Real Estate News About Woodbridge Virginia and Surrounding Communities: Virginia: Mount Vernon

Photo Tour Of New Ryan Homes In Mount Vernon Area

You Can Get A Newly Built Home Close To The Pentagon, Fort Belvoir, Crystal City, Downtown

See Photos Of The Model Home Right Now

  

Model home just off Lukens Lane, between Highway 1 and Old Mill Road.

  

Morning room behind the kitchen makes an ideal breakfast room for large herds.

Large granite kitchen island held a large buffet for a recent broker's open house.

Roomy family room with gas log fireplace has plenty of room for big, comfy furniture.

Spacious master bedroom is a roomy retreat.

Master bath with two sinks and deep tub.

Master bath shower showing optional tumbled marble tile with accent tiles.

Dining room.    Model shows upgraded kitchen cabinets and the upgraded dishwasher you may choose for your home.

 

Ryan Sales Manager Heather Goldman chats with Peggy James. Optional stainless steel kitchen appliances.

 

You can see all of the features you can get in a new home at Mount Vernon, built by Ryan Homes, a builder you can trust.  Also, be sure you have a Realtor who is your exclusive Buyer Agent working for you when you buy a new home... more than 80% of new home buyers buy with a Buyer Agent representing their interests.

You can find out more about new homes throughout Northern Virginia by contacting Erick Blackwelder at 703-590-2252, or Erick@ErickAndCompany.com.

You can text Erick at 703-677-1120, shoot him an email right now

 

 

Don't forget if you have a home to sell Peggy James my listing specialist for Erick and Company can send you a free market evaluation of your home. Fill out this form or call our office at 703-590-2252. We service buyers and sellers in Lake Ridge,Woodbridge, Manassas, Montclair, Dumfries, Occoquan, Dale City, Gainesville, Quantico, Fort Belivor and Mount Vernon area's. 

Equal Housing Opportunity

You Say "I don't really HAVE to sell my house, I just thought I'd test the market to see if I can get MY PRICE."

It's A Buyers Market Right Now

If You Don't HAVE To Sell, Don't Waste Your Time

Buyers can look at the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) database with me and plainly see that there are more homes for sale than there are buyers to buy them.

It's a buyers market.

Buyers have been programmed to get a GOOD DEAL.

If you are hallucinating that some buyer will pay your top-dollar price for your house, and won't ask for concessions, you're living in a fantasy world.

I you don't HAVE to sell, don't waste your time.

Am I being blunt?  Yes, I hope so.

 

 

Vital Questions To Ask A Home Improvement Contractor Before You Sign Anything

Find Out Which Five (5) Questions Will Assure You Get A Reliable Contractor

You Will Be Armed With The Key Information You Need When You Interview A Contractor

My good friend, Tom Halfpap at Monarch Mortgage Company sent this list of vital things you need to know before you hire a home improvement contractor.  

Oliver Marks is the author of this post.  He has been a home improvement contractor for 16 years, and he writes articles for trade magazines and home owners.

 

For all of the excitement of choosing plumbing fixtures, cabinets, and tiles for a remodeling project, the most important decision you make won’t involve color swatches or glossy brochures.

 

It’s the contractor you pick that makes or breaks the job.

 

That choice will determine the quality of the craftsmanship, the timeliness of the work, and the amount of emotional and financial stress the process puts on you.

 

To make sure you’re getting the best contractor for the job, here are five questions to ask the candidates.

 

1. Would you please itemize your bid?

Many contractors prefer to give you a single, bottom-line price for your project, but this puts you in the dark about what they’re charging for each aspect of the job. For example, let’s say the original plan calls for beadboard wainscot in your bathroom, but you decide not to install it after all. How much should you be credited for eliminating that work? With a single bottom-line price, you have no way to know.

 

On the other hand, if you get an itemized bid, it’ll show the costs for all of the various elements of the job—demolition, framing, plumbing, electrical, tile, fixtures, and so forth. That makes it easier to compare different contractors’ prices and see where the discrepancies are. If you need to cut the project costs, you can easily assess your options. Plus, an itemized bid becomes valuable documentation about the exact scope of the project, which may eliminate disputes later.

The contractor shouldn’t give you a hard time about itemizing his bid. He has to figure out his total price line by line anyway, so you’re not asking him to do more work, only to share the details. If he resists, it means he wants to withhold important information about his bid—a red flag for sure.

2. Is your bid an estimate or a fixed price?

Homeowners generally assume that the bid they’re seeing is a fixed price, but some contractors treat their proposals as estimates, meaning bills could wind up being higher in the end. If he calls it an estimate, request a fixed price bid instead. If he says he can’t offer a fixed price because there are too many unknowns about the job, then eliminate the unknowns.

“Have him open up a wall to check the structure he’s unsure about or go back to your architect and solidify the design plans,” says Tampa, Fla., attorney George Meyer, who is chair-elect of the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Construction Industry. If you simply cannot resolve the unknowns he’s concerned about, have the project specs describe what he expects to do—and if he needs to do additional work later, you can do achange order (a written mini-bid for new work).

3. How long have you been doing business in this town?

A contractor who’s been plying his trade locally for 5 or 10 years has an established network of subcontractors and suppliers in the area and a local reputation to uphold. That makes him a safer bet than a contractor who’s either new to the business or new to the area—or who’s planning to commute to your job from 50 miles away.

You want to see a nearby address (not a PO box) on his business card—and should ask him to include one or two of his earliest clients on your list of references. This will help you verify that he hasn’t just recently hung his shingle—and will give you perspective from a homeowner who has lived with the contractor’s work for years. After all, the test of a quality job, whether it’s a bluestone patio or a family room addition, is how well it stands the test of time.

4. Who are your main suppliers?

You’ve found a few potential contractors, you’ve talked to the happy former clients on each of their reference lists, now it’s time for one additional bit of homework: talking to their primary suppliers. There’s no better reference for a tile setter, for example, than his preferred tile shop; for a general contractor than his favorite lumberyard or home center pro desk; for a plumber than the kitchen and bath showroom where he’s on a first name basis.

The proprietors of these shops know a contractor’s professional reputation, whether he has left a trail of unhappy customers in his wake, if he’s reliable about paying his bills—and whether he’s someone you’ll want to hire. The contractor should have absolutely no qualms about telling you where he gets his materials, as long as he’s an upstanding customer.

5. I’d like to meet the job foreman—can you take me to a project he’s running?

Many contractors don’t actually swing hammers. They spend their days bidding new work and managing their various jobs and workers. In some cases, the contractor you hire may not visit the jobsite every day—or may not even show himself again after you’ve signed the contract. So the job foreman—the one who’s working on your project every day—is actually the most important member of your team.

 

Meeting him in person and seeing a job that he’s running should give you a feel for whether he’s someone you want managing your project. Plus, it gives the general contractor an incentive to assign you one of his better crews since you’re more likely to hire him if you see his A Team. If the contractor says he’ll be running the job himself, ask whether he’ll be there every day. Again, he’ll want to give you a positive response—something you can hold him to later on.

It’s not only the answers to these questions that will help you judge potential contractors—it’s the way they answer them. Were they easy to talk to and forthcoming with details or did they hem and haw and make you ask more than once? Difficulty communicating now means difficulty communicating on the job later. But clear, timely and thoughtful responses—combined with terrific references, great completed work that you’ve seen, and a smart take on your project—may mean you’ve found the right pro for your job.

A former carpenter and newspaper reporter, Oliver Marks has been writing about home improvements for 16 years. He’s currently restoring his second fixer-upper with a mix of big hired projects and small do-it-himself jobs.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/articles/five-essential-questions-ask-before-hiring-contractor/#ixzz1GbeVd9Sw

 

 

Two Tips That Will Sell Your Home Fast And For Top Dollar

Find Out What You Can Do Right Now To Ensure Your Home Beats The Competition

You Can Get Top Dollar And A Faster Sale If You Follow Erick's Direction

 

 

 

 

 

New Homes Are A Good Value In Mount Vernon, Woodbridge, Manassas, and Lorton Virginia

Find Out How You Can Get More Value For Your Dollar In A New Home

You'll Learn How A Buyer Agent Can Be Your Best Ally When Your Buy A New Home

 

 

 

 

Woodbridge Foreclosures And A Story From California That Has Occurred Here Too

Find Out How One Family Lost Their Home Despite Making Their Mortgage Payments On Time

You'll Find Out Why The Foreclosure Rate Is Higher Than It Should Be

I've Seen This Same Story Happen To Home Owners In Virginia

This Story Made My Blood Boil!!

This is a story I picked up today from Mandelman Matters

"For over two years I’ve had a front row seat for the foreclosure crisis, the by-product of our government’s complete mishandling of the worst economic downturn in seventy years.

During that time I’ve been exposed to some pretty horrific things… people living in their cars with a child sleeping in the trunk… the eviction of an 89 year-old couple… I’ve gotten to know what that fear sounds like and feels like… the fear of losing one’s home while the country talks about you as being nothing more than an “irresponsible borrower,” someone who never should have bought your home in the first place, even though you may have lived in it for 30 years.

What I saw this past week, however, was something new for me… I’d heard of things like this happening before, written about them, even.  But, I had never seen anything like it, up close and personal.

As a warning… this story is not for the squeamish.  If you’re pregnant, or have heart disease, or just want to go on pretending that your country is still a place of which you’re proud… it’s better that you click off now… because this one isn’t going to make you laugh.

An Anaheim couple with an eight year-old daughter has lost their home… that would be one way of phrasing it.  Another way to describe what happened would be to say that JPMorgan Chase, an outfit that I now see clearly is significantly worse than any crime family… has thus far been permitted by the courts and the laws in California to STEAL an Anaheim couple’s home.

Why do I say that Chase stole it?  Well, there are lots of reasons, but I think the one that tops my list would have to be, because they never missed or were late on a payment… in every single month that JPMorgan Chase told the couple to make a payment… they paid the exact amount they were told to pay… on time and as agreed… never missed even one… never were late, not even once.

“We trusted the bank,” the Mom says, “like idiots.”

The husband in this family worked for the City of Placentia in Southern California for some 27 years.  The wife and mother has her own small business.  Their adorable eight year-old daughter, whose life is about to be inalterably changed at the hand of JPMorgan Chase, goes to school near by and loves her home.  Her parents haven’t told her anything about this yet, and I pray to God they never have to… that JPMorgan Chase comes forward and stops this egregious wrong that they have let happen… that they have created.

I can barely tell this story… I can’t imagine it ever happening to me… I can’t imagine it ever happening to anyone in this country… a place I used to proudly think of as my country.  Not so much anymore though.

The husband in this family became ill a few years ago… advanced diabetes… his kidneys have failed, he’s on dialysis… heart disease… he’s spent time on a respirator while hospitalized.

Yet, they’ve made it through everything, this family, through all of that and more… stayed together… raised a daughter… found ways to laugh and play together… they must love each other very much.

They had bought their 2-bedroom home in August of 2006… as it turns out… terrible timing… but who knew that the bankers, who had leveraged themselves 40-100 to one, were about to blame homeowners for their defrauding of the investment community, bankrupting the global financial system, and destroying the credit markets?  Bernanke didn’t know… Paulson didn’t know… personally, I think that lets this couple off the hook about the whole should-have-known thing.

So, for three years they made their payments without fail.  And maybe if it would have just been the economy or just the medical bills, they would have made it through this… but both was too much, and they received a Notice of Default in July of 2009.

They applied to JPMorgan Chase for a loan modification, and Chase granted them a trial modification in February of 2010.  Chase told them to pay $869 for three months, and entered them into another program in May, telling them to make monthly payments of $1358.

They paid every month, on time every time… by cashier’s check, as required by Chase.  The trial modification paperwork said something to the effect of:

“If all payments are payments are made as agreed, we will reevaluate you to determine if we can offer you a permanent modification.”

“We trusted the bank,” the Mom says, “like idiots.”

In August, they received a Notice of Sale.  They called Chase… and imagine their relief when they were told not to worry one bit about that notice.  Apparently, it was just the fault of Chase’s stupid computer system that just spits things like that out without anyone telling it to do so.  False alarm, what a relief.

So, they paid their September payment… and paid their October payment… and it was around October 10^th when they received another Notice of Sale.  Again, they called Chase, perhaps a little less nervous than the last time the same thing had happened… and wouldn’t you know it… another false alarm… it was that darn computer system again.  Nothing to worry about, Chase told them… just keep those payments coming.

Oh, but while we’ve got you on the phone, we need you to send in some current paycheck stubs and other miscellaneous pieces of information, which they did… and then did again… you know the standard operating procedures for servicers by now I’m sure.

I know, it’s not Chase’s fault… they’ve reportedly been having trouble hiring minimum wage people for the last three years.  Or was it the investor’s who won’t let them modify?  I can never remember which lie was Chase’s favorite… Bank of America was having the phone problems… Wells couldn’t stop their employees from losing stuff over and over… Yep, Chase was the can’t-hire-anyone-and-investors-won’t-modify, I’m almost positive.

Right around the third week of October, they come home to find a notice of sale pinned to their front door.  Oh my God… they called Chase again.  “Oh, just ignore it once again,” Chase lied.  “You don’t have to worry about that, silly, you’re under consideration for a loan modification, why would we sell your house?”

A few more days and another notice on the door… Chase back on the phone… but this time everything was different… Chase said they were selling their home in ONE HOUR.  To stop the sale, they would need to get down to the courthouse with about twenty-five grand… in 55 minutes, 50… 45… 40…

I suppose we needed another vacant home in Anaheim in a hurry, because predictably, the home went back to Fannie Mae at the Trustee Sale.  Gone, in the blink of an eye… sold October 21, 2010… just 21 days after they had made their October payment.  Chase had told them not to worry… it was just the computer system… no one would sell their home.

And now it was gone.

“We trusted the bank,” the Mom says, “like idiots.”

The father has a hospital bed in the living room, he requires special care… their daughter… in school close by… eight years old… is that second or third grade?

The couple pleaded with Chase that day on the phone, I can only imagine what that felt like for them on that day.  Here’s what the mom said to me:

We’re not people who simply decided to skip out on our mortgage. We did everything as upright and by the book as we were instructed to do by Chase yet we still lost our home. On the day they took back the property, I called Chase pleading for an alternative to this. Their reply to me was “I suggest you find a new place to live.”

The Unlawful Detainer or UD hearing was the next indignity the couple would suffer… and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this next part all week.

With the medical bills they were receiving, and the uncertainty about the future, they didn’t feel they could afford a lawyer, but they finally found one who would file a lawsuit pro bono.  As the date for the UD neared, the husband was still in the hospital; he would be released roughly 48 hours before he would have to be in court.

Their pro bono lawyer called the opposing council, a lawyer from one of those scum-of-the-earth foreclosure mills that have no doubt been making untold millions intimidating homeowners, already scared to death and almost always without council, McCarthy & Holthus. They look like rich young men who don’t care at all about what the banks are doing to their neighbors… well, maybe not their neighbors… they probably live in some zillion-dollar beach pad.

(Hey fellas… looking forward to seeing you on Google!  If you’ve been spending money on SEO trying to rank up at the top, I’ve got outstanding news… I’m going to put you right up there.  May not be exactly what you had in mind, but then I don’t give a rat’s ass what’s in your under-developed minds.)

The couple’s lawyer asked the McCarthy & Holthus lawyer if there could be a continuance as the husband would be only a day or two out of the hospital…. they said they’d check with Fannie Mae… then said that Fannie said no.  I guess Fannie Mae, a bankrupt and tax-payer owned mortgage company really wanted another empty condo in Anaheim.

The lawyer asked, what if the couple comes in and asks the judge for a continuance, would McCarthy & Holthus object?  No, she was told, they would not object “vigorously.”  So, the couple went to the UD expecting to ask the judge for a continuance, she pushing him in his wheelchair.

As soon as they walked in, another  McCarthy & Malthus lawyer, Kevin Mello was walking towards them.  As he approached, the couple overheard Kevin say to another, “I’m so sick of all these sob stories.”

Oh, no he didn’t… Oh, yes he did.

(And boy oh boy, is Kevin going to regret saying that… LOL… Yoohoo, Kevy, baby… you hang in the courthouse right near my house… do you know how lucky you’re aren’t?  I’m actually making a documentary about the foreclosure crisis, and hadn’t yet cast the shithead.  How lucky is that?)

Mello asked the couple when they could bet out of their home.  They said that they would need six weeks.  Mello made a call and said they could have 30 days.  The husband asked to talk to the judge, but our guy Kevin said, “Why, the judge has no authority… he’ll tell you to be out in 4 days… the bank has all the authority.”

Does it now, Kevin?  The bank?  Fannie Mae?  The scandal-ridden, morally and financially bankrupt, already absorbed into the federal government, Fannie Mae?

Kevin had some papers he said that the couple needed to sign.  They said no, they didn’t want to sign anything.  Kevin said they had no choice… either sign or be out in four days.  He put the documents in front of them… they couldn’t move his hospital bed in 4 days… they signed.  Stipulated to a judgment and waved future claims.

When they appeared before the judge, he said that they should be GRATEFUL that the bank gave them 30 days.

When the couple tried to relay the story of the loan modification con job and Chase lying and then the stealing of the home… well, they didn’t use those terms, I did, but someone has to, right?  Because that’s what happened, and I don’t give a damn what other factors are involved, that’s what happened, sure as shootin’.

Chase’s conduct was so offensive that a highly experienced trial attorney agreed to take their case.

A complaint will be filed on Tuesday in Orange County Superior court seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

The couple’s lawyer would later ask Kevin about his preference for coercion and intimidation, and he replied, “Hey, look… I’m not their lawyer, I’m the bank’s lawyer.  If they wanted a lawyer they should have had their own.”

No, I’m sorry Kevin… on that point you’re entirely wrong.  I mean, everyone know you don’t need to pay a lawyer when you’re applying for a loan modification… just ask the California State Bar, the Attorney General’s office… President Obama… come on… everyone knows that.

Mandelman out.

Prices Of Homes Sold In Fairfax And Prince William Counties

Find Out What The AVERAGE Prices And Days On Market Are In Your Area

You Can Get A FREE Computerized Market Evaluation Of Your Home By Email

 

Fairfax County Type of Home Price Range Average Price Days On Market

Single Family Under $1 Million $598,270 94
Single Family Over $1 Million $2,603,850 184

Town/Condo Under $600K $303,450 81
Town/Condo Over $600K $797,312 95

 

Prince William  Type of Home Price Range Average Price Days On Market

Single Family Under $500K $327,049 110
Single Family Over $500K $710,439 203

Town/Condo Under $300K $195,704 108
Town/Condo Over $300K $387,841 123

Remember, these are the averages, and your home may be worth more or less than the average, depending upon homes similar to yours that have recently sold.

This snapshot was taken on March 2, 2011.  The numbers above are subject to change daily as homes sell across the market.

You can get a FREE computerized market evaluation of your home's value: CLICK HERE NOW.

 

 

Homes That Are Too Good To Be True

Fully Renovated Homes At Market Prices That Have Been On The Market A Long Time May Have A Story To Tell

Homes In Perfect Condition NOW Might Have Been In Lousy Condition For 120 Days