Northern Virginia Real Estate

Fairfax County is buying foreclosed homes, and may help you

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:35:00 +0000

Fairfax County passed legislation today that will help the real estate market deal with the many foreclosures in the county. The county is purchasing 10 foreclosed homes outright and helping middle income people, with incomes up to....click to continue reading on OurFairfax Real Estate Blog....

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Fair Ridge Neighborhood Profile

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:44:00 +0000

Fair Ridge is located in western Fairfax, just west of Fair Oaks Mall. It is the area north of Route 50 and west of West Ox Road. The neighborhood consists of about 500 town homes that were built in the late 1980s. The town homes are generally between...click to continue reading at OurFairfax Real Estate Blog.....

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Short Sales in Fairfax

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:37:00 +0000

There is a little debate going on among Realtors about the advisability of buyers looking at, and bidding on short sales. Short sales are homes that are for sale that the owners owe more money on than they are listing the house for. They are NOT planning on.....click to continue....

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Living Along the W & OD Trail

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:33:00 +0000

The Washington & Old Dominion Trail is a bike trail that goes from Arlington through the middle of Fairfax County and out to Purcellville in Loudon County for a total distance of....click to continue...

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

May Update on Northern Virginia Real Estate Market

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:13:00 +0000

May was a slightly better month than April (which was surprisingly good) in terms of total units sold, but their were also a few more homes on the market so the percentage of homes sold was slightly less. I believe these numbers are a very good sign for the Northern Virginia real estate market going.........continued here

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Blog Marriage

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:02:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who reads this blog regularly. You may know that I also have a second blog at www.ourfairax.com which has focused more on the Fairfax City area and less on real estate issues in general. I have decided to combine the two blogs on the other site, so my future writing will be done on that site. If you subscribe to this blog, I'd encourage you to go to that site and subscribe so that you can continue to get this content.

For a while, I'll put an excerpt of what I write there on this site so you can follow a link to it. Thanks for your interest in reading what I have to say. I don't take that for granted. I appreciate it very much.

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Parking Garage Opens at Burke VRE

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:04:00 +0000

The Washington Post reported that the new parking garage at the Burke Virginia Railway Express station just opened. This is great news for people commuting by train from Burke, Fairfax, Springfield, or Fairfax Station to downtown Washington DC. The parking is free.

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

April Market Update

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 03:25:00 +0000

The Real Estate market improved dramatically in April compared to the first three months of the year. In April, over 20% of the homes on the market sold, which are similar (though slightly lower) than the numbers for the previous two Aprils.

This is typically the time of year when smaller percentages of homes sell each month, due both to higher numbers of listings, and slightly lower sales. April saw the highest number of homes sell since April of 2006. This is certainly a positive sign for the market. We will see soon if the numbers for May continue the trend.

Below are the numbers for the last two and a half years:

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Fort Belvoir Project Moves Forward

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:37:00 +0000

The Washington Post reported today that workers have begun the expansion of Fort Belvoir. The project is expected to add 19,300 jobs to the southern part of Fairfax County. I wrote previously on the impact of the project on roads and housing. It is very good for the southern part of the county that the project is moving forward.

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Market Update

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:34:00 +0000

Here are the latest numbers for Real Estate sales in Northern Virginia. These are for the Arlington and Fairfax Counties and the Cities of Fairfax, Falls Church, and Alexandria.

The numbers are slightly stronger than we saw in February, but this can be attributed to seaonal differences. If you look back to previous years, we typically see a slight market improvement from February to March.

Here are the numbers from the last couple of years:

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Foreclosures, Short Sales, Real People, and Hard Lives

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 12:02:00 +0000

Much is been written on Foreclosures and Short Sales in the Real Estate Blogosphere recently. Like many agents, I have put a lot of thought into how to operate effectively in a market that has so many homeowners facing foreclosure. But that's not what this post is about. This post is about the people on the other side of the coin.

This Thursday I had to take my car into the shop. I got a ride on the dealership's shuttle back to my house. As we drove, the driver, a man probably in his 50s, started talking about the weather. Then we drove by the Fairfax Corner area, which has seen massive development the last few years. He shook his head, obviously amazed and overwhelmed by it all. He simply uttered "life is hard."

I said "yeah it is."

He went on to tell me he had been married with three kids, how they owned their own home, and how good life had been at one point. Then he found out that his wife was with another man, and it all fell apart for him. He told me he lost his house, but he obviously lost a lot more than that.

He went on to get remarried and they bought a home in Springfield together a couple of years ago with an adjustable rate mortgage. It adjusted dramatically higher last November and they are struggling to make payments. He told me he works two different jobs which keep him working seven days a week. His wife is also working seven days a week to get their bills paid.

I tried to give some hope by telling him that short term rates have come down and that next time his ARM adjusted it would likely go down. He just said that November is a long way a way. And he's right about that.

So the next day I was showing homes in Lake Ridge to a client who wants to buy a home. We went into a home with a very low price tag that was decorated beautifully, had been upgraded in all the right places, and had the "Short Sale" label in the listing. We walked in and their were two cute little kids playing on the living room floor and their mother was working in the kitchen. As we got back to the kitchen I tried to alleviate the uncomfortable feeling in the room; the one that naturally occurs when strangers are in your home looking in every corner and closet. I told her her children were very cute.

She politely said "thank you," but avoided eye contact with me. At first, I assumed she was being a bit cold towards us.

Then I put myself in her shoes. She had bought this home with her family. She had obviously worked very hard on the home. She had her babies in this home. She was being forced to sell this home and beg the bank to forgive her debts on this home.

Given her situation, she was being more friendly than I would be. I'm sure she wants to cry every time someone comes to see her home.

I don't have any easy answers for the people I ran into this week. There are no easy answers. As we approach problems like this as a nation, as a community, let's remember their are real people involved. People with hard lives.

I realize we are not living in Bedford Falls, that the guys who run the banks are in corporate office buildings in North Carolina, but we sure could use a few more George Baileys and a lot fewer Mr. Potters in a time like this.

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Virginia REALTORS March Madness

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 11:57:00 +0000

The Blog Brawl over at the Virginia Association of Realtors is continuing. This blog has made the "Great 8." I'd appreciate your vote to help get into the The Final Four.

Vote Here

You can only vote once per computer, but many of you have more than one computer!

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Moving with Your Electronics

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 11:33:00 +0000

The Washington Post has an informative article titled Moving in a Wired World this morning. It gives a lot of information on how to keep or upgrade the technology you use as you move into a new home.

It recommends doing research on technology available in a neighborhood before you buy. Real Estate agents need to step up in this area and provide that information in listings of houses that are for sale. This will happen when potential buyers start asking their agents about web services available in a neighborhood more often. So, buyers, ask your agent what is available. If you don't get a good answer try BroadbandReports.com, which has user created maps of technologies like Verizon FIOS that you can use to locate areas in which you want to search for a home.

You can also have your agent search in the remarks section of listings for keywords like "FIOS" to see if agents in a neighborhood are mentioning it. When you look at homes, check out what the owner of the home is using, and check the utility area to see if a central hub has been installed for Ethernet or Coaxial cables. A little research upfront will save a lot of headaches later on.

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Round 2: Virginia Blog Brawl

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:49:00 +0000

Thanks to those of you who voted for this blog in round 1 of the VAR Blog Brawl. I'm asking for your vote again in round 2.

I am in Region 4. You can vote here.

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

February Market Report for Northern Virginia

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:41:00 +0000

Sales Statistics are out for the month of February. You can see the last couple years of statistics in the chart below. Last month I predicted that February numbers would "increase dramatically." Well....they did increase, but honestly I was thinking it would be a bit more dramatic. That being said, 16% of homes sold is better than the 14% we saw in January. Last year February sales were over 24% however which is much better than this year.

I had lunch yesterday with several Northern Virginian Real Estate agents, all from different companies and different areas in Northern Virginia. There was general agreement that the biggest drag on the market were short sales. Short sales are when an owner owes more on their home than they can sell it for. These are priced low, and often cannot actually be sold because their bank won't agree. I won't write at length about it because you can read about it from Frank or Daniel, who both explain it at length. I simply want to point out that if these listings weren't on the market (and really they aren't!), our numbers would be a lot stronger right now.

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Please Help Me: The Blogger Brawl

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:14:00 +0000

The Virginia Association of Realtors is holding it's first annual Blog Brawl. It is a chance for people to vote on their favorite real estate blogs. If you read this blog, I'd appreciate your vote. You can vote for this blog at the VAR Buzz Blog. Thanks for your help.

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Open Houses this Weekend

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:07:00 +0000

There are 330 open houses this weekend in and around Fairfax County.

You can see the complete list here.

You can do your own search for open houses here.

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Neighborhood Profile: Lake Ridge

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:50:00 +0000

Lake Ridge is a huge "Neighborhood" in Prince William County. I put quotes around neighborhood because Lake Ridge is actually a Planned Unit Development that consists of many neighborhoods. In fact, Lake Ridge has over 7100 properties (both detached homes and townhomes) contained in it which is more than some cities in the area. These 7100 homes make up the Lake Ridge Association which has numerous amenities.

Lake Ridge Association has five swimming pools and a "sprayground" for residents to use all summer long. It also has a Marina where residents can launch small boats (under 10hp) into the Occoquan River. There are 2 community centers, and numerous playgrounds(18), fields, Basketball Courts (12), Tennis Courts (7), a golf course, a miniature golf course, and other recreational amenities. A highlight is the Fantasy Playground (pictured to the right) which is one of the best playgrounds anywhere.

Lake Ridge also runs its own sports leagues that are very popular among residents. Lake Ridge runs leagues for baseball, tennis, soccer, flag football, and swimming.

Lake Ridge residents live in the boundaries of these school districts:

Elementary Schools

Lake Ridge: Website
Antietam: Website
Old Bridge: Website
Rockledge: Website
Springwoods: Website

Middle Schools

Lake Ridge Middle School: Website
Woodbridge Middle School: Website

High School

Woodbridge High School: Website

Over the last six months, there have been 52 sales of detached homes in Lake Ridge. They sold between $239,900 and $525,000. There have also been 50 sales of townhomes. Those townhomes sold between $161,00 and $345,000.

Click here to see the Detached Homes currently for sale
Click here to see the Townhomes currently for sale

Lake Ridge resident Kari Divack agreed to answer a few questions about her neighborhood. I emailed her the questions and she answered by email.

What do you like best about living in your neighborhood?

Lake Ridge has a wonderful small town feel. There is always a neighbor willing to help when you need it, the dry cleaner knows my name,, you never go to the grocery store without running in to someone you know, we can walk to the pool, plenty of kids, wonderful schools.

Is there anything about your neighborhood that would keep you from recommending it to a friend?

Not a thing.

What places or activities bring people together in your neighborhood?

School activities, Potomac Nationals, lots of pools and playgrounds. It’s never hard to find a Bunko group, a book club, or children’s playgroup.

Is there anything else somebody interested in buying a home in your neighborhood should know?

Lake Ridge is a great place to live. I’m really glad we’re here.

Pictures of Lake Ridge
Lake Ridge Association
Map of Lake Ridge
Townhome for Sale in Lake Ridge with Interior Tour

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

January Market Report

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:50:00 +0000

The sales numbers for Northern Virginia are out for January and they improved quite a bit after a slow November and December. About 14% of the homes on the market sold in January up from 10.8% in December, but still far below the 26.5% that sold in January 2007.

From my subjective perspective, the market seems to be improving quickly. I am seeing competition among buyers for house, especially ones with a low price. We seem to be reaching a point in pricing where buyers are jumping back into the market. I think February numbers will improve dramatically over what we saw in January.

Here are the numbers for the last couple of years:

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Fairfax County Open Houses this Weekend

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:19:00 +0000

There are 351 open houses listed in the MLS this weekend. You can see them all here. You can also do your own open house search here if you want to narrow the field by your own criteria.

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Changing The Subject

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:16:00 +0000

Make sure you get all of your questions answered.

Thanks Jim.

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Open Houses this Weekend

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:41:00 +0000

This is a fairly light weekend for open houses with only 309 of them listed in the MLS in and around Fairfax County. You can see them all here. You can also do your own search here.

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

December Sales Update

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:10:00 +0000

I'm a little late on updating sales this month because I have been working on making my method more accurate. I continue to think that the percentage of homes selling in a given month gives the simplest and most accurate snapshot of where the market was that month. In the past I have used closed sales compared to listings in a given month.

The good part of using closed sales is that the sales are actually closed. There is not fallthrough of a closed sale. It is finished. The downside is that closed sales actually reflect the market from the previous two months more than the current month. In other words, December closings come from contracts written in October and November.

I have decided to start using houses that went under contract in a given month compared to homes on the market in that month. If you look back to last month's update you'll see that the numbers have all been updated for the last two years in this current spreadsheet.

Please feel free to give feedback on this method. My goal here is to give accurate and timely information on the state of the market in Northern Virginia. The numbers in this spreadsheet reflect the counties of Arlington and Fairfax, and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church. I will also post the numbers for just Fairfax City on my other blog at http://www.ourfairfax.com/ later today.

Here are the numbers:

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Open Houses in Northern Virginia this Weekend

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 01:43:00 +0000

There are 379 open houses this weekend in and around Fairfax County: See them all here. You can also do your own search for open houses here. Happy Hunting Home buyers.

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.

Trulia.com: Great for Consumers and Agents

fairfaxhomes@gmail.com (Jeff Royce) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 22:35:00 +0000

I started using trulia.com about three months ago and have become convinced it is a great tool for buyers and sellers of real estate to find agents who will better meet their needs, and for good agents to find new clients. The real gem at Trulia is its "Voices" section. In the voices section, anybody can go and ask a question and anybody can give an answer.

Trulia for Buyers and Sellers. There are plenty of real estate agents on Trulia giving answers to questions. If you are looking for an agent you can search for agents in your area and take a look at all of the questions they have answered. It will give you a very good idea of both the expertise and the personality of each agent. Taking 10 minutes to look through an agents answers on Trulia can save you the hassle of interviewing agents in your home. It will quickly let you see which agents will be able to meet your needs when you are buying or selling a home.

To find an agent who is knowledgeable where you are buying or selling, you can ask a detailed question about your specific area or neighborhood. As an agent, I only answer neighborhood questions about areas that I know well. By asking about your neighborhood or an area in which you are interested, you will quickly see which agents know that area well and which agents are just blowing smoke.

Trulia for Real Estate Agents. For agents reading this, Trulia is a free website where you can go and show your knowledge and expertise. I have heard many agents complain over the years that consumers tend to go for agents who have more flash than substance. Trulia gives you a chance to compete based on substance. Buyers and Sellers truly want a knowledgeable, honest agent more than they want one who drives the latest car or has the slickest presentation. Trulia gives you a chance to compete on equal terms with other agents. It is a chance show your specific knowledge applied to people's specific situations. Those answers become part of your permanent profile on Trulia that buyers and sellers will always have access to.

Trulia questions also rank very well on google searches. When a consumer is searching the web for a particular piece of information concerning real estate, Trulia questions and answers often appear in the search results. That gives agents another opportunity to expose their expertise to a wider audience. If you are an agent who has thought about writing a blog or networking more on the internet, Trulia is a great place to start.

The big question for agents: Will Trulia help me to find more clients? I've only been using Trulia for 3 months. The first two months I did not hear from any new clients through my involvement in Trulia. In the third month two potential clients made contact with me because of my answers to their questions on Trulia. Those results came from answering about 15 questions from consumers. I'd say my time spent at Trulia has been well worth it.

My Trulia Profile
Trulia Blog

If you liked this content you can subscribe to it by email or RSS Feed.

Posted by Jeff Royce, RE/MAX Choice Real Estate, 10511-A Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. 703-585-5663.