Here’s another LoCo photo for you..this was taken in the afternoon at Westpark Golf Club in Leesburg. That’s the ninth green in the foreground, and the 18th green in the back. The pond wraps around most of the 18th green, so it’s not an island green, but close! (Yes, for those of you who played there in the past, that is a fairly new feature there. So are the GPS systems on the carts and the computerized irrigation system!)
You can tell how much rain we’ve gotten in those afternoon showers lately, the golf course is very green!
On May 20th I wrote that Fairfax County was considering a program, dubbed “Silver Lining”, to purchase foreclosed properties and convert them into affordable housing for teachers, firefighters, and police officers who otherwise would not be able to qualify financially for homes in the county. Using county loans, the buyers could purchase the properties directly from the banks at below market pricing.
Yesterday, the county approved the program. According to an article in the Washington Post today, the county will spend up to $10 million to buy up to 10 properties outright, and make as many as 200 others available through a subsidized loan program. This will also help with the issue of vacant, nonmaintained properties dotted throughout neighborhoods in the county too.
Loudoun County is considering a similar program, but has not approved it yet. I’ll be interested to see how this helps mitigate the high number of foreclosures in Fairfax, and if it makes a difference in the neighborhoods that have been hardest hit in terms of property values.
If you’ve noticed that I’ve been a little quiet lately on the blog, it’s because in addition to being a Realtor, I’m also a mom, and at this point in the year, a softball mom! For the last five years I’ve had one child or another playing sports in different leagues in Loudoun County. One of the best things about raising children here, in my opinion, is the wide variety of sports leagues that your kids can pick and choose from. My oldest daughter has been playing softball for the last six seasons, with the first five in the Leesburg Girls Softball League. This year, we switched her to the 10 and under age group for Upper Loudoun Girls Softball (which covers the western part of Loudoun County) and our second daughter had her first year of teeball in Upper Loudoun too. While the softball season is usually over by now, our oldest made Allstars, so we just returned from the Babe Ruth All Star state tournament in Charlottesville, Virginia.
While our girls didn’t fare as well as we would have liked, what I saw as they played together (on and off the field) warmed my heart. They are learning the game while having fun, first and foremost, and they are making some incredible friendships in the meantime. I was a softballer from elementary school straight through college, so it’s great to have a child love something that was special to me too. Watching them play is great fun, and I’m proud of all the girls on the Upper Loudoun Liberty!
We are hosting the National Tournament for Babe Ruth right here in Purcellville from August 8th through the 12th, so we have an automatic berth into the tournament. Come out and cheer our girls on, and watch some great softball too!
(Oh, and did I mention that Upper Loudoun Football season starts for my son the third week of August? Overlap! Another of the joys of having kids in sports!)
Looking for a home in a neighborhood that is close to shops, restaurants, schools, etc? Check out http://www.walkscore.com … you can plug in a street address and it gives you a ranking based on the number of places nearby. Very quick and easy to see which neighborhoods are more suited for it! If you need suggestions for Loudoun County neighborhoods that are in close proximity to stores, schools, restaurants, downtown areas, and such, just reach out to me, I’m happy to point you in the right direction.
Kudos to Jeremy Hart over at NRVLiving for pointing this site out to me! If you are looking to move to the Blacksburg/Christiansburg area, he is definitely the best Realtor to call!
Had the pleasure of travelling to Ashville, North Carolina last week to visit with some friends. We took the time to visit the Biltmore Estate, which was absolutely breathtaking. I believe they said it covers over four acres..inside the house! We were not allowed to take interior pictures, unfortunately. It took a couple of hours to take the whole tour through all the levels of the home. Hard to believe this was a functioning personal residence for a long time! If you have a chance to visit, I’d recommend it. Of all the things I saw, the view of the surrounding countryside from the rear ‘porch’ was the most stunning…
Well, I have been nominated to participate in the 2008 Kiss A Pig contest for the Loudoun County Fair! In it’s 73rd year, it is one of the longest running traditions of Loudoun County, and I’m honored to be a part of it! I’m tasked with raising money to benefit the Loudoun County Fair grounds, including the upkeep of the barns and buildings and funding youth programs and scholarships. I have until the final night of this year’s fair, August 2nd, to raise as much as I can.
Here is the fun part…the contestant that raises the most money gets to lock lips with a pig at 6:30 pm, Saturday, August 2nd! Each dollar I raise is a vote for me. I’d love to have your support with this! (And yes, you are all invited to come witness…if I win, I will post the picture here for everyone to see!)
To donate to my campaign, you can do several things:
Drop it off at my Weichert office at 663 Potomac Station Drive, Leesburg, VA 20176
Mail it in to me at my attention, to my office address above
Email me at heatherelias@weichert.com or call my cell at 571-233-5491 for directions on how to donate via credit card.
Checks should be made payable to Loudoun County Fair and postdated to August 2nd. I can provide the fair’s tax id number for anyone making a donation.
I’ll be adding more drop off locations in the next few days, so watch for an update. I’m open to a sponsorship idea: for the right donation I’m happy to wear hat or shirt with your business logo at the ceremony, or give you a shoutout in any media stories about the contest! If you have a local business and would permit me to put one of my piggybanks there, please give me a shout and let me know.
The 2008 Loudoun County Fair will run from July 28th through August 2nd. The lineup of events for this year includes the Demolition Derby, KYDA Professional Wrestling, a concert by Scott Hisey, a Professional Rodeo, and Hansen’s Spectacular Circus Thrill Show. Of course, the amusement rides, the 4H animal exhibitors and competition, the Miss Loudoun contest, livestock auction, and all the great food will be back for another year. You can find information about all these and other events planned by visiting the Loudoun County Fair website.
Was out driving around between storm cells last week, and tried to take a pic of the double rainbow that was peeking in and out between the storm cells.
Didn’t quite get the rainbow, but got this pic of a barn outside of Purcellville. Had to hop back in the truck because lightening was brewing off to the left of this photo (and I didn’t want to test my luck!)
I bring statistics to my posts here at LoCoMusings on a fairly regular basis, but today I want to bring you my personal experience. We’ve heard about the housing crisis in the media, at a fever pitch, for the last year. (Anyone who watched the Ice Age movies? “Doom on you! Doom on you!”). Really, though, we started seeing signs that the market was changing locally inmid-2005. Most of the rest of the country follows like a ripple effect (it begins in markets like California, New York City, Florida, then spreads to here, and from here), so it is only logical that the media wouldn’t take note until it was more widespread.
By the same rule, the real estate market is going to have to improve in areas across the country before the national media is going to take note of a strengthening. As a full time Realtor, who is working in the market on a daily basis, I can tell you that the market is changing in Northern Virginia. It is strengthening. Time will be the deciding factor; but from what I am already seeing, I’m optimistic that we have rounded a corner.
Here is what I’m seeing and hearing, both personally and from all of the Realtors I interact with:
Multiple offers on homes in Loudoun County. Lowest priced properties getting snapped up. I’m noticing investors making purchases, fixing, and turning properties that they got for rock bottom prices.
Well priced, good condition homes going under contract quickly.
The market absorption rate for townhomes in Ashburn is UNDER THREE MONTHS. No wonder we are seeing multiple offers. The inventory is shrinking!
Rate of foreclosure listings coming on the market has stabilized.
Homes are selling as short sales…meaning they won’t be foreclosed on, and come on the market later as bank owned.
The lenders have now finally gotten systems established for handling their huge inventory of homes, and easier to work with than a year ago.
The Loudoun County rental market is hopping. Good, clean, well maintained rentals are not staying on the market very long before getting snapped up.
From my standpoint, lots of little signs are adding up to show me that we are coming out of the worst of it. While I’m not saying that we are going to see a huge upswing in appreciation for home values, I do think we are going to see smaller inventory, shorter days on market, and less dire situations for sellers. It’s a great time to purchase, especially if your plans are to stay in your new home for 3 to 5 years. By that point I think the market will have returned to the normal pace of gradual appreciation, making real estate a great long term investment.
1. Who is your favorite musical artist? I love so many different types of music and so many different musicians. To pick just one though, I’ll choose based on who I’d want to see play live, most of all…Eric Clapton. The man gives me goosebumps. Nuf said.
2. Who is your favorite artist? Not a huge art buff by any means, but I’ll choose Pierre-Auguste Cot, I love both “Springtime” (that’s the one pictured, of course) and “The Storm”.. (here’s a good story…I nearly flunked a 100 level Art History class in college, which I was taking Pass/Fail, my last semester before graduation. Just couldn’t ‘get’ it! Much better appreciation now, finally!)
3. Who is your favorite blogger? What an impossible question! I’m going to name two people here (among many that inspire me). First, Sarah Cooper, who helped me believe that I could blog too, both from her genuine writing style and all her encouraging words for me from the beginning of my efforts. Second, Chris Griffith, whose writing style I would love to emulate, and who I would love to be when I never grow up. <mwa> to you both!
4. If you could meet anyone (alive or dead), who would it be and what is the most interesting thing about them? Truly? I’d love to meet all the folks that I’m friends with online that I’ve not had the opportunity to meet face to face yet.
5. What did you want to be when you grew up? a published author. Really! (I love to write..)
6. What is the most interesting piece of trivia you know? Not one of those folks. Have a hard enough time remembering important things (like, where am I supposed to be today, and what do I need to do when I get there?!?) Happily, though, my 10 yr old son is a repository of little known facts, so I can turn to him if I have a need of such things…
7. If you could live in any point in history what would it be and why? I like now just fine, not knowing what is coming is way more interesting…
8. What is the most interesting job you have ever held? Working as a Realtor is hands down the most interesting. At least once a week I have a “you just can’t make this stuff up” moment. Each day is definitely a new adventure.
I took a drive through the Park Meadows community yesterday, and was pleased to see that probably half of the lots in the community do in fact have completed homes on them. There are two ’spec’ homes available, one on Conova Court for $858,900 and another on Park Meadows Court for $944,500 (feel free to call or email me if you want more info on either of these). The model is offered for sale at $2,295,000 as well. There is no mention on their website of the lots for sale without the new build contract, so I’m unsure if they are still pursuing that route as well. But it doesn’t look like they are pulling out of the neighborhood at this point.
Experienced listing agent and accredited buyer's agent in Loudoun County, Virginia. Hoping this blog provides a more personal glimpse into the world of local real estate, and gives you some of the local flavor of living in Loudoun County!
Licensed in Virginia with Weichert Realtors, Leesburg, Virginia.
