The island for sale has a few different names. According to the tax records it’s called Holiday or Dogue Island. Since the Occoquan River area where the island is located was originally inhabited by the Dogue Indians it would make sense that the island would have the same name. Unfortunately the island is not inhabitable to build a full time residence. It is used as a duck blind for the owner and can only be reached by boat.

It can be seen from the homes in the Featherstone area of Woodbridge and we snapped a picture while looking at another home for sale in the area.

If you are interested in owning an island in Woodbridge Va you can check out Dogue Island.

If you are looking for something a bit more traditional you can check out
Waterfront Property for Sale in Woodbridge VA

Take a look at how your competition changes as the weather starts to warm up.

As you can see in most of the zip codes that make up Woodbridge VA the inventory climbs steadily during the spring months.  This means your home needs to stand out to be noticed.  This could mean a slightly lower price point, higher incentives to snag a buyer and certainly means your home needs to outshine your competition in terms of condition. 

Winter buyers are serious buyers.  If you are thinking of delaying to put your Woodbridge VA home on the market give Cindy Jones and CJ Realty Group a call at 703-346-2213 to discuss your options.  Let’s beat the competition to the punch in 2012. 

No this isn’t the piece of history you can buy.  This happens to be Gunston Hall the home of George Mason.

Most of us know about George Mason from his famous words;  “That all men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural Rights… among which are the Enjoyment of Life and Liberty, with the Means of acquiring and possessing Property, and pursuing and obtaining Happiness and Safety.”

Gunston Hall is located just a few miles from another historic home which you can buy.

One of the historic homes you can buy is  Bel Air Plantation in Woodbridge VA.  Currently offered by TTR Sothebys International Realty for $1,100,000.   At the entrance to the drive to the property is a Prince William County historical marker providing a small glimpse of the background of the property.  Built in 1740 by Major Charles Ewel the current property encompasses 25 acres.

Besides being built in a similar Georgian style, both Gunston Hall and Bel Air Plantation were frequented by George Washington on his travels up throughout Virginia.   You can legitimately say “George Washington Slept Here” if you buy this home.

Speaking of George Washington, no Mount Vernon isn’t for sale, but you could move into a condo at the recently converted George Washington Club.  Listed by Long & Foster, Inc the 3 BR/2.5 BA condo is one of four condos in the converted 1700′s property.  The George Washington Club is located just outside of Old Town Alexandria.

These are just a couple of the historical homes currently listed for sale in Fairfax and Prince William County, VA.  If you are interested in scheduling an appointment to see these homes or any of the historical properties for sale in Northern Virginia give CJ Realty Group a call at 703-346-2213.   Remember having a buyer agent to represent your interests when buying a home is critical!

Ho

In addition Fannie Mae also announced a six month military forbearance program where the death or injury of a service member on active duty causes a hardship for military families with a mortgage obligation. Don’t know whether you have a Fannie Mae backed loan? Check to see if you have a Fannie Mae Loan.

In the last year I worked with Chase and USAA on a short sale and VA Compromise Sale for military families who qualified under the Fannie Mae guidelines. Just as with any short sale a military service member does have to provide documentation of a financial hardship due to a move. If you are service member faced with a short sale decision check with your lender to see what options they have to offer. If I can be of any assistance give me a call.

Today it’s time to get real.  If you buy a home after January 2012 and don’t get a home inspection you could be in big trouble.   A couple of things to emphasize.  One you need to make sure you attend & pay attention during your home inspection and pay attention and two you need to make sure you are hiring a home inspector that writes a thorough report on any issue that they uncover.

You can no longer sit back and expect the seller is responsible for making sure the HVAC system, plumbing and appliances are in “normal” working order.  If the stove is broken or the kitchen sink leaking and you don’t put the request for repairs on your home inspection contingency then they won’t fix it.

You can still void a contract based on a home inspection, except if you are buying an REO but my experience is that rarely happens.  Perhaps that will change now if negotiations for repairs include items that were required by the seller to repair in the past.  Only time will tell.  As you gear up for home shopping in 2012 remember to ask your agent if they are familiar with the changes to the Virginia Regional Sales Contract and can guide you through the changes.

Architect Michael Graves & Associates led a team that for over a year studied all of the principals of universal design and also looked at how to create homes that would fit the needs of a wounded soldiers family as well. Some of the features of the new homes include sliding interior doors, wider hallways, low windows, no thresholds and solid surface flooring. The spaces have been designed for flexibility and also include interior video monitoring systems.

It is estimated that over half of the US soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan will be able to continue on active duty. Having homes close to their offices, the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital and other installation services are an important part of still being of their recovery.

The Freedom Home (red house) is already occupied and the Patriot Home will be occupied in the near future. The two new homes are a prototype for 19 additional homes that will be built in the various housing villages on Fort Belvoir.

Did you buy or have a ratified contract on your home prior to July 1, 2006?

Did you leave the area before September 30, 2010 and rent your home?

Thinking of selling your Port Potomac home in 2012?

Have you heard of the Department of Defense Homeowners Assistance Program?

Since the program was approved Cindy Jones and CJ Realty Group have assisted 34 military families in the Northern Virginia area with successful sales of their homes under the guidelines of the Department of Defense Homeowners Assistance Program. Three of those have been for homeowners in the Port Potomac neighborhood in Prince William County VA.

Though most DoD HAP qualified service members have already deployed from the DC area, many of you made the decision to rent out your Port Potomac home instead of take the financial loss or undertake a short sale. With many leases expiring in the early spring now is the time to consider taking advantage of the program and selling your Port Potomac home.

We are often asked “if my home has been rented does that change my qualifications for the program.” No it does not. Unlike a short sale where an investor may be reviewed differently by a lender, a DoD HAP sale does not have those same restrictions. In fact a significant percentage of our recent HAP sales have all been for service members who left the area in 2008 & 2009.

The next question is “do I need to come back to Port Potomac to deal with the paperwork?” No you don’t. The paperwork you need to submit to the regional office in Savannah GA can be found on line at the USACE website and the paperwork for listing your home can all be completely electronically. In the last 2 years we have completed 12 DoD HAP transactions where we never had the pleasure of meeting the families we assisted face to face. We’ve worked cooperatively in assisting the tenants with the showings of the home and their check out of the property when the sale is completed.

If you are a service member who qualifies for the DoD HAP program and have a home to sell in the Port Potomac neighborhood give Cindy Jones a call at 703-346-2213. Let’s talk about the current status of the program and how you can take advantage of the program to sell your Port Potomac home.

The question is “are there fewer short sales and foreclosures in Prince William County VA than last year?”

As an example I’ve posted charts showing the decrease in foreclosures and short sales in the Port Potomac neighborhood since 2008. Port Potomac is one of the newer developments in the county where it was evident as the market began to turn that investors were going to bail. The impact on home prices in the neighborhood was evident.

In the case of Port Potomac the answer is “YES” the number of short sales and foreclosures has declined. However if you look a the entirety of Prince William County VA you will see overall short sales and foreclosures have held steady over the last year. However and this is where the idea of a decrease of disressed properties comes to buyers minds is check out the INCREASE in “non bank-mediated” sales.

As an overall percentage of the Prince William County real estate market short sales and foreclosures ARE decreasing.

What is important to remember that Prince William County is a big area. What is happening in one neighborhood such as Port Potomac might not be the same as what is happening in Belmont Bay, Lake Ridge or Montclair. If you are searching for a new home or making the decision to sell your current home you need to know what is happening in your neighborhood not in another neighborhood, a general zip code are or the whole of Prince William County VA.

If you are interested in talking in more detail about your neighborhood give Cindy Jones and CJ Realty Group a call at 703-346-2213. Let’s talk about YOUR neighborhood and YOUR priorities for buying or selling a home. Don’t let generalizations about the market or news about the national real estate market determine what you do with your real estate future.

Add to the growing local economy Prince William County offers quality of life benefits to residents which include 10 public golf courses, 55 county parks and over 150 miles of biking, walking and running trails.  The county offers access to the Occoquan and Potomac Rivers through 6 marinas and a boat launch at Leesylvania State Park.

With a county this large and diverse you can imagine why buyers are often confused when they hear about the Prince William County real estate market.  The county is to big to make many generalizations about sales prices or answer the question “how’s the market?”

For example if we look at detached home sales prices in three different locations in the county (pins on map) you see the differential across the county.

As always the available inventory in any zip code or neighborhood will play into the change in the fluctuation in prices. So when you ask the question “how’s the market”, I’m going to ask you what area and/or neighborhood in Prince William County you are inquiry about.

If you are considering making Prince William County Virginia your home give me a call. Let’s talk about where you are going to be working, the type of home you are looking for and your price point. We’ll talk about ways for you to maximize your new home budget and how CJ Realty Group’s service model might help put a little extra money in your pocket at closing.

Just to give you a general idea of what I mean take a look at this chart. It shows the “average” home price for three areas in Northern Virginia. The first is the Woodbridge zip code of 22192, the second is the Springfield zip code of 22152 and the third is the Falls Church zip code of 22046.

You can see a dramatic difference in sales prices for detached SOLD homes over the last 6 months between the three areas. These numbers are averages and for any neighborhood you are considering they would have to be broken down much further to help you make an offer on a particular property. What it does clearly show is as you get closer to DC prices are higher. As you are searching for a new home there are a wide variety of factors to consider. Not only what can I afford but what amenities am I look for in my neighborhood, what will my commute be like and how long do I plan on living here to name a few.

If you want a bigger house heading south to Woodbridge and taking VRE, a commuter bus or joining a slug line may be the right answer for you. If you want to be a bit closer to DC but still want a bigger home than neighborhoods in Springfield might be your cup of tea. If a smaller home where you can walk to the shops and resturants suits you then Falls Church may be the answer.

If you are thinking about buying a new home in the next few months give Cindy Jones and CJ Realty Group a call at 703-346-2213. Let’s sit down and talk about not only the price of the home you want to buy but all of the other pieces of the home ownership puzzle. Let us help you find the right neighborhood for you to call home.