Northern Virginia Real Estate: Vienna, Oakton, McLean, Great Falls, Reston, Fairfax, and surrounding areas.

While recently reading an article in Inman News (http://www.inman.com/news/2008/08/27/study-sets-benchmarks-customer-service) about our company’s top ranking in a recent home buyer -seller study (yeah Keller Williams!), I came upon the following quote: “…study found that it took sellers an average of six months to close a deal, and that 23 percent of sellers had listed their home with another agent before having success with the broker evaluated…”

Boy did this give me pause. 23% of sellers had to use more than one agent to get their home sold. Wow! I knew that our personal statistics were much better than average, but I had no idea how much better.

I am proud to say that The Belt Team sells 99% of our listings. We have kept this record in both sellers’ markets & buyers’ markets….from 1972 all the way through 2008. Our expert skills & local, long-term experience allow us to get the job done for our sellers….whether they are selling a large house or a small condo, a home in Vienna or a home in Arlington, land in Oakton or a mansion in McLean. This means a lot less stress for our Sellers!

Thanks Inman News. You made my day!

NVAR has provided us with the home sale statistics for August 2008. Here they are for your viewing pleasure:

NORTHERN VIRGINIA AREA HOME SALES REPORT
August 2008

If you need representation when buying or selling a home in Northern Virginia - don’t forget to contact The Belt Team. We are happy to provide you with a market analysis, housing market update, list of homes for sale in Vienna, McLean, Oakton, Great Falls or any other part of Northern Virginia…and more. Email Sales@TheBeltTeam.com or call (703) 242-3975.

I’m sure many of you read today’s Washington Post article titled “Market Welcomes Takeover”. (For those who didn’t - here’s the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090802425.html ).

One of the short-term results of the market’s positive reaction to the Fannie/Freddie takeover is that mortgage interest rates dropped a full half point in the past few days. This, combined with the buyers market that we are still in means GREAT OPPORTUNITIES exist. If you’ve never owned a home before - now is the time to buy. And if you’ve always wanted to buy an investment property, this is a great time as well. Many of our clients are buying a new home, moving into it as their new residence, and then are renting out their existing home - making it into an investment property. In this manner, they are able to take advantage of the fantastic owner-occupied mortgage interest rates & programs, while at the same time - are able to enter the investment market & start building equity in the future.

At this point, we don’t yet know what the long-term reaction & result of the Fannie/Freddie takeover will be. But for those who move quickly, it could be the right time to buy a home & invest in your future.

Lots of real estate opportunities exist in Vienna, Oakton and all of Northern Virginia. If you’d like to make the most of this opportunity - give The Belt Team a call: (703) 242-3975.

71 homes went under contract in Vienna in August 2008. List prices of these homes ranged from $180,900 for a condo at Mosbys Landing to $1,721,321 for a six year old home in Symphony Meadows. Days on market for homes that went under contract in August ranged from 0 to 433. Of special note is that The Belt Team was involved in 2 of the Top Seven Sales in Vienna in August.

19 homes went under contract in Oakton in August. List prices of these homes ranged from $230,000 for a condo at The Oakton to $1,995,000 for a home backing to Fox Lake. Days on market for homes in Oakton ranged from 7 to 163.

Please contact The Belt Team at Sales@TheBeltTeam.com if you would like additional market information on homes in Vienna, Oakton, Great Falls, McLean or any other Northern Virginia area.

As Labor Day approaches, let’s take a look at what real estate (condos, townhomes and single family houses) is available for sale in the Vienna Oakton market.

VIENNA:

315 homes are for sale. The lowest priced listing is a condominium at Park Terrace. It has 2 bedrooms and 1 bath and is listed at $224,888. The highest priced listing is a new home to be built on Polo Pointe. It is listed at $4,299,000.  The average list price for homes on the market is $889,188 and homes are currently averaging 123 days on the market.

OAKTON:

94 homes are for sale. The lowest priced listing is a condominium at The Oakton. It has 2 bedrooms and 1 bath and is listed at $183,000. The highest priced listing is a new home under consruction in Willow Creek Estates. It is listed at $3,400,000.  The average list price for homes on the market is $884,090 and homes are currently averaging 137 days on the market. 

For more information on buying or selling homes, contact The Belt Team at (703) 242-3975.

A new world record has been set. If you think homes in Vienna and Oakton are expensive, wait until you see this! 

Villa Leopolda, on the French Cote d’Azur, is now under contract for 750 MILLION DOLLARS.

This sale makes homes in our area look affordable!

For more info on this particular home sale:  http://rismedia.com/wp/2008-08-14/billionaires-purchase-of-french-villa-sets-new-world-record/

And for more information on buying or selling luxury homes in Vienna, Oakton, Great Falls & McLean - call The Belt Team at (703) 242-3975.

83 homes went under contract in Vienna in July 2008. List prices of these homes ranged from $208,900 for a condo at Mosbys Landing to $1,575,000 for a new home to be built in close-in Vienna. Days on market for homes in Vienna ranged from 0 to 344 and averaged 69 days. Of special note is that The Belt Team was involved in the 2 highest selling homes in Vienna in July.

 20 homes went under contract in Oakton in July. List prices of these homes ranged from $299,900 for a condo at The Oakton to $1,599,000 for a home in Hannah Hills. Days on market for homes in Oakton ranged from 0 to 423 and averaged 94 days.

Please contact The Belt Team at Sales@TheBeltTeam.com if you would like additional market information on homes in Vienna, Oakton, Great Falls, McLean or any other Northern Virginia area.

Best Places Winners

Well, Money Magazine has come out with their 2008 list of “Best Places to Live” and once again some of our local communities made the list. After perusing the list, we still have to admit that if we were looking for a home to buy and a great community to live in, we’d still rank Vienna as the “Best Place to Live”. Vienna ranked #4 a few years ago, but it’s still #1 in our hearts. Here are some of the Northern Virginia places that made the list this year:

19. Hunter Mill, VA

25. Sully, VA

31. Burke, VA

37. Reston, VA 

And here’s a link to the full list:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2008/index.html

Don’t forget…if you are looking for information about your home’s market value, homes for sale in Northern Virginia (especially Vienna & Oakton), or anything else real estate-related….call The Belt Team at (703) 242-3975 (or email us at Sales@TheBeltteam.com)!

Today I was thinking about “moving on“. This summer, three of our “Belt Team Extended Members” are “moving on“.  My daughter, Melissa, is graduating from Madison High School and moving on to Jacksonville University. Terry’s son, David, is graduating from Our Lady of Good Counsel and moving on to Madison High School. And Terry’s son, Luke, is graduating from Wolftrap Elementary School and moving on to Kilmer Intermediate School.

Thinking about all the upcoming changes in our families also made me reflect on the changes that our clients go through….the “moving on”. Oftentimes when you hear people talk about the “Top Ten Most Stressful Life Events”, buying or selling a home is included in that list. One of our goals as Belt Team members is to make buying or selling a home a GOOD experience and to relieve you of as much stress as possible. We know that we are not surgeons or fire fighters who save lives every day….but we are often working with you while you are moving on with important life changes (having new babies, starting new jobs, getting married, moving to retire, etc…)…and so we take very seriously our pledge to you to do the best we can to make things easy in your moving on!

Please do give The Belt Team a call (703-242-3975) if we can be of assistance when it’s time to move on in your household! It would be our pleasure to be of assistance.

Christy Belt Grossman 

A few weeks ago, we were able to brag about Pauline…actually, her clients bragged about her. This week, we received another wonderful letter we’d like to share with you. It’s from a client we recently represented in selling their home in Oakton. Here’s what he had to say:

Dear Terry,

I sincerely appreciate the professional services you provided which resulted in the very timely sale of my residence in Oakton, Virginia. As you know, I interviewed several other listing agents before selecting The Belt Team, and believe your focus in reaching targeted and qualified buyers is a major reason for your success. In a challenging home sales environment, you were able to secure a near full price contract on my house in less than two weeks. As impressive as that was, the follow through guidance we received from The Belt Team to direct inspections and pre-closing events was invaluable.

Thanks very much for making this transaction so easy. The sale of my residence was driven by my need to relocate to Florida for a new job. I can tell you that having the sale of my house taken care of so quickly and professionally made my relocation a lot less stressful.

I wish you continued success and appreciate your efforts on the sale of my property.

Sincerely,

Mark Langer

We are so proud to get letters like this one from Mark Langer. It’s why we like to say that “The Belt Team Specializes in Success Stories”. Our favorite “success story” is a happy client!