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

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!  

We feel very blessed to have one of the best Buyer Agents in the business as a part of The Belt Team. Today, we happened to get both an email and a survey from two different clients Pauline represented. And they say it better than we can. Here’s what they said:

5/14/08

Hello Terry and Alicia,

I wanted to let you know what a great Realtor Pauline has been for us.  I feel fortunate to have worked with her.  She not only helped me find a great house but has helped me with the whole process of transferring.  She spent extra time showing me different areas and schools and continues to help me through the moving in process. I have always gotten immediate responses from her even though I am out of state and she has gone out of her way to do things for me that I could not handle myself from a distance.  I will continue to recommend Pauline and your company whenever I have the chance.

Regards, Amy McShane

(Amy & her husband Bill recently bought a home in Vienna with Pauline & The Belt Team)  

****************************************************************

And the Survey Says….

(Responses provided by Ed & Jen Doe who recently bought a home in Oakton with Pauline & The Belt Team): 

Q. What could The Belt Team have done better to aid you in the process?

A. Nothing! Great experience! Thank you Pauline! 

Q. Is there any member of The Belt Team who deserves particular accolades?

A. Yes, Pauline Knipe! What a great resource! She worked hard and was always available to us!

If you would like Pauline & The Belt Team to represent you, please contact Pauline at (703) 636-7328.      

 **SPECIAL EDITION!**  **EXTRA! EXTRA! **

Many of you have asked over the years when we were going to open our own company. Well, the time has come! We are proud, happy & excited to announce that effective April 2008, The Belt Team has joined Keller Williams Realty as partners and owners.
 
We (and you!) will have the best of both worlds…being a part of the 4th largest real estate brokerage in the world (and the fastest growing) and ownership in the premier, local, flagship office in McLean with a Belt Team Annex office in Vienna/Oakton coming soon.

So, why did The Belt Team choose to move to Keller Williams & how will this benefit you?

1. We have found a company who shares & lives the same values that are held by The Belt Team. The company motto is “God, then Family, then Business.” This is what guides us in serving our clients & is why we put their interests first and we are thrilled to be able to affiliate with a company who  shares our core values.

2. We will be part of a company with the best business model in the industry and a company that is led by industry visionaries who genuinely value the people we serve, not by Boards of Directors, Wall Street shareholders, etc. Unlike traditional brokerages, KW agents are partners in their local office as well as connected nationally. The business model fosters an environment with a cooperative, professional atmosphere that benefits our clients like no other model can!

Because we are Partners (and not just competing agents), our fellow Realtors WANT to sell our listings and WANT to see us succeed. This means they WANT to sell YOUR home and WANT to help us find homes for OUR Buyers.

3. An unsurpassed corporate culture with a great emphasis on training & talent. Many companies talk about magnificent culture & training, but Keller Williams walks the talk. In a market such as ours, it is more vital than ever to be 100% on top of market trends, education, technology, legislative changes & more. Our move to Keller Williams means that we will be able to represent & advise you in a way we never could before.

We pride ourselves on being professional & the top experts in our marketplace. The enhanced support & training we have & will continue to receive will allow us to maintain our leading edge on your behalf. As a result, we are confident our listings will continue to sell faster and at a higher sold-to-list-price ratio than most other Realtors and that we will continue to create Success Stories for all of our Buyer & Seller clients.

If you are looking for a Real Estate Expert in the local marketplace, it would be our pleasure to assist you. Contact The Belt Team at Sales@TheBeltTeam.com

P.S. 

To see our 2 minute You Tube announcement, turn up your speakers & check out this  link….

http://youtube.com/watch?v=J51GjDEV0BA