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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.

It’s a hot market, but folks out there are still getting creative.

Case in point: For the first time ever on this column, we’re seeing two condo units for sale… in a single listing! It’s packaged as “buy both… live in one and rent out the other!” (Of course both may rented, but it’s a clever way of getting potential buyers to think about a spot. And, it certainly sticks out.)

Whether you’re a seller or a buyer out there, it’s never been more important to be creative, unique and distinguish yourself from the competition. Depending on which side of the transaction you find yourself on, this can involve closing costs, credits and so much more.

When you’re ready to get strategic and creative, the time-tested team at Arlington Realty, Inc. is ready to go to bat for you. Until then, here are this week’s Just Reduced numbers.

As of February 7, there are 78 detached homes, 22 townhouses and 169 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 17 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week, including:

2125 19th Street N. #6

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.

Building your dream home: New construction seminar

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Building a new home is exciting and full of possibilities!

However, there is a right way to approach new developments to avoid costly mistakes. Here’s your chance to learn everything you need to know about new construction properties from successful agents on the top-selling real estate team in the D.C. metro area.

Lauren Longshore, one of Keri Shull Team’s most experienced Buyer Success Agents, is leading this virtual seminar.

We will cover:

  • Advantages of New Construction — At the event, we’ll take an in-depth look at how you can design the exact home you are dreaming of!
  • Buying a Builder-Owned Lot vs. Finding Your Own — Which solution is best when finding a lot? In the D.C. metro area, land can be rare, we’ll show you how to find it.
  • Choosing the Right Agents and Specialists — Don’t risk costly problems or losing your dream home! A good agent will help you close faster and pay less.

Join us on Tuesday, February 15 at 6 p.m. for this FREE Zoom seminar. Make your new construction dream home a reality with expertise by your side!

Register for this event today.

Ask Eli: Home design trends from an expert

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!

The 2022 Colors of the Year were recently released and this year we have Sherwin Williams Evergreen Fog, a subdued green, and Pantone Very Peri, a bold purple.

Sherwin Williams Evergreen Fog & Pantone Very Peri

… And announcing colors of the year is about as far as I should take my commentary on interior design, so I’d like to re-introduce Caroline Goree ([email protected], (703) 994 5921), a fantastic Designer with a boutique Residential Interior Design Firm, Madigan Schuler, located in Alexandria, to provide insight into what trends she’s seeing in local home design.

In 2018, Caroline introduced us to one of my favorite design quotes from Matthew Frederick’s book, 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School, “Being nonspecific in an effort to appeal to everyone usually results in reaching no one.”

Take it away Caroline…

As I began to brainstorm the trends of 2022, it made me reflect on the 2020 design trends column I wrote for you just a month before the pandemic started. While many of the décor aspects are still quite relevant, so much of the residential design world has not only been impacted (thank you supply chain issues) but also influenced by the pandemic.

Although I would love to design with the sole purpose of creating a beautiful, aesthetically pleasing room, the functionality of spaces, furniture and fabrics has become more important than ever.

Built to Last

Between remote working, virtual learning and cancelled day care, our homes are being used hard, or as I say, being “loved” more than years prior. With this additional love comes lots of spills, crumbs and crushed cushions in the coveted corners of furniture for prime movie watching.

The additional wear on soft goods has created a spike in the “performance” product world (think indoor/outdoor rugs, fabric, etc). Instead of a beautiful natural fiber rug, we replaced these selections with polypropylene carpets that mimic the look and patterns of the sisal and seagrass products but are much more durable and easier to clean.

When reflecting on my business last year, 100% of my clients chose an indoor/outdoor material (Sunbrella), performance fabric (Crypton), or had their goods treated with a spill repellant technology (Fiber-Seal) for any furniture in the main spaces of their home. Furthermore, people quickly saw the downside of “disposable” furniture and were more open to investing in pieces built to last against the hours of lounging.

Pro Tip: When purchasing a new sofa, do your research. Ask if it is built with an “8-way hand tied coil” where craftsman tie springs eight ways from side to side, front to back and diagonally. This helps build furniture that is soft, flexible, comfortable and long lasting.

Textures, Wovens and Rattans… Oh My!

A trend we are seeing across the board is the use of texture within design. This could be a fabulous set of caned antique dining chairs to go around a fresh new table or a fun rattan accent chair to sit in the corner of an inviting family room. Even a piece as simple as woven framed mirror or foot stool can add that pop in a space that felt dull and tired.

Fabric like as Boucle’s (think fuzzy/curly multi-dimensional material) is not only used in the custom furnishings world but now a standard offering in many retail stores on their soft goods. I recently used a plush emerald green cable knit fabric for pillows on a simple white sofa to add depth and a punch of color (also a 2022 trend!)

Pro Tip: A little rattan goes a long way. Although it is one of my favorite trends, just a sprinkle throughout a room does the trick. No need to make your family room feel like a Palm Beach sun porch!

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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 — it’s rainy and soggy out, but at least the temps are above freezing! What lovely weather for my ##’nd birthday…!

Quick update on mortgage rates; they remain flat, and now we’ve had three weeks of hovering right at about 3.5% on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. Frenzied market condition continues (SURPRISE) and the words in the halls of real estate brokerages are “price escalation,” “no contingencies” and “cash offer.”

Remember, cash offers make up less than 10% of transactions locally, but they are out there, and they are winning. Having said that, if you’re a buyer and you’re looking for an expert to help you get a competitive advantage, CALL ME as we’ve got programs in place to help you compete against the cash offers and win. You can reach me at (703) 203-1117.

Inventory in the county shifted around a lot due to buyer and seller activity, but available units is unchanged from last week — sitting at just 237. That’s barely over a month’s worth of supply!

Sellers listed 61 homes in the past week, up six from the prior week, and buyers ratified 54 contracts, 23 of which were on homes listed in the last seven days.

Of the 237 homes currently available for sale, 58 are detached homes, 20 are semi-detached/townhomes, and the remaining 159 are condominiums. These properties range in price from $100,000 all the way up to $3,850,000.

Average list price for currently available homes is $855,272, and the median price is $559,000. These homes have been on the market for an average of 77 DOM (days on market) and a median of 49.

This week last year, there were 374 homes available for sale throughout the county. Sellers had listed 64 homes for sale and buyers ratified 41 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.

4915 25th Street S.

Statutes of Liberty: Immigration court scheduling has gone haywire

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.

We’ve written before about the backlog in the U.S. immigration courts. It’s bad — it’s really bad, and getting worse, and it’s getting worse in new and interesting ways.

The good folks at Syracuse University’s TRAC system, who usually cultivate the same authorial blandness as The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, describe it as an “avalanche of cases” which is “accelerating at a breakneck pace.” When our firm founder began practicing in 2011, there were about 250,000 noncitizens awaiting trial. Now, there are 1.6 million, and the quarterly increase is up to 150,000.

Let’s consider a few intuitively reasonable (but false) explanations for why this is happening:

  1. Trump did it.

No, he didn’t. The Trump Administration certainly put the pedal to the floor on immigration enforcement in all sorts of ways, but the peak quarterly number of cases sent to immigration court was in FY 2019 — 78,000. That’s roughly half of the current figure.

(We hasten to add that the backlog got much worse under Trump. The immigration courts started in January 2017 with a backlog of 542,411 and ended with 1.2M. But the numbers don’t lie — the Biden administration has added another 400,000 in one year; it took the Trump administration four years to exceed that number.)

  1. COVID did it.

No, it didn’t. There are two important metrics for measuring the efficiency of an assembly line: the number of widgets that go in, and the number of widgets that go out. In immigration court, we call those “Case Initiations” and “Case Completions.” COVID lowered the case completion rate from 40,000 per month to about 6,000 per month in the worst stages of the pandemic, but case completion rates are back up to 22,000 per month. That drop — 18,000 per month, from peak efficiency to current efficiency — represents only about 20% of the quarterly increase in the backlog.

So, what’s the main cause? The answer is simple: The Department of Homeland Security is initiating many more cases. We don’t know the reason why, but, digging into the numbers, our suspicion is that these cases are starting at the border. The Trump Administration’s “adjudicate cases at the border and keep them out” approach failed, and, so far, the Biden administration’s “rapid, fair, and orderly” approach is failing, too.

Our sympathies go out to our colleagues at the Executive Office for Immigration Review

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Biz Talk: Top three trends shaping the office market in 2022

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This article was written by Arlington Economic Development.

Two years into a global pandemic, the way people work has been permanently altered and the commercial real estate market is in the preliminary stages of determining how the changes will impact future office building utilization.

As the public health situation continues evolving, companies and commercial real estate brokers are still working through the structure and timing of return-to-work plans, which will ultimately decide the future of the office market. To understand the current dialogue around these decisions, Arlington Economic Development spoke with three local commercial real estate brokers about the key trends they believe will shape the office market in 2022 and beyond.

Health and Wellness 

Health, not surprisingly, is at the top of the list for both potential tenants and property owners. Property owners are, at a minimum, upgrading their buildings to MERV air filters and creating more touchless spaces. Some landlords are even adding air filters to elevators and upgrading their HVAC systems to direct outdoor air systems to circulate more fresh air.

Nick Gregorios, Principal, Avison Young said that his clients are also thinking beyond air filter upgrades to maximizing outdoor spaces. “In the past, a landlord might consider basic furnishings for an outdoor space for their tenants to utilize, but now what we’re starting to see is thoughtful, deliberate design of those areas with architects to make them functional for outdoor meetings and collaboration, essentially an extension of the office,” Gregorios said. “Landlords are also creating more private outdoor areas that are reserved for a particular tenant.”

Personal wellness is also becoming a leading priority for tenants. Peloton bikes are becoming much more common in gyms and property owners are even creating private gym spaces. “An employee could reserve a private room with a Peloton bike from 1 to 2 p.m. and then the janitorial staff comes in to clean it for the next person,” Gregorios said.

Ken Biberaj, Managing Director, Savills North America said personal health also extends to people’s food choices at work. “Sweetgreen delivery outposts are just as popular in buildings as Peloton bikes so employees can order food and it will be right downstairs, just like at home,” he said.

The Office Experience 

Along the same lines as the custom outdoor spaces and personal wellness offerings, the office of the future will also be more experiential now that the office must compete with the home environment.

“If the purpose of the office is going to be more about collaboration and coming together, then inherently it’s going to be a little bit more about hospitality,” said Biberaj. “So as people are thinking about getting back, part of it is creating an ecosystem that warrants people actually getting up and leaving their home.”

Companies may shrink their footprints to create this new experiential space, but they are going to be more willing to upgrade to a higher-quality space in a prime location that provides the amenities that employees want.

“We are seeing an acceleration of “flight to quality” within the office ecosystem, demonstrated by factors such as building access to extensive retail, adjacency to metro and mass transit, high-end building amenities, views and natural light, and building efficiency,” Gregorios said.

David Cornbrooks, Senior Managing Director, Savills North America said that the Ballston Exchange building in Arlington is a great example of a building that companies may upgrade to for quality. It has numerous collaborative spaces, outdoor areas and is right in the heart of Ballston, across the street from the recently transformed Ballston Quarter and its exciting dining and entertainment offerings.

Arlington is ideally positioned for the shift to the experiential office with its 18-hour, mixed-use development, and proximity to transit. Biberaj said that the value proposition for companies looking at Arlington is similar to pre-pandemic, but “it’s amplified. Amenities you may have taken for granted before now, you really value and appreciate.”

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Adoptable Pet of the Week: Jinny Gibbs

By ARLnow.com
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Please give a warm welcome to the newest Adoptable Pet of the Week, Jinny Gibbs!

This 8-year-old playful girl is looking for an affectionate companion and somewhere to call her forever home.

Her friends at Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation had a few words to say about her:

Jinny is a playful, loving cat with the silliest personality.

She never says “no” to playtime — especially with her favorite string toy or catnip ball! Jinny is vocal and chatty, and she likes to (politely!) ask for affection.

Want to get on Jinny’s good side? Try a few face scratches. She goes crazy for them.

Is Jinny the playful, furry companion you’ve been searching for? Check out her complete profile to learn more about how to adopt!

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!

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.

Black History Month is here, folks!

On the doorstep of our nation’s capital, we have tons of incredible spots to reflect on times past as well as enrich ourselves that much more with African American culture.

Among some favorites are the iconic Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House just off Logan Circle and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in West Potomac Park. In Arlington County, the Black Heritage Museum and Arlington Historical Museum are must-stops as well.

Amid so many cultural offerings in our area, we hope you’ll get out and enjoy these destinations in February and well beyond.

These institutions are just part of what make Arlington such a wonderful place to call home. And, as you know, when you’re ready for a new spot to call home, the time-tested team at Arlington Realty, Inc. has your back. Until then, here are this week’s Just Reduced numbers.

As of January 31, there are 77 detached homes, 21 townhouses and 166 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 11 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week, including:

1513 N. Ohio Street

Please note 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.

Ask Eli: Arlington rental market update — Single-family, townhouse and apartment

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: Have rental prices in Arlington followed a similar trend as the ownership market?

Answer: The rental market for apartments was hit hard during the pandemic with rental rates dropping roughly 15%-20% in Arlington and the D.C. Metro, but rents quickly climbed back up last year and seem to be stabilizing.

As you would expect, the pandemic had the opposite effect on the detached and townhouse rental markets, sending those prices up, but at a lower rate than the appreciation we’ve seen in the cost to buy.

Below, I’ve compiled rental data from the MLS in Arlington over the last five years. Note that very few commercial apartment buildings listed in the MLS so this data is limited to non-commercially owned rentals (for apartments, that is mostly individually owned condos).

Further, it’s difficult to say what percentage of non-commercially owned properties go through the MLS for rent but I would guess that it’s less than half of rented apartments, but likely a majority if detached and townhouse properties. Despite the limited data set, we still have more than enough information available through the MLS to generate outputs that represent the true rental market.

Here are some highlights from the data table:

  • The total number of rentals that came to market in 2021 increased sharply over previous years with 48.8% more apartment rentals and 24.9% more detached/townhouse rentals, compared to the averages over the previous four years
  • The increase in rent for 3-4 bedroom and 5+ bedroom single-family homes from 2019-2021 was 6% and 12.7%, respectively
  • In 2021, the average tenant for a single-family or townhouse paid at or over the asking price
  • Rental prices for 3-4 bedroom townhouses is nearly identical to those of 3-4 bedroom detached homes
  • The average rent for a one-bedroom and two-bedroom condo is down from 2019 highs by 5.7% and 3.2%, respectively

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Home Buying Seminar: Make the most of your home search

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This is your opportunity to find your dream home and start building long-term wealth!

There’s a lot that goes into the home-buying process. It can also be challenging to navigate the competitive Washington, D.C. real estate market alone, so the Keri Shull Team is hosting a seminar to help buyers maximize their home search.

Bridget Mendes, an expert Buyer Success Agent with the Keri Shull Team, will be leading this seminar at our office in Rosslyn.

Attendees will discover:

  • 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 more!

Join us in person on Wednesday, February 9 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. for this FREE seminar! You won’t want to miss learning how to have the best possible home buying experience at no cost to you.

Register for this event today!

Legal Insider: Virginia’s new teacher tip line — Bad for Virginia, worse for teachers

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This is a sponsored column by attorneys John Berry and Kimberly Berry of Berry & Berry, PLLC, an employment and labor law firm located in Northern Virginia that specializes in federal employee, security clearance, retirement and private sector employee matters.

By John V. Berry, Esq.

Governor Glenn Youngkin announced last week that his administration has opened an official email tip line for Virginians to submit “reports and observations” of “inherently divisive practices” in Virginia schools. On a radio show last Monday, he touted the new tip line and encouraged parents to send his administration “any instances where they feel their fundamental rights are being violated [or] where their children are not being respected.”

While it remains unclear exactly what might constitute such a “divisive practice” in the eyes of the new Governor, he has emphasized his broader goal to rid the school system of such teachings, including Critical Race Theory — despite CRT not actually being taught in K-12 schools in Virginia. This move comes after the Governor expressly banned CRT in Virginia public schools via his first executive order.

But all those political controversies aside, this new tip line presents a new and unnecessary worry for the dedicated teachers of our Commonwealth. For society generally, I think this tip line is a terrible idea. As an employment lawyer, however, I think it is even worse.

Educators across the Commonwealth may be obviously and justifiably upset at the idea of having someone report them. This worry is only magnified by the lack of clarity regarding this new tip line. For instance, there is no clear guidance about what counts as “divisive” — so teachers now have to worry about anything they teach, or even just the way they teach it, possibly being perceived as “divisive” by a disgruntled parent, student, community member, or random third party.

Although it is not clear what sort of investigative and/or enforcement actions the Governor envisions against teachers, the move comes just as our teachers face among the lowest salaries for their profession in the United States and just as the Commonwealth continues to face serious teacher shortages that have only been exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Being investigated by the government over such ambiguously defined concerns is the last thing our hardworking teachers need right now.

Many other questions about this tip line remain unanswered at this point, in addition to the vagueness of the “divisive practice” label. The Governor has not expressly stated that his goal is to investigate teachers, and his press secretary tweeted last Wednesday that the tip line is intended as a “resource for parents, teachers, and students to relay questions [and] concerns,” calling it a “customary constituent service to hear from Virginians.”

Asking people to report teachers over anything perceived as offensive or divisive is sure to result in overinclusion relative to anything that is truly a problem, and the breadth of this potential coverage is what is so problematic for the teachers faced with the Governor’s efforts. We have school boards and administrations for a reason — there is simply no need to create a culture of reporting schools and teachers to the state government rather than by solving problems within the school district.

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