Tex-Mex Restaurant and Margarita Bar Coming to Brambleton

All you Tex-Mex and margarita lovers stand up and do a happy dance – the space next to Fox Cinemas in the Brambleton Town Center will soon be a Tex Mex restaurant complete with a margarita bar!

The space was originally being built out as a Mexican restaurant by the name of Cantina Cove, but that fell through after the owner, Osama El-Atari, was brought up on fraud charges and became an internationally wanted fugitive. The space sat vacant for a while, but another local, and seemingly more legit restaurateur, took over the space and is turning into a Tex-Mex restaurant and margarita bar.

My sources tell me that there is no official name for the restaurant yet, but one should be coming out soon. They also say that the restaurant may be ready for operations and having a “soft opening” sometime mid-December. Having worked in the restaurant business in a previous life and seeing the progress (yes, I was snooping through the windows), I’d say a mid-December soft opening is optimistic. But then again, where there’s a will (and money), there’s a way.

Regardless of when it opens, it will be a nice and much needed addition to the Brambleton Town Center and for all those in the Brambleton community as well as Ashburn and Loudoun County in general.

Click here to see some photos of the exterior of the space (in case you want to snoop and take a peek through the windows as well).

Cost of New Homes Goes Up at Pulte Homes’ Windermere Community

New construction town homes just got more expensive at Pulte Homes’ Windermere community in Ashburn, Virginia. Though base prices didn’t go up, a large number of options that were once standard on the Tyler and Westley II town home models will no longer be standard (click here for my video tour of the Tyler model and click here for my video tour of  the Westley II model).

What is no longer standard?

The previously standard options that are no longer included for free are,

• boxed ceiling in Master Bedroom
• window, door, baseboard, chair rail and crown molding package
• 3-piece plumbing/full bathroom rough-in in basement
• 42 inch cabinets in kitchen
• 12″ x 12″ designer ceramic tile floor in kitchen and nook
• recessed lighting
• double bowl under-mount stainless steel sink
• granite counter tops in kitchen
• Energy Star appliances in kitchen
• granite counter tops with under-mount porcelain sinks in all full bathrooms
• 6″ x 6″ ceramic tile floors in all bathrooms
• elongated water closet in master bathroom and powder room
• insulated garage door with openers and remote
• electrical outlets – front and rear
• double hung insulated vinyl “Low E” windows with grid inserts and screens

What does this mean to you?

The majority of the previously standard options are pretty “standard” in today’s day and age to begin with so you’ll probably want them anyway. The estimated cost of the options listed above is upwards of $15K, which means you’ll be spending at least $15K more than you would have previously.

Don’t be bummed

Though I can’t say for sure, I have a feeling that Pulte may be raising base prices after the next release of lots. With inventory down, demand still strong and the tax credit being extended and expanded, builders have been raising base prices and/or cutting the list of standard options. If the market continues this way, they will continue to do the same thing in the future.

But…even though the overall cost went up, I know of incentives and ways to negotiate money off the total price that will make it much less of an increase in overall cost than what’s on paper.  See…told you not to be bummed

If you would like more information about this or any other new home builder in the area and to save money when buying new construction, click here to contact me – I would be happy to help.

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Brambleton Wins “Community of the Year” Award (again)!

Congratulations to Brambleton for winning 5 GALA awards including  “Community of the Year” (for the 3rd year in a row)! The Great American Living Awards (GALA) awards celebrate excellence in New Home Architecture, Interior Design, and Sales and Marketing throughout Maryland, Virginia and DC.

The GALA awards are quite an honor because they are based on votes and recognition by your peers in the building industry.

The other awards Brambleton received were,

• Best Sales Office – Brambleton Welcome Center
• Best Website – www.Brambleton.com
• Best Community Land Planning (this award is based on the community landscaping and signage)
• Marketing Director of the Year (Kim Adams)

If you have yet to check out Brambleton in person, you should do so. I would be glad to show you around the community, introduce you to everyone at the Welcome Center and answer any questions you may have – just click here to contact me.

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***SEARCH FOR AVAILABLE HOMES IN BRAMBLETON***

Loudoun Community Spotlight: Pulte Homes, Hamlets at Red Cedar

This Loudoun County Community Spotlight falls on the Hamlets at Red Cedar community by Pulte Homes. The community is located off of Evergreen Mills Rd in Leesburg, VA (click here for map). Once the community is complete, there will be a total of 350 homes situated on 1300 rolling acres.

Personally, I think that the Hamlets at Red Cedar community is ideal for those looking for that “private and quaint” community feel yet, be close to amenities and things to do.

The majority of single family homes in the Hamlets at Red Cedar community are located on 1/2 acre lots and the entire community is surrounded by conservancy lots ranging from 10 to 100 acres. This gives you privacy from surrounding development for up to 100 years (based on current zoning laws regarding conservancy lots).

Even though being inside of the community give you a feel of being away from the hustle and bustle of daily life, you are only 5 to 10 minutes from Brambleton Town Center, 10 to 15 minutes away from downtown Leesburg and about 10 to 15 minutes from the Dulles Greenway and the future Moorefield Station, which will include commercial, residential, retail and a Silver Line metro rail stop (coming 2016).

The Hamlets at Red Cedar is made up of town homes and single family homes. The town homes along with the Ambassador and Manor single family home collections have all been sold, but there are still some Stoneridge collection single family homes and home sites available.

The Stoneridge Collection offers 8 different models ranging from 2510 square feet on the upper two levels to 4589 square feet on the upper two levels. Base prices range from $539K to $739K. Delivery times are about 6 to 9 months though there are some quick delivery “spec” homes with move-in dates as early as November.

Lot sizes on the Stoneridge Collection are 1/2 an acre giving you more land than 90+ percent of the rest of Ashburn and Leesburg. One nice thing about these lots is that the majority of them still have trees in the back of them rather than just a flat piece of land where you can still see the house behind you.

Amenities include a club house with pool tables, a community living room, gym and pool. There are several parks, tot lots and trails throughout the community as well.

If you are interested in knowing more about the community, home models, available lots/home sites, spec homes, incentives, etc., email or call me – danilo.bogdanovic (at) gmail (dot) com – 703.582.6900.

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Slideshow of Hamlets at Red Cedar community

Loudoun Community Spotlight: Goose Creek Bend, Brookfield Homes

This Loudoun County community spotlight falls on Goose Creek Bend, a Brookfield Homes community (click here if you don’t see the slideshow above). Goose Creek Bend is located off of Gulick Mill Rd less than a mile from Sycolin Rd on the border of Leesburg and Ashburn (click here if you don’t see the map below).

View Larger Map

All of the lots are 1+ acres and back to trees. Here’s the site plan:

All of the homes within Goose Creek Bend are luxury single family homes and offer 4 to 7 bedrooms, up to 6.5 baths and up to 4 car garages. The various models offered in the community are:

• Canterbury
• Davenport
• Halley
• Meridia
• Keenan

Base prices range from $599,990 to $709,990 with square footage ranging from 3091 to 3944 on the upper two levels.

Pros

• Large lots
• Private community
• Unique models/floor plans
• Close to ramp on/off Dulles Greenway and Sycolin Rd
• Amount of square footage, upgrades and lot size for money

Cons

• Lack of amenities
• Shopping is at least 15 minutes away (by car)
• Gulick Mill Rd is a gravel road (not good for all you sports car enthusiasts)

Brookfield Homes resumed sales in the community a short while ago and there are a handful of lots still available. If you would like to know more about the community, lots, models or available incentives, click here to contact me.

Loudoun Community Spotlight: Pulte Homes, Windermere in Ashburn

This Loudoun County Community Spotlight falls on the Pulte Homes Windermere community in Ashburn, VA. The Windermere community is located near the corner of Claiborne Parkway and Croson Lane immediately next to the Broadlands community.

Windermere is a mix of large town homes and medium sized single family homes. A total of 91 town homes and 83 single family homes will make up the community. Pulte has built or sold about 35 percent of the total homes so far and they’re expecting to sell the remainder of the community within the next 18 months. That puts completion of the entire community at about 24 months.

In speaking with the Pulte sales staff, I found out that they’ve already sold 9 homes this month (that’s a lot for new construction especially in a community of only 174 homes). I’m sometimes skeptical at how busy they say they are, but I’m going to believe them on this one – there at the same time as I was today were three Buyer’s Agents with their clients, two other sets of buyers without an agent and one set of buyers about to write a contract. And that was at 3:30pm on a Wednesday.

Base Prices/Models

Prices on the town homes start at $380K for the Westley II interior model (2296 – 2735 sq ft) and $390K for the Tyler exterior model (2411 – 2857 sq ft).

Prices on the single family homes start at $524K for the Kenley model (2696 sq ft on upper two levels); $533K for the Wynnewood model (2770 sq ft on upper two levels); and $542K for the Jamestown model (2974 sq ft on upper two levels).

Delivery Dates

Delivery dates vary, but count on about 4 to 6 months on the town homes and about 6 months on the single family homes. There are some “spec” homes available for earlier delivery including a Tyler model in the low $400K’s with a September delivery date.

Incentives

Pulte is offering some incentives as far as closing costs if you use their preferred lender. As for wiggle room in the base prices and/or options, there may or may not be any – that’s a secret I’ll only share with my clients (it’s only fair).

Amenities/HOA fees

Two things that popped out at me were the lack of amenities and not-much-return HOA fees. There are no amenities in the community yet, the HOA fee is $86 for single family homes and $100 for town homes. Considering what other communities within Ashburn and Loudoun County charge for HOA fees and the amenities they offer, Windermere has high HOA fees with little offered to home owners in return. In case you’re wondering…neither I (nor the sale rep from Pulte) could figure out why the town home fees are higher than the single family home fees.

Photos/Video Tour

There should be a slideshow of community photos I took at the top of this post (click here if you don’t see it). And don’t forget to check out my two-part video tour of the Windermere Pulte Homes Westley II and Tyler model town homes – part one and part two.

Visiting the new homes sales center in person

Make sure you have your Buyer’s Agent with you when you visit a new home/builder sales center. Click here to find out why.

Brambleton Community Receives National Honors

Congratulations to The Brambleton Group, LLC, the developers of the Brambleton community in Loudoun County for receiving several national honors, adding to its long list of awards!

Brambleton received a silver award from the National Sales and Marketing Council's The Nationals 2009 competition. The Council is an affiliate of the National Association of Home Builders, the largest industry association for building and associated industry professionals.

Brambleton's silver award was based on winning the categories of Master-planned Community of the Year, Best Web Site for a Community (Suburban), and Best Landscape Design for a Detached Community.

"With our innovative use of FiOS for residents and merchants, vibrant town center, and highly attractive landscape design throughout the community, we feel Brambleton is at the top of builder standards, quality, and appeal to Loudoun's homebuyers," Kim Adams, director of marketing for Brambleton, said in a statement.

Brambleton was among a field of 800 entries reviewed during a three-day judging process by a seven-member panel of industry leaders.

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***SEARCH FOR HOMES FOR SALE IN BRAMBLETON***

Update on New Construction in Van Metre Stone Ridge Community

 

Here' an update on what new construction and spec homes are available in Van Metre Homes' Stone Ridge community located off of Route 50 in Loudoun County:

Stone Ridge – Single family homes
 
Van Metre has 5 home sites available for the Hickory model (which is part of the Savannah Collection). In addition, they have one spec Hickory model available.
 
All 5 of the "to-be-built" home sites and the spec home are 20% off. The base prices for the "to-be-built" Hickory models are $475K. The spec home is pretty loaded and, with the 20% off, is $438K.

Van Metre has one Brighton spec home available. It's loaded with options including a finished basement, full bath an 2 bedrooms giving it a total of 7 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms.
 
They have a total of 50 single family home sites left in the community, but they don't anticipate many of those lots having any more Hickory models on them, just the other series, which the Brighton is a part of.
 
Stone Ridge – Town homes
 
Van Metre has 4 Erickson (interior model, 2900 square feet) specs available. With all incentives, they price out between $358K and $389K (prices vary due to options chosen). Delivery dates are all in February.
 
They have several of the smaller town homes (2400-2500 sq ft) available. They are "to-be-built" and with all incentives come out to a base price of $340-$370K. New buildings have been released and offer pond views (covered bridge, fountain, landscaped). Delivery dates on "from dirt" town homes range from April/May to June/July.
 
Note: $10K of the incentives on the single family homes and $5K of the incentives on the town homes are tied to using Intercoastal Mortgage and the builder's title company of choice.

If you'd like more information about Van Metre, Stone Ridge, available lots and models or want to visit the community in person, contact me – danilo.bogdanovic (at) gmail (dot) com – 703.582.6900.

How to Apply for Loudoun Neighborhood Stabilization Program, List of Designated Areas

Loudoun County just released the name of the neighborhoods that qualify for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). This is part of the NSP application process to, which Loudoun will submit to Virginia at the end of this month in hopes of securing at least $2 million to buy foreclosed properties for rehab.

The designated neighborhoods are (Adobe Reader required):

• Crestwood Hamlet
• Heritage Square 
• Hunington Ridge
• Sterling Park South (A)
• Sterling Park South (B)
• Sugarland Run

The application for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program requires Loudoun County to provide a list of qualified buyers that would be interested in purchasing a property in these designated neighborhoods.

If you are interested in purchasing a property in one of these designated neighborhoods through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, contact me and have the following information ready:

1. Name
2. Address
3. Phone number
4. Pre-qualification letter from a lender (aka "approval letter" or "lender letter")

Important…

• The deadline for these applications is January 27, 2009 (the application from the county is due to Virginia at the end of the month and these applications need to be a part of that)
• Without the above information, the County will not process your application
• The information listed above is required by Loudoun County as well as Virginia - this is not a gimmick to get your information for my own records (I was asked by Loudoun County to be part of the group providing input into the program and application process)

My contact info: danilo.bogdanovic (at) gmail (dot) com – 703.582.6900 (cell)

Update on Centex, The Glen at Goose Creek, Ashburn

Here's an update on the Centex Homes community, The Glen at Goose Creek, which is located near the corner of Belmont Ridge Rd and Sycolin Rd in Ashburn, Virginia.

Centex is currently finishing up Phase 1 of the Glen at Goose Creek and, as of 4:00pm Friday (Jan 2), there are only 3 town homes left for sale in Phase 1. All three are "Annapolis" models, the largest model Centex offers in the Glen at Goose Creek community. The Annapolis model features,

• front entry 2 car garage
• 3 finished levels
• 2412 square feet of finished space
• 3 bedrooms
• 2.5 baths
• open floor plan
• large kitchen including huge center island with room for several bar stools
• large master bedroom with large dual walk-in closets
• tall ceilings througout
• prices start at $364,990
• delivery dates are July/August

Centex will not start selling Phase 2 until next winter. The first releases will be condos and the smaller model town homes (about 2000 square feet of finished space). The larger Annapolis models will not start selling until about the summer of 2010.

As with every community, there are pros and cons. Here's my take on the pros and cons of The Glen at Goose Creek:

Pros

• Good value based on square footage and standard upgrades of town homes
• Very convenient to Dulles Greenway and Belmont Ridge Rd
• Though there are no current ammenities in the community, there will be many built (including commercial and mixed-use) within the next 4 to 5 years
• Low HOA dues (about $74 per month) compared to other parts of Ashburn (e.g. Ashburn Village is up to $106 for town homes)
• Good potential upside for appreciation due to future development and ammenities

Cons

• No ammenities within community for 4 to 5 years
• Until ammenities are built, you'll have to join the Ashburn Farm or other HOA in Ashburn (prices vary)
• Not good for runners or bicyclists – you'd have to run up Sycolin and across or down Belmont Ridge Rd
• No guarantee when Phase 2 or the ammenities will be completed – the time lines are not set in stone

Note: Centex's new marketing campaign stresses that they're building very energy efficient and "green" town homes at a competitive price. Though this is true, many other builders are doing the same thing so don't limit your options to just Centex if you're "green" or want to save money on utilities by buying an energy efficient home.

If you'd like more information about this or any other new-construction community in the area, feel free to email or call me – danilo.bogdanovic (at) gmail (dot) com – 703.582.6900.

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