Recent Prince William County and Northern Virginia Real Estate Special Listings!

Following are some of my very special listings available right now for tour and/or sale.

Retire to North Carolina's High Country - North Carolina Mountain Land Available Now

Time to get away from the DC area altogether? Florida too hot, New York too cold?

North Carolina Mountain Land, Mountain Property & Mountain Lots are now for sale via the Laurels, "North Carolina High Country's Best Kept Secret". The Laurels offers uniquely accessible, affordable beautiful natural vistas and real estate for North Carolina retirement, retreats, vacation living, and magnificent, mountain-top custom homes.

Nowhere is the healthy living, the natural open space or the breathtaking vistas more prevalent than in the very temperate, mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern US - North Carolina's High Country. Situated among the majesty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, wildlife preserves and state parks mesh with private communities and rustic towns to produce the absolute perfect mix of outdoors recreation, natural scenery and fantastic seasonal events and activities. It's the most highly sought-after area for year-round outdoor sports and recreation, and a hotspot for private, custom dream homes of retirees, families or simply outdoor enthusiasts.

The Laurels is one of the most unique and readily available 132 acres of mountaintop estate lots available now for purchase and homebuilding. A private gated reserve of 15 equestrian and North Carolina mountain estate lots from five to ten acres, with elevations up to and exceeding 4000 feet, it includes panoramic 50 mile vistas, prolific wildlife, cascading mountain brooks and springs, and dense glens of mountain laurel and rhododendron. It's an exclusive and relaxing area surrounded by a wealth of regional activities, events, parks, resorts, spas, skiing and world class dining - The Laurels is impossibly unique yet amazingly accessible.

Painstakingly developed to offer North Carolina mountain property owners the exclusivity of a gated private park with underground utilities, estate sized lots, broad, safe asphalt roadways, state of the art erosion control planning, pre-approved four bedroom septic approvals, and thoughtful protective covenants, The Laurels sets the foundations of a close-knit and respectable community while protecting the spirit of seclusion, privacy and natural environmental protection. Read more at Washington DC Business News for more information....

Prince William, Loudoun and Northern Virginia Foreclosure Real Estate Update

While a majority of this year's business so far has been carried by foreclosure activity, particularly in Prince William County areas of Northern Virginia, there has been a shift developing in the availability and attractiveness (in price) of the homes available on the market.

Some may see the slowdown and "stabilization" of the Northern Virginia foreclosure market as a positive trend in the housing market - while this is true to some degree, it's mostly an inventory release slowdown driven by banks who do see opportunities to improve their returns. Major holders of foreclosed assets including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have significantly slowed their release of foreclosures onto the Northern Virginia market, thereby driving demand up a bit among first-time buyers and investors, and therefore prices.

We don't anticipate a significant surge in prices for foreclosures; there are thousands more to be released, along with many homeowners wishing to sell still waiting on the sidelines. This means while the inventory is being somewhat artificially constrained, it nonetheless remains a large inventory and therefore still a supply-driven (with depressed pricing) market.

What does this mean to you? Don't rush to buy - choose your home or investment wisely, for long-term gains (which will eventually come); it's still a buyer's market out there, and there are many great deals to come!

For more information about the Northern Virginia, Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun or Prince William foreclosure market, contact me at http://www.ingridmyers.com.

Fall business and homeowner's tip - clean and install new home security alarm screens on your windows - let the fresh air in, but keep out unwanted quests!

Interested in moving your home or business to Loudoun County, VA? Read all about Loudoun County's business climate, community news and other information "Made in Loudoun", from Loudoun's #1 resident-owned blog, "Gateway to Loudoun"!

Looking for Waterfront Property in Southern Maryland, near PAX River NAS?

If you're in the market for waterfront property in Southern Maryland, check out this prominent Southern Maryland (PAX River area) blog for information about the local area, culture, events and businesses. Give me a call or email to arrange a consultation and/or referral regarding areas of Southern Maryland.



If you're seeking short-term rental for the PAX River Naval Air Station area, waiting for on-base housing or otherwise - here's a sample listing.

Online Web Real Estate Appraisals - Just Like Offline!

I now recommend, as a service through our business partners at KME Internet Marketing in Northern Virginia, online web real estate appraisals. This does NOT mean appraisals of your physical real estate, your "brick and mortar" business, your home or land...this means appraisal of your actual website, blog or other digital assets for buying or selling.

Sounds a bit strange, and probably not what you're typically looking for in a Realtor - but a website, especially one that helps create income, needs to be appraised, updated, maintained, staged and basically treated just like "offline" physical real estate - especially if you're getting ready to buy or sell. AND if the website is actually associated with your home or business, in fact a "virtual" extension of it.

Therefore, though you may be thinking and planning a real estate transaction in the "real world", for example buying a new home - think a bit also about your online digital assets, and whether there are also steps that need to be taken to get ready to sell, or consider a new "property". I'll suspect that if you're reading this blog, you live and work not only in your neighborhood and at your business, but online as well.

Read more about appraising websites, buying and selling online real estate...

Spring revitalization, remodeling, renovation - you and your home or business!

Spring is Here!

"If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies." By Nadine Stair

During this time of new growth and fresh starts, it's a fantastic time to organize and reinvigorate yourself. Spring home cleaning, yard and garden preparation, important document organization and tax filing, winter clothes and decoration changeovers, home repair and remodeling, window replacement and energy-efficient upgrades, personal business coaching- these are all opportunities to nurture your life into a year of fresh opportunity and success!

Both spring and fall are commonly chosen times for devoting extra attention to cleansing and renewal, though any time of year is a good time to reorganize. Spring, however, is a particularly motivating and exciting time of year to fulfill your sense of accomplishment and engage new-found initiatives.

Here's a quick list over at the Northern Virginia and Washington DC Business Blog of recommended home repair, remodeling, renovation and handyman service providers in our extended region, from Northern Virginia (Fairfax, Alexandria, Arlington, Loudoun counties) to the Piedmont areas of western Loudoun, Prince William and counties south and west. The list also includes a few other nuggets of spring revitalization resources - for you or your homeowners/home sellers!

South Florida commercial real estate tax advice - does it translate to Northern Virginia?

It turns out that the real estate investment climate "bottom" might not be so far off, especially for tax-savvy investors in commercial real estate markets...for example, now's a great time for commercial real estate investors in South Florida to leverage Florida commercial real estate tax advisors for maximizing commercial real estate tax refunds, asset recovery returns or otherwise get more value from existing commercial real estate, or brand new, "trophy" properties. While obviously it's been a very tough South Florida market - there's some ripeness in opportunity, especially through tax assessment reduction and challenge actions. For example, SVN Palm Beach (http://www.svnpalmbeach.com) is a very respected leader in this tax advisory area, especially in South Florida.

Here's some direct advice on approaching the South Florida commercial real estate market in 2009, compliments of the Sperry Van Ness Palm Beach Brokerage (Edward Kearney, CCIM, Managing Director):

He says:

"1. "Off-market" transactions: I routinely help my buy-side clients seek out assets that are not listed by retail brokerage firms. Going the extra mile in approaching principal owners on a direct basis negotiating with them on assets that are not publicly for sale pay big dividends for clients.

2. Change Market Focus: Both buyers and sellers alike are benefiting from focusing on secondary and tertiary markets where there will be less competition for assets. Many of the South Florida sub-markets have particular appeal during economic downturns.

3. Change Asset Class Focus: Be open to asset class rotation to take advantage of market opportunities as they arise. Diversification has never been more important than it is in today’s market. Look across multifamily, retail, office, industrial, hospitality, self-storage, net-leased, and raw-land asset classes.

4. Think Trophy Assets: Only a few years ago, many trophy assets were simply not affordable. Take advantage of higher vacancies, lease roll-over risks, and financing issues to acquire a trophy property at less than premium pricing.

5. Look for Joint Venture or Recapitalization Opportunities: Many of the best opportunities in today's market are not found in out-right acquisitions. Explore joint ventures that will allow you to co-invest with existing owners of assets in a fashion that will allow them to free up trapped equity or fund new developments.

6. Renegotiate with your Lenders: If your debt is non-CMBS debt, but is portfolio debt still on the balance sheet of your lender, don’t hesitate to inquire about buying the debt out at a steep discount. It is sometimes possible in today’s market to buy-out the debt for only a fraction of the outstanding loan balance. This not only improves your balance sheet and your cash flow, but it frees you up to acquire other assets.

7. Change Your Acquisition Process: Traditional acquisition time frames that were competitive 12 months ago will leave you on the outside looking in with today's bottom feeding environment. Be willing to make unsolicited offers, put up meaningful earnest money deposits and close quickly where it make sense to do so."

Why South Florida? It appears to be a bit of a bellweather in terms of a likely rebound in the very soft commercial real estate market, especially with respect to foreign investment. While South Florida isn't quite the same as the Northern Virginia/Washington DC market - it always pays for Real Estate Agents and Brokers, working with their investors and property owners, to keep an eye out on other national and international markets plus commercial real estate investment advice and methods that seem to work well, and may very well translate into opportunities and profits in our Northern Virginia and Prince William real estate market.