digital camera– it may seem like these buck and does are running away from me, I was stunned by their quite elegance that we locked eyes before I got the camera up to shoot. (I don’t recommend looking for the black bear when you are on a motorcycle!) We didn’t see any on our day trip last week– I’m sure they are already tuck in for the winter.
I love the Blue Ridge. As you head west from DC, you will come over a ridge whether you are on Route 50, Route 7 or Route 29 or even I66 and suddenly, this line of blue is in the distance. It takes a moment to realize that it’s the mountains and not the sky. Just the sight of them will calm your soul, make you take a deep breath and forget that Washington DC is behind you.
This is the last week to enjoy the colors in their brilliance. We are having a late fall here in the DC area. Snow is in the forecast for the mountains soon. Get out and enjoy our own little treasure. Because its Thanksgiving next week and the kick off of all that holiday craziness. Take some time to enjoy the view. Discover that they really are blue.
| Discussion: 12 Comments »
Let’s Take a Real Look At Interest Rates
November 13th, 2007 Categories: Buyers, Local Real Esate Sales Numbers & Things, Mortgages & Loans, Real Estate News
A few days ago I wrote a post on the history of interest rates over the last 30 years. I talked about trends and fluctuations. The chart from that post showed the trends in mortgage interest rates over the past 30 years have been in a steady decline and are now leveling of.
While it’s easy to look back over time to see that this is one of the best time to buy real estate, most people don’t realize that there is also a best time of YEAR to buy real estate.
To prove my point, I used Freddie Mac data from 2006 & 2007. I charted the monthly average for both years (Nov & Dec 07 are null points) and found that in 2007, interest rates have actually been lower for most of the year when compared to 2006.
What I found interesting is that in both years, interest rates peaked in July for that year and then decreased for the remaining year.
What does this all mean? If you are most concerned about the interest rate of your next mortgage- don’t wait to buy in the spring, buy now.
Take a browse through the MLS to see what’s on the market and email me with your questions. Even better- sign up for your own email alerts for new listings!
| Discussion: 3 Comments »
Shirlington Crest Sales Office Opens Saturday November 17, 2007- Are You Ready?
November 12th, 2007 Categories: Arlington Urban Villages, Around Arlington County, Buyers, Real Estate News, Shirlington
My first post on Shirlington Crest was one of my most popular posts on a new community. I’m glad to see that people are excited about the largest new town home community in the Shirlington area in 40 years. It’s going to put yet another new face on Shirlington as well as add to the rejuvenation of Nauck. It’s official name is Shirlington Crest at Nauck.
Since my last post, the sales trailer has landed, the landmark sign was installed and Stanley Martin has broken ground. When I went inside the sales trailer- it was still not ready for business- no one was there. But I did take a moment to take some pics. Their web site has been updated with prices (high $500s to the low $600s) and models. Well-priced for new construction in this area of Arlington. And they are still offering a “grand-opening” celebration of paying your closing costs.
In the meantime the sales person heading up this project for Stanley Martin read my post and contacted me. We’re going to meet later this week – I’ll be able to get more details on what’s going on. She did let me know that the sales office will be open for business this coming Saturday, November 17th. Be sure to sign up for my RSS feed so you can get my updated information on sales in this new town home community.
It does look like it will be a while before the models are up and ready for showing.
Are you thinking about buying one of these town homes?
Make sure you call me to represent you as your buyer agent. It’s most important in a pre-construction situation to have your own representation. It’s more than just picking out the color of your granite counter tops.
Do you need to sell your current place before you can buy this one?
I will make sure you are protected with a contingency in case your home doesn’t sell. I can also list your current home and help you get it sold in time.
What happens if interest rates rise before your town home is finished?
You don’t want to lose your deposit if interest rates rise to a point where you can’t afford to buy this new town home.
What happens if you need to cancel?
Anything can happen between now and then– so make sure you understand your rights.
These are just a few of the things that you should be concerned about when you are buying not only new construction- but pre-construction.
I’m excited about this new community and will be checking in on it often– so stay tuned.
Related Reading:
Stanley Martin: A Builder With A New Approach
Five Reasons to Use a Buyer’s Agent Purchasing New Construction
What is a Buyer’s Agent? And Why Should I Hire One?
Shirlington’s Face Lift is Almost Complete
For more posts on the other new construction in Shirlington, visit my Shirlington Category
| Discussion: 6 Comments »
Thank A Vet Today
November 10th, 2007 Categories: Blue Plate Specials, Life in the District, The Native Tourist, The Road Less Taken
Sunday is Veteran’s Day. It’s a big get-away weekend here in DC with many people taking advantage of a long weekend.
But please, don’t forget to thank a Vet today. They’ve given up so much for us.
| Discussion: 5 Comments »