About Arlington County, VA

If you're looking for new places to take your dog, here's a list of dog parks all around Arlington, Virginia!

Benjamin Banneker Park
1701 North Van Buren Street
Arlington, VA 22205
*Lights on until 8:00 pm

Fort Barnard
at the corner of South Pollard Street and South Walter Reed Drive
*Lights on until 9:00 pm

Fort Ethan Allen Park
3829 North Stafford Street
Arlington, VA 22207
*Lights on until 7:00 pm

Glencarlyn Park
*301 South Harrison Street
Arlington, VA 22204

Herndon & 13th Street Park
1299 N. Herndon Street
Arlington, VA 22201

Shirlington Park
*2601 South Arlington Mill Drive
Arlington, VA 22206

Towers Park
801 South Scott Street
Arlington, VA 22204
*Lights on until 10:00 pm

Utah Park
3191 South Utah Street
Arlington, VA 22206

That's my nephew, Grouper!

If you're looking for a place near a dog park, let me know! I'm happy to help you find a new home. 703.283.6120

Can't believe November is already here, and real estate continues to be newsworthy. Here's the roundup:

The election is upon us (finally!) and with it, an influx of a new administration and all its staff. What does this mean for our local housing market? Check out my blog post here.

Do you know someone relocating to or from our area as a result of the election? Please forward them my contact info and this email so they can check out my brief relocation guide. I'd love to help them with their real estate needs!

Investors are starting to emerge. Even Prince William County saw a home buying "spree." And it's no wonder -- take a look at the falling median home prices on these charts for Prince William and other counties in VA, MD and DC.

I was interviewed by the Washington Post/Express for their Fall Homebuyer's Guide, and noted that, though prices are attractive, obtaining financing as an investor may be more difficult than you think. Here's another great blog post on obtaining financing for investment properties. I'm currently working with several investors, so if you're thinking about purchasing an investment property, contact me to discuss the market.

Changes in FHA loan programs continue to evolve: As of January 1, 2009, borrowers will need 3.5% down (versus the current 3%), and the upper limit in our area will be $625,000 (down from the current $729,750.) Nonetheless, due to the tight credit markets, FHA remains the most viable option for many borrowers.

Worried about the economy? Here's a bit of good news: DC and Arlington were namin our ared two of the top ten places to live during a recession. And another piece of good news for our local area: the bailout will be a boon to our local economy. Another boon from the bailout: the $5000 tax credit for DC first time home buyers was included in the bill! Not buying in DC? You can still take advantage of the $7500 first time buyer "credit" (really an interest free loan) until July 9, 2009.

As we get ready to head into the season of Thanks, I find myself very excited for the future. I've just agreed to be an assistant coach for the Varsity Softball team at Yorktown High School in Arlington.

Yorktown is located on N 28th St in Arlington. It's one of the 3 public high schools in Arlington (along with Washington-Lee and Wakefield), and competes in the Virginia High School League.

Wish me luck in my coaching debut, and the team for their upcoming 2009 season!

Want to stand out in a crowd and get lost in your own home? Then you must buy 1623 28TH ST NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20007 This home is the most luxurious and most expensive home I have seen in awhile, $49,000,000 to be exact. and the home is Everymay. This home built in 1801 is offered for sale for the first time in a long time...85 years. The home itself is 9 bedrooms 6 full and 5 half baths and 8 fireplaces. This mansion sits on 3.58 acres of manicured grounds in the heart of our Nations capital. Close to Montrose Park this home is fit for a King or Queen, an embassy, or your entire family.

The home is listed on the National list of Historic Places and is walking distance to Georgetown. It was built by Samuel Davidson c.1801.

For all your Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, and Fairfax county real estate needs contact me. We can help you sell or buy a condo, home, townhome, investment property or estate owned property. Search every property available for sale at www.CALLNORM.com. Full MLS search to find Northern Virginia Homes

The ugly site is now pretty! After 5,000,000 page views served and 40,000 Wiki added photos, FranklyMLS.com has done it again. A new round of 1sts for MLS Search engine features! And you might have been wondering what I was up to (besides law school and a new wife). PREVIOUS LIST OF FIRSTS:

1. First with Keyword search of remarks, subdivisions, zips, city, schools, agent name etc. (like Arlington bank owned)
2. First Wiki site. Over 1300 buyer agent reviews and photo albums. (details)
3. First with 4x larger mls photos. (example)
4. First to Scrub remarks for Short Sales adding a * (blog post)
5. First to Scrub remarks for Open Houses (since 50% of agents enter them wrong)
6. First with a cell phone mode (see video how-to, or see cell mode)
7. First to sort by Tax Assessment as % of List price. Bargains!
8. First Export the data to Excel* (*this might not be true)
9. First to show both Days on The Market DOMM & relisted DOMP (what's that?)
10. First with spreadsheet searching. (more data on 1 page)
11. First with password free email alerts. Video showing the latest features: Link to video

New round of FIRSTS:

1. First to incorporate Google Streetview & MS Virtual Earth Aerialview. Photoless listings come alive (see ex: 1, 2, 3)
2. First with Price history & Previously listed price history! (ex: 1, 2, 3) (so far not on all homes)
3. First with Open House history. See how often they have opens.
4. Now 80% faster! Fastest site out there.

Other new features:

1. New design. You voted for it, apprentice style.
2. Export the data to Excel
3. New Search syntax. Now you can search by

• Negatives. Remove areas or words you don't want. Like: McLean -22102
• Bedrooms. Want only 2 bedrooms? Use 2bdr or you can remove 1 bedrooms with -1bdr
• Home Type. Add to your search: detached, condo, townhouse
• Phrases. Search for "bring all offers"
• Partial words. Use the *. Like: PW* for all MLS #s that start with PW. or: Water* for Waterfront and Waterview.

So hope you enjoy the changes, hope you will offer some feedback. Coming up next... MLS sold data! Agent Update: Ask about the Free-IDX for your blogs and free-branding. Also it is now easier to become a top contributor on the WIki MLSs. Just review about 10 homes and get free visitors to your site.

Written by Frank Borges LL0SA
Broker FranklyRealty.com
Owner FranklyMLS.com twitter= franklyrealty

ps. Funny story, so my favorite post is my Frankly CRA post, so I decided to get the domain name www.franklycra.com , only to realize that it spels Frank Lycra. So don't think it is a site with me wearing Lycra!