Real Estate News About Woodbridge Virginia and Surrounding Communities: December 2011

Lots Of Good Feedback About Woodbridge Virginia Home Searches Using iPhone/iPad App You Can Download Here

iPhone/iPad Home Search App For Woodbridge Virginia Gets Great Reviews

You Can Download The App Right Now By Clicking The App Icon Below

You can search for homes for sale, and recently sold on your iPad or iPhone with an easy to use app.

I'm getting positive feedback from buyers who want to search the market on their own, while our Home Finder email service updates them via email.

Sellers like the app because it gives them prices and tours of their competition.

You can download the app to your iPhone or iPad by clicking the app icon at the bottom-right of this post.

The U.S. Army Blues Band will perform The Duke Ellington Nutcracker and other seasonal favorites. 
Location: Washington-Lee High School, 1300 N Quincy St. Arlington, VA 

For more information go to www.USArmyBand.com.

The show is free.

Holiday Shopping At Potomac Mills Mall In Woodbridge Virginia

See A Map Showing You How To Find Potomac Mills Mall

Potomac Mills Is Among The Largest Drawing Tourist Attractions In Virginia

Potomac Mills Mall is near the heart of Woodbridge, just off I-95, twenty miles south of Washington DC.

See the map below for easy directions to Potomac Mills, where bargains abound.

View Potomac Mills Mall Woodbridge Virginia in a larger map

New Homes In Woodbridge You Can Have Right Now In Time For The Holidays

You Can Get Extra Incentives When You Buy A New Home With A Realtor As Your Buyer Agent

Builders Are Courting Realtors Because We Bring 74% Of Their Customers To The Builders

You can get extra incentives and free options on standing inventory homes that are finished, and ready for you to move into in time for the holidays.

I've got a list of "spec" homes (Homes built on speculation that a buyer will show up when the house is finished) in our area, and with your Realtor incentives, you can get as much as $80,000 off the price, plus free options, plus closing costs assistance when you use the builder's preferred loan company.

Call me or text me right now for help locating new homes in the $400,000 - $500,000 range.  703-677-1120.  Or send an email to Erick@ErickAndCompany.com.

List Price vs Sold Price In The 4th Quarter Of 2011

What Are Buyers REALLY Paying For Homes?

What Are Sellers REALLY Accepting For Their Homes?

First, let's get one observation on the table: It's a sellers market.  

There is not enough inventory to meet the demand for good homes, and demand is strong.

When my customers find a house on which they want to make a bid, many begin listening to tapes in their heads, placed there by family and friends.  

Tapes from Dad that say, "Start your offer by cutting the price by 30%, whack off down to the next nearest $10,000, back off $5,000 for wiggle room, and if the seller DARES to make a counter-offer, tell them you'll cut your offer by $1,000 per hour until they give in."

Sorry Dad, the market is not that soft.  It's much more firm than your strategy implies.

According to a comprehensive market analysis of homes sold so far in the 4th quarter of 2011, the typical difference between list price and SOLD price is 3%.

In some cases, homes have sold for more than the asking price because two or more bidders have come to the table at the same time.

So, if you have hallucinations of getting a house for 20% below the list price, that ship sailed in 2009.

Fear not, my job is to help you get the house you want, at the lowest price, and best terms possible, with the fewest hassles.

You can search homes for FREE on our website.

iPhone/iPad App Gives You Easy Home Searches Around Woodbridge And Prince William County

Find Homes On A Map, Click, You Get Information About The House And Photo Tours

You Can Find Homes For Sale In Woodbridge Fast And Easy Using Filters

You can scroll down to the download icon on the right side of the page to download Agent IDX to your iPhone or iPad.

Ten Things You Must Do To Give Your Woodbridge Virginia Home The Advantage This Winter 

You Can Get A Faster Sale If You Know How To Give Your House A Leg Up On The Competition In Woodbridge

Some Of These Ten Points Come Straight From Home Builder Model Homes

1. Let your lights shine... all of them.  When you know you have a showing, turn on every light in the house, including utility rooms, storage rooms, the light above the stove, closet lights.  The short winter days need your help, especiall if your house is being shown to buyers after 4 PM.  Use 75 watt bulbs.  Builders apply a 7 watt per square-foot standard in their model homes.  If you have a gas fireplace, and you have a specific time for a showing, turn on the fireplace on a low setting so the heat doesn't send them running out of the room,

2. Give your visitors easy parking, and easy access to your front door.  Snow can cover the parking areas in front of your house.  Clear plenty of parking, and make sure there are wide, safe paths to your front door. Use plenty of sand on your snow-covered areas to give your buyers traction.  Place a large floor mat in your foyer so folks can throroughly wipe their feet of all sand and snow.  If you want further protection, get a box of surgical booties folks can put over their shoes.

3. Odors.  Manage odors in your house, especially pet odors and cooking odors.  ONE air freshener is plenty for most houses.  Don't go crazy with fresheners in every room... you'll overpower your buyers and send them running for fresh air.  Cook dishes to eat that put out least odors.  At the same time, some fragrances can be good, like the aroma of fresh baked cookies.  Keep your furnace fan in the "ON" position so that the fan is constantly moving air through the filter.

4. Create a festive look.  Take advantage of the holiday season decorations.  Holiday decorations will make your home feel more inviting and warm during the holidays.  The aromas of a fresh-cut tree and holiday cookies are inviting touches that make folks feel right at home.

5. Keep your yard free of debris.  Winter winds often blow down dead tree limbs, sort of Mother Nature's pruning process.  Keep your yard free of limbs and debris.  Put down a December/January/February dose of fertilizer to keep your grass green.  In fact, winter is the better time to fertilize your grass because the roots put on a growth spurt in winter for a lush lawn in spring time.

6. Look after Home Owners Association common areas.  If your yard is adjacent to common area, pick up the dead branches and fertilize the grass.  Doing so will make your yard look larger.  If you live in a condo, be generous with ice melt pellets on the sidewalks.  Use your vacuum cleaner to keep the hallways clean.

7. Don't broil home buyers.  Your shoppers will likely be wearing coats, so keep the temperature in your house below 71 degrees.  

8. Keep YOUR winter clothes neat and orderly.  If your coat closet is packed, move the coats you wear infrequently to another closet.  Avoid leaving boots and gloves out in the hallway or mud room.  Clear space on the closet floor for boots.  We keep our family's gloves and scarves organized by placing boxes with each family member's name on it on the top shelf of the closet.  A decorative chest makes a handy place to store gloves and scarves, and it's a place where you can sit to put on your boots.

9. Encourage daytime showings, between 9 AM and 3 PM to take advantage of natural light.  It gets dark in winter by 4:30, so you'll have to depend upon your interior lighting.  Remember, 7 watts per square foot is what builders put in their model homes.

10. Make it easy for agents to show your house.  Do not try to pigeon-hole an agent into a specific time to show your house.  The buyers may be seeing homes before your house, and depending on how many houses they've seen before getting to your house, they might have a hard time meeting your deadline.  I've seen buyers skip houses where the owner tried to stuff us into a specific time slot.  Here is what you should do, no matter when the folks come... LEAVE.  Leave the house.  Tkae the dog for a walk.  Go to the grocery store.  Take a long drive.  Go out for a run.  Leave the buyers and their agent alone to see your house.

10.5.: DO NOT PLAY TOUR GUIDE. Do not take buyers on a guided tour of your house.  Let them take time to explore your home on their own.  You have the right to remain silent.  Anything you say can, and will be used against you in negotiations.  I showed a house to a buyer where the seller played tour guide.  He rambled on about his Tennessee slate fireplace for fifteen minutes.  What he didn't know was that the buyer was shopping for a home because her house burned to the ground when a fireplace flu fire set the house ablaze.  The seller spent fifteen minutes reminding the buyer of her greatest fear.

10.9: Hire a Realtor who can help you stage your house for the buyer's eyes.  The way you live with a house can be radically different than the way you sell your house.  Stop thinking of your house as your home, and think of it as an asset you are selling.  Get an agent who knows how to arrange firniture that makes rooms look larger.  Store the clutter.  If you have to rent a storage unit at the local U-Store-It, do so.  Less clutter makes your home look larger.

Ladies Please Do Not Fall Victim To Gang Violence

You Will Find Gangs In Specific Small Territories Near Woodbridge

A Baby Seat With A Blanket On The Side Of The Road Could Be Dangerous To You

I received the message below from a former employee who is warning her friends about baby seats by the side of the road.

"While driving on a rural end of the roadway on Thursday morning, I saw an infant car seat on the side of the road with a blanket draped over it.

For whatever reason, I did not stop, even though I had all kinds of thoughts running through my head. But when I got to my destination, I called the Prince William County Police Department, and they were going to check it out. But, this is what the Police advised even before they went out there to check....

"There are several things to be aware of ... gangs  and thieves are now plotting different ways to get a person (mostly women) to stop their vehicle and get out of the car.

 "There is a gang initiation reported by the local Police Department where gangs are placing a car seat by the road...with a fake baby in it....waiting for a woman, of course, to stop and check on the abandoned baby.

 "Note that the location of this car seat is usually beside a wooded or grassy (field) area and the person -woman -- will be dragged into the woods, beaten and raped, and usually left for dead. If it's a man, they're  usually beaten and robbed and maybe left for dead, too.

 DO NOT STOP FOR ANY REASON!!! DIAL 9-1-1 AND REPORT WHAT  YOU SAW, BUT DON 'T EVEN SLOW DOWN.

Many thanks to my dear friend, Vanessa for this information.

We are fortunate to have an outstanding police departent here in Prince William County, that serves Woodbridge and the county. 

Hew Homes In Woodbridge You Can Have Right Now In Time For Christmas

Fully Finished New Homes Ready For Immediate Delivery

You Can Get Upgrades Galore And All Of Your Closing Costs Paid By The Builder

A few builders with deep pockets have standing inventory homes for sale in and around Woodbridge Virginia.

These new homes have finished basements, morning rooms, sun rooms, four bedrooms, 3 baths, and 2 car garages.

You can have a new home in time for the holidays.

Plus, the builders have priced these homes to sell fast, so you get instant equity.

If you are a veteran with your VA home loan entitlement available, you can buy with no down payment and the builder will pay all of your closing costs for you.

If you are not a veteran, you may buy a new home with a very low down payment and have payments cheaper than rent.

You can get daily updates about homes for sale by setting up a custom home search with your wish list, and you'll get new home listings direct from the Realtors Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  Your search criteria will be saved, and you'll get new listings by email daily.

The inventory is moving fast, and new finished homes are coming on the market daily so check with Erick at 703-590-2252 for current inventory.  If you are working with a Realtor, call your realtor.