I'd like to thank Patty Milligan for the wonderful invite to last night's girls holiday party. The gracious owners of Baileywyck Shoppes in Middleburg, Lisa and Allen Iantosca open their antiques barn for private parties. What a wonderful shop - we found some interesting things like this stuffed baby fox among others! The Antiques shop is situated within Baileywyck Farms which is home to Golden Dreams - a therapeutic riding facility. What a wonderful place I didn't know about until yesterday!
Merry Christmas!
Excellent Price for this Move in Ready brick town home in fantastic Leesburg location. Wood floors Dining room & all of 2nd level. New carpet living room, stairs & den. Enclosed porch is great office or den space Large pantry, lots of storage & pull down attic One of the few with washer & dryer inside the home. Convenient to downtown Leesburg, shopping & schools. Fully fenced backyard, Workshed w/electricity
The Federal Committee lowered rates only .25% of a point. The market reacted horribly sending the bond market way up, which means rates come way down!
The market expected a .5% cut – but did not get it…
You could see a rally of lower rates for a short time. If that happens this would be the 3rd time that rates have been up and then back down to 2 year lows. I cannot imagine this happening again. If you are on the fence about rates – I would suggest taking a step back and seeing that this is your 3rd chance to lock in a great low rate. Will it happen a fourth time? Hard to say.....
It's a true BUYER's Market. Take advantage of both great prices and great rates while you can.
Rain or shine they weren't kidding. It was a dreary, cold, overcast day but boy did the friends and neighbors come out to support the Sunshine Kids Foundation. The tour tickets proceeds go 100% to the kids with cancer.
All of the homes were top notch and decorated for the Holidays- it was magical!
I snuck out with my family to see the other 3 homes on tour, and we were back home by 2:30 pm. Of course, during the time we were away, I missed two of my dear friends who had come through on the tour but plenty more friends came and went during the 4 hour tour.
A HUGE thank you to Robbie East from Fields of Flowers. She made more than 10 arrangements of fresh greens and put them outside and throughout the inside of my house. She donated her time for this great cause. The greenery and arrangements are just beautiful and they smell good too!
Some pictures of our home at left. I just can't say enough about how organized and well run the tour went. Kudos to the girls at Prudential in Hamilton - Sue, Holly and all that worked on this project - thank you and thanks for including us!
I had a great experience at a local furniture store recently. We have been looking for a new leather couch to go with some leather furniture we already have. The quest was long and difficult but I finally found a beautiful couch at Belfort Furniture in Sterling, VA. The only problem- I needed it yesterday.
Our sales person was terrific! Her name is Jeanie Heavener. I work mostly by email so I was able to bug her almost daily about when my couch was coming! I have a furniture "hole" in one room and we are on the house tour this weekend so it had to get here in time. It arrived yesterday at 12:30!
Jeanie can be reached at jeanie.heavener@belfortfurniture.com. She does business like I do - she gets things done right and keeps the customer updated with information - even if there is no info she engaged with me and I felt she was on top of it- she was! Thanks Jeanie!
Put it on your calendar- not to miss. 4 Fantastic Homes on tour (including mine above) all decorated for the Holidays! Tickets on sale at the Prudential office in town at 4 E. Colonial Hwy, Hamilton, VA 20158. 100% of ticket purchase proceeds go to the Sunshine Kids Foundation helping children with cancer.
I just heard on WTOP radio that the Government is working on a program to assist with the mortgage crisis. It's not official yet but the program would help folks who are current on their adjustable rate mortgage payments and would be able to keep up with them at the current rate. This is great news for some people looking for some light at the end of the tunnel. This will help only a small portion of people but some is better than none, right?
I am also hearing speculation that the Fed may drop rates a little more which will also help the cause.
Some projections are saying end of 2008 for prices to stop falling - no one really knows when that will happen. The bottom line is that if you are ready to buy now - now is a GREAT time to buy. Rates are still reasonable. You can get alot of house for the money....What are you waiting for? :D
My husband, Steve is Scotch/Irish. He has always talked about getting a Kilt. I never took him seriously.
Recently, Steve won a few golf matches and the club championship the Purcellville Golf and Country club. I think he's truly enjoying himself - golf is in his blood.
He decided on Tuesday that he should wear a Kilt to the awards banquet (tonight). The Kilt and accessories arrived yesterday and he promptly had to try everything on, including the Sporran. A Sporran is a large purse or pouch made of leather or animal fur to be worn at the front of the kilt from a chain or leather strap, as part of the traditional dress of Scottish Highlanders. A Sporran is great for carrying your keys, wallet or ID. He does have the legs for a kilt - and he actually looks good in it- don't get me wrong.
My dilemma is that now my husband is wearing a skirt AND, he's carrying a purse too. I have no idea what I will wear tonight to the banquet. They do make kilts for women...hmmm.
Sellers be aware. Short sales may seem like the quick and easy fix for getting out of your home pre-foreclosure in this market. The tax implications on a short sale may not be to your benefit. Did you know that you could be getting a tax bill from the IRS on what you owe versus what you sell the home for? If you owe $400k on the house and the market value/sale price is $320k - you could be taxed for that remaining $80,000. The IRS sees that as income to you.
Have an experience attorney discuss the pros and cons so you can make the right choice for you. Realtors are helpful but we are not lawyers or accountants....make sure you are getting all of the information to make an informed decision. Don't hesitate. I can recommend excellent attorneys and tax advisors. Just ask me.
Thanksgiving was a special day, indeed! My nephew and niece reminded me how much fun it is to play. Jacob was "cooking" when I got to my in-laws house in Round Hill, VA. Chef Jacob made real/pretend pizza and "concoction" which was some eggs, milk and a weird mixture of spices. Maggie woke up an hour later from her nap and we all played with my favorite - PLAY DOH!!! Then we searched for 30 minutes for the clothes to Maggie's naked baby (who did not have a name but now we call her Judy). We found the clothes- Jacob had stolen them and put them in a little suitcase in his room. Judy finally had something warm to wear with a matching hat!
Jacob is turning 5 on Christmas Eve and Maggie is just 2. She talks up a storm but you can't really understand much of what she says. She sings Big Rock Candy Mountain non-stop. Jacob is so patient with her and they are really silly together.
At the end of the evening they ran a mad dash around the house in their jammies trying to get away from crazy uncle Steve (my husband) because he was chasing them. Cute, funny and entertaining - these two kids are way better than TV!
They are at the really fun age where they say and do funny things and entertain everyone. I hope they never grow up... (on the Big Rock Candy Mountain)
