This is a sponsored post from Eve Thompson of Reston Real Estate. For a more complete picture of home sales in your neighborhood, contact her on Reston Real Estate.
You don’t have to be a real estate investor or a house flipper to share in the benefits of buying a fixer-upper.
I encourage all of my buyers to consider houses that will require some work to get them back into pristine shape because I know it represents the very best opportunity for gaining equity quickly.
What qualifies a house as a good fixer-upper target?
Location — you want the worst house in the best neighborhood. The old real estate adage is true, location, location, location. It’s the only thing about your house that you can never change is where it sits.
If you’re going to buy a fixer-upper look for one in a great neighborhood; you’ll benefit from the higher values of your neighbor’s homes and protect your ongoing investment as you bring your property up to snuff.
Develop an eye for cosmetic problems and be suspicious of potential structural problems. Old wall-paper, peeling paint, tons of stuff piled in the yard? These are relatively easy fixes, even having to replace old windows or an HVAC aren’t difficult things to do with the right expertise but, a structural problem can be serious and it can be seriously expensive to correct.
Arm yourself with knowledge by assembling a good team of subject area experts, inspectors and contractors and in Reston be sure you understand the design covenants of the property you’re considering — knowing what you’re getting into will protect you from costly errors down the road.
This is a sponsored post from Eve Thompson of Reston Real Estate. For a more complete picture of home sales in your neighborhood, contact her on Reston Real Estate.
Reston’s housing inventory is holding steady at 117 properties. The past 30 days saw a drop in the number of settlements which is consistent with the holiday season just past.
What is really interesting is looking at the properties in a “Pending” status. These are homes that have sold in the last 30 days that are making their way through the sales process. What’s interesting about this group of pending properties is their average “Days on Market” is 18 compared to an average of 63 for the houses in a “SOLD” status over the same 30 day period.
What this tells us is that demand is on the increase, good news for those considering listing their homes for sale.
If you are thinking of selling — take these simple steps to shorten your days on the market and maximize your sales price. And don’t forget to go through your pre-listing cleaning checklist.
- Purge, purge, purge. If it’s not something you’re taking with you to your new home, get rid of it now.
- Clean, clean, clean. After you get rid of your excess abundance, make it clean as you can. Clean it from top to bottom — light switches, light fixtures, door jams, base boards. It’s the least expensive thing a home seller can do to help get their home sold.
- Get to the right price. Even in a fast moving market you have to be at the right price. Every home on the market has a sweet spot that says “this is the right price for the condition and updates of this home.” Don’t leave a lot of room in your price; it just encourages buyers to wait.
Here are a few of the houses that sold this past week in Reston:
11520 Underoak Court
3 BR/2.5 BA
List Price: $399,000
Sold Price: $405,000
2158 Golf Course Drive
3 BR/3.5 BA
List Price: $475,000
Sold Price: $475,000
1662 Valencia Way
3 BR/3.5 BA
List Price: $420,000
Sold Price: $410,000
1863 Michael Faraday Drive
3 BR/2.5 BA
List Price: $686,421
Sold Price: $675,000
Meet Olaf, who is an adult male Great Pyrenees available for adoption locally.
Here’s what his friends at Safe Haven Puppy Rescue have to say about him:
Gorgeous 2 year old Great Pyrenees with that all around magnetic personality. He is just a bundle of joy to be around.
For a pyr, he is on the smaller side — he is about 80 lbs. Olaf is fully vetted, including his microchip, vaccinations, neutered and dewormed.
Olaf prefers dogs his size but is also dog selective, and finds cats to be too tempting. So he will need a home with no smaller dogs or kitties for sure.
Are you and Olaf a match? If so, let us know and our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, will send you some treats and prizes.
Want your pet to be considered for the Reston Pet of the Week?
Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet. Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks.
Becky’s Pet Care, the winner of three Angie’s List Super Service Awards and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year, provides professional dog walking and pet sitting services in Reston and Northern Virginia.
This is a sponsored column by attorneys John Berry and Kimberly Berry of Berry & Berry, PLLC, an employment and labor law firm located in Northern Virginia that specializes in federal employee, security clearance, retirement and private sector employee matters.
By John V. Berry, Esq.
We represent security clearance holders and applicants so every few years, we look back on the trends of what security concerns most often lead to the loss (or potential loss) of a security clearance. This year we thought we would do the same. Overall, not much has changed.
2018 Grounds for Loss of Security Clearance
There are 13 security concerns that can lead to the loss of a security clearance, which is listed in Security Executive Agent Directive 4 (SEAD 4). These concerns range from foreign influence to financial issues and numerous other issues in between. A review of publicly available security clearance cases was conducted by Marko Hakamaa of ClearanceJobs.com, which provided the breakdown of issues that resulted in initial security clearance denials.
Financial Issues Remain the Number 1 Concern
From the report, it is fairly clear that the number 1 issue of concern for security clearance holders remains Financial Considerations under Guideline F. While this Guideline can cover many areas related to financial responsibility, we see that it most often comes up in the context of a credit report which shows major unresolved debts or when an individual’s tax payments or filings are not timely.
Often for major debts the government is concerned that this could leave an individual subject to potential coercion. For issues related to taxes, the issue is the non-compliance of the individual with tax laws.
General Misconduct Comes in Second
The second most significant security concern from this report shows that Guideline E, Personal Conduct is the next most common clearance issue. Guideline E is a general security concern which can practically cover any type of bad conduct. Most typically, however, it often comes up in the context of illegal drug use, an arrest, a record of bad employment or lying on security clearance forms.
Foreign Influence is Ranked Third
The third most common basis for losing a security clearance was foreign influence, under Guideline B. This issue most commonly comes up when an individual with a security clearance (or who is seeking one) has relatives or property in another country.
The major concern of the government is that an individual may have relatives in another country that work for that government or who could be used as pawns to gather information from the clearance holder or applicant. The United States also treats clearance holders and seekers whose relatives are from allied countries (e.g., the United Kingdom, France, etc.) much better than those from less cooperative countries, like China or Russia.
The rest of the 2018 breakdown of security concerns is included in this report. We represent individuals with these types of security clearance appeals and there are often mitigating factors which can result in a favorable adjudication of these types of security clearance issues. The key is to involve counsel experienced in this area of law as soon as possible.
Conclusion
If you are in need of security clearance advice or representation, please contact our office at 703-668-0070 or through our contact page to schedule a consultation. Please also visit and like us on Facebook or Twitter.
Meet Halloween who goes by Halle, a domestic short hair female available for adoption locally.
Here is what her friends at Fancy Cats Rescue Team have to say about her:
Halloween is named for her festive calico coloring. She goes by Halle and is very sweet and cuddly soft. She loves a good brushing or scratch behind the ears when you have a free hand or two.
You can find her in any warm window keeping watch of the neighborhood and alerting folks of visitors. Halle has shown patience for humans and other animals alike. Halle loves a cardboard scratching pad and has great litter box habits and has shown no problems adjusting when she had to move.
She has never been a fan of her doctor’s office though. She has lots of love to give and would make any modern or traditional family complete.
(Note: Fancy Cats & Dogs is having an adoption fair Saturday, Jan. 27 from 12-4 p.m. at the Reston South Lakes Pet Valu in the South Lakes Village Shopping Center.)
Are you and Halle a match? If so, let us know and our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, will send you some treats and prizes.
Want your pet to be considered for the Reston Pet of the Week?
Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet. Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks.
Becky’s Pet Care, the winner of three Angie’s List Super Service Awards and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year, provides professional dog walking and pet sitting services in Reston and Northern Virginia.
This is a sponsored post by Eve Thompson of Reston Real Estate.
Just because there aren’t a lot of houses (104 active listings), currently on the market doesn’t mean there’s nothing going on in the housing market.
Lots of home owners are preparing their homes for the market and we will start to see a steady increase in listings over the next several weeks. If you’re on the fence about when to list your home for sale here are some things to consider:
- Buyer demand is high. In my Just Sold blog earlier this week I noted that 10% of the houses sold in the last 30 days sold higher than their list price and without requests for seller paid concessions.
- Low inventory means there is less competition. Fewer houses for sale will tend to favor the sellers. Not that you can throw anything out there and expect a contract, but well priced, well presented houses are going quickly.
- If you are a move up buyer now is the time to go — housing prices are predicted to increase 4.8% over the year. If you’re buying a more expensive house you’ll be making a larger down payment and paying higher interest for your mortgage.
Here are some of the new houses on the market this week:
Meet Layla, a German shepherd available for adoption locally.
Here is what her friends at Training Rescue Dogs, Inc. have to say about her:
Layla is a very pretty, sweet 4 year old, 50 lbs female German Shepherd.
She loves riding in cars and is a perfect car companion. She also has very nice house manners. She loves to play fetch and has an excellent retrieve.
She knows basic commands and has a near perfect heel on walks. She is a very workable dog, but will need continued training with her new family.
Are you and Layla a match? If so, let us know and our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, will send you some treats and prizes.
Want your pet to be considered for the Reston Pet of the Week?
Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet. Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks.
Becky’s Pet Care, the winner of three Angie’s List Super Service Awards and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year, provides professional dog walking and pet sitting services in Reston and Northern Virginia.
This is a sponsored post from Eve Thompson of Reston Real Estate. For a more complete picture of home sales in your neighborhood, contact her on Reston Real Estate.
I’ve been working with a buyer that wants new construction which has taken me into Reston’s newest neighborhoods. It’s been fascinating to explore these areas — seeing the new bump up against the old and start to get of sense of what could emerge.
Reston’s most recent round of residential construction outside of Reston Town Center was 2005/2006 when the Mercer Building and Carlton House were built. All of the construction since that time has been luxury apartments.
The Sekas Homes project, called Sunrise Square has a prime location within half a mile of the current and future Metro stops. The project includes a 10 unit condo building and 34 townhouses.
The condo’s which are nearly sold out are light and roomy with beautiful finishes, many of them have views of Reston National golf course. The condos also come with enormous temperature controlled storage rooms located in the basement of the building which makes them great for empty nesters that haven’t quite purged off all of their old life possessions; or anyone with hobbies and gear!
The garage townhouses come with a range of options but the baseline models include:
- Outdoor living on two levels with a main level deck and rooftop terrace overlooking Reston
- 9′ ceilings throughout
- 3-4 bedrooms and 4.5 baths
- Gourmet kitchen with high-end appliances
- Access to all of Reston’s amenities
For those worried about the vertical nature of townhouse living there is a floorplan that includes an optional elevator. Other options include outdoor fireplace for the rooftop terrace.
Sekas Homes is an award winning custom home builder with a reputation for beautiful high quality projects. They’re known for their green building methods and have won awards from the city of Vienna and Fairfax County.
Residents of this new neighborhood are full dues paying members of the Reston Association and have access to all of Reston’s amenities.
Once it was cutting edge; a few decades later, it was obsolete. Now, Crystal City has a golden opportunity to reinvent itself yet again — as National Landing — after Amazon chose the urban neighborhood in Arlington County, as one of its two new headquarters.
“It’s a decision that I think will be a benchmark and a case study for many years to come,” says Uwe Brandes, faculty director of the Georgetown University Master’s program in Urban & Regional Planning.
Here, Brandes talks with Glenn Williamson, faculty director of the Master’s in Real Estate program, about the decision’s impact on Northern Virginia and the entire Washington, D.C. region.
Crystal City developer JBG Smith “had a portfolio of buildings that were obsolete, and they were like ugly ducklings,” Williamson said. “And what they’ve managed to do now with this property is to turn it into a beautiful swan.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=j0tZY-e2wfw
This is a sponsored post from Eve Thompson of Reston Real Estate. For a more complete picture of home sales in your neighborhood, contact her on Reston Real Estate.
The past 30 days have seen 72 properties go to settlement. That’s two thirds of the total inventory of houses available for sale.
The housing inventory is so low that more buyers are worried that they won’t find a house to purchase; while it’s not uncommon to see a dip in housing inventory at this time of year numbers, this low are pretty extreme.
Digging into the recent sales I see that 10% of these properties sold above list price with an average days on market of just 4 days — so sold in less than a week for more than list price; sounds like a win/win!
Here are a few of the recent sales.
2401 Ansdel Court
4 BR/2.5 BA
List Price: $399,000
Sold Price: $425,000
11442 Church Hill Road
2 BR/2 BA
List Price $324,900
Sold Price $330,000
11756 Great Owl Circle
4 BR/4.5 BA
List Price $565,000
Sold Price $570,000
11184 Glade Drive
3 BR/2.5 BA
List Price $575,000
Sold Price $593,000
1945 Roland Park Drive
4 BR/4.5 BA
List Price: $981,375
Sold Price: $981,375
by Mina Fies, Synergy Design & Construction
I love the start of a New Year! There’s nothing like that feeling you get after you’ve had time to put away the holiday decorations and put your home back together again after the flurry of family, friends, cookies, presents and cleaned up the trail of gift wrap and empty boxes all over the family room floor.
I often find that once I take the last bauble down, my place looks bigger. But, despite my dislike of the chaos the holidays bring, it also feels a little “flat” (kind of like that leftover New Year’s Eve champagne).
Which is why the New Year is the perfect time to start thinking about putting a little pep back into your space before the next round of hosting begins! If you found yourself thinking about how your kitchen just isn’t working for you anymore, or that your master bath wasn’t the sanctuary from the in-laws you needed, listen to that inner voice and decide this is the year you’ll make a change.
Whether you’re trying to figure out how much a remodel really costs, or you just don’t know what you need, we’ve got answers and we’re here to help! Check out our Free Getting Started checklist and to get a jump-start on your remodeling plans.
To get the creative juices flowing, this month, we’re sharing a beautiful lakefront home remodel in Reston. The first floor of this gorgeous home was completely transformed into a contemporary family-oriented space that now feels bright, fresh and 2019 ready!
You can see more photos of the home on Houzz.
If you’ve done your research already and are ready to discuss your remodel, give us a call to talk about your home and make this the year to make your space your own.
This is a sponsored column by attorneys John Berry and Kimberly Berry of Berry & Berry, PLLC, an employment and labor law firm located in Northern Virginia that specializes in federal employee, security clearance, retirement and private sector employee matters.
By John V. Berry, Esq.
We represent employees in Virginia who have been terminated in retaliation for whistleblowing. Whistleblower cases are unique and present their own unique challenges.
Employees are advised to seek counsel as early in the process as possible if they believe that they have been terminated (or will be terminated) in retaliation for whistleblower activities.
Whistleblower Law in Virginia
In Virginia, if a whistleblower reports alleged wrongdoing or states that they intend to report it, this can subject the employer to a civil lawsuit for retaliation if it falls under certain criteria. While Virginia is an at-will state, and employees may be fired for any reason or no reason at all, exceptions can apply.
In the past 30 years, exceptions to this general rule have started to emerge in Virginia. One such exception involves employee termination in retaliation for whistleblowing.
The Virginia courts carved out this exception to the at-will doctrine in the 1985 case of Bowman v. State Bank of Keysville. Other rules on whistleblowing can apply to federal employees and state or local employees. This article focuses on private company employees in Virginia.
What Kind of Retaliation is Covered?
An employer may not terminate an employee for reporting an issue that relates to the public policy of Virginia. An employee has a potential claim for wrongful discharge when the basis for the discharge violates public policy.
In order to determine what constitutes public policy, Virginia courts have pointed to statutes to determine if an issue has been endorsed by the state (e.g., the right to collect unemployment compensation benefits if eligible) or prohibited (e.g., criminal laws prohibiting perjury).
Example: Employer is sued for a personal injury by a shopper in their department store. Employee Jim Smith is a witness to the injury. The employer asks the employee to lie in court so that they won’t be liable. Mr. Smith refuses to lie in court. Employee A testifies truthfully and is then fired.
Statutory Whistleblower Retaliation in Virginia
In addition to the exceptions carved out by the Virginia courts, the Virginia General Assembly has passed specific statutory protections for certain activities. Employees who engage in protected activities under laws in certain areas are also protected from retaliation. These include asbestos, lead, and home inspection contractors; occupational safety and health issues; and workers’ compensation.
However, because the Virginia assembly has not passed a general whistleblower protection statute, most workers have to rely on the exceptions carved out by the courts to pursue a whistleblower claim. The courts in Virginia have seen an increase in the number of these types of cases in recent years.
I believe that more cases will expand this doctrine as Northern Virginia grows and exerts influence in Richmond for these types of employment protections.
The most usual remedies for Bowman Whistleblower claims can include:
- Reinstatement
- Damages
- Lost Benefits
- Attorneys fees
Conclusion
If you are in need of employment law advice representation, please contact our office at 703-668-0070 or through our contact page to schedule a consultation. Please also visit and like us on Facebook or Twitter.
This is a sponsored post by Eve Thompson of Reston Real Estate.
At the risk of repeating myself, housing inventory is crazy low!
Just 104 active listings, there are 4 in a “Coming Soon” status but for 3 zip codes this is seriously low inventory.
83 homes settled in the past 30 days, which says that demand for houses is still strong especially given the holidays.
Here are a few of the new listings this week:
Meet Oakley, a labrador retriever available for adoption locally.
Here is what her friends at Safe Haven Puppy Rescue have to say about her:
Ms. Oakley is a gorgeous Labrador retriever who is very affectionate and gets along great with others.
She is approximately 60 pounds and about 2.5 years old.
She is sure to make a great addition to any family with her classic Labrador personality.
Are you and Oakley a match? If so, let us know and our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, will send you some treats and prizes.
Want your pet to be considered for the Reston Pet of the Week?
Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet. Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks.
Becky’s Pet Care, the winner of three Angie’s List Super Service Awards and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year, provides professional dog walking and pet sitting services in Reston and Northern Virginia.
This is a sponsored post from Eve Thompson of Reston Real Estate. For a more complete picture of home sales in your neighborhood, contact her on Reston Real Estate.
It’s not just about the houses.
One of the biggest surprises of being in real estate was realizing how little the work turns out to be about houses and how much more it is about walking with people as they navigate different life transitions.
I love the HGTV real estate shows where the real estate agent shows a buyer 3 homes and voila, they pick a house, write a contract, move in and the next time you see them they’re at a house warming party — all this in 30 minutes. As is often the case with realty TV, it’s not very real.
In real life people are dealing with all kinds of events that are driving them from one place to another place.
Some are happy, some are sad, some are speculative but it is mostly about life changes, marriage, births, deaths, retiring, divorcing, new jobs and lost jobs. Sometimes it’s about more than one thing, a new marriage and a new job.
Change is almost always hard for people; we are rarely at our best when we’re moving through transitions. Real estate agents spend a lot of time with people who aren’t at their best, but they might be more real than if you had met them at a cocktail party.
It’s one of the things I like about my job, the connections that are made if only for a short while.
Here are the Reston numbers. There are currently 104 fully active properties on the market in Reston. We have 55 pending properties which leaves us with a little less than two months inventory. Obviously in our market a prolonged government shut down will be damaging to our housing market but hopefully we’ll find a way past that impasse soon!
