Northern Virginia Real Estate Market Update

Regional Market Update: The DC Regional housing market continued to see strong sales activity in August. An increase in inventory resulted in a slight decrease in median sales price for the region, and increased median days on market. 

NOVA market Update: The median sales price in Northern VA declined slightly in August, but remains healthy (and higher than the 5 year average). Fairfax Co. median sale price was $476,500, down 0.3% from  August 2014.

Rate Update: Interest rates are still holding steady, though analysts continue to point to the trouble in China's stock market as a possible reason the fed may hold off a bit longer before raising them significantly. 
 

Home Owner Tips: Staging your home to sell

A few simple things can make a big impact with potential buyers.
 

I get asked about staging pretty frequently. With the caveat that each property is unique, there are some good basic rules of staging you need to consider when getting ready to sell your house. 

Getting rid of your stuff.

Put away personal photos, religious or political images/posters. Anything that makes your house yours should be put away when you're not home. You want the buyer to imprint their own idea of what their life will be like in the home, and that's hard to do when looking at Mr & Mrs Seller's beautiful and distracting wedding photos. 

Clutter Kills. Take away everything you can so that the space feels bigger (renting a storage unit can help if you're selling b/c you need more space) organize what must stay, including the pantry and your closets. The buyer will open every door in the house and if the closets are packed tight and unkempt they will assume the house does not have enough storage space

Take good advice regarding color choices.

Neutral is always best.

From paint, to flooring, to counters, to furniture (yes the brightly colored side chair is distracting) have an outside opinion from someone you trust, someone who does not look at the house every day. Someone like your Realtor :)

The way we live in a home is not the way we sell it for top dollar. 

Most home sellers expect to clean the house and make it neat for the photos. To truly stage a house to sell you must keep the property in that condition every day.

All clothes off the floor, beds made, dishes put away, mail neatly stacked etc. This is hard to do, even harder with small children, but it makes a huge difference to the potential buyer when their first impression of the property is a positive one with it in A+ condition. 

Northern Virginia Real Estate Market Update

Regional Market Update: The DC regional housing market continues to see strong sales activity. The median prices for all types of homes in most sectors of the region continue along a slow and steady rise.

NOVA Market Update: Northern VA home prices remain stable. Arlington and Fairfax City saw the biggest gains at 10.6% and 13.0 % median price increases from this time last year. Fairfax County saw an increase as well 3.6%. Fairfax County median sales price year to date is $479,945.

Rate Update: After a small increase this summer interest rates are holding steady for the time being. Sean Becketti, chief economist for Freddie Mac is on record that we may still be looking at a potential rate hike in September.

Home Owner Tips: Keeping Cool in the Summertime

A few simple things can make a big impact on the feel of your home.
 

• It's probably time to change your air filter again. Help your AC function it's best, if you don't have pets, don't spend the extra money on fancy filters. The basic store brand ones will do the trick, and are easier for your unit to pump air through. 
• Ceiling fans have a Summer setting. Your fans have a switch on them that changes the direction the blades spin. One direction will push air down (for use in the Summer) and the other direction will push air up (use this in Winter). It's easy to forget to change the direction for the proper season. 
• Give your vents a taste of freedom! None of the vents in your home should be covered or blocked by anything – doing that makes your heating and cooling work overtime. 
• Invest in a smart or programmable thermostat. Automating the temperature changes in your home can make sure you have it at the appropriate level - to save you time and money. Research shows that a smart thermostat may be the way to go here. 

Northern Virginia Real Estate Market Update

Regional Market Update: The DC regional housing market continues to see strong sales activity.  Regional sales activity is at it's highest level in nine years, and the median prices for all types of homes in most sectors of the region continue along a slow and steady rise. 

NOVA Market Update: Northern VA home prices remain stable. Arlington and Alexandria saw 3.9% and 3.0 % increases from this time last year. Fairfax County saw a slight decrease (0.3%) in median sales price but a significant increase in sales (19.3%).  

Rate Update: Interest rates are rising. Good news in our economy has been steady for long enough that we are starting to see the rates increase as predicted. For example: 30-year fixed rates recently rose to 4.09% from 4.04%. While they are going up, do keep in mind that rates are still historically low making this a good time to buy.

Home Owner Tip: Summer Vacation Home Safety

When you are out and about on your summer holiday keep these things in mind to make sure you return to your home just as you left it. 

Take action to make your home look lived in while you are gone  - don't let an opportunistic thief know you're not home.  

• House sitter If you have someone who can stay at your place while you're gone, not only can they water your plants, but they can keep an eye on things.
• Flyer collector If you don't have someone house sitting, ask a friend or neighbor to check out your front door periodically to make sure flyers or other marketing materials aren't showing off that you're not home. Some criminals will use fake service flyers to help determine who is away on vacation. 
• Cut the grass Do you cut your grass every week? Ask a friend or hire a lawn service to come in the weekend you're gone to make sure it gets done. 
• Use a timer Putting some lamps on an automatic timer is a very effective and inexpensive way to make your home appear occupied. Simple ones do the trick too! Timers are great for exterior lighting as well! 
• Hold the mail Reach out to your local post office and ask them to hold your mail. The service is free and can last for up to 30 days. Along these lines you also want to stop all automatic deliveries - newspapers sitting on your front stoop (or other packages) are a huge give away that you are out of town. Put a hold on your Loot Crate or Birch Box or whatever things you have sent to you automatically. 
• Free parking Ask a neighbor to park in your driveway/spot to give the impression that someone is home. 
• Unplug any electronics that won't be used. This will save electricity and remind you that you did NOT leave the coffee pot on... you unplugged it. 
• Be careful with social media If you are not sure about every single person on your friends list, or if you have any doubts about your privacy settings, err on the side of safety and don't tell the world you're away. 

Northern Virginia Real Estate Market Update

The DC regional housing market continues to see strong sales activity.  Regional sales prices for May were the highest they have been (for May) in a decade. Increased listing activity has been met with enough buyers that days on market remain relatively low (regional median days on market for May was 12 days).

Northern VA home prices continue to increase as the median home price in Fairfax County was $497,000 for May 2015, up 4.6% from May 2014.

Interest rates are holding steady.  Last month we saw them creeping up, and this week they are slightly down. Fortunately for buyers they are still lower than they were this time last year and remain at historic lows. With some good job numbers reported for April, experts are predicting that rate will rise throughout 2015 as we feel more stable about the national economy.