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Posted at 12:18 PM in Alexandria Real Estate, Arlington Real Estate, Business, DC Real Estate, Fairfax Real Estate, Green Building, Green Living, Home buying & selling, Homes Sales, Housing market, Loudoun County Real Estate, Maryland Real Estate, Prince William Real Estate, Real Estate, Real Estate Trends, Technology | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: building green, Building Types, Business, Construction, Construction and Maintenance, Green building, green home, green home, green living, pbs, real estate, Straw bale, straw bales, Straw-bale construction, Sustainable Architecture, trends
Arlington has five farmers market that covers the whole county. The markets open at different schedule. The biggest and most popular is the one located in Courthouse. This is the place where politicians rub elbows with their voters during election year. This year, happens to be election year in Virginia (I know Virginia is the one state that has election every year!) for state and local officials.
The five farmers markets:
1. Arlington Farmers Market Courthouse
Located across the street from the Courthouse at intersection of N. Courthouse Road and N. 14th St. Open every Saturday from 8am to 12pm on regular season (mid April through end of December). And from 9am to noon in winter (January to mid April). You'll find more than 30 vendors serving the market. Vendors include Atwater Breads that sells organic, hand shape, heart baked breads. Full list of vendors here. You can also the type of vegetables in season here.
2. Ballston Farmers Market
The market is located at Welburn Square at N. 9th and Stuart Streets. Open Fridays from the 29th of May to October 13 from 11am to 3pm. There are 12 vendors serving the market. Vendors include Baguette Republic, like the name implies make baguettes, boules, challah, focacia and rolls. Full list of participants here.
3. Columbia Pike Farmers Market
It's located at Pike Park in front of Rite Aid store at the corner of Columbia Pike and S. Walter Reed. St. There are 19 vendors serving the market. Vendors include Virginia Chocolate Company from Falls Church that sells chocolate truffles and candy. Full list of vendors here.
4. Clarendon Farmers Market
You don't have to go that far. It's at Clarendon metro station. Open every Wednesday with seasonal hours: May through October 12-7pm and November through April 2-7pm. Perfect time to catch commuters. The place is small, so you'll find only few vendors here peddling organic produce, baked goods, plants, herbs, homemade soaps, and other items.
5. Rosslyn Farmers Market
Every Thursday from May 14 to October 22. Seasonal hours 11:45am to 3pm. Located between Wilson Boulevard and N. Oak Street. Five vendors selling their produce here from pastries to fresh fruits, vegetable, gourmet tea, and herbs. Full list of vendors here.
So eat local. Shop local. It keeps the local economy going..
Posted at 06:18 AM in Arlington Real Estate, Home buying & selling, Homes Sales, Housing market, Living Style, Real Estate, Suburban Living, TOD, Urban Living | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: arlington county, Business and Economy, Columbia Pike, Farmers Market, housing, northern virginia, Organic food, politics, real estate, Rite Aid, suburban living, trends, urban living, Virginia, virginia
Image via Wikipedia
Arlington County Board approved to increase the limit for low and moderate income first-time buyers yesterday, via Arlington.
The new limit isn't something to sneeze at. However, under current market conditions, buyers might find "something," especially in neighborhoods laden with foreclosure and short-sale. This a good way to clean up distressed properties supplies and improve the quality of live in Arlington's neighborhoods.
Under Arlington County "shared appreciation" model, it encourages the homeowners to refinance the house as soon as possible. Because when a homeowner refinances, loan have to be repaid. So, the upside is homeowner can keep the house free-and-clear from county's involvement.
If a homeowner buys at the bottom of the market, this is good deal. On the other hand, if an owner buys at the peak, it can be a challenge to refinance it.
For more details about the program here.
Posted at 11:03 AM in Arlington Real Estate, Current Affairs, Foreclosure, Mortgage & Financing, Real Estate, Real Estate Investments, Real Estate Trends, Suburban Living, Urban Living | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: arlington county, Arlington County, Business, first-time buyers, Foreclosure, home buying, HUD, mortgage, Real estate, Refinancing, shared appreciation, short-sale, suburban living, Urban Development, urban living, virginia
Information gathered via Fairfax County Planning and Zoning department on preliminary concept for Baileys Crossroads redevelopment is linked with the coming of Columbia Pike streetcar project in Arlington. The streetcar terminus at South Jefferson Street in Fairfax county. Essentially this streetcar connects Pentagon (Arlington) and Baileys Crossroads/ Skyline area in Fairfax.
Closer look at the proposed route for Columbia Pike streetcar.
At the end of Arlington route at Columbia Pike, street car continues up almost to the end of South Jefferson Street which is essentially border with Skyline.
This map shows proposed area of redevelopment on Fairfax's side.
Basically, the county agrees with most of the recommendation made by Urban Land Institute plus county's own proposed concentration of highest density within 1/8 mi. of the streetcar stops, pedestrian connection, and exploring various configurations for the streetcar operations facility.
There are 2 final concepts on the table for Baileys redevelopment:
1. Town Center
Proposed planning study includes reconfiguration of land use to include mixed-use (4 to 10 floors), residential and neighborhood retail types, townhomes, small apartments, big box retailers, industrial flex (warehouse?), open space and civic place. It's a more compact density for residential.
2. Transit Oriented Development
A little bit different than above, larger lot set aside for street cars operation (6 acres) with parks vs. open space (above) and lower residential density.
Posted at 06:18 AM in Arlington Real Estate, Fairfax Real Estate, Home buying & selling, Real Estate, Real Estate Investments, Real Estate Trends, revitalization, Smart Growth, TOD | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Arlington, Arlington County Virginia, Business and Economy, Columbia Pike, smart growth, town center, Transit-oriented development, transit-oriented-development, Urban and Regional Planning, Urban Land Institute, Virginia
• Though there's no direct cost to the buyer, that doesn't mean it hasn't been tacked on subtly somewhere in the deal — possibly in the price from the seller or builder.
• There are key exclusions and coverage limits. For instance, the Rainy Day program doesn't kick in for two months after closing. Self-employed persons, independent contractors and active military members are not eligible. There's a 30-day waiting period after you lose your job before the first insurance payment is made.
• The Toll Brothers plan is available only to buyers who use the company's affiliated lender, TBI Mortgage. Consumers who know of a forthcoming layoff or "any impending job loss" are ineligible.
More after the jump..Continue reading "This House Comes With Free Job Loss Protection.." »
Posted at 11:06 AM in Alexandria Real Estate, Arlington Real Estate, DC Real Estate, Fairfax Real Estate, Foreclosure, Home buying & selling, Housing market, Loudoun County Real Estate, Maryland Real Estate, Mortgage & Financing, Real Estate, Real Estate Trends | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Business, Financial Services, Insurance, Insurance contract, investments, mclean, Mortgage insurance, northern virginia, pulte, real estate, ryland, Toll Brothers, toll brothers, trends, Unemployment, Unemployment benefits, washington dc
That's right, according to this video below. So, whenever you see cobweb on your attic that should alert you.
Over at Green Light, they questioned if one day utilities will retrofit your home for free? I am skeptical about that idea. Because someone complained to me this morning about how much they spend monthly on utilities. Their house is of a decent size (3,000 s.f.), not one of McMansions kinda house. But, according to this client, they spent on average $1,000 a month!
Now, you think utilities will sacrifice their cash cow for free? That will be great if they do.
Posted at 05:18 PM in Green Building, Green Living, Home buying & selling, Living Style, Real Estate, Real Estate Investments, Real Estate Trends, Remodeling | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Conservation, Efficient energy use, Energy, Energy conservation, energy efficiency, Green Light, McMansion, real estate, retrofit, solar, Technology, trends
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Spring buying season typically starts in February, and the resulting increase in demand traditionally causes prices to strengthen, and that’s exactly what happened this February as transaction counts increased month-over-month in 22 of the nation’s 25 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) tracked byRadar Logic. Home prices also improved in nine MSAs, compared to just six MSAs in February 2008.
Posted at 06:18 AM in Arlington Real Estate, DC Real Estate, Fairfax Real Estate, Foreclosure, Green Building, Green Living, Home buying & selling, Homes Sales, Housing market, Real Estate, Real Estate Trends, Smart Growth | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: arlington, Business, capitol quarter, EPA, fairfax county, Federal Housing Finance Agency, foreclosure, green home, green living, home price, home sales, housing market, hybrid cars, Iron Chef, kitchen, mayor fenty, National Association of Realtors, northern virginia, real estate, Single-family detached home, smart growth, Virginia, washington dc, Washington Post, woodlawn historic home
According to Eco-Home, K Hovnanian builds a concept high performance home in one of their communities, Eagles Pointe in Woodbridge, VA. They call this project "Building America Concept Home" as a result of its partnership with Department of Energy's Building America research initiative.
Via Eco-Home.
You can read more about the concept house here.
A complete list of Building America project locations, part of DOE initiatives, here.
Posted at 01:37 PM in Green Building, Green Living, Home buying & selling, Homes Sales, Living Style, Prince William Real Estate, Real Estate, Real Estate Trends, Suburban Living, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: building america, Business, business, Construction and Maintenance, eagle pointe, Energy, energy efficient, green home, Heat pump, high performance home, investment, k hovnanian, prince william county, real estate, Spray foam, suburban living, Technology, technology, trends, United States, United States Department of Energy, woodbridge
A new study by Biz Journal ranks McLean, Virginia as the top wealth center in the nation. The ranking is based on 10-part formula to analyze what they called 'the relative affluence' of 2,065 cities across the U.S. Of the 10 part formula, McLean excels in 8 of 10.
McLean's median household income of $156,292 is more than triple the national median of $50,007. (A median is a midpoint, with half of all incomes higher, and half lower.) Thirty-six percent of its households have annual incomes above $200,000, nearly 10 times the U.S. rate of 3.7 percent. And 79 percent of its adults hold bachelor's degrees, compared to 27 percent nationwide.
I am kinda surprise to see McLean in the top ranking of affluence community! I thought Connecticut, NYC would easily slide in to take the title. The prices of houses around here -some of them- far from the million dollar range. Potomac, MD is another burb in DC region that gets to the top 10 communities.
Here's the Top 10 'wealth centers' in the U.S.:
Notice there are more communities in California? Think California is the state with more affluence communities.
Complete list of 250 affluence communities here.
Posted at 06:18 AM in Fairfax Real Estate, Home buying & selling, Homes Sales, Housing market, Maryland Real Estate, Real Estate, Real Estate Investments, Real Estate Trends, Suburban Living | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: business, Connecticut, fairfax county, Garden City New York, Household income in the United States, housing market, Los Altos California, McLean, McLean Virginia, northern virginia, real estate, suburban living, trends, U.S, United States, Virginia, washington dc
Happy Earth Day!
I watched this fascinating documentary on PBS last night. There's a part in this documentary film that takes us to Arlington and Fairfax counties, where Hedrick Smith, Pulitzer Prize winning journalists interviews smart growth expert, county executive about land-use planning.
The biggest problem in major cities is the storm water runoff, via Frontline.
It's a wake up call for everybody. View the full program here. (If you have problem viewing, here is the link to the site.)
Posted at 03:14 PM in Current Affairs, Green Building, Green Living, Smart Growth, Suburban Living, Urban Living | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Documentary film, Drinking water, Environment, Hedrick Smith, Land use planning, Public Broadcasting Service, Pulitzer Prize, smart growth, Smart growth, Stormwater, suburban living, urban living, Urban sprawl

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