First Ever Braxton Model by Stanley Martin Homes in Greene Mill Preserve

The first ever Braxton model by Stanley Martin Homes in their Greene Mill Preserve community is complete! Not only is this the first Braxton model by Stanley Martin Homes in their Greene Mill Preserve community in Leesburg…it is the first Braxton model they’ve built for any customer in the entire area. My clients will be settling on the property this Friday, September 18, 2010 and are excited to live in their new home that they’ve watched being built since February.

This particular Braxton model is Elevation E (reversed). This elevation comes with a wrap-around front porch, a specific style of windows and partial stone with a side-load garage.

This home is loaded with pretty much every structural option you can get including the bonus room with full bathroom above the garage and the 4th level loft with full bathroom. My clients decided to also finish off about 2/3 of the basement which includes a large rec room, bedroom and full bathroom. The unfinished space in the basement is being used as a large storage area, but you can easily finish off part of it into a media room, kids playroom or exercise room with plenty of space left for storage.

Remember how they say, “Looks can be deceiving”? This home has over 7000 finished square feet yet its footprint is not as large as most other homes with similar finished space. This is mainly due to the bonus room being above the garage and the 4th level loft which doesn’t add to the width or depth of the home. And personally…I’d rather have finished space than useless attic space.

Some of the best features of this home (IMHO) are…

- the kitchen area with large center island and room for several stools which opens up into the breakfast room, (future) deck, family room

- great use of square footage. Many larger homes have less usable space with lots of  “dead” space throughout the home

- option for bonus room and loft both with full bathrooms is excellent if you have teenagers who want their “own space” or family/friends that visit often and/or stay for a while

- the 2 car garage is actually a 2.5 car garage. You can easily have a workshop or store motorcycles, bicycles or lawn mowers in the side of the garage while having plenty of room to open your car door without hitting something. Plus, there’s an option for a 3 car garage.

- It’s not about the actual home itself, but it’s worth mentioning… The Greene Mill Preserve community is far away so you feel like you’re away from the hustle and bustle yet, it’s only about a mile from the Brambleton Town Center and a few miles away from major routes, downtown Leesburg, etc.

If you would like more information about the Braxton or any other model Stanley Martin Homes offers or the Greene Mill Preserve community in general, feel free to contact me.

NOTE: If you can not see the slide show in this post, click here to check out the photos on Flickr.

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

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?"

A Discussion About “Days On Market”

The first question most home buyers and investors ask when looking at a property is "What is the property listed for?" The second question usually is "How long has it been on the market?" Obviously, Days On Market (DOM) is important to most buyers since it’s the one of the first questions they ask.

But why? What are the pros and cons of DOM? And what if the Listing Broker/Agent is gaming the MLS system and reset the DOM?

There are a lot of debates going on right now about this very subject. They involve discussions regarding the practice of resetting DOM and whether DOM should be eliminated from the front-end (visible on the listing) altogether.

Check out our post on real/diaBlog entitled "The Debate Over Resetting Days On Market and DOM In General" and please let us know what you think:

D

Buyer Poll: Does The Number Of Photos Online Affect Your Interest In The Property?

We often come across properties for sale that have only 1, if any, photos available. We are curious as to whether having only one picture (or none) affects a consumer’s interest in the particular property or not.

That leads us to today’s poll:

D

The Outcome Of Last Week’s Foreclosure/REO Knowledge Poll

We conducted a poll last week to test your knowledge of Loudoun County foreclosures, REOs and short-sales. The poll asked the question "What percentage of properties for sale in Loudoun County are foreclosures/REOs or short-sales?" 

Well, here are the results:

• 22 percent said 1 to 10 percent
• 44 percent said 11 to 20 percent
• 17 percent said 21 to 30 percent
• 11 percent said 31 to 40 percent
• 6 percent said over 40 percent

The answer? 28 percent.

Congratulations to the 17 percent that got it correct! To the others, no worries…there’s a way to always get the answer to that question correct.

How?

By checking out Loudoun Foreclosures, which is dedicated to Loudoun County foreclosures, REOs, short-sales and other great real estate deals including spec homes and new construction. Feel free to subscribe to the Loudoun Foreclosures RSS feed or add it to your home page so you can get new posts sent to you directly.

Thanks to all that voted!

Thursday Poll: Testing Your Knowledge About Loudoun County Foreclosures, REO and Short-Sales

With so much talk about foreclosures, REO and short-sales in Loudoun County and the US in general, let’s test everyone’s knowledge (or at least guesswork). Here’s this week’s Thursday Poll:

We’ll share the answer to this question with you in next week’s Thursday Poll so make sure to check back then or subscribe to our RSS feed to get it sent to you directly.

The Discrepancy Between Loudoun County Tax Assessments and Fair Market Value.

Everyone knows that Loudoun County real estate property values have gone down significantly over the last several years, including 2007. For everyone’s sake, I hope that the Loudoun County Tax Assessor realizes this as well when computing 2008 tax assessments. Everyone we’ve talked to in Loudoun County is upset about their assessed value and most are worried that their 2008 tax assessments will not be in line with their fair market value. The people who are even more upset are those who appealed their tax assessments earlier this year and were completely shot down without a good, if any explanation.

Yes, they’re upset because they’ve lost market value. But why are they really upset? Because 2007 assessed values are up to 30 percent higher than current market values (non-foreclosures or short-sales) and they think that the Tax Assessor doesn’t care. That means that Loudoun County residents are paying up to 30 percent more in taxes than they should.

For example, the property located at 904 Amelia Street in Sterling, VA just sold for $276,450 net. It was assessed at $392,200. That’s a $115,750 (30 percent) discrepancy between assessed and market value.

In the FAQ section of the Loudoun County Tax Assessor’s web site, it states:

"Information is gathered from buyers, sellers, and real estate professionals. The bonafide selling prices are then compared to the assessed values to arrive at an assessment/sales ratio. The county is required by law to assess at 100% of fair market value."

Neither myself nor any consumer, real estate agent or broker I have run across has been contacted by the Loudoun County Tax Assessor regarding their opinion, expertise, stats or data regarding Loudoun County real estate market values.

This discussion brings to a poll we’d like for you, the consumer and real estate professional, to take. Though values vary by specific community, this will give us, you and the Loudoun County Tax Assessor a general idea of what the residents of Loudoun County think about market versus assessed values for 2008.

Related Articles:

Loudoun County Set To Steal $45 Million From Residents In 2008

*This post was edited 12/29/07 because it was brought to our attention that part of the post could be misinterpreted and those items have been deleted.

Thursday Poll: Your Thoughts On The Mortgage Interest Rate Freeze Plan

In a post on real/diaBlog yesterday, we talked about the Bush mortgage interest rate freeze plan and how it’s just delaying the inevitable. We would like to see what you think about it, which brings us to this week’s Thursday poll:

Thursday Poll – The Down Real Estate Market and Holiday Spending

Next Page »