This regularly scheduled sponsored column is written by the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy team (AIRE). This county program helps you make smart energy decisions that save you money and leaves a lighter footprint on the environment.
When we spot a great opportunity for Arlingtonians to save energy, we share it.
Washington Gas has an Online Home Energy Profile tool. It takes less than five minutes and there is no sign up or personal information required.
The tool will give you an energy ranking, savings estimate and upgrade recommendations that make the most sense for your home.
Above all, if you are a Washington Gas customer and qualify, you can submit your address to have a FREE energy conservation kit sent to your home.
Free Energy Kits Include:
5 GPM Shower Head
High-Efficiency Faucet Aerators
Self Adhesive Door Sweeps
One Roll of Weather Stripping
Sealing air leaks, lowering water and sewer bills, and reducing the amount of hot water used at home for free is a no brainer. Don’t delay, get yours before they run out!
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. As always, thanks for keeping up with the Just Listed column. We aim to keep you in-the-know with how our Arlington real estate market is performing week over week.
Some big news in the mortgage industry, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage surpasses 3%, which is the highest point since April of this year. As reported by Freddie Mac, when you couple this rise in rates with home price growth, it is going to keep some buyers out of the market, especially those shopping close to their limits.
This usually impacts first time home buyers who are trying to break into the market more than their more experienced counterparts, often in the more approachable price points.
Another trend I’ve been watching is the decrease in available condominium inventory. This has been going on for the past five weeks, the longest decrease I’ve seen since the exodus from condos back in spring of 2020. Condos and higher priced homes have been the shining stars of the market for the past few weeks, a trend the rest of the market is not going along with. I’ll be keeping an eye on this going forward as it may be a broader market indicator.
This week, 64 new properties were listed in the county, 10 more than last week.
Buyers ratified 67 contracts, five more than the week before, including 22 contracts on properties that had been on the market seven days or less.
In Arlington, we currently have 531 listed homes for sale, two more than last week. 140 of these options are detached homes. 69 are townhomes/semi-detached properties, and the remaining 322 are condominiums.
The average price for homes across all property types in Arlington right now is $772,807, while the median price is $587,000. On average, these homes have been on the market for 62 days, but the median is just 36.
A quick comparison to this week last year, there were 88 homes listed for sale and 71 ratified contracts. There were 542 properties available in Arlington.
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.
We’ve heard plenty about Oktoberfest — but what about Shucktober Fest?
On Saturday, Oct. 23 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., stop by Shirlington Village for the fourth annual celebration of beer and oysters. You’ll find 40+ craft beer tents, food and oyster tents (pro tip: try a champagne oyster shooter!), local vendors, and more.
For the kids, there will be plenty of family-friendly games, a kids zone and more. Dogs are also welcome.
Tickets are now on sale. They are $40 and include a 21+ wristband, a 5-ounce beer-tasting mug and 10 event tickets. For context, one event ticket is redeemable for one beer sample or two oysters.
So grab your lederhosen and buy your tickets online. See you Oct. 23 in Shirlington Village — prost!
This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq. and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at Steelyard LLC, an immigration-focused law firm located in Arlington, Virginia. The legal information given here is general in nature. If you want legal advice, contact James for an appointment.
At the Law Office of James Montana PLLC, we really love writing our bi-weekly ARLnow columns. However, this week, we are taking a small hiatus due to an increase in work recently. Plus, James is on his yearly vacation hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Laura and Doran have been hard at work maintaining the office and continuing to provide great service to all our clients.
In lieu of an article this week, please enjoy the below photograph from our recent office outing. We went go-kart racing at Autobahn in Sterling and then enjoyed refreshments at Rocket Frog Brewing Company (highly recommend).
In particular, we hope that you enjoy James’ suit — he received lots of compliments at the race track.
Stay tuned for our next column, in which we will describe both the federal and Virginia state governments’ efforts to help immigrants who are victims of crimes in the United States. Until next time!
If you run or manage marketing for a local business or organization, figuring out how to reach the widest possible audience for the lowest reasonable cost is hard. Luckily, ARLnow makes it easy by putting your message in front of a huge local audience.
With hundreds of thousands of readers each month, ARLnow reaches a diverse swath of the Arlington community — north and south, young and old. In fact, a survey commissioned by Arlington County found that ARLnow is the No. 1 source of local information for Arlington residents, above the Washington Post and the county government’s own website.
Our effective and engaging advertising options let your company reach those local readers for less than Facebook or print.
Book your ads now for the fall and you can keep that rate after pricing goes up in 2022. See our current Media Kit or fill out the form below and we’ll get in touch to discuss your marketing goals.
Yard signs marketing the GRANT 2.0 placed throughout Arlington
This column is sponsored by BizLaunch, a division of Arlington Economic Development.
In our last Small Business Focus, we announced Arlington’s Small Business GRANT 2.0 and focused on eligibility. Now with applications underway through Oct. 20, we thought we’d use this opportunity to explain how small businesses can leverage GRANT 2.0 funds.
Similarly, to GRANT 1.0 released in 2020, funds from GRANT 2.0 can be used for the following:
Retaining and/or supporting employees
Restoring financial resiliency
Increasing technology capacity
Creating new marketing strategies
Revising business plans
Many businesses awarded a GRANT last summer used the funds to pay rent and payroll expenses. However, some used their grant to revise business plans or to better leverage technology.
With the Arlington Small Business GRANT, @Community_ETC will keep creating and collaborating! The Educational Theatre Company will use the GRANT to continue to employ local artists and focus on new, creative initiatives to safely reach their community. #BizStrongArlVApic.twitter.com/kWIaTiJQYI
For example, Educational Theatre Company used their grant to purchase a third Zoom line to offer simultaneous summer camps online. Another example is Compass Coffee, which used its grant to cover marketing expenses to expand its online sales.
Compass Coffee also used a portion of its funding to revise its business plan. It purchased a machine to produce K-Cups and Nespresso pods to add to their product mix for customers stuck at home with cravings for their favorite local cup of coffee.
GRANT recipient @CompassCoffeeDC is grateful to have been able to continue serving take-out & ensure their customers still start their days with a fresh cup of coffee. They are using the GRANT to build their delivery service and expand their online store! #BizStrongArlVApic.twitter.com/dutQXq8RJL
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 day most employees will want to circle on the ole calendar.
This Friday, Oct. 15 is Bosses’ Day. It’s usually celebrated on Oct. 16, but since that’s a Saturday this year, it’s being celebrated the day before.
One of the most beautiful aspects of real estate that we’ve seen throughout the years is seeing folks become their own boss through the property they own.
Owning and managing real estate can be a very rewarding business to be in, both personally and financially. And, living in such a stable housing market, there is seemingly always demand for places that new residents will call home.
So, to all the bosses out there, we hope you enjoy your day. And, to those seeking to be their own boss and/or landlord, the time-tested team here at Arlington Realty, Inc. is always here to answer your questions and advocate on your behalf.
Until then, on to this week’s Just Reduced numbers.
As of Oct. 11, there are 169 detached homes, 68 townhouses and 341 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 56 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week:
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.
Your ticket includes an open bar and plated dinner, live music from a local jazz quartet, stand-up comedy, raffles throughout the night, fantastic silent and live auctions, and a captivating keynote speaker. Look forward to taking home once-in-a-lifetime unique experiences, signed memorabilia from your favorite athletes, beautiful jewelry, and high-value items you’ll have to see to believe. Trips to Italy, Napa Valley, British Virgin Islands, Mexico and more are also up for grabs!
Wear your best cocktail attire to celebrate and support girls’ education and technology while having an amazing night. Be a HERo and help us empowHER the next generation of innovatHERs!
For details and tickets, please visit REACHForUganda.org. Donations and sponsorships are always welcome.
REACH for Uganda is committed to creating healthy, educated and hope-filled communities in rural eastern Uganda. Please note your contributions are tax deductible as REACH for Uganda is a 501c3 non-profit tax exempt organization. We kindly request all attendees to wear masks regardless of vaccination status.
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: We bought an older home with original water and sewer lines. Who is responsible for the maintenance and replacement of these lines, and how do I know if there’s a problem?
Answer: You are responsible for the main plumbing lines for water and sewage running between your home and the public lines. In most cases, the gas company is responsible for everything to and including the meter (attached to your home), and you’re responsible for the lines after the meter.
The main lines are usually buried under your front yard and replacement costs (water and sewage) often start at a couple thousand dollars and can easily exceed $10,000. Costs vary based on some key factors including:
Distance from the public line to your home
Pipe material
Type of excavation/installation (difficulty in digging up old plumbing, number of turns in new pipe)
Cost to return landscaping to original state (this is on you, not the county)
In most cases, Washington Gas will return your property/landscaping to its original condition, including hardscape and your lawn (even your driveway), after excavating for repair or replacement. It’s not a bad idea to find out where your gas supply line is and plan landscaping with that in mind.
Identifying Problems
The life expectancy on many of the most common materials used for main plumbing lines range from 50 to 100 years, but tree root growth, unnatural disturbances like new landscaping, corrosion, and pressure build-ups can cause leaks, blockages, and other damage that you should monitor.
The most effective and most expensive way to look for problems is to hire a plumber to scope the lines with a camera to see if there are any issues. The cost of doing this often exceeds $500 per line, but can give you peace of mind or early warnings of a problem.
If you don’t want to pay a plumber to scope your lines, you can monitor for signs of a problem:
Water line: Higher water bills, lower water pressure, flooding in yard when there isn’t rain
Sewer line: Slow drainage/clogs in multiple areas of the house, foul smell inside or outside, odd behavior from plumbing like bubbling sounds
Gas line: If you smell a gas/rotten egg odor, hissing sound from a gas line/meter, hazy/cloudy near gas line, plants dying, issues with gas-powered appliances
Good To Know
Here are some other helpful tips regarding the main lines for water, sewage and gas:
The Loudoun County Fall Farm Tour returns this weekend, and you’re invited to enjoy a self-guided, family-friendly weekend on the farm this Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 16 and 17.
This year marks the 28th annual Loudoun Fall Farm Tour, encouraging you to shop for top-quality, local products during Loudoun’s harvest season. This year’s tour features more than two dozen locations that offer everything from pumpkin patches to alpacas, and vineyards to farmers markets.
New to the Fall Farm Tour this year is an app with navigation, descriptions, scavenger hunts, leader boards and exciting prizes for visiting farms. There is also a new community support program this year, encouraging the donation of Loudoun grown produce during the Fall Farm Tour. The proceeds will be used to purchase the freshest produce on the farm, which is then donated to Loudoun Hunger Relief and distributed to food-insecure families.
All locations provide an educational component for visitors, and most will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. For details on specific farm hours, instructions to download the app and make donations, please visit LoudounFarmTour.com.
What makes Lee Heights a special neighborhood in Arlington?
Lee Heights has an “urban meets suburban” element that is so unique. Having shops and restaurants at one end of the neighborhood and trails at the other end is a huge factor in why this is such a popular area of Arlington.
The variety of architectural styles, lot topography and house sizes appeals to a broad spectrum of tastes and housing needs.
Lee Heights has a very friendly community feel, and it is very common to see your neighbors out and about every day walking their dogs, at block parties, grabbing coffee at Lee Heights or out for a walk on the trails.
I moved here from New York City over 20 years ago and raised both my boys here — I can’t picture living anywhere else.
Connect with neighborhood expert Sarah Picot to learn more about Lee Heights and other surrounding areas!
Just 10 minutes from Washington, D.C., Lee Heights is a community located in Arlington, Virginia.
A vibrant neighborhood along the newly named Langston Boulevard, Lee Heights is home to Lee Heights Shops, which features numerous boutiques including Arrowine & Cheese (offering hand-selected wines and cheeses from all around the world), Pastries by Randolph, Lemoncello, Bartons Child’s Play and newly opened Cafe Colline. Additionally, the renowned Metro 29 Diner is a local favorite — visited by President Joe Biden and “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” host Guy Fieri!
Lee Heights is known for having easy access to a commercial corridor while having a neighborhood feel with a variety of housing options, great playgrounds, walking trails and farmers markets — so much more to explore!
Learn more about other neighborhoods in Arlington and the surrounding area, go to www.McEnearney.com/areas.
Important Lee Heights (and Nearby) Neighborhood Resources
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.
