Reston, VA Real Estate The High~Low Game

So let me come clean here and admit that the the title this post isn’t original. In fact I’ve, err, um, well lets just say I’ve borrowed it from another blogger, our own local mystery man (I assume man) blogger, Restonian.

Of course when he writes about the high and the low of Reston real estate he’s full of witticisms that I will not be able to replicate. However I love the idea and would like to offer some insights into the high/low and in between real estate in Reston.

Reston Town Center - Image by Matthew and Tracie via Flickr

We are fortunate to have so much diversity in our real estate market. There are 115 properties in between the high and the low—which is a painfully small number of properties On the low end we have a 2 bedroom 2 bath condo listed at $102,500.00, it’s a short sale over in South Reston. At the other end of the spectrum is single family home with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and 2 fire places also in South Reston listed at $1,399,000.

The inventory in Reston, (yes, inventory is what we real estate agents call your home once we’ve put it on the market), has been low for the past 18 months. While this lack of inventory usually creates pent up demand, the market is still very price sensitive, leaving properties listed above market value languishing unsold, while appropriately priced properties sell fairly quickly. The average price of these 115 properties is $461,000.00. The housing types include 26 single family home, 47 townhouses and 42 condominiums.

What does this mean for you?

If you’re a buyer it may seem there’s not a lot to choose from, but doing a little home work could make all the difference. Consider focusing on properties that have been on the market for more than 90 days. Have your agent pull comparable listings and make your offer based on the data. Most important: when you find the home you want, don’t wait! If it’s priced right it won’t last. If you feel it’s priced too high still– make your best offer. There’s nothing worse than losing “the one” because of inactivity.

If you are a seller low inventory suggests that the market is in your favor and it is… At least, it could be… If you’ve cleared away the clutter (including your husband’s college beer can collection), put fresh neutral paint on the walls and priced it within spitting distance of the comparable properties in your area. Then you are in good shape and can expect a sale within a fairly short period of time. However, if you add an extra 10 or 15 thousand to the number your agent recommends so that you’ll have some “room to negotiate” it’s going to be a long winter.

Bottom line — when inventory is tight, and the market competitive, all sides are best served by coming well prepared to the high/low real estate game.

It seems like such a simple thing. The phone rings, you answer. The person on the other end says they found you on the internet and are interested in working with a Reston specialist. “That’s me! How can I help you?”

The Devil’s in the Details…

Long story short, the buyers wanted a one or two bedroom condo in the Reston Town Center area for under $400,000 This was to be a kind of pied-à-terre that they would use during the week while in town for business. Great, I can do this, I can find them a great place. We continue to talk about what they liked and what they were hoping for and then comes the deal changer—dogs, not one but two and they’re large dogs, over 50 pounds of loving fun.

Scout

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of dogs, my husband and I share our condo with two French Bulldogs. We started with Scout and then a few months later decided to add Boo. Because I’m active in my condo I knew that we had a pet policy that called for one pet per household and that in order to get an exception I would have to make a case to the Board of Directors before we added the second pup.

Condo Living does mean Rules

Boo

Before I took my pooch loving buyers out I started making calls to the Town Center properties. Every condominium had slightly different rules regarding pet ownership. It ranged from a strict 1 pet per unit, to 1 dog and 1 cat or 2 cats, to 2 pets no weight restrictions. Some properties have breed restrictions. I was so glad that I took the time to make the calls before showing property, it would have been disastrous to find the perfect property only to realize that “Rover” wasn’t welcome.

Home Owner’s Associations, Townhouse Clusters and Condo living does mean more rules. They can be anything from not being allowed to park your boat or RV on the street to not being able to own any pets–get the scoop up front to save from being disappointed later.