Emerald Chase, Herndon - Announcing a price reduction on 2965 Mockernut Court, a 2,400 sq. ft., 3 bath, 4 bdrm 3 story "Colonial on Premium Lot". Now 
MLS® $529,900 - Move in Ready & Updated.
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Laurel Ridge, Vienna - Announcing a price reduction on 2217 Laurel Ridge Rd., a 1,800 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm 3-level split "Spacious Mn Level". Now MLS® $549,900 - Buy it for Home or Land.
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Foreclosures drop in D.C. and Northern Virginia
Home foreclosures dropped in the majority of the Washington, D.C. area and across the country, from January to February.
The one-month decrease comes at the start of the spring season, when real estate activity tends to pick up.
The number of properties with foreclosure filings fell 32.5 percent in the District of Columbia in February, with 340 foreclosure filings on properties, down from 504 the month before, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac, a Web-based foreclosure listing company, which releases monthly foreclosure data.
In Northern Virginia, filings slid 18.7 percent, with only one county, Loudoun, seeing a slight increase of 1.3 percent, from 388 properties with foreclosure filings to 393 properties. Prince William County, which has been hit hard by the mortgage crisis, saw a decrease in filings of 23.7 percent, from 1,504 properties to 1,147 properties.
Fairfax County's number of foreclosures dipped 19.2 percent, from 1,330 properties to 1,074 properties, and Arlington County dropped 12.8 percent from 94 properties with foreclosure filings to 82 properties.
Overall, in the state of Virginia, foreclosures dropped 18.7 percent over the past month as well, from 5,152 properties with filings to 4,187 properties.
Across the entire country, the number of properties with foreclosures dipped 4.0 percent from Janury to February.
This news was delivered to us by Virginia Association of Realtor.
Filed under: Real Estate, For Sale, Industry, Point2, Real Estate News and update, Finance, Zillow.com, Internet Sites, Norhtern Virginia, Real Estateeal Estate Data, short sales, Foreclosure Drop
Pre-Forclosure
• 1,800 sq. ft., 3 bath, 4 bdrm 2 story "Contemporary" - 
MLS® #FX6449529 $499,900
BONNIE BRAE, Fairfax - EXCELLENT LOCATION, MINUTES TO GMU, SHOPPING AND RESTURANTS, LARGE HOUSE WITH SEP FAMILY ROOM WITH FIREPLACE/BUILT IN BOOK CASES, HARDWOOD FLOORING, LARGE MASTER SUIT AND SPACIOUS BEDROOMS, TWO STORY LIVING ROOM, NICE YARD - FULLY FENCED, LARGE TWO CAR GARAGE WITH GARAGE DOOR OPENER....SUBJECT TO THIRD PARTY APPROVAL, EXCELLENT OPPURTUNITY TO OWN AT THIS PRICE!!!!!!
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"Steel Frame House, Near Completion"
• 6,738 sq. ft., 5 bath, 6 bdrm colonial "Steel Frame" - MLS® #FX6379065 $1,000,000 - Price if completed 1.4K
Jermantown Village, Fairfax - Beautiful and Unique, Steel Frame Construction, that’s right the frame of the house is constructed from Steel no wood framing used!!!! Unique design features stainless steel appliances, 42 inch cabinets, Bamboo hardwood flooring, huge wrap around trex deck, concrete patio, double pane windows, zoned heating and cooling, ceramic tiles, huge two story family room and foyer, detached two car garage, corner lot and much much much much!!! APPROVE KITCHEN in the Basement with 2 BRs Liv and DIn Bathrooms. POSSIBILITIES.
It's more than MILLIONS around- Own it for Generation. Invite your parents to live in with you and give them whole level. Wow
Master suite on Main an upper Level for your Teenager.
Can't Beat this home
www.fairfaxsteelframehouse.com
For more info on WHY steel frame house call 703 626 3327
To get special info on steel framing - email or call for brochure!
Single Family Property, Subdivision: JERMANTOWN VILLAGE, County: FAIRFAX CITY, Approximately 0.41 acre(s), Lot is 17681 sq. ft., Year Built: 2007, Three story, Central air conditioning, Basement, Fireplace(s), Dining room, Laundry room, Hardwood floors
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• 2 bath, 4 bdrm bi-level "Rambler" - MLS® #FC6407217 $494,900 - Best Price in the Neighbo
Country Club Hills, Fairfax - LOWER LVL HAS FULL SZ RM W/WIN,CLST~ENJOY ONE OF NICST YARD OF GRT NGHBRHD~MATURE TREES~SLATE PATIO~FLAG STONE PORCH~SIT ENJOY PARK LIKE SETTINGS~WATCH GRN THRU HUGE WIND OF LIV RM~MN LVL HRDWD & HRDWD UNDR CRPT~COZY KIT W CHERRY CAB~TWO F.PLACES W/BRK SUR PLTFRM~IRON FENCE & GATE TO MN ENTRY~CARPORT/SUNROOM~WARM WLK/O LWR LVL~BAR~BIG LNDRY RM~WRKSHP AREA~STRG RM IN YRD~SEE PIC-OPEN SUNDAY 5/13/07-12:30-3PM
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• 1,280 sq. ft., 3 bath, 3 bdrm townhouse "2 LVL Colonial" - MLS® #FX6333304 $319,900 - "An updated Steal"
CAVALIER PARK, Herndon - SEE PICTURES~LOT OF IMPROVEMENTS~WARM HOME W/NEW PAINT,CARPET~EXECLLENT USE OF SPACE FOR A FAMILY~PLENTY OF EXTRA PARKING~3BD RM 2.5 BA,OPN FAMILY RM BY KITCH W/SIT IN WINDOW~COZY DINE/LIV AREA TO CVRD PATIO W/RAILS FOR RAIN/COFFEE~BACK YRD FOR DOG OR BALL~OPEN FENCE DOOR TO GRASS AREA/WLK TO TOT LOT~MASTER STE W/2 WIN/FAN/ATTACH BA~ANOTHER BATH W/TUB IN HALLWAY~FIN STRG RM FOR BIKES~OPEN (DST)SUNDAY 12-3:00
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Wall Street Journal has this great story about how to find information about an area. The Realtor you are working with is not supposed to tell you anything except the known facts about the house he is showing. Anything more than that could be termed as Steering (influencing you to not buy house in a given area or to buy a particular house). Anxious buyers want to know a lot about the area, especially the ones that are relocating. Here are the links that WSJ points to-
Sex-offender information -
School Ratings and Information -
Crime Matters - Call the area Sherrif's office and get the information. Some other sites are
Environment -
Demographics -
Other than that, the buyer is surely interested in traffic situation in the area (after all, one has to go to work, right?). For DC Metro, one can go to http://www.commuterpage.com/traffic.htm or http://wtop.com/?sid=590400&nid=6 . One can also use Google Maps (http://maps.google.com) to see what amenities are around the area (the satellite view is amazingly clear and provides very detailed information).
And of course, driving through the neighborhood during morning, lunch and evening hours can provide lots of valuable visual information, including who hangs out around the street corners.
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Cavilier Park, Herndon - We invite everyone to visit our open house at 1019 Knight Lane on March 11 from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM. 3 BR 2.5 BA TH
Direction- EXT10 FRM TOLL RD,R ELDEN STREET,L HERNDON PKWY,R CAVALIER(AFTR FERNDALE SIG),L ON 2nd KNIGHT/parking#84 OR VISIT SPT NXT,RT7E,R DRAINSVILLE,R HERNDN PKWY,L CAVELIER,L KNIGHT OR FFX CNTY PKWY N,L WHIELE,R DRAINSVILLE,R HRNDN PKWY,L CAVALIER
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• 1,280 sq. ft., 3 bath, 3 bdrm 1 1/2 story - MLS® #FX6333304 $329,900 - "An updated Steal"
Cavilier Park, Herndon - SEE PICTURES~LOT OF IMPROVEMENTS~WARM HOME W/NEW PAINT,CARPET~EXECLLENT USE OF SPACE FOR A FAMILY~PLENTY OF EXTRA PARKING~3BD RM 2.5 BA,OPN FAMILY RM BY KITCH W/SIT IN WINDOW~COZY DINE/LIV AREA TO CVRD PATIO W/RAILS FOR RAIN/COFFEE~BACK YRD FOR DOG OR BALL~OPEN FENCE DOOR TO GRASS AREA/WLK TO TOT LOT~MASTER STE W/2 WIN/FAN/ATTACH BA~ANOTHER BATH W/TUB IN HALLWAY~FIN STRG RM FOR BIKES~OPEN (DST)SUNDAY 12-3:00
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Who cares? It seems IRS does! Wall Street Journal had this recent story about how some real estate professionals, who also are real estate investors, are being scrutinized. The distinction is important for IRS, because full-time real-estate professionals, defined as someone who spends more than half of his working hours in real estate and more than 750 hours a year tending to real-estate activities, can fully deduct losses -- including depreciation, interest expense on loans and property taxes. But those who don't fit into that category are typically considered to be "passive" real-estate investors with a limited ability to deduct their losses.
And that is where the problem comes in. During early 2000s, when the real estate values were rising about $100K per year, a lot of part-time real estate investors also became real estate professionals and vice-versa. The idea was - if I am going to be buying or selling $500K average property, then each transaction will at least save me $15K (3% seller side commission). The same applied to a real estate investor representing buyer as real estate agent. If the buyer did not buy the property and it was good deal, the real estate professional could buy that as investor. So, moving around with buyer solved two things for these professionals, one give them tax credit for their efforts as real estate professional and second give them the opportunity to preview homes as investments. Imagine conflict of interest! And the buyers did not care who the listing agent was!
It seems IRS did care.
REDUCED!
• 2,800 sq. ft., 3 bath, 4 bdrm colonial - MLS® #OR6311987 $374,900 - Only 16 months old
Wildnerness Shores, Locust Grove - Priced to sell!! Beautiful three lvl colonial, loaded with many options including updated kitchen, kitchen island, stone front - woodburing fireplace...Large Bedrooms, spacious dining room, kitchen has plenty of space for breafast table...basement has rough in for an additional full bath.
Tenants may stay if asked!
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Wall Street Journal did an analysis of some 1,000 properties, those for that Zillow has "estimate" and then they were sold. The analysis shows Zillow has been off on average by 7%, which is not very bad for a computer software that never visits a house for which it estimates the price. However, what is problematic is the fact that it has been way off in many cases, sometimes as much as $2 million. Now, in this age of Internet, where buyers and sellers do their research online, before contacting a real estate agent.
Question is - what does this knowledge do? One can argue that when clients already have a specific estimate in their mind, and the real estate agent suggests a different value, there is a mistrust created right away. One can also argue that if the client is a seller and he had lower price in mind, and real estate agent suggests higher price, then the client will have increased trust. As the trust is a very difficult thing to gain, it can take long work hours for the real estate agent to gain that trust back. Now, Zillow like sites will be certainly very useful for the FSBOs. But one can argue that for home owners / buyers who still use traditional real estate agents for selling and buying, these sites create some challenges. Perhaps all real estate agents will have to first go through these sites, before going on an appointment with their clients.
1. Mortgage interest paid - not the principal. With principal + interest mortgages, in initial years, when interest component of mortgage payment is higher, your tax break is higher as well. For Interest Only mortgages, all that is paid towards interest in deductible.
2. Property taxes paid to county - generally paid by you per month to lender as escrow money and the lender pays to county.
3. Points paid to purchase the house - even when they are paid by the seller for you.
4. interest on up to $100,000 in home-equity debt - No matter what you use the money for -- which can give you a low-interest alternative to a car loan or student loan.
5. Private Mortgage Insurance - Commonly called in abbreviation as PMI
If you have an investment property, you do these things differently.
Disclaimer - This is not tax advice, but general guidelines and you should consult IRS laws or your tax advisor for accurate deductions.
Click here for the original story. I did not see houses on this list.