If you live in the Town of Vienna, VA or anywhere in Fairfax County, then you will be paying a $33 per vehicle license tax in 2010. Motorcycles will be $18.

Sorry, you won’t get a vehicle decal…

Residents used to pay an annual “decal fee” until 2008 when it was abolished. The reinstatement of this tax in 2010, due to the economic downturn, is to generate revenue for Fairfax County. But, since Vienna is a town, the tax proceeds that Fairfax County has imposed are allowed to be collected by the Town of Vienna and applied to its own budget shortfall.

The 2011 Real Estate tax rate was announced in June.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Town of Vienna Real Estate Tax Rate 2010-2011 (dougfrancis.com)
• Summer Schedule for The Vienna Town Green, 2010 (dougfrancis.com)

UPDATE: OFF THE MARKET

A nice corner unit Fairfax condo (2005) that gets plenty of sun and backs to trees so it has plenty of privacy. The “Oliver” model. A new listing on June 11, 2010 has two bedrooms, two baths, a granite and stainless steel kitchen, and lots of storage space. It also features and oversize garage, and two deeded parking spaces.

The total square footage according to Fairfax County Tax records is 1,192 and has a balcony that has 145 square feet. Priced at $299,999.

Not a short sale or foreclosure

Minutes to restaurants, shopping and the movies at Fairfax Corner… and a two minute drive to Wegmans!

The community also features a pool with plenty of tables, umbrellas and chaise lounges. There is also a separate baby pool baby pool. In the club house, there is a up to date work out room that has Life Fitness treadmills, universal gym, TV and more. The club house has a nice function room.

The home is on lockbox for REALTORS, or you can call Doug Francis, REALTOR, for a private showing @ 703-304-6827.

Image via Wikipedia

Fairfax County, Virginia has announced the new property tax rate for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Real Estate:

It shall be $1.09 per every $100 of assessed value.

In Fairfax County, VA, home owners pay their real estate taxes twice a year,  July 28th and on December 5th.

If you have questions about your assessment, how to pay your bill, or wonder how the county determines value then check the Fairfax County Tax Web Site.

Home Bought and Sold June 2010

Gorgeous oak hardwood floors on the entire main level, a finished walk-out basement with a fifth bedroom, huge rec room, work room and plenty of storage.   The master bedroom has a sitting area, two walk-in closets, a luxury bath with a soaking tub and separate shower.

Gourmet kitchen of granite counters and maple cabinets, two gas fireplaces, side load garage, main level laundry, dual zone gas heating and central cooling…

A two level deck is perfect for entertaining and overlooks the yard and woods. Yes, there is a full size hot tub on the lower deck!

See more photos right now on Google Picasa. Use the slide show option.

The home is on lockbox for REALTORS, or you can call Doug Francis, REALTOR, for a private showing @ 703-304-6827 Listed @ $875,000 and Sold @ $875,000!

… look at the interior photos! This home is not asking a 3rd party for approval! Not a foreclosure either… super clean and ready to settle by the end of the year!

Mint condition town home located close to Fair Oaks, Fairfax, and some of the best shopping on the East Coast including Wegman’s, Whole Foods, REI, Costco, Target and the Merrifield Garden Center. Walk to an almost new Fairfax County Elementary School (Eagle View), Fairfax County parks and walking trails and so much more.

3 level, rear load two-car garage, almost new condition. 3 bedrooms, 2 full and 2 half baths

All ready to close quickly. But we need to set up a time to see it this weekend… 703-304-6827.

Equal Housing Opportunity!

View Larger Map and settl

So I decided to invite him to tell the story… enjoy!

by: Sweth Chandramouli, an Alexandria, VA mortgage broker, blogger and yet another former retired high-tech guy now with Ethical Homes.com

Conforming loan limits in the metro DC area may be changing significantly in coming months, potentially dropping by nearly half by the end of the year.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) increased the conforming mortgage loan limit to $417k, and also created “high-balance” conforming loans in high cost areas, which would have rates that were slightly worse than “regular” conforming loans but still better than traditional “jumbo” mortgages. The high-balance limits were based on median sales prices in those high-cost areas, and for the metro DC area, the limit for 2009 was set at $625,500. In February 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, aka the economic stimulus bill of 2009), which temporarily increased the limit for high-cost areas such as DC to $729,750.

The ARRA limits expire on 12/1/09, however, at which point the limit for the DC area will drop back down to the HERA limit of $625,500. (12/1/09 is also the deadline for first-time home buyers to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit, so first-time buyers who need loans in the $626k-$729k range should be especially motivated to close their purchases by December 1st.)

That change will affect many people in the DC area, but far more widespread will be the change that will probably occur on January 1, 2010. HERA resets the conforming and high-balance limits each January according to a specific formula; that formula does not allow the basic conforming limit to decrease from year to year, but it does allow the high-balance limit to decrease or vanish entirely, and based on current calculations, that’s exactly what will happen in most parts of the U.S., including the metro DC area–on January 1st, barring any new stimulus bills passed by Congress between now and then, any loan in the DC area above $417k will probably be treated as a “jumbo” loan with significantly higher rates and tighter qualifying requirements.

We’re going to be monitoring this situation closely, and have contacts at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and in Congress who are trying to get more information on whether there are in fact any plans to enact another temporary stimulus bill that would increase the limit for 2010, but for now, borrowers should assume that the high-balance loan limit in the DC area will drop to $625,500 on 12/1/09, and go away entirely on 1/1/10.

For the detail-oriented people out there:

• HERA sets the high-balance limit at the lesser of 115% of the median MSA sales price (as published by FHFA each October) or $625,500, which means that all MSAs w/ median sales prices above $544k are capped at $625,500, and all MSAs w/ median sales prices below $363k are not considered high-cost and are capped at the regular conforming limit (currently $417k). In October 2008, FHFA’s published median MSA sales price for the DC MSA was more than $544k, so the limit for 2009 was $625,500.
• The exact FHFA numbers for 2010 won’t be published until October 2009. NAR does publish very similar statistics, however, and based on NAR’s numbers for the last quarter, as well as FHFA’s own HPI numbers, most MSAs (including DC) will have median sales prices below $363k, which is why we are assuming that high-balance loans will effectively be eliminated as of 1/1/2010.
• The exact history of high-balance conforming limits in the last few years is actually more even more complicated. In Feb 2008, Congress passed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which raised the conforming limit to $729,750 in the highest-cost areas, but which expired on 1/1/2009. Also, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the lenders that work with them took some time to implement the changes in ARRA 2009, during which time the practical limit was still the HERA limit of $625,500. So the high-balance limits in the highest-cost areas such as DC were $729,750 from 2/2008-1/2009, $625,500 from 1/2009-2/2009, then legally $729,750 but still practically $625,500 from 2/2009-4/2009, and then $729,750 from 4/2009 to the present. Expect a similar series of confusing changes in late 2009 and early 2010, especially if new legislation is passed to change the limits yet again.

I can understand his reason for asking the question because I certainly would not want to move my wife and children into a crime plagued neighborhood either. But asking a salesman who is trying to “make-the-sale” such a question is crazy, risky, and the last thing he should have been doing. Yes, I consider myself trust-worthy but I don’t live in the neighborhood and really have no idea if someone had broken into a car over the weekend.

Get it?

Asking real estate agents for local crime info just isn’t a good idea.

So I always suggest people look up the data on the excellent police web sites, and here are a few from my market area in Northern Virginia or the Washington D.C. suburbs.

• The Fairfax County Police Department
• The Arlington County Police Department
• The City of Alexandria Police Department
• The City of Falls Church Police Department
• The City of Fairfax Police Department
• Town of Herndon Police Department
• Town of Vienna Police Department
• Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office
• The Prince William County Police Department

If there is another police department that I have left out then I will be happy to add them too!

It may add a greater sense of urgency for making any one of those changes… today!

Ready?

Starting immediately, home sellers need to have a plan in place if they come down with the flu because the house will need to be taken off the market immediately. Really, within the hour.

If you are a sick home seller in Northern Virginia…

• Notify your real estate agent ASAP (e-mail, text, voice mail, Twitter, Facebook… you pick)
• You won’t want anyone calling you on the phone…
• You won’t want anyone catching the flu from you…
• You won’t want anyone using the lock box only to discover you sick in bed, too weak to move…

I have asked before if you are a sick and tired home seller in Northern Virginia? Why? It is  because I have shown home over the past 18 years and we discovered someone sick, at home, in bed, and too weak to move. My clients have never bought any of those sick homes.

Home sellers, get this “sick-plan” in place today with your agent and consider making a refinement or two to your home if it will help get a contract… before you get too sick to sell.

Better call Miss Utility first!

Yes, that familiar RE/MAX Presidential sign in your front yard is going to require a bit more effort (and spray paint) to install. The Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) is turning up the heat on enforcement of the Virginia Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act which was enacted thirty years ago, and the lowly real estate sign is a prime suspect.

At the heart of the Act is that natural gas lines into homes have been installed without a minimum depth requirement. To make matters worse, older lines may not be as deep due to settlement of the ground over the years allowing some lines to be only 4”to 6” below the surface of the lawn. And, since most utility easements are in the front of a home coming in from the street, they are in the exact spot that most agents stick their signs in the ground.

Anytime there are incidents of damage to underground lines they are photographed and used as examples. Some of the lines are so shallow that your average homeowner could easily put a shovel into the line when digging up a new spring flower garden. As you can see in this photo, the gas line is next to the front porch pillar and marked as a line found just 2 inches deep… heck, my kids could have found this one!

In my 18 years of selling homes in Northern Virginia, I have not heard of anyone hitting an underground utility line when placing a real estate sign in someone’s front yard. But on the other hand, I have not thought about hitting anything other than rocks as I have pushed my sign into the lawn of a client’s home. So maybe this raised awareness of this issue is a good idea before anyone else gets really injured.

The consequence of non-compliance may be a gas explosion or a $2,500 fine, whichever you consider to be worse. To add to my listing activity checklist or sequence of events, I am now going to call Miss Utility at 811 to come out and mark your property before I place a for-sale sign in your yard. The guidelines say that I need to call at least 48 hours, excluding weekends, before doing any sign placement so they can do their work marking up your yard with yellow and orange spray paint .

Land Development next to Vienna Metro Station

That means taking down trees, and then grade the land… so there wasn’t any visible sewer or road work from my vantage point at the Vienna Metro. I will try and keep this post updated when I know more. Thanks!

(Original Post)

Town of Vienna officials, Vienna and Fairfax youth sports organizations, and residents have expressed their concerns for years over the impact that MetroWest, a mixed-use development project, will have on the lifestyle of the surrounding communities due to the high number of new residents seeking services such as playing-time on athletic fields.

MetroWest will be located on 55 acres located just south of the Vienna – Fairfax – GMU  Metro Rail Station. This project is part of a Smart Growth or Green initiative with a more urban design concept to promote use of public transit with a stated goal of reducing the number of car “trips” per day.

But just recently, on July 13th, 2009, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to allow the developers to substitute 700,000 square feet of residential space with an equal amount of office space.

And the big adjustment…

What caught my eye was the sharp reduction in housing units. According to the developer’s web site (circa 2004), there were 2,248 residential units planned and approved, but this change has reduced that number to 1,174 residential housing units. Since the plan was created in the midpoint of the decade there has been a major correction in the housing market.