Oak Trees in Oakton, VA

“Doug, these trees are wonderful!” exclaimed a client last fall as we drove along Miller Heights Road in Oakton, VA looking for a home to buy.

For those of you from San Diego or Colorado, we have very large Oaks (hence “Oakton”), Maples, Sycamores, and Sweetgums that can give the impression we have forests amongst our manicured suburban landscaping. Many of these trees have grown unchecked for 50 years as Northern Virginia transformed from farmlands to residential subdivisions. And the fall season can be a wonderful site with the trees blazing yellow, red, and orange from late September into November.

Arborists will agree that your trees grow and need maintenance

This brings up the situation of what happens when you need to cut back or trim your neighbor’s trees overhanging your yard?  It is okay to do this as long as you don’t kill the tree and know that any work is at your expense. Just to keep on good terms, it is best to tell your neighbor that your tree guys are going to prune it back. Never assume that your neighbor knows a tree is overgrown or is a nuisance  since they are only seeing it from their yard, and will probably agree that the tree needs attention when they see it from your yard.

Virginia home owners should know that they can still trim back those branches or cut those nasty roots, but if your neighbor’s tree has started to cause more serious structural problems to your house, like aggressive roots that have broken through your foundation or water pipes, then you can take them to court. Yes, lawyers!

Virginia rules for tree trimming

The Virginia Supreme Court’s  ruling in Fancher v. Fagella (9/2007) dealt with a big old Sweetgum tree in a new townhouse development in Fairfax County, VA. These trees grow big, look fantastic, provide shade, are our “breathing buddies”, but also need lots of water. To find that water, they send sturdy roots everywhere. In this specific case, this nice old Sweetgum tree was a holdover from the old farm and was now stuck in between some townhouses.

As it turned out, that old tree continued to grow and impacted the neighbor’s house in search of water. One neighbor asked the other to remove the tree (which probably would have cost $3,000 to $5,000) because of the structural damage being caused by the roots. Well, things didn’t work out as planned and it wound up in the Virginia Supreme Court… and eventually the tree was cut down.

A perfect Virginia shade tree… just in the wrong place

Let me be upfront that I am not a lawyer, but I am a licensed Virginia real estate agent and a home owner who has large Oak trees on my own property. There really isn’t any change here when dealing with the above ground issues of pruning a tree or trimming your neighbor’s tree that crosses your property line. The only emphasis is that you have the ability to go to court if your neighbor’s tree is causing damage to your house such as root damage to your foundation.

If you live in Reston, VA where the Reston Association has guidelines for tree removal, you should know that they require Association approval before work can be performed.

When I was President of the Vienna Commons Association, I would get an occasional phone call from a neighbor complaining about another neighbor’s tree that hung over their yard, was hitting the roof, or dropping fruit in their yard. Back then I would respond that they had the right (in Virginia) to cut back the encroaching portion of their neighbor’s tree that overhangs the property line.

And that policy is still true today, but remember to be a good neighbor and tell your neighbor before the cutting begins. Leave a comment to share your experience trimming a neighbor’s tree.

Read More…

If you are interested in tree issues and want to learn more about the Massachusetts Rule, the Hawaii Rule, the Virginia Rule, Smith v. Holt or Fancher v. Fagella, you can read more in an article by Victor  D. Merullo.

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Beware the frowning house!

Having a home inspection contingency is essential when you are buying a home. But in Northern Virginia, I have seen a wide gap in the quality of the written inspection reports that home buyers are given by their inspectors. Specifically, it is the detailed description of the inspector’s concerns that he may have discovered and reported per the sales contract. Selected concerns are put on an Addendum and submitted to the Seller along with the Home Inspection Report.

Home Schooled in three hours!

I am a firm believer that my home buyer clients will learn more about their home in three hours with an inspector than over the next three years living there. And when a writer from SmartMoney Magazine called me in 1994 to ask me if I thought home inspections were a consumer rip-off and then asked a half hour worth of slanted negative questions at me, I knew there was an issue. And after that interview, I understood that she totally misunderstood the purpose of a home inspection. A good home inspection will give insight into the quality of the home’s systems from the foundation to the top of the chimney.

In fact, Smart Money’s recent article still maintains the position that home inspections are rip-offs, but gives home buyers no other options to help understand the house they are about to buy at a reasonable cost. For example, in my experience, a roof can be inspected from the attic where the sub-roof or underlayment can be inspected for water stains and rot which will have left their marks… folks, your inspector won’t see this if he climbs a ladder onto the roof like SM recommends. My point is that there are levels of experience and communication, and your inspector should have a sample report on his web site for you to examine ahead of time.

The quality of the written report became apparent recently when I was the listing agent, and the buyer’s agent brought in a home inspector. They did a good inspection, but delivered an inspection report circa 1998 using a form checklist that was unclear and literally created issues because the inspector had to abbreviate his comments. Although the other agent is an experienced agent (really), she was completely unable to explain any of the issues.  Maybe that is what the SmartMoney writer was driving at?

You can see that this first report has a lengthy checklist and a small area where the inspector can write a detailed description. But it takes a lot of words to describe a “hand rail on the right side of the front porch that is not secured properly because the non-structural column is not secured” in the comment section is only ten lines long. It simply leaves too much room for interpretation by the home buyer or home seller who can easily get an unclear picture of the issue.

Here’s a much better Home Inspection Report

Photos really tell the story

Now, the Northern Virginia home inspectors that I recommend to my buyer clients use digital pictures to document items that are of concern and need to be addressed. Combined with a customized report with photos and easy to understand explanations including an organized checklist, there is little room for misunderstanding that a valve is leaking or there is a missing piece of roofing.

Getting your head under your kitchen sink isn’t what most people ever do, but a home inspector will be checking for evidence of leaks, drain hose connections or improper wiring. And a few digital pictures with a clear, written description of the problem makes the home inspection report just that much more powerful when negotiating to get something fixed or when asking for a  dollar credit for a future repair.

My clients understand that I look at our business relationship as a team effort and having a thorough home inspection and well written report is 1/10th of the process. If the house is sinking then let’s get the heck out of the contract, but if there is a leaking water valve then let’s get a licensed plumber in there to fix the problem. In almost twenty years as an agent, I know that no house is 100% perfect!

Bringing together the best people for my Northern Virginia home buyer clients to work with is one of my goals. Confident home inspectors, mortgage lenders, repair men, settlement agents and many others service providers help my real estate clients achieve their real estate goals.

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Doug's Southern Hawthorne Tree

The 40th Earth Day arrived today and the weather is truly spectacular in Northern Virginia. This year the focus across the board is on energy efficiency and replacing older appliances with Energy Star qualified appliances like A/C or heating systems, hot water heaters or refrigerators. Like I wrote last week, the Commonwealth of Virginia has started a rebate program and there may also be tax credits available to you.

Invasive Plants | Vienna’s Northside Park

This Sunday morning I will be helping the Northeast Vienna Citizens Association’s (NEVCA) project in Northside Park removing invasive plant species and replacing them with native plants. NEVCA received a grant from Fairfax County and volunteers are encourage to participate as this is the second phase of the project.

When I have selected plantings for my home, I have selected native species that would thrive in our climate plus show their natural beauty. I selected the Southern Hawthorne Trees in my front yard and have always had compliments. Their foliage is dense so they create privacy, they bloom with wonderful white flowers in the spring, turn wonderful colors in the fall, and display bright red berries until January or until the birds pick the trees clean. Overall a nice selection as mature trees add value to real estate resale values.

Town of Vienna VA Green Expo is tonight

The Town of Vienna, VA is a member of the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA program and is celebrating Earth Day and Arbor Day with an evening activity at the Vienna Community Center on Park Street. There will be a tree planting at 6:00 p.m.

Hope to see you there, and please say hi!

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I  picked up a “Rock the Red” Cap’s t-shirt!

We are lucky to live in Northern Virginia with such a good health system like Inova, but take a look at the current blood supply data updated on the Blood Donor Services site. Luckily my type is “A Pos” which has a greater than three day supply on hand. But “O Pos”, “O Neg”, “A Neg”, “B Neg”, and “AB Neg” have less than one day supply! That is why you need to participate today.

Inova Blood Donor Services is lucky to have a partner like the Washington Capitals. For example, at a Caps sponsored event in March, there were 609 blood donations made at the Kettler Capitals IcePlex in Arlington. Way to go!

609 Blood Donations in one day

Does this have anything to do with real estate? Not really other than people need blood and people need a place to live, but like I wrote last summer, the whole process takes about 35 minutes and a single whole blood donation can help two or three people.

Make an appointment by phone to donate or walk-in TODAY. Call 1-866-BLOODSAVES (1-866-256-6372)

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March came roaring in like a lion in the real estate market as buyers literally surged in once the snow melted and the sun started to shine making our world green again, so next month’s numbers will be impressive.

The driving part of the surge was buyers at the lower end buying homes that allowed people to move up to larger homes in these zip codes. The $8,000 first time buyer credit pushed the move-up buyer who could get a credit up to $6,500 when they entered into a contract by April 30th and settle by the end of June.

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 still super low (around 5%).

Home sales numbers for 22182 in March 2010:

Spring did arrive early in March this year!.

Home sale numbers for the Town of Vienna, 22180, March 2010

When people sell their home for less than they owe on their mortgage it is called a “short sale”.  And these can give short-sale-sellers the impression that the agreement to repay the amount borrowed has been satisfied, and that it is time to move-on like in a traditional sale.

You pay, you stay… if you don’t, you won’t

Some of my buyer clients have bought these “short sale homes” at below-market prices which was very good for them. Buyers kind of walk away with a really good deal… if they are patient and can wait months for a written response from the bank, which has to agree to the short sale.

I have heard “real estate experts” on WTOP radio or the “TODAY Show” giving pretty flip advice about trying for a short sale if you are upside-down  (industry jargon meaning: the mortgage is greater than market value). Okay, time for my observation that should be discussed with an attorney because it is a good possibility that the bank will come after the short-seller long after the sale closes.

You’re still on the hook!

You see, when the bank sends over the short sale approval letter to be signed by the buyers and the sellers, it spells out that the bank agrees to take “x amount” for the mortgage. And if there is a home equity or second mortgage, accept “x amount” for that too.  My buyer clients have been eager to sign-on because the letter always includes an expiration date for this “short-sale deal”.

But, short-sale-sellers need to read it carefully because it will also include a sentence that says that the seller is still responsible for the debt, like, for example, the bank will accept $1,000 instead of the $35,000 owed to get the house sold. I have seen home sellers sign whatever was put in front of them thinking that their problems have finally come to an end. Or have they?

The home seller’s risk is a deficiency judgment

I always thought this was odd, and my suspicions were confirmed recently when I read an article by real estate attorney Harvey S. Jacobs in The Washington Post, and it’s an article worth reading. He pointed out that banks can use “deficiency judgments” to aggressively get their money back… and these baby’s are good for 12 years! Take a look at this article

I have an excellent real estate lawyer in Northern Virginia to recommend to people considering a short sale because you need some legal advice before you decide to sell your home as a “short sale”.

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Image via Wikipedia

We had a bright and sunny weekend here in Northern Virginia, and a surge of home buyers were out looking at the homes for sale that had popped up late Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. A little marketing tip is to put a home into the MLS database Thursday to feed all the IDX sites out there that send e-mails to registered home buyers.  Our MLS, actually the Metropolitan Regional Information System (MRIS), is the #1 source and they pump out the data you see on Trulia, Zillow, Frankly MLS, Roost, Redfin or Sawbuck. They have their own “ad-free” site for you called Homesdatabase.com which is excellent.

So I showed some townhomes in Fairfax around $350,000 and the newest listing was swamped with buyer agents and their eager clients. At one house there was a guy with an Alexander Ovechkin jersey who looked like he would fight us for it!

I tried to show a home in Vienna priced at $599,900 in my neighborhood but the agent, who I know well, told me she had two offers on Friday. One offer was so good that it was accepted by the home sellers… before the scheduled open house!

Vienna, VA Home Buyers can’t wait for the Sunday Open House

I also showed a home in Vienna around the corner priced at $699,900 and again I knew that agent well. She was holding an “open house” and there were three families there at the same instant, all looking quietly and wondering if they would be in a bidding war over this classic 1970′s colonial? It seemed like it was the house du jour…

Residential real estate is the ground floor barometer for the economy and, mark my words, the economists will be talking about this in five weeks. Again, I am seeing a frantic home buyer surge as they are trying to find a home, and get a contract accepted to get the $6,500 or $8,000 home buyer credit before the deadline… and lock in a low mortgage interest rate (currently below 5%).

Real estate in Vienna, VA is fueled by the location to employment centers like Tysons Corner or Reston  (some people like the W&OD Bike Trail) and Fairfax is fueled by price where many homes have dipped significantly but have great locations or neighborhoods.

This is the time, home buyers of Northern Virginia, to have a buyer agent or ABR working for you!

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The kids in Fairfax County, VA didn’t have school for almost two weeks and were stuck at home building snow forts, sledding down typically busy streets, and developing cases of cabin-fever.

Here is a window showing me, Doug Francis, at home dodging the snow.

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Image by DougFrancis via Flickr

I had a home buyer Tweet me and ask if I had any words of wisdom to pass along. The funny thing is that I love giving advice, but 140 characters weren’t going to cut it because what I do really can’t be distilled down to a sound bite. It also raised an issue that many socialists have written dissertations on… the desire for a silver bullet or quick fix.

A picture and a paragraph won’t be enough

Buying real estate in Northern Virginia is going to be a complicated task that will require some planning and very hard work:

• You need to figure out how to pay for your home (and adjust if necessary)
• You need to figure out the best location (and adjust if necessary)
• You need to figure out what style of home you want (and adjust if necessary)
• You need to figure out a reasonable sales price (and adjust if necessary)
• You need to do some comparison shopping (and adjust if necessary)

Plus there really are distinct differences between living in Arlington, McLean, Vienna or Oakton, Virginia.

and now for Doug’s words of home buyer wisdom…

Right now, today, I can share some wisdom that is worth passing down and it will require you to do some serious soul searching. Did you ever read “What Color is My Parachute” when you were searching for a job or life purpose? In that book the author has his readers do some serious thinking to help them discover their individual strengths, and then organize and understand the importance of capitalizing on those strengths.

Where do you see yourself in five or ten years? Today you have opportunities to buy into a neighborhood for the long term, rather than starting with a first-timer home and then moving in five years to your “family” home. Today’s long-term mortgage interest rates are low and should be low for a while, and home prices have been knocked down too. I won’t bother you with equations, but as rates go up then your buying power goes down.

Right now, in Fairfax County, Virginia, I am not seeing builders building too many detached homes under $1,000,000. Understanding the basics of supply vs. demand proves that the supply of detached homes under $650,000 will remain unchanged (actually decrease) over the next ten years. And the population forecast is on the upswing too.

So, my buyer’s agent advice or words of a wisdom… this is the time to buy a home with the long-term in mind.

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The home was built in 1993 and featured the expanded floor plan.

Shameless Home Buyer Agent Plug

As my client’s “ buyer agent”, I was able to keep this transaction together even though my clients were in California. Understanding their limited time on the ground here in Northern Virginia, I discovered what they wanted and showed them their options on a few of their cross country house hunting trips. When we discussed mortgages, I was able to uncover a unique solution to dealing with stringent new mortgage lender requirements. And when they decided on this home, put together a strategic offer that beat out a competitive offer.

After all that, there was not an extra fee charged by my company, the Sellers paid the real estate commissions, and my clients bought a great house that they are thrilled with!

If you want to consult with me, then shoot me an e-mail right now…

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