As we begin moving into the Spring market people are beginning to get their homes listed and on the market. The number of new listings added each week has been steadily increasing. Well priced property continues to move pretty quickly. Each week I go out and preview the new listings so that I’ll have first hand experience with what is on the market.

My top pick for this week is a wonderful townhouse in the Sunderbriar Cluster in the Lake Anne neighborhood of Reston. First let me say that this is not my listing—I wish that it was because this property is clearly owned by a great client; the house really sparkles from top to bottom.

The particulars: This is a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath all brick townhouse with a 2 car garage.  It sits right on the one of Reston’s walking paths and is maybe a 3 minute walk to Lake Anne Village Center.

The house is immaculate, and sunny with crisp white trim accenting lovely wall colors. The sunny kitchen offers a beautiful alternative to the standard stainless steel and granite with a beautiful custom tile countertop in a deep blue that brings to mind the Mediterranean.  All of the bathrooms have been updated and all of them look great.

If you’d like to see this property give me a call!

A story line for situation in life.

every situation in life. I thought of that recently when talking to a Seller about their feeling that they had “lost money” in their home which they purchased 15 years ago and which still had its original mortgage.

In my Seller’s mind the loss of value from 2006 to 2010, an amount of approximately 20% in his market felt like money out of his pocket. He was really disappointed that they had delayed making the decision to move from the big single family home into the condo that they hoped would better suit their empty nester lifestyle.

It’s always hard to get people to grasp that the housing market is just like any market—very, very, immediate. When you go to sell your Oracle® stock its worth whatever it’s selling for THAT DAY, it doesn’t matter what it sold for in the past or what it might sell for in the future, the only thing that matters is today. Same thing with the family house, except the price is influenced up or down by condition and the horrible irony here is that poor condition of property creates more downward pressure on home values than good condition creates an upward trend in home value.

Good property condition makes your home more marketable and makes it sell faster but you do not get a dollar for dollar return for the upgrades that you do prior to putting your home on the market.

So, what’s the take away for my Seller?

Sell high, buy high.

Had he sold in the fever pitched market of a few years ago he would have also been buying in that same market. Then his situation would have been all together different and he may very well have been sitting on a property with an upside down mortgage. As it is he will be selling his home after
seeing property values nearly triple and then moderate a bit, and he will being buying in a market that has seen some serious price correction. While my Seller may feel like he is selling low…the truth is that he is buying low; he is going to make a lot on money on the sale of his home and he’s going to buy a great condo for way, way less than he would have if he had made his purchase when he first contemplated a change.

So, which Seinfeld episode fits this situation? The one where a series of ridiculous events cause Jerry to believe that he’s always going to stay even. Sell low, maybe but you’ll also be buying low, but really it’s not low, it’s the current market.

Last week I wrote about two properties that I showed to perspective buyers. I talked about how one house, even though it did not have current or impressive updates still came out at the top of my buyers list because of the way that it made them feel. They could see themselves living there and it was going to feel good.  If you are selling your home you want every perspective buyers to feel good while they are in your house. You want them to be able to project themselves into your home and emotionally make it there home.  So…how do you do that?

A clean house reduces buyer anxiety.

The first place to start is by cleaning.  I don’t the mean vacuum & dust kind of cleaning; I mean the scrub the grout with a tooth brush kind of cleaning. I mean you do your best imitation of your crazy Aunt Saddie with the obsessive compulsion cleaning disorder kind of cleaning.  Some clients opt for hiring a good cleaning crew, but if you’re going to do that you should de-clutter your house before bringing in a cleaning professional; and if your “To Do” list includes painting save the professional cleaning for the last item on your list.

One of the first things I do for clients after signing a listing agreement is to drop off 100 office sized boxes to be used to de-clutter. When clients protest I remind them that they have to pack it all up sooner or later and that they might as well get started. A super clean and orderly home says “I have been well maintained.” A home that is free of clutter makes room for the prospective buyer to mentally picture themselves in that home; which in turn helps to move the buyer from thinking to acting…writing a contract.

Beautifully Organized Closet by Container Store

The more you can do, clean, organize, neutralize, paint, upgrade, the faster your home will move from being on the market to sold.

So if you’re thinking about the Spring Market you should be preparing NOW.  It take the average seller 4 – 6 weeks to get a single family home ready to sell. The longer you’ve lived there the longer it can take to really get things in good shape.  So don’t delay, 46 days to Spring and counting.

Now for the Sellers. Sometimes it is hard to make your house stand out from the crowd, sometimes it’s easy. Sometimes it’s easy but it’s for all the wrong reasons! Let me start this by saying that I called and spoke to either the listing agents or the homeowners on all of these properties except for the one or two that were vacant, so everyone knew we were coming. Having sold my own home this past year I know how hard it is to leave your home in showing condition EVERY SINGLE DAY. I got so sick of trying to channel Martha Stewart

Stage your home Martha Stewart style and watch you home fly off the market!

I thought I was going to scream, but honestly Sellers, it’s what you have to do.

Two of the houses I showed on Saturday were in the same townhouse cluster. One was extravagantly over improved but had dishes in the sink, unmade beds, toothpaste in the sink, and half way into the showing the home security system went off with an eardrum piercing noise that defies description. The other house on the same street, was in a slightly closer to the main road, which is typically considered less desirable, and it had no significant or showy up grades; but oh what a difference. The second house was an oasis of serenity. It was immaculate, it was uncluttered, and it was neutral. Everything about the house said “I have been cared for.” My buyers were reassured, nothing felt scary, they could see themselves living there.

Tonight the Buyers are going back to take a second look at the tidy little townhouse; the listing agent called me earlier today to say that he has received one contract (after 8 days on the market), so if my buyers are ready to write a contract we’ll have to scramble, hopefully it will fall in their favor because they are in a position to write a nice clean offer, but the moral of this story? We all need to take a clue from the Boy Scouts…we all need to be prepared.

Eve Thompson

New Year’s Resolution: All Reston Real Estate all the time.  I’ve always loved the New Year. I love clearing out the old and making way for the new. This year feels especially important because it’s the end of a decade. I’m making some changes. Most of them will be transparent to you but for me they represent all that is near and dear to my heart.

On the business front I’ve decided that I’m no longer taking listings outside of Reston, VA. For years I’ve tried to be a lot of things to a lot of people and I’ve finally decided…ENOUGH! Reston is what I know, it’s what I love and it’s where I add the most value to my clients. (If you were just getting ready to call me to have me list your Arlington bungalow give me a call and I will put you in touch with the absolute best agent in Arlington!)

For my buyers of course it’s knowing the neighborhoods; from the quiet stately homes of south Reston to the urban feel of Reston Town Center or the sleek contemporaries of North Reston knowing where to find what the buyer is looking for is all about really knowing the neighborhoods.

For my sellers…well I’d like to think that really loving Reston makes me better at selling Reston.

So for the New Year I have a new look and a new website address. www.AllRestonRealEstate.com You’ll be getting the same great service, including this blog which will continue to have all kinds of interesting neighborhood news and information throughout the year.

When evaluating the financial position of a condominium there are some cost-of-ownership items that don’t apply in single-family home ownership. One glaring item is the cost of delinquencies. In today’s world of upside down mortgages and foreclosures many condominiums are struggling with a loss of operating revenue (monthly condo fees), due to delinquent condo fee accounts.

Well-managed condos will actually provide an allowance for some percentage of delinquent accounts to insure that they have adequate operating cushion. When looking at a condominium’s resale package be sure to look at the dollar amount of delinquent accounts and ask what that number represents as a percentage of the whole.

So what’s the upside of condo ownership? In a well-run, well-managed condominium where the Board of Directors takes its responsibility seriously, property values are protected through active maintenance and enhancement of the property. You not only get to enjoy a well maintained property while you live there and you can feel confident about the condition of your property when you go to sell.

The reserve funds represent the anticipated cost of replacing and repairing common elements of the property like roofs, sidewalks, and elevators. The amount of money needed in the reserve fund is determined by a study which by law, is undertaken at least every 5 years for the purpose of determining how much money is needed to repair, replace and restore the capital components of the property. Every year condominiums (in Virginia) are required to review their study results and confirm that they are reserving enough money to repair, replace and maintain the property.

Before you choose this form own ownership consider:

• Condo life involves a lot of governance
• Well-run condos always include an active membership
• Some leadership decisions might be unpopular, but ultimately protect the membership from unplanned assessments by insuring that reserves are adequate to meet the expected and unexpected repairs

When looking at condominium ownership, you will have a chance to review a  Resale Package that will include the condominium bylaws, rules and regulations, current financial reports, and audited financial reports. Review these carefully looking for potential problems.Questions to ask should include:

• What do the audited financial statements say about the reserve funds? Are they adequate?
• What major projects/repairs are anticipated for the upcoming year?
• What projects were completed in the prior year?

The other thing to consider is what type of condo environment are you looking at? Is there a Doorman, a Concierge? The cost of people always go up, so if you are looking at a condo with these types of amenities you should expect a slow steady rise in condo fees.

Next week: Are you condo fees too low?

The fees at this Reston Condo cover spectacular community amenities including: Concierge, Dining Rooms, Hot tub, Party Room, Pool, and Spa

As a condo dweller active on my condo’s Board of Directors for years, I’ve heard this sentiment on condo fees many times before. So I decided to take the opportunity to talk about the true cost of ownership.

When you own a townhouse or a single family home you understand that sooner or later you will have replace your water heater, roof, windows, siding, appliances. Hopefully you have a financial plan that allows you to save for the replacement of things as they wear out.

It is a “pay me now or pay me later” situation, but you are going to pay. Most people would prefer to save a little bit each month rather than face a large unplanned expense.  Condo management requires this forced savings.

Every year condominiums (in Virginia) are required to confirm that they are reserving enough money to repair, replace and maintain the property. If a condo has not adequately reserved (saved) the money needed to make repairs and has a sudden failure in a common element, it must make a special assessment in order to make whatever repairs are needed to maintain the property.

So, a rip-off? Not if your property is properly maintained. More on that next week.

The specifics:

• Built: 1965
• Total number of units: 75
• Type: Two & Three story townhouses
• Size: 1500 square feet – 2800 square feet
• Prices: $360,000.00 – $600,000.00
• Schools: Lake Anne Elementary, Hughes Jr. High, South Lakes HS
• Distance to Lake Anne Village Center: 2 – 5 minute walk.

Waterview Cluster was designed in 1965 by award winning architect Chloethiel Woodard Smith. As its name implies many of the two and three story townhouse have beautiful water views of Lake Anne with the remaining situated on lushly landscaped wooded lots. The townhouses in this beautiful community have a charming mid-century modern meets cottage vibe. They are light and airy, with very inviting interior spaces. The mix of size and styles, some tall and skinny others short and square make for a unique and charming neighborhood.  Like most of Reston,  Waterview Cluster is very walk-able with paved walkways leading to Lake Anne Village Center and Reston Town Center. There is currently one active listing in Waterview Cluster.

The Waterview residents I know are unwavering in their affection for their neighborhood; they seem to share a kind of collective recognition that they live some place unique.

The links below for examples of different Waterview Cluster homes.

Small Waterview House – Medium Waterview House - Large Waterview House

Those of us who live in Reston are fortunate to have many gathering places—public use spaces that were designed into and planned for from the beginning. What a difference it makes to the character of our neighborhoods.

I live in the original village center of Reston on Lake Anne Plaza; a mixed use small scale commercial and residential development with beautiful architecture, built around a lake with open spaces that beckon people to take their time, to stroll the boardwalk, or to sit under the umbrellas overlooking the lake. All of this taken together makes this a wonderful place to live—but still there is something else here. Its community, people from all kinds of backgrounds that choose to live in close proximity to one another. We are bound by our love of this place—it gives a common connection, something we value together; and I wonder if that’s it, is that what makes this neighborhood a great place to live?