Compare Cost of Living in Northern Virginia/Loudoun County to Other Areas of US

Many of you who are thinking about moving here from other parts of the U.S. ask me the question, “What’s the cost of living difference between (enter your town here) and Loudoun County/Northern Virginia?”

To help answer your question, I’ve compiled a list of web sites you can check out. Each of these sites will give you anywhere from a little to a lot of detailed comparisons of cost of living of your town to any city/zip code in Loudoun County or in the Northern Virginia/DC metro area.

Here are some sample searches from each site:

• Houston, TX (77048) compared to Ashburn, VA (20148) – Moving.com (click “Compare to another city” to change cities)
• Raleigh, NC compared to Reston, VA – BestPlaces.com (click on “Cost of Living” tab near top to change cities)
• Phoenix, AZ compared to Arlington, VA – PayScale.com (click on drop down menu in top box to change cities)
• Jacksonville, FL compared to Washington, DC (click on “Cost of Living Wizard” near bottom left of page to change cities)

If you would like to see how far your salary goes when moving from a major metropolitan area to the DC metro area in general,  check out,

• CNN.com’s “How Far Will Your Salary Go” tool (use Washington-Arlington-Alexandria as the city/area here)
• BankRate.com’s “Cost of Living Comparison Calculator (use Washington-Arlington-Alexandria-DC-VA-MD-WV metro as the city/area here)

If you have specific questions regarding cost of living differences, what stores and price points this area has to offer in general or in detail per city/zip code, drop me a line any time. I can be reached at danilo.bogdanovic (at) gmail (dot) com or on my cell – 703.582.6900.

Save Money by Shopping at the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets

Seeing how we’re in the middle of a recession, the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets may be just what the pocket book ordered. You can save 20 to 70 percent by shopping at the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets as long as you don’t mind buying last year’s merchandise.

If you live in Loudoun County, the Leesburg Outlets are not very far of a drive at all. They’re located right next to the intersection of Route 7 and Route 15. If you live in Fairfax County or elsewhere, you may be thinking, “Leesburg is a long way to drive!” Perhaps. But consider the savings – 20 to 70 percent off the majority of your holiday shopping is no small chunk of change and well worth the drive.

If you’re wondering whether there are enough stores at the Leesburg Outlets to cover most or all of what’s on your shopping list, here’s a partial list of the stores you’ll find…

• Adidas
• Ashworth Golf
• Banana Republic Outlet Store
• BCBG Max Azaria
• Calvin Klein
• Eddie Bauer Outlet
• Gap Outlet
• Guess
• Izod
• J. Crew
• Kenneth Cole
• Motherhood Maternity
• Old Navy
• PacSun
• Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5t
• Washington Redskins Official Outlet Store
• Wilson’s Leather Outlet
• Osh Kosh B’gosh
• Gymboree Outlet
• Tumi
• Samsonite Company Store
• Seiko, The Company Store
• Coach
• Kate Spade
• Zales Outlet
• Crate and Barrel
• Pottery Barn Outlet
• Williams-Sonoma Outlet
• Bose
• Yankee Candle
• If you get hungry, there is a food court located inside and restaurants nearby

(Click here for the full list of stores at the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets)

Hours

Holiday hours (Nov 30 – Dec 23) are 9am to 9pm Mon-Sat and 10am-8pm Sun. For all you procrastinators, Christmas Eve hours are 9am to 6pm. Closed Christmas Day.

Directions

Click here for Google Maps – Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets. Once the new window to Google Maps has opened, simply click on “Get Directions” near the top left of the page and put in your starting address.

Special Events/Store Promotions

Click here for special events and in-store promotions going on at the Leesburg Premium Corner Outlets this holiday season.

Note: The Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets is outdoor style mall so dress warm and check the weather to see if it will be raining or snowing before heading there.

Happy shopping!

Another Happy Seller!

I haven’t written about clients I’ve worked with to sell or buy a home before, but someone suggested I do (maybe because some of you may think that all I do is blog rather than “work”).  That’s why I’m here to share with you one of the latest stories of me helping a client sell their home.

This particular property is located in Mclean, VA. It’s a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo in the gated Colonies community located just down the street from Tyson’s Corner. We went with an aggressive list price because of the lack of inventory in the community and area in general, as well as the market conditions, which were favorable for the seller.

We also went with a marketing approach that was focused on today’s buyers and those that would be the most likely to be searching for a condo in the Mclean/Tyson’s Corner area in this price range. And we took it to another level..

• a custom single property blog site with all the information a buyer would need all in one place (click here to check out the site)
• custom business cards inside the property with the address and URL to the site rather than the typical, “Look at me!” listing agent’s business cards with their face plastered all of it (which does little to sell the home)
• complete list and date of upgrades/renovations both, in a brochure and on-line
• (and other things I won’t reveal for the sake of my competitors reading this post – sorry)

Guess what…the approach worked as planned! We received an offer within 24 hours of going on the market – even at the aggressive list price. After some negotiations, my client and the buyer came to an agreement on price and terms.

Though the buyer had some hurdles along the way which directly affected the seller (no transaction is ever without at least one hurdle), the property settled at the end of October. The seller was very happy with the outcome and the buyer was excited to move into their new, and first home!

Here is what the sellers had to say,

We listed with Danilo in September and closed in October. Yeah!  Don’t let that easy-going, nice-guy exterior fool you, Danilo was aggressive and I definitely recommend him next time you need to buy or sell. No, this is not a paid advertisement.

Though this is the latest seller I’ve worked with, it is by no means the only one. Here are a few other examples of sellers I’ve worked with and helped sell their home…

• 21377 Scara Pl, Broadlands, Virginia 20148
• 44039 Rising Sun Ter, Ashburn, VA 20147

If you would like to chat about selling your home, buying a home or the real estate market in general, feel free to contact me any time (click here for contact form/info).

Possible Changes to FHA Mortgage Guidelines Not Good for Home Buyers

The U.S. Government has been touting how the original and now extended (and expanded) first time home buyer federal tax credit has been helping the housing market and overall economy. Yet, at the same time (and on the down-low), they’re trying to pass legislation that will make it harder for home buyers – first and veteran – to buy a home.

“They’re seriously making it even harder to buy a home in this housing market?!”

Yes, seriously. Let’s take a look at what’s going on…

H.R. 3706 – The FHA Taxpayer Protection Act of 2009 was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services on October 1, 2009. This bill would require borrowers with FHA insured mortgages to make down payments of at least 5 percent of the purchase price and would prohibit rolling closing costs into the loan.

Currently, the minimum FHA down payment is 3.5 percent of the purchase price and closing costs can be rolled into an FHA loan.

In addition, the Secretary of Housing & Urban Development, Shaun Donovan on Wednesday outlined further plans to make sure FHA home buyers had more at stake and to put more money in the FHA’s reserves, which are extremely low at the moment.

Here are the highlights of the FHA policy proposal:

• Reduce the maximum allowable seller concessions from 6 percent of sales price to 3 percent
• Raise the minimum FICO score (aka credit score) required to qualify for an FHA loan from 620 to 640 (or more)
• Increase the up-front cash that a borrower has to bring to the table in an FHA backed loan
• Increase in the up-front mortgage insurance premium a buyer is required to pay
• Ask Congress to raise the annual mortgage premium a FHA buyer has to pay

And here’s a scary fact… The FHA can make most of these changes on their own with no additional authority or legislation required. Donovan claims that they will provide detail and public guidance for these changes by the end of January.

We’ll see…

Consider this… The majority of loans in 2009 were FHA (about 80 percent of my buyer clients did FHA financing). If it gets harder to get an FHA mortgage, the number of home buyers could decrease. If that happens, the market could soften. And, on top of that, the extended and expanded home buyer federal tax credit expires March 31, which is about the same time that these new FHA mortgage guidelines would go into effect. The timing of both of those could make things interesting.

Hat tip to Jay Thompson (aka The Phoenix Real Estate Guy)

The Latest Scoop on NV Homes, Little River Commons

I spent Thursday afternoon over at NV Homes, Little River Commons new home community and would like to give you the latest scoop on what’s going on there. In case you don’t know much about the community, here’s a quick overview…

NV Homes, Little River Commons is located off of Gum Spring Rd in Aldie/Chantilly in Loudoun County. NV Homes is selling town homes and single family homes with base price starting in the mid to high $300K’s for their town homes and low to mid $500K’s for their single family homes. There are trails, a common area, tot lot, soccer field, basketball court, baseball field and two ponds within the community. Though there is no club house nor pool in the community, your HOA dues are about half that of neighboring communities.

Now let’s get to the latest pricing and lot availability…

Town Homes

• There are two models available – the Astor and Carnegie
• The Astor is 22 feet wide and about 200 square feet smaller than the Carnegie, which is 24 feet wide
• Both models have a front-load 2-car garage with the entry on the ground level
• Both models have the kitchen in the rear, living and dining room in the front (on main/second level) with 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths (on upper/third level)
• Base prices are about $10K apart with the Carnegie being the more expensive model because it’s larger

I priced out an end unit Astor model with plenty of bells and whistles and it came out $399K. Here are some of the options that price includes:

• Full brick front
• 8 foot extension on all three levels (brings square footage to about 2700)
• Luxury master bathroom with large (aka useable) soaking tub and large shower with bench
• Full bath in basement
• Hardwood entire main level
• Granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances and level one upgrade cabinets in kitchen
• Carpet on all stairs
• Granite counter tops, upgraded cabinets and 12×12 tile in master bathroom and hall bath (upper level)
• Bay window off dining room
• Garage door openers, 2 remotes and keypad

There is one end unit (Astor model) available for April delivery. After that Astor is sold, you’ll have to wait until May/June (most likely June) for the next available delivery. There are a total of  only 4 buildings (18 town homes) left to build in the community.

Single Family Homes

NV Homes is also selling single family homes in the Little River Commons community. They’re selling at such a fast pace that they’ve sold several lots in their newest section, which has not yet even been recorded with Loudoun County (it will be recorded on Tuesday).

NV Homes has 4 models available in Little River Commons with base prices ranging from $500K to $560K (the latest pricing was released last Tuesday). The models range from a base square footage (upper two levels not including the basement or garage) of 2,722 to 3,527.

Since there are 4 models and so many different options and configurations available (and I don’t know exactly what you would choose in options), it’s hard to tell you what you would end up at as a final price. But I can tell you this…the typical final sales price of a single family home in the community is between $600K and $650K.

Incentives/How To Save a Few Bucks

Due to the high pace of sales, NV Homes – along with most other builders in the area – has scaled down on their incentives and either raised prices or made some standard options no longer standard. Nevertheless, you can get closing cost assistance and money off the base price/options in certain situations.

NOTE: If you are considering the Little River Commons community by NV Homes, you may also want to consider what Van Metre Homes has to offer in Stone Ridge, which is just across Gum Spring Rd from this community. For more information on what Van Metre Homes has to offer in Stone Ridge, click here.

To find out how to get the most in incentives/money off the price or for information about the builder, the community, available models or lots, drop me a line any time. I can best be reached via email or on my cell – danilo.bogdanovic (at) gmail (dot) com – 703.582.6900.

Holiday Homes Tour in Hamilton, VA This Sunday, 12/6

This just in… There is a Holiday Homes Tour in the Historic Village of Hamilton this Sunday from 1 t0 5pm – 100% of proceeds to benefit the Sunshine Kids Foundation. Five fabulous homes will be open to the public decked in their holiday finery.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 the day of. They can be purchased at the Hamilton Town office or Prudential’s office in Hamilton. Shuttle transportation is provided at no extra charge.

Parking is available in the Hamilton Baptist Church parking lot. Tour starts at the Prudential office where warm cider and cookies will be served. Please allow at least 2 hours to see these impressive homes. Call 540-338-4171 for info.

Note: I am not affiliated with Prudential nor any of the homes in the tour. This is just a public service announcement for those who like seeing fancy homes with lots of bright lights and shiny objects hanging from them, giving to charity and having cider and cookies.

Top 5 Home Improvement Projects Based on Cost and ROI

People often ask me, “What home improvements can I do to get the most money for my home?” I’ve talked about some of things you should do to get your home ready for the market in past blog posts and would like to add to it by quoting an article that came out the other week…

According to the HomeGain survey, the top five home improvements that Realtors recommend to home sellers based on cost and return on investment (from highest to lowest ROI) are:

1. Cleaning and de-cluttering ($200 cost / $1,700 price increase / 872% ROI)
2. Home staging ($300 cost / $1,780 price increase / 586% ROI)
3. Lightening and brightening ($230 cost / $1,300 price increase / 572% ROI)
4. Landscaping ($320 cost / $1,500 price increase / 473% ROI)
5. Repairing plumbing ($385 cost / $1,250 price increase / 327% ROI)

Cleaning and de-cluttering continues to rank as the top suggested home improvement (since the survey was originally conducted in 2000), recommended by 98% of Realtors, costing less than $200 and returning a value of nearly $1,700 to the home’s sale price, or an 872% return on investment.

“Many Realtors agree, especially in a buyer’s market, that sellers who make these recommended home improvements often get their homes sold faster and at higher prices,” stated Louis Cammarosano, General Manager at HomeGain. “We have customized our Home Sale Maximizer online home improvement tool to help identify and prioritize the projects that can increase the salability and selling price of a home.”

Rounding out the top 12, the list of low cost, do-it-yourself home improvements includes: updating electrical, replacing or shampooing carpets, painting interior walls, repairing damaged floors, updating kitchen, painting outside of home, and updating bathroom/s.

The home improvement projects with the highest price increases to a home’s resale value are updating the kitchen ($1,200 cost / $2,850 price increase), followed by painting the outside of the home ($900 cost / $1,815 price increase) and home staging ($300 cost / $1,780 price increase).

How Much Will Your Real Estate Taxes Be?

A client recently asked how much their real estate taxes will be and how they are calculated. For those of you who wondering the same thing, here’s an explanation:

In Loudoun County, what each home’s actual tax amount is depends on two things…

1. the assessed value of the property as of January 1 of the current year
2. the current tax rate (currently $1.26 per $100 of assessed value)

The taxes you see listed on listings/properties for sale at this moment are typically for the current year. I say “typically” because sometimes, the tax amount listed is for the previous year.

The amount of taxes you owe changes yearly because updated assessed values come out the beginning of each year (in Loudoun County). And the tax rate can change as well. The county/local jurisdiction usually decides whether to change the tax rate after tax assessments come out. They look at their budget and see if they need to increase the tax rate in order to make up for a loss/lack of revenue thanks to overall lower assessed values (which typically happens in a down housing market where real estate values are/have declined).

In a nutshell, real estate taxes can and will change every year. What your total tax bill will be in the future is an unknown because of the process (as described above), but typically, the amount stays about the same or goes up rather than down.

Note: Every county/jurisdiction has a slightly different process – how Loudoun County does things is not the same as others.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line or contact the local tax assessor’s office in your jurisdiction. Here are links to some of the assessor’s web sites throughout Northern Virginia…

• Loudoun County
• Fairfax County
• Prince William County
• Arlington County

« Previous Page