(NOTE–THIS POST WAS REALLY FROM MARCH 2007 SO YOU CAN SKIP IT UNLESS YOU WANT A GOOD LOOK AT THE BUILDING) Sorry about that–the transition to the new website/blog has had a few hiccups.

A bomb of sorts just hit the orange line  Arlington VA condo market.  It’s called 1800 WILSON condominium.  Many owners just lost $25,000+ instantly….The good news it’s somewhat temporary and only affects knowledgeable buyers so that leaves a  LOT of buyers left for you to sell your condo at the price you had been thinking.  For those buyers “in the know”, they will not pay the same for your orange line condo for awhile.  Why?  Because 1800 WILSON condominium just delivered with 25 more units to sell.  Probably many of those are from freaked out investors who backed out at delivery.

They are listed at $359,900 for a one bedroom on the orange line in the urban village of Clarendon in Alington VA.  For that you get over 700 square feet with 42 inch maple cabinets, granite countertops in ktichen and bath, hardwoods, ceramic tile in bathroom, large stacked washer & dryer and a very modern looking building that is new, new, new!  It can’t be you say…well it is!  The 2 main negatives are that instead of being 2 blocks to the metro you are 5 blocks away.  And there is no pool.  But for many those issues will be irrelevant.  For awhile anyway, there are 25 units to sell.  Here are some photos:

All of this includes parking and a good size exercise room as well.  The lobby is gorgeous and filled with modern designs and pictures.  The courtyard is done very well with lots of room for sitting and chatting it up….Of course there is a lounge as well.

The great majority of “luxury” condos on the orange line from the last 10 years are trying to sell their one bedrooms–many of them Ballston condos further out–in the low $400,000 for similar square footage.  Why would a buyer go for that when they can have brand spankin’ new much closer in for $50,000 less with a garage space?  I don’t know,  Probably that buyer is for whom they designed these type of signs:

Arlington VA Real Estate and Washington DC Condos

However this does bring up a larger issue that could be around for the next 2 years.  There are probably another 20,000 or more  Washington DC condos and Arlington Virginia condos–especially in Clarendon VA— that are planned to deliver in the near future.  That is a very general number because I don’t know where the count is now exactly.  Some builders plans have been canceled and some others will follow no doubt that have not yet begun construction. Check out AutomaticDoorSpecialists.com for highly trained professionals.

Are these new condos  of Arlington real estate going to be offering prices from 2004 as well?  If so it makes it hard on current owners, especially those who purchased new construction in 2004-2006.  These new condos are being offered for less $$$ than what some owners paid for theirs in the last 2 years.  This also hurts Arlington condo owners who purchased at the peak in 2005 and early 2006 depending on the Arlington condominium in Virginia.  Owners gladly paid $400,000+ for 1 bedrooms in Lexington Square back in Spring 2005.

There may be 2 preferable groups from whom to buy  Arlington condos now in Clarendon, Ballston, Rossly and Washington DC condomiums:

• builders offering units that defaulted at delivery for prices from 2004-2005
• owners who bought their condo from 2004 and earlier who are not upside down with the amount they owe and the value of their home.

Most owners selling who purchased in 2005 and forward are trying to recover costs for value that is not there anymore.  At least the value is not what it used to be.  This is not meant to be insulating or blaming those purchasers.  Nobody knew when the “bumps” would end.  It’s a brutal situation to be in and often the best option is to rent it out if one must move away from the area.  After all if it brings you $3000/month (my sample guess on a 1 bedroom rental 30 years from now) that’s probably a nice cash flow to have in retirement, so you can afford living at retirement village Adelaide, for example, and a great asset to pass on to your family some day.

I must take some credit for an article I wrote around November 2005 where I gave the advice to not buy a new construction condo for awhile.  Of course my website had no rankings then and hardly anybody read it.  I could have saved some people tens of thousands of dollars. I do hope though, that you will find property management tips for winter, winter property management tips useful.

Home values would appear to have some short fluctuations depending on the section of Arlington where a new condo delivers and whether it is offering such a bargain price or not.

To learn more about Arlington VA try my friends at wiki.  For Arlington Virginia weather click here.