Author: ARLnow.com Sponsor

Healthy Paws: New Years Resolutions — Pet Edition

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Healthy Paws

Editor’s Note: Healthy Paws is a column sponsored and written by the owners of Clarendon Animal Care, a full-service, general practice veterinary clinic and winner of a 2017 Arlington Chamber of Commerce Best Business Award. The clinic is located 3000 10th Street N., Suite B. and can be reached at 703-997-9776.

2017 is almost over and we’ll be in a new year next week. What are your resolutions? There is nothing special about 2018 — you’ll probably make resolutions that you’ll struggle to keep after the first week — again. But that doesn’t mean resolutions are hopeless. Make a real difference in the new year and forge a pact for healthy change with your pet. These resolutions will help keep your pet happy, healthy and safe throughout the year. And well, what’s more important than that?

Be more active

  • Studies show one of the biggest health benefits of owning a dog is improved cardiovascular health. Not only is it great for you, it’s great for your dog as well. Some dogs are satisfied with a walk around the neighborhood once a day, while others require additional exercise time. Parks, hiking trails and city walks abound in this area. Grab the leash and go! It’s good for you and your dog.
  • While it is true that cats have the evolutionary advantage of a high metabolism that works even as they lounge around (see lions in the wild), they do still need some physical activity to keep them from a sedentary life of sloth and eventual obesity. Find a toy that keeps your kitty moving and active. Look into expanding their space vertically with floating shelves — and marvel at their acrobatic prowess.

Get in shape

  • Along with being more active, good nutrition and portion control are essential for getting into better physical condition. Obesity is a huge deal in our fur children and is linked with orthopedic disease, metabolic disease and a shortened lifespan. While having your own personal chef to keep you on track with what and how much you eat — your pets do have that luxury. Talk to your veterinarian about what your pet should be eating and how many calories per day. You may be surprised with how many calories are in that cup of dog or cat food… and how few calories your pet actually needs. Help them get to their weight goals but not overfeeding them.

Get more sleep

  • Did you know that cats sleep anywhere from 16-20 hours per day, and dogs sleep approximately 12-14 hours per day? If there’s one thing our pets are constantly showing us — it’s how to relax. You may want to keep the cat naps a little bit shorter though. Experts say that a power 30 is the perfect amount of time to help get you through the day. Turn the electronics off at night, go to bed earlier and snuggle up with that fur ball of yours.

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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 is not the listing agent of these homes.  

This is it — the final “Just Reduced” write-up of 2017. During the past year, we’ve highlighted 364 unique properties, amounting in more than $7.3 million in total price reductions.

And, we’re not stopping now.

The “Just Reduced” column will be back in full force in 2018, identifying a potential starting point for finding the home of your dreams.

Just remember: These listings are only the first step of an important journey. There may be an even better deal to be had. When it comes time to sign on the dotted line, you’ll want a seasoned, ethical and battle-tested team by your side to help you GET MORE out of your transaction.

And, whether it’s in 2017, 2018 or beyond, our team will be here for you. Happy New Year!

As of December 25 there are 139 detached homes, 24 townhouses and 186 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 8 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week.

Here is this week’s selection of Just Reduced properties:

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.

Arts Focus: The Arts Year in Review

By ARLnow.com Sponsor
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This is a column written and sponsored by Arlington Arts / Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

From a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), to a temporary public art installation that received regional and international media coverage, 2017 has been an incredible year for the Arlington Cultural Affairs and its presenting arm, Arlington Arts!

Arlington Cultural Affairs, the County’s arts agency, partnered with Americans for the Arts to conduct the most comprehensive economic impact study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry ever undertaken in the United States. The Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 study reveals our industry generates $189.2 million in annual economic activity in Arlington — supporting 5,156 full-time equivalent jobs and generating $13.9 million in local and state government revenues. 

While the economic benefits of our creative community are impressive, the power of the arts, especially in Arlington, is its ability to foster a sense of community. From a lunch meeting with co-workers in the Meeting Bowls created by Spanish collective mmmm…, to a conversation with your neighbor on the bus after seeing Anne Rowland’s Art on the ART Bus exhibit, the arts provided opportunities to connect with your community.

We partnered with numerous community and business organizations on events such as the Rosslyn Jazz Festival. Presented by the Rosslyn BID and programmed by Arlington Arts, the festival attendance soared to over 10,000 — a capacity crowd at Rosslyn’s Gateway Park. Also programmed by Arlington Arts, the Columbia Pike Blues Festival once again brought participants from across the County to party in the streets of South Arlington, in partnership with the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization.

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Ask Eli: Fraud Warning To Home Buyers

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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

I hope everybody had a great Christmas holiday and is enjoying some time off with family and friends this week! Instead of answering a specific question today, I’d like to offer something of a PSA to anybody buying a home right now or planning to in the near future.

There is a lot of wire fraud going on right now brought about by scammers who request wires using email addresses that look like they come from your agent, title company or lender. They hack the email servers of one of the parties to the transaction, identify where a buyer is in the settlement process, and send a technically accurate email with wiring instructions for an Earnest Money Deposit or down payment.

Oftentimes they use a Gmail address, but mask the name so that it says the name of somebody the home buyer recognizes, but in more advanced scams, they use a domain that closely resembles a real one. For example, they may use [email protected] (two “L” in Eli) instead of [email protected]. It seems like most of the people carrying out the scams are familiar with the real estate settlement process because they’re able to communicate with a level of expertise that doesn’t raise any red flags.

Once you wire funds, the money is gone, so if you send a wire to a fraudulent account there’s no getting it back. Your first choice should be to use physical checks for deposits and final payments, but if you have to send a wire, but sure to contact your agent to make sure that the timing of the request is correct and call the receiving party at a known number (e.g. from their website) to confirm the accuracy of the wiring instructions.

Please share this notice with anybody you know in the home buying process. I’ve heard stories of too many people losing large amounts of money this year from these scams and hope this post helps avoid further loss. Until next year friends!

If you’d like a question answered in my weekly column, 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 DC, and Maryland with Real Living At Home, 2420 Wilson Blvd #101 Arlington, VA 22201, (202) 518-8781.

The Chew: Five Ways to Ensure Happy Holiday Behavior From Your Dog

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.

Click here to check out our short (approx 60 second) video about this article!

By Colleen Corrigan, Writer and Animal Enthusiast 

The holidays bring happiness, family, friends and cheer and we want our pets to be able to enjoy them just as much as we do. Pet stress can be at an all-time high during the holidays for a lot of reasons including strangers in the home, a variety of new food smells, other pets, small children, etc. Here are some ways you can make sure your pet has just as much fun as you during this time.

  1. Provide a safe place. Start ahead of time with your dog, planning and “training” them to be in a safe space such as a quiet bedroom, warm basement or a familiar kennel. This gives your pet a safe retreat during the holiday commotion. If your home will be particularly full of loud, boisterous holiday company, boarding at a familiar facility can be a safe and comfortable option. At Bark + Boarding our pet boarding service ensures your dog gets the food, exercise and camaraderie needed to keep them happy and healthy.
  2. Don‘t push: Many dogs are not terribly social with people outside of their immediate family, especially when they are in the dog’s territory. Don’t force your dog to interact with new people or other animals. Allow your dog to go to the new people on his own at his own pace. Also never let young children your dog doesn’t know grab and hug her.
  3. Move or block access to presents: If your dog loves ripping into things, don’t tempt him with several presents under a tree. Instead hide the presents until the big day or put a fence around the base of the tree restricting access to the presents.
  4. Keep decorations out of reach: Blinking lights, shiny objects, garland, etc. can be mistaken by your dog for toys. She may end up chewing on them, clawing at them or swallowing them altogether. Make sure that decorations are out of reach for your pets to keep them safe.
  5. Train for restraint: Expecting your pet to have a great deal of restraint when it comes to all the holiday food, toys and people is not reasonable. Without prior training, yelling “leave it” at your dog has no meaning to him. Start as early as possible training him not to steal the food, jump on the guest or chew the shoe.

Keeping your pets happy, safe and healthy during the holidays is important and definitely doable. If you start early enough, plan, ask the right people for help if needed, you can ensure that this time of year is not stressful for them. Want more tips, boarding or a pet evaluation? Reach out to us at [email protected] with any questions. Happy holidays!

Mention this article for a FREE evaluation and click here to sign up for one today! If you have a question about your pet, feel free to come in, or email [email protected].

Open Houses in Arlington This Weekend

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Looking for a home? The houses and condos below 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:

3117 1ST Street North
7 bed/6 bath, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Molly Branson
Listed: $1,599,000
Open: Sunday 1-3 p.m.

 

1530 Key Boulevard , #131
2 bed/1bath condo
Agent: Ryan Gehris
Listed: $520,000
Open: Saturday 12-3 p.m.
Open: Sunday 12-3 p.m.

Flying Colors: The Darkest Day

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Flying Colors is a sponsored column on the hobby of backyard bird feeding written by Michael Zuiker, owner of the Wild Birds Unlimited store at the Lee Harrison Shopping Center. Visit the store at 2437 N. Harrison Street or call 703-241-3988.

We have just ended the darkest day of the year. With it comes the longest night. In our region of the country, this night comes with cold temperatures. And who is sitting out in the dark on cold nights like this? Cardinals, chickadees, woodpeckers, titmouse and many other species. To make it through the night, there are two very important things these birds need. They need water and high fat foods.

Why water you say? It is cold. Why would they want water? All birds need water during the entire year. Winter is extremely critical time to provide water for the birds to bathe and drink. I am sure you have noticed that we have been extremely dry for the past three months. So many natural areas of water have dried up or are very low. Many of us have turned off our outside water faucets. Gardens and lawns are dry and gone to seed. So, very little moisture is retained in these areas. Yet the birds need to find sources of water to bathe and drink every day.

Bird baths, especially in Winter months becomes a magnet for many species of birds. Birds that may not frequent the bird feeders, will come to the bird baths. Filling up the bath every day is critical. Cleaning the bath is also very important. This is especially true if the bath is used heavily by many different birds. You should not see much mildew or algae on the bath. But a strong brittle brush will help knock off any bird droppings that may accumulate on the edges.

The biggest challenge may be trying to monitor the temperature swings that occur this time of year. A small amount of water in the bath, over the course of a 10-12 hour night of freezing temperatures, will freeze up rock hard. One of the best ways to prevent that is to use a thermostatically controlled bird bath heater. These heaters are set to turn on when the water temperature goes below 34-35 degrees. The small amount of current will prevent the water from forming ice. If the temperature starts to rise during the day, the heater will turn off and not use electricity. There are also some good bird baths that have the heating element built into the bath. A simple outdoor extension chord from the house to the bath gives your birds a sauna for the Winter. (more…)

Just Listed in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Just Listed banner

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.”

Buyers didn’t get the memo that it’s the Holiday Season when you shop for presents, not houses. They went out and ratified a whopping 40 contracts on homes in Arlington this week. Sellers only listed 19 homes. They must have figured buyers would be Christmas shopping. Boy were they wrong.

Of the 19 new listings, eight sold within a week. And of the 40 ratified contracts, all but one were priced under $900,000. The days on market jumped to 63 because several home sold that had been on the market over a year. This all points to strong demand, and a vibrant market.

Interest rates remained unchanged this week, hovering at 4% for a 30-yr fixed rate.

The big news this week of course is the new GOP tax plan. As a result of three key changes, a Moody’s Analytics report on Monday says that by the summer of 2019 home prices will be 4 percent lower nationally than what they would have been if no tax bill was passed. It will be worse for high value east coast and west coast properties.

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

Statutes of Liberty: Home for the Holidays, Traveling for Non-Citizens

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., the principal of Steelyard LLC, an immigration-focused law firm located in Arlington, Virginia. The legal information given here is general in nature. If you want legal advice, contact him for an appointment.

By James Montana, Esq.

Nothing in the world gives immigration lawyers more heartburn than travel does. Even legal immigrants to the U.S. often can’t just hop on a plane and go home.

Meet Jane. Jane, a citizen of the U.K., is getting her Ph.D. in economics from MIT. Jane is in the U.S. legally, on an F-1 student visa. Jane meets Ringo, a citizen of the U.S., who is also getting his Ph.D. in economics from MIT. Jane and Ringo decide to get hitched. Ringo and Jane fly together to London, so Ringo can ask her father for permission to marry her; they then fly back to the U.S., get married at the courthouse and apply for a green card. Will that work?

Nah! Thanks to some romantic-but-inadvisable travel, Jane and Ringo have stepped directly into the 90-day rule, which says that if you enter the U.S. on a temporary status and then do something that indicates intent to remain permanently, then you are presumed to have made a willful misrepresentation on a prior visa application. You don’t want to have the government making presumptions about you. All for a little travel.

What if Jane stays in the U.S.? Say she marries Ringo and applies for a green card. Can she travel while her green card application is pending?

Probably not! Unless she has a clever immigration lawyer who can pre-arrange something called “advance parole” for her, Jane’s little jaunt home will fricassee her pending green card application. Uncle Sam will keep her $1,760 application fee, and she may be in deeper trouble yet.

How about an asylum applicant? Can an asylum applicant travel home? Nope: never, never, never. Can an asylum applicant travel to a third country while the asylum application is pending? Almost never, and you can kiss the asylum application goodbye if you do.

I know a nice Salvadoran man — married, a couple of kids, great moustache. He was here with Temporary Protected Status, and so he was fully authorized to work. Thanks to some bad immigration advice from a notario, this gentleman left the United States and remained in El Salvador for one week longer than he was supposed to be away. It cost him, his employer and his family eighteen months and many hundreds of dollars to get him back into the United States. All for a little travel.

Even lawful permanent residents can get crushed by the Travel Monster. Permanent residents who stay outside the country for more than a few months can be placed into removal proceedings based on an allegation of abandonment. Removal proceedings will keep you in court for a half-decade, and you will make many thousands of dollars in contributions to the Impecunious Attorney Fund.

Travel is a wonderful thing — for U.S. citizens. Foreigners of any stripe should be extremely careful about it. Talk to a lawyer first. I know a few.

Small Biz Focus: This New Year at BizLaunch

By ARLnow.com Sponsor
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This column is written by Tara Palacios and sponsored by BizLaunch, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

Happy Holidays! Here’s to a recharging of the business batteries in 2018.

In BizLaunch, our one and only New Year’s Resolution is to continue developing exciting new in-depth program opportunities that will help take your business to the next level. We promise, this resolution will not end in January. Therefore, it is with pleasure we can announce our latest collaboration with a long-term partner, and to offer more ways to help build your business in Arlington in 2018.

Beginning this January, BizLaunch and SCORE DC will formally partner on a variety of entrepreneurial workshops from advanced social media training to lead generation to how to become an 8(a) contractor and much more. Currently, we have a formal relationship with mentorship opportunities and special events; however, we will be able to increase our number of educational programming opportunities in the New Year with our latest endeavor. What does this mean for local entrepreneurs? This means more in-depth programming to help our businesses succeed.

As we say hello to new opportunities with SCORE, we’d also like to formally thank a long-time supporter, mentor and overall amazing guy — local Arlingtonian — Joe Clarke. Joe Clark has mentored and volunteered with SCORE for countless hours to help guide local entrepreneurs and small businesses within BizLaunch for the past 10 years. We can’t begin to thank Joe enough for his tireless energy and ability to help others in an engaging, fantastic way.

I am sure if you look around town several local businesses have worked with Joe over the years. Joe will be “retiring,” from SCORE as of December, 2017. However, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if his latest endeavor is a brewpub. If you have worked with Joe — please give him a special shout-out in the comments below.

We have a ton of opportunities scheduled for this New Year. We look forward to seeing you in 2018. Our first small business program Pick Me will be held at Arlington Economic Development on January 24. We will be offering more networking opportunities, plus BizLaunch will continue its partnership with Arlington Independent Media offering small businesses the ability to raise their voices. Stay tuned. We hope you can join us!

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 is not the listing agent of these homes. 

This time next week, another Christmas will have passed.

It’s surely a magical time for kids, enchanted by the magic of Santa and getting gifts galore. You’re surely to get a gift or two as well — perhaps tickets to see the Caps play, some new swag or a new gadget to play with.

As the gifts pile in, don’t forget to keep your eye on one of the biggest prizes of all here in the USA: homeownership.

What can you do — especially as we approach a brand new year — to make your homeownership dreams a reality in 2018? Let’s talk because, more likely than not, your dreams are within reach with the right approach and the right team by your side.

But in the meantime, to all of our friends and family in Arlington County… here’s to a Merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays!

As of December 18 there are 155 detached homes, 28 townhouses and 210 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 18 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week.

Here is this week’s selection of Just Reduced properties:

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.

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