Homes Are Selling Fast in Arlington

For most people selling their house the second most important thing, after netting the highest offer price, is selling the house fast.

Research done by realtor Brian Block shows that most homes under contract in Arlington and Alexandria have been on the market for less than 60 days. In some price ranges, it's as low as 36 days on average.

The only price ranges to average more than 60 days are $700-800 thousand and homes listed at over $1 million.

Of the 1,223 active listings in the MLS in the Arlington and Alexandria only 441 have been listed for more than 60 days, accounting for just 36%.

National Cherry Blossom Festival

This week is the 98th National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. which commemorates the gift of Japanese cherry trees from Yukio Ozaki, Mayor of Tokyo, on March 27, 1912.

The festival, being held between March 27 and April 11 this year, includes activities such as the Opening Ceremony on March 27, a fireworks display April 3, and a parade and Japanese street festival known as Sakura Matsuri on April 10. Other events include a 10-mile run, arts and crafts, kite festival, and other perfomances and events. You can check dates, times, and locations on the National Cherry Blossom Festival website.

About 700,000 tourists visit Washington D.C. annually during these weeks of celebration.

Among the interesting facts about the cherry trees are that the United States government responded with a gift of dogwood trees to the people of Japan, the festival was suspended during World War II and resumed in 1947, 3,800 more trees were accepted in 1965 by Lady Bird Johnson, Japanese horticulturists took clippings of the trees in Washington D.C. in 1981 to replace Yoshino trees in Japan that had been destroyed in a flood, and in 1999 plantings were made from clippings of a famous tree in Gifu Prefecture believed to be 1,500 years old.

Caps Beat Pens in OT

The Washington Capitols beat rivals Pittsburgh Penguins in a shootout Wednesday night in the second overtime between the two teams at the Verizon Center this year. The club tie their record points total for a single season at 108.

Penguins forward Jordan Staal tied the game at three with 3:06 remaining in the third period. After the five minutes of 4-on-4 overtime hockey failed to produced a result for either team Pittsburgh then went up 2-0, off the sticks of Kris Letang and superstar Sidney Crosby, in the ensuing shootout.

Russian duo Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin deked Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to net the goals that tied the affair before Mike Knuble scored his first career shootout goal giving the Caps their second straight win. He was 0-4 in the extra time situation before last night.

The excitment down the stretch was intense as the Caps overturned a 2-1 third period deficit due to a shorthanded goal by Semin and a deflected goal by Eric Fehr less than two minutes apart.

The game's three stars included Semin and Staal who were joined by Capitols goalie Jose Theodore who came away from the game with 39 saves in 65 minutes and a .929 save percentage. The game was Theodore's seventh straight win and also extended his regulation unbeaten streak to 19 games, going 17-0-2 in that span.

Washington now has a chance to clinch first place in the Eastern Conference with a New Jersey Devils loss to the New York Rangers in their meeting Thursday.

Scoring Summary:
1st:
None

2nd:
[Washington - 1:02] Knuble (26) A: Backstrom, Ovechkin
[Pittsburgh - 2:21] Talbot (2) A: Orpik, Adams
[Pittsburgh - 14:39 - PPG] Guerin (19) A: Crosby, Ponikarovsky

3rd:
[Washington - 5:36 - SHG] Semin (34) A: None
[Washington - 7:32] Fehr (21) A: Green, Belanger
[Pittsburgh - 16:54] Staal (21) A: Kunitz, Leopold

OT:
None

SO:
[Pittsburgh] Letang (Goal)
[Washington] Backstrom (Save)
[Pittsburgh] Crosby (Goal)
[Washington] Ovechkin (Goal)
[Pittsburgh] Guerin (Save)
[Washington] Semin (Goal)
[Pittsburgh] Kunitz (Save)
[Washington] Knuble (Goal)

Now is the Time to Sell Your House

In the real estate industry timing is everything (aside from location, location, location of course). The evenflow of market trends relies on the basic principle of supply and demand. If supply is low and there aren't a lot of houses for sale then those few that are selling can demand a higher price for their home.

A normal or balanced inventory is 6 months of houses on the market. If there is more than six months it favors the buyers, who have more options. Less than six months favors the sellers, who will see more interest from buyers.

Right now there are around 635 houses for sale in Arlington County. In the last six months there have been 1,182 home sales. Therefore, Arlington County has only 3.2 months of inventory.

This means that it is a seller's market, and if you have been thinking about selling your house or moving now is the time and the market is just right for you to get a bigger offer on your home.

St. Patrick's Day

While a lot of people celebrate St. Patrick's Day, it seems that very few know why the holiday is celebrated.

For many, St. Patty's is a day for celebrating Irish heritage, wearing green, and drinking Guinness. It's day where "everyone is Irish" and an excuse to get fall-down drunk without consequences. But the real reason behind the holiday is much more subdued.
Celebrated every March 17, St. Patrick's Day began as a Catholic holiday but evolved into a more secular celebration of all things Irish.

St. Patrick was the most commonly recognized patron saint of Ireland. He was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland as a slave at the age of 16. He later escaped back to Britain and became a priest, returning to Ireland to convert it's people to Christianity. According to folklore, he used the shamrock to teach about the holy trinity.

Today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by people of all ethnicities and religions all over the United States. Boston has the longest-running parade, dating back to 1737, while Chicago uses vegetable-dye to color it's river green, and Seattle paints the traffic stripe green along the parade route. Several professional baseball and basketball teams, notably the Boston Red Sox and New York Knicks, have special green jerseys they wear in games around the holiday.

2010 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

Yesterday, Sunday March 14, was Selection Sunday, when the 65-team field is announced for the NCAA college basketball tournament. Here's a recap of the Virginia/D.C./Maryland teams:

School (Seed/Region)

Georgetown (3rd/Midwest): The Hoyas will play Ohio in the opening round. They were ranked #22 in both the AP and coaches poll after finishing 23-10 (10-8 Big East). The Hoyas have been coached by John Thompson III since the 2004-2005 season. He is the son of John Thomspon Jr., the first African American head coach to win a major collegiate championship when his Georgetown Hoyas won the NCAA Men's Division-I Basketball Championship in 1984.
Georgetown lost to West Virginia in the final of the Big East Men's Basketball Tournament.

Maryland (4th/Midwest): The Terrapins will play Houston in the opening round. They were ranked #19 in both the AP and coaches poll after finishing 23-8 (13-3 in the ACC). The Terps are led by senior guard Greivis Vasquez, averaging around 20 points and 6 assists per game. Vasquez is a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the country's best point guard. Maryland lost in the quarterfinal of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament to Georgia Tech.

Richmond (7th/South): The Spiders play St. Mary's in the opening round. They head into the tournament unranked, finishing 26-8 (13-3 A10). Richmond lost to Temple in the final of the Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament.

Old Dominion (11th/South): The Monarchs play Notre Dame in the opening round. They head into the tournament unranked, finishing 26-8 (15-3 CAA). Old Dominion won an automatic berth by winning their 2nd Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship.

Morgan State (15th/East): The Bears play West Virginia in the opening round. They head into the tournament unranked, finishing 27-9 (15-1 MEAC). Morgan State won an automatic berth by winning their 5th Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship.

Open Your Doors and Close Your Drawers

Realtors that are holding open houses should be vigilant of a man in search of prescription pills according to Northern Virginia Association of Realtors.

Members are cautioned to advise their seller clients to remove all jewelry,
valuables and prescription drugs from their homes and to double check cabinets
and drawers for those items prior to Open Houses.

This past weekend, two local Realtors® hosted a Fairfax County Open House
and observed suspicious behavior by a visitor. One of the agents remembered this
house hunter from a past Open House where prescription drugs were stolen. He
observed the person looking into the medicine cabinets after requesting to be
alone in the bathroom “to make a call.”The alleged suspect is a white male,
about 5'11", approximately 180 lbs., with light-colored hair, shoulder-length in
back. His vehicle was a late model F150 royal blue pick-up truck, with “4 x
4” in white letters on the back end.

Should you come across this person, it is advised that you do not attempt a confrontation. Please call police authorities immediately.

Largest Home in U.S.

The largest home in the United States is located in Sagaponack, NY. Sitting in a 63 acre compound in the Hamptons, the 29 bedroom, 39 bathroom waterfront estate at 281 Daniels Lane belongs to billionaire Ira Rennert.

The 66,395 square foot Italian mansion includes a staff wing, indoor theater, gym, lounge, game room, billiard room, two bowling alleys, two tennis courts, two squash courts, a handball court, a basketball court, and a 17,000 square foot garage large enough to hold 100 vehicles.

The property is estimated to be worth around $203 million.

Redskins Roster Overhaul Begins

As NFL free agency begins, one would expect the Washington Redskins to be making a lot of headlines this offseason. The team has a new general manager in Bruce Allen, a new head coach in Mike Shanahan, and perhaps a new philosophy for a team known for signing past-their-prime talents to huge mega-contracts.

The first headlines came Thursday when the Redskins made room on their roster by releasing wide reciever Antwaan Randle El, cornerback Fred Smoot, defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin, kick returner Rock Cartwright, guard Randy Thomas, quarterback Todd Collins, and running back Ladell Betts.

Offensive tackle Chris Samuels retired this offseason, leaving Derrick Dockery the only offensive lineman left on the roster among last years opening day starters.

With no salary cap this year, owner Dan Snyder should open up the purse strings this offseason, as he usually does. It being an uncapped year, he has no ceiling to worry about as far as player salaries go. The team has already signed Artis Hicks, an offensive guard from the Minnesota Vikings. Hicks is 31 years old and began his career with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Arlington Stats

I recently came across Sperling's Best Places website, which researches, studies, and posts information about specific places, such as the 22204 zip code in Arlington, Virginia.

I found out that the 22204 zip code's population in 2009 was 52,189, an increase of 4.6% since 2000. The cost of living is 29.53% higher than the U.S. average. Public schools spend $9,270 per student while the national average is $6,058, and there are 11 students per teacher. The unemployment rate is 4.4% (national average is 8.5%), while job growth is up .9%.

The medium home cost is $358,600 and home appreciation was -16.8%. The average age of a home is 46 years (national average 27). Interestingly, only around a third of the homes are owned by the occupants and the property tax rate ($8.53) is well under the national average ($13.28).

More information on Arlington (22204) can be found here.

NHL Trade Deadline Wrap-Up

The annual swap-meet has come and gone, with the NHL trade deadline passing at 3 p.m. yesterday, March 3, 2010. The Washington Capitols made some moves to bolster their roster for their inevitable playoff run and my Buffalo Sabres wheeled a few deals as well. Overall, however, it was a relatively tame day when compared to years past, with most of the big splashes around the league coming before the Vancouver Olympics began.

The Capitols picked up a familiar face in defenseman Milan Jurcina, coming back from the Columbus Blue Jackets just 6 weeks after being traded away with former captain Chris Clark for Jason Chimera. The Caps were also talking to the Carolina Hurricanes much of day, acquiring right winger Scott Walker early in the day and later sending the rights of blue-liner Brian Pothier and minor-leaguer Oskar Osala in exchange for those of Joe Corvo, another veteran defenseman. Finally, Washington brought in center Eric Belanger from the Minnesota Wild, adding depth down the middle of the ice.

While the Capitols were expected to bring in a veteran, shutdown defenseman they instead ended up adding attack minded blue-liners to their already potent offensive roster while not sacrificing too much in the process, a few fringe players and late round draft picks aside.

My Buffalo Sabres, currently sitting comfortably in fifth place, ended up standing pat for the most part, although they did bring in forward and power-play threat Raffi Torres from the Columbus Blue Jackets, who immediately becomes the leading goalscorer on a defensive roster that boasts Olympics MVP goalie Ryan Miller. The Sabres sent oft-scratched defenseman Nathan Paetsch and a second round pick to Columbus in exchange. The acquisition of Torres made the services of underachieving Clark MacAurthur no longer necessary, and he was traded away to the Atlanta Thrashers for a third round draft pick next year.

The Sabres general manager Darcy Regier feels pretty comfortable with the players he currently has and a day that ends up with basically a swap of MacAurthur for Torres can be seen as a significant upgrade. While they didn’t add any depth, the front office feels that several youngsters at minor league affiliate Portland are close to contributing on the big stage.

Puck Daddy’s 2010 NHL Trade Deadline Report Cards

The two teams met last night in a hum-drum game in which Washington won 3-1. None of the new faces were in their sweaters just yet and many of the players that were on the ice still seemed to be on vacation after coming off the Olympic break. Mike Green scored the winning goal midway through the third period and the Sabres were finished off by an empty net goal scored by Boyd Gordon. Ryan Miller looked fresh, however, after getting a break against the Pittsburgh Penguins last night in a 2-1 loss in which Patrick Lalime played in goal.
With around 20 games remaining for both teams, the final stretch of the regular season begins and once they get their skates under them and the postseason looms closer things will get pretty exciting on the ice in these two cities.

By: David

Weatherize D.C.

WeatherizeDC is a campaign of the DC Project. They are hoping to weatherize 200 homes by the end of March in order to save homeowners 30% on their energy bills and offset 3,645 metric tons of carbon.

Weatherization Process

The process of having your home weatherized can be confusing. WeatherizeDC breaks down the process into four simple steps you can take to reduce your energy bills and create a more comfortable home.

1. Home Energy Audit

Every weatherization begins with an energy audit to assess how your home consumes energy. A certified energy auditor will come to your home for 3-4 hours to evaluate every area and pinpoint where your house is losing energy.

Your energy audit will evaluate the performance of your home's building envelope including the walls, ceilings, floors, doors, windows, and skylights. energy loss often occurs in places where you can not see or feel it.

2. Audit Report or Audit Review and Recommendations

After the energy audit, you will receive a detailed report from your auditor that will prioritize your home's efficiency upgrades according to the greatest to least cost effective opportunities for energy savings. If you've already had a home energy audit you can participate in an audit review with your auditor to confirm and update efficiency upgrade recommendations.

3. Weatherization

Every home is different and your energy audit will dictate which weatherization improvements make the most sense for your home. In Northwest DC, frequent recommendations include sealing air leaks and adding insulation, improving heating and cooling systems, and improving ductwork.

With the WeatherizeDC Community Discount, you can typically spend $2,000-$4,000 to achieve a desired 15%-30% reduction in energy use.

4. Enjoy Your Energy Savings

After completing your weatherization you will immediately enjoy reduced energy consumption with improved comfort, health and safety.

Cash for Clunkers (Appliances)

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Virginia has been allocated $7.45 million from the U.S. Department of Energy in order to set up a new appliance rebate program set to launch in April 2010.

USA Hockey Takes Silver from Olympics

In the men's hockey gold medal game on Sunday, the U.S. were beaten by Canada 3-2 in overtime. Sidney Crosby scored the game winner seven minutes into the extra period.

Canada took an early lead off the stick of Jonathan Toews in the first period and extended it to through Corey Perry in the second. The U.S., who had beaten Canada in the earlier group stage of the tournament, showed great resiliance as Ryan Kesler took a point back later in the second to bring the game to a score of 2-1 and Zach Parise tied the score at two with 24 seconds left in the third period to send the matchup into extra time.

Unfortunately, the Cinderella story ended as tournament MVP and American goalie Ryan Miller was beaten by "Sid the Kid" to seal the gold medal for the Canadians. The Americans, however, had a spectacular two week jouney in Vancouver.

They were an afterthought before the games began. USA general manager Brian Burke fielded the youngest team, averaging 26 years old, and had only 3 players, Chris Drury, Jamie Langdenbrunner, and Brian Rafalski, on the roster with previous Olympic experience.

Team USA and coach Ron Wilson can hold their heads high with pride after winning the silver medal in 2010. They can also hang their hats on the great performances of Miller (Tournament MVP, Best Goaltender, Tournament All-Star), Rafalski (Best Defenseman, Tournament All-Star), and Parise (Tournament All-Star).