About Herndon's Chantilly Highlands

It was another freezing day at the county courthouse, standing outside to bid at the trustee sale of properties that have defaulted on their mortgages(foreclosure sales)

12 properties were on the original docket....4 had been removed from the sale for unknown reasons (they could have been cured at the last moment or bankruptcy could have stalled the process)

No one there is gleeful about the opportunity...we all know that people's lives have been damaged by the time a home gets here. There is a general quiet comradery among the regulars, with information sharing and fact clarification...you might expect the atmosphere to be cut throat but it's not.

If you have never been to one of these you need to be prepared for disappointment and non participation. You may have visited the properties and done your analysis, driven to the courthouse only to find that the property is not being offered or the mortgage holder bids $100k-$200k more than the market value of the home....this happens 70-80% of the time since our market is filled with homeowners who bought property at $600k in 2005 which will only fetch $425k today.

This is at the heart of our nationwide housing crisis and the end results are on daily display at courthouses around the country. All the homes that fail to sell today will be offered as bank owned REO properties in about 90 days through a Realtor. Today, the bank buys back four at the amount owed....no humans are dumb enough to pay that much.

The remaining 4 are purchased by the regulars...bids going in $500 increments from the opening price until the end where it finishes up in $100's......the attorney calls; "256,400 going, going.....256,500.... 256,600 .....256,600.....once ...anybody else?
Going twice at 256,600, one more time at 256,600....going, going ...anybody, anybody? sold at $256,600...that's all for today. Those of you who purchased come on over and settle up" . Nothing for us today and the crowd scurries to the warmth of their cars.

This is a SentriLock Realtor’s lock box

How Do Realtor's Lock Boxes Work?

Diane: My husband and I have been driving around the Chantilly Highlands area of Herndon..... trying to get a feel for area neighborhoods for our future move. We can see all kinds of lock boxes hanging on the doors of the homes for sale and were wondering how they work. Can you tell me?

Steve: There are basically two types of lock boxes…combination and electronic that are used here in Northern Virginia. The combination boxes are usually put on bank owned (foreclosed) vacant, or inappropriately on normal human owned homes by cheap listing agents. I have seen some in use that we used for facilitating handyman entrance back in 1983… with the same combination!

The combination for the box is either put in the listing, or buyer's agents have to call the listing agent to get it (a waste, since they never answer their phones or get back to you, since it would interrupt their daytime TV schedule.…or they call you two days later after your client has returned to her current home in New York).

This means active, professional buyer's agents often do not show those listings since there are so many other properties out there that can be visited easily.

The best use of combination lock boxes is when they are registered with a service like Centralized Showing Service…those people DO answer their phones and record your identity before giving you the combo(each agent has a special password that identifies them to the folks at the service).
The electronic boxes come in two forms…one requires the insertion of the Realtor’s electronic card key …the other will read a signal from a key when you point the key at it. These are known as Supra keys.

2 Types of Keys

Diane: What is a Realtor’s key?

Steve: Each Realtor who pays his dues in a timely manner, has an electronic key to the lock boxes within the metro area. My identity is coded into the key….it is very cool and adds good security and follow up potential. When I enter a property with my key, the lock box on the property sends an identity message to my key, recording the date, time, and property I was in.

At home and at our office, we have a key cradle connected by telephone lines to the Metropolitan Regional Information System (MRIS). (That is the name of the local multiple listing service which has all listed properties in MD DC, and VA)

When I put my key in the cradle or up date my key card (it expires every day), a message is sent to the listing agent of each home I visited, telling them who I am and when I was in their listing. Pretty cool, huh?

When we get notified that someone was in one of our listings (homes we are marketing), we do two things. We email the showing buyer’s agent a picture and summary of the listing they were in, along with a form with questions about what they thought of the home. This makes it easy for them to respond.

We can then gather the comments of the agents who viewed the property and send them to our client who is selling the home. We also call the showing agents to answer any questions they may have, in order to facilitate the sale.

So True

Diane: Thank you for that complete answer. When we are ready to sell our old place and buy a new home…you and your wife are the only Realtors we intend to contact… we just love the way you work, your attention to detail, your thoroughness, your professionalism, your kindness, compassion, and understanding, your nuanced yet deeply meaningful way of communicating your care for us personally, the knowledge that you and Jan will go the extra 10 miles for us, meeting handymen, inspectors, carpet people, painters and I just know it will be the best experience of our lives outside the birth of our children. (I made up this last part of Diane's note...I couldn’t help it)

Steve: Thank you for the kind words Diane, we will do our best.

Chantilly Highlands homes for sale, Chantilly Highlands realtor

Sam: I purchased a home just prior to Thanksgiving in the Chantilly Highlands neighborhood of Herndon. Do you know where I can find the latest information regarding how to claim my tax credit?

Steve: Sam, since you purchased a home in 2009 (or if you have friends who are are expecting to close on one in the first quarter of 2010), make sure that you check out the IRS links in this post for the latest available info. straight from the IRS website.

The IRS has announced its guidelines for home buyers seeking either the $8,000.00, (first time home buyer), or the $6,500.00, (qualified repeat buyer) tax credits. (There is a qualitative difference between a government announcement and when you can avail yourself of the required forms necessary to execute what they have announced. Funny huh?)

It is possible that the guidelines will not be published until the end of this month or the beginning of January. The IRS is expected to have its revised Form 5405 ready for tax payers ready for public consumption within that time frame ( you may want to wait to file your taxes until that final version is available. Check with your tax adviser).

The coming published revision is expected to incorporate changes made to the tax credit program by Congress and signed into law in late November by the president. Make sure that you acquaint yourself with what is available to you and inspect the changes made within the last couple of months which are expected to include larger income limits and more documentation requirements than the guidelines posted earlier. For more information check the news release at: IRS News.

As of this moment, the homeowners tax credit has been extended until April 30, 2010 for having a signed contract on your purchase, and to June 30, 2010 as the date of settlement or close of escrow. If you usually do your own taxes it may be worthwhile hiring a pro this season in order to take full advantage of all the credits as well as the deductions that you can receive as the result of your home purchase.

Consult your tax professional since you may want to wait until form 5405 is officially released. The IRS website can be found at: www.irs.gov. Once there, click on: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Information Center

Pictures are from Sago near Buckhannon West Virginia. Just up the river from the site of the 2006 coal mine explosion. We have visited friends there for 20 years.

Tax credit for Chantilly Highlands home buyers, tax credit for Herndon home buyers

Chantilly Highlands, Franklin Farm, International food stores in Chantilly, Lotte, Lotte Plaza

Whole Lotte Love, yoja chingu.

Terri: I am not a person that just wants to eat meat and potatoes all the time and I am sorely dissapointed in the produce and international food sections of the standard local markets. Do you have any suggestions for alternative shopping venues not too far from Chantilly Highlands?


Steve: You are in luck. Chantilly Highlands and Franklin Farm are only 1.5 miles from the Shangri La of international food emporiums. Lotte......The produce section is about 3 times the size of your basic Safeway or Giant's section and the prices are usually 1/3 to 1/2 that of other stores with nowhere near the selection.

Fresh snow peas generally run $4/lb at the Giant...Lotte had them for $.99/lb last week. Normally they run around $1.5/lb. (I love snow peas can you tell)Bean sprouts are $.79/lb and are of awesome quality. The seafood selection cannot be matched anywhere and the guys will clean your catch at no extra charge.

Tom: Do they have Vietnamese, Spanish, Indo/Pak, Korean, Chinese and Japanese sauces and specialties and 20 different kinds of soy sauce?

Steve: Yes, and they have a sushi counter that is cheaper than you can get anywhere I have seen and the guy will make it custom if you want. There is a bakery, a food court, Asian cooking and serving implements, optometry and kitchen and bath remodeling. I am not making this up.

Green onions: Seven 1 inch bundles for a buck, frozen pot stickers at 1/2 the price of Giant and 40 times the selection. There are isles dedicated to the different cuisines. We got 6 full bags of stuff there last week for $27 ...unbelievable.

Sue: Can you tell me how to use this stuff to make an amazing concoction out of Ramen which you can buy 6 packs for a buck?

Steve: OK Sue. Get your Ramen and follow the directions. Put sliced mushrooms in the water at the start. Cook a couple minutes then add the noodles as directed, then with one minute left to go throw in some snow peas, bean sprouts, seafood mix (or sliced meat of your choice) turn off the heat and use scissors to top it off with cut green onion tops and cilantro ($.79 for a big bunch).

Then you can sauce it up as you see fit. We use hoisin and red pepper sauce to create what we call "fast faux Pho" (Pho, pronounced FA is a Vietnamese soup...you probably have seen the stores in your local strip shopping center with names like Pho 90 or Pho 27 or some variation)

After a hard day of showing property to clients, we will make this version of Ramen and have pot stickers to go with it. Takes about 15 minutes total and is extremely non boring. Check it out yoja chingu..... it's a trip.