It never seems to fail.  The end of the month is packed with closings.  The loan officers are scrambling, the settlement companies are swamped and the Realtors® are shuffling contracts to make sure everything is done.  But is closing at the end of the month all that important?

The answer may depend more on your cash in hand than any other reason.  For many first time homebuyers an end of the month closing means less money needed at the closing table.  First you probably made your last rent payment at the beginning of the month and if you close and move at the end of the month you don't have to worry about another rent payment.  Secondly interest on your mortgage begins on the day the transaction closes.  So if you close on March 30^th then you only have to pre-pay interest for that month or in this case one day.  Your first payment will be due on May 1^st,   when you will be paying April's interest.  Interest is always paid in arrears so in some ways April becomes a "free" month.

There is no harm in closing in the middle of the month and some settlement companies in Northern Virginia offer specials to encourage buyers to choose a settlement date other than the last few days of the month.   If you decide to close in the middle of the month you just need to have extra funds at closing to cover the pre-paid interest that will be due on your loan.  The good news is if you are buying a home at the end of the year and close in the middle of November you won't have a payment due until the 1^st of January.

I generally encourage my first time homebuyers to look at the end of the month to close so they have a little extra money in hand for the incidentals.  For my move up buyers with cash from a previous sale I suggest they take advantage of the less frenetic middle of the month closing.  It is interesting to point out to buyers that no matter when you close you don't actually save any money in the long run.  Your final mortgage payment is still a long way out and it will due 15, 30 or 40 years to the day of your original close.

So it is the end of the month and I'm off to the settlement office!

After 2 years of study the Army today announced that they would not be moving all 22,000 jobs originally slated for Fort Belvoir from Crystal City and Pentagon as part of the BRAC proposal announced in 2005. The impact on the local traffic and roads close to the base in Lorton would have meant many years of additional construction and upwards of $500 million in road improvements.

The goal now is to use an abandoned warehouse area close to the Springfield Metro and VRE station as the new location for most of these jobs.  The hope is the site  within walking distance of the station will allow more of the employees to use public transportation instead of driving and lessen the feared gridlock on the Ft Belvoir area.  The lack of public transportation was one of the last hang ups in the plan to move the personnel to Ft Belvoir.   While this may be a victory for Fairfax County politicans who have been working hard to hold on to the influx of jobs, there will still be a huge impact on the surrounding roads and neighborhoods. Anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't know the driving mentality of area commuters.

With the Springfield Interchange finally completed residents of Springfield who thought they finally had a respite from all night road construction will find it starting all over again.  The new BRAC plan will mean that the final section of the Fairfax County Parkway which has been waiting for funding will finally get underway.  The parkway extension will mean a few homes close to the proposed new  I-95 access ramps will be razed, the remaining two lane section of Rolling Road will be widened and houses along the path of the expansion will now be on the edge of a four lane highway.

Mix this together with the planned Springfield revitalization project, the proposed plans to turn the current Springfield Mall into a mix used development site and I have to ask who thinks the move will mean less impact on traffic congestion in the area?

The chances that a majority of the relocated employees will choose to use the Metro or VRE is unknown.  How many of the employees currently working in Crystal City or the Pentagon use public transportation now?  Will contractors who currently live south of Springfield and already drive suddenly decide to jump on the VRE instead?   How will the older neighborhoods along Backlick and Losidale Roads be impacted by additional cars looking for places to park?  How many days,nights and weekends will traffic be re-routed while construction is underway?

Only time and additional planning will answer many of the questions that I think are left hanging.  In the meantime I'll continue to go to the BRAC meetings and public hearings so that I can keep my clients up to date on the next steps.

Residents of Old Town Alexandria stare across the Potomac River at the enormous cranes that are building the new 300 acre National Harbor Resort Community and shake their heads.  This area, once a tree covered shore, began to take shape as the final section of the Wilson Bridge was completed.  Now the dozens of cranes that are dedicated to building the resort are clearly evident along the shore.

The project scheduled to be completed in April 2008 is estimated to cost $2 Billion dollars.  Gaylord Hotels has announced they are building a convention center hotel with 2000 rooms making it the largest hotel on the east coast.  The plan includes over 2500 luxury condos overlooking the Potomac River and to date one of the first condo projects has sold out their initial offering of 225 condos. 

The developer of National Harbor, Milt Peterson had a dream to build a resort that resembled the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona Spain.  With shops, homes, restaurants and hotel all built around pedestrian friendly walkways. It appears that his dream is coming true.

The business impact on Old Town Alexandria, Del Ray and the West End are still unknown.  Part of the Peterson's plan includes creating a water taxi service from National Harbor to Old Town Alexandria.  Residents of the area are concerned that this may change the face of Old Town from the small sleepy shopping and dining area that it has been known for to a tacky tourist trap. 

Anyone who knows the traffic problems that already exist in Old Town and the areas surrounding the Wilson Bridge don't need a crystal ball to know that once National Harbor is completed that there will be a serious impact on traffic, the environment and the overall feel of the area. 

I had the opportunity recently to tour the most expensive home currently for sale in Fairfax County.  Listed for $14,000,000, Chateau in Oak Hollow is located on a 5 acre lot in an area just outside the historic town of Clifton.   Modeled after a French Chateau the property has an indoor pool, elevator, wine cellar, art gallery and garage space for 8 cars.  The architect of the property designed the property to take advantage of natural resources including geothermal heat.  With wrought iron fencing surrounding the property it is a private retreat that is less than an hour to DC during rush hour.  If you have a car collection (Jay Leno) then you have plenty of space to store your toys.

I was surprised to find that this home was actually listed for more than the historic Hickory Hill home of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy which has been reduced in price to $12,500,000 after almost 3 years on the market. Built in 1815, President John Kennedy purchased the property in 1953 while he was a senator and sold it to his brother in 1957 for $125,000.  On 6 acres in McLean it is surprising that a historian has not snapped up the property.

So my curiosity made me decide to look and see what other properties were lurking in the area for the super rich.  Heading out to Loudoun County I found  a 400 acre property outside the town of Middleburg which can be purchased for $16,000,000.  The home on the property was originally built as a school house in 1830 and a "new" addition was built in 1924.  The home needs updating to bring it up to today's standards but the detail work in the original flooring, plaster moldings and doors is well worth saving.  For a country squire who would like a great retreat property with room for the horses this might be the place to call home.

If you would like to live closer to town then the place to check out is Ferry Landing Villa in Alexandria.  The property sits on 4.5 acres fronting the Potomac River.  This home resembles George Washington's home Mount Vernon (which is only a few miles away).  If you want to swim you can jump in to the pool on the property or play tennis on the private courts.  With a huge dock area and access to the Potomac River this home screams for water lovers to come on in.

We have a total of 25 properties listed for over $5,000,000 in the area so if one of these doesn't work then there are others that might.  So the next time you think that Hollywood is the only place with expensive real estate check around Northern Virginia.  We've got some high priced homes too!

I had a prospective buyer out yesterday and the topic came up about how much more house they could buy today than they could last year in either Prince William or Fairfax County.  Now I am a visual person by nature so I decided to go back and create a couple of combinations of homes in the same neighborhoods that had sold in  2006 & 2007 and one that is currently listed to show just a sampling of the great deals that are available for buyers in the Northern Virginia area today.

I hope that more buyers will see the value that this market has to offer and hop off the fence and enjoy the benefits of homeownership.

Search for homes in Northern Virginia.