You're so excited! After all the time and effort to get your home ready to put on the market, all the anticipation as each potential buyer views your home, you now have a ratified contract. You're done, right? Unfortunately, not yet...
Your ratified contract will most likely have contingencies on it (see my previous post: "The Steps to Buying a Home"), including a home inspection contingency. Within a specified period of time (typically 7-10 days from the date the contract was ratified), Read more [...] 
One of the things that often surprises my buyers is that they only need a 3.5% downpayment. That's right...you do not need to wait until you have saved a 20% downpayment.
The idea of purchasing a home can be daunting because buyers have no idea what kind of funds are required for downpayments, closing costs, and qualifying income. Let's take a look at a home that is currently on the market and break those numbers down. I saw this great townhouse in Haymarket, VA, currently listed for $290,000. 
The warm weather brings a lot of outdoor activities this weekend. We have everything from Royal Wedding Watching, to Outdoor Film Festivals, to the Annual Top Dog Half Smoke Challenge. Enjoy! 
The steps to buying a home include: finding out how much you qualify for, working with an experienced Realtor, starting the home search, making an offer, ratifying a contract, final loan approval, removing contract contingencies, and going to settlement. 
Chantilly VA--Ticonderoga Farms (Saturdays & Sundays, March 26 - April 24: 10am-5pm): Come join us and the Easter Bunny for some festive fun. Egg Hunts feature candy and toy-filled eggs. Find those special golden goose eggs for a prize. Kids and adults can visit the slides, playground ark, take a hayride, visit our animal center and roast marshmallows. Snacks and drinks are available for purchase. Bring your camera for photo ops with the Easter 
They are in, and they are encouraging! The March 2011 housing statistics were just released.
The number of homes sold each month finally started to trend up in March after a relatively steady decline since the summer. Inventory is also starting to rise since a sharp decline in October as a result of the robo-signing mess (see my previous post). We have needed inventory to rise for two reasons: buyers need more homes to choose from, and we really need to work through the foreclosure inventory.
There 
Any buyer trying to buy a home in Northern VA these days is running into an odd situation--multiple contracts and bidding wars. Remember those?
The question is why. You've probably heard of the robo-signing issues that started to come to light last October. The foreclosure practices of lenders came under scrutiny when it was revealed that managers were signing off on thousands of foreclosures a month without even cracking the files to verify the information that was inside. Judges became reluctant 
Mortgage Interest Deduction. I don't know about you, but it makes a big difference on my taxes each year...in a good way!
Before you keep reading, there are two things that you should know about me. 1. I have not been a fan of government intervention in the housing market; I did not think we should burden our kids with the debt of trying to fix our mistakes, and I really believed that any intervention would just prolong the inevitable—better to just take our lumps and get through it as quickly 
Ahhhh...it's the weekend! My son doesn't have to go to school tomorrow so I don't have to do the morning grind. Wooohooo!
Are you looking for something fun to do? Here are some ideas to get you started!
Thursday
The National Building Museum shop is hosting a special trunk show for Peruvian-American jewelry designer Evelyn Brooks. During the show, meet the artist and see items from her collection, Designs by Evelyn Brooks. Evelyn draws much of her inspiration from Peruvian culture. The 
Now really, how do you think I'm going to answer that? I'm a Realtor®!
Actually, I decided to write this post because I was pondering what advise I would give to my two sons who are almost 18 and 20. I would tell them, "Absolutely! Buy a home if you can afford it! Now is the perfect time to buy." Here's why...
Low Prices: We all know that real estate has lost a substantial amount of value since 2005. Who wants to buy a home if it's just going to lose value, but this is how I look at it. Imagine 
I love my dogs but walking them on a drizzly, chilly morning has just never been my idea of a great time. I even bought these groovy rain boots with colorful polka dots on them, thinking they might at least make the walking fun...nope!
So, feeling like Schleprock, this morning I pulled on my groovy boots, put on my son's raincoat (it goes almost to my knees and past my fingers for maximum coverage!), and trudged outside with my dogs leading. Unlike me, they LOVE drizzly, chilly mornings. Actually, 
I really never get this question, but it is a question that all buyers and sellers should ask!
All Realtors® are real estate agents, but not all real estate agents are Realtors®.
In order to be a Realtor, a real estate agent needs to be a member of the National Association of Realtors. As a member of NAR, I must abide by a Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice which is not imposed on a real estate agent that is not a Realtor. I really appreciate the Code of Ethics. I know that sometimes 
The internet, digital photography, satellite maps, and other new technology has totally changed the way buyers search for houses. How do sellers best reach a buyer? 
One of the many things that I love about showing houses is the opportunity to see some pretty unusual stuff! On my last excursion with buyers, we were in an area which has a couple of neighborhoods carved into mountains. We were moving from one neighborhood to another, which meant moving from one mountain to another. The GPS told us to take a right off the base road that we were on, but what it had us turning on looked nothing like any road I have ever seen. I have now dubbed it the road most likely 
I grew up in Alexandria, about a mile from Riverside Park on the Potomac River--just north of Mount Vernon on the GW Parkway. Before I could drive, the bike path along the Potomac River was my means of transportation into Old Town where I could get a High's ice cream cone before meandering through all of the fun shops along King Street. After I could drive, the bike path was one of my favorite ways to enjoy that first beautiful spring day.
I loved riding along the river, watching life start to -
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Welcome to my blog about all things Northern Virginia! Visit often to get my take on Northern Virginia real estate, information on buying and selling homes, local and national housing statistics, and life in Northern Virginia.I hope you enjoy the adventure as much as I do!
Contact me at:
703.624.7848
MargieKMacDonald@gmail.com
