Neighborhood Spotlight: Belmont Country Club Ashburn, Va

Neighborhood Spotlight: Belmont Country Club Ashburn, Va

Belmont Country Club is one of only a handful of exclusive gated communities in the Eastern Loudoun County area. Nestled between Ashburn and Leesburg this community is directly off of Rt 7 and is only a few minutes away from the Greenway and the new Wegamans shopping center.



Like most gated communities of this type Belmont County Club boosts a full array of amenities such as a club house, tennis courts, pool, volleyball pit and of course what country club would be complete without the 72-par Arnold Palmer Signature golf course!




History of Belmont Manor



Belmont Country Club was named after the Manor that sits near the gated community. Belmont Manor traces its origin back to the early 1800’s as a plantation house and home to many notable residents. The Belmont Manor and its grounds are listed on the National Registry as a Historic place and is maintained by the Park Service. This should preserve the manor and the majority of the open space around the manor for future generations!



The Developer



Belmont Country Club was brought by Toll Brother from IBM in early 1995. Toll Brother built and designed the community as a high-end exclusive gated community. The single family homes start in the mid $900’s and can go up to $1.5 million. The townhouses (when they are available) are priced in the low $400’s with a few foreclosures selling in the $300’s recently. Overall Toll Brother’s threw in every possible amenity to make Belmont Country Club its signature high-end home development. You might notice when you first enter the neighborhood that all the lawns are just about prefect. This is no accident; Toll Brothers actually cuts and treats your lawn. No more worries about the one neighbor who can’t seem to take care of their yard. Also included in the HOA fees are high speed internet, basic phone service, walking trails and community activities.



What homes are available in Belmont Country Club now??



Current Availability (as of 10/09) 0(YES THAT IS ZERO)

Under Contract 14

Sold (6/09- 10/09) 16





So, are you ready to get a jump on the next home available in Belmont Country Club? Contact me now and I will put you on my Exclusive Neighborhood watch database. Don’t miss your dream home… EVER!


Serving all of your Ashburn, Leesburg, Mclean and Loudoun County area Real Estate needs!

Take care,

Chuck

Posted at 12:30 PM in Neighborhood Spotlight: Belmont Country Club Permalink
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The Washington Post Gets it Wrong on the the $8,000 Buyers Tax Credit

The Washington Post Gets It Wrong On the $8,000 Buyers Tax Credit

I know shocker right; I’m downing the Washington Post again??? It looks like the Post this time outsourced its latest Real Estate related article to writer Martha White who writes for the Slate Group on a variety of financial matters including Real Estate. Although, I read Slate regularly and find there content refreshing I found Martha’s latest article “Prolonging Home Buyers Tax Credit Will Prolong Recovery” simply uninformed and filled with funny math strung along by the thinnest of strings.
One of the numbers Martha quoted off of a blog site she states in her article is that the actual cost of the $8,000 Tax Credit program is $43,000 per buyer because some buyers would have brought anyway. All I can say is; Wow really! There is actually a mathematical formula on a website that will tell me exactly what buyers intend to do before and after they buy? Is this like Nostradamus stuff? You know, after everything is said and done some "expert" will come out and says “you see this was predicted 500 years ago…duh”? Great, where were these experts say 2 years ago when the markets melted down? Can I use that same formula in Vegas? Or how’s about predicting what my 7 year old will do next on a soccer field?

Here’s the bottom line, buyers and especially first time home buyers are moved by emotions and perceived opportunities. Physiology plays a huge part in the purchase of a home. Buyers want to know that the market is moving in the right direction and that they are not going rouge by buying to early( unlike Palin of course). It has also been my experience that one of the biggest barriers to home ownership is the down payment. This $8,000 tax credit gives those buyers on the fence an option and a carrot to jump in. So, I think saying that they would have signed on the dotted line regardless of the Tax Credit is a bit of a stretch and would require at least a call to a Psychic hot-line. Btw, is Clara still in business? I need lotto numbers for this week.

The second point that was missed in this article was what buyers were using the $8,000 Tax Credit to buy. If you ask just about any Realtor working with a first time buyer he or she will tell you that these buyers were most likely buying up foreclosures! This is just not helping my local Loudoun County housing market but the Northern Va region as a whole.

Martha continued to throw out just about every number she could think of throughout her article in hopes that the reader will simply give up and take her word for it that the $8,000 Buyers Tax credit must be bad to have this many numbers against it. The fact of the matter is that this program is great for buyers and our economy for many reasons.

It targets those who need it the most! First Time home buyers and those making less then $75,000 a year (which is below average household income for Loudoun County)
The buyers are either buying foreclosed homes (which are shrinking inventory levels) or are buying lower priced townhouses and condos which are allowing sellers to move up or move out. How many stories have we heard about people that are turning down jobs because they can’t sell their home?
As the article pointed out over 1.8 million buyers have used this program to buy homes. That’s 1.8 million homes that are no longer on the market! I would further add that this number would be higher if it wasn’t for the lack of lower priced inventory in our region. As a matter of fact we currently are at 3 year lows for most of the Loudoun, Fairfax and Metro DC areas!


I think we can all agree that the Real Estate market in Loudoun County as well as all of Northern Va is not totally out of the woods yet. The best help the Federal Government can give us to keep the market going in the right direction is to keep the $8,000 tax credit alive for another year. As long as the jobless numbers remain high foreclosures and distressed Real Estate will continue to be a challenge to the full economic recovery of our region.

What do you think?


Take care,

Chuck
Serving all of your Ashburn, Leesburg, Mclean and Loudoun County area Real Estate needs!
Posted at 04:37 AM in Rants Permalink
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Grenata Preserve Leesburg by Creighton Enterprises

Grenata Preserve Leesburg by Creighton Enterprises

Pulling into the circular driveway of the model home at Grenata Preserve in Leesburg you first notice the French Château architecture and the stunning pitched roof lines. The foyer opens up to a double cured stairway leading to the second level overlook. Surprisingly enough as big as you might think the house would be on the outside the inside rooms are very manageable and comfortable. The kitchen is as expected large and open with plenty of cabinets, granite and entertaining space. One of the nicest features is the angled two sided fireplaces and custom mantels throughout the home. The finished lower level is of course filled with all the goodies to make this the envy of any man cave in the neighborhood. This includes of course wet bar, theater room with wide screen projector and enough space to have a small pool hall. What I really liked was the feel and flow of the entire house. It is a large and extravagant house with fine details throughout but it wasn’t pretentious or over done.

I’ve lived only a few miles from Grenata Preserve in Leesburg and have heard whispers about how magnificent the houses Jim Brown CEO of Creighton Enterprises was building at Grenata in Leesburg. During the boom years many of my clients in this price point where looking to be closer to DC and preferred the Mclean or Great Falls addresses rather then Leesburg. However, with the pricing changes over the last few years and the increasing amount of upscale shopping and amenities coming to Leesburg these one of kind custom homes are now in reach of many who want and demand more.
I briefly met with Jim and his wife and found that Creighton Enterprises is truly a family run operation where detail and quality craftsmanship is there top priority. Jim is the architect of the family and has been building and designing homes in the Northern Va area for over 26 years. They have retained many of the local craftsmen over those many years. Lot sizes range from 3 to 100(only one 100 acre lot available!) acres spread out over 4 subdivisions in Loudoun County. They are Grenata, Thunder Oak, Barclay Woods and Creighton Farm. Price ranges from $1.3 million and up. I was told that there will soon be 1 acre Creighton custom homes starting at lower brackets. I can’t wait to see this level of craftsmanship and architecture in the lower brackets!
Want more info, want a private showing with the architect, or better yet see want to see what a 100 acres in Loudoun County looks like, then call or email me!

Take Care,
Chuck

Serving all of your Ashburn, Leesburg, Mclean and Loudoun County area Real Estate needs!

$8,000 Tax Credit Ending Soon Part 2!
I was scanning through my Social Media network today and ran across this video( thank you Matt). I'm sure it will go viral very soon! Check it out and let me know what you think!

$8,000 Tax Credit Ending Soon!

$8,000 Tax Credit Ending Soon!



As the saying goes” all good things must come to an end”. Well, this is just a reminder that the $8,000 tax credit will be over before you know it. Just to review, according to the IRS you must settle by November 30,2009. Just to be 100% clear, to get the $8,000 you must be at the closing table signing on the dotted line by November 30th. This means you have to do a little backwards math to ensure you get your tax credit.


Here is what I would suggest, currently if you are a first time home buyer trying to buy a sub $300,000 house in the Leesburg, Ashburn, or just about anywhere in Loudoun County area you will have major competition. I would plan on at least a 60-day house search and at least 3 good offers (unless you still think this is a buyers market in which case plan on 8-10 offers and 3 buyer Realtors) before you win one. You must also take into consideration that it will take 30-45 days to close (if there are no issues). This time frame does not take into consideration Short Sales. If you are reading this and you want to buy a Short Sale you are most likely too late to take advantage of the Tax Credit!


So let’s review, we are now running into September add 60 days to find a home and another 30 days to close and you get November (give or take a day or two).


The only question now is are you ready to buy? If you are call or email me now and let’s get started!




Take Care,

Chuck

Where have all the houses in Loudoun Gone!

So, where have all the listing gone in Loudoun County! For the past 3 years the economic data has suggested that we were at an all time inventory high with some reports stating that we had several years worth of houses to burn off. It’s amazing the difference a year makes in the Loudoun and Fairfax County area. Here are some eye-popping facts about Loudoun that you might find interesting:

· In January of this year the average days on market for a single family house was around 134 days. Currently its 73 days and falling! Townhouses that used to average 89 days are now sell in as fast as 48 days. Even condos that once took over 150 days to sell are selling within 50 days.
Th The medium sales price of a single-family house in February was just under $400,00. As of July it is $463,000.
· According to the Dulles Association of Realtors inventory is at a 3 year low. Did someone say supply and demand aliment?
Both Fairfax and Prince William County have seen similar housing tends. So, you ask, “Where did the sellers go?” The general thought is that most sellers in the Loudoun county area who brought their homes less then 3 years ago are under water and therefore are NOT going to sell anytime soon. There is also a theory that our local economy (remember the old saying” the 3 most important things to know about Real Estate are Location, Location, Location!”) did not tank nearly as bad as everyone expected and that we will be one of the first metro areas to rebound.
If you are thinking of buying there are still some deals to be had but you will need to be quick. Homes selling under $500,000 are moving very fast; townhouses under $300,000 are equally selling fast. If you are thinking of buying anything under $200,000 anywhere in the Northern VA area (including Manassas, Prince William, Leesburg, Ashburn, Gainesville,Haymarket and even as far west as Purcellville) you better wear your bidding hat and have your game face on to win. I know of investors putting in offers on houses sight unseen and they are still losing. Feels a whole lot like 2003-2004 at this end of the market.
If you are buying in this market make sure you are ready to bid when you see something you like. If you are selling, make sure you use a local Realtor who understands today’s market and today’s marketing strategies!
I'm not totally ready to do flips yet but....



Take care,
Chuck

Neighborhood Spotlight: Exeter Leesburg,Va

Neighborhood Spotlight: Exeter Leesburg, Va

There are few communities in the Loudoun County area that have more history surrounding them then Exeter in Leesburg. The historical Exeter dates back to the pre Civil War era. First as a major camp site and trading route then as a Civil War encampment and plantation. One interesting historical factoid is that George Washington’s Great- Nephew was married at the plantation that once served Exeter. The area changed hands over the Civil War as both armies crisscrossed the area during the Gettysburg campaign. As you walk the trails that connect Exeter you will notice many historical markers doting the neighborhood.

Exeter the modern neighborhood was developed in three phases starting in the early 80’s. Exeter had several different builders including a few national and local builders. This gives the neighborhood a wide variety of floor plans to choose from. My personal favorite has been the Pulte floor plans for both the townhouses and single family homes. Exeter has all the amenities one would expect form a large planned community. This includes tennis courts, pool (some parts of the neighborhood do not have pool privileges), walking trails that connect the entire neighborhood and lots of open space! There are a total of 800+ homes with townhouses and single families homes split almost evenly throughout. For a starter neighborhood the prices are unbeatable for both single families and townhouses. I have sold many single family homes to buyers who wanted more space then a townhouse but couldn't see paying Loudoun County prices.** Current neighborhood prices and listing.

Take care,

Chuck