Real Estate and Reston, VA: June 2010

My daughter walked across the stage at the George Mason Patriot Center today and accepted her high school diploma from Herndon High School. The grads were made up of students from both Herndon and Reston, Virginia. It was a special moment for our family and all of the other families who had a graduate cross the stage.

We spent the weekend going from party to party celebrating these young people and the completion of this phase of their lives. An astounding number of these graduates will go on to College, so this is not about celebrating the 'glory days' of their youth. It is truly about gathering these kids, and their families, who have been so interwoven in each others lives for  4 years  and enjoying each others company.

I was thinking about why, at least in this community, the high school graduation party seems to be so prevalent. After all, most of these kids will graduate from college and you don't see nearly the number of college graduation parties.  I think it has to do with access--everyone is close by and easy to include. Once you get to college it is harder to gather them from different States and even countries.

Another thought is that at this point in time, they all have the future spread out in front of them and anything is possible. No one has yet had to deal with the difficulties of getting through college; there are no academic probations, financial issues, motivation problems or lack of direction. By this time next year, some of the graduates may have stepped off of their  rosy college path and be headed in a different direction--or even worse, no direction at all. But for now, all is good and everyone is successful.

So Congratulations to all of the Graduates of Herndon High Class of 2010! We are all so proud of your accomplishments and wish you great success as you move on to the next phase of your life.

To paraphrase a song (badly, I might add), 'The future's so bright, you have to wear shades...'

The Reston Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the annual Taste of the Town this weekend at the Reston Town Center.

With fantastic food, live music, kid's activities and a carnival, everyone should have a great time! 

If music is your thing, the entertainment schedule for Friday night and Saturday is:

Friday, June 18
3:00pm - 5:30pm -- DJ Edward Daniels
5:30pm - 10:30pm -- Fabulous Dialtones
10:30pm - 11:00pm -- DJ Edward Daniels
 
Saturday, June 19
Noon - 1:30pm -- Crowded Streets
2:00pm - 3:30pm -- Gonzo's Nose
4:00pm - 6:30pm -- Orquesta la Romana
7:30pm - 10:30pm -- C.J. Chenier
10:30pm - 11:00pm -- DJ Edward Daniels

On Band Breaks between Noon & 11:00pm -- DJ Edward Daniels

The Kid's Corner will feature a variety of activities for the youngest attendees. The hours of the Kid's Corner:

Friday, June 18 | 3:00pm - 6:00pm
Saturday, June 19 | Noon - 6:00pm

And finally, the food is, after all, the star of the show!  Some of the vendors who will be there (* denotes Chamber Member):

Participating Restaurants:

It has happened often enough this year to be a pattern. A very well qualified buyer with a significant down-payment, a traditional sale (not short sale or foreclosure), standard contingencies (HOA, Inspections, financing and appraisal) and reasonable time frames.

Guess what, we can't get the contingencies removed! Yes, we get the inspections done, negotiate and finalize the agreement.  Check! We provide documents, the waiting period expires and that one is done, too. Check! But the appraisal and financing contingencies--apparently those are just 'guidelines.'

I have read a number of blogs lately saying that communications is the key to this issue. Phooey! I am the master of email, text and voice-mail. Checking in with someone who has no information lets your client know that you are on top of it, but it doesn't produce an outcome. The only outcome my client wants is the contingencies to be removed!

Appraisals are taking a long time to schedule, a long time to generate the report and then they are subject to an underwriting review. The days of the report being turned in and the lender calling you with a thumbs up or down are long gone. No one wants to say an appraisal  is okay--or even talk about if it is within reason--until underwriting gets plenty of time to examine it.

Underwriting is also being super-careful on all loans (not a bad thing at all), and this is resulting in many minor conditions that must be cleared before a loan can be approved. I talked to a loan officer today who told me that one of our loans is being held up until a copy of the driver's license is provided and a written explanation about a minor deposit is provided. Let me just tell you, this is not a first time buyer. If they need that minor amount to settle, they have no business buying this house!

So here we sit with a cautious buyer's agent (again, not a bad thing) who wants to wait to remove the financing contingency until we receive full underwriting. Lately, that has been happening days before settlement--way past the 14 day contingency period that has been customary in my area.

In talking to my seller client today, it seems like these financing contingencies need to be reworked. Personally, I am seeing them take more like 25-32 days to be removed.  This means that for 2 weeks (if the contract provides 14 days), everyone is on pins and needles wondering if there is a problem with either the buyer's financing or the house appraisal.

The only recourse we have on the seller side is to serve notice and start the clock running for the 3 days to remove the contingency or forfeit the contract. That would not serve anyone needs when you have a strong buyer and a good contract.

Are you seeing the same thing? I have been bumping my buyer's financing and appraisal contingencies up to 28 days and still not making the dates...it is very frustrating for everyone!

Last night was the kick-off of the annual Herndon Festival in Herndon, Virginia. Although the evening started out with a thunderstorm, all was not lost as the clouds, thunder and lightning made it through by about 6:00 pm.

It is a great way to reconnect with your community through a good, old fashioned family festival. Rides, games, prizes, vendors, food, entertainment...what more could you want? There are three stages with entertainment, Fireworks on Thursday night (if you heard banging last night, now you know what it was) and Saturday night, 10K and 5K races and much, much more!

In past years I have found very easy to park at Herndon High School and take the shuttle to the festival. The parking in downtown Herndon can be fairly limited, so I recommend this option. There is also shuttle service from the Worldgate Center, just off of the Dulles Toll Road (Rt. 267).

To learn more about the festival, go to the Herndon Festival Home Page.

I hope to see you at the Herndon Festival!