Kid-Friendly Moving Tips

Planning a move is often difficult, but planning one with children is even harder. Kids and teenagers aren’t thrilled by the prospect of moving to a new home, especially in a new location away from their friends, but these steps you help ease the transition, say experts at Parents.com and TLC.

Start by getting the kids involved in the house-hunting process. Take them to see the homes you are considering buying, or show them photos or a virtual tour. Learn as much as you can about the community and the neighborhood.

Get the kids involved in de-cluttering the home. Go through the house, room by room, and have them identify what items they want to discard and what they want to keep.

Let kids map out their new room, and choose the colors to decorate it. If they want, let them help arrange and decorate other rooms in the house. For teenagers, set a budget and let them pick out colors, linens, rugs and furniture, and encourage them to shop at thrift stores for knick knacks.

Once you have moved, plan a welcome party and invite a few neighbors with kids to get acquainted. Tour the new neighborhood to locate places of interest to children, such as a playground, school, library, and movie theater.

Moving is never easy for kids, but these ideas can help them look forward to their new home.

Source: CRS Homenewsletter

Northern Virginia Housing Market Update – August 2013

Thị trường địa ốc vùng Bắc Virginia (Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, 1 phần của Prince William, 1 phần của Loudoun County) là 1 trong những vùng dẫn đầu trên toàn nước Mỹ trong tháng 8, 2013.  Dựa vào thông tin cập nhật của RBIntel.com, thị trường địa ốc ở đây có trung bình 68 căn nhà bán mỗi ngày.  Hầu hết các căn nhà này bán nhanh chóng trong vòng dưới 1 tháng (29 ngày).  Đây là 1 trong thị trường nhà đất rất mạnh trên toàn quốc gia.  Chủ nhà thường lấy được 98% giá bán được so với giá rao bán lúc đầu. Chọn lựa 1 người Realtor phù hợp rất quan trọng để giúp bạn có lợi thế hơn nhiều trong vụ việc bán nhà.

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Nhiều người tiên đoán rằng chấm lời cao sẽ làm giảm hoạt tính của thị trường nhà đất.  Tuy nhiên, thực tế cho thấy rằng mỗi tầm giá đều có những đặc tính và mấu chốt khác nhau trong thị trường nhà đất.  Người Realtor thích hợp phải là chuyên gia phân tích thị trường và vạch lên được kế hoạch chi tiết để xác định đặt đúng vị trí căn nhà của bạn lên thị trường.

The housing market in Northern Virginia area including Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, parts of Prince William, and parts of Loudoun County has been spearheading the whole nation in the month of August. According to the Real Estate Business Intelligence (www.RBIntel.com), we typically have 68 houses sold per day (on an average of 30 days/month).  Most houses for sale are on the market for shy of 1 month (29 days).  This is a very healthy real estate market in the country.  Most owners will net around 98% of their list price.  With the help of the right Realtors, the odd of selling your house will just play towards your advantage.

Many speculators claimed that the increase of interest rate would slow down the real estate activities.  The fact is each price range will have a different approach and expectation of the sale.  The Realtors should be able to analyze the market and come up with appropriate proposal of where the house should be positioned in the market.

Statistic Values YoY MoM
Total Sold Dollar Volume $1,094,493,183 +14.57% -8.41%
Closed Sales 2,052 +12.87% -4.38%
Median Sold Price $470,000 +3.64% -4.07%
Avg Sold Price $533,379 +1.5% -4.22%
Avg Days on Market 29 days -34.09% +16%
Avg Sold to Orig List Ratio 98.24% +1.29% -0.22%

Statistics from www.RBIntel.com