Come check out Brass Rabbit, the swanky spot to grab lunch, brunch or dinner with friends!
Make a reservation for brunch this weekend. From 10 a.m.-4 p.m., enjoy a variety of sweet or savory brunch dishes. We recommend Carrot Cake Pancakes or Monte Cristo Sandwich! Check out our full Brunch menu.
If you’re looking for dinner reservations, check out our Dinner Menu which offers a variety of elevated pub fare, from handhelds like Lobster Sliders or Lettuce Wraps, to entrees such as Clam Linguine or Steak & Potatoes.
This sponsored column is by Law Office of James Montana PLLC. All questions about it should be directed to James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq., and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at The Law Office of James Montana PLLC, an immigration-focused law firm located in Arlington, Virginia. The legal information given here is general in nature. If you want legal advice, contact us for an appointment.
We are delighted to share the big news with our readers at ARLnow: we opened a new office in Falls Church! And we’re hiring! And we’re having a party to celebrate opening the new office.
Time for a quick Q&A plus some sweet, sweet amateur photography.
Q: What’s your new address?
A: 306 N. Washington Street, Falls Church VA 22046.
Q: Pix or it didn’t happen!
A: We are here to satisfy reader expectations.
Q: Did you close your old office at 5233 Wilson Boulevard?
A: Yes. We keep prices low for immigrants. This isn’t about building a real estate empire.
Q: Why did you move?
A: Have you ever tried to pack three lawyers into 400 square feet? It’s rough! We have 2000 square feet now, plus another 1200 square feet to sublet. We’re so happy.
Q: Will you keep advertising on ARLnow?
A: Yes! ARLnow covers Falls Church. Plus, we still love local journalism and want to support it.
Q: You’re hiring? I’d like to ask a softball question so you can provide more details. What’s your favorite color?
A: Glad you asked: Blue. Also, we’re looking to hire a new immigration lawyer! Recent law grads are welcome to apply. Midcareer lawyers who want to try a new field are welcome to apply. We pay well and offer generous benefits. Email [email protected]. He does the hiring.
Homeownership is an investment toward building long-term wealth and financial freedom!
However, buying a home, whether it is your first time or not, can be a complex process that calls for expert help.
The Keri Shull Team, the top-producing real estate team in the D.C. metro area, is hosting a seminar to help aspiring buyers navigate the competitive DMV real estate market while saving time, money and hassle. In 2021, our agents helped over 1,100 families with their real estate needs, and we would love to do the same for you.
Angela Decint, ranked as a top realtor by the Washingtonian, and Lane Brenner will be leading this seminar at our Rosslyn office.
Attend to learn:
How to find off-market homes — hidden gems that don’t appear on popular home search websites
How to get out of your lease so you can move on your timeline
The “4 C’s” that determine home prices in any market
How to set a realistic budget for your home search
And much more!
Join us on Thursday, September 22, from 6 to 7 p.m. for this FREE in-person seminar! This is your chance to take the stress out of your home search by working with seasoned realtors.
This article was posted on WTOP News and written by Vanessa Roberts as part of BizLaunch’s collaboration with WTOP News on Small Business September.
Although budding businesses in Arlington have long had BizLaunch as a stalwart partner, the county organization radically reimagined itself in several ways during the pandemic. And many of the changes it made to help small and midsize businesses survive are here to stay, says Director Tara Palacios.
“The pandemic I don’t think was on anybody’s bingo card,” Palacios told WTOP during Small Business September. “We did not know that this was going to happen.”
Palacios created BizLaunch within Arlington Economic Development 20 years ago with the goal of providing local government resources to small businesses and startups. “It really is a local municipality wanting to support its local small businesses so that they can thrive, survive, succeed, grow and build sustainably,” she said.
We talked with Palacios about BizLaunch programs and asked how they help SMBs launch and succeed. During the discussion, she shared ways that BizLaunch has evolved over the past two years and where it’s going next to continue its mission to help local businesses grow.
BizLaunch Flex 1: Engage with small businesses and underserved communities any way possible.
BizLaunch is no stranger to using digital and social tools to reach entrepreneurs and business owners in the community. It connects with people on all social channels, even TikTok, Palacios said. But it upped its game during the pandemic.
“We had to get extremely creative,” she said. “We were out putting up yard signs about our grants, about different marketing promotions and programs that we were having. And believe it or not, people were getting in their cars, they were seeing the yard signs, and calling and reaching out.”
It reinforced the importance of being adaptable. Palacios pointed out that it’s unfortunate when a business shares that it wished it had heard about a program or a support service available.
“The way we were using social media prior to the pandemic has shifted, and how you use search engine optimization and how you get your content out there is so different,” she said.
BizLaunch Flex 2: Ensure even the smallest businesses are digitally savvy.
“We were worried about the businesses that were used to having a storefront and people coming to the storefront,” she said. “With the stay-at-home orders, the whole way people buy products and services shifted.”
At first, BizLaunch focused on establishing new programming, webinars and educational materials to help SMBs learn how to market themselves in this new environment. But it increasingly began also expanding technical assistance so the businesses could establish online storefronts and offer other ways to sell and deliver their goods and services.
Given that many small businesses are micro businesses with often just a handful of employees, the organization also partnered with Amazon Web Services to help businesses design websites and ecommerce tools to compete in the world’s new normal, Palacios said.
“It’s very come as you are. Don’t feel that you need to be an expert. We’ll bring the experts to you, and we’ll help you through the process,” she said. “It’s been great. We’ve had about 200 very diverse entrepreneurs go through the program, and they have gone viral. They’ve had influencers come and visit them because now they’re discoverable. That’s been a lot of fun.”
Plus, it’s not a one-and-done program. BizLaunch gives each business a marketing and branding guidance book and a technical tactics book. It also continues to connect with businesses after the initial design and development phase to provide support, Palacios said.
BizLaunch Flex 3: Help SMBs create financial resiliency to pivot and be ready for future challenges.
A continual issue for startups and small businesses throughout the pandemic has been access to capital, Palacios said. It was why Arlington Economic Development immediately established grant programs. But access to funding has continued to be a chief challenge for SMBs, she said, and having a solid financial foundation is critical for resiliency and long-term success.
“On our horizon is looking at programming where we can educate people no matter what background, color, creed you are. We want to be able to help empower women-owned businesses, BIPOC — Black, indigenous and people of color communities — everyone to understand what you need to do to access capital and make that process very transparent and very understandable,” she said “We’re going to be doing a lot of work in this upcoming year on whether it’s debt equity, or venture funds, or whatever it is that you’re looking to do.”
To discover more insights for entrepreneurs, startups and SMBs shared during WTOP’s Small Business September, click here.
Each week, “Just Reduced” spotlights properties in Arlington County whose price have been cut over the previous week. The market summary is crafted by Arlington Realty, Inc. Maximize your real estate investment with the team by visiting www.arlingtonrealtyinc.com or calling 703-836-6000 today!
Please note: While Arlington Realty, Inc. provides this information for the community, it may not be the listing company of these homes.
As of September 12, there are 157 detached homes, 60 townhouses and 229 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 33 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week, including:
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 Arlington Realty, Inc.
Under the direction of Maestro James Ross, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra launches the 2022-2023 season on Saturday, October 1 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 2 at 3 p.m. at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center.
ASO presents Beethoven’s unifying and empowering Symphony No. 9 (Ode to Joy) in collaboration with the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA) and the Fairfax Choral Society. Soloists Dara Rahming, Marquita Raley-Cooper, Rodrick Dixon and Daniel Rich appear courtesy of CAAPA.
Beethoven’s greatest masterpiece will be set to a new English text by former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer prize-winner Tracy K. Smith. The program opens with Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.
Adult prices start at $20, $5 for youth and $15 for students. Military, senior and group discounts are also available.
The concert will be presented with no intermission.
Vaccinations are no longer required but strongly recommended. Masks are recommended for high-risk individuals. For information based on current health guidelines, please visit our website.
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. Video summaries of some articles can be found on YouTube on the Ask Eli, Live With Jean playlist. Enjoy!
Question: I have recently seen two properties from Open Door listed for less than what they paid for it. Is that common for them or are these outliers?
Answer:
What is Algorithm-based Real Estate?
Algorithm-based buying and selling, also known as iBuying (2019 article here for more details), is when large companies/investors use algorithms (e.g. Zestimates) to assess a home’s value, purchase it (cash), and then resell it for a (hopeful) profit. These are arms-length transactions using corporate-level strategies rather than local ones.
The idea is that there are enough homeowners who value the ease and flexibility offered by iBuyers (cash, quick closings, no showings, etc) over getting a higher price that there’s billions in business for these companies (Open Door is currently valued over $3B). The acquisition and resale values of homes are determined by algorithms that these companies believe give them a clear picture of local markets across the country and competitive advantage at scale.
Zillow lost about $1B over 3.5 years using their pricing algorithms and shut down their iBuying business last year (article here for more details). After Zillow shuttered their iBuying business, it left Open Door as the biggest player in the industry. What makes them different than Zillow is that iBuying is their core business; for Zillow it was a supplemental revenue stream that risked hurting their core business.
I think the business in fundamentally flawed for many reasons, one of them being the massive disadvantages iBuyers are at during shifting market conditions. In strong markets, sellers can achieve the same or similar terms from everyday buyers and iBuyers are competing with everyday buyers on a house they haven’t seen, in a market they don’t know. In a weakening market (like we’re in now), properties they bought months earlier may be worth the same or less than they are when they’re being resold, so profits are smaller and losses much more common.
The greater D.C. Metro area is a relatively small, unattractive market for iBuying for multiple reasons, one being our diverse housing stock makes it difficult to value/project using algorithms; areas with large scale tract housing tend to much more popular with iBuyers (and corporate buy and hold investors) because it’s much easier to calculate market values.
How It’s Going…
As noted earlier, Zillow exited the iBuying business after ~$1B in losses over 3.5 years, leaving Open Door (market cap $3B+) as the main players in this category. I was curious how Open Door’s business is performing in Northern Virginia so I dug into their data from this year.
I looked at all of Open Door’s currently active (88), currently under contract (29), and sold (35) properties in 2022 and found 152 properties. I was able to find Open Door’s purchase price on 112 of those properties via public records.
Of the 112 homes I found Open Door’s purchase price on, the total acquisition price for these properties was $63,464,400, for an average of $566,646 per property, ranging from $207,100 to $1,031,800. If we assume their average purchase price held for the 40 properties I couldn’t find an acquisition price for, we can estimate their total acquisition price for all 152 properties in this data set (Northern Virginia sold in 2022 or currently under contract or listed for sale) to be $86,130,257.
Based on the analysis below, I think they may end up losing $5M-$6M+ on these investments.
Engage with like-minded singles and enjoy drinks, games and other fun activities to help you meet your person! Your ticket grants you entry, a complimentary drink on us, exclusive Happy-Hour prices and 3 hours of fun with fellow D.C. singles!
It’s all happening at Wunder Garten on September 27, October 11 and October 15!
Perched high along Wilson Boulevard all the way down to Rte 66 and Westover is the charming neighborhood of Dominion Hills.
This beautiful community of modest, mostly brick homes is surrounded by parks, green space and recreation areas. Dominion Hills offers a convenient lifestyle with something to do for everyone.
The grassy field and bustling playground of the neighborhood’s one-acre Dominion Hills Park, three multi-use trails and the spectacular Bon Air Park and Rose Garden offer the ability to be in nature in just a few minutes.
Activities are plentiful in Dominion Hills and the bordering neighborhoods. Stay for a picnic at Dominion Hills Park or walk across Wilson to the skate park and a recreation field at the Powhatan Springs Regional Park in neighboring Boulevard Manor. For more fun, also right across the border in Boulevard Manor you will find non-stop activity at Upton Hill Regional Park where you can choose from the Ocean Dunes Water Park, mini golf, Upton Climb and the batting cages.
For summer fun, join the Dominion Hills Pool at the Dominion Hills Recreation Center.
Located about five miles from Washington, D.C. and close to Interstate 66 and Routes 50 and 7, Dominion Hills is a great location for commuters no matter which direction you are headed. Want to leave the car at home? Dominion Hills is within a few miles of both the East Falls Church and Ballston metros.
Pop over to the Dominion Hills Center for food and shopping. The newest restaurant is the Meridian Pint where neighbors can meet in their outdoor patio for beer, burgers and game nights.
The Civic Association sponsors several family-oriented social activities, most of them held in Dominion Hills Park.
Powhatan Springs Skate Park: The beautifully renovated 17,000 square foot award-winning skate park is one of the most popular features of Powhatan Springs Park. It has a combination of old-school and street elements including two bowls, a snake zone and a street area.
Upton Hill Regional Park: Upton Hill Regional Park offers visitors a wooded oasis in the heart of the most densely populated area of Northern Virginia. A large outdoor waterpark complex is a sparkling attraction in this wooded, urban park.
Bon Air Park Rose Garden: Bon Air Park features a beautiful memorial rose garden that features more than 120 different varieties of roses and is often a chosen location for weddings. The Arlington Rose Foundation serves as partner to advise and to help promote planting. Enjoy the azalea, shade, sun and ornamental tree gardens. Master Gardeners of Arlington maintain sun and shade gardens to use as teaching tools for local gardeners. This expansive 24-acre park also includes playgrounds, picnic areas with charcoal grills and a path.
For 40 years, McEnearney Associates has been a premiere residential, commercial and property management firm with 11 offices located in the Washington metro region. With service excellence, hyper-local expertise, powerful data insights, innovative technology and cutting-edge marketing, McEnearney Associates have helped their clients make informed decisions on their most valuable real estate investments. There is an important difference at McEnearney: It’s not about us, it’s about you. To learn more, visit us at www.McEnearney.com.
Think BIG About the Future of Movement event
Sunday, October 2 from 1-5 p.m.
Join Arlington County’s Initiative to Rethink Energy and the City of Alexandria at our first ever electric vehicle (EV) and sustainable technologies showcase! Get inspired by seeing a variety of electric cars, scooters, bikes, motorcycles, police cars, buses, trucks and information on other alternative fuel technologies.
Test drive an electric vehicle! The event will include an electric vehicle Ride and Drive hosted by Plug In America that will give attendees the chance to get first-hand experience driving an electric vehicle. Attendees can also test drive an electric bike or scooter. Complete a short ride and drive survey after your test drive and you will be entered into a drawing to win a Clipper Creek Level 2 home charger!
Learn firsthand from EV owners and industry professionals about EVs and how easy it is to get your home set up for charging. See the newest EV technology and what is currently available in the marketplace.
Think BIG is more than cars, see a variety of electric mobility technologies. Head indoors to attend three panelist sessions on the following topics:
EV Ownership & Charger Installation
Service Providers & Changes in the Industry
Research, Advancements & Innovation in the EV Space — including electric aircrafts!
Speakers will leave time for questions and discussion, so come ready to learn! We encourage patrons to Think BIG, consider new ideas, innovation and advancements in electric mobility and alternative fuel sources as other potential investments.
This family-friendly event will have games and learning opportunities for children and is perfect for the whole family! Rain or shine, Think BIG is free and open to the public.
Just Listed highlights Arlington properties that just came on the market within the past week. This feature is written and sponsored by Andors Real Estate Group.
Good morning and welcome to JUST LISTED, Arlingtonians!
WOAH — mortgage rates just hit their highest average since 2008 — 5.89% average for the standard, 30-year fixed rate mortgage. This continued upward trend reflects the nervous sentiment about the overall trajectory of the economy, the persistent and elevated rate of inflation and simple uncertainty that comes from this.
The flood of inventory I predicted would hit our marketplace just after Labor Day is here, and available properties just jumped significantly, after a six-week run of decreasing inventory.
Additionally, as of now, there are 24 properties in “Coming Soon” status, many of which will begin hitting the market over the next few days and within 21 days at most. This number varies greatly depending on the day of the week, due to the weekly cycle most agents follow of listing properties in “active” status on Thursday and Friday.
What are we seeing in the market right now? Well, we’re seeing some things we hadn’t for a long time. Lowball offers, houses sitting that everyone thought would sell, an abundance of price reductions to find the marketplace, and overall lower activity on all fronts. The reality of our market, and how fast it has shifted is lost on some, especially on sellers. The days of intense bidding wars, large price escalations and over-exuberance are largely behind us, and that may be the new norm, for a while.
This week in Arlington, sellers listed 68 homes for sale (22 more than last week), while buyers ratified 43 contracts, 12 of which were on homes just listed in the last seven days. Of the 392 homes currently available for sale (34 more than last week), 131 are detached homes, 62 are semi-detached/town houses and 199 are condos.
Of those currently available properties, the average asking price is $902,205 and the median is $715,000. These properties have been sitting on the market for 55 days on average, while the median is 37.
This week last year, there were 532 properties available for sale, sellers listed 93 homes and buyers ratified 41 contracts. Mortgage rates were 2.88%!
Click here to search currently available Arlington real estate. If you see a home that you’re interested in purchasing, give us a call! Our team are experts at WINNING when it comes to Arlington real estate — our agents routinely outmaneuver others when it comes to multiple offer scenarios — call us to find out how!
Call the Andors Real Estate Group today at (703) 203-1117 to talk more about buying or selling Arlington real estate. Below are eight properties I think you might light to check out.
