Inman Innovator Real Estate Blog Finalists Are... - 06/29/07 06:16 PM
Congratulations to the following real estate blogs/bloggers for being finalists in the Inman Innovator Most Innovative Blog category (award to be presented August 1 at Real Estate Connect in San Francisco):
Transparent Real EstateReal Estate Tomato3 Oceans Real EstateReal Estate, Real Competition and the LawRedfin's Sweet Digs blogsCalculated RiskBloodhound BlogMortgage Fraud BlogPatrick.netWith so many good real estate blogs out there, this category was sure to have stiff competition. Congrats once again to all of the finalists!
… (0 comments)

Appraisal Institute's Alan Hummel Blames Mortgage Lenders For Appraisers "Hitting The Numbers" - 06/29/07 06:12 PM
Alan Hummel, spokesperson for the Appraisal Institute, in prepared testimony Tuesday before a Senate subcommittee on mortgage industry abuses blamed poor regulation of mortgage brokers and lenders, and weak or nonexistent enforcement of real estate practitioners for the practice of "hitting the number" (aka inflating the value of a property to meet the purchase price and make the lender "happy" and the deal go through). Hummel pointed the finger at mortage lenders and said,
"Appraisers face pressure from various parties involved in mortgage transactions. They are told to doctor their appraisals or else never see work from those parties again."
So what … (0 comments)

Which One Of These 7 Will Win "Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise" Award at Inman Real Estate Connect? - 06/27/07 05:06 PM
Inman announced the seven real estate brokerage companies that will compete for the Inman Innovator award this year in the Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise category. This award, along with all other category awards will be given to the finalist on August 1, 2007 at Real Estate Connect in San Francisco.
And the finalists are...
Coldwell Banker - internationally known with over 120,000 sales associates and inventor of "Second Life", a 3D virtual community with over 7 million usersJohn L. Scott Real Estate - focused on Washington, Oregon and Idaho and known for its Neighborhood Wizard and mapping features on its web … (4 comments)

Increase In Virginia Grantor's Tax And The Rest Of The Northern Virginia Transportation Plan - 06/26/07 05:04 PM
As some of you may or may not know, the Virginia General Assembly is increasing the Grantor's Tax as part of the Northern Virginia Transportation Plan passed last March. Currently, the Grantor's Tax is $1 per $1000 of the sales price or assessed value, whichever is greater. The Virginia General Assembly approved an increase from $1 to $5 per $1000 effective July 1, 2007. The latest news is that they are delaying the increase until September 1, 2007 and may only be raising it to $4 per $1000
As a seller of a $400,000 property in Virginia, the new rate of $5 … (0 comments)

Five Reasons Why Housing Prices Will Not Go Down In Loudoun County - 06/26/07 04:42 PM
1.  Sellers Can't Go Any Lower
In today's market place, many of the sellers are at or below the price they purchased their homes for.  This has created a situation where many sellers are unable to negotiate much further on the sales price of their home.  In other situations, equity has been drained from a property and the same "upside-down" scenario is occuring.  A buyer who thinks they can negotiate an additional $30,000 to $50,000 off a list price is finding out that many sellers just don't have the money to sell the house for much lower than list price.  This is … (0 comments)

How Real Estate Videos Killed The Open House - 06/26/07 03:45 PM
As we all know by now, open houses are becoming less and less effective for the marketing and sale of real estate. Open houses still exist thanks in part to misinformed sellers and real estate agents who can't say no nor tell the client the truth (that they don't work like they used to). But what will completely kill open houses are videos - of properties, inside and out streaming directly to the masses.  And remember, America is built on convenience and videos are much more convenient than a traditional open house. 
Let me explain... 
As a buyer, imagine this:
You … (19 comments)

Do You Have Questions About Or Have A Relocating Buyer Interested In Loudoun Or Fairfax County, Virginia? - 06/19/07 04:12 PM
If you have questions about Loudoun County, Virginia, whether real estate related or not, feel free to check out the following resources or contact me directly:
www.LoudounStats.com - Personal site/blog dedicated to Loudoun County real estate market stats, data, information and resources for buyers, sellers, investors and those just interested in the local real estate market. Plus, plenty of links to private and public/government sites that are full of resources and information about Loudoun County.
www.AshburnVAblog.com - Personal site/blog with news and information about Ashburn, Virginia (20147 and 20148 including Broadlands and Brambleton).
Or contact me directly at danilo.bogdanovic@gmail.com or on my cell - 703.582.6900. And if … (0 comments)

Resources (other than real estate stats and data) For Loudoun County, Virginia - 06/15/07 05:12 PM
For those of you living in Loudoun County and selling or buying within, you probably already know what Loudoun County has to offer. But if you're relocating to the area, you may not. And being that the numbers, stats and data that Loudoun Stats routinely covers are not the only deciding factor when it comes to moving to Loudoun County, here is a list of additional resources to help you with your decision or give you new ideas on things to do or places to check out on the weekends.
Official visitor web site for Loudoun County, Virginia - covers everything from … (0 comments)

Will Interest Rates Push Prices Down in Loudoun County? - 06/13/07 11:28 AM
The only national statistic that has any impact on the local Loudoun County real estate market is interest rates.  The national statistics that are quoted in articles are, for all intents and purposes, meaningless to our local marketplace.  But interest rates and their movements have a direct impact on the Loudoun County real estate market and could be argued to be the single most influential statistic when it comes to homes sales and home prices.
The reason they are so important is because they directly impact the amount of money a buyer can borrow and thereby the amount they are willing to … (0 comments)

Stewart Copeland Needs To "Police" The Real Estate Industry - 06/12/07 09:12 PM
After their opening show in Vancouver, Police drummer Stewart Copeland ripped his band's performance in a posting on his web site. He was very frank, to say the least, calling the performance "unbelieveably lame". Stewart also said that Sting made the band look "like a petulant pansy instead of the god of rock". The news made headlines across music sites including Yahoo Music, yet many came to the aid of Stewart and the Police saying it was just opening night jitters. 
What's amazing is that no such self-policing (no pun intended) ever happens in real estate when the industry has plenty … (2 comments)

Sales Up Throughout Eastern Loudoun County except....Ashburn - 06/12/07 09:08 PM
The four areas of Eastern Loudoun County all showed an increase in homes sold versus the same period last year except in Ashburn.  Sterling, Leesburg and South Riding all had increases in volume and helped to push sales activity up 14% over May of 2006. 
The only laggard was Ashburn with units sold down 16% (24) over last year.  This is a turnaround from the previous 4 months of the year when Ashburn either met or exceeded sales for the prior year period. 
A quick look at pricing shows median list prices for homes under contract this year in the county … (0 comments)

The Other Side Of Foreclosures - 06/12/07 09:02 PM
There has been and will continue to be a lot of talk about foreclosures effecting owners, banks and investors. But what has been barely talked about, if at all, is how foreclosures are effecting the tenants/renters in them. Perhaps it's because they don't pose a monetary risk to any of the parties involved. Maybe it's because they're seen as disposable. It could be because the laws don't really give them any rights in a foreclosure situation. Either way, the tenants including children (even pets) are directly effected when renting a property that is being or has been foreclosed on.
One such story … (1 comments)

Loudoun County, Virginia "Spring Market" - Fact and Fiction - 06/05/07 11:17 AM
During this time of the year many of the questions buyers and sellers have regarding real estate are about the spring market.  Most of what people believe to be true about this time of year is actually not true at all for the Loudoun County market.  And other things that people think have an effect on the real estate market have little if any effect at all.  Here are some of the most common public perceptions of the spring market and the real truth to them.
The spring market starts in the spring.
FALSE - The spring market actually starts in the middle … (0 comments)

Loudoun County Property Demographics - 06/05/07 11:14 AM
A common question of those relocating to Loudoun County, Virginia is what types of properties are most commonly available and what the local demographics are. Well, according to a May 22nd press release issued by the U.S. Census Bureau, among counties with a population of 65,000 or more, Loudoun County is number four when it comes to the percentage of properties with 4 or more bedrooms. Virginia is number seven overall in the same category.
Top 5 counties in U.S. with properties with 4 or more bedrooms
Davis County, Utah - 49.4%Fayette County, Georgia - 45.5%Forsyth County, Georgia - 48.5%Loudoun County, Virginia - … (0 comments)

 

Danilo Bogdanovic-Real Estate Consultant -Loudoun and Fairfax County

Ashburn, VA

More about me…

Market Advantage Real Estate

Address: 107 Kale Ave, Sterling, VA, 20164

Office Phone: (703) 582-6900

Cell Phone: (703) 582-6900

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