Real Estate and Reston, VA: May 2009

This is the weekend of the Herndon Festival in Herndon, Virginia. Despite some weather challenges on Thursday and Friday, beautiful weather is expected for the rest of the weekend. Get out and enjoy the music, entertainment, rides, food and more!

For more information about the festival, go to my post: Herndon Festival.

I hope that you get a chance to stop by!

We have all walked by those beautiful container gardens at the local plant and garden center.  Not only are they usually in pretty (not spectacular) containers, but they have such stunning visual variety that we often instantly covet them for our own decks or patios.

What makes them special is the variety of textures and colors. This is easily achieved for VERY little money by following a simple formula:

• Pick a pot that is large enough to hold 3 plants (not large ones). I am partial to plain clay pots, but fancier pottery or urns work well, too.
  
•  Pick a flower that is well suited for the amount of light in the location where you plan to place your container garden (this information is always available on the little insert stuck in the plant that identifies what it is). For the example below I selected Geraniums because they work well in the amount of sunlight I get on my front porch and they continue to bloom all summer--as long as you remove the spent flowers.
  
•  Select two accent plants. These plants should grow differently (ie. one should grow up and one should grow over the side of the planter),  Two of my favorites are the Dracaena Spikes and Asparagus Ferns, but your local garden center can point you in the direction of accent plants and you can just pick your favorites.
•  Plant the three plants together in the pot and water as needed.
• A larger pot can support more plants; keep to odd numbers for visual interest. Remember, however, the plants will grow as the Spring and Summer wear on, so don't overcrowd them.
  

That is all there is to this!  I started doing this about 15 years ago and have never been disappointed.  My front porch planters always look great and it takes me just minutes to do. This is a GREAT way to dress up your listings or a home that you are selling very inexpensively.  I save a bunch of money by assembling the groupings myself rather than buying a pre-assembled container.

Below are some photos I took Before and After. The first shows the pot with just the Geraniums and the second shows it with the accent plants added.

One of the the things that I do for myself (and my mental health) is stick with my Book Club.  This particular Book Club started with a couple of very young Moms in my old neighborhood in 1995.  Over the years, some of us have moved, others have quit, new faces have joined and last year we declared it a dual neighborhood book club.  The membership is now made up about equally of members from my old and new neighborhoods. I think we have survived the test of time and gotten past the cliche that book clubs became for women in the late 90s (when everyone HAD to be in one and reading the book was optional).


We are always on the look out for new books.  We just finished reading The Reserve by Russell Banks (not my favorite). That book is our topic of discussion for tonight. Since many of us travel during the summer, our June meeting is usually a dinner out at a restaurant, with no specific assigned reading. We select a 'weightier' book for the summer and resume meeting again in September.

I would love to hear your suggestions. We generally do fiction, with an occasional biography thrown in.  We have done classics in the past and also did a year of books in an International theme (that was a great one). We meet once a month, so the length of the book has to be able to be read by an average reader in a reasonable amount of time.

If you can recommend some books that you have read, or even better, that your Book Club enjoyed, I would love to share them with my group.

Thanks, and good reading!

May 28, 2009

When searching for a new home or apartment, there are many things to consider. The path to owning a home will be one of the greatest investments in your life, but it will bring many additional responsibilities. Newly bought homes are often remodeled and repairs are always needed. There are many things to consider in the real estate industry when purchasing, remodeling or foreclosing an older home.

Virginia’s large industrial history has given the state a relationship with asbestos. This fibrous mineral gained popularity at the early part of the 20th century due to its innate fire resistant and durable qualities. Its characteristics made it perfect for building and construction applications.

Asbestos typically appeared in ceiling insulation, piping, siding, roof shingles, brake lining and flooring. Industrial sites that have used asbestos in Virginia include shipyards, chemical sites, power plants and oil refineries.

Potential Virginia home buyers or those seeking to buy an older home should be aware that homes and buildings constructed before 1980 could still contain asbestos materials. This does not mean you should jump out of your chair because asbestos exposure can be easily prevented by taking simple precautions.

It must be noted that not all asbestos poses health risks. Asbestos that is disturbed or damaged due to age is known as “friable” asbestos. This is a concern because its toxic fibers can easily circulate and become inhaled. Consistent and long term exposure can result in the development of related illnesses such as asbestosis and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma causes are as a result of inhaling asbestos fibers that become ingested in the inner linings of your lung. Due to the fact many mesothelioma symptoms are similar to less serious ailments, Diagnosis of mesothelioma is one of the more difficult tasks physicians encounter.

If any suspected asbestos is located, the best advice is to leave it alone. If you are having home renovations, performed, do not panic. Again, asbestos that is left un-disturbed will normally pose no threat. If asbestos needs to be removed, it must be performed by licensed abatement contractors. The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry “regulates asbestos through enforcement of the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health regulations.”

Many locations throughout the United States are swiftly changing their construction practices to suit the environment and the health of human beings. Many green healthy alternatives to asbestos are available and should be sought out upon removal or renovation. These include the use of cotton fiber, lcynene foam and cellulose. Research has demonstrated that these Eco-friendly insulation alternatives can even reduce annual energy costs by 25 percent!

Recently, congress passed an economic stimulus package that promotes energy efficiency for home and business owners. The American Recover and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 includes incentives for upgrading to more Eco-friendly/sustainable methods of energy and insulation. The move to a greener lifestyle will build on the change to healthier methods of building products, home remodeling and renovation.

Social Media has changed the way people receive information. Instead of getting information through newspapers, and even nightly news, many young people today get their information on line.

Lee Woodruff and her children (wife and children of injured reporter Bob Wodruff) recognize this and have created this video  to help rally young people to participate and honor those men and women who have been injured while serving our country. By using Social Media to get the message out to people around the world, they hope to increase the donations to their foundation and spread the word about programs that need support.

Watch the video and pass the link on to young people (and older, too) who may be inspired to help our injured veterans through a small monetary donation.

You can also visit www.tweettoremind.org.  They are asking that everyone who visits the site contribute $5.25 to the Bob Wodruff foundation, Remind.org. It is a very small amount that can have a huge impact on the lives of our injured veterans.

Consider donating $5.25 or more to help our injured veterans in their recovery.

Happy Memorial Day to all and THANK YOU to our veterans.

One of my favorite local events is the annual Herndon Festival in Herndon, Virginia.  This year the festival runs from Thursday, May 28th at 6:00 pm  through Sunday, May 31st at 6:00 pm.

If you have never had an opportunity to go to the festival, you are in for a real treat. This is a community festival like the kind you remember from your childhood. Featuring 3 stages with performances going on all the time, everyone should be able to find a band or entertainer that piques their interest. The full schedule of performances can be found at: Herndon Festival Entertainment Schedule.

One of my children's favorite things about the festival is the full Carnival in the center of it all!  The carnival features games and rides and over 20 food vendors. There is a minimum ticket purchase to enter the carnival. More information about that can be found on-line or at the entrance.

The festival also includes a 10K/5K Race, Hands-On art activities for the kids, a Business Expo and more.

Many of the local community groups do fund-raising at the Festival by running booths or stands, so in addition to having a great time, it is an easy way to help out in the community.

I hope to see you there!

My good friend, Kim Casson, is a wonderful interior designer. She is also a talented business woman, having run her own design firm Salmon-Casson, Ltd. in Northern Virginia  for the past 20 years.

She recently announced the opening of a a new concept in design studios.  SCL Studio will provide consumers in Northern Virginia access to merchandise and furniture previously only available through designers.  The Studio will provide a place where consumers can go and select what they want to buy, with or without the help of the Salmon-Casson designers. The SCL Studio is located in Reston, Virginia.

As stated in the studio opening announcement, 'Now you can buy the furnishings you’ve always wanted, at a price which will thrill you. Whether your style is traditional, country french, contemporary, or transitional, it’s all here for you'

If you are one of those folks who enjoys the process of designing and updating the rooms in your house, SCL Studio might be a great option for you.  You can get more information on the web by going to SCL Studio.

For those of you that prefer full-service design services, I highly recommend Salmon-Casson, Ltd.

I wish Kim great success with this new venture!

Slowly, one of my favorite magazines has become Oprah Winfrey's O magazine.  I am a little bit of a magazine junkie, so the title of 'favorite' changes constantly, but for now O magazine  is at the top of the list.

One of the reasons that I like it so much is the wide variety of topics it covers.  In the May issue, there was an article, What Really Makes People Happy and another, Books That Made a Difference to Amy Poehler. It also had an article called  Engineers of the Future, which discussed a robotics competition and an article on the 9 Ballet Flats We Love.  Top that all off with an article about Rhubarb and a recipe for Rhubarb Crumble and how can you not love this magazine?

We all know that Oprah pretty much owns the world, but she is doing such a good job of figuring out what we want to know more about and giving it to us...and her magazine continues in that tradition.

To see more about recent issues of the magazine, you can to to the magazine website, O Magazine.

I read this morning that Baltimore City, Maryland passed an ordinance that will take effect in about 3 months which will change the way that Property Taxes can be advertised in the city by Real Estate Brokers. The article, The City Requires Higher Tax-Data Accuracy In Real Estate Ads  was published by BaltimoreSun.com and written by Julie Bykowicz.

Apparently within the city, many homeowners have been given tax breaks, credits and tax relief through the years. These credits belong to the owner and  do not transfer with the sale of the house.  Many home purchasers are unexpectedly caught off-guard by substantially higher tax bills than expected when the property tax normalizes after the sale.

The property tax issue is one that all Realtors need to be careful with. It is virtually impossible to be sure that tax payments will remain constant for any property. Every jurisdiction handles their assessments differently, but often the sale of a house will trigger a re-assessment (and they almost never go down).  Even in communities where they DO go down, the tax rate for the community is often adjusted up to compensate for sinking values, so that the collected revenues remain constant.

Personally, I am very careful to let my clients know that the amount on the tax record is the amount paid  for the year reported ONLY.  It reflects the assessment at that point in time and the rate for the year stated.  I let them know that there is very strong likelihood that the amount due will change. The future assessment of the house and the tax rate are pieces of information that I cannot provide to them.

This ordinance will be very helpful to purchasers in planning their future tax payments. As an agent who works with both sellers and buyers, I am very surprised that Listing Agents/Brokers would open themselves up to the liability of advertising the current Property Tax Amounts--it sounds vaguely like a promise--I know I wouldn't!

If you have read many of my posts, you know that I grew up, and now live, in Reston, Virginia.  Back when my parents moved here, it was already known for being a planned community.  Truth be told, I think most families were drawn here by the affordability, small town feel and public transportation.

Fast forward to today.  The draw for Reston remains the same.  Perhaps the use of public transportation does not lure as many folks, but there are still a lot of people who work predictable hours for the government and are able to take advantage of the bus/metro combination offered here. Of course, we are anticipating our own Metro station in the next 3 years and that will bring public transportation back to the short list of why Reston is so attractive to buyers.

I just read an article on line,Will small homes, lots, and fewer cars be future?

In this article, the author discusses the changing face of our suburbs.  I agree with many of his points.  I disagree, however with his contention that houses are too close together here in Reston. One of the really special aspects of this area is the wide variety of housing. Sure, there are townhouses where you greet your neighbors as you head to your car each morning, but there are also large single family homes on .25-1 acre lots.  One of the best things about Reston is the variety of housing styles and the ability to begin your home owning days in a small affordable home and work your way up to a home that suits your family (if that is what you want). All while maintaing a small community feel.

I guess it just boils down to what you want in your home--and what you can afford. I am very happy, however, that Reston offers housing that fits so many types of households at so many price points.

If you would like to learn more about Reston, please feel free to contact me.