Loudoun County News Affecting Home Buyers, Sellers

It’s been a pretty busy past week or so when it comes to news affecting Loudoun County home buyers and sellers.  In case you missed it, here’s a summary…

Loudoun Board approves new metro rail deal – But the metro rail is still not set in stone…Loudoun County still has until late next year to fully commit or back out. Whether the metro rail comes to Loudoun has huge implications on local real estate.

Loudoun supervisors must decide on Raspberry Falls pipeline by May 2012 – The fate of  Raspberry Falls (and home owners within the community) is now in the hands of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.

Loudoun County Public Schools’ Planning and Legislative Services Department proposes new attendance zones for Leesburg area schools – This is a “lively” debate to say the least for a variety of reasons some of which are real estate related.

Loudoun County physics teacher charged with being drunk in public at J. Michael Lunsford Middle School in South Riding – School quality/reputation plays a big part in the decision making process for many Loudoun home buyers so you can see why this can affect real estate in South Riding.

And I’m sorry to bring this up… Don’t forget that property taxes are due December 5.

Well-Known Loudoun Man Now Internationally Wanted Fugitive

Osama El-Atari was once a well known and flamboyant Loudoun resident, restaurateur and car nut. But now, thanks to fraud charges brought against him by law enforcement and speculation that he’s fled the country, he’s a wanted figutuve here in the U.S. as well as internationally via Interpol.

Many are wondering where he may be and whether they will ever recoup the money they lent or gave him in hopes of returns on what they thought were investments. Perhaps one day, just like his cousin Dianne Atari, he will be extradited to the U.S. and we’ll be able to ask him where all that money went.

Click here for the full Interpol wanted notice on Osama El-Atari.

Related Articles

Flashy Va. Businessman Vanishes, Leaving Huge Debts Behind – Washington Post

Are You Excited or Upset About the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit?

Some consumers are excited about the extended and expanded home buyer (and now, existing home owner) federal tax credit. But others feel quite the opposite.

Why are some consumers upset? Check it out… “Why the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit is a Slap in the Face”

How do you feel about it?

Congratulations to the Virginia Leadership Academy, Class of 2009

IMHO, to be a great Real Estate Consultant/Realtor, you have to do more than just “sell real estate”. That is why, over the past 9 months, I’ve been attending sessions throughout Virginia as part of the Virginia Association of REALTORS® (VAR), Virginia Leadership Academy (VLA) program.

From VAR’s website:

VAR challenges REALTORS® to invest in themselves and their associations by participating in the Virginia REALTORS® Leadership Academy . Through this program, VAR identifies and trains emerging REALTOR® leaders from all around the Commonwealth. Approximately 20 applicants are accepted each year, and each class of participants builds their leadership skills through a series of retreats and a major class project. Graduates are groomed to take on leadership positions in their local associations, at VAR, or in other organizations.

Not only do the participants develop strong leadership skills to put to use in their communities and professional lives, they also nurture strong relationships with their class members that turn into rewarding business and personal connections.

The VLA program consisted of several multi-day retreats throughout Virginia. We studied and discussed leadership and listened to and spoke with many incredibly knowledgeable and experienced folks with credentials the length of a real estate sales contract. We also spoke with local and state association officials and worked on a very mentally challenging class project.

This year’s class was instrumental in the design redesign and continued new direction of the Virginia Homeowners Alliance. This was a tough project, but the outcome was better than I thought it would be and everyone in our class learned a lot about leadership and speaking up for the sake of others in the process.

The VLA program was by no means a “piece of cake” – it meant taking time out of my professional career and working with 21 other professionals, many of whom are “Type A”. Was it worth it? It was more than worth it.

Will I end up being in a leadership role in the local or state REALTORS® association? I don’t know. But I do know that I’ve learned a lot, made some great friendships in the process and have become a more well rounded person personally and professionally.

Thank you to VAR for the opportunity to be a part of the Virginia Leadership Academy, Class of 2009 and congratulations to all my fellow alumni! (click here if you can’t see the video below)

This Month’s Special: 58% Off Greenvest Land in Loudoun

Vienna-based Greenvest LC used to own 4100 acres in the Dulles South area of Loudoun County. That all changed two days ago when the land, valued by some at $165 million, was auctioned for $69 million.

iStar Financial, the company that originally lent Greentvest $130 million for the land, foreclosed on the land. The land was auctioned off this past Tuesday at the Leesburg courthouse steps.

The winning bidder?

iStar Financial (they sure love spending money, don’t they?)

What led to the foreclosure auction?

Greenvest was hoping to have the land subdivided into four communities — Greenfields, Lena, Broad Run Village and Arcola. But the public outcry against further intercounty development and the congestion that would come along with it led to the county denying requests to rezone the land. And that left the development dead in its tracks.

Last year, Greenvest tried to sell 100 of those acres to the Loudoun County school system, which wanted the land for future schools. The Loudoun School Board rejected the idea over concerns that the $20 million price tage was too high.

With no chance of moving forward with the development, Greenvest defaulted on its $130 million loan. That led to foreclosure proceedings, Tuesday’s auction and iStar Financial, the company that originally lent Greenvest the $130 million, buying the land back for $69 million.

What now?

iStar Financial will try to sell the land in order to recoup some of the money lost (and spent) throughout this whole ordeal. But they face some serious hurdles:

• previous requests to rezone the land have been denied
• tightened lending/financing guidelines
• a weak local and national economy
• increased proffers (click here for more on that)

On a related note, the $165 million valuation seems to have come from Loudoun County itself – probably for tax revenue purposes – and is most likely not the land’s true market value (just look how much it actually sold for at the auction).

At $16,829 per acre, it may seem like quite a bargain. But it may be a while before iStar sees a return on their purchase. As one real estate developer who attended the auction said, “I don’t buy green bananas.”

Washington Post’s LoudounExtra.com “Experiment” Is Over

The Washington Post just announced that it’s shutting down LoudounExtra.com this week. The Post said that the “experiment with LoudounExtra.com as a separate site was not a sustainable model” and that it would move all of the content to the Loudoun community page on WashingtonPost.com.

LoudounExtra.com was the Washington Post’s attempt at hyperlocal journalism. The site provided some great, relevant content with great editors, writers and contributors on staff and in the field. But the site never quite found its niche.

It almost seems like LoudounExtra.com was trying to be everything to everyone. It wasn’t quite an online newspaper web site nor was it quite a hyperlocal blog site. It talked about “this”, which had to do with Loudoun, but it talked about “that” and everything that had to do with Loudoun. That, I believe, was its downfall.

With the fall of LoudounExtra.com, other online news sites and local newspapers, hyperlocal blogs, forums and good old  fashioned word-of-mouth will grow as the way local information is processed, shared and discussed.

The thing about blogs, forums and word-of-mouth is that they allow for a two-way conversation/discussion between 2 (or 200) people rather than a one-way “here is today’s news – read it and come back tomorrow for tomorrow’s news” style. And those two-way conversations and discussions take a “one or two topic only” approach rather than a “here’s something about everything” approach.

Nothing against newspapers and their online sites (I read a lot of them daily), but, at the local level, focused conversation and discussion is where it’s at. But maybe that’s just me…

It was a good run for LoudounExtra.com and sorry it had to come to an end for all those involved. I hope that the new platform provides different (and hopefully better) opportunities for the staff and contributors.

3rd Largest FHA Lender, Taylor Bean and Whitaker Shut Down

If the Federal Housing Administration is trying to send a message, it just did – using an elephant gun. The country’s 3rd largest FHA lender, Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Corp., ceased lending and closed its doors yesterday after being barred from making new loan guarantees by the FHA (click here for excerpt of TBW press release).

The FHA, citing concern about possible fraud, plans to sanction two top officials at Ocala-based Taylor Bean for providing “false” information to the agency, according to an FHA statement released yesterday.

Why does this matter to you?

Because TBW will not servicing any of the estimated 30,000 loans it has in its pipeline – and your loan may be one of them. This includes those loans that mortgage brokers used TBW as the originator for. Though it looks like Bank of America will be taking over servicing of these loans, borrowers could still be looking at possible delays.

What lead to this?

FHA Commissioner David Stevens explains,

“TBW failed to provide FHA with financial records that help us to protect the integrity of our insurance fund and our ability to continue a 75-year track record of promoting, preserving and protecting the American Dream. We were also troubled that the Company not only failed to disclose it was a target of a multi-state examination and a separate action by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, but then falsely certified that it had not been sanctioned by any state. FHA won’t tolerate irresponsible lending practices.”

Lesson #1: Don’t mess with the new FHA.

Lesson #2: Be wary of mortgage brokers – you don’t always know who they’re using to fund your loan and it could be a company such as TBW. Using a direct lender is typically safer, less expensive and comes with a higher level of service (click here for more on mortgage brokers vs direct lenders).

Sources: Media-Newswire, Reuters, Bloomberg

Virginia #1 for Business (once again)

CNBC just named Virginia as the number one place for business in the country and U.S. News and World Report named Virginia among “Five Best States to Start a Business”. Things such as the personal income tax rate (top tier is 5.75 percent), corporate tax rate (has remained at 6 percent for last 30 years), lower than average unemployment and foreclosure rate all helped Virginia regain the top spot.

If you look around Northern Virginia including Loudoun County, you’ll notice big names such as Verizon, AOL, Oracle, Volkswagen/Audi, Airbus, Rolls Royce and Amazon.com as well as a slew of government contractors and small businesses everywhere.

On a related note…though Virginia was number one as a state, perhaps Loudoun could get a bit more business friendly so that we don’t keep losing businesses to Fairfax County and other neighboring counties in Virginia (i.e. Volkswagen/Audi, Hilton, etc). Just my $0.02.

Hat tip to NRVLiving.

The Facts About The American Clean Energy and Security Act

Here are some of the facts about H.R. 2454 (now H.R. 2998),  the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.

The bill, as it passed the House:

• Limits the energy labeling provisions to new construction only
• Prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating carbon emissions from residential and commercial buildings under the Clean Air Act
• Eliminates an early proposal to bolster a private right of action so the citizens could sue over minor climate risks under the Clean Air Act ; that proposal is no longer in the bill as passed by the house
• Provides property owners with significant financial incentives, matching grants and the tools to make property improvements and reduce their energy bills
• Establishes a multitude of green building incentives for HUD  housing, including a loan program for renewable energy, block grants and credit for upgrades in mortgage underwriting
• Does NOT create energy audit requirements for real property at time of sale
• Exempts existing homes, multifamily and commercial buildings from any federal energy labeling guidelines (such as the existing federal Energy Star label program)
• Leaves decision entirely to state governments whether to pass a law to require labels (but it expressly prohibits labeling during a transaction)
• Creates a national building code standard that improves energy efficiency in buildings (and states have one year to bring their state codes into compliance)
• Prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating carbon emissions from residential and commercial buildings under the Clean Air Act
• No longer includes provisions to bolster private right of action under the Clean Air Act that would have allowed citizens to halt construction over minor risks – whether real or imagined
• Offers property owners with matching grants and diagnostic tools to make property improvements that save energy
• Provides green-building financial incentives for HUD housing, including loans, block grants and credit in underwriting for energy improvements

There’s a lot more in the bill than just this, but these are some of the highlights of the bill pertaining to homeowners, buyers, sellers and Realotrs. Click here for H.R. 2454 (now H.R. 2998),  the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, in its’ entirety.

An End to Real Estate Brokerage “Junk Fees”?!

Are you sick of having to pay a brokerage firm an extra $149 to $395 “admin fee” (aka “junk fee”) on top of the thousands of dollars in commission you’re already paying them? Do you think it’s a bit unfair?

 Well, those “junk fees” may soon be illegal.

In a decision late last month in a class-action lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins in Birmingham, Ala., ruled that when a real estate firm charges clients an “admin fee”, for which no specific settlement services are performed, the fee violates federal law.

The case involved RealtySouth, one of the 20 major brokerage units of Minneapolis-based HomeServices of America, the second-largest realty firm in the country. RealtySouth was sued by home buyer Vicki V. Busby of Jefferson, Ala., when she was required to pay a $149 “ABC” fee — an administrative brokerage commission. The court found no evidence that the brokerage company performed any services beyond those covered by the commission, thereby violating a federal real estate settlement statutory ban against “unearned” fees.

Some brokerage firms say that the need this money to survive. For the sake of this post, let’s say I agree with that… The brokerage firm can charge their agents that “junk” fee, but why pass it along to the consumer? I understand if the agent is upset about having to pay that fee, but they shouldn’t take it out on consumers by passing the cost along to them – it’s not the consumer’s problem nor fault.

Warning. Shameless self-promotion coming…

I’m proud to say that the brokerage firm I’m a part of, Market Advantage Real Estate, LLC, doesn’t charge any such “junk fees”. And even if they did, I wouldn’t pass that cost along to my clients. I’m earning thousands of dollars in commission and don’t believe it’s fair for me to charge my clients any “junk fees” on top of that.

Source: Washington Post  -  Photo Credit

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