Loudoun County Real Estate Statistics and News

Former Greenvest Land Bought Back for 42 Cents on the Dollar

The finance company that loaned Greenvest $130 Million for the 4 parcels of land in Loudoun County was the highest bidder yesterday during an auction of the property.  The 4 pieces of undeveloped land had a total of 4,123 acres  and each piece was auctioned off separately.  

According to reports, iStar Financial initiated the foreclosure proceedings and was willing to pay as much as $91 Million for the land.  In the end its total bids added up to $69 Million.  With a reported value of $165 Million, this means that no other party, investor or developer, was willing to pay more than 42 cents on the dollar for the land. 

Of course, the "reported" value was an overly optimistic value set by someone who had no intention of buying the property.  Most likely this was the county's assessed value for tax purposes.  The $130 Million loan that Greenvest took out on the property was more than likely based on being able to rezone the land, a plan that was denied by the Loudoun County Supervisors and led directly to the auction.  

iStar will now work to find a developer willing to by the parcels and try to recoup some or all of the $69 Million it has invested in the land.  But in a hostile environment for developers that includes increased proffers, denied requests to rezone, tightened financing options and an overall weak economy, it will be a difficult sell to say the least.  

Another Loudoun County Advertising Casualty - Radio Station WAGE 1200

The drop in advertising by local businesses has claimed another casualty.  Radio station WAGE 1200 based in Leesburg has suspended operations.  The station tried several different formats and models in the last 4 years but local advertisers were turned off to the most recent syndication format.  Word is they are going to come back with a bigger signal.

Along with the demise of the Loudoun Easterner at the end of July, Loudoun County has lost two hyper local advertising mediums over the last 2 weeks.  This is a direct result of the contracting economy.  And even in a somewhat recession proof area the DC metro, business is still very difficult and business owners are tightening their purse strings in reaction to the slowing activity.  And as in most cases, advertising is one of the first areas to be reduced or cut out completely.

And with the cheap, very cheap, online advertising opportunities, it was only a matter of time before the more traditional businesses began to lose too much revenue to sustain their outdated business models.

Sign of the Times - RIP Loudoun Easterner

I just found out that the Loudoun Easterner has ceased to exist.  Ironically I found out while reading the Loudoun Independent.  Started in 1968, it published its last paper on July 22.

The reason I started writing a blog was because of the deterioration in the effectiveness of print advertising.  Local newspapers were a staple of any real estate advertising campaign and in Loudoun County the paper most people read for real estate ads was the Easterner.  But that started to fall off in 2006.   My old company, CC Sells, used to take out full page ads and sometimes 2 full pages when the market was hot.

But the writing was on the wall for print advertising and newspapers.  The slowdown in real estate and the high cost forced us to look for more economical choices such as Google Adwords and other electronic advertising opportunities.  

Subsequently I began writing this blog.  Fortunately for me, blogs have become a great replacement for print advertising and I now have a separate website for my real estate company, CompleteHomeRE.com.  

Oh well.  Rest in Peace, Loudoun Easterner.

Real Estate News Aggregation Site - Realdiggity

I have been working on an aggregation site called Realdiggity that pulls all the best and most timely real estate news together into one place.  I have added a lot of rss feeds from the best of the real estate blogs and websites.  But if there are some that you want me to add let me know.  

I put a widget in the sidebar that you can use to get to the site as well.  The great thing about this site is you can rank the stories much like social bookmarking sites like digg and reddit.  You can add a story from a non-real estate site that has a real estate specific story by using the submit button.

Please use this site as a resource when dealing with topics regarding real estate.  This includes buying, selling, loans, interest rates, foreclosures, short sales, etc.  You don't have to sign up, but that would be cool too.

Feet Dragging by Banks Leads to Murder in Lowes Island

Over the past weekend a murder occurred in the Lowes Island subdivision of Sterling.  A teenager was killed at a house party at 2:30 in the morning on Sunday (Saturday night).  Buried in the end of the story was this piece of information that in my opinion was the real story:

Neighbors report that the house where the party occurred is in the foreclosure process and the couple who owned the house have already moved out and were allowing their college age son to live there.

And the very last paragraph had even more information regarding the owners of the house where the party and the murder took place:

Further research into public records show that the listed residents of this house, Jose and Wilma Vargas, also owned another house in Sterling – located on 104 Almey Ct. The bank has already foreclosed on this house and it is for sale by United American Realty.

I am not saying that the banks are directly responsible for the murder of the teenager but it could be argued that their failure to secure a property that has obviously been abandoned by the homeowners and used as a frat house by the college son was a very crucial contributing factor in this tragedy.

One bank was able to foreclose on the same couple and secure their other house over 2 months ago.  Why not this property?  Where is this bank? 

Most of the time we hear about foreclosures and abandoned properties in a neighborhood leading to decreased values, perhaps squatters occupying vacant houses and other public nuisances.

But this story shows just how much damage the banks are doing to our neighborhoods.  Their indifference has become our problem.  Their reluctance to take over abandoned properties and foreclose on homeowners that have no intention of keeping their homes is an epidemic.  We need to force these banks to do the responsible thing and do it now.  We can't wait for the banks to clean up their balance sheets so they can take over these properties without become illiquid.  We need to come up with a solution that takes the  properties from these reluctant property owners and prevents further damage to our neighborhoods, towns and count.

Big News Story for Loudoun County

The past couple of weeks have been filled with high profile news story regarding Loudoun County that will have an impact on real estate and homeowners.  There are plenty of big headlines that look pretty impressive (but really aren't) and a some others that don't seem all that impressive but really.  Let's take a look.

Raytheon to consolidate 1,500 jobs in Loudoun County.

This looks pretty impressive on the surface.  And some other reports put the number of jobs at 2000.  But a closer look shows that Raytheon is consolidating 3 offices in Fairfax County and moving them all to the AOL campus that has been shedding jobs for years.  The real story is that only 100 new jobs will be created over the next 3 years.  Although we like to get any new jobs in the current environment, the headlines are very misleading.  33 new jobs a year is barely a blip on the radar.

Loudoun County Tax Rate Increased to $1.245.

Now this was definitely news and has been for some time.  We all anticipated the increase but we didn't know how high it would be.  Initially the county officials were asking for $1.29 so it could have been worse.  But it is still the highest rate in the state.  But the interesting thing I take from this story is the bi-partisan atmosphere the budget created.  Read the comments section to the post and you will see what I mean.  And this is not just for our county, it is state wide, country wide and a huge bi-partisan issue in our federal government.  The election of President Obama was initially hailed as a vote for partisanship but that has never happened and in fact the partisanship in America is worse, if you ask me.

Case in point is this piece of news that has flown below the radar - N.Va. snubbed in first round of road funding  The fact that Northern Virginia doesn't get the lions share of any funding for transportation is beyond me.  We only contribute the majority of the tax dollars that fund the rest of the state but when we need money to help with our roads, we get nothing.  Pretty amazing.  Politicians at work.  But I guess nothing should surprise me since Tim Geithner was a self-confessed tax evader and was rewarded with running the IRS from his position as Treasury Secretary.

Planning Department Approves Broadlands Hospital

The Loudoun County Planning Department has approved the Broadlands Medical Center.  This is the first step in the approval process.  Next the Planning Commission must approve it and the final step is the Board of Supervisors.  Here is the full story on Loudoun Extra. 

On a side note, I found this story on Loudoun Extra's new twitter feed. 

Add this post to Google Reader: 

Driveway Resurfacing Scam in Loudoun County

Here is a story about a scam being pulled on homeowners in the Loudoun County area.  The group pulling the scam is know as the Travelers and they are offering to resurface driveways in their latest scheme.  Tell people to be on the lookout for this group.

Congratulations to Broadlands Triathlon Participants and Volunteers

The first ever Infinitive Triathlon at Broadlands was run on Saturday and by all accounts it was a success.  192 participants registered for the event and despite a steady rain and a chance of thunderstorms, we were at the Broadlands South competitive pool at 7am ready to go.  There was a steady rain but the thunder heard earlier in the morning stayed away and the organizers didn't have to cancel the swim. 

The bike course was hilly and challenging two loops around the Broadlands that was not too difficult.  The rain made it a little harder to handle the bike on the long downhill on Truro Parish.  The run was an out and back along the paths and was flat and fast.  The rain kept everyone cool and the volunteers were all cheerful and encouraging even though they were getting soaked. 

I have run in 10 different triathlons and the Broadlands Triathlon exceeded my expectations for a first time event.  It was well organized, the volunteers were very helpful and enthusiastic, the turnout was excellent, the transition area was well laid out, and the post-race food was great.  And the all important race schwag was top notch, a T-shirt and hat made of high quality wicking material. 

Congratulations and thank you to all the sponsors. 

Thanks to all the volunteers that braved the elements and help everyone get through the race without incident.  Thanks to all the fans that cheered us on along the course.  And congratulations to everyone that participated in the race including Jonathan Hinkle, Brian Albrecht, Daphne Gillie and Mary Beth Greason. 

I look forward to next years event.

Additional reading:  Real Estate and Triathlons Go Together

Dulles Area Association of REALTORS Unveils New Website

During the past six months, the Technology Committee of the Dulles Area Association of REALTORS has been working on a new website design that incorporates RE 2.0.  Ben Lizik of DAAR has been busy programming the site and the staff has been instumental in getting all the information on the old site converted to the new site.

We wanted a clean design that appealled to members of the association as well as the general public.  A built-in content management system will allow updates to the site to occur as they happen.  Visitors are able to provide feedback on the site and are encouraged to do so.  We hope that the site will be a valuable resource for real estate news and information in the Dulles Corridor which includes all or part of Loudoun, Fairfax and Prince William counties. 

Additions to the website will be added in the coming months that will add to the website's 2.0 functionality and reach.

We would love to know what you think of the new site and encourage any feedback.