Chantilly, VA

Buying a Home in South Riding VA

I have a new buyer that ratified a contract on 25545 Gwynneth Sq in South Riding. I also have a buyer pending in neighboring Stone Ridge, VA.

Now is a great time to buy!

If you are interested in looking for a new home please contact me or call me at 703-864-4894.

Donny and Meredith Samson Samson Realty Associate Broker NVAR Top Producer Direct 703-864-4894 4 - 4 1/2% Full Service Listings Cash Back to my homebuyers http://www.dmsamson.com/

Northern Virginia Homes for Sale:

New this week is 11134 Rock Garden Dr in Fairfax, VA. This 2 BR condo has many upgrades! Last week 43421 Valleyvista Lane in Chantilly sold!

The market is changing, the buyers are out there!

JUST LISTED	11134 Rock Garden Drive Townhouse 2 bedrooms 1 full/1 partial baths 900 sqft	$165,000 Fairfax, VA
RENTED	5751 Amelia Springs Circle Townhouse 3 bedrooms 2 full/1 partial baths 2,836 sqft No pets	$2,150/month Haymarket, VA
RENTED	9858 Maitland Loop Townhouse 2 bedrooms 2 full/1 partial baths 1,672 sqft Cats, Small dogs (< 25lbs), Dogs (any)	$1,375/month Bristow, VA
UNDER CONTRACT	25421 Lemon Tree Pl Single Family House 4 bedrooms 3 full/1 partial baths 4,362 sqft	$739,900 South Riding, VA
	10324 Beach Mill Rd. Single Family House 5 bedrooms 2 full/2 partial baths 6,024 sqft	$999,000 Great Falls, VA
RENTED	32 Devon Ct. Townhouse 2 bedrooms 1 full/1 partial baths 1,307 sqft No pets	$1,300/month Sterling, VA
UNDER CONTRACT	10029 Darnaway Ct. Single Family House 5 bedrooms 3 full/1 partial baths 2,746 sqft	$249,900 Bristow, VA
SOLD	43421 Valleyvista Lane Single Family House 3 bedrooms 2 full/0 partial baths 1,680 sqft	$385,000 Chantilly, VA
	6535 Rockland Drive Single Family House 5 bedrooms 3 full/1 partial baths 3,416 sqft	$585,000 Clifton, VA
RENTED	42968 Astell Street Townhouse 3 bedrooms 2 full/1 partial baths 2,056 sqft Cats, Small dogs (< 25lbs), Dogs (any)	$1,825/month South Riding, VA

One of the stress points for home buyers is knowing when to lock-in to their mortgage rate.

By all means, make your own decision, in collaboration with your loan professional and your real estate agent. But as you do so, here are a few ideas that I hope will add a little something toward making the process work better for you.

Last week was an example of volatility in mortgage rates. They fell on Monday and Tuesday, then jumped up on Wednesday and Thursday.

Several factors contributed to the bumpy ride. For starters the Unemployment claims fell, and Leading Economic Indicators rose. On top of that inflation readings are modest.

As a home buyer trying to make a good decision, and manage your own stress, what should you do? In the spirit of Keeping It Simple, let me offer three things that are very basic but will help you avoid what is not doable. You can "drive yourself a little crazy" trying to nail the perfect interest rate decision, but often the better part of wisdom is knowing what is truly "controllable" and what is not.

And that is my first point. One key strategy in managing the psychology of uncertainty is acknowledging and accepting what is knowable and what is unknowable about a given situation. So, the first thing is to acknowledge that there is no "perfect" timing, and there is no absolute way of ensuring that your locked -in rate won't be better - or worse - next day, or next week. The stress comes from trying to anticipate what is unknowable.

The second thing we can do is determine our time frame. Most people can't live comfortably with open-ended uncertainty. So determine your own time line for getting that rate locked. You can try to guess this or that movement of rates, but that may add a great deal of stress to the already stressful process of buying your home. And listen carefully to the insights of the professionals you are working with both from the mortgage side as well as the real estate agent side.

The third thing you can do is be ready to act rapidly. What enables you to act with speed? Doing the "due diligence" and making decisions on what your timing needs to be. So much of the home buying process can be made easier by having a plan. After you have gotten the details of your program worked out with your loan professional, and you have gotten all of your own financial arrangements worked out, be ready to act decisively.

Just one other point. I urge you to be quality and integrity conscious as you make your choice of loan provider (likewise for real estate agent). I have suggested how to deal with the unknown, but just as important is dealing with what you can know. A good loan professional - and real estate agent - will help you to know all that should be known before you make key decisions.

[The Kathy O’Neal Team serves home buyers and sellers in Northern Virginia, with special focus on Chantilly, Centreville, and the communities of the Western Fairfax region.]