Feature

New Homes in Arlington: July 12

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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

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

Deconstruction vs Demolition

What is the difference between Deconstruction and Demolition?

When a home is demolished the waste is simply torn down and then hauled away to a dump. Deconstruction is when a certified company takes apart the home carefully and attempts to reuse or recycle every part of the home possible.

What are the main benefits of Deconstruction vs Demolition?

  • Reduce the environmental impact of the demolition process and reduce the carbon footprint of your new home
  • Significant tax benefits in the legal write offs allowed by the federal and state governments
  • Mentoring and on-site training by licensed general contractors for non-profit organizations for individuals seeking employment in the construction field who often don’t have access or intro level opportunities

How much of a tax benefit do I receive through the deconstruction process?

There are upfront costs associated with deconstruction that aren’t applicable in a simple demolition, however, the tax benefits can be upwards of $50,000 dollars for a 2000 sq. ft. home (based off of a 38-40% tax bracket).

While it may cost $25,000 to deconstruct, if you save $50,000 on your taxes your net is approximately $25,000 in savings overall. This doesn’t include the positive environmental and social benefits either!

If you have any questions about deconstruction and some local companies that work within this field please email us at [email protected].

Here are some new homes now on the market in Arlington:

Want to learn more about financing a New Home build? McLean Mortgage (NMLS ID: 99665) can handle all of your construction financing needs. You can build your new home with as little as 5% down. Contact construction loan expert Troy Toureau (NMLS ID: 5618) at 301-440-4261 or AnyHomeLoans.com to learn more.

Open Houses in Arlington This Weekend

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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

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

2231 N. Vermont Street
5 BD/5 BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Mcenearney Associates
Listed: $1,899,000
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

 

6406 Washington Boulevard
4 BD/3 BA single-family home
Agent:Weichert Realtors
Listed: $1,049,900
Open: Sunday 2-4 p.m.

 

1336 S. Rolfe Street
3 BD/2 BA, 1 half bath condo
Agent: Washington Fine Properties, Llc
Listed: $899,000
Open: Saturday 2-4 p.m.

 

3025 Military Road
3 BD/2 BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Kw Metro Center
Listed: $780,000
Open: Sunday 2-4 p.m.

 

3409 Wilson Boulevard #211
2 BD/2 BA condo
Agent: Redfin Corporation
Listed: $649,900
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

 

888 N. Quincy Street #210
1 BD/1 BA condo
Agent: Keller Williams Realty
Listed: $525,000
Open: Sunday 1-3 p.m.

 

2606-D S. Arlington Mill Drive #4
2 BD/1 BA condo
Agent: Century 21 Millennium
Listed: $405,000
Open: Sunday 1-3 p.m.

Just Listed in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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

Arlington’s real estate market has finally slid into standard summer mode with only 49 new listings and only 32 ratified contracts.

The market typically drops significantly after July 4th and picks up again full steam after Labor Day in early September. People tend to travel or spend time at the beach with family and friends in July and August.

The big story for homeowners this week is the massive flooding in Arlington from that torrential rainstorm Monday morning that dropped 3.5-4.5 inches of water in just two hours. Roads were closed, streams overflowed their banks and hundreds of basements flooded big time. The storm was said to be a freak 100-yr event, but with climate change I think we can expect to see more such powerful storms.

What can a homeowner do to protect their basements from flooding, especially when the homeowner is traveling?

I have a brilliant new discovery to share, and some ageless sage advice:

  • Keep your gutters clean and downspout extensions at least 3-4 ft from house.
  • Keep your drains outside basement doors clear of debris, and make sure drains are not clogged.
  • Test your sump pump once a month. Activate the float switch to ensure all is working properly.
  • Make sure the soil around the exterior of the house is graded away from the house at the foundation wall.
  • Add a backup sump pump in your sump crock. Typically plumbers will install a battery powered pump that only comes on when the primary pump fails due to power outage. But wait, there’s a new backup pump system…

Install a water-powered backup sump pump in your sump crock. This is a brilliant new product that does not rely on electric power either from a battery or your home’s power grid.

It works from the water pressure in your home, which remains constant even when your power goes out in a big storm.

We installed one in the basement of our new home, and within two months it saved our basement from flooding and costing $30,000 in renovation. The pump costs just a few hundred dollars to be installed. It connects to your home’s cold water supply.

When its float valve is activated, it allows the full pressure of your home to pull out the water in the sump based on the Venturi principle of creating low pressure. It worked beautifully and saved our basement. For every gallon of water used, it pulls two gallons of water from the sump. And it can keep doing that forever until power is restored.

I predict battery backup sump pumps are headed quickly for extinction.

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

Arlington Pet of the Week: Cami

By Airey
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Our newest pet of the week is Cami who loves playing fetch while her owner is in the bathroom.

Owner Chris says the rescue cat had this to share about her new life in Arlington:

My name is Cami, or Camithy Kitten Cat XVII is what my owner calls me when I’ve been acting up. I don’t know where I was born but my first owner found me in a field in Gainesville when I was about 4 months old.

There were other kitties in the house that would bully me so I moved in with my owner’s son. Now I am the only one chasing my own tail!

I am a professional cuddler and will lay on my back until someone picks me up. Belly rubs are ok for about 30 seconds, beware after time is up! I also love playing fetch while my owner is in the bathroom, a game he calls “Potty Mouse.”

Want your pet to be considered for the Arlington Pet of the Week? Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet. Please don’t send vertical photos, they don’t fit in our photo galleries!

Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks. Becky’s Pet Care is the winner of eight consecutive Angie’s List Super Service Awards, the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year and a proud supporter of the Arlington County Pawsitively Prepared Campaign.

Becky’s Pet Care provides professional dog walking and pet sitting in Arlington and all of Northern Virginia, as well as PetPrep training courses for Pet Care, CPR and emergency preparedness.

Arts Focus: Arlington Arts & The Hirshhorn Celebrate 35th Anniversary of Iconic Dark Star Park

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

What better way to mark the national significance of a sculpture that is both a regional landmark and a cornerstone of Arlington’s internationally acclaimed public art collection than a series of events celebrating the 35th Anniversary of Dark Star Park!

Arlington Arts is partnering with the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and Holt/Smithson Foundation to celebrate the iconic sculpture.

Every August 1 at 9:32 a.m., artist Nancy Holt’s Dark Star Park (1984), in Arlington’s Rosslyn neighborhood, aligns with the sun. Shadows cast by the spheres and poles of this landmark outdoor sculpture align with their permanent forms on the ground, marking the moment of Rosslyn’s founding. Dark Star Park is also extraordinary in that it is among the late artist’s few works in an accessible urban area.

Activities range from film screenings and a panel discussion, to a world premiere of a new site-specific work by new music notables Janel and Anthony. Events are scheduled both at the Hirshhorn, as well as on-site at Dark Star Park. They include:

In Conversation: Time in Public Sculpture 

Wednesday, July 31, 6:30 p.m. — Ring Auditorium, Hirshhorn Museum (Independence Avenue and 7th Street, Washington, D.C. 20560).
Free, tickets available starting Thursday, July 11, 12 p.m. EST.

Holt/Smithson Foundation’s Executive Director Lisa Le Feuvre will lead a panel discussion exploring the ever-evolving nature of sculpture in the public realm with Arlington Public Art Founding Director Angela Anderson Adams, Hirshhorn Associate Curator Anne Reeve and the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum Director Brett Littman.

Janel and Anthony Performance 

Thursday, August 1, assemble 9 a.m. — Dark Star Park (1655 Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22209).
Free and open to the public.

The world premiere of an original site-specific composition by Cuneiform recording artists Janel and Anthony. The live performance (which will begin at approx. 9:20 a.m.) will coordinate with the 9:32 a.m. shadow alignment.

The Alignment at Dark Star Park

Thursday, August 1, 9:32 a.m. — Dark Star Park (1655 Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22209).
Free and open to the public.

The community is invited to watch as the sculpture aligns with the sun and celebrate with light refreshments provided by the Rosslyn Business Improvement District.

Nancy Holt Film Screenings with an introduction by Lisa Le Feuvre

Thursday, August 1, 12:30 p.m., & Saturday, August 3, 2 p.m. — Ring Auditorium, Hirshhorn (Independence Ave and 7th Street, Washington, D.C. 20560).
Free, first-come, first-served seating.

Screening of Nancy Holt, Sun Tunnels (1978, 26 min.) and Nancy Holt, Art in the Public Eye: The Making of Dark Star Park (1988, 33 min.). The films reveal the making of visionary land artist Nancy Holt’s earthworks, serving both as documentation of her best-known land art sculptures and as artworks in themselves.

Check out the video below for a peek at a past shadow alignment on Dark Star Park Day!

For detailed information about the 35th Anniversary Celebration of Dark Star Park, visit this link.

Just Reduced Properties in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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

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

Spring cleaning gets all the love.

But, guess what? You can do a little summer cleaning, too. Before we all know it, these swampy temps will be a thing of the past and we’ll be on to cool fall temps and Old Man Winter.

So, before the leaves and temps change, here are a couple of quick tips for July:

  • Now is not the time to let the weeds grow wild. This is a year-round rule, but especially ahead of fall, you’re not going to want to rake through a jungle.
  • How are those gutters looking? Make sure to clear out all of your gutters. Heck, you might even find a leaf (or 100) that fell during fall of last year.
  • Change your air conditioning filter. You should be doing this every 90 days (every 60 days if you have a pet!), so there’s no time like the present.

With these tips, here’s to a happy and healthy July. And, when you’re ready to embark on your real estate journey (whether it’s this month or a few months down the line), our team is ready to help you GET MORE out of your transaction.

As of July 8, there are 145 detached homes, 10 townhouses and 90 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 12 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week:

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

Arlington Startup Develops Easy-to-Read Cybersecurity Scorecard

By Vernon Miles

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

Fueled by a recent investment, Courthouse-based startup DivvyCloud unveiled a new suite of features to help identify potential cybersecurity weak spots at a glance

The most high profile of the new features is a new “heat map” scorecard to help companies visualize where their cybersecurity defenses are strongest and where they are most vulnerable.

According to a blog post:

This new feature delivers a visual representation of risk aligned with regulatory standards, industry standards, or your own corporate standards; through an interactive heat map.

With fast paced changes in infrastructure, and the need to have flexibility for deployments into cloud platforms, it has become increasingly challenging to remaining compliant to industry standards. DivvyCloud’s Compliance Scorecard helps you audit compliance and identify risks in your cloud environment in a simple, transparent way.

The accounts are listed on the y-axis, while insights — specific behaviors, conditions or characteristics of cybersecurity — are listed along the x-axis. Accounts with less than 85 percent compliance to security standards are listed in red.

In the sample scorecard above, “Bob” has stale Application Program Interface credentials — coding that allows communication between two applications — meaning Bob has access to a program but his credentials to do so may be out of date.

The feature is designed to assist teams, like auditors or security management, in identifying areas where there are potential gaps in cybersecurity coverage. The scorecard can also recommend guidance for potential problems and direct the viewer to the relevant resources.

Other improvements include a new threat detection system that utilizes machine learning and anomaly detection technologies. DivvyCloud listed cryptocurrency mining, credential compromise behavior, and calls from known malicious IPs as potential threats the technology helps to identify.

DivvyCloud recently announced that it had achieved $19 million in funding in a recent growth round, bringing the total capital raised to $29 million.

Your Beermonger: Return of the Imports

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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

The hottest beers of the summer are… cheap? And… German?

(A quick note: We’ll pick up the discussion of lactose in beer in the next column — I’m waiting on a couple more responses to give a wider view of how breweries approach using it and labelling it.)

Despite the nature of my job and how long I’ve been doing it (I need no reminders, thank you), I don’t consider myself any kind of “influencer.”

I have breweries and styles I’ll lean into, of course, but more than anything I try to approach my job in a reactive manner. I’m not here to tell our clients at Arrowine what to like; I’m here to play off of what they do like and introduce new things that are exceptional in quality, or value or, best case scenario, both.

So no, you won’t find me on Instagram in selfie after selfie with every can/bottle I drink in the foreground while I attempt a friendly smile in the background. I do notice patterns and trends, though, and I’ll say this: Y’all, something’s happening with Germany.

It started a couple months back with the arrival of .5L cans of Veltins Pilsner. It was an instant hit not only because it’s just damn good, but because came in at $8/4-pack. It’s become a staple in my fridge.

Then, just before Memorial Day, Wolters Pilsner arrived in the same format but at $5/4-pack, followed by Tucher’s Helles Hefeweizen, which delivers clean, easy, classic German Wheat Ale goodness at only $7/4-pack. And there are more on the way.

So what gives? The origins of this wave hitting our shores now can be found back in 1976, the year per capita beer consumption peaked in Germany, dropping one-third in the decades since. Competition for those remaining beer drinkers has driven a price war that has seen German retail beer prices drop to levels nearly half what they were back in the early 90s (adjusted for inflation).

Rather than a temporary method of boosting sales, those low-margin prices have become the new norm. With no more margin to lose and home-market sales continuing to stagnate, German breweries have turned their eyes back to the States, where Mexican beers dominate import sales (accounting for about 70 percent of the American import market) but where “macro” is down, and “craft” continues to grow, albeit slower over the past couple years than the previous 10-15. It’s a perfect moment for these beers, with many transitioning to more Lager-centric drinking preferences and a (for now) quiet but growing exasperation with $20 4-packs and the FOMO mentality.

We’re not in a full-on paradigm shift just yet: I still tell people often that anyone who can get even a half-decent IPA into 16oz 4-packs that retail at $13.99 is going to sell them with little problem. But more people just want to have a couple good beers, maybe even with friends, without having to all-but get them to sign a waiver and without breaking their banks, and these Germans are filling that void.

Upcoming Arrowine Events:

Friday, July 19, 5-7 p.m.: Sean Michaels from The Bruery
Saturday, July 20, 1-4 p.m.: Three Notch’d with Dave Keuhner
Friday, August 30, 5-7 p.m.: Stephanie Boles with Old Ox Brewing

Open Houses in Arlington This Weekend

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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

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

2354 N. Quebec Street
5 BD/4 BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Advantage Properties, Inc
Listed: $1,599,000
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

 

1117 S. Monroe Street
5 BD/3 BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Re/Max Allegiance
Listed: $1,125,000
Open: Sunday 1-3 p.m.

 

6736 27th Street N.
4 BD/2BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Kw Metro Center
Listed $924,900
Open: Sunday 1-3 p.m.

 

2800 S. Arlington Ridge Road
4 BD/2 BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Arlington Realty, Inc
Listed: $785,000
Open: Saturday 1-3 p.m.

 

2220 Fairfax Drive #607
2 BD/2 BA condo
Agent: Kw Metro Center
Listed: $655,000
Open: Sunday 1-3 p.m.

 

2934 S. Columbus Street, A2
1 BD/2 BA condo
Agent: Samson Properties
Listed: $444,900
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

Just Listed in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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

Happy 5th of July! If you’re reading this, then you survived all the hoopla, fireworks and BBQs. Hope you had a great time!

Arlington’s real estate market today feels a lot like many of us… tired and just glad to be alive. It’s been a slow week with only 34 fresh new listings and 38 ratified contracts. Seems like everyone enjoyed their time off for the holiday.

Interest rates held steady at 3.875% for a 30-yr fixed rate. But this week lenders fees fluctuated significantly. When shopping for a loan, be sure to ask not only about the rate, but the points and various fees.

Also ask how long you can lock in your interest rate once you have a ratified contract, what’s the extra cost to extend a lock-in, and whether you can get a one-time drop down after locking in if interest rates go down before closing.

Buyers and sellers should also be aware of the increasing threat of cyber crime when wiring funds for closing. Don’t ever respond to instructions sent by email. Before wiring, always call your title company and confirm instructions by phone.

Cyber thieves can hack your emails, follow the traffic and persuasively mimic your agent or title company and give you instructions to wire funds to a different account, their account in some far off land. Be smart. Be careful. Verify before you wire.

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

Boring Title: Listen To Jordan Parker Talk About Selling Real Estate While Attending College

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Title insurance is boring, but Allied Title & Escrow is here to decode the jargon and make it (somewhat) more interesting. This biweekly feature will explore the mundane (but very necessary!) world of title insurance while sharing interesting stories of two friends’ entrepreneurial careers.

For this week’s edition of Boring Title, Mike Madigan sits down with Jordan Parker from the J. Parker Group of Berkshire Hathaway.

They chat about how Jordan got into real estate, how he is selling properties in the DMV while attending college in New York, and more.

If you have any questions for Jordan, you can reach him at [email protected].

Have questions related to title insurance? Email Latane and Matt at [email protected]. Want to use Allied Title & Escrow when you buy a home? Tell your agent when you buy a house to write in Allied Title & Escrow as your settlement company!

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