Author: ARLnow.com Sponsor

Neighborhood Spotlight: Throw Punches, Torch Calories and Build Strength at BASH Boxing in Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This content was written and sponsored by The Keri Shull Team, Arlington’s top producing residential real estate team.

In this week’s Neighborhood Spotlight, Giovanni Gatto of The Keri Shull Team takes us inside Bash Boxing in Rosslyn to meet Co-Founder Alex, Founding Coach Jonathan and Founding Coach Brandi.

Let’s be clear: Bash Boxing offers boxing conditioning workouts. You will NOT be boxing an opponent in a ring or trying to knock anybody out at Bash Boxing. Instead, you’ll be knocking out your own fitness goals. Bash offers cooperative-mode boxing for all fitness levels.

The goals at Bash are to improve overall cardiovascular health, build lean muscle mass, build self-confidence and blow off steam.

What You Need To Bash

Bash is located just minutes from the Rosslyn Metro station by foot.

You will need to buy or rent gloves and wraps — or bring your own. Once your hands are protected, you only need your normal workout attire and athletic shoes.

During a fast-paced, 45-minute class, your instructor will go over the motions of the 6 core punches. They’ll demonstrate every combo. Then the coach will be available throughout the class for one-on-one attention, pumping you up and investing in your workout.

You’ll use free weights, med balls and resistance bands. And because this is boxing conditioning, of course you’ll throw punches at Bash’s joint-safe Aqua Bag.

Bash’s classes are available morning, afternoon and evening, including weekends. All classes have options and modifications that best suit the workout and the challenge levels you need.

Bash also has bulk rates for sessions and accepts private one-on-one or group classes. Street parking is available. Bash provides showers, towel service, soap and hair dryers so you walk out the door feeling fresh and looking sharp. You will NOT need to bring a padlock; Bash has daily use lockers.

Bash Boxing also has a second location opening in Ballston Quarter in 2019!

Have you taken one of Bash’s free trial classes? Who was your coach?

If you know anyone who’s looking to buy or sell a home in the DMV area, we’re always happy to help. Click here to contact the Keri Shull Team.

Listing of the Day: 409 N. Frederick Street

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Address: 409 N. Frederick Street
Neighborhood: Bluemont
Listed: $1,379,500
Open: Saturday, June 15 and Sunday, June 16 from 1-4 p.m.

This 3-level, 5 BD/4.5 BA hardiplank/brick single-family home features recent kitchen upgrades and more!

4 bedrooms, 3 full baths and laundry room with cabinet storage, granite counter and utility sink are located on the upper living level. The 600 sq. ft. master suite features a walk-in closet and en-suite bathroom with a 2-person jetted tub, shower with built-in bench and sep. quartz vanities.

The 5th bedroom is located on the lower living level along with the 2nd washer/dryer, rec. room with walk-out, storage and full bath. The spacious lower level is an ideal play area or great for entertaining guests with a fully-equipped granite wet bar.

Cozy up in the family room with a stacked stone gas burning fireplace or impress family/friends in the gourmet chefs kitchen featuring a walk-in pantry, built-in wall oven/microwave, white/grey granite countertops with raised serving bar, marble backsplash and butler’s pantry.

A commuters delight! Less than 1 mile from the Metro, Ballston Quarter and shopping. Ample street parking available plus a 2-car attached garage and 4-car driveway parking. Prime location in the Bluemont neighborhood close to excellent schools!

Listed by:
George Clark
Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc
703-556-8600
[email protected]
www.longandfoster.com

New Homes in Arlington: June 14

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Welcome to New Homes, a biweekly column highlighting the new construction real estate market, written by Conor Sullivan and Dave Moya of Three Stones Residential at Keller Williams Realty. We are here to share our experience and expertise in lot acquisition, financing and construction of custom homes. 

First, we need to understand who the top builders and influencers are that are reshaping our communities…

Deciding to build your own custom home does not need to be scary, nor does it have to be stressful. However, it does mean you will have to make a ton of decisions from insulation type to lighting fixtures, door trim, and dozens of other areas. That is why finding the 3 “R” are critical to success and happiness when building a new home.

Right Builder, Right Time, Right Lot.

Here are five reasons to build, not buy, your next home:

  1. Get What You Want — When you build your own home, you are involved from the ground up, choosing the style, colors, size of your home, the number of bedrooms, etc. to create the home you have been dreaming of.
  2. Walk Into Equity — When you are able to find your own lot and hire a custom home builder with an average profit margin, you typically walk into immediate equity in the home once it’s completed.
  3. New Home Smell And Warranties — Nothing beats the feeling of driving a car nobody else but you have owned, with that new car smell. The same applies for a house: building a new home typically means less repairs and maintenance which can save both time and money.
  4. Green Features — Homes that are more than 10-15 years old did not always have features that took the environment into mind. When you build your own home, green features could be added easily, and with some builders come standard.
  5. Location, Location, Location — The most important term in real estate! When looking to build your own home, it is generally easier to find the location or neighborhood you want to live in, and build the home you want.

Without further ado, here are some current options for buying new homes in Arlington:

Three Stones Residential specializes in matching home owners with the right builder and lot location. If you have any questions about new homes or builders that you’d like us to highlight please email us at [email protected].

Open Houses in Arlington This Weekend

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Looking for a home? There are plenty of houses and condos open for viewing this weekend.

Check out the Arlington Realty website for a full list of homes for sale and open houses in Arlington. Here are a few highlights:

3818 Stafford Street N.
5 BD/4 BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Washington Fine Properties, Llc
Listed: $2,250,000
Open: Sunday 2-4 p.m.

 

5260 25th Road N.
5 BD/4 BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Redfin Corporation
Listed: $1,044,900
Open: Saturday 1-4 p.m.

 

4500 41St Street N.
3 BD/3 BA single-family home
Agent: Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc
Listed: $940,000
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

 

2702 Lee Highway 3B
2 BD/2 BA, 1 half bath condo
Agent: Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc
Listed: $789,000
Open: Sunday 12-2 p.m.

 

658 15th Street S. #A
3 BD/2 BA, 1 half bath condo
Agent: Century 21 Redwood Realty
Listed: $640,000
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

 

4132 36th Street S.
1 BD/2 BA condo
Agent: Ttr Sotheby’s International Realty
Listed: $424,900
Open: Saturday 12-2 p.m.

 

1121 Arlington Boulevard #808
1 BD/1 BA condo
Agent: Fairfax Realty Select
Listed: $174,000
Open: Saturday 2-4 p.m.

Just Listed in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Just Listed highlights Arlington properties that just came on the market within the past week. This feature is written and sponsored by Team Cathell, “Your Orange Line Specialists.”

Arlington’s real estate market continues at a strong summer pace and more good news landed on Arlington’s doorstep this week.

Sellers listed 72 homes this week, and buyers ratified 64 contracts. Some 34 of those homes sold within a week. This pushed the average days on market down to just 14. With only 241 homes actively for sale, and at this pace of absorption, Arlington’s inventory rate has again dropped below one month’s supply.

The exciting news is that Virginia Tech announced this week that it is opening a new “Innovation Campus” for graduate students near Amazon’s HQ2 locations. The VA Tech campus will be just over Arlington’s border by the Regal Theatres in Potomac Yards in Alexandria.

When completed in 10 years, it will accommodate over 1,000 masters and doctoral students. Like HQ2, this will undoubtedly have a major impact on the local area’s economy, demand on housing and new business growth.

This week saw a surge in new mortgage applications both for purchase and refinance. Refinance applications were up 97% from a year ago, and purchase applications were up 27%. Mortgage professionals recommend locking in your interest rate right away as rates could start to go back up.

The Federal Reserve has hinted its concern about disappointing jobs reports and the effects of trade wars on economic growth. It has indicated it may reduce its short-term bank rate later this year to invigorate growth. A slowing economy may push mortgage rates higher.

The 30-yr fixed rate remains at 3.82% according to Freddie Mac but could start inching upward as soon as close of business today. So, check with your lender and considering locking in before rates change.

Click to see all the fresh new inventory in MRIS and call Team Cathell (703-975-2500) when you find a home you like.

Introducing Mary Di Masi, CNM to Capital Women’s Division 67 — Ballston

Midwives are known to have great patient outcomes.

Practices incorporating Certified Nurse-Midwives or CNMs can boast a lower overall cesarean section rate, lower episiotomy rates and higher breast-feeding rates. This type of practice, where physicians and CNMs work together to meet patient needs, is known as a collaborative care practice.

This November it was decided that our division would become a collaborative care practice. This was in response to patients stated desires to have readily available midwifery care and a desire to provide the highest quality of care for all patients.

Mary Di Masi practiced as a Registered Nurse and then went on to earn her graduate degree in Nursing with a focus on midwifery studies. This extended education and subsequent board certification allows her to work with low-risk pregnancies independently and can allow her to co-manage higher risk pregnancies alongside our physicians.

What most people don’t realize is that CNMs can also take care of many of your gynecological needs. From the onset of puberty through menopause, CNMs have the skills and education to take care of patients at every step of their journey.

Mary’s prior experience as a Forensic Nurse Examiner means she has great skills and sensitivity, including gentle pelvic exams. As a CNM her passion includes helping families grow as they want to, by helping them find the contraceptive method that works best for them.

Shared decision making with her patients is a key part of her practice, meaning she strives to find the unique care plan to meet your individual needs.

Another perk of being cared for in a collaborative practice means that with Mary as your care provider, should you develop a high-risk complication or need surgical expertise, your care remains seamlessly within our division as you will see one of our Board-Certified Physicians.

Mary even has early morning appointments to accommodate your busy life and work schedule.

Please visit us at capitalwomenscareobgyn67.com or call 571-650-9070 to book an appointment with a midwife today.

Small Biz Focus: Five Teaching Tricks To Improve Your Employee Performance

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This article is sponsored by Arlington Economic Development.

We all know that teachers are amazing, but did you know that best practices for teachers can also be useful to the larger business community when coaching and mentoring employees?

For the past four months, Arlington has been home to EdConnective, winner of Arlington Economic Development’s Startup Arlington program and EdTech startup providing virtual teacher coaching to school districts across the country.

EdConnective’s Director of Instructional Coaching, Lauren Vargas was kind enough to share key tenets of their teacher education program that apply not only to teachers, but to leaders and managers in all types of businesses.

Here are five ways to improve your employees’ performance the EdConnective way:

1. Use “Glow and Grow”: Be sure to name what your employees are doing well along with what needs improvement. This ensures employees can keep playing to their strengths while improving their development areas.

2. One Next Step: Give an employee too much feedback at one time and they’ll lose focus and be unable to execute. This is one reason that traditional, yearly reviews don’t work. Focus on one thing at a time, give actionable next steps keeping your employees accountable.

3. Practice: Going over implementation strategy during a feedback session is key. “It’s quite different when you do something versus think you have it in your head,” said Vargas. Role playing, planning or walking through a skill or activity helps cement it.

4. Define What Success Looks Like: EdConnective uses a teaching rubric that can be explained on one page.  Having a reference point and keeping it simple helps employees know what you expect and makes accomplishing those objectives easier. You can copy this technique by keeping one-pagers for each role at your company or on your team.

5. Define Data Points: Process metrics can help an employee keep track of what they are doing to improve, but never lose sight of outcome metrics. Outcome metrics ensure the processes you put in place are leading to the results you want. If a teacher masters a skill, it is only helpful if it impacts student outcomes and the same goes for your business. Make sure you draw a clear line between skill development and how it impacts your bottom line.

Just Reduced Properties in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Each week, “Just Reduced” spotlights properties in Arlington County whose price have been cut over the previous week. The market summary is crafted by licensed broker Aaron Seekford of Arlington Realty, Inc. GET MORE out of your real estate investment with Aaron and his team by visiting www.arlingtonrealtyinc.com or calling 703-836-6116 today!

Please note: While Aaron Seekford provides this information for the community, he may not be the listing agent of these homes.

For all of the Arlingtonians with kiddos, summer is upon us!

The Arlington County Public Schools calendar has big circles around June 19 (the last day for high schoolers) and June 21 (the last day for elementary and middle schoolers). And, of course, if your kids are enrolled in another school system or private school, those dates may be slightly different.

So, what are you going to do with your summer?

On the real estate front, this can absolutely be one of the busiest times of the year. Many families take the summer to sell their existing home and, ideally, find a new home to move into before the new school year starts. If you fall within that category of buyer, or simply want to explore your options, there’s no time like the present and let’s get moving.

When you’re ready to get rolling on your summer home search, our team is ready to help you GET MORE out of your transaction.

As of June 10, there are 161 detached homes, 16 townhouses and 105 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 22 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week:

Please note that this is solely a selection of Just Reduced properties available in Arlington County. For a complete list of properties within your target budget and specifications, contact Aaron Seekford.

Ask Eli: The National Media Is ____ About Arlington’s Housing Market

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Arlington resident. Please submit your questions to him via email for response in future columns. Enjoy!

Question: Are you seeing a sharp increase in the asking prices of homes in Arlington, as reported by Realtor.com, since Amazon announced HQ2?

Answer: You guessed it, the national media is wrong about Arlington’s housing market (sort of). I don’t mean to jump on the Fake News bandwagon, but a few weeks ago Realtor.com ran a misleading article, that got a ton of coverage here, stating that the median asking price of homes in Arlington were up $110,000 or 17.3% from November 2018 to April 2019.

I was suspicious of their report because I’m not seeing that type of increase in the asking prices of homes across Arlington, so I dug into the numbers a bit more to understand why the data looks that way.

Technically, they weren’t wrong/lying but like most reports about local markets, they chose the version of the data with the biggest numbers to generate the most clicks and reposts without regard to whether it’s an accurate representation of our market.

The Truth Is In The Details

The reason the median price is up so much isn’t because owners are actually asking that much more for homes, it’s because the number of homes listed from January-May 2019 vs January-May 2018 for under $700k is down nearly 27% compared to a decrease of just over 9% for homes over $700k.

This has shifted the middle/median up substantially, but doesn’t actually indicate owners are asking more for their homes rather that there’s just less availability of homes under $700k.

For reference, the average listing price is up just 5.6%, to $782,156, in the first five months of 2019, a more accurate representation of the actual increase to asking prices.

The main reason for the drop-off in housing supply below $700k is the decrease in 1-2 BR condos, as detailed in the chart below:

To highlight how easy it is to manipulate housing data to show the opposite of what Realtor.com claims to be happening in our market, I looked at three sub-markets to compare how median price is changing within similar housing stock.

Looking at cross-sections of a local market with similar housing stock allows us to draw a more accurate picture of what’s actually happening, but even the chart below is misleading because it suggests asking prices are dropping this year, which isn’t true.

So What’s Actually Happening?

Over the last few months I have started to see asking prices increase. Occasionally I’ll see an asking price 15-20%+ higher than where it would’ve been last year, but mostly it seems asking prices for similar types of homes are up by 3-5% which is why you’re still seeing so many homes sell for above ask because most market values have increased by more than that (I’ve teed this one up perfectly for famed ARLnow commenter $4 Million to Heirs Annually).

Next month I’ll be working closely with Jeannette Chapman of George Mason University’s Fuller Institute to provide a detailed look at the Arlington housing market through the first half of 2019. I’m looking forward to collaborating with Jeannette on multiple columns to bring you more advanced market studies and opinions.

If you’d like a question answered in my weekly column or to set-up an in-person meeting to discuss local real estate, please send an email to [email protected]. To read any of my older posts, visit the blog section of my website at www.EliResidential.com. Call me directly at (703) 539-2529.

Eli Tucker is a licensed Realtor in Virginia, Washington D.C., and Maryland with Real Living At Home, 2420 Wilson Blvd #101 Arlington, VA 22201, (202) 518-8781.

The Chew: Dog Bite Prevention Tips

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

The following bi-weekly column is written and sponsored by Bark + Boarding, which provides a heart-centered and safe environment for your pets. Conveniently located at 5818-C Seminary Road in Bailey’s Crossroads, Bark & Boarding offers doggy daycare, boarding, grooming, walking and training services, plus in-home pet care.

By Chelsea Pennington, Bark + Boarding Writer and Animal Enthusiast

Each year in the U.S., between 4.5 and 5 million people are bitten by dogs.

While most of these bites are not serious, they are almost all preventable, either from the pet owner training their dog better or from people knowing how to recognize the warning signs. Whether you’re a dog owner or just someone who might like to pet a dog every now and then, there are some simple steps you can take to help prevent dog bites.

Tips For Dog Owners

Socialize your dog — Socializing your dog, especially when they’re young, helps them to feel more comfortable in different situations. Dogs bite because they are scared and feel the need to defend themselves, so introducing them to a variety of people, animals and places when they’re a puppy helps teach them they don’t need to protect themselves.

Always use a leash — If you’re in a public space, always keep your dog on a leash so that you can have control over them. This isn’t mean, but rather a precaution to make sure everyone stays safe. Teaching your dog basic commands like sit, stay, no and come can also help you manage your dog in situations that might cause them to disobey.

Give your dog enough exercise — Dogs that have pent up energy are tense and anxious, and this can make them more likely to bite. Making sure they have plenty of time to play and release this energy in a different way will alleviate this problem.

Talk to your vet about spaying or neutering — Often, intact dogs are more aggressive than those that have been neutered or spayed. The timing of this procedure varies for each dog, so be sure to talk with your vet about when is best to go forward, and mention any aggressive tendencies you may have noticed in your dog.

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Your Beermonger: Reason For Beering

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway). Sign up for Nick’s email newsletter and also receive exclusive discounts and offers.

“So, what’s your favorite?”

It’s early in the week and I’m not expecting the question. My mind is pre-occupied forming orders, placing orders, writing Newsletters in my head or on my laptop, and trying to write the column in my head all at once. The customer sees she’s caught me off-guard, apologizing, relating it to being asked if she had a single favorite wine.

But that’s not where I get tripped up. I have favorite beers for sure, but I realize I really tend to have favorite breweries.

My type, if I in fact have one, are breweries that offer high quality, consistency and a sense of balance in their beers, regardless of what their lineup looks like. Over the years, breweries like Maine Beer Company, Allagash, Bell’s, Port City, Schlafly, Brooklyn and more have won me over this way, becoming one of my “go-to” breweries.

I tell you that story to tell you this story, I’ve got a new go-to.

Reason Beer opened in 2017 to no small amount of buzz, founded by friends of over 20 years and Charlottesville locals J. Patrick Adair, Jeff Raileanu and Mark Fulton. Fulton’s involvement generated much of the interest.

Prior to opening Reason, he was the second full-time employee of Maine Beer Company, working as Brewhouse Manager, running its pilot beer program, and finishing up his four-year stint as Director of Brewery Operations, overseeing all brewing and packaging at one of the country’s most highly-regarded small breweries. So, kind of a big deal.

Of course, an impressive resume alone doesn’t make impressive beer. What Fulton has done at Reason is to take the aspects of Maine Beer that made it stand out — the consistently high quality; the elegance and balance found in even its boldest recipes — and apply them to an entirely new paradigm within Reason’s lineup.

The principles are simple — mostly, though not always, skewing lower in ABV. Recipes that have been refined to the point where you just know the homework has been done. Beers that are approachable, regardless of style, simultaneously showing off the best of each of their ingredients.

The Reason beer that won me over initially was Pattern Recognition, a 6% ABV IPA that features the smartest selection and application of hops I’ve seen in a long time, is crystal clear, and comes as close to translating the experience of opening a bag of hop pellets into a final aroma/flavor as anything I’ve had.

These days, I’m rotating their core six-packs: the pinpoint, easy but complex Hoppy Blonde (4% ABV), the Belgian-style Grisette labelled as Saison (4.5% ABV) and the outstanding, Session IPA-killing Pale Ale (5% ABV). Needless to say, they’re recommended.

Don’t just take my word for it though — Reason Beer representative Devon Callan will be at Arrowine this Saturday, June 8 from 1-4 p.m. sampling their outstanding brews. Swing by and check them out!

Upcoming Arrowine Events:

Friday, June 21, 5-7 p.m.: Tasting with Abita Beer

Saturday, June 29, 1-4 p.m.: Port City Brewing Company Tasting — Helles Lager release

Friday, July 19, 5-7 p.m.: Tasting with The Bruery

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