Northern Virginia Real Estate: Septic Systems  Northern Virginia real estate buyers considering homes in areas such as McLean and Great Falls may be encountering septic and well systems for the first time. While the magnitude of information may be initially overwhelming, it is important to understand the design and functionality of these systems as well as how to maintain them. About Septic Systems Nearly 550,000 households in Virginia depend on onsite systems to take care of sewage disposal. Treated sewage is discharged into the soil or sometimes into various water bodies. Operating a septic system requires several state or federal permits. For Northern Virginia real estate purposes, the term “septic” refers to anaerobic bacteria that develops in the septic holding tank and breaks dow... 10/24/2011

Can "Regular" Buyers Buy Their Home at a Courthouse Auction in Northern Virginia and Great Falls? LinkedTube     I recently did a brief investigation on whether it was realistic to buy a personal residence in the Great Falls Virginia area at a courthouse auction in Fairfax County.  I used the listings on RealtyTrac as a starting point and headed out to an auction one morning with the listings of interest that a buyer might have interest in. The situation -- finding a peronsal residence at the steps of the courthouse--proved to be more extreme than anticipated in a negative direction. it's not the real world.  RealtyTrac is somewhat misleading to regular buyers in my opinion, but provide a great service for investors who play the game 20 days/month.... Do you get buyers every year who th... 10/06/2011

If you have ever headed west on Route 7 in Northern Virginia, you may have seen the historic mill on the right side of the road at Route 7 and Colvin Run Rd. This mill is the site of many great programs and events--and just a really great place to visit on a pretty afternoon (we took our Christmas Card photo there one year!). Mondays in May, the park service is running a program for Preschoolers, aptly named, 'Monday Mornings in May.' There are several of these events left and they require pre-registration. The are described;  'Preschoolers and adults enjoy a new story each week, explore the historic site, make a craft, do fingerplays and sing songs.' If you are interested in registering for the Monday Mornings in May program, or any other program at the Colvin Mill, please check out th... 05/16/2011

902 Winstead Street GREAT FALLS, VA Elegant, spacious and ready for you to move in! 4BR/4+1BA Single Family House $1,229,000 Year Built 1989 Sq Footage 7,126 Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 4 full, 1 partial Floors 3 Parking 3 Car garage Lot Size 37,701 sqft HOA/Maint $0 per month DescriptionBack on the Market--Contract fell through** Hickory Creek Estates** Designed in the best Center-Hall colonial tradition, this elegant home features many windows, wonderful light and exceptional architectural details. Enter the home into the spacious foyer which features beautiful marble flooring, continue past the traditional library with cherry built-ins and adjoining bathroom, the dining room with enough space for a large dining set and the grand formal living room with marble-surround fireplace and double ... 03/29/2011

Home Prices and Square Footage Come Down for Homes in Great Falls Virginia     Jay Seville: Hi, I’m Jay Seville, owner of Just New Listings.com realty had a branched off from Remax a year ago and brought my team with me to open my own company. And things have been going pretty well, 38 transactions last year. I wanted to give you a big update on the Great Falls real estate market. It’s been a few month since I looked at it this in depth for you and we’re trying to be better each week when the short video blog on the New Listings coming out et cetera.   For the rest of this piece see the blog post in its entirety here-- Great Falls VA market trends. 03/28/2011

Great Falls Virginia real estate-- Falcon Ridge Neighborhood Added to JustNewListings.com One of the most premier neighborhoods in Great Falls is Falcon Ridge. Unlike much of Great Falls Virginia that has homes not set in neighborhoods, Falcon Ridge has that blend of space--all lots are 1 acre plus--a neighborhood make up with all its elements of community that families are often seeking such as children for their kids to play with, etc. Falcon Ridge homes for Sale and Real Estate Listings 03/22/2011

Great Falls Elementary Homes for Sale are Most Expensive Recently I was looking at home prices due to a client who has an absolute parameter that the home be in the Great Falls Elementary school district.  At the GreatSchools.org website it is described as such: "Great Falls Elementary School serves grades PK-6 in the Fairfax County Public Schools district. It is among the few public schools in Virginia to receive a distinguished GreatSchools Rating of 9 out of 10." Great Falls Elementary homes -- $1,922,000 Forestville Elementary -- $1,546,000 Colvin Run Elementary -- $1,311,000 For some context the median list price at the time of this post is $1.38 million. You can read regular news and commentary about Great Falls real estate at my blog. 03/16/2011

What's Happening today in the Great Falls, Virginia Real Estate Market? The chart below details all of the closed home sales activity in Great Falls, Virginia for February 2011: Sales volume is significantly up in terms of number of sales and closed dollar volume comparing February 2011 with February 2010.  Days on market is down and the sold price to list price ratio is slightly up -- both of these are good indicators if you plan to sell your Great Falls home. As you can see from the next chart, pending sales in Great Falls are significantly higher than the past few years and almost reaching the activity of 2007.  Again, this is good news for Great Falls homeowners and sellers.  All indications are that the luxury market in Northern Virginia, and specifically in Great Falls will be ver... 03/15/2011

902 Winstead Street GREAT FALLS, VA 4BR/4+1BA Single Family House $1,250,000 Year Built 1989 Sq Footage 7,126 Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 4 full, 1 partial Floors 3 Parking 3 Car garage Lot Size 37,701 sqft HOA/Maint $0 per month DescriptionOpen 3/13/11 1-4 p.m. Hickory Creek Estates. Designed in the best Center-Hall colonial tradition, this elegant home features many windows, wonderful light and exceptional architectural details. Enter the home into the spacious foyer which features beautiful marble flooring, continue past the traditional library with cherry built-ins and adjoining bathroom, the dining room with enough space for a large dining set and the grand formal living room with marble-surround fireplace and double French doors leading to the deck. The two-story Family Room has a beaut... 03/11/2011

Dear agents,    Please let me know if you have a listing coming up : Great Falls , Reston, Fairfax, Ashburn, Southriding, Herndon, Vienna, Mclean, Near Ballston Metro : Looking for various size, various price range homes.  From townhomes to luxury homes.     Please put me on your email list of upcoming home, before they come on market :) Thanks!!   kay@kaybal.com Cell : 703-362-1952   03/02/2011

I don't know about you, but I never get tired of the beauty of the whitewater and the Potomac River at Great Falls.  However, while I've gone whitewater rafting before on Class 5 rapids, you're not going to find me braving these falls anytime soon like the kayaker above.  (photo credit: stevehdc) What's Happening today in the Great Falls, Virginia Real Estate Market? Here's a snapshot of Great Falls Virginia home sales in the last 30 days from the end of December 2010 through now: GREAT FALLS VIRGINIA HOME SALES: Active homes for sale:  114 -- just 12 of those have come on the market within the last 30 days!  Average listing price: $1,821,845 -- these prices are not for the typical first time homebuyer! Great Falls Homes sold in the last 30 days:  11; at that rate, there's about 10 mon... 01/26/2011

   You can see that new real estate listings for Great Falls Virginia have slowed to just 3.5/week since the graph took days 1-12 of each of those respective months.  For a lot more detail and analysis of the Great Falls market go to the blog link above.  See how to come up with the most aggressive offer price, etc. For a detailed explanation of how this affects your search for the next few months and how to handle it see the article in its entirety: http://bit.ly/bLbbza_Great_Falls_virginia_real_estate   11/12/2010

Great Falls Virginia is one of the prettiest places you can go in Northern Virginia, especially this time of year.  The photo above is provided courtesty of rpongsaj  Besides the actual falls in Great Falls, there are lots of great homes in Great Falls as well.  Here's some information about the Great Falls Virginia real estate market. Here's a snapshot of Great Falls Virginia home sales in the last 30 days: GREAT FALLS, VIRGINIA HOME SALES: Active homes for sale: 156 (including 25 new listings in the last 30 days).  There's an additional 31 Great Falls homes currently under contract and pending sale. Average current listing price: $1,745,210 Homes sold in the last 30 days:  19 Average Sales Price:   $1,186,789, slightly down from a couple of months ago. Median Sales Price:     $1,250,... 10/27/2010

| Going to Auction |STARTING BID PRICE is $499,000OFFERS DUE BY TUES. SEPT. 21ST10324 Beach Mill RoadGreat Falls, Virginia DON'T MISS THIS!! THIS IS THE STARTING BID PRICE, ALL OFFERS DUE BY TUES. SEPT. 21ST AT 12 NOON. ALL CASH, NO CONTINGENCIES, DO YOUR WALK-THROUGH OR INSPECTION BEFORE 21ST. Amazing Great Falls Location!! Almost 2.5 acre lot. Breathaking views off the back of the house. Over 6,000 Finished square feet. You won't find a better deal in Great Falls, The home needs some work and is sold completely as-is. 5 bedrooms, 2.55 baths. 2 Level Deck down to swimming pool in the backyard. Fenced Lot. Come see for yourself, Hurry! REQUEST MORE INFOSCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT Donny and Meredith Samson Samson PropertiesAssociate BrokerNVAR Top ProducerDirect 703-864-48944 1/2% Full Servi... 09/14/2010

Cars and Coffee in Great Falls, VA -Homes for Sale in Northern Virginia - Recreational Activities for September 2010 Those who know me know that my husband Jimmy was a car fanatic to say the least.  I know that cars have four wheels, a steering wheel and come in a variety of colors:)  So when people asked me what he did for a living I would say "he sells cars", hoping that it would end there.  Inevitably they would always ask "what kind?", then I would say very quietly "Ferrari's".   That is when they would ask about all the kinds of Ferrari's and I would answer, much to Jim's dismay, "I know they come in Red, Black, Yellow, Blue, and Silver and some other colors".  You can ask me about pretty much anything else and I have an answer, cars take you from one place to another and I seem to... 09/13/2010

How to Run the Numbers on a Great Falls Virginia Real Estate Listing Bimonthly I make observations on the Great Falls Virginia real estate market and occasionally run the numbers on a listing. This is good for consumers to see some of the process or thinking that goes into coming up with a magic number to start with as an offer price. It's also good for myself to keep on top of the Great Falls Virginia niche of homes for sale and their real values versus their list prices. Transcription of the Great Falls Virginia Real Estate Listing   So the first thing I’m going to do, I’m going to take the listing. I’m going to take the address. I’m going to take the address. I’m going to go into a general search. Going to go to my map and put it in, put in Great Falls. Then find out where we are on ... 09/08/2010

(Great Falls Virginia kayaking photo courtesy of Rob Shenk) You may not be ready to grab your kayak and brave these rapids on the Potomac River in Great Falls, Virginia.  However, perhaps you're ready to brave the Great Falls Virginia real estate market. Here's a snapshot of Great Falls Virginia home sales in the last 30 days: GREAT FALLS, VIRGINIA HOME SALES: Active homes for sale:  152 (including 17 new listings in the last 30 days).  There's another 45 Great Falls homes currently under contract and pending sale. Average current listing price: $1,789,422 Homes sold in the last 30 days:  29 Average Sales Price:   $1,290,721 Median Sales Price:     $1,200,000 Average Days on Market:    95 Average Sales Price/Original Listing Price:  91.10%.  This means that the average negotiated disco... 08/31/2010

Slowest Sales in Northern Virginia is Great Falls Virginia Homes for Sale Where are the slowest real estate sales in Northern Virginia and why? Without a doubt homes take the longest to sell in Great Falls Virginia real estate listings. This graph demonstrates it dramatically.     Weekly the latest round of new real estate listings in Great Falls Virginia are going to be analyzed and one listing selected for the sake of "running numbers." We will review the comps on a new listing and train you in how to decide what offer to make on a new Great Falls home for sale. The first video in this series is below--future installments will be shorter. New Great Falls Virginia Listings Week of 8/13-20/2010 08/20/2010

Great Falls, Virginia is named for the spectacular falls and rapids on the Potomac River.  Great Falls Park is a great place to go for a picnic and view the wonderful scenery. This is a community with large lots and large homes.  That's what you'll find in Great Falls (zip code 22066)! Here's a snapshot of Great Falls Virginia home sales in the last 30 days: GREAT FALLS, VIRGINIA HOME SALES: Active homes for sale:  185 (including 35 new listings in the last 30 days).  There's another 54 Great Falls homes currently under contract and pending sale. Average current listing price: $1,801,198 Homes sold in the last 30 days:  29  Average Sales Price:   $1,092,602 (The range of sales prices was between $599,000 and $2,412,300) Median Sales Price:     $899,000 Average Days on Market:    83 Ave... 06/30/2010

Great Falls Va Foreclosure for Sale - Call to Schedule a showing - 703-858-1118 945 HICKORY RUN LN, GREAT FALLS, VA 22066-1904 Offered at $856,900 by The Earl of Real Estate Team The privacy of Hickory Run awaits your TLC to bring it back to life. Large home with courtyard and guest-house / office with full bath on 3.73 acres. Please tell your agent to read the full remarks and follow the step to ensure that you do not miss out on this Great Falls Foreclosure. Main Level Hardwoods & Marble. Deck overlooking Hickory Run. Serenity at the end of the lane. 06/10/2010