About Arlington's East Falls Church

There are loads of information, blogs and seminars all geared towards educating "first time homebuyers" but not much talk for "first time home sellers." After all, if you are a seller, you've been a buyer before and you know what you are doing, right? I'd say wrong. Selling your house is quite different from buying a home - especially the first time. The biggest thing you need to remember is that it's not about you. Sound harsh? It's not really if you think about it. You are choosing to part ways with the house. So your preferences are not what is going to sell the house.

Here are a few things you are never taught as a buyer that you need to know as a seller:

How much money you want for your house does not matter.

What?! You say, why not? I need to net $50,000 to (fill in the blank here: pay for my car, travel around europe, quit my job, pay for kids' college...whatever). That makes no difference to the buyers potentially buying your house. They will pay what the market will bear. Recent past sales and current competition are the best gague to determine market value. Your Realtor® should give you an honest assessment of what you can get and they should show you what you are competing against and how your home stacks up, or does not, against those other homes.

How you like to live doesn't matter.

Love to sleep in until 10 on Saturdays, and 11 on Sundays? Not a great idea when your house is on the market. If a buyer wants to see your house, you really should find a way to let them. Turning down showings is almost always a very bad idea. The one you turn away will likely go and buy another house that they were able to see.

Gourmet cook and have 50 spices on display and make complicated meals every night? Put them away and keep the meals simple when your house is on the market. Overbearing food smells and spices are distracting from the actual features of the house. The buyer needs to see the kitchen, not what you cook in it.

Dogs and cats are your children and they run the house? Again, not a good idea to let your furry friends be in charge, or around at all, when your house is on the market. Dogs and cats must be kept very clean, and preferably removed from the house during that first weekend on the market.

Indulge your kids with every toy imaginable and you can't bear to throw any away? All those toys will distract buyers from the features in your home, and thus keep your house from selling so you should either pack up all but essentials or start giving some away.

Your sense of style and decor, do not matter.

Hate the Pottery Barn, HGTV, neutral tone fads that are all the rage? LOVE you pink and purple floral decor you paid a designer thousands of dollars to show the essence of your personality? When you are selling, your personality does not convey, and buyers need that scrubbed down neutral pallette so they can see themselves in the house, not you.

Your tax assessment does not reflect market value.

It's January, and Arlington and other local counties just sent out those tax assesments, which they say reflect the market value of your home. But they don't really. You need to get a Competitive Market Analysis and Absorption Rates from a licensed local Realtor who knows the market, sells in the market and works with both buyers and sellers in the market. An agent like this will have been in most of the houses you will be competing with or that are comps for your home. The tax assessor never does that.

These are a few of the big realities of selling your house. If you want YOUR house to stand out and be the one that buyer's notice and purchase, you need to follow a seller's action plan. If you are thinking of putting your home on the market, I will give you an honest assessment of what you need to do to prep to sell. I might not tell you everything you want to hear, but it is the truth you need to hear to get your home sold.

A beautiful morning in Charlottesville and my wife and I had coffee early. The kids are out of school on Summer vacation (be careful on the roads) and we are planning a lot of family time this summer.

Off to an appointment in town and then a couple showings.

Remember, showing Charlottesville Real Estate , one of my favorite things to do with clients so if you see me driving around the Charlottesville or Crozet area, give me a wave or honk! Call or email me if you need anything, Charles

Tuckahoe Park in Arlington, Virginia is located on the corner of Sycamore Street and Lee Highway at 2400 N. Sycamore Street, about 2 blocks from the EFC metro and adjacent to Tuckahoe Elementary School. It is an unusual park compared to others in Arlington, as it has a huge section of natural forest with beautiful walkways.

A true nature lovers park surrounded by the hustle and bustle of major Arlington arteries, less than a mile to Falls Church City and about a mile to the Westover area and the Williamsburg Shopping Center.

It's a nice bucolic getaway in a great neighborhood in the Northwest section of Arlington. It's just over 12 acres and includes walking trails, kid's playground, picnic tables, baseball and soccer fields, and tennis courts. Drive by on any Saturday in the spring or fall and the fields will be full of soccer players and families in attendance. It's also one of Arlington's best sledding hills when the winter snow hits.

It's slated for an overhaul this year. I am not sure about the progress as I saw no signs of work when I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago. If you are interested in finding out more about the Tuckahoe Park Plaground Reconstruction here's the link.

This business has certain practices that have been around a long time, but when the market went crazy these practices went by the wayside.

I had a great home on the market in Arlington, VA and no offers after 90 days. We had lowered the asking price but still nothing. Once we got below $600K I decided it was time for another Open House. It was a beautiful Sunday and had some nice traffic come through and then they came in. Cute couple with their child and commented on how much they loved the home, that it was perfect, but they had their condo to sell. I said not to worry I would honor their buyer's agent and they left their contact info along with the name of their agent.

After days nothing from the agent, I called the buyer, nothing, then email, nothing. Sitting at a KW conference in Austin, TX this past August the session was on how Gen Y'rs love to text so decided right there I would text him. Bingo, within 5 minutes he responds on how sorry he was for not contacting me sooner and gave me his agent's contact info. We had an offer within 48 hours.

As the story goes they had not even placed their condo on the market, and the offer came with the dreaded Contingency - Sale of the Purchaser's Property and Kick-Out. After much research on my part and discussion with the sellers I told them if the price is acceptable we should take it and allow the Contingency, and they did.

Well, the contingency after 30 days has been removed and we are closing as scheduled on the contract. My folks have found a fabulous home and will close on their home on the same day as the closing of their current home.

Moral of the story is do your due diligence and serve your client. It sometimes takes a bit of work on our part and strategy to get the home sold.

Yes, I broke the rules took the Contingency and trusted in what the data showed me. The end result a happy seller!