Joey Remondino Broker, GRI, E-Pro

This is an exquisite estate community in Fairfax County just on the divide of the towns of Centreville and Chantilly Va. Pleasant View is the perfect community for those who are employed by the aerospace industry since just a few miles east is the Westfield's Business district. Westfield's is occupied by many large defense contractors such as Northrop Grummen, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Aerospace Corp, General Dynamics, and CACI to name a few. There is also a large government facility that surly awards contracts to these companies, The National Reconnaissance Office or NRO for short.

Pleasant View Estates is a small community with lots ranging from a quarter acre up to almost two acres with plenty of community trees surrounding. The homes were build between 2001 and 2003 so that any homebuyer can expect open floor plans with modern amenities to be included in most homes. The homes were designed and built by two major national builders who have a proven track record of excellent quality, Pulte Homes and Brookfield Homes. The homes have uniquely designed and very widely in elevation and curb appeal which makes the community charming and unlike many cookie cutter neighborhoods in Northern Va.
The Chantilly and Centreville area have many of the necessary amenities to live in style. Just a few miles east is the private Chantilly National Gold and Country Club that will provide numerous activities for all members of the family or just the golfer that needs his or her weekly fix. Let's not forget Virginia is still the south and to enjoy some country fun without the dirt under the nails Cox Farm is just around the corner. Cox Farm is a Northern Virginia tradition with events and Festivals taking place most of the year with the largest attraction being the Fall Festival in October.

The schools in Fairfax County are known for being ranked with the top schools in the country. The public schools are, Elementary-Virginia Run, Middle-Stone, and the high school is Westfield High. Please visit the article What Are The Best Schools in Northern Virginia for further search on area public, private, or boarding schools.

Click on the link below and then check "Birds Eye View" in the left corner of the map for a closer look at the Pleasant View Estates community.

Satellite View of Pleasant View Estates

Please contact me for further information or private showing of homes in this community or ones like it in Northern Virginia.

Joey Remondino is a full time Realtor and Broker with StoneHouse Realty Inc. Specializing in residential real estate in Northern Virginia including Centreville, Chantilly, Falls Church, Gainesville, Mclean, Reston, Great Falls, Alexandria, Manassas, Manassas Park, Prince William, and Fairfax Counties. Trained and experienced expert in Estate Homes, New Home Sales, Relocation, real estate. Joey can guide you through the real estate buying or selling process.

To search the MLS for a home please click, Search The MLS.

For a free market report on listings and sales in any neighborhood in the Northern Va. area, sign up here MLS Market Snapshot

When buying and/or selling residential real estate it is easy for a person be become baffled by all the agents and agencies available to choose. A consumer in search of an agent may not understand if they should go with a small local or national real estate firm to hire. In the past there were many differences between two such firms that would help a home buyer or seller determine what was best for their needs. There are so many large national, regional and franchise firms like Weichert, Re/Max, Keller Williams, Exit, Long and Foster, Coldwell Banker to just name a few. Then there are the small local firms in the Northern Virginia and DC Metro Area like Fairfax Realty, Avery Hess, Linton Hall, McEnearney, StoneHouse, Christopher, and Jobin just to name a few.

So who can do the best job representing a buyer to find and purchase a dream home or who can bring the best results for a home seller?


The best results for buying and/or selling real estate have absolutely nothing to do with any of the firms I mention above. Many agents, usually from the larger firms, will try to convince consumers why it is so much better to employee them. This may have been the case 15 years ago but the playing field has been leveled and it's called technology. There is nothing a large firm can do that any other firm can't duplicate, except maybe buy advertising on the front page of the Washington Post but who really looks for real estate in the paper these days.

It comes down to the agent who is the guide through the process and holds the knowledge, professionalism, and passion of real estate and for helping people. This is the party the consumer should place their trust to understand, accomplish and represent the needs and results desired. Einstein said "Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value" and an agent that creates the greatest value for their client will gain success.


Joey Remondino is a full time Realtor and Broker with StoneHouse Realty Inc. Specializing in residential and commercial real estate in Northern Virginia including Centreville, Chantilly, Falls Church, Gainesville, Mclean, Reston, Great Falls, Alexandria, Manassas, Manassas Park, Prince William, and Fairfax Counties. Trained and experienced expert in New Home Sales, Relocation, Short Sales, REO's, foreclosures, investments, and commercial real estate. Joey can guide you through the real estate buying or selling process.

To search the MLS for a home please click, Search The MLS.

For a free market report on listings and sales in any neighborhood in the Northern Va. area, sign up here MLS Market Snapshot

I always believed I could understand or empathize with those who had children long before I had any of my own. This belief immediately disintegrated the moment my wife gave birth to our first daughter. With her first breath I knew that I had been perpetually transformed and placed in a new category, that of parenthood. Those who have a child to rear of their own, whether biological or adopted, understand when I say, you are not in the club until you are in the club. Parents will do just about anything for their children including making sacrifices for our child's education.


When searching for a home to buy all parents inevitably asks the question, where are the best schools in Northern Virginia? The answer to this question is as elusive as a politician answering a direct question during a campaign. What makes this question so challenging to answer is who determines what characteristics makes one school better then another? With every state having its owned defined criteria the ability to compare schools becomes even more convoluted. These standardized tests vary from state to state and can a math, science, or English test measure social or artistic ability? In the quest to answer what seems to be a simple question we have only unveiled more questions. As a REALTOR I cannot answer this deceptively easy question and any agent who claims they can, should be retained with caution. What I can do is lead you to the tools to determine what's important for your child.
There are many in the media that perform "in depth" research to produce a list of supreme educational institutions. One of the more popular sources for this kind of list is the U.S. News & World Report Americas Best High Schools. Fairfax County has been bestowed three years in a row with the Best High School award which is held by Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria Va. Below are a few of these lists.

U.S. News and World Report: Best High Schools
Newsweek: The Top of The Class
AOL: Americas Best Public Schools by Region

Be very wary of rankings like these. Take for example that U.S News and World Report's best high School Thomas Jefferson does not even appear in Newsweek's top 1,500 best schools in America. These two rankings were published only months apart which begs the question, how can a school be number one in one ranking and not even appear in the top 1,500 of another? When researching schools that best fit your child and family needs, keep in mind these lists may be of little use. The criteria for these lists are established for ease of ranking and are gathered from multiple sources that may or may not be important to each individual.

A well known fact by most is that an excellent school whether elementary, middle or high school will cause real estate values to increase in that area. Home buyers should keep this in mind when searching for a home even with no children of their own. This should be one of the first steps for a home buyer to undertake along with finding a professional agent to help as a guide through the home buying process. Always keep in mind an overall good school district does not translate to every school in that district is good. My experience as a REALTOR in helping home buyers in Fairfax County and Prince William County including Falls Church, Centreville, Gainesville, Alexandria, Reston, Mclean, Chantilly and Manassas to name a few, I have found some helpful resources. These web sites will help you determine which schools in Northern Virginia are best for your individual needs. The one I find most useful is Great Schools.org which is easy to navigate and understand and with all of these used together will lead you to the best schools for your family.

Great Schools
School Matters
Public Schools K-12
Public Schools Review
Magnet Schools of America
Boarding School Review
Private Schools

Good luck in your search for the best school I understand how important it is for you family.

Joey Remondino is a full time Realtor and Broker with StoneHouse Realty Inc. Specializing in residential and commercial real estate in Northern Virginia including Centreville, Chantilly, Falls Church, Gainesville, Mclean, Reston, Great Falls, Alexandria, Manassas, Manassas Park, Prince William, and Fairfax Counties. Trained and experienced expert in New Home Sales, Relocation, Short Sales, REO's, foreclosures, investments, and commercial real estate. Joey can guide you through the real estate buying or selling process.

To search the MLS for a home please click, Search The MLS.

For a free market report on listings and sales in any neighborhood in the Northern Va. area, sign up here MLS Market Snapshot

I wrote an article over a year back about a community named Lee's Commons by Ryan Homes at the time a client I represented was considering to buy. My client decided not to buy in that community and chase the elusive REO and the abundant short sale market. With no warning Ryan Homes, the builder, pulled all their equipment, signs and sales office located in the future community. Considering the economy and housing market it was no surprise to find out that the site developer who owned the land had filed for bankruptcy. This left the City of Manassas residence with an unsightly empty real estate lot where some dumped trash and an unfinished building stood reminiscent of abandoned homes in Detroit.

Many who pass this part of route 28 in Old Town Manassas, and prospective buyers will be absolutely thrilled to know that K Hovnanian Homes has arrived. The resurrected community has been renamed Lee Square and will start exactly where the last builder left off. Currently there is no sales office to speak of but K Hovnanian will be placing one there in the near future, surely shooting for the spring market.
I do get asked the question a lot whether a new home is a good deal or is resale the best route to go. The answer to this is based off individual needs but when it comes down to just price a resale home normally wins out. These homes, however, are aggressively priced for being new builds and close amenities that Old Town Manassas has to offer including the VRE and all the other businesses. The pricing for this real estate is exactly where the previous builder was a year ago, the only difference is there are less REO's (aka foreclosures) available which makes the price more attractive. I, of course, recommend before stopping in to any new builder sales office to employee a Realtor to go with you. There are many reasons why a buyer should have an agent and for the reasons why read this article, Negotiating with New Home Builders in Northern Virginia.

The resale value should remain strong on these units in the future due to the fact of all that Old Town Manassas has to offer. Those commuters that do not want to fight traffic have the VRE within walking distance to these condos. There are also plenty of attractions and restaurants that are within walking distance which makes it attractive to those who want to save on gas. The popularity of True walkable Communities have increased of the past few years and will continue in the future. For more information on the Old Town Manassas area take a look at this article, Relocation information on Manassas Va.
Those buyers looking for a good value on a new condo should consider the Lee Square community. Please contact me if you need a real estate agent to represent you and help negotiate and understand the pitfalls of the builder's sales contract. Remember the builder will pay your agents commission.

Joey Remondino is a full time Realtor and Broker with StoneHouse Realty Inc. Specializing in residential and commercial real estate in Northern Virginia including Manassas City, Manassas Park, Prince William, and Fairfax. Trained and experienced expert in New Home Sales, Relocation, Short Sales, REO's, foreclosures, investments, and commercial real estate. Joey can guide you through the real estate buying or selling process.

To search the MLS for a home please click, Search The MLS.

For a free market report on listings and sales in any neighborhood in the Northern Va. area with no sales calls from an agent, sign up here MLS Market Snapshot

Oh yes, we all better get use to short sales since they will be around in large volumes for at least the next three years. In the not so distant past, agents and buyers have shunned the short sale property's as the red headed step child of the sought after REO property (a foreclosed home). With the REO's now selling at a break neck speed in Prince William and Fairfax county short sales have stepped into a more favorable light than in the past.
......A side note for those who have not read my previous blogs, if you are not at the court room steps buying property then the correct term to use is Real Estate Owned or REO. A foreclosure is the legal proceeding initiated by a creditor to repossess the securing collateral for a loan in default.

A short sale is when the owner is selling their home or property for less then what is owed on the loan secured by said property. The challenge with this process is the fact that the mortgagee or lender has to approve the acceptance of less money then what is owed to them to release the lien. This process can be a very long one, for more on how long a short sale can take in Northern Virginia refer to my article Please Do Not Give Up: Short Sales Do Close.

There are two reasons that short sales have become more of a viable option for buyers and agents over the past few months in Northern Virginia. The first one is the fact that REO's appear to be in a shorter supply recently because they are so aggressively priced which brings out deal seeking investors or buyers. This causes them to generate multiple offers and sell fast, and creates more aggressive buyers who loose out on multiple properties. With most buyers once they have lost multiple bids on real estate they become more aggressive with the next property negotiation. This is good for our future economy as long as it does not create another irrational exuberance that got us here in the first place. These buyers look more to other options to purchase and low and behold short sales become that option.

With short sales becoming a better option for distressed sellers then foreclosure, more are being listed everyday. This combined with the fact that buyers are willing to make offers on short sales, aka pre-foreclosure, banks have been forced to approve more and more short sales. This leads me to the second reason why these sales are a more viable option for buyers, banks are getting better and more open to approving these deals. When the real estate market started to collapse banks and/or lenders did not know how to deal with short sales nor were they staffed to handle the volume. Now that we are several years into this mess, the banks/lenders have staffed the loss mitigation departments and have processes in place to approve these kinds of deals.

The real estate market in Northern Virginia as a whole is near or at the bottom when it comes to prices. Refer to my article Home Prices Hit Bottom, so I can impress upon you the fact that real estate is local. There are still many people who are out there making their payments but are very upside down on the value of their home. This is due to the fact they pulled money out of their equity or purchased the home when prices where at or near their peak in 2006. Prices will eventually start to increase again at a normal rate so unfortunately many people may be upside down for several more years. This means over the next few years the owners who get a divorce, transferred, or loss of a job will have to short sale. All the professions associated with real estate including buyers and sellers will have to become familiar with this kind of real estate transaction because they will be around in large numbers for a while.

Joey Remondino is a full time Realtor and Broker with StoneHouse Realty Inc. Specializing in residential homes in Northern Virginia including Manassas City, Manassas Park, Prince William, Fairfax, and Fauquier County. Trained and experienced expert in Relocation, Short Sales, REO's, foreclosures, investments, and any other residential real estate. Joey can guide you through the home buying or selling process.

To search the MLS for a home please click, Search The MLS.

For a free market report on listings and sales in any neighborhood in the Northern Va. area with no sales calls from an agent, sign up here MLS Market Snapshot