Northern Virginia Real Estate Blog

Statistics won’t always tell the whole story, but they often provide good perspective.

The graph at right shows Existing Home Sales data going back three years. An “existing home” is one that can’t be called new construction; a “used home”, so to speak.

Note the steep decline from 2005 through late-2007.

Since November, however, Existing Home Sales have remained within a very tight range and appear to have reached a flattening point.

The Existing Home Sales data supports the word-on-the-street from real estate agents nationwide that buyers are returning to the housing market in search of good values.

But let’s not forget — demand is only half of the story. There is the supply factor, too, and the supply side of the housing market is showing the same leveling signs as the demand part.

Looking at the national inventory at left, the number of existing homes for sale has hovered near 4.5 million for the last several months. No change suggests strength.

Now again, statistics won’t tell the whole story but there are plenty of positive signals from the real estate market right now, just like there are negative ones, too.

This is one reason why real estate data causes so much debate — people want to take an either/or proposition about the state of the real estate and it doesn’t work like that. Real estate can be simultaneously strong and weak and when it is, buyers look for value.

Perhaps this is why the national housing data is beginning to level off after a 3-year slide. There’s good values to be had, and today’s home buyers know it.

(Images courtesy: Wall Street Journal Online)

The process of buying a home is very different from the process of selling a home, but they both end the same way — with Moving Day.

Choosing a moving company is the often-hurried “last step” that buyers and seller view as a hassle.

Because it’s difficult to differentiate between the moving companies, they look for the lowest-cost provider or a “guy” who can do the job.

If it was that simple, sites like MovingScam.com wouldn’t exist and the New York Times wouldn’t run headlines with the phrase “Furniture Ransom“.

There are a lot of reputable moving companies but there are a lot of con artists, too, and it’s sometimes hard to tell them apart.

This is one reason to ask your real estate agent for a direct referral to a mover; many brokerages have relationships with larger, national companies that can service your in-state and out-of-state moving needs. These movers will come to your home, give an accurate quote, and then stand behind their estimates.

Now, versus the smaller players, the estimates may look a little bit high, but know that they’re legitimate. Don’t think of the higher costs as dollar’s wasted — think of them as piece of mind while your life’s treasures are in transit.

About Mike Rosen

My Client-First Philosophy

There are many qualities and skills that go into being an excellent real estate professional - integrity, in-depth community and market knowledge, marketing savvy, effective negotiation skills and a high-quality professional network, all of which are hallmarks of how I work.

That said, in my experience as a Northern Virginia real estate professional, I’ve also found that providing the very best service is essentially about putting my clients first. This means keeping myself accessible, being a good listener as well as a good communicator, and responding quickly to your needs.

This “client first” philosophy has always been my approach and it requires me to continually improve my skills and ways of doing business. In addition, I’ve found that the latest technologies are enabling me to do everything I’ve always done, only much more quickly and efficiently. They’ve also helped me to extend the range of services I provide to my clients.

So when you decide that you’d like to buy or sell a home in the Northern Virginia areas, please contact me online or give me a call at (703) 880-6770.

Northern Virginia Resident for Almost 30 years

• I moved to Fairfax in 1979 with my family, and I’ve lived here in Northern Virginia ever since.
• I attended Fairfax County Public Schools for my K-12 education and I graduated from Centreville High School in 1991.
• I have lived and worked in many different areas of Northern Virginia including Fairfax, Clifton, Centreville, Arlington, Falls Church, Reston, Ashburn, Alexandria, Sterling and Oak Hill. I would like to think that I know the area very well.

Graduate of The University of Virginia

• Graduated from UVA with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1996.

Real Estate Highlights

• Full time Real Estate Professional
• Member of
  • NAR - National Association of Realtors
  • VAR - Virginia Association of Realtors
  • NVAR - Northern Virginia Association of Realtors
• Extensive knowledge of Northern Virginia as a resident for almost 30 years
• I am an avid real estate investor. My wife and I own investment properties both in Northern Virginia and in other parts of the country.

Each month, the Commerce Department and the National Association of REALTORS release national housing data.

The former’s release is called the New Residential Sales report and the latter’s is called the Existing Home Sales report.

Both reports highlight the “median sales price”, the point at which half of the homes in the U.S. sold for more, and half sold for less.

Last month, the median sales prices were as follows:

• Existing homes: Down 8.2 percent
• New homes: Down 2.7 percent

The very definition of “median”, however, makes this data point useless for national housing statistics.

If a large amount of homes are sold in regions where home prices are traditionally high, the median sales price will trend higher.

If a large amount of homes are sold in regions where home prices are traditionally low, the median sales price will trend lower.

Again, all that the median sales price tells us is the price point at which half the homes in the country sold for more, and half sold for less.

Real estate is a local phenomenon and so grouping the entire country’s supply of homes together makes little sense. A home in San Francisco has little to do with a home in Omaha.

To get a true gauge of your local market, talk to a real estate agent that knows the local market well. You’ll not only get meaningful statistics about a neighborhood, but you’ll get good insights, too.

HGTV catalogs the Top 15 Home Improvements For Sellers, complete with narrarated, 90-second videos and the expected return-on-investment per project.

• Best Return: Minor Bathroom Remodeling
• Worst Return: Living Room Updates

Each locale in the country will get a slightly larger (or lesser) return on the HGTV-suggested projects. It’s not just a home improvement that matters, but a home improvement relative to your neighborhood.

Before starting work on a project, check with a real estate agent that knows your local market well to minimize the chances of starting a project that will yield little return.

See the entire 15 Home Improvement list on the HGTV FrontDoor Web site.

When selling a home, understanding a little bit about home buyer psychology can help you move your home more quickly.

After all, what people perceive helps define how they act.

A recent article from RealEstateJournal.com listed several techniques that home seller can use to attract more offers from buyers.

The tips included:

1. Number Play: $299,999 seems far less expensive than $300,000
2. Connotation: Precise numbers indicate value; Round numbers indicate prestige
3. Simpicity: If you drop the price, make the math easy for the buyer so the savings are obvious

Curiously absent from the piece, however, is the #1 home selling tip that every good real estate agent knows:

To sell your home quickly, price it right.

A “good buy” speaks for itself — no psychology required.

When a buyer and seller reach agreement on a home sale, the buyer typically puts a small amount of money into a trust account.

This up-front deposit is more commonly known as “earnest money”.

A sales contract’s earnest money requirement will vary from contract to contract. It can be as high as 10 percent of the purchase price and could be as low as $500; earnest money is a negotiable item between buyers and sellers.

Some factors that can influence earnest money amounts include:

• Market conditions: Stronger markets often call for more earnest money
• Buyer economics: First-time buyers often give less earnest money
• Seller psychology: Skeptical sellers often ask for more earnest money

No matter how large or how small, however, earnest money is supposed to give the seller a sign of good faith that the buyer wants to purchase the home.

To this end, earnest money can be forfeited if the buyer later “backs out” of the deal, or breaches the terms of the purchase agreement. Breaching, however, is infrequent.

This is because most purchase contracts are written with buyer-focused “outs” called “contingencies”.

A typical contingency is that the seller must provide a clean title policy to the buyer, or that the buyer must secure financing prior to given date, or that the home must pass a satisfactory inspection.

If any of these contingencies cannot be met, the purchase agreement is voided and earnest money returned to the buyer.

When contingencies are met, however, earnest money becomes a deposit and is applied directly to the buyer’s bottom line at settlement. If the buyer is expected to have $50,0000 for the closing, for example, the true bottom line is $50,000 minus the earnest money deposit.

Earnest money customs vary from state to state, city to city, and even locale to locale. Be sure to ask your real estate agent and/or real estate attorney for professional counsel before signing purchase contracts.

The earnest money you save may be your own.