About Arlington's Berkshire Oakwood

Interest rates seem to keep getting lower*, and refinancing your home loan from a higher rate from years ago can save you hundreds of dollars a month. If you are thinking of refinancing your Arlington, VA home, and don't know where to start, give me a call. I have a network of several trusted lenders with whom I work who will guide you through the refinancing process. And if you've already started to refinance your Arlington, VA home and want help with comparable sales, I am always happy to help. And, no I don't get paid for any of these services, but as an Arlington resident and Realtor, I am happy to help my neighbors out to help them get the best appraisal value for their refinance.

I recently did this for a neighbor who contacted me and he got a great appraisal value for his refi. There are things an appraiser needs to know about your house that you should tell them and I guided him through the process, as well as gave him some true comparable sales for his home.

When refinancing, it can be hard to get the best value in an appraisal for a few reasons:

First of all, there is no listing for an appraiser to use. When a home is for sale, there is a listing in the MLS that an appraiser will use, with most of the data he or she needs to get to value. When you are refinancing, it's just a blank slate. So it's helpful if the homeowner can give the appraiser a typed list of improvements, features, etc to justify value.

Second of all, when a home is for sale, the appraiser gets a copy of the contract and sees what a buyer is willing to pay, how many days it was on the market, if there were multiple offers, etc. These things are of consideration in an appraisal - obviously not the case with a refi.

Lastly, comparables are very important, and some appraisers don't know the market as well as a local Arlington, VA Realtor. I work in this community full time with both buyers and sellers, and know which homes are truly comparable. And if there's no exact comp right around the corner (which is often the case) I know how to find nearby comps in similar neighborhoods that an out of area appraiser might not see. I will give you the proper comps to give to the appraiser to help ensure you are getting the proper value for your home.

This is a free service I provide to Arlington, Virginia homeowners and am happy to help you out if you are refinancing your home with these fantastic rates.

*This is not a guarantee of any interest rate, and I am not an mortgage loan officer. If you'd like a quote for a loan, contact me and I will put you in touch with a lender.

Are you an Arlington, VA homeowner who would like to sell your house and buy a bigger house? Or have the kids moved out for college and you are thinking of downsizing? In this economy, most current homeowners have to sell their home in order to be able to buy the next one. If you think "Wait, but I can find the house first and then sell"...well that used to be easy, but it's not any more. The lender for your new home will make sure you can afford both mortgage payments, and have the money in the bank to do so for 6 months...possibly more. Also if you think you can rent out your house while you buy another one, check with a lender first. Unless you again, can afford to carry both payments for 6 months to a year, they will want you to have already rented out your house for a year or so, and that is hard to do when you are living there.

So, if you are thinking of either upsizing or downsizing and need to sell one to buy another, here are a few ways it can be done.

I have helped many people through the years through this "move up" or "downsize" transition. And here are a few ways it can be done smoothly, as well as the pros and cons to each.

1) List your house for sale with a Realtor, and start getting to know what is on the market in the place/category you want to buy. If you are in a condo or in a far out suburb, you might want to take a more passive approach to looking for houses as it could take a couple of months to get a contract ratified on your house. Go to open houses while you have showings or have your agent show you a few houses here and there. Don't go into full-on house hunting mode, however, because you are likely just window shopping. When that offer comes, then you start pounding the pavement with your agent until you find the house. You either line up temporary housing if you can't get a short rent back from your buyer, or you rent back from them. A "rent back" is a relatively short period of time in which you sell the house then pay your new buyer/owner rent until you can close and take possession on your new home.

2) Write an offer and do a sale of home contingency. Okay, this is a great idea for a buyer, but there's one tiny problem...sellers hate it. And relocation companies, banks, and most 3rd parties absolutely will not allow it. Now what they will allow is a "coinciding settlements clause." Which means you already have a solid offer on your home and the sale is contingent on it closing. I write those all the time and get them accepted. A seller is much more likely to take a contract contingent on another already ratified contract then they are on a person who is planning to get their house on the market soon. A home sale contingency shows a lack of commitment as a buyer.

3) Put your house on the market and ask for a "home of choice contingency." This gives you, the seller, a short timeframe to find a house. Usually a couple of weeks, which is the same amount of time a buyer would get to do their inspection.

Any of these solutions can work smoothly, and I've helped dozens of clients with dual transactions such as this. If you need to sell in order to buy and are overwhelmed by the prospect, give me a call. I will walk you through your options with no pressure, and see if we can get you into your next Arlington, VA home.

When buyers make an offer to purchase a home in Arlington, Virginia, they usually make it contingent on a home inspection. Within that inspection, the inspector will test all major systems, appliances and check for any deficiencies like leaks, cracks and deferred maintenance. In our standard home inspection removal form in Northern Virginia, it is common practice to ask that all repairs be made by a licensed contractor for the specified trade with a receipt provided prior to closing.

This is very important, because buyers typically do not bring an inspector out again at walk through to verify repairs. So the buyers and the buyer's agent rely on the receipts to prove the job was done properly, and that is why the proper type of contractor needs to be used and a professional receipt needs to be provided before closing.

I handled a closing for a buyer this summer in which the receipts were bogus. Clearly. They had been created on a Microsoft Word sheet with no dates of work performed, no signature, no license number, no address. When I requested from the listing agent a license number for the "contractor" it was never provided.

Most legitimate contractor receipts are on a form that has a signature, a date of service and an actual business address and if a license number is not included, it should be able to be provided. It usually has handwritten notes. There are clues if they are real or fake. And if it looks too generic, ask for the license number.

The seller had made a big deal about replacing the electrical panel, but did not even have a real electrician do the work.

So what do you do at the final walk through with no or bogus receipts and you are unsure how to check repairs (like an electrical panel being properly installed!).

You insist the seller put money, and I mean a significant amount, away in escrow so that the repairs can be verified by legitimate, licensed contractors post closing. That's how I handled my sale this summer, and sure enough, the electrical panel and the plumbing had major issues. If we had of taken the receipts at face value, the buyer would have been on the hook for the seller's shoddy repairs.

I work with just as many sellers as I do buyers, and as the seller's agent, I make sure they get the work done by the proper professionals with the right kind of documentation. Contracts are binding, and if the signed agreement says to use a licensed contractor and provide receipts, it needs to be done. It will save both the buyer and the seller money and trouble in the end.

If you are looking for a real estate agent to best represent your interests in Arlington, Virginia, contact me to talk about how I can be of service to you.

My street is blooming with color right now! And there seems to be a Tulip competition going on as well - I planted a few (not enough to photo), and am amazed at the dozens my neighbors have on display. Bulb planting is hard work!

I love spring in Arlington, it just comes alive with color everywhere you look!

Dogwoods and Tulips are two of my favorite parts of spring.

If you are thinking of buying a home in North Arlington - give me a call/email! I am a local and know the neighborhoods well.

A big part of my job as a successful Realtor is convincing sellers to do things to their homes in order to sell, that they just don't want to do!  I've written before about how hard and emotional it is to sell your home, to whitewash away your signature touches and memories.   Home ownership is full of hard, expensive choices and sacrifices.  For example, my backyard was home to 3 very tightly-spaced white pine trees, about 30 years old until last week.  

During the past two winter's snow storms, the trees had been left ragged, with almost more broken branches than whole.  They got on our nerves, caused a neighbor to call the cops on us, and caused another, much nicer neighbor, extra worry that he really didn't need.   My husband spent hours cleaning up the messes they made, and we'd fret during each storm that a whole tree would come down.  

So, after 3 years of debate, we decided to take them down.  With cringing thoughts of The Lorax coming to get me, I came home last week and took this last parting picture of my partially butchered trees.   Could not help but think of the poor Truffula trees!

I was not happy about it at all.   But I let it happen and I knew it was for the best.  We are now doing some terracing to our yard to make it a more usable space and are going to plant better trees, not so close together, that will not cause as much trouble, and frankly be prettier.  But for now, it looks awful!  Short term pain for long term gain...I use that line with my sellers a lot and have to keep reminding myself when I look outside and see no trees.  I must admit though, the blue sky is pretty!  (I try to ingore the fact that the controversial blue Sycamore Street "Structure" is now part of my new view :-( )