Author: ARLnow.com Sponsor

Rethink Energy: Spotlight on Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment

By ARLnow.com Sponsor
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This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy team (AIRE). This county program helps you make smart energy decisions that save you money and leaves a lighter footprint on the environment. Got a question? Email us at [email protected]!

Think globally, act locally. That might as well be the motto for Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (ACE). ACE and Arlington’s Rethink Energy Team have worked collaboratively for over 10 years. It’s been a partnership that has created a more energy efficient and sustainable Arlington. It has harnessed the passion and volunteerism in our community for our community.

Since 2011, ACE and the Rethink Energy team have worked together on the award-winning Energy Masters program. The Program trains volunteers to educate residents and do hands-on retrofits in energy efficiency and water conservation.

Working through a 25-point checklist, volunteers:

  • Seal air leaks around windows, doors and ducts.
  • Install energy efficiency devices like LED light bulbs and smart power strips.
  • Install water-saving devices like low-flow shower heads, faucet aerators.
  • Educate residents on how they can help reduce their energy use and save money.

The Impact

ACE trained more than 140 volunteers who have helped more than 550 families living in affordable housing around Arlington to decrease their energy and water use and improve the comfort of their homes.

Over the past five years, volunteers have installed:

  • 2,927 compact fluorescent light bulbs.
  • 5,615 outlet and light switch gaskets.
  • 523 faucet aerators.
  • 237 low-flow shower heads.
  • 273 toilet tummies.
  • 246 power strips and smart power strips.

Act Locally

Energy Masters is accepting applications for volunteers for the fall training program, which starts in September. There is also a student apprentice program that is open to college and high school students age 16 and up.

Six training sessions will be held on Thursdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. between Sept. 29 and Nov. 17.

Learn more and apply online at: www.Arlingtonenvironment.org/energy

WWBG: Fair Winds Brewing Company

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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Editor’s Note: This biweekly column is sponsored by Dominion Wine and Beer (107 Rowell Court, Falls Church). 

This week, Dave and I sat down with Fair Winds Brewing Company’s owner Casey Jones and brand ambassador Mike Kuykendall to talk about our can release party at Dominion Wine and Beer today starting at 5 p.m.

Fair Winds Brewing Company is a fully operational packaging brewery featuring a 30 barrel brew house and expansive taproom in Lorton, Va., right off Fairfax County Parkway and I-95. Check out the video below and learn about how a great local veteran-owned brewery is providing our area with fresh flavorful craft beers.

Just Listed in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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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.”

Home buyers were more active this week in Arlington than home sellers.

Only 50 new listings came on the market this week, while 60 homes went under contract. That’s an excellent pace of sales for mid August. But Arlington desperately needs more inventory and more choices for homebuyers.

Mortgage interest rates remain steady and unchanged this week with the 30-yr fixed rate conforming at about 3.56%. It’s a great time to buy if you can find the right home.

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

Healthy Paws: What if Dogs Had Their Own Olympic Games?

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. The clinic is located 3000 10th Street N., Suite B. and can be reached at 703-997-9776.

In the spirit of the 2016 Olympic games in Rio, we were wondering what the sports would be if dogs had their own Olympics?

Flyball – a team event for groups of four dogs — each one does a series of hurdles, steps on a spring to release a ball, catches the ball, and then goes back over the hurdle. Olympic equivalent – the relay race!

Disc dogs – aka Frisbee dogs – dog and handlers play frisbee, sometimes to choreographed routines.

Dock jumping – a pretty self-explanatory sport in which dogs leap off the end of a dock — the longest jump wins! Olympic equivalent – long jump!

Freestyle – choreographed routines set to music — perhaps a bit like rhythmic gymnastics?

Agility – While Border Collies are known to excel at agility, nearly any breed can be taught these activities and have a great time in the process. Olympic equivalent – hurdles?

Jack Russell Races – just one example of a breed-specific race. These events tend to be popular at fairs and such events.

Lure Coursing – a sport for sighthounds (i.e Greyhounds, Borzoi, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, amongst others) in which an artificial lure is used to simulate chasing live prey through open fields.

Rally Obedience – dog and handler go through a course of 10-20 obedience commands such as “sit-down-sit.”

Ski-joring – aka “ski-driving” – the dog is hooked up to a harness worn by the owner and pulls the skier (on cross-country skis) along.

Bike-joring – dog(s) pulling bike rider.

Sled-pulling – self-explanatory. The Iditarod is the most famous sled race.

Field Trials – a broad category that encompasses general and breed-specific field activities such as pointing, retrieving, flushing, and tracking. Excellent for the hunting breeds such as retrievers, pointers, spaniels, and hounds.

Participating in an organized sport with your dog can be a great bonding and learning experience. It’s also a great way to help your dog stay in shape. Additionally, many dogs love to “have a job,” and especially for those with behavioral issues a “job” can make a huge difference in having a successful outcome.

While in no way inclusive, here are a few area training groups that offer introductions to some of these activities:

Kissable Canine

Fur-Get Me Not

Woofs

Rental Trends: Understanding the Fair Housing Rental Laws in D.C.

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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This biweekly sponsored column is written by the experts at Gordon James Realty, a local property management firm that specializes in residential real estate, commercial real estate and home owner associations. Please submit any questions in the comments section or via email.

Income property owners are likely aware of federal Fair Housing laws, but they may be less familiar with D.C.’s ban on discrimination based on appearance or other additional anti-discrimination protections that exist throughout the D.C. metro area.

The Federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability or family status. But each state, city and county in the region makes it illegal to discriminate against several additional groups, known as protected classes.

Following are additional protections in each jurisdiction.

In D.C., landlords may not discriminate in housing based on: age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, matriculation (being enrolled in college or other secondary education), political affiliation, source of income, place of residence or business or being a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.

In Virginia, state law protects those who are 55 or older from age-based discrimination in housing. In Northern Virginia, both Arlington County and Alexandria outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation and marital status. Alexandria also prohibits discrimination based on children and ancestry.

The variations from place to place make it crucial that landlords know and follow all federal, state and local laws when advertising property, selecting tenants, and working or communicating with interested applicants and tenants. Each year, about 10,000 housing discrimination charges are filed, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Discrimination can take many forms. A few examples include: imposing additional checks or requirements for some groups applicants and not others, overtly refusing to rent to someone in a protected class, refusing to allow a guide dog in a pet-free building, refusing to allow a tenant to make reasonable modifications to a property to accommodate a disability, and asking screening questions that are discriminatory or may be interpreted as being discriminatory against any protected group.

Professional, licensed property managers are required to understand all federal and local Fair Housing rental laws and ensure they are followed, both to safeguard the rights of applicants and tenants and to protect owners from legal trouble. Of course, a property manager can help ensure owners rely only on legal, relevant and consistent criteria for making decisions about applicants’ qualifications, such as credit history, income ratio and rental history. You can learn more about our property management services.

This article does not serve as legal advice and is offered only for informational purposes.

Just Reduced Properties in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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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.MrArlington.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.

Here we are in the heart of the Olympics. Team USA is rolling and giving us plenty to cheer for.

In the realm of real estate, buying a home can feel a bit like an Olympics competition as well. You start with a pool of homes and, over time, the field dwindles down to a select few. The beauty of real estate is that the buyer ultimately gets to decide what’s number one.

And, a number of factors can go in to crowning a champion. Just remember that the price is only the starting point. Sure, these “Just Reduced” homes are going the extra mile to lure you in, but are they the best bang for your buck? How do they stack up against comps? What is its expected appreciation?

There are many questions and I have the answers to help you GET MORE out of your transaction and bring home the gold.

As of August 8, there are 221 detached homes, 62 townhouses and 316 apartments for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 46 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.

Ask Eli: The Definition of a Bedroom

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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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!

Question: Is it legal to list a room as a bedroom if it doesn’t have a closet?

Answer: Ahhh, the great bedroom debate! Of all the misconceptions about bedroom requirements, closets may be the most common. There are no requirements in Arlington (or in any other Northern Virginia localities) that a bedroom include a closet. You’ll be surprised at what else is missing from the requirements for a legal bedroom in Virginia.

Who Makes The Rules?

Arlington County doesn’t have any local requirements for bedrooms and defaults to the current version (2012) of the Virginia Residential Code and Virginia Maintenance Code. In these codes, bedrooms are classified as “habitable rooms” and mostly found in Chapter 3: Building Planning of the Residential Code.

Summary of Bedroom Requirements

  • Dimensions: Must be a minimum of 70 sqft, with no horizontal dimension under 7 ft. For example, in a rectangular room, if one side measures 7 ft, the other side must be at least 10 ft.
  • Ceiling Height: Ceilings must be at least 7 ft tall. In rooms w/ sloping ceilings (i.e. upper level of Cape Cods), any area of the room underneath a ceiling less than 5 ft high cannot be counted towards the minimum dimensions.
  • Emergency Escape: Must be “at least one operable emergency escape and rescue opening” aka point of egress to the outside of the home. In most cases this is a window with minimum requirements that include not being more than 44 inches off the floor, minimum 24 in height, minimum 20 in width, minimum 5.7 sqft total clearing/opening, and if in a basement, a minimum window well of 9 sqft and ability for window to open fully.
  • Heating: Must be capable of maintaining a minimum room temperature of at least 68 degrees
  • Windows: Referred to as “glazed area” and must equal at least 8% of the floor area, meaning you can’t have a huge bedroom with one windo
  • Ventilation: All rooms must have a window that can open to the outdoors and the open area must be at least 4% of the total floor area
  • Outlets: Per the Virginia Maintenance Code, bedrooms must have at least two separate electrical outlets

What the Code Does Not Include

I contacted the Building Code office of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to confirm that the following common assumptions of bedrooms are not actually included in the code:

  • Doors: The code makes no mention of having an actual door or second point of egress (Fairfax County has a local requirement for two points of egress). Presumably, this allows for an English Basement with one point of egress, not connected to the rest of the home, to be considered a legal bedroom.
  • Interior passage: The code makes no mention of not passing through one (bed)room to get to a bedroom.
  • Lights
  • Closets

In all of my conversations with the Virginia Code office, they made it very clear that the code is meant to provide a minimum, non-restrictive set of requirements, but normal construction practices are assumed such as a bedroom having a door and being accessible from a hallway, not through another room.

What else do you think should be added to the minimum requirements for a bedroom in Virginia?

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 http://www.RealtyDCMetro.com.

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.

Arlington Company Donates Time to Build Home for Injured Veteran

Chad Hackmann, owner Arlington Construction Management at Key ceremony with Sergeant Marcus Dandrea and family

Homes for Our Troops (HFOT), a national non-profit organization dedicated to serving the nation’s most severely injured veterans, had selected local home builder, Arlington Construction Management as its Building Partner to coordinate the construction of a specially adapted home for Sergeant Marcus Dandrea in Haymarket, Virginia.

While serving his country in Afghanistan, Sergeant Marcus Dandrea sustained severe injuries including amputations of both legs above the knee. Sergeant Marcus Dandrea now lives in his new home in Haymarket, Virginia with his children. The specially adapted home will help this hero regain some of the freedom and independence he lost due to his injuries. The home will be provided mortgage-free, allowing him to focus on his recovery and rebuilding his life.

As HFOT’s building partner, Arlington Construction Management has served as the General Contractor for the project and was in charge of permitting. In conjunction with Homes for Our Troops, the company reached out to their best suppliers and subcontractors, enlisting them to donate their materials and labor for the project. The home is wheelchair accessible and features over 40 state-of-the-art adaptations including a roll-in shower, pull-down cabinets and a roll-under sink in the kitchen. The new home was delivered to Sergeant Dandrea on July 9, 2016, the 217th home delivered by HFOT.

“We are honored to help inspire the building community to come together and help give back to Sergeant Marcus Dandrea, who has sacrificed so much for us,” says Chad Hackmann, owner of Arlington Construction Management.

Chad Hackmann, owner of Arlington Construction Management, has been helping folks build and remodel their homes with a transparent approach to the process in Arlington and throughout the surrounding metro area for over 10 years constantly striving to provide a better way to build and remodel.

Homes for Our Troops is a national non-profit 501(c) 3 organization based in Taunton, Mass. founded in 2004. Its mission is to build specially adapted homes for severely injured veterans across the nation to enable them to rebuild their lives. Since 2004, HFOT has built over 180 homes for service members who have been severely injured in combat operations since September 11, 2001. All homes are built mortgage-free to the veteran through the generous support of individuals, foundations, and corporate contributors. Homes for Our Troops has received a four star rating from Charity Navigator.

More about this project: http://www.hfotusa.org/building-homes/veterans/dandrea/

More about Arlington Construction Management: http://www.arlingtonconstructionmanagement.com/

Free Home Buyer Seminar from Orange Line Living on Aug. 15

Orange Line Living logo3% off the list price guaranteed or we pay you the difference in cash and if you don’t love your new home we will buy it back or sell it for free for 12 months exclusive to event attendees only*

The Orange Line Living and Keri Shull Team are hosting a Free Home Buyer Seminar on August 15th.

The event will have specialists on hand, including lenders and buyer agents, to give you an overview of the buying process. Not only will you get a complete home buying overview but you will learn our valuable home buying strategies that will save you 3% or more when you purchase along with ways to get the best mortgage.

The Orange Line Living and Keri Shull Team together have helped over 200 families purchase homes in 2015. Together, they are the #1 real estate team in Arlington and #1 real estate team in Virginia by volume. Also, not forgetting to mention top 5 in the D.C. metro area as well. Their aim is to help even more families find their dream home in 2016 and you have the opportunity to be one of those people.

Details

When: August 15, 2016 from 6-8 p.m.
Where: Optime Realty, 1600 Wilson Blvd, Suite 101, Arlington, VA 22209
Cost: Free
Parking: Validated Parking or Street Parking
Food: Appetizers and Drinks
Contact: [email protected] or call 571-969-7653

Space is limited so you don’t miss out. To register, go to www.vipbuyerseminar.com or email [email protected].

*terms and conditions apply

Just Listed in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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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.”

The summer real estate market in Arlington is slow and steady. This week only 52 new listings came on the market, and only 51 homes were sold. This even ratio has not helped to improve the low inventory situation. The average days on market increased this week to 54, and the average list price of homes sold is $654,390.

Interest rates also held steady with just a slight increase of 3 basis points for 30-yr fixed rate now sitting at 3.56% for conforming and about 3.375% for jumbo. A jumbo loan is a principle amount of $417,000 or more.

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

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

Property Pros: All About Condo Renovations

By ARLnow.com Sponsor
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This is a sponsored column by Jim Muldoon, a Northern Virginia native, Arlington resident and one of the real estate and remodeling experts at Legacy Home Improvement Consultants. Legacy HIC is your source for all real estate and home improvement needs. Please email with any questions or topics you would like covered.

Updating your condo you can improve your quality of life, make your condo stand out, and maximize your living space. Renovation tends to get overlooked by owners because the process takes more planning, but trust me it will not get overlooked by your resale value.

I always recommend starting off with contractor selection. Hiring a professional who has experience with condo renovations is important. Your property management, building engineer, and /or neighbors could be a good resource for referrals. 

Next, schedule a meeting with your property management and your contractor. There your contractor will provide his credentials and the plans for the project. Projects that involve structural change or adding a washer and dryer usually have to get approved by the board but most renovations can get approved right then. After the project gets approval, your contractor needs to get the following information:

  • Contractor parking, access to the building, and the commercial elevator
  • How much notice is needed for the start of the project and plumbing shut off
  • Moving and other renovation schedules so the loading docks and commercial elevators are available
  • Days and hours work can be conducted
  • Contact information for the building engineer and contractors who have completed projects in the building before

Have a meeting in your condo with your building engineer and contractor. The engineer will be able to give you a lot of insight on what is going on behind the walls. This will eliminate change orders and vet that the vision you have for the final product is what you are going to get. They also usually have great tips for things they have seen in the past that help maximize space or how to get past hurdles with simple fixes.

A lot of my clients have said they get nervous that they will be disrupting their neighbors. Give your neighbors a heads up and you will be pleasantly surprised about how many of them will be supportive. Past clients have even gotten tips from neighbors about unexpected things that they uncovered during their own renovations and local amenities that can you can utilize while living space is lost during the renovation. One of the things we do to alleviate issues is talk with the neighbors who are in ear shot. We let them know the project timeframe, our efforts for keeping the common grounds clean, as well as our contact information if they need to get in touch with us. That face to face interaction about the project goes a long way.

Email me at [email protected] with any questions or topics you would like me to discuss. Be sure to follow us on Instagram @LegacyHomesDMV and like our Facebook page Legacy Home Improvements for project inspiration and breaking news.

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