Sellers: Seize the moment!

Currently, the National Association of Realtors is recognizing very low inventory on the market.  This trend is pushing sales prices upwards.  For any one in the market to sell their home, this is good news.

Some homeowners have adopted a "wait and see" attitude with the real estate market.   Would be sellers have sat on the fence hoping for a complete rebound in peak pricing from 2005-2007 ish.

While sales prices have not totally rebounded from peak pricing years ago, the Northern Virginia real estate market has a history of consistent  sales and pricing in 2012.  Steady sales are expected to continue through 2013.

If you'd like to sell your home, call me today,  I will treat your transaction as if it were my own.

                                              Carla Brooks
                                              703-577-4960
                                           brkslong@aol.com

Do you have a Christmas Tree yet?

If you haven't yet purchased a Christmas Tree, The Optimist Club of Greater Vienna is selling fraser firs in the Giant Food parking lot on Maple Avenue in Vienna.

All the proceeds from this sale go back to the community in the form of college scholarships for seniors, financial assistance to local sports teams for equipment and so forth, awards for the elementary schools and their respective projects, awards for local law enforcement programs, hearing impaired essay contest winner awards and so much more!

All the trees are fraser firs from North Carolina I believe.  They are beautiful.  They each have a hole drilled in the bottom and are placed on spikes on the stands in the lot so you can see the shape of the tree.

The Optimist Club members that are working the tree lot will trim the branches on the tree for you and give the bottom a fresh clip with the chain saw.  A fresh cut will allow the tree to absorb more moisture and you must get that tree in water within an hour of the fresh cut.  Stands with spikes are available to purchase (small and medium).

 These stands are so handy for the tree--no awkward screwing in the three bolts that secure the tree on most stands sold in the stores.  Simply lay the tree on its side and insert the spike into the hole in the bottom and tilt the tree to stand up position--so easy!




I purchased my tree on Monday night and its halfway decorated--going with a gold and silver theme this year:)  My family room is small so I chose one of the pink tag trees ($45) not too tall and very slim.

Hope you have a great holiday season!

If you'd like to buy or sell a home call me today, I will treat your transaction as if it were my own!


                                                 Carla Brooks
                                                 703-577-4960
                                               brkslong@aol.com

Attention Buyers!

If you are in the market to buy a home, the KCM blog has a very good post on the "cost" of a home.  They define the "cost" of a home as the amount of the long term expenditure.  When rates are as low as they are, now is the time to buy.

Here is the post: KCM blog November 7th post

Have a great day and remember to call me when you are ready to buy or sell a home,  I will treat your transaction as if it were my own.


                                                  Carla Brooks
                                                703-577-4960
                                             brkslong@aol.com

PS image a courtesy of free digital photos

Have Four Years Really Gone By?

                                         Wow, its time to vote in another Presidential election.

According to the news today, voters are turning out in record numbers compared to the last presidential election.  I hope this is true.  After all, the election and the issues are important.   I like to believe that the more people voting in our country, the more patriotism there is.  And its exciting to be around people passionate about their country and the issues confronting our society and economy.

While visiting Paris in 1998, I loved the feeling of passion of the French people.  The people seemed connected to life and committed to what makes them happy.  How could one argue with that?  I'm amazed at the number of American blogs devoted to French inspired decor and French Living and reading these blogs I know I'm not the only one who feels the passion of the French people.

I'm proud of the younger generations for being so interested in the political leaders.  They seem to understand that the decisions made today will have a bearing on their futures.  I don't recall having much interest in politics while in high school and college.

My 5 year old grandson came over the other day, sat down on the couch and proudly announced his Presidential pick!   Of course, his pick mirrored his parent's preference yet I don't believe I knew anything about the United States Presidents when I was 5 years old.  Part of this awareness is the exploding media coverage of political issues and events.  Some of might be more inclined to feel the way the 4 year old girl (on the u tube video) crying because she was so tired of hearing about "Bronco Bama and Mitt Romney".  How cute is that?

In any event, I bring out the old Ty Beanie babies every 4 years and let them duke it out in my kitchen until the results are in.  Anyone passing through my kitchen will remember to vote!

Hope to see you with your "I Voted" sticker tomorrow:)

And remember, if you'd like to buy or sell a home, call me today!

                                                      Carla Brooks
                                                      703-577-4960
                                                  brkslong@aol.com

"No more 'n a sock full"

Years ago, when I first started my career in real estate, I was so excited to get a call from a homeowner who wanted to sell their home.  The market sales were robust and I was itching to do get out there and  learn the business.

One day, I got a call from a gentleman in Falls Church.   He was definitely selling a home and he wanted to speak to me about listing his property.  Yes! I thought, this is what I have been waiting for.

I arrived to the appointment on time and proceeded to tour the home with the seller.  When we got to the basement I could see it was unfinished.  I asked the seller point blank if the basement ever leaked.  He told me that as a general rule no.  On occasion, however, it has leaked yet "no more 'n a sock full" at one time.  Seeing my bewildered look, he further explained that when he has come down to the basement and seen water during a storm, he bunches up a sock and throws it in the corner and the water has never been more than a sock could handle.

Oh, ok, I thought.  Now how do I explain that to prospective buyers as a listing agent?

Well, the owner ended up selling on his own and I didn't have to be concerned with the proper disclosures to prospective buyers.  I'm sure the seller did his own explaining...... just fine:)

I'm wishing all of you safety during Hurricane Sandy and I hope none of you have any water issues and if you do I hope its "no more 'n a sock full" !.  God bless!

                                                  Carla Brooks
                                                  703-577-4960
                                             brkslong@aol.com

ps. image is courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Water Line Replacement Insurance

For years, I have been recommending the insurance offered by Dominion Power to clients.  Dominion Power offers water line replacement, resulting landscaping costs, and sewer line replacement  insurance to customers for a low monthly fee.

This past week I found out first hand how the reimbursement program works when I discovered a water leak in my front yard.  The first step was to call the Fairfax County Water Authority and have them confirm that a water leak existed.  If the leak is a slow leak then the water to the house can be left on without interrupting water service to the resident. Luckily, my leak was a slow leak and my water supply could be left on.

  Once the leak is confirmed by the Fairfax County Water Authority, the next step is to notify Dominion Power.  Dominion Power then sends out their contractor (American Plumbing) to survery the situation and decide what needs to be done and when a contractor will be sent out to do the work.

I waited over a week for the contractor to have a crew in place to repair the leak.  I was told that the customers with no water service would be taken care of first.  This made sense, yet did not make the wait period any easier.   I watched water build up in my front yard for over a week and felt concerned that somehow all this water might possibly damage my lawn.

Anyway, the repair date arrived and all went smoothly.  The repair can be done without digging up the whole yard since the new line (copper 7/8 inch) can be placed inside the old line (plastic 1 inch) and connected to the  house lines. 

After the installation, the Fairfax County Inspectors have to come out to approve the installation.  No one notified me that the inspectors would be out the next morning so the final inspection failed. The next morning an inspector showed up from the county.  I was surprised to see the inspector since again no one called to schedule an appointment.  The inspector told me that the county had so many water lines to inspect that they did not have time to call.  Ok....

Anyway, the work passed inspection and the copper line will be guaranteed for 10 years.  The catch?  There's always a catch, right?  Since the ruptured line was plastic the insurance covers only a like-kind line replacement.  The insured party has to pay for the upgrade to a copper line.  How much did the upgrade cost?  $610 !!!

So there you have the drill.  The insurance is well worth the monthly fee since a line replacement could run thousands of dollars. 

If you'd like to buy or sell a home, call me today.  I will treat your transaction as if it were my own. 

                                                           Carla Brooks
                                                         703-577-4960
                                                      brkslong@aol.com

Appraisals

Now that the real estate market has more buyers than sellers, some properties are escalating in price with multiple bids.  Appraisers are scrambling to bring values in, at (or above) the sales price so the buyer can qualify for a loan.  The appraiser generally must provide 3 comparable properties in the general area of the property under contract that support the contract price of the property being appraised.

When an appraised value comes in low on a property under contract, there are a few options open to the buyer and sellers:

1. the seller can lower the sales price to the appraised value.

or

2. The buyer can make up the difference between the appraised value and the contract price by bringing more money to closing

or

3. the seller and buyer can negotiate a new price somewhere in between the contract price and the appraised value

or

4. the buyer can void the contract

According to statistics with the National Association of Realtors, 15% of contracts are negotiated to a lower price due to low appraisals and 11 % of contracts are cancelled due to low appraisals.

The realtor's role in the process is to keep the buyers and sellers informed at the listing stage of the property, the contract negotiating stage and the contingency period of the contract.

If you'd like to buy or sell a property call me today,  I will treat your transaction as if it were my own....

Carla Brooks
brkslong@aol.com
703-577-4960