A gourmet kitchen on wheels!

Always on the lookout for a good lunch, I stumbled across Tortuga in Tyson’s Corner. Yes, the gourmet food truck has arrived and I haven’t been disappointed yet. Officially added to my list of regular lunch spots.

The theme of classic sandwiches based upon the “Torta” includes skirt steak, roast pork, and fresh grilled summer squash all made to order. It is a gourmet kitchen on wheels that is along the line of anything you have seen in D.C., New York or L.A.

The “Havana” is tasty

Seems that Andrew (you’ll meet him) decided that there was a good opportunity in Fairfax Virginia for a gourmet food truck and he seems to sell out every day. One day a week he is in Merrifield so you will need to follow him on Twitter @TortugaTruck to know where he is every day… especially when you have a hankering for something exceptional.

Finding a hip sandwich truck in Fairfax isn’t going be easy, and I use an iPhone App call DCFoodTruck to see where these guys are in the DC Metro area including Arlington.

Skirt Steak, Roast Pork, Grilled Summer Squash

reading the menu made me hungrier!

Made to order

My suggestion to Andrew: Get that detailed menu up on the web site since Tortuga’s site isn’t gonna sell someone sitting in their office on Greensboro Drive to actually run downstairs and head over to the truck.

Hey, they should and seeing your fresh menu will do it!

Yes, he does have a Tortuga web site if you want to read more about his truck.

If you are, right now, sitting in your office at Booz Allen, SAIC or Wells Fargo then you might want to track this truck before he sells out for the day.

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Local real estate charts and graphs...

One of the most important benefits an experienced real estate agent brings to the table is the ability to recommend an “asking price” to a home seller. Unlike cars, each home is totally unique depending on condition, how it sits on the lot,  location, and many other important factors.

Has the Northern Virginia real estate market stabilized?

The important place to start determining the value of your home is looking at some cold hard facts. Seeing what your neighbor sold their home for can give you some insight when getting a feel for prices. Here is the place to start and providing you with this information just got easier with some new technology that I discovered recently at a conference in Chicago. Now I can send you a report anytime that will show you recently sold homes, active listings and a series of charts and graphs for you to take a look at with a simple e-mail. Get a report now (click here)

I look at this as an excellent starting point for anyone looking to put their home on the market for sale, and then when we meet the time can be spent discussing the value of your home versus the current competition. Determining your home’s value may be very different when comparing McLean to Vienna or Oakton.

My real estate agent “insider tip”

The data is out there!

If you are a seller then you need to know an insider’s tip before you get started. Just a few years ago, I started to meet with home buyers who brought reams of paper to our first meeting which was a big change from the 1990′s. Today’s home buyers have totally tapped into the mountains of home sale data that is available on the Internet feeling confident that it is giving them the “inside edge” when it comes to negotiating.

I have written many articles on how to get your home ready to sell that gives my clients a way to leverage that exposure, get their asking prices or very close to it, and sell it without too much wasted time. Sorry but  there are “for-sale sites” out there that make this look a little too easy and costing sellers time and money!

Don’t you deserve real sales advice?

After spending time recently helping clients get their home ready for the market, I have actually felt the “comps” were too old and that their homes were worth more than the “facts” were telling them. The end results were sales at the higher price point that also appraised without any issues.

Start now with you own neighborhood real estate sales report

If you have any questions please give me a call or send me an e-mail. Often, with a meeting in your home,  I can help refine the pricing data that these reports generate and then put together a plan to sell your home for the most amount possible against the competition.The best contact number is 703-304-6827 or e-mail me at doug@dougfrancis.com .

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And when they drilled down, they found that my real estate blog was more informative and interesting than the other canned crap marketing blogs that they had found. Luckily, Northern Virginia has a lot of people thinking about real estate and they give me most of the ideas that I blog about.Yes, it’s like Seinfeld… “There’s a show!”

My content often reflects what is going on here, right now!

Online REALTOR reviews have really come of age over the past year, and the time has come for me to shamelessly share what I see out there on Zillow.com and IncredibleAgents.com (about myself that is).

Here are two quotes that recent clients left at IncredibleAgents.com , an up and coming site which seems to be national. I believe they must take agent licensing info from the public records and create a page. Having found it myself in a Google search, I did fill in my usual propaganda but my clients added the comments.

Peer Reviews and Recommendations are trends Amazon.com pioneered

When I mentioned to a Internet/blogsales guy from Salt Lake City recently that we have over 13,000 REALTORS in Northern Virginia, he seemed surprised that so many people would be real estate agents in 2011 and still have a 2003 web site. They fact is, REALTORS are sales people, customer service people, marketing people, negotiators and, somewhere down the line, computer people. So I suggested he read my FAQ page or About Me page to understand where I am coming from online in 2011.

For people who don’t want to write comments, then there are sites like MountainofAgents.com where people simply click to rate me. Seems “thin” to me but someone thought it would be a good idea.

I really haven’t pushed my past clients to write testimonials online but I probably should. This client (below) wrote a review on Zillow.com because her agent in Maryland had asked her to write one for him. Confidentially, I know she likes me more than him. People can typically tell a story about the home buying or selling experience in 100 words or less, and consumers who don’t know me yet can get the gist about who I am and how I work with people.

Sorry that the print is so small, but you can go to the sites and read the reviews yourself. What do you feel about Realtor reviews online? I feel that we have all grown accustom to seeing a review either on Amazon.com or BestBuy.com for any product we are planning to buy. It is kind of where people are getting insight these days… peer recommendations.

Don’t you Google almost anything?

Yet another web site holds client recommendations too. That site, LinkedIn.com , is more of a business networking platform rather than a real estate specific web site.

If you are looking for a REALTOR in McLean, Vienna, Oakton or who covers most of Northern Virginia, then take a look at my Online Reviews and tell me what you think. I look forward to hearing from you!

UPDATE: After I wrote this blog post, there was a flurry of articles about real estate agent review site and I stumbled upon a site that puts reviews in one place. Wow! My little Vienna real estate blog seems to have moved the conversation along… take a look now! What do you think?

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Yes, I am talking about the mean streets, places where multiple buyers are still anxiously awaiting new listings even as 2011 arrives. Those two areas are still highly sought after because they rank high in three important NOVA Lifestyle factors: location, schools, and commute.

But I also saw strong demand in my Fairfax, Centreville, Herndon, and Reston home sales in 2010. List price to sale price ratios were tight as the inventory slipped and prices flattened out.

What fueled the local real estate activity?

JOBS and the Federal Home Buyer Tax Credit

The original expiration date for the Federal Home Buyer Tax Credit put a lot of pressure on the local real estate market to meet the April 30th contract deadline. Many home sellers moved-up their listings from May to February to capture the inflamed demand and, sure enough, home buyers snapped them up. Take a look at the spike in all activity starting in late January 2010 that then came crashing down in May 2010.

It was like the faucet was shut off in May

These statistics show that the market low was late in 2008 and into 2009, so anyone looking for that super real estate deal in Northern Virginia in 2010 was shopping a little late (yes, the big sale was way back in 2009). Home buyers in Northern Virginia have to understand that closed prices improved by 4.5% in 2010 over 2009 closed home sale prices.

When holding an “Open House” recently in Vienna, some of the visitors were asking me about the comps I used to determine the home’s value and how the Zestimate on their Smartphone’s showed a much lower value. In my opinion those Zestimates were, again, far off the market (they admit they can be 15% off on their web site, and I was right on).

In 2010, the list price to sell price ratio was slightly over 96%

The number that seems to be a “secret” was that the total number of Northern Virginia home sales in 2010 was down 12.8% from 2009, which was a slow year too. I believe that there were fewer home sales in Northern Virginia because there weren’t as many new homes built. We have become accustom to builders doing big projects, but the ones they were doing in 2010 were much smaller in scale. For example, Pulte’s big project at MetroWest near the Vienna Metro has been on hold since 2008, and only last summer did they start the site work. My feeling is that the sales trailers will probably be set up for “sellin’ ” this spring.

MetroWest is the only “close-in” new home project

To wrap this up, Northern Virginia home sellers can feel a little better in 2011 and home buyers need to get a move on!

• 2010 showed stability in Northern Virginia real estate prices
• More high paying jobs were created in Northern Virginia
• There was a lack of new home construction
• Mortgage interest rates remain at historic lows but qualification requirements are more rigid
• Demand for close in properties has increased while the supply has remained the same

Here is RBI’s most recent video:

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Huge trusses lift track segments for aerial construction

As I was driving through Tyson Corner looking at the Metro tracks that are under construction, I thought about the many conversations that I have had over the years about the additional value the new Metro rail will add to real estate in Vienna and McLean, VA. For many years this question was impossible to answer because the Silver Line was always on the drawing board or being hotly debated.

That dilemma has been resolved because construction is well underway.

The new Metrorail line has already added value to real estate located near the Dulles Corridor.

One day we will forget the construction and Beltway closings and have a transit system designed for the next fifty years. People who are moving here see this construction as a positive sign for the area. Yes, the Metro is a good improvement, but these people are also seeing the vast infrastructure project happening simultaneously with the expansion of the Capital Beltway.

These are some of the essential elements in real estate that impact value, or perceived value, begins with the location of a home. Existing homes will be sitting close to modern highways, a Metrorail line into Washington D.C., and within a short drive to Dulles International Airport.

It will be worth the wait!

And when will that be? Phase one out to Reston VA is scheduled to begin Metrorail service late in 2013, and home buyers who took advantage of the 2009 and 2010 McLean, Vienna, Reston and Herndon real estate markets should see impressive gains in their real estate values.

I you want more details then contact me now.

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And if there is something that needs adding, then please speak up by adding a comment and I will probably add a little more. A number of my clients met me here, so read through and then meet me.

1.So what is “Northern Virginia”? Northern Virginia includes Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William Counties. The City of Alexandria, City of Falls Church, City of Fairfax, Manassas City, Manassas Park, Town of Clifton, Town of Vienna and Town of Herndon are included.  Some significant areas are Ballston, McLean, Reston, Tysons Corner, Occoquan and yes, The Pentagon.

2.Traffic is a common topic of discussion. “Rush hours” consume about eight hours of every day, which is to be expected in an area with two million people. Some highways have HOV restrictions meaning you need 2+ people in the car. There is a toll road from the Beltway (495) out to Leesburg (Route 267) and a pay-per-mile highway under construction within 495.Read more at Virginia Megaprojects (no joke). But know that there are many options including the George Washington Parkway along the Potomac River.

3.Education is a high priority. The Public School systems in Northern Virginia are recognized nationally for achievement and graduation rate. There are many private schools with excellent reputations too. There are four-year Universities like George Mason and Marymount, the Northern Virginia center for UVA and Virginia Tech in Falls Church, and programs at Northern Virginia Community College. It is also easy to reach other institutions in DC like Georgetown University or in Maryland, the University of Maryland. Overall, the area has a high percentage of residents with college and advanced degrees.

4. We demand a lot from our sport teams. The Washington Redskins play in Maryland, but their football training facility is in Ashburn, VA. The Washington Capitals play in D.C. at the Verizon Center (aka the Phone Booth) but practice at their hockey facility in Ballston. The Washington Wizards are our NBA team, and our MLS soccer team is D.C. United which plays at RFK Stadium in D.C. The newest team is the Washington Nationals MLB baseball team which plays in D.C.

5. Politics. It’s an easy photo-op for the White House, so expected to bump into a motorcade (or Congressman).

6. Northern Virginia’s population is very diverse. Since D.C. is an international destination, many immigrants have selected to move here thanks to a robust job market, excellent universities, the World Bank and easy access to flights “back home”. Virtually every nationality is represented.  Other benefits of this immigration are the multitude of authentic restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries, and cultural events.

7.There is plenty of  U. S. history to see. You can start along the Potomac River at Mt. Vernon in Alexandria to the Manassas National Battlefields. Did I mention that Northern Virginia is across the Potomac River from Washington, DC? There is also a Smithsonian Air and Space Museum next to Dulles Airport.

8.We have two major airports. Dulles International Airport offers direct flights around the world by virtually every international airline, and is a major United Airlines domestic hub. Reagan National Airport offers domestic flights and is the most accessible to D.C.

9.Public transportation systems continue to expand. The Metrorail System sends the Orange Line through Arlington out to Vienna, and the Yellow and Blue Lines to Reagan National Airport then to Alexandria and Springfield. Metro Bus, DASH, ART, Fairfax Connector and CUE Bus run through the counties. The “Silver Line” to Reston through Tysons Corner is under construction in 2012 with a late 2013 finish date. Virginia Rail Express (VRE) is an option from Fredericksburg or Manassas. Amtrak makes a stops in Alexandria and the AutoTrain in Lorton. (Union Station in DC is where the Northeast Corridor service begins).

10. We love being outdoors. The climate is excellent for people who like to garden or landscape, and for bike riders, runners and hikers. The W&OD bike trail runs for 45 miles from Arlington to Leesburg along an old rail line turned path which is heavily used by runners, bikers and walkers. Great Falls National Park in Virginia and C&O Canal National Park offer hiking along the Potomac River. There are also sports teams for any sport and age group imaginable. Wolftrap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna is a perfect outdoor venue to see theater, concerts or the symphony.

11. Northern Virginia is famous for shopping. It may not seem exciting to everyone, but we have plenty of grocery stores including Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Wegman’s, but there are plenty of weekend farmers’ markets, and roadside markets like Cox Farms. Tyson’s Corner is a regional super-shopping district with everything from L.L. Bean, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. There is simply too much to mention. There are excellent restaurants and hotels.

12. We experience all four seasons of the year. Winter usually features a cold snap when temperatures can be in the teens. There may be a foot of snow, total, for the season. There are many days when ice covers the roads (a traffic nightmare), and there may be a 20+” snowstorm every few years (2010 was an exception with three). Spring starts in March (cherry blossoms) and runs through June (70°’s and 80°’s). Summer begins July 1 and it can be hot (90°+) and very humid through mid-September. Fall begins in October with brilliant displays from our tall Oak and Maple trees.

13. Northern Virginia isn’t just Federal Government workers. Yes, there are plenty of Feds, but the economy is much more diversified than once was as many corporations have based themselves here thanks to a Virginia’s favorable business climate. hospitals, accounting firms, telecommunications, technology, Internet, hospitality, automotive, association industry, retail, real estate, defense and government contractors and many more.

Did I miss anything?

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But don’t kick back thinking that you have plenty of time because there is a lot to see (in Northern Virginia) and not a whole lot of time to spare. Take a quick look at your calender and you may already see holiday or vacation plans around the corner… so let’s take a look at what I am thinking about here.

Luxury Home Buyers have a strategy to use, today!

I am not a CPA, but as a real estate agent who has an eye on this specialty market that has a low “absorption rate”, I know that these sellers are well aware of the long-term capital gains rate going back up to 20%. So, any offer that you put together right now (fall of 2010) needs to go to closing before the end of the year.

I mentioned “absorption rate”, and that number will change in every real estate market as will what is defined as luxury homes, million dollar listings, or as Northern Virginia Agents like to call them, upper bracket homes. Looking over the last 90 days in Vienna, Oakton, McLean and Great Falls VA, at homes priced over $1.9 million, the absorption rate is currently over 20 months, and that’s if nothing new was added today.

Understanding this unscientific fact that most listing agents are probably going over with their clients, and the fact their CPA is probably encouraging them to sell before December ends is giving sellers a little extra motivation to negotiate giving the million dollar buyer a home buying strategy that they need to put into action today.

Sale on luxury homes ends soon (actually January 1, 2011)

Okay, there is a sense of urgency here and you should get rolling soon because the inventory that I just looked at has 196 active luxury homes listings for sale (no joke) and it usually takes a month to go from contract to closing.

And reader, before you go charging off calling a bunch of listing agents to let you into a bunch of homes that you just picked out online, know that the home Seller is actually expecting you to have your own agent (a buyer’s agent). Using a buyer agent can help you see all the properties in a shorter period of time, help negotiate from a strong, confidential position, and know that you have a professional working to help achieve your goals. Give me a call or e-mail, or let me know how it goes with a comment right here on the blog.

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I don’t usually ask for your comments right in the first sentence, but I have been talking to many clients, friends and neighbors about refinancing their home mortgage these days. And the stories have been fascinating especially since fixed rates are near 4.5% or better.

When I originally wrote the post about Virginia’s recordation tax exeption (for home owners refinance with the exact same lender) I was surprised how often that one post was viewed. And this one cost savings has been the basis for all of my starting answers to “is it a good time…” because it saves most people over $1,000.

A local real estate attorney recently (2/2011) cautioned “It’s my understanding that Fairfax County is checking the MERS website on every same-lender refi and if the website shows there is an investor (e.g. Fannie Mae) then they will not allow the reduced recording fee.”

Two interesting local refinance stories…

A couple of months ago a friend called me because Chase Mortgage (his lender) had sent him a letter stating that, because he was a good customer, that they would adjust his rate (recast) for $500. The shocking thing was that it would not require an appraisal, no new loan application or documentation was needed, and that his rate would drop over 1.5%. The offer was authentic and he signed up saving him a lot of money every month.

A neighbor came to me seeking advice. His confession of taking out a home equity line and then spending it “irresponsibly” was brutally honest. As it turned out, his loans were with Chase too. So I suggested that he contact Chase first, just to see what they could offer. And guess what, they sent him a letter agreeing to consolidate his loans at a lower rate too. he was so excited to tell me that they will save almost $500 a month.

Now, both of these people had been paying their mortgages on time and they seem like “no-haggle” refi’s, recasting really. Yes, they were living in desirable areas, Vienna, VA and McLean, VA but they were facing financial issues that could have snowballed into future problems for the bank… and they already have too many problems. But in each case the homeowner was pro-active .

It’s good business to keep existing customers

So Virginia home owners should call the 1-800 numbers on their current mortgage statements or go to their lender’s web site because, like Chase, that lender may be more flexible that you may believe. It’s worth a try.

Leave a comment about your experience refinancing with your current lender because it may give someone else the courage to take action.

The Washington Post published an article 11/4/2010 discussing how the criteria (identical lender) is even complicated for the Fairfax County clerk of the court to keep track of to make sure everything is done properly.

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The national home sale data that has come out recently, like the Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, and local data  have been all over the place giving a confusing picture of the local real estate market. Here, I am going to look at the McLean, Virginia zip codes 22101 and 22102 real estate sales for January 2010.

Although our memories aren’t always accurate, remember that early 2009 had a cascading stock market and the country was falling into economic turmoil. It wasn’t until March 2009 that a bottom was established.

But please know that this information is reported from MRIS which is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate but should be considered pretty darn close.

Keep in mind, mortgage rates were again falling and super low (around 5%).

Home Sales Numbers for 22101 in January 2010:

• Total Units Sold in January 2010, 24 vs. 13 in 2009 (up 84.62%)
• Average Sold Price in January 2010, $1,243,281 vs. $1,1997,292  in 2009 (up 61.70%)
• In the $700,000 to $799,999 range, 2 sold with 6 active listings
• In the $800,000 to $899,999 range, 3 sold with 15 active listings
• In the $900,000 to $999,999 range, 3 sold with 7 active listings
• In the $1,000,000 to $2,499,999 range, 6 sold with 68 active listings
• In the $2,500,000 to $4,999,999 range, 0 sold with 12 active listings
• Average days on market in January 2010 was 93 vs. 175 in 2009
• The average sold price in January 2010 was 81.54% of the average list price

Keep in mind there were big snow storms that shut down Northern Virginia for more than a week. I even had to push my car up the hill on Route 123 in Tyson’s Corner near International Drive at 10:00 pm one Saturday night!

Home Sales Numbers for 22102 in January 2010

• Total Units Sold in January 2010, 15 vs. 7 in 2009 (up 114.29%)
• Average Sold Price in January 2010, $798,493 vs. $626,429 in 2009 (up 27.47%) *
• In the $700,000 to $799,999 range, 1 sold with 2 active listings
• In the $800,000 to $899,999 range, 1 sold with 5 active listings
• In the $900,000 to $999,999 range, 1 sold with 7 active listings
• In the $1,000,000 to $2,499,999 range, 7 sold with 46 active listings
• In the $2,500,000 to $4,999,999 range, 0 sold with 27 active listings
• In the $5,000,000 & Over range, 0 sold with 6 active listings
• Average days on market in January 2010 was 87 vs. 91 in 2009
• The average sold price in January 2010 was 92.36% of the average list price

**This zip code reflects some extremes in pricing as there were 5 sales under $500k and 7 sales over $1.0 million. The McLean home market includes condominiums in all price ranges.

I have set up a quick search for you of homes in 22101

or

I have set up a quick home search for you of homes in 22102

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A significant number of the homes in Northern Virginia were built in the 1950′s, 1960′s, and 1970′s. Yes, a lot has been built since then, but the building booms in those times constructed significantly smaller homes and much faster.The total number of homes built in the 1970′s alone outpaces the most recent boom time.

Best of all, they were pinker, yellower and bluer too.

We have all seen the color scheme and it typically raises the eyebrows of first time home buyers. In fact, most of the sellers probably intended to remodel those baths too when they bought the house years ago. But these bathrooms were built to last, and they still work so they won’t be getting a HGTV overhaul in our game plan because there won’t be a significant ROI.  So, they stay.

Home buyers will overlook the pinks, blues or yellows if the location is right

But often these homes have oak hardwood floors hiding under wall-to-wall carpet, and there have been a series of good updates (and not so good updates) that buyers will appreciate like central heating or AC systems, roofs and gutters, or window and door replacements. Deep down, most of these homes have good bones and are now in great locations.

So sellers need to start thinking like buyers, and who those buyers of their home might be? Today’s home buyers are unique and been trained by HGTV programs like House Hunters or Property Virgins. Open the Washington Post and see if those shows are on tonight and take a peek… it may be an eye opener listening to the comments of the on-camera home buyers.

The hardest concept for home sellers to grasp: It isn’t your house anymore!

A home seller’s starter checklist:

• Paint walls with a modern color with a “flat enamel” finish… it looks richer and conceals imperfections
• Trim should be ultra white for the best, cleanest contrast
• Paint your ceilings “ceiling white”… it will make those lower ceilings look higher
• Light fixtures will need replacing all over the house… think brighter!
• Some carpets may be in good condition or almost new, so have them professionally cleaned
• Expose those hardwood floors hiding under the living room floor… brighten them with a mop or refinish
• Update old kitchen appliances… the Sunday paper may have a “package” deal
• Set a date with a charity or trash removal company to get rid of some of your old stuff
• Clean everything including your windows… a local maid service may do the trick!
• Remove 50% of the clothes, coats, or supplies in your closets…
• Consider renting a storage unit or contacting a “POD” storage service
• In Northern Virginia, there are professionals to do almost any job… so hire them to do the lifting!

No home is perfect, and your goal as a home seller is to help create a series of “wow moments” when a buyer sees your home online, pulls up at the curb, and then walks in your front door.