Author: ARLnow.com Sponsor

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 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.

Well, do you have your racket and can of balls with handy?

Today — February 23 — is national Play Tennis Day. It’s celebrated on the 23rd of February each year, so if you can’t make it happen this year, you can stick a pin in it for 2023.

Arlington County is home to more than 25 parks with tennis courts. The courts can be reserved online and the rate runs $10 per hour for Arlington residents and $20 per hour for non-residents. Beyond hitting with a buddy, there are also numerous leagues, drop-in play outings and practice walls throughout the county. Arlington’s tennis landscape is stellar and it’s one of so many activities available for locals and visitors alike.

If there is a particular hobby you’d like to prioritize in your real estate search — whether it’s access to tennis, bike trails, water sports or you name it — the time-tested team at Arlington Realty, Inc. knows the local landscape like no other.

Until then, here are this week’s Just Reduced numbers.

As of February 21, there are 65 detached homes, 26 townhouses and 173 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 15 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week, including:

1313 N. Frederick Street

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.

Win with a move: Selling your home for more

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Don’t leave money on the table in this hot market!

Maximize your home’s value with the help of a highly successful agent on the top-selling real estate team in the D.C. metro area.

Angela Decint, ranked as a top realtor by the Washingtonian, is hosting a selling seminar at the Keri Shull Team’s office in Rosslyn to answer all your burning questions as you prepare to put your home on the market.

Attendees will learn:

  • How to know the perfect time to sell your home
  • The right strategy for pricing your home to sell
  • The power of off-market home sales
  • How to market your home to as many buyers as possible
  • And much more!

Join us on Monday, February 28 from 6-7 p.m. for this FREE in-person seminar. Discover how to have the best possible home sale at no cost to you!

Register for this event today!

Ask Eli: How many agents worked in Arlington last year?

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. Video summaries of some articles can be found on YouTube on the Ask Eli, Live With Jean playlist. Enjoy!

Question: How many different real estate agents do business in Arlington in a typical year?

Answer: There were 3,535 real estate transactions in Arlington in 2021, well above the 2,770 and 2,782 in the previous two years, totaling over $2.786B in total sales volume, up from $2.16B and $1.96B in 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Most people would probably assume a few hundred different real estate agents worked on those 3,535 transactions, but in fact there were 2,799 different agents who were involved at least one transaction in Arlington last year (remember, most transactions have two agents involved).

I looked over the 2021 Arlington transaction data and pulled out some interesting highlights below. Of note, there are real estate teams that enter all sales under one agent’s name, so in these cases, individual numbers represent the production of multiple agents rolled into one agent’s name (I don’t have transparency into that data).

Here’s a link to an article I wrote in 2019 explaining how different agents/teams are structured.

  • 9% of the agents who did business in Arlington last year were involved in just one Arlington transaction (many did other business outside of Arlington)
  • Just 3.5% of agents handled 10 or more transactions in Arlington and .6% handled 20 or more transactions
  • 1,894 different agents represented buyers in Arlington and 25 of them (1.3%) worked with 10 or more buyers in Arlington
  • 1,639 different agents represented sellers in Arlington and 42 of them (2.6%) worked with 10 or more sellers in Arlington
  • Of the 1,178 agents who handled 2 or more transactions in Arlington, they averaged 4.5 transactions each
  • Keri Shull and her team once again led Arlington in transactions and sales volume, by a wide margin, participating in roughly 7.9% of the transactions in Arlington and handling just under $160M in Arlington sales volume

Most studies suggest that consumers are less concerned with measures like sales volume and more focused on the strength of communication and trustworthiness of the agent they’re working with, but market expertise and experience are still important factors for most people.

Many people see the low barrier to entry for real estate licensing, and the resulting high volume of agents, as a negative, but it also means that you have a lot of choices as a consumer and, with some effort, can make sure that you’re working with somebody who provides the type service you’re looking for and the experience to match.

If you’d like to discuss buying, selling, investing, or renting, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].

If you’d like a question answered in my weekly column or to discuss buying, selling, renting, or investing, please send an email to [email protected]. To read any of my older posts, visit the blog section of my website at EliResidential.com. Call me directly at 703-539-2529.

Video summaries of some articles can be found on YouTube on the Ask Eli, Live With Jean playlist.

Eli Tucker is a licensed Realtor in Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland with RLAH Real Estate, 4040 N Fairfax Dr #10C Arlington VA 22203. 703-390-9460.

Listing of the Day: 1781 N. Pierce Street #2301

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Address: 1781 N. Pierce Street #2301
Neighborhood: Rosslyn
Listed: $3,150,000
Open: Every day from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Pierce, Northern Virginia’s most spacious new luxury condominiums, is now open and residents have started moving in. The property, set at the highest point in Rosslyn, offers superior service with 24 hour concierge, spectacular residences, world-class amenities and breathtaking views. Private tours of Pierce’s beautifully furnished models are now available by appointment.

Pierce is an iconic 27-story glass and stone high-rise, designed by Hickok Cole Architects, featuring 104 stunning residences. Contemporary in design, Pierce features living and dining areas with full-height glass windows and spectacular panoramic views. Kitchens are chef-inspired and designed by the celebrated Italian firm Snaidero with high end finishes throughout.

Pierce’s central location — in the new Highlands neighborhood — provides easy access to the Georgetown waterfront, Reagan National Airport and the Blue, Orange and Silver Lines.

Pricing at Pierce ranges from the $900s to over $3M. Marketing and sales are by The Mayhood Company. The Pierce sales gallery is located at 1781 N. Pierce Street #902.

To schedule a private tour click here, email [email protected] or call 571-312-0724.

Listed by:
The Mayhood Company
571-312-0724
[email protected]
www.pierceva.com

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 Andors Real Estate Group.

Good morning, Arlington; I hope you’re enjoying the reprieve from the cold as much as my three little kids are — they have been loving getting to the park every day!

Believe it or not, the cold weather is pushing the spring real estate market further into the year, so this level of activity is not fully representative of how frenzied things may be in the very near term. Last year, we had a more mild winter, and the activity surged earlier when compared to right now. This is a trend we see each year depending on the severity and duration of the cold.

I’m super excited to tell you about our PICK OF THE WEEK — 42 S. Park Drive, Arlington, VA 22204 — $889,900.

You will not want to miss this charming, expanded and thoroughly updated 4 bedroom, 3 full bathroom Arlington Colonial on a private, flat 5,868SF lot with driveway parking. A welcoming front expansion leads to a functional foyer entryway/den area with gleaming hardwoods carried out throughout the main and upper levels. The living room features a wood-burning fireplace and flows into the formal dining room. A rear expansion features an owner’s suite with full ensuite bathroom and laundry, as well as a renovated eat-in kitchen and sliding glass door to the large Trex deck. The upper level has 3 bedrooms and a full bathroom, and pulldown stairs to the attic storage. Lower level has a third full bathroom, large rec room, utility space and extra storage space. Main level office space, driveway parking, private hot tub spa and entirely move-in ready!

You can find my team here Saturday and Sunday afternoon for the public Open Houses, 1-4 p.m.

Since this is the topic of the housing marketplace, a quick update on mortgage rates; they shot up to 3.92% on average, and in many cases, borrowers are being quoted over 4%! We haven’t seen rates at this level since May of 2019… This is pretty much a short squeeze for buyers, and it’s going to have a large impact on price escalations throughout the country. A funny stat I just heard regarding how low the inventory is, there are fewer listings in the entire country than there are licensed real estate agents!

Despite the rates increasing, buyer activity remains strong, but who am I kidding, you already know that! Due to the high demand and buyer activity, listing inventory dropped to another low, with just 221 properties available for sale, down five more from last week.

Sellers listed 60 homes for sale over the past week, and buyers ratified 54 contracts, 34 of these on homes on the market a week or less. Of the 221 homes currently available for sale, 46 are detached homes, 24 are semi-detached/townhomes, and the remaining 156 are condominiums. These properties range in price from $100,000 all the way up to $3,750,000.

Average list price for currently available homes is $837,590, and the median price is $549,900. These homes have been on the market for an average of 79 DOM (days on market) and a median of 42.

Check this out — The average days on market for homes under contract in the past week is 17, and the median is 6! What a major difference between the homes that were just ratified compared to those that are still available and less likely to sell as quickly!

This week last year, there were 365 homes available for sale throughout the county. Sellers had listed 91 homes for sale and buyers ratified 73 contracts.

Click here to search currently available Arlington real estate. If you see a home that you’re interested in purchasing, give us a call!

Call the Andors Real Estate Group today at (703) 203-1117 to talk more about buying or selling Arlington real estate. Below are eight new listings that I think you might like to check out.

42 S. Park Drive

Listing of the Day: 4501 19th Road N.

By ARLnow.com Sponsor
1/5

Address: 4501 19th Road N.
Neighborhood: Waverly Hills
Listed: $1,025,000
Open: Saturday, February 19 and Sunday, February 20 from 1-4 p.m.

Expanded and renovated classic brick colonial on a large level lot near Ballston, Lee Heights Shops, Woodstock Park and the bike path.

Recent updates: double pane windows in original house and family room addition, air conditioning for one zone of the HVAC system; air conditioning and gas furnace for second zone of the HVAC system; insulated attic and crawl spaces under the kitchen and family room; washer, dryer, main water shutoff and fresh paint.

Combined with warm wood floors and neutral carpeting, the home is in fresh, pristine move-in condition.

Spacious main level family room has windows on three sides, built-ins and a vaulted ceiling. With a stylish bathroom, it can double as guest space or be used as a main level bedroom. Traditional living room with decorative fireplace flows into the dining room for ease of gatherings and daily living. The adjoining den has built in storage in a bench nestled into a bay window. What a sunny spot for a home office, play room or hobby space.

The expansive kitchen offers room for a table and provides ample wood cabinets, granite tops and stainless appliances. One door opens to a deck amid a private fenced yard while another door opens to an area for play, gardening and sports. Upstairs there are three bedrooms and a renovated bathroom with a glass enclosed shower and appealing appointments. A bonus on this level is a large walk-in attic for storing just about everything.

The lower level rec room is ideal for media, a second office with Zoom capability, or music space. The laundry room has additional storage, and the utility room has a work area for bikes and household tinkering.

Near Woodstock Park, Lee Heights shops with restaurants, coffee shops and neighborhood services. Walk to Ballston for the Metro, library, Quincy Park and urban amenities. Glebe Elementary School, Dorothy Hamm Middle School and Washington-Liberty High School.

A home with character and style in a premier location within the vibrant Arlington community.

Listed by:
Betsy Twigg
McEnearney Associates
703-967-4391
[email protected]
www.betsytwigg.com

Statutes of Liberty: H-1B season is here

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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.

USCIS’s inbox is going to look like this very, very soon

This year, the first week of March is the biggest week of the year for business immigration: H-1B season.

The H-1B visa is a visa for foreign workers who will work in a specialty occupation in the United States on a temporary basis. This means that foreigners who have specialty degrees — software programmers, accountants, lawyers — can work in the United States as long as they have a U.S.-based employer willing and able to hire them. The theory here is that workers in specialty occupations contribute greatly to the U.S. economy. (We agree with this theory, with the possible exception of lawyers who don’t advertise on ARLnow.)

Demand greatly exceeds supply for these visas. Each fiscal year, there is a cap of 65,000 visas and a separate cap of 20,000 visas, known as the master’s cap, for foreign nationals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher, for a total of 85,000 available visas. Most employers submit applications for foreign workers under this program in the hope that foreign workers will start work at the beginning of the next fiscal year, on October 1, 2023.

For the upcoming H-1B cap season, USCIS will continue to use the electronic registration process. Between March 1 and March 18, 2022, all employers seeking to file cap-subject petitions, including advanced degree petitions, must electronically register and pay a $10.00 fee to USCIS for each petition they wish to file. USCIS will then select registrations at random, and only those registrations chosen will be eligible to file a full cap-subject petition.

Demand is indeed intense. Usually, the number of registrations exceed the annual cap of 85,000 visas so USCIS makes random selections from those candidates who have registered. Once a registration is selected by USCIS, the employer has 90 days from the day to notification to file the petition.

If there are not enough registrations, or if employers fail to file the petition for the selected candidate, USCIS may continue accepting submitted registrations or open a new registration period.

Last year, after the initial lottery and the subsequent 90 day filing deadline for selected petitions, USCIS determined that the cap had not been met, thus triggering a second lottery where it selected an additional 27,717 registrations. A third lottery was announced in November, with the selection of an additional 16,753 registrations.

Electronic filing has proven to be a useful and cost-saving tool for employers as they do not have to file the whole H-1B petition and wait to see if their applications have been selected. The process, is however complex, and given the short timeframe to apply once a selection has been notified it is important to consult with an experienced immigration lawyer who can help companies navigate this new process. We are here to help.

As always, we welcome comments and will reply to all that we can.

Small Business Focus: 2022, roaring into the Lunar Year of the Tiger with new business resources

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This column is sponsored by BizLaunch, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

Two years into the roaring 2020s, a new year means new resources. With 2022 marking a fresh start for what we hope will be a spectacular year, the team at BizLaunch is committed to making sure the small business community is ready to succeed.

Free of charge and easily accessible with an Arlington County library card, BizLaunch is excited to welcome DemographicsNow, IBISWorld and Statista to its database family. Each of these resources has been curated to assist businesses in these unprecedented times; from the shift in eCommerce rates to learning more about the post-pandemic consumer, business owners will have answers to all questions they have about today’s small business climate. With cutting edge statistics, real time research in your industry, and an abundance of market analysis, this powerful trio has Arlington’s small business community in mind.

DemographicsNow is a 25-year-old full-service spatial analytics firm designed with features such as sales forecasting, customer profiling, market analysis and much more. This concrete location-based data can offer insight that may be exactly what you’ve been seeking. With DemographicsNow, you’ll know the who, when, where, how and even which locations hold the highest level of consumer engagement. In turn, you’ll gain an in-depth understanding of how to take advantage of where you are and turn it into where your customers can live, work, shop, and more.

IBISWorld, a staple database in the business world since 1971, offers in-house analysts that provide economic, demographic and market data. What does this mean? All of this combined helps businesses make informed decisions with all variables and factors considered. They have an assorted portfolio of products, providing clients with things such as: industry research, financial ratios, risk ratings and Business Environment Profiles, just to name a few. With a full suite of industry research and expert tools that are accessible globally, IBISWorld aids a diverse range of clientele: from commercial banks to academic institutions alike.

Only a little over a decade old, Statista has taken the industry research field by storm. With more than two million registered users, one million statistics, 31 million visits per month and 170 industries covered, Statista has mastered the art of consolidating data and making it palatable. Information like research and analysis (combined) and eCommerce are what makes Statista stand out from most databases.

It has even been cited in articles by some of the largest media companies of the world, including Forbes, the New York Times, and the Financial Times. Additionally, it works closely with academic institutions like Harvard and Yale University, further building credibility of this influential database

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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 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.

Valentine’s Day may be a couple of days removed, but love is still very much in the air here in Arlington County.

We can feel the love in this week’s Just Reduced figures, with the total number of homes reduced hovering in the upper teens and some price reductions spanning tens of thousands of dollars. It is worth noting that through the years here, we’ve seen some reductions reach the several hundred thousand dollars mark.

Amid a market that is as red hot as that bouquet of roses on your table, real estate dreams can still be achieved here in 2022. Vital to making that happen is having the right team by your side. When you’re ready to discuss the next home that will make your heart flutter, the time-tested team at Arlington Realty, Inc is ready to dazzle.

Until then, here are this week’s Just Reduced numbers.

As of February 14, there are 71 detached homes, 27 townhouses and 167 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 17 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week, including:

1881 N. Nash Street #406

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.

Omicron is on the decline — Book your living wage cleaning!

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Dear ARLnow readers,

This winter has been rough.

Due to Omicron, many of our family, friends and neighbors got sick, and our hospitals were filled to capacity. And by overlapping with the holiday season, I know that many of us missed out on doing things we wanted to do and seeing people we wanted to see.

Thankfully, according to a recent NPR segment, it looks like we are turning a corner. In fact, according to the New York Times’ tracker for the District of Columbia, pictured below, cases are down 78% in the last two weeks. As case counts decrease as rapidly as they ascended, many of us are thinking through what we feel comfortable doing now and how to best enjoy our lives again.

Screenshot courtesy The New York Times

If one thing you’ve been missing is your regular home cleaning, Well-Paid Maids is here for you and still doing everything in our power to be as COVID-safe as possible. Our cleaners are still wearing masks to every job, we are still asking customers to be masked when sharing space with them, and our staff is still 100% fully vaccinated with a rolling booster mandate in effect as cleaners become eligible.

And, of course, we are still the D.C. area’s only living-wage home cleaning service. Our vaccinated, boosted and masked staff make at least $20/hour and receive a full benefits package including 22 paid days off, health, dental, and vision insurance, and 100% employer-paid commuting.

If you’re interested in doing business with a cleaning company that takes COVID seriously and matches your values, please visit our website to book a cleaning today. If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]. We look forward to serving you soon!

Regards,

Aaron Seyedian
Founder
Well-Paid Maids

Ask Eli: Increasing interest rates and what it means for the 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. Video summaries of some articles can be found on YouTube on the Ask Eli, Live With Jean playlist. Enjoy!

Question: How are you seeing recent interest rate increases effect the real estate market?

Answer: Real estate has become significantly more expensive in the last 6 weeks due to a combination of another round of strong price growth and rapidly increasing interest rates.

Average interest rates over the past year

Interest Rates Up, Prices…Up?

Theoretically, higher interest rates should put downward pressure on home prices, but over the last 4-5 weeks, as rates have been climbing, I’m seeing winning offers on single-family homes coming in 10-15% or more above the asking price (and prices justified by 2021 sales). I’ve also seen price increases and competition, to a lesser extent, in the condo market.

Why is this happening? Early rate increases seem to have had the opposite effect on prices than you’d expect because some buyers are choosing to pay more now rather than wait and risk higher rates (most projections show rates increasing through 2022). Time will tell if this gamble pays off or not.

How is this possible? We live in an area where incomes often support higher borrowing limits than buyers choose for their own budgets, especially dual-income households, so for many buyers, especially those with the means to purchase single-family homes, they have the borrowing capacity to pay more and some are choosing to do so.

At some point, higher interest rates should cool the market, but we’ve yet to reach that point locally.

The Effect Higher Rates Have on Payments

I mentioned earlier that to this point, higher rates, and the threat of more increases in the future, have caused prices to increase. In general, a .5% increase in interest rate has a similar effect on the monthly payment as a 6.5% increase in purchase price, so if a buyer expects interest rates to be .5% higher in a few months, they can claim a victory on their mortgage payments by paying 3-4% more now before the rate hike.

The table below is a simple reference point on how much a .5% increase in interest rate effects monthly payments at different loan amounts. Is the threat of those changes in payment enough to cause you to pay more now or make a purchase decision that you otherwise may not have?

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