Fairfax Living Real Estate Blog: Virginia

Maybe not so new since our Canadian friends to the North have a similar system in place. The system rewards one for paying down debt sooner rather than spreading it out and deducting the interest, if I am reading the article correctly. The maximum amount of time one can have a home loan in Canada without an interest rate reset is 5 years. Encouragement to lower the debt as quickly as possible. The article was in Today's Op-Ed section of The Washington Post.

The concept is interesting and even more interesting since the Canadians have not had the number of foreclosures that we have had here in the U.S. since the financial meltdown. The piece quotes that 14 percent of U.S. mortgages are in distress while the number is only 1% in Canada. If it weren't so doggone cold there in January (Summers are real nice though).

I just read an short blurb in this mornings paper about the current economic situation of the country. Despite all of the recent bad news it gave several reasons why the economy is on the mend. The one point that got me thinking was that even though approximately half a million housing units are being built each year, it is only half that required to sustain the current population growth of the country. That means that eventually, and probably sooner than later, the glut of foreclosures and short sales, will start to disappear because of natural demand for housing. Although we should not expect the boom of the freewheeling first decade of the century, a healthy robust real estate market is likely to return with historical price growth. Prices and interest rates will never be better (in my humble opinion). We are in a unique time where homes are truly affordable. If you are able to buy, this is the time to do it.

The article was Five Reasons for Economic Optimism.

No, This is not a government throwback to the Johnson Administration or "The Great Society." This is a private business enterprise run by developer John K. Freeman who bought a run down townhouse development in Falls Church, VA and has turned it into a modern day utopia for (I don't want to use the words poor or disadvantaged) families with limited incomes. If I go to my grave having completed a project like Mr. Freeman has done, other than raising two fine sons, my life would have been well worth living. I would understand my reason for "being" on this earth. Please read this article. It will show you what can be done through private enterprise to make a profit yet fully benefit a community that was once run down and crime ridden in many ways including providing a safe prosperous way for our next generation to grow up. Why it matters: One of Fairfax County, VA's highest performing schools (and Fairfax County has one of the best school systems in the nation), is "Graham Road Elementary." Two thirds of the schools children are from Kingsley Commons, the development revitalized by John K. Freeman.

Investing in Utopia

I recently did a post on the job market and housing market in the Northern Virginia (Fairfax County) area. This morning while working at my computer, I heard the garbage truck making its way down the block. I rushed out nearly falling and breaking my neck to get the can out to the street. I noticed the truck was moving slower than usual down the street. The driver hopped out and grabbed my can and dumped it the truck. He apologized for not getting my trash quicker and said "we need more workers!"

Throwing trash might not be your idea of a career but if it means getting the rent or mortgage paid, or keeping your family fed, there is certainly nothing wrong with it. It is a necessary service that the public needs. You may want to give American Disposal and Recycling a call at (703) 368-0500 to see if they need any trash men or women.

Fairfax County Police are trying to identify two juveniles who threw animal feces, deck chairs, and other items in the Sideburn Run Pool on Zion Road in Fairfax. If you can identify the juveniles in WUSA9 video in the upper right corner of the page of the link, please contact the Fairfax County Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-8477.

An interesting article in this morning's Washington Post regarding the wide discrepancy between the D.C. metro area and the rest of the nation. The article notes that if Washington were a financial or arts capital like New York or L.A. then the wealth in the area would be more widely acceptable by the masses elsewhere.

This is a wealthy area. I came here 23 years ago unemployed expecting to hang out with my brother for the Summer and head somewhere else from here. What drew me? The incredible job market. I found a job (obviously not a government job) in less than a week when I had been looking for months in Florida. That was 1987 but even today, the regions unemployment is about 6%.

The article goes on to state that with today's technology, the government departments could be spread out through the nation. The truth is, much of the jobs are spread out throughout the nation but the highest concentration is at the center of government like it is almost anywhere else in the world.

 This is a great real estate market, even in today's financial mess, compared to much of the rest of the nation. It's very difficult to find a good flip or investment property right now, but it is still possible, as homes are selling at close to market value whether they are foreclosures or not. Short sales you may get a break on but paid for in hassle.

Here is the article.

Here is another article on re-entering the real estate market in general for those who sold at the height of the market and decided to "rent it out: rather than own during the downturn.

I just read an email from the Virginia Association of Realtors that Virginia is ranked #20 nationwide for mortgage fraud. The blurb went on to say that Virginia is doing its best to get off the list by "licensing all mortgage originators" through the National Mortgage License System. The final comment was "Make sure your lenders are licensed!"

That's a quote from this week's Parade magazine that may be,depending on your paper, on your doorstep in the morning if not delivered early on Saturday like mine is. The title of the article is "Red, White, and Scammed," and it focuses on one person, Diann Traina who was ripped off by an unscrupulous car dealer outside her base in Fayetteville, N.C. You've seen them. These are the low class car dealers that have the big signs that say "No Credit, Bad Credit, No Problem." The article goes on to talk about the insurance, rent, pawn shop and check cashing outlets that prey on military personnel. It has become such a pervasive problem that the The D.O.D. have labeled it a threat to national security.

The truth is the average person in the service is about 19 or 20 years old. I didn't know a whole lot at that age, and if I hadn't had my dad or mom around to take with me on a major purchase, I could have easily been ripped off. That's seems to be what is happening. These young adults haven't yet gained enough experience in some instances to understand that they may be ripped off. It has become such a large problem that the Navy has their lawyers involved going after enterprises and individuals who are ripping off servicemen and women. The Georgia Insurance commissioner is going after unscrupulous insurance agents to the point that insurance companies have paid $70,000,000 in refunds to service persons.

I could go on but I'll just say this; General Petraeus typed "military loans" into  Google and got 2.5 million results. The military now requires new recruits to take a personal finance class as a part of basic training. Legal services are now offered to military personnel, and they are encouraged to use these services before they sign anything. The full article.

With the downturn and lack of sales, I have decided to spend more time in an area I am familiar with and that is landlording or more specifically, tenant placement. Through my KW office in Kingstowne/Alexandria, VA. I will be working more on placing tenants in the Northern Virginia and D.C. Area. I actually have a couple of buyer/renter clients that are on the fence with renting verses buying so its a natural thing to offer these services. I am not planning on directly offering property management but have several sources should a client (i.e. - Landlord in this case) need those services in addition to tenant placement.

For Landlords, the big savings on tenant placement is covering all of the legal bases for renting and time savings. There are a number of required forms and disclosures that must be provided to tenants. As for the general renting of a unit or home, there are the phone calls from prospective tenants, agents, applications processing (that includes credit checks, income verification, and reference checks) as well as showing the property and the move in process.

Many Landlords (and sellers too) may not realize that when they can only show the property after 5:00pm or on weekends, that they are turning away potential tenants. For example, I have tenants flying in from the West Coast to look at homes for three days next week. Are they going to wait around all day to look at you rental? I doubt it unless it is a "hot" property and less expensive than other options. If you have to lower the rent to get people to look at your property then perhaps you should charge a higher rent that reflects market value for the property and have an agent show it all day long, handle the paperwork, and cover your legal requirements?

I can do that for you and set you up with a property manager to manage the property either directly or indirectly. So, if you are interested in tenant placement for your properties in Northern VA or DC, please call me.

This morning, I wrote a short blog on the reason,based on what I had been reading, that the economy was in turmoil due to a lack of jobs. We have historically low interest rates yet home sales are way down. It turns out the predictions were not as bad as thought regarding jobs. The stock market took a tumble but we are not necessarily set for a double dip as the talking heads originally had said. Here is an article on the less than expected job losses.