It's hard to keep up with real estate terminology when they're constantly coming up with "cuter" ways of calling a house a house. Sometimes referred to as a Duplex, and most recently a "Duet," is a single piece of real estate but serves to house 2 "families" or sides (by "families" I mean anyone living in the side - whether it's a single individual or a family of 5). There are several styles of Duplexes, and how they're bought/sold are can vary from state to state.
For example, in the state of New York, the most common style of Duplex (in Upstate) is a house with 2 sides (usually side "A" and "B"), which each have their own doors, but share a driveway and garage. See the picture below. You buy this as 1 property.
In Virginia, we have a different style of Duplex. We also have a very different way of buying and selling them! In VA (especially Arlington), the most common are brick colonials like the one below. However, each side has their own address (2721 and 2723), and is bought and sold individually! They usually share nothing. The most common styles have 2-3 bedrooms and 1-2 bathrooms, a wall in the backyard to separate them, their own front yards, etc. Sometime their front doors are on the sides, and sometimes they have a common front step like the one below:
(*Note: I'm not licensed in NY, but have bought and sold real estate personally there. If you're looking for a great New York Realtor, ask me!)
Located in the western part of Arlington County, near the East Falls Church Metro, is the neighborhood of Berkshire Oakwood. The neighborhood has somewhere between 1,700-1,800 homes. This area is in the Arlington-East Falls Church area, which broke away from Falls Church in 1936, when it formally joined Arlington County. Located in the 22207 zip code, bordered by Lee Highway (Rt 29), Fairfax Blvd (and Rt 66), and many other side streets including John Marshall and N. Trinidad, Berkshire Oakwood is a very popular area.
Originally built homes were mostly constructed in the 1930s and 1940s, however, Berkshire Oakwood has been a popular site for Arlington McMansions. There are many homes that retain their charm of yester-year, but there are also many, many homes that have been remodeled from top to bottom with today's popular features.
The map below is a ROUGH estimate of the neighborhood. This part of Arlington had some side streets that are part of a near-by neighborhood, some of Falls Church, etc. But you can see the general area of this neighborhood.
A neighborhood of about 500 homes, most of which were built in the 1930s and 1940s, Alcova Heights is located in South Arlington. The neighborhood is bordered by Glebe Rd (Rt 120), Arlington Blvd (Rt 50), Columbia Pike (Rt 244), and S. George Mason Drive, in the zip code 22204.
Most of the detached properties are brick colonials, but there are some bungalows, and contemporary homes. Some have also been updated since their original construction.
J.D. Power & Associates created a study last year to measure customer satisfaction of home buyers and sellers. For the 2nd year in a row, Keller Williams Realty ranked #1 amongst home buyers in overall satisfaction.
CONGRATULATIONS KELLER WILLIAMS ASSOCIATES!!
The overall satisfaction is determined by three factors: the individual agent, the office, and the additional services. Additional services provided by the agent includes recommendations of home inspectors, appraisers, and home warranties; buyers ranked the importance of this service 12% higher than last year.
The picture below was taken during the official announcement made by KW CEO Mark Willis during Mega Agent Camp in Austin, TX.
(Highest Overall Satisfaction For Home Buyers Among National Full Service
Real Estate Firms, Two Years in a Row)
The Washington, D.C. Metrorail will be closing the Pentagon City, Crystal City, and Ronald Reagan National Airport metro stops from 9:30pm this Friday, September 4th until Midnight, Monday, Sept 7th. All stations will reopen at 5am on Tuesday, September 8th for regular business hours and travel.
For those travelers needing to pass through these areas, a free shuttle bus will be available for Yellow and Blue lines.
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Providing real estate expertise in Arlington County, Fairfax County, and Washington, D.C.
Laura is an upstate New York native, but now calls Arlington home. Prior to becoming a full-time Realtor, Laura served as an analyst and consultant in the finance realm of the Federal Government. Laura completed her undergraduate work at the University of Rochester and holds a dual degree in Economics and Statistics, as well as a Master's Degree in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University. Licensed in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., Laura focuses her business on helping first-time home buyers and sellers navigate the real estate process. Professional Affiliations and Designations
Business Experience
Education
Licensed in Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland
"As a first time home buyer the entire process was very daunting to us, however Laura made it very easy. She made us feel very comfortable from the start and never made us feel like any of our questions were "dumb questions". I would absolutely refer her to any of our friends and family in the area searching for a home." - Nick, Washington, D.C.
"When my business partner and I moved into the DC area looking to invest we sent out a list of criteria to several real estate agents hoping to find one that could help us accomplish our goals, thank goodness we found Laura. She worked quickly to compile a list of over 100 properties, most of which we visited in a short two day period. Without Laura's dedication and hard work I'm convinced that we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are now. We plan on continuing our professional relationship with her and look forward to working with her in the future. Thanks Laura!" -Stephen E., Alexandria
"We are happy to say that in less than six weeks, we were in our new home and it is all thanks to Laura's dedication to us. She really listened, her commitment to us was reflected in her professionalism, timely communication and service to us and that made all of the difference. She was very knowledgeable and there were no questions or concerns that she was unwilling or unable to address. She has so much energy and goes above and beyond what a Realtor should do. She restored our confidence in the home buying process and I have since recommended her to anyone interested in buying or selling a home." -Maxine and Mustafa, Washington, D.C
"We recently had a baby and needed to move to a bigger home. A friend recommended Laura, so we contacted her. We thought we wanted to rent for another year before buying, but we told Laura that if she was able to find us a "steal" we'd consider it. When she got back to us with a list of for sale and for rent properties, we were surprised how many homes were on the market close to our price range. In the end we decided to stick to our original plan and rent. Laura never put any pressure on us to decide one way or the other- she let us decide what was best for us- even when it would have been better for her had we chosen to buy. We were planning to move in September but Laura's work was so fast that she was able to help us get into a place in August which worked out even better for us. She showed us the properties on last minute notice and was overall very flexible, friendly and helpful. We would recommend her to anyone who asked!" -Jess & James, Falls Church
"Laura did an amazing job of finding me a condo that fit exactly what I was looking for. Her extensive knowledge of the area and the outside research she did for me made the process very fast and easy since we didn't waste time looking at properties that she knew I wouldn't be interested in. She was very low-pressure about making the sale by letting me move at my own pace.
As a first time buyer, I wasn't sure exactly how the process worked after finding a place to put an offer on, so Laura helped me every step of the way, from the initial offer through the mortgage approval and closing. I always felt very comfortable with how things were working, and anytime something came up she would contact me right away and we'd resolve the issue asap. I couldn't have asked for a better experience!" - Mark, Arlington
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