For those of you loyal visitors and feed readers, it’s time to make the big announcement!  Introducing:

I’ve officially changed blog platforms and while I don’t have quite all of the kinks worked out, my new site will enable you to enjoy the best of all that Klaussen Real Estate has to offer.  It combines my daily blog entries with all of the buyer and seller support that you’d expect to receive from my full service website – you’ll be able to search for properties straight to our Regional MLS service, request a CMA and have community links and more! 

So please come check it out – leave me some feedback and enjoy!  Knowing that it will continue to improve every day – I hope you’ll make it your destination for real estate information here in Arlington and around the greater Northern Virginia Area!

Happy Saturday…

Jennifer

Since I get asked a lot of questions about condos in Arlington, as a new feature to my blog I am going to be looking at individual complexes in depth in order to help spread the word about how great some of these buildings are!

For my first “Condo Focus” article, I chose a wonderful complex located in the heart of the Ballston-Virginia Square corridor, Lexington Square.  It is comprised of 4 towers located on the quiet 9^th Street, which parallels Wilson Blvd and Fairfax Drive and can be found between Pollard and Oakland Streets.  

The buildings were completed from 2000–2002 and boast some traditional floorplans as well as some really spectacular, light filled very different layouts, too!  Some units even have gas fireplaces.  The buildings have beautiful marble lobbies – one for each side of 9^th Street.  On the North side (the photo above) is where you’ll find the 2–tiered swimming pool and on the south side you can find the exercise room and outdoor grilling area/lawn.

Currently there are only 5 units listed for sale:  1 one–bedroom unit, 1 one–bedroom/den and 3 two–bedroom units.  They range in price from $399,000 to $485,000.  So far in 2007, there have been 11 one-bedroom units that have sold with an average selling price of $376K and 59 days on the market – although, one that was priced to sell only took 5 days to sell!  There were 10 two-bedroom units that have sold this year-to-date averaging $529K and taking 74 days on the market… although, just like the one-bedroom units, one that was priced to sell only took 5 days to sell.  By the way, the highest price paid this year for a unit in Lexington Square was $690K for a very large (over 1,500 square feet) model on the 10th floor… wow!  Like I said, be on the lookout for some very rare and unusual floorplans – you’ll find them here, for sure!

If you’re looking for a great condo along the orange metro line, I highly encourage you to take a look at Lexington Square… a few other important things to mention – their condo fees are VERY reasonable, and it’s a pet friendly building!  To learn more about this great complex, give me a buzz or drop me a line!

Happy Wednesday

Jennifer

There are a few very important choices sellers face when contemplating putting their home on the market.  The first thing they must decide is what type of representation or assistance they are looking for.  There are a lot of sellers out there who believe that selling real estate is nothing more than sticking a sign in the ground, and waiting for a buyer to come along.  Oh, and many of those sellers really don’t have a good grasp on what their home should sell for, market conditions, etc… 

Many of these sellers will choose what is now defined as “Limited Service Agency” — those brokerages who, for a very low flat fee, will place your home in the MLS.  That’s it.  They’ve been around a long time but the Commonwealth of Virginia has just taken it upon themselves to actually define the duties (or lack thereof) of someone acting in a limited service capacity, as a way to protect consumers…. did you get that?  “p-r-o-t-e-c-t” consumers.  The Powers That Be feel that consumers need protection from Limited Service Agencies and are now requiring disclosure to be sure that there is a mutual understanding of what they will and won’t do as a duty to the seller.

What won’t they do?

NO Marketing…  this means no signs, no pictures, no brochures, no online presence, no open houses, no exposure to other agents through a brokers only open house…  WOW…

NO Negotiating… they won’t receive contracts, won’t negotiate contracts, won’t facilitate the back and forth of contracts, won’t help you understand what’s customary in our contracts – it’s all up to you Mr. or Ms. Seller.

NO Assistance…  hmmm, no help with price setting, no help keeping contract deadlines, no help with settlement, no help with coordinating or attending inspections, appraisers, etc…, no help with anything.

What WILL they do?  Or, I should say, what are they obligated to do?

they WILL put your listing in the MLS

they WILL provide necessary disclosures for you to fill out on your own

they WILL help you obtain your HOA/Condo documents as required by law

they MAY give you a lockbox to use for a fee or deposit

I just recently saw a home in my neighborhood that happened to be listed by an out of area Limited Service Agency – it’s in a hot area, sat on the market for over 90 days and sold for $100K less than the asking price and it wasn’t overpriced to begin with.  I bet that seller wishes they had hired a full service brokerage (with a fantastic agent such as myself <grin>) to represent them in the sale of their home.

I’m sure this style of brokerage probably works for some people – but be sure that it’s worth the price before you sign on the dotted line!  Give me a chance to tell you how to at least have a fighting chance to get your home properly marketed and sold in this slower market.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Happy Monday – it’s a glorious day out there — enjoy it!

Jennifer

It’s fall!  FINALLY!!!  I love fall – it’s my favorite season – I love the crisp night air, the stunning blue sky with puffy clouds, falling leaves, and warm sweaters.  I could go on and on.  It’s also a great time to “clean house” and bring some of that freshness in!  Here are some small ideas that will bring you big results!  Give one or all of them a try and you’ll feel great about welcoming in a new season!

1.  Sweep your front walk…  Really sweep it – look up, too!  Get all those cobwebs and spiderwebs down from around the light fixtures and the corners of your front door!  Shake out your doormat – you’ll be amazed what a difference just this small step makes!

2. Mums…  You can get mums just about anywhere these days and often for less than $5/plant – get a few and place them on your front steps, beside your door, or even put them in the ground – they’re very festive and inexpensive.

3.  Cranberries…  Get a clear glass bowl or two — you can even do this with vases — and fill them with cranberries.  You’ll love the look of the bright color and the feeling of having nature inside with you.

4.  Pumpkins and Gourds…  These are also readily available this time of the year in all shapes, sizes, colors and textures.  Pick up a bunch either at the farmer’s market or the grocery store – place them down your table, along your mantle, on a bathroom counter, a coffee table, etc…  Get creative!

5.  Candles…  This is HUGE… some of us are not natural decorators (ahem….  I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not my primary strength!) — the easy secret is stick with 1 color (even ivory works great) and get them in every height, size and style.  Again, here’s where you can get creative – you can march them down your table or mantle, group them on a coffee table, on your kitchen counter, etc…  Then, and here’s a stretch, actually light them.  The warmth of the candlelight will give you a wonderful fall feeling!

So there you go – a few great ideas to get you set for the fall season! 

Enjoy and Happy Thursday

Jennifer

In the last week I’ve spent a lot of time helping unravel the myths about dealing with short sales, foreclosures and bank owned properties – as a result, here are the top 7 reasons why, as a buyer, you may want to steer clear:

1.  Competitive Pricing…  In this soft market, short sales are not always priced competitively – sometimes equal to or higher than other similar available properties

2.  The Bank calls the Shots…  as it relates to the terms of the contracts; they can (and most often do) override certain terms of our Regional Sales Contract and can change terms mid-stream

3.  Property sold as-is…  meaning there are generally no home inspection repairs or credits allowed; NOR will any walk-through items be repaired; WYSIWYG

4.  The Bank holds the $$…  generally in a transaction, the brokerage representing the buyer holds the earnest money deposit.   However, in these cases, they will generally ask that the seller (or BANK) hold the money – not a great scenario in my book…

5.  Delays?  Unexpected and unexplained delays are common.  Even settlement dates can come and go without any communication on status – I’ve even heard of delays up to 30–60 days…  even when everyone is ready at the settlement table – loan funded and everything ready to go.

6.  Closing Costs?  Forget it…  very few short sale situations will agree to chip in to cover any buyer closing costs…

and…..

7.  HOA/Condo violations or delinquencies?  Sometimes the seller is unwilling to remedy and this leaves an enormous exposure for the buyer.

I know I’ve painted a pretty gloom and doom picture – but the message is clear – if you can stay away, at least for now, the climate is not friendly for buyers who want to purchase these properties.  I’m hopeful that as more flood the market, the banks will ease up and realize that they don’t want to be property owners, or property managers – just sell them and be pleasant!

Tread carefully!

Happy Wednesday

Jennifer

Here we are – Short Sales!

SHORT SALES

A short sale occurs when the seller owes more on the property than it’s worth…  it’s that simple.  But ah, yes, it does get more complicated from here.  One of two scenarios generally occur.

Scenario 1:  The seller may be willing and/or able to bring money to the table in order to complete the transaction.  If this occurs, this is not considered a “short sale” but sometimes you’ll hear this seller referred to as being upside-down on a transaction. 

Scenario 2:  The seller approaches the lender (s) to work out some sort of reduced payoff.  Sometimes they need to approach both their first trust and second trust lenders and they need to work together to come up with feasible options.  In this case, the lender becomes a 3rd party to the transaction and has to “approve” any terms or contracts that the seller agrees to.  

In a way, it seems unbelievable that a lender would be willing to just forgive debt incurred by the seller – but the alternative is that they take back the property and then they become property managers OR sellers themselves — and c’mon, folks, these guys are BANKERS.  So sometimes when looking at risk management, forgiving some amount debt is the brightest of the bank’s options. 

Please be aware that a short sale can be a lengthy and stressful process – especially for a buyer.  They now essentially have a 2^nd seller involved in the decision making process and believe me, the bank doesn’t take this role quite as seriously as the owner of the property does. 

There are all sorts of pitfalls involved in purchasing (and selling) these types of properties.  And they are getting more common every single day.  This will create another type of inventory overflow because a lot of agents and buyers will not sell (or attempt to sell) a property that has a 3rd party (bank) approval addendum.  There is so much risk involved – that’s tomorrow’s topic…

So for today – at least you’re up to date on the terminology – so when  you see a property listed as “bank owned” then you know it’s an REO.  When you see “3rd party/bank approval required” you can bet it’s a short sale.  We rarely actually see the foreclosures –

In any of these cases, it is imperative that you are working with a knowledgeable, prepared and responsible real estate agent who will put your best interests WAY ahead of making a sale.  These are risky and a lot of hard work – sometimes, in the end there’s a great deal – other times, not so much.  So proceed with caution!

As always if you’d like to discuss something further or would like to chat about selling or purchasing real estate, I’d be delighted to hear from you!

Happy Thursday

Jennifer

So, I’m sure I intrigued a lot of you yesterday with this fun topic!  Frankly I was a little worn out, but decided to have another go of it today. 

REO

REO stands for “Real Estate Owned” and is the term used when the bank (lender) now owns the real property and is selling it.  It’s happens when there are no bidders at foreclosure OR if the bids are too low – the bank will have a representative present at the foreclosure auction to prevent a sale from occurring at a price lower than they are willing to accept. 

So, when looking at a listing that is REO, it simply means the bank owns it… the bank IS the seller.  The good news is that they will clear up any title problems remaining from the foreclosure.   The bad news is that the property will still be sold in as-is condition; and there will be an addendum to the Regional Sales Contract that will override some of the provisions therein.  Interestingly, they are also exempt from providing the residential property disclosure.  However, as we see the market continue to soften, some REO lenders are becoming more open to negotiation on the terms of home inspection items/repairs – this is good news.

I was going to go into short sales today, but I think that’s best left for tomorrow.  I couldn’t let today pass without a mention of the day – September 11th.  A day that will always stand out in our hearts and memories with shock, horror and disbelief that such a horrible atrocity could be carried out on US soil.  I’ll never forget that day and hope that we never see another day like that – EVER. 

Happy Tuesday

Jennifer

These days there seems to be a lot of talk about real estate foreclosures.  In fact, in the year 2008 approximately 2,000,000 (that’s TWO MILLION) ARMs (Adjustable Rate Mortgages) will adjust…  pretty staggering, isn’t it?  And as they adjust, there will be some that simply cannot make the payments.  For a multitude of reasons, people find themselves in this situation every day. 

I am going to focus most of this week’s blog topics around foreclosures, short sales, being a seller, being a buyer, risks, pitfalls, upsides (if I can find any) and general information that is pertinent.

Today, let’s look at foreclosure.  Foreclosure is a process the mortgage holder begins when payments are not made in a timely fashion.  When you sat at the settlement table and signed documents, one of them outlined where, when, how much and to whom payments would be made.  It also went on to detail what would happen if you failed to make payments on time.  Generally there is a curative period, in which all that is necessary is that you simply bring the payments current.  Generally with only 1 missed payment, a homeowner is considered to be in default and they are sent a letter notifying them of the situation and the curative period begins.  With the 2nd missed payment, a more urgent letter is sent by the mortgage holder and usually it’s at this time that the matter is turned over internally to the collections department.  The lender cannot begin the actual foreclosure process until the stated curative period has passed.

Once it has passed, a “Notice of Default” is given to the homeowner letting them know that the note (mortgage) is now due and payable in FULL – so no longer do they need to merely bring the payments current – they need to repay the entire loan.  Also, once this notice has been given to the homeowner, immediate power transfers to the trustee – or mortgage holder.  Typically foreclosure sales occur within 3–6 months of the Notice being delivered.  That’s QUICK!

So what exactly happens with a foreclosure sale?  It is advertised in the newspaper and sold at auction typically on the courthouse steps.  There are certain terms that are not negotiable (such as necessary down payment and confirmed ability to complete the transaction in a fairly quick timeframe); the property is sold in as-is condition, and most often, sight-unseen.  There is no “Regional Sales Contract” and very few, if any, protections for the buyer.  In fact, there may be outstanding tax liens on the property that the buyer may or may  not be aware of.  Pretty scary! 

Generally foreclosure sales are purchased by investors, not someone looking for a home.  It’s a tough process – not one I would want to represent a buyer for!

There are a lot of “listings” today in the MLS for what we refer to as or think of as foreclosures – but in fact, those are short sales and THAT will be our topic for tomorrow.

If you’d like more information, want to chat or are looking to sell your home and/or buy a new one – please give me a call.   All indications are that interest rates have stabilized on a slight down-tick, inventory is plentiful, sellers are negotiating (they’re not giving their homes away for free, but there are fair prices to be paid and fair deals to be made) so pick up the phone and give me a call anytime!

Again, stay tuned for Part II tomorrow where we’ll wrap up definitions before heading into the reasons why or why not you might be interested in participating in one of these types of sales.

Happy Monday!

Jennifer

O-K, we’ve all seen them – flying proudly in our neighbor’s, friend’s or perhaps our very own homes.  We have jokingly referred to them as the new Arlington County Flag, although I didn’t want to upset anyone by putting that in my title. 

Have you guessed yet?  Of course, you need a few more clues – it’s red and about 8 1/2 x 11 in size – although the red quickly fades to white…  any guessers yet?  Yep, you got it, it’s the Building Permit.

Last week when I was driving around I decided to stop and take a photo every time I saw one in a window.  Well, that only lasted for about 15 minutes – after almost causing several accidents, I realized it’s futile – they are EVERYWHERE.  I tried to get some statistics about the number of building permits issued, the penetration rates (e.g., 1 home out of every 8 has been issued a building permit in the last 12 months) but alas, no such information is published, at least not that I can find.

But here’s a bit of what I saw:

I could amass hundreds of these photos, but you sort of get the drift!

If you are thinking of doing some work on your home, or just want to fit in with the new symbol of Arlington you should look someday about all of the instances that permits are required in Arlington County.  You might be surprised!  I was!

Happy Friday

Jennifer Klaussen – photo journalist extraordinaire (ha ha ha ha ha)

I’ve decided to add a new feature to my blogworld – Neighborhood Focus.  This week, to kick it off, I’ll be taking a closer look at Westover, a charming neighborhood in North Arlington that gives the feel of yesteryear.

Washington Boulevard is the “Main Street” if you will, of Westover.  Traffic slows when you enter into the 2–3 block stretch resembling days gone by.  It’s an area of local shops, small-town feel, and everything you need – from the post office, the grocery, a few colorful restaurants, a barber, drug store, hardware store, coffee shop, library…  what else could you need?

Here is a look down one of the sidewalks of Westover Village.  You can see the barber shop and Scoop Beauregards – one of my personal favorite ice cream parlors in the entire area!

This shopping center is flanked by 2 very clever restaurants:  The Lost Dog Cafe and the Stray Cat Cafe!  I can personally vouch for the garlic-y white pizzas and wide array of beer/ale served at the Lost Dog!  It’s definitely something to experience.

It’s a quaint part of Arlington that offers a variety of housing options some even affordable!   Also, it lies within walking distance to the East Falls Church metro – making it a commuter’s dream.

So if you’re considering a move to Arlington, or even just like exploring new places – consider slowing down and experiencing Westover!  You won’t regret it.

Happy Thursday

Jennifer