How To Request A Refund On Your Grantor’s Tax

Governor Timothy M. Kaine signed House Bill 1578 which establishes procedures to return taxes and fees collected by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA). The Clerks of the Circuit Courts will work with settlement agents to return the congestion relief fee (real estate grantor’s tax) to the affected settlement agents within 60 days. The settlement agent will in turn refund the individuals or entities that paid the congestion relief fee. The Clerks will jointly develop uniform guidelines for the return of the fee within 60 days.

Sellers who sold their property (settled) on or after January 1, 2008 and paid the higher tax rate should call their settlement agent or the NVTA at 703-766-4650 for additional information. Additional information on the return of taxes and fees collected can be found at www.hb3202.virginia.gov and www.thenovaauthority.org.

(via Dulles Area Association of Realtors®)

Related Articles

Grantor’s Tax Update - Court Rules NVTA Taxing Powers Unconstitutional

-Danilo

Loudoun County Community Overview: Belmont Greene

Belmont Greene is a neighborhood development in Ashburn, Virginia located inbetween Belmont Ridge Road and Claiborne Parkway about 35 miles west of Washington, DC. The development is situated adjacent to Stone Bridge High School and Trailside Park. The Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail runs along the border of Belmont Greene and helps divide Belmont Greene and Belmont Country Club. A new extension of Trailside Park includes a walking path that connects to the W&OD trail.

The development consists of over 700 housing units and 65 acres of commercially zoned land that is currently being developed into a shopping center complete with a grocery store, fast food restaurants and a bank. There are two playgrounds and a small community pool that serves the needs of the Belmont Greene community.

Belmont Station Elementary School of Loudoun County Public Schools is located in Belmont Greene and serves the Ashburn Farm community. Construction (as of January 2007) has begun on Village Center at Belmont Greene, a large parcel of land that will be used for commercial interests, including a McDonald’s, a bank, and a shopping center with a Bloom grocery store as its anchor. Some residents of Belmont Greene have opposed this commercial construction, despite the plans being many years old, available to the public, and the land already being zoned "commercial".

Further Resources:

Belmont Greene HOA/Community Association

Waterford Development, Developer - Belmont Greene

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Hope everyone has a great St. Patty’s Day. May some "Luck ‘o the Irish" come your way.

Our Broker, Simon Warner, Named “Realtor Of The Year”

We’re proud to announce that our broker, Simon Warner (Market Advantage Real Estate in Sterling, Virginia), was named "2007 Realtor® Of The Year" by the Dulles Area Association of Realtors®. This honor is given to the one Realtor® that has demonstrated active involvement in the community; active participation in local, state and national Realtor® association events and functions; education; teaching; etc.

Along with being named "REALTOR® Of The Year", Simon Warner was inducted into the 2007 Honor Society.

To help present the award, Pat Jensen, President of the Virginia Association of Realtors® drove up from Richmond for the event.

In addition to being a broker/owner of Market Advantage Real Estate, LLC, Simon is heavily involved with Virginia Lions Football.

"The VALions are helping to focus young men on productive goals using football as a metaphor for life. It is the intent of our organization to combat gang involvement, racial and economic division, and other threats to Loudoun County Youth by offering guidance, coaching, support, and encouragement in an open environment based on Christian principles.

Virginia Athletics Lions is a community, youth football organization. While the program is founded on Christian principles, it is not an exclusively Christian team and is open to ALL – We do insist that players and their families operate with respect toward coaches staff and special guests, and that they follow our code of conduct as part of the team.

We are quite fortunate to have received significant support from former Washington Redskins; Eddie Mason, Joe Mickles, and Cliff Russell, who have all given freely of their time to train and encourage the players. In addition, we have received massive support from Gary and Amanda Kidwell of the Lower Loudoun Boys Football League. Most importantly we are getting players in the games, instead of leaving them on the bench as is the case in many HS teams, while offering a full schedule each season.

We will be competing in combines as well as full season and Turkey Bowl in the 2008 season.

We are always looking for more players, more sponsors, as well as additional options for practice and game facilities."

We are very happy for Simon and honored to be a part of his firm.

$1M+ Homes In Ashburn and Leesburg; A Different Market Altogether

The $1M+ home market in Ashburn and Leesburg is a tough one (at least for sellers) and is much different than the rest of the real estate market in Loudoun County. At this price point, the buyer pool is much smaller. And the amount of inventory heavily outweighs the amount of demand making it much more a buyer’s market then the lower price brackets.

Let’s look at the numbers:

Ashburn

• There are currently 18 properties for sale for $1M or more
• There is only $1M+ property currently under contract
• There have only been five $1M+ properties sell within the last 12 months
• Based on the demand over the last year, there is a 36 month supply of $1M+ properties

Leesburg

• There are currently 60 properties for sale $1M or more
• There are three $1M+ properties currently under contract
• There have been thirty-four $1M+ properties sell within the last 12 months
• Based on the demand over the last year, there is a 20.5 month supply of $1M+ properties

The most important statistic is the number of months supply. Ashburn and Leesburg have a 36 month and 20.5 month (respectively) supply of $1M+ properties, while Loudoun County as a whole has a 7.6 month supply. That’s quite a difference.

If you’re a buyer in the $1M+ price range, you have the pick of the litter at the moment. If you’re a seller of a $1M+ property, it’s time to get aggressive if you want to sell your property.

Poll: What Do You Think Home Prices In Loudoun County Will Do This Spring?

Loudoun County Home Sales Statistics - Year-To-Date; 2008 vs 2007

Here are the home sales statistics for Loudoun County year-to-date (1/1 - 3/10), 2008 versus 2007. Please note that "solds" means homes that went under contract. This is more accurate than looking at the number of homes that settled because it allows you to see when buyers are actually purchasing homes versus when they’re settling on them.

Here’s the graph (click to enlarge):

Here are the statistics spelled out:

• January 2008 saw a 42 percent drop in home sales over January 2007
• February 2008 saw a 16 percent drop in home sales over February 2007
• March (through 3/10) saw a 17 percent drop in home sales over March 2007 (through 3/10)

Poll: Is Your 2008 Assessed Value Correct?

Back on December 12, 2007, we published a post regarding the discrepancy between Loudoun County tax assessments and fair market value. The post included a poll asking, "How much higher or lower than 2007 will your 2008 tax assessment need to be in order to reflect your property’s true market value?"

Seventy-five percent said that their 2008 assessed value would have to be more than 7 percent less than their 2007 assessed values in order to reflect their property’s market value.

Well, here we are a few months later and the 2008 assessed values have come out. So we’re here now to ask you a follow up question:

"Is your 2008 assessed value correct?"

Fannie Mae Lending Guidelines Change; More Strict On Borrowers

In conjuction with the temporary raise in loan limits, Fanne Mae has announced new lending guidelines for these new "jumbo-conforming" loans, which are more strict on borrwers than before. The possibility of this happening is why we wrote a post questioning whether the economic stimulus bill and higher loan limits would have a positive or negative effect on the housing and lending market.

In a nutshell, the new guidelines state that you:

• must have more money for a down payment
• need higher credit scores than before (in some cases)
• must have more money in reserves
• need to have less debt
• have to use at least 5% of your own money for a down payment rather than using all of the gift money from family towards the down payment
• are not allowed to receive more than 3% seller concessions

Here’s the above "in a nutshell" summary in more detail (directly from Fannie Mae):

Read more

Update #2 To Grantor’s Tax Refunds

This just in from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) regarding Grantor’s Tax (Congestion Relief Tax) refunds:

"Some news media outlets are reporting that it will take “three years to refund monies” collected by NVTA.

This is INCORRECT and a misinterpretation of the memo posted on the NVTA web site.

While it may be challenging to track down SOME taxpayers, it can be done and will be done within a few months.

For those rare cases when we will not be able to track a taxpayer down, the law requires that any UNCLAIMED monies be held in trust for up to three years and if unclaimed will, by law, revert to Virginia’s Literacy Fund. 

It will NOT take three years to refund this money. Taxpayers have up to three years to claim monies if they are not automatically refunded.

Please adjust your reports immediately.  Reporting inaccurate information is unnecessarily upsetting residents and taxpayers. 

We continue to ask that taxpayers be patient, hold onto their receipts and wait for further instructions which will come soon."

Related Articles:

NVTA To Stop Collecting Grantor’s Tax and Fees Effective Immediately

Update To Grantor’s Tax Refunds

Official Press Release From NVTA Regarding Today’s Court Ruling

Grantor’s Tax Update - Court Rules NVTA Taxing Powers Unconstitutional

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