My Inspiration Rooms

My husband and I are getting ready to call in a decorator, so I’ve been looking through pictures for inspiration. Our house is a colonial, like most houses in Northern Virginia, where we have a formal living room that doesn’t get used much. At least in our case though, it’s adjacent to the formal dining room, which makes it nice for holiday and family gatherings.

Anyway, I got the idea at first to use the Haunted Mansion at Disney World as inspiration, such as the Madame Leota seance area, with crushed velvet, fringe, a small table with a crystal ball — ok, so hubby nixed that idea.

I then moved on to describe (the same thing) in terms of a library, or as in a room that Voltaire would have hung out in, and since my husband loves to talk politics and philosophy with anyone who will listen, he suddenly loved the idea. So here are some ideas, the first even with a serving bar twist, which could also work out well for including in this conversation-focused room.

And how about this related idea for that TV-focused family room around the corner?

New Homes in Northern Virginia

K.Hovnanian’s
Drees Homes
Quaker Custom Homes
NV Homes
Beazer Homes
Craftmark Homes
Craftstar Homes
Brookfield Homes
Miller & Smith
Centex
The Neighborhoods of EYA
Pulte Homes
M/I Homes
Ryan Homes
Toll Brothers
Winchester Homes
Hazel Homes
Carrington Builder
Carr Homes
Stanley Martin Homes
Van Metre
Brambleton Town Center
South Riding
Stone Ridge
D.R. Horton
Camberley Homes
The Christopher Companies
Lawerence Doll Homes
Richmond American Homes

Rain Barrels

In the greater Washington DC metro area, the MRIS (MLS) system now has a checkbox for grey water and a rain containment system. If you have either of these, make sure to let your Realtor know when listing your home! If you’re in the market, you can ask you Realtor to search on this criteria, however a designation of this sort will only show up if the listing Realtor thought to add it.

15-Year Rate Hits Record Low

The average rate for 15-year mortgages reached a new bottom this week, dipping from 4.40 percent to 4.32 percent—the lowest level since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1991.

Rates for 30-year mortgages approached the all-time low of 4.78 percent again last week, falling to 4.83 percent from an average of 4.91 percent a week ago.

Wellesley College economist Karl Case says the Federal Reserve’s efforts to purchase mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is lowering rates on home loans.

Source: Boston Herald, Thomas Grillo (11/20/09)

I want one Mom …

The ad is right … interest rates are at historic lows and houses are available. Check out my About page to contact me. Let’s talk!

Searching Like a Native in the MLS

I recently decided to study the recent sales prices in a Townhouse neighborhood that I lived in for 11 years.  It’s located in the Little Rocky Run Planned community, in Clifton, VA, and I lived on Sierra Drive.  Being a native, I was aware that these townhouses, on the Clifton side, versus the Centreville side of Little Rocky Run, were at one time, disconnected from LRR, and was called “Sequoia Meadows.”  What I didn’t know though, is that Realtors aren’t consistent in how they enter the properties in this area.  Some listings were under the subdivision “Little Rocky Run”,  and some were listed as “Sequoia Lea” (which was the actual legal description of the ‘old’ Sequoia Meadows).  So the point that I’m making is that if your Realtor is not aware of some of these specifics, a potential home could get missed.

Credit Score

If you’re considering buying a home in the near future, your credit score will be the most important factor, and if it’s not up to snuff, may prevent you from even entering the arena, so there’s no time like the present to start getting your financial house in order!

Find a School in Fairfax County

Want to live near a particular school?  Just enter the address and get a list of the area’s schools.  Tip: Do not enter the city or state.

http://boundary.fcps.edu/boundary/index.jsp

Taking Photos of Homes

I’m currently working on a listing presentation, and decided to use my own house.  The rain had stopped, so I removed a couple of those annoying free newspapers from the driveway, and set up my shot.  Through the camera lense, I noticed that I couldn’t capture the best part of the house – the farmers porch, due to an overgrown tree.  A angle shot helped somewhat, but didn’t stop the faded shutters and cracked driveway from jumping right out at me when I uploaded the photo.  So it seems that a photo can really provide a pair of fresh eyes on a situation, and provide you with a to-do list.  I also realized that brickwork doesn’t photograph well when wet, but does highlight the lawn.

Raising your Credit Score

Is your credit score less then perfect?  Here’s a video from a DC-area realtor that gives six tips on raising your credit score.