Follow this link for the most accurate market information regarding Tysons Corner, Virginia provided by Zillow.   http://www.zillow.com/local-info/VA-Tysons-Corner/r_248061/

Jeff Wu
Century 21, New Millennium
571-248-1110
240-994-7938
Jeff@AgentKnowsHomes.com
www.AgentKnowsHomes.com

The time has never been better to buy a bank-owned home. They’re available, they’re cheap and banks are more likely to assist with financing. Your job? To do your homework and make sure the deal is worth the effort.

Where to get started? How about right here, with these tips!

Lay the groundwork. Don’t go into a bank-owned home purchase scenario with blinders on. Sure, banks want to get such homes off of their books, but they are, after all, banks, and won’t just give them away. Banks have been known to trigger bidding wars for bank-owned homes, which they can do now because of an increased demand for cheaper homes.

Know what the deal will be. Buying a bank-owned home isn’t the same animal as buying a home from a private seller. That’s primarily because banks have better lawyers than private sellers. Consequently, expect your new home contract to include untraditional home-buying stipulations, like buying the home “as is” or making you pay for the seller’s costs. Your plan of action? Hire your own lawyer who can navigate – and negotiate – the fine print.

Watch out for a “contingency” trap. With bank-owned purchases, buyers may have to agree to accept an appraisal contingency. In plain English, that means you better have a good handle on your bid for the home. The appraisal contingency is usually standard for bank-owned home contracts. If, for example, you commit to a bid of $240,000 for the home, but the appraisal comes in at $200,000, guess which price you’ll pay? And the only way out is to give up your original deposit and walk away from the deal.

Bring your contractor. One way around the contingency trap is to bring your own seasoned home contractor along with you to inspect the home. Obvious damage may be disclosed by the bank before a sale. But under-the-surface issues that could negatively impact the value of the home – like the absence of a French trench drain to thwart chronic flooding – may not grab your attention.

Bid low – but not too low. The prices for bank-owned homes are low enough that you likely won’t be the only bidder for a home. As a result, you want to bid low, but not so low that other parties will easily trump your bid. Your best bet? Find out the market value of homes in the neighborhood (using real estate value Web sites like Zillow.com or RealtyTrac.com), and then target your bid at 20% below the market value figure.

Other key tips include making sure you’re pre-approved (bank-owned homes tend to move fast) for a loan, working with a realtor experienced in bank-owned homes and planning for a quick inspection turnaround (it could be seven days instead of the usual two-to-three weeks).

Make no mistake. There are plenty of good bank-owned home deals on the market right now. But know that the rules are different with banks so prepare to expect the unexpected.

Above all, play to win. Because that’s exactly what the bank will do.

For additional information please contact:

Jeff Wu
Century 21, New Millenium
571-248-1110
240-994-7938
Jeff@AgentKnowsHomes.com
www.AgentKnowsHomes.com

SELLING AT THE WRONG TIME

Some properties just aren’t selling.

The truth is that there are currently some property markets at the moment that is finding it really hard, e.g. luxury/executive houses.  These properties are typically bought by highly paid executives that in recent years have been flying high on large salaries and bonuses but now that economic hard times have fallen upon us there are fewer of these executives willing to spend large amounts of money because they’re just not confident in what tomorrow will bring.  Investors that have bought properties in mining towns around Australia have been hit by the drop in demand for our resources and are also now facing a tough time.

Some properties are thriving right now.

On the other hand, the first home buyer market , have seen some really good prices lately with increased demand being driven by lower interest rates (affordability), increasing rents and the governments increased first home owners grant.

But you know what, don’t make the mistake of thinking that there aren’t any luxury homes or mining town properties selling and selling well – because there definitely are some that are.  And don’t think for one moment that every ‘first home buyer type house’ is just flying out the door at record prices – because they’re not, some are taking a while to sell and some aren’t reaching the prices that others are.

So how do you work out whether it’s the right time for you to sell or not?

You need to look at what’s happening in your own back yard and forget what might be happening in other states, towns and suburbs.  You need to look at what other similar properties to yours have sold for in the last 6mths, what’s currently for sale and talk to some of the better agents in your area to understand what they are seeing happening in the market – they are the ones that are taking the calls from potential buyers and sellers every day in your area – they more than anyone are going to have the best understanding of whether or not you are going to be able to get the money you want for the sale of your property.

For additional information on when the right time to sell your home is, please contact:

Jeff Wu
Century 21, New Millennium
571-248-1110
240-994-7938
Jeff@AgentKnowsHomes.com
www.AgentKnowsHomes.com

The in heart of FairFax County lies Tysons Corner. It is Virginia’s largest office market and one of the leading business centers in the nation with 26.3 million square feet of office space. Office buildings are typically mid-rise or high-rise in design. There are a few smaller structures and townhouse office condos around the periphery of the submarket. The largest business parks are Tysons II, West*Gate, West*Park and Westwood Corporate Center.

Fairfax County’s 1 million citizens are diverse and well-educated.

Residential Real Estate

Fairfax County and the Washington metropolitan area boast a broad variety of homes, locations and prices. Housing is available for individuals seeking an urban, suburban, small town or country feel. High-rise apartments, condominiums, single family homes and townhouses are plentiful.

Fairfax County’s major residential communities offer a broad spectrum of choices for the home-buyer or renter. The Northern Virginia Association of Realtors maintains a list of agents in northern Virginia. Real Estate assessment information for homes is available by address or tax map reference number on the Fairfax County Government Web site.

Metro Area Housing Affordability

*County states provided by Fairfax County Economic Development      Authorityhttp://www.fairfaxcountyeda.org/demographics

For additional information regarding Fairfax County history and facts, contact

Jeff Wu
Century 21, New Millenium
571-248-1110
240-994-7938
Jeff@AgentKnowsHomes.com
www.AgentKnowsHomes.com

 Progress as of June 21, 2010

Tysons Area Construction

Tysons Area Construction

Tysons Area Construction

Tysons Area Construction

Tysons Area Construction

Tysons Area Construction

Tysons Area Construction

Courtesy of Jeff Wu

Neighborhood Specialist

Real Estate data indicates that the overall housing market is slowly improving

Price declines are getting smaller, sales volume is getting larger and the overall real estate market appears to be mending.  October sales were up for pre-existing home sales, 23.5% up compared with October of 2008.  Homes sales for October were predicted to be 5.70 million, but the sales volume turned out to be 6.1 million.

Encouraging words are being spoken about real estate by NAR’s chief economist who stated that, “Existing home sales have already bottomed. Home prices are almost there. We are seeing less of a decline in house values.”

Approximately one third of home sales in October were made by first time home buyers taking advantage of the first time home buyer tax credit.  The median home price fell 7.1%, still affected by distressed properties which accounted for 30% of October’s home sales .

In addition, inventory of homes for sale has dropped slightly, indicating that the housing market is indeed recovering slowly.  Tax incentives, low mortgage rates and decreasing home values continue to make their mark, helping real estate sales to increase.  The housing market’s recovery will hopefully seep into the minds of consumers, giving a bit of peace and spurring on recovery in other sectors.

Click here for a Yahoo Real Estate article about real estate sales.