All posts by thaihung

Reset Garage Door Keypad Code (Thay Đổi Số Cửa Garage)

Hình minh họa từ
https://www.liftmaster.com/877max-wireless-keyless-entry-system/p/G877MAX

  • Trên Máy mở cửa garage (garage opener), có nút Learn (thường hình vuông màu đỏ).
  • Để xóa code cũ: Bắc thang lên Bấm nút Learn, khi nào cái đèn chỉ định nhỏ kế bên nút Learn tắt thì bỏ tay ra (đây là để xóa code cũ)
  • Để cài code mới: Bấm nút Learn 1, lần này đèn chỉ định nhỏ kế bên nút sẽ sáng lên. Đèn này sẽ sáng trong vòng 20 giây.
  • Trong 20 giây này, đi tới Garage Code Pad bấm code mình muốn, bấm Enter (nếu có nút Enter). Mình sẽ thấy đèn chính của garage nháy 1 lần, có nghĩa là code đã nhận”.
  • Thử lại bằng cách bấm số code & bấm Enter (nếu có nút Enter). Cửa garage sẽ mở hoặc đóng theo code này

Housing Market 2020??? Check out this forecast from Realtor.com

Summary - 2020 housing market predictions - Realtor.com
https://www.realtor.com/research/2020-national-housing-forecast/

2020 Housing Market Predictions – Realtor.com

DECEMBER 4, 2019

National Housing Forecast 2020: Housing markets search for new balance

– Home price growth will flatten, with a forecasted increase of 0.8 percent
– Giá nhà sẽ bình quân lại với dự đoán rằng giá sẽ tăng khoảng 0.8%
– Inventory will remain constrained, especially at the entry-level price segment
Số lượng nhà bán sẽ ít lại, đặc biệt trong tầm giá của những người mua nhà lần đầu
– Mortgage rates are likely to bump up to 3.88 percent by the end of the year
– Lãi xuất vay mượn chắc rằng sẽ tăng tới 3.88% vào cuối năm
– Tight inventory and rising mortgage rates will lead to dropping sales
– Số lượng nhà bán ít và lãi xuất lời tăng cao sẽ dẫn đến tình trạng giảm số lượng mua bán
– Buyers will continue to move to affordability, benefiting mid-sized markets
Những người mua tiếp tục dời chuyển vào các thị trường với giá nhà vừa túi tiền nên tạo nhiều thuận lợi cho các thị trường nhà giá trung bình


Realtor.com Forecast for Key Housing Indicators

Housing IndicatorRealtor.com 2020 Forecast
Mortgage RatesAverage 3.85% throughout the year, 3.88% by end of year
Existing Home Median Sales Price AppreciationUp 0.8%
Existing Home SalesDown 1.8%
Single-Family Home Housing StartsUp 6%
Homeownership Rate64.6%

Click Here To Read More from Realtor.com

Update on Amazon @Arlington

Open Amazon Jobs in Arlington Passes 300

ARLnow.comNovember 1, 2019 at 9:15am

Amazon is now listing more than 300 open positions in Arlington on its jobs website.

After hovering in the double digits for much of the year since hiring began in April, the number has been quickly increasing, though it includes both jobs at Amazon’s new, temporary HQ2 in Crystal City and at an existing office in Ballston.

The top job categories listed are mostly technical in nature, including:

Software development (113 jobs)
Sales, advertising and account management (54 jobs)
Systems, quality and security engineering (28 jobs)
Project/program/product management-technical (22 jobs)
Solutions architect (22 jobs)
Amazon has repeatedly said it is hoping to hire 400 people to work at its new headquarters by the end of the year. There seems to be no shortage of interest — thousands attended an Amazon job fair in September and a poll found that three-quarters of IT workers in the region would consider jumping ship to Amazon.

The Amazon jobs website says the tech giant is “looking to foster a sense of place for our teams and community residents” at HQ2. The website encourages applicants to “come build the future with us.”

Amazon selected Arlington, Virginia as the location for its second headquarters. Amazon will invest $2.5 billion dollars, occupy 4 million square feet of energy efficient office space, and create at least 25,000 new full-time jobs. Our employees and the neighboring community will also benefit from the associated investments from the Commonwealth including infrastructure updates, public transportation improvements, and new access to Reagan National Airport.

By working together on behalf of our customers, we are building the future one innovative product, service, and idea at a time. Are you ready to embrace the challenge? Come build the future with us.

A brief story about Vietnamese immigrants from the authentic Vietnamese food center!

WAMU | FEB 25

This Is How The Eden Center Became A Hub For Vietnamese In Virginia

Matt Blitz

We’re digging into the past, present, and future of Eden Center, the mall that for more than 30 years has been a home for Virginia’s Vietnamese community. Today we explore how the shopping plaza was built; tomorrow we’ll hear how Eden Center is looking to the future.

It’s a few days before the Vietnamese New Year in early February at Eden Center in Falls Church, Virginia, and the highest concentration of Vietnamese-owned businesses under one roof in America is a buzz of activity preparing for this annual celebration. At Huong Binh Bakery, 87-year old Anh Le sits at the counter putting the finishing touches on handmade pink pork rolls. His son Quang takes stock of popular holiday items like Bánh chưng and Mứt dừa, making sure there’s enough for the tide of customers about to roll in. Behind the clock tower and just inside of the mall, Vicki Tu of Dupont Central Jewelry helps a customer decide on the perfect bracelet to give as a new year’s gift. Her husband David, glasses slipping down his nose, watches as a worker chisels away on a ring. All around the roughly 120-store, 200,000 square foot shopping plaza, the words Chúc mừng năm mới reverberate through the air as preparations are underway for the Year of the Pig.

The story of how this Northern Virginia community came together starts in Vietnam. For two long decades, from 1955 to 1975, the country was consumed by civil war. America joined in the fight by sending more than three million American troops overseas in support of the South Vietnamese government repelling the North Vietnamese communists. It didn’t work: On April 30, 1975, the city of Saigon fell to the communists.

…… Read more here

Schools! How important is it in the decision making process of homebuyers?

Home Buyers Forego Garages for School Districts

  • 78 percent of buyers in their preferred school district gave up home features to get there
  • Most common compromises include a garage, large backyard, and updated kitchen
  • Nearly three-quarters of respondents say good schools were important to their search
housing schools

Today’s seller’s market is forcing buyers to make compromises, but new survey [1] data shows buyers remain steadfast in their desire for their preferred good school districts. In fact, they are willing to give up two of their most desired home features — a garage and updated kitchen — to get into the right school district they want.

Most buyers understand that they may not be able to find a home that covers every single item on their wish list, but our survey shows that school districts are an area where many buyers aren’t willing to compromise. For many buyers and not just buyers with children, “location, location, location,” means “schools, schools, schools.”

Click Here To Read More about this excellent research from Realtor.com

Lunar New Year – Chinese New Year – Vietnamese Tet


Lunar New Year is the celebration of the beginning of the year based on Lunar Calendar (the cycles of the moon).  This year, Lunar New Year will be on February 05, 2019.  Vietnamese, Chinese, and a number of other East Asians are celebrating the same Lunar New Year.  Here are some Lunar New Year Celebrations in the Washington DC and Northern Virginia (Fairfax & Arlington) area:

Hội Chợ Tết Xá Lợi (Tet Festival) – Thomas Jefferson High School – 6560 Braddock Rd. Alexandria, VA 22312
Date: 26-27, Jan 2019
Chinese New Year Celebration – Luther Jackson Middle School: Feb 2 10-6
Hội Chợ Tết La Vang – Chantilly Expo: Feb 2: 10-11, Feb 3: 10-10
Tysons Corner: Feb 2: 11-1PM. Fashion Court outside of Nordstrom
Fair Oaks Mall: Feb 2 & 3: 1-5PM
Kennedy Center: Feb 09: 10 – 4PM
Parade – Chinatown DC: Feb 10: 1 – 4PM
Eden Center – Mua Lan (Lion Dance): Dates are not confirmed, but tentatively Feb 9 & Feb 10 between 11AM – 1PM

 

About Vietnamese Lunar New Year, directly from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%E1%BA%BFt

Tết ([tet˧˥] or [təːt˧˥]), Vietnamese New Year, Vietnamese Lunar New Year or Tet Holiday, is the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture. The word is a shortened form of Tết Nguyên Đán (節元旦), which is Sino-Vietnamese for “Feast of the First Morning of the First Day”. Tết celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese calendar, which usually has the date falling in January or February in the Gregorian calendar.[1]

Vietnamese people celebrate the Lunar New Year annually, which is based on a lunisolar calendar (calculating both the motions of Earth around the Sun and of the Moon around Earth). Tết is generally celebrated on the same day as Chinese New Year, except when the one-hour time difference between Vietnam and China results in new moon occurring on different days. It takes place from the first day of the first month of the Vietnamese calendar (around late January or early February) until at least the third day. Many Vietnamese prepare for Tết by cooking special holiday food and cleaning the house. These foods include bánh chưng, bánh dày, dried young bamboo soup (canh măng), giò, and sticky rice. Many customs are practiced during Tết, such as visiting a person’s house on the first day of the new year (xông nhà), ancestor worship, wishing New Year’s greetings, giving lucky money to children and elderly people, and opening a shop.

Tết is also an occasion for pilgrims and family reunions. They start forgetting about the troubles of the past year and hope for a better upcoming year. They consider Tết to be the first day of spring, and the festival is often called Hội xuân (spring festival).

Tax Reform – Should you prepay your 2018 Real Estate Tax?

So many of us were rushing to pay real estate tax before the year end because of the tax reform that was signed into law.  Now, it may not be as necessary as many may have thought.  This is an article from Northern Virginia Association of Realtors so you can understand why.

Prepaying 2018 Real Estate Tax in Northern Virginia of No Benefit

12/29/2017

By Jill Landsman, NVAR Vice President of Communications & Media Relations

tax_documents

Last-Minute Crunch to Prepay NOVA Taxes Gives Way to Confusion, Time Wasted

Don’t shell out money for your tax bill just yet.

A tax loophole that eager taxpayers were hoping to take advantage of might be narrower than some thought.

Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax localities have not assessed taxes for 2018.

This means that citizens’ prepayment of their taxes would not be deductible, according to a statement by the IRS. Consult with an accountant or a tax professional to review your own circumstances, advises the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors®.

The new tax bill, which takes effect on January 1, does cap to $10,000 the previously unlimited deduction for state and local taxes.  The I.R.S. guidance about the ability of people to prepay property taxes this year does not apply locally for 2018.

This has led to confusion locally since many eager homeowners in Northern Virginia, a high-cost community, have prepaid taxes to save money.

Property taxes paid this year will be subject to the old 2017 rules, since those taxes are assessed in 2017.

To clarify county positions, each local government has published its own information:

Arlington:

The Arlington County Treasurer’s Office and Arlington County have received multiple inquiries based on the statement issued by the Internal Revenue Service on December 27, 2017, concerning deductibility of the property taxes.  Neither the Treasurer nor the County staff will be offering individuals advice on tax issues and suggest people consult with a tax professional for any IRS related questions. Arlington County, through the Department of Real Estate Assessment issues real property tax assessments each year in mid-January.  The assessments for Calendar Year 2018 will be completed in mid-January and mailed to residents at that time. Bills for taxes owed for calendar year 2018 are generated by the Treasurer after a tax rate is set by the County Board in April.

Those bills are due and payable in two installments – by June 15 for the first portion, and October 5 for the second portion.

Alexandria:

On December 27, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued an  advisory stating that prepayment of 2018 local real estate taxes may not be deductible on 2017 federal income tax returns. The advisory follows the City of Alexandria’s December 21  announcement that while the City accepts prepayments, there may be no benefit of prepayment depending on a variety of factors. The City continues to encourage taxpayers who are considering prepayment to consult qualified tax professionals before deciding whether to prepay and determining the date by which payment must be sent or received. The IRS advisory clarifies that “a prepayment of anticipated real property taxes that have not been assessed prior to 2018 are not deductible in 2017.”  State law and the  City Charter provide that all real property must be assessed at fair market value as of January 1 each year, and the amount of the real estate tax cannot be assessed until the tax rate is set by City Council in May of each year. Consequently, there is no legal or practical way for 2018 Alexandria property values or real estate taxes to be assessed in 2017.

More than 650 Alexandria taxpayers have made apparent prepayments of more than $6 million from December 1 through December 27. Customers who made prepayments may request refunds by contacting the City’s Treasury Division as indicated below, and including the taxpayer’s name, the address of the applicable property, the type of tax prepaid (real estate or personal property), the amount of the prepayment, the date of the prepayment, and the method of prepayment (in-person, by mail, online, or dropbox). Given the unprecedented potential for refund requests, refunds may take up to six weeks to process. Any prepayments not requested to be refunded will be applied to future 2018 balances if no other outstanding balances are due to the City.

Fairfax:

The Fairfax County Department of Tax Administration (DTA) accepts real estate and vehicle tax prepayments from Fairfax County taxpayers. Fairfax County makes no representations about the deductibility of the advance tax payments for federal or state taxes. Residents are advised to seek tax advice from their tax advisors or from the Internal Revenue Service regarding deductibility of prepaid property taxes.

Tax rates for 2018 have not been finalized. Taxpayers seeking to prepay 2018 taxes may estimate their tax bill based upon their 2017 taxes, and any difference can be billed or refunded once the tax rate is adopted by the Board of Supervisors in April 2018. If you are currently getting your taxes escrowed, you will be responsible for working with your mortgage company on any future adjustments to your escrow account.

Taxpayers seeking a refund of prepaid taxes may do so by emailing Refunds@fairfaxcounty.gov and providing the following information:

  • Date paid
  • Amount paid
  • Payment method (i.e., wire transfer, check, cash, etc.)
  • Taxpayer name
  • Taxes prepaid (i.e., real estate, personal property)
  • Parcel ID or personal property #
https://www.nvar.com/realtors/news/blogs-multimedia/default-blog-page/real-estate-news/2017/12/29/prepaying-2018-real-estate-tax-in-northern-virginia-of-no-benefit

Housing Market Update – Sept 2017

Housing market in Northern Virginia is doing quite well comparing to the other parts of the country:

– Homes were sold 17.65% faster with Average Days on the market went down to 42 days vs 51 days in Sept 2016.
– Number of Under Contract homes increase 22% compared to Sept 2016. This shows a stronger absorption rate.
– Inventory is only 2.81 months of supply compared to 2.9 months in Sept 2016 (Balance market has 6 months of inventory)
– Average Sales Price is 3.92% higher than Sept 2016
– Total home sold is 3.28% less than Sept 2016 (1620 compared to 1675).
In general, this local housing market appears to be sustainable.  Most homes on the market at a price higher than market value tend to stay longer on the market. At the same time, homes that are not updated or are in move-in ready condition will experience longer time of the market as well as price adjustment/reduction.  Well updated homes and well priced homes are still in strong demand and still receive multiple bids.

Source: https://www.nvar.com/realtors/news/market-statistics/market-statistics-september-2017

Northern Virginia Housing Market Update
Northern Virginia Housing Market Update

We live in Arlington by Lynda Terrill

My true friend wrote this blog about Arlington and I have to ask her permission to repost because it reflects so well the genuine perspective of an Arlingtonian.  It’s not something about what’s good or bad, but about the feelings and emotion!

“I loved and I do love the diversity of Arlington.  At the Arlington Education and Employment Program (REEP), I taught adult immigrants and refugees from over 80 countries.  Even now, when Arlington is much trendier than in the old days, I look out from my Starbucks table and see people from everywhere walk by on Clarendon Avenue…”

Lynda’s full blog is here:

We live in Arlington

 

Short Sale là gì?

Short Sale là 1 chuyên từ bất động sản được sử dụng phổ biết trong những năm 2007 trở đi.  Chính nghĩa của nó là Sale with Shortage, có nghĩa là bán nhà nhưng vẫn không đủ trả nợ cho nhà băng chủ nợ của căn nhà.

 

Người bán nợ nhà băng nhiều hơn giá trị nhà đang bán.  Khi họ bán, họ sẽ phải cần sự chấp thuận của nhà băng của họ về giá bán cũng như điều kiện của hợp đồng của người mua (vì giá bán thấp hơn món nợ người bán đang có với nhà băng chủ nợ của họ).  Sau khi người bán chịu bán cho người mua thì nhà băng đó mới xem xét và quyết định.  Nhà băng chủ nợ của người bán có toàn quyền từ chối hoặc đồng ý với hợp đồng của người mua.   Người mua cũng như người bán không biết chắc được là có hoàn tất mua bán căn nhà hay không

Updated Kitchen

 

cho đến lúc nào nhà băng chủ nợ chính thức đồng ý.  Thời gian chờ đợi nhà băng ra quyết định này (Yes or No) không nhất định là bao lâu, có thể từ 1 tháng đến 6 tháng, mà cũng có thể kéo dài hơn.