3 Steps to Find the Best School for Your Kids

     

Here are three steps you can take to find the best school for your kids.

As a parent, I understand the importance of a good school. Giving your child a great education is one of the most important gifts you can give. When my family and I moved recently, picking a home in a great school zone was a huge consideration. Today I would like to go over my family’s steps for picking a great school so you can pick the best location for your children: 

1. It’s okay to start with online reviews, but make sure you read them thoroughly. If you’re like me, you’ve never left an online review on anything. Therefore, you have to understand that people leaving online reviews for schools might have different motivations than you. Are their issues with the school personally directed at an administrator, or is their critique systematic? Nothing beats the convenience of online reviews, but make sure you take them with a grain of salt. 

2. Talk to local experts. School board members, teachers, and parents are all great resources to find a great school. Parents especially are nice to talk to, because they share the same interests as you. Ask members of your local community where they send their children, or if they went to school in the area, ask them what it was like. 

"School board members, teachers, and parents are all great resources to find a great school."

3. Prioritize what's right for you. I have a friend who recently pulled their daughter from a top-10 local school to send her to one outside of the top 10. If you only go by online reviews, this doesn’t make a lot of sense, but his family valued things the top-10 school couldn’t offer. Whether it’s athletics, diversity, language courses, or anything else your child needs, you shouldn’t stick strictly to ratings if the top schools don’t fit your priorities. 

Hopefully you found these tips useful. If you have any questions about today’s topic or anything else related to real estate, do not hesitate to reach out to me. I am always willing to help.

Guess Who's Graduating

We’re giving a huge shoutout to our very own Sam Eligwe as he embarks on a new journey.

Today, we want everyone to join in on a special celebration: Sam Eligwe, who’s been with our team for four years, is starting his own real estate venture. It’s been amazing to watch Sam grow, and he’s enriched not just our team but our lives on a deeper level, too! We’re thankful for his contributions to AJ Team Realty and the community, and we’re excited about what God will do for his business and his ministry. 

Sometimes in life, we can miss the importance of letting people grow from us and find their next journey. We’ve had a lot of success together, but now it’s time for Sam to fly the nest and be the leader that God wants him to be. 

“

We’re thankful to have been a part of Sam’s journey, and though we’re sad to see him go, we know that this is the right move.

”

We can’t wait to see what’s in store for Sam, Maria, their girls, and everyone in their broader reach. We’re thankful to have been a part of his journey, and though we’re sad to see him go, we know that this is the right move.

Now, here’s a quick note for our clients: If you’re currently involved in any deals that include Sam, know that there will be no change to your transaction; you’ve likely already received a call from us explaining that nothing at all will feel different, and that your needs will continue to be met and your expectations will be exceeded. 

It’s often said that the measure of a leader is reflected in the leaders they grow. Sam has pushed us to grow in many ways, and just because we’re not in business together anymore, it doesn’t mean that we’re not in life together. Congratulations, Sam! 

P.S. “Sam, I hope you know we'll still be competing on the basketball court. I was holding back a little since we worked together, but now it’s on! Elbows will be flying.” — Allen.

How—and Why—I Got Into Real Estate

Why did I choose real estate? Let me share the story of how I got into real estate.

To explain what makes the AJ Team who we are, I’ll share my own story of how and why I got into real estate. 

We’ll start with my graduation from George Mason University in 1999. My degree was in English literature, but my first job out of college was at a used car dealership in Fairfax. My dad was happy I landed a sales job. My mom was less so considering I just completed an English literature degree and she assumed my career path would start elsewhere, but God has a way of positioning us in places we need to be. 

Two years later, my dad suggested it was time for me to buy a house. You see, his graduation present to me was $5,000 to put toward buying my first house. At the time, I was doing well at the dealership, and because I worked a lot and didn’t have time to spend a lot, I had enough money saved up. 

During my first weekend checking out open houses, though, no one would talk to me. This was the early 2000s, and I had Allen Iverson cornrows and was wearing baggy sweatpants because it was my day off. I didn’t look like a typical buyer, and I wasn’t treated like a typical buyer. Next week I told my dad what happened and said it was a sign that I should stay where I was at. 

"At this point, it feels more like family."

He disagreed, and when the next weekend came around, he went with me to check out open houses. As you can imagine, most of the agents talked to him instead of me. At the last house we visited, though, the listing agent (who looked like my aunt) we talked to said I reminded her of her son, and that she’d love to help me buy my first house. 

However, when I showed up at her office on my next day off, she stood me up. I called my dad and tried telling him again that it was a sign not to buy. The next day at work, the first person who walked into our lot was a young man named Lydio. He ended up deciding to buy a Mazda 626, and when I saw his loan application, I noticed that he wrote “real estate agent” as his job. 

That’s when I told Lydio I would buy a house with him, and three months later, I did. In those three months, I also obtained my real estate license. I had a bunch of friends graduating college at the time, and I didn’t want them to go through what I went through. I wanted them to be treated right—to have a Realtor that they could grow with, helped them understand the market, and do right by them regardless of how they looked. 

18 years later, I’ve sold over 1,200 homes, and I’ve had the pleasure of helping so many people buy their first home. At this point, it feels more like family. 

As always, if you have any real estate needs I can take care of, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.

Should you refinance NOW? #FedRateDrop

Are you considering refinancing your mortgage? Here are a few things you’ll need to take into account first.

We’ve been getting a bunch of questions recently about refinancing and whether it’s a smart move in our current market. Here are a few things you should think about if you’re experiencing the same dilemma.

For starters, if you’re going to consolidate some type of high-interest debt, refinancing makes a lot of sense because you can lock that debt into a much lower interest rate. That can save you a ton of money.

If you are currently in an adjustable-rate mortgage and it’s about to expire over the next year or two, it might be a good idea to refinance to a fixed rate before that adjustable rate skyrockets.

Another thing you’ll need to think about is the terms of your loan. Let’s say that you’ve been paying your mortgage down for the next seven years and you go to refinance. Typically, if you go to refinance for another 30 years, you’re basically extending the life that you’re paying for your loan by another seven years. For some people, that is advantageous and for others it’s not. You have to think about where you are in your life.

“

   Now is a great time to refinance, pull out your equity, and make another investment.

”

For example, we had a client who needed more cash flow from their property because they had a child going to college. They decided to extend their mortgage out so they could keep more of their cash and use those funds for college. Don’t just think about terms on one side. Think about them in the totality of where your life is and where you should have your cash.

If you’re a real estate investor, right now is a great time for you to take out a home equity line of credit, refinance, and pull out money to buy another investment property.

These are just a few of the things you’ll need to think about when refinancing. If you have any questions for me about the process or what you should do in your situation, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. If you have a rate over 4.5%, we should be talking. I hope to hear from you soon.

Lake Ridge housing market....What's going on?

If you’re wondering what our Lake Ridge market has been up to lately, we have a few year-over-year stats from last May that will give you the full scoop.

Starting at 0:25 in the video above, you can see the numbers for yourself as we look over our monthly market report.

The first stat to know is the average sold price, which rose by just 0.71%. The year before, it rose by nearly 4% compared to 2017. Lake Ridge isn’t a place where you’ll see wide variations in the market, which makes it a safe place for investors and regular homebuyers.

The second is the number of units sold, which dropped by 17%. This means we’re seeing activity lessen. If you’re thinking of selling, you need to be aware of how you price your home, what other homes are on the market, and what kind of activity they’re seeing. This 17% drop in units sold is mirrored by another 17% drop that occurred in terms of the total dollar volume of sales, which includes both detached homes and condos and townhomes.

In short, we predicted the market would slow down, and it has.

Another interesting thing to note is the type of financing that’s being used by homebuyers. During the month of May, of the nearly 100 total home sales, 50 of the buyers used a conventional loan, which is more than the total number of FHA (18) and VA (20) loans combined. When I first started my real estate career here 17 years ago, far more buyers were using FHA and VA loans. Essentially, this means buyers are a lot more qualified and have a lot more cash to put into their homes.

Whether you’re buying or selling, these are the numbers you need to be aware of if you want to put yourself in a position to get the best deal possible. If you have any questions about our market or you’d like to get started with the home buying or home selling process, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Remember: You have the dream—we have the address.

We’re Honored to Receive the Local Hero Award

<

We were recently honored with the Local Hero Award for Prince William County. I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of those who made this possible.

I’m here today to announce something pretty special. Our team has recently won the Local Hero
Award for Prince William County.

First, I want to thank God for giving us the ability and resources to be able to help others with a

willing heart.

Second, I want to thank my entire family for their support. I have to take time away from them to be

able to spend time with the kids over at Featherstone, and they’ve been nothing but supportive.

I’d also like to thank my mentors who have been there from the beginning. There have been many

people who have continued to come in and spend time with our kids too and they are all just as much
a part of this award as I am.

Thank you to the school staff who nominated us. We came here three years ago and we weren’t

sure if this program was sustainable or not, but it has thrived in the time since.

Last, but not least, thanks to all of you who support the AJ Team. If it wasn’t for your support, then we

wouldn’t have the resources to be able to go out there an infuse this energy into our youth.

We’re excited to continue our work at Featherstone and beyond. Come join us on Tuesday evening

for an hour and see what it’s all about.

If you have any other questions for me in the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out and give me a

call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Our Compassion Fund Will Help Those Affected by the Shutdown

If you know someone in need, please reach out to us as soon as possible.

In the wake of the government shutdown, we’ve decided to cancel our annual casino night
event and instead focus on something far more important: our community. We’ve allocated
the event’s funding into a compassion fund to help those in need during these
uncertain times.

If you know anyone who is currently furloughed and needs assistance with utility
bills, groceries, etc., please send an email to connect@ajteamrealty.com. Our mission
is to be a blessing for our friends, clients, and neighbors, and this is something that we
feel is our responsibility as part of the community.

We can work out the logistics privately and discreetly. Please, serious inquiries only.

While we pray that the suffering of those affected will end quickly, know that we are here
to help you through both the good times and the bad. Thank you.

Help Us Bless 47 families for the Holidays

This year, we have partnered with ACTs Homeless Shelter of Dumfries, VA; Prince William
County Schools, Fairfax County Family Services, Loudoun County Family Services, and the
Salvation Army to spread holiday cheer to several deserving families. Please join us this
#GivingSeason to bless others.

We’ve adopted 47 families in need, and are reaching out to you in hopes that you can
help us be a blessing to these families this holiday season. We have wishlists
through Amazon and Target to help us give gifts to these families and their children, and
just help them with some things that we take for granted. There are plenty of things you
can give—anything helps. We like to give the parents time to give these gifts to their kids,
so we’d love for you to help us give a happy holiday to some families in need.

Thank you so much for being a blessing to us in 2018, and we hope you have a very Merry Christmas.

If you have any questions about how to help, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Wrong Tenant Could Cost You More Than a Headache—Much More

Beyond the headache, having a bad tenant in your rental property can

cost a lot more than you think.

We like to help people with their rental properties; in fact, we have actually opened up a property
management company of our own. During our work there, we found that some landlords and
homeowers simply want to take the first few tenants who apply. But choosing a bad tenant comes
with a cost, soit’s important to be patient. Here’s a scenario I went through this year:

A tenant had moved into my property sometime in 2017. They couldn’t make it to the end of their
lease, and they ended up moving this past summer after about eight months. Honestly, it could have
been a lot worse than it was. One of the things that helped me was having good conversations with
my tenants because if they’re in any trouble, I want to know about it first. Even though it could cost
you money, handling these situations with grace will go a long way.

Based on that experience, here’s what a bad tenant could cost you:

- Three months of lost rent, to the tune of $6,300.

- Stress. I can’t put a price on stress, but it’s definitely a cost.

- Holding costs. I still had to pay my $3,900 mortgage.

- Turnover costs of about $2,500. This included carpet, paint, blinds, lights, and other small
repairs/replacements. If they didn’t have the money to pay the mortgage, then they didn’t have the money to hire a professional mover, and they weren’t the type of people to be gentle with rental properties.

- New tenant and Realtor costs. I had to list the property initially, and then again once he left, adding
up to $900.

- Advertising costs, which added up to $200.

I like to rotate my tenants seasonally, having their leases end in the spring and summer, since that’s

when most people are looking for a rental. But because this tenant moved early, I had to put a new

tenant in last month, and I won’t know what that will cost me until a few years down the road.

In total, this tenant cost around $14,000. Ultimately, the lesson here is to wait for the right tenant, even
if it takes an extra month or two to find them. An extra month or two of mortgage payments is a lot less
than $14,000 to turn over a bad tenant, and in certain situations, those costs can be a lot higher.

If you have any questions about property management or about buying or selling homes, feel free to reach out to us. Remember: You have the dream—we have the address.

How Land Affects Your Home Value

A home sitting on five acres and a home on half an acre aren’t worth the same, but their values aren’t as different as you might think.

Let’s say there are two different homes for sale that are the same size and in the same location, but
one property is on 5 acres and the other is on .25 acres. Will the values differ? Not as much as you
think.

If you get even $5,000 more per acre of land on the sale of your home, you are doing extremely well,
according to an expert local appraiser. We sat down with this local appraiser recently. He has been
doing this for almost 30 years and has done thousands of appraisals in the area.

He told us there is a big difference between usable land and land that’s just a flat lot. If your extra
land can be farmed or can be subdivided than it will be valued differently because the use of the
land can create income. However, the value of the lend itself isn’t worth nearly as much as the actual
property in the grand scheme of things.

Finally, this appraiser told us that location is much more important than acres. If you’re on a
cul-de-sac, your property is going to be valued higher than the same property that’s on the main road.

If you have any questions for us or want to talk more about any real estate questions you might have,
don't hesitate to give us a call or send me an email. I would love to hear from you soon.

A Quick Look at the Current Stats From Prince William County

You need to have a marketing plan because your home may be sitting a little longer than what you anticipate.

There are a couple of things that we are seeing in the real estate market right now, so I just wanted to quickly
go over some Prince William County stats.

To start with, the average sold price if finally up. Last month it made a 5% increase, which is pretty significant
since the six months, prior saw a decrease.

We are seeing a different market at $420,000 and up. If you are thinking about selling a home in that price
range, the market reality is different above than below, so you need to make sure that you adjust accordingly.

768 homes sold last month in Prince William County, so it is still a very active market. For the first time, we
have seen active listings stay even. This means that there were no more new active listings or a large decrease in
active listings.

If you are thinking about selling, it is a good time to sell. You just need to make sure that you hit the market
correctly. Pricing right is important. Proper staging and renovations are also important. Finally, a prolonged
marketing system is crucial.

You have to prepare beyond the first week into the months that follow. You need to have a marketing plan
because your home may be sitting a little longer than what you anticipate.

If you have any questions or are thinking about selling or buying in our current market, please feel free to
reach out to me. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

What 3 Real Estate Lessons Could You Be Teaching Your Kids?

There are three real estate lessons that I like to teach my kids that I invite you to teach your kids too.

I’ve been in the real estate business for a while, and there are three real estate lessons that I like to teach my two kids: Sydney (7) and Camilla (5).

Since they are as young as they are, I have to be careful not to overwhelm them, but I also don’t want to lose the opportunity to teach them these three lessons that I believe will pay dividends down the line:

1. The difference between renting and owning. This lesson is simple, so let your kids ask you questions about the difference between renting a home and owning a home.

2. The power of investing. Years ago, my wife and I decided that we would buy a home to pay for each of our kids’ college education. When it is time for them to graduate high school, we’ll sell each home, which will hopefully have appreciated enough over time to cover the cost of their college education. We’ve showed our kids these homes and told them why we bought them. It teaches them that we are willing to invest in them. We used a 15-year mortgage for each home and we’re using the rent payments to cover those mortgages.

3. The work that goes into investment properties. I drive by work sites with my kids all the time to show them the work that goes into real estate investments. I don’t want them to think that what they see on TV is what happens in real life or have the expectation that you can collect on an investment without putting in the work first.

As always, if you have any questions about today’s topic or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. Remember—you have the dream, we have the address.

How’s the Summer Treating Our Lake Ridge Market?

According to the latest numbers, things are wide open in our Lake Ridge market if you’re a seller.

What is going on in the Lake Ridge real estate market? Here are the latest statistics from last June.

Month over month, the average sale price jumped 11% to $378,000. Over the past few months,
we’ve seen the average sale price decrease a couple times, so this is a sign the market is catching up
to itself.

We’re in a healthy market, but the situation above $400,000 is very different than the one below
$400,000. If you list a home above this price point, you’ll have a different experience than the sellers
below it.

" If you list a home above this price point, you'll have a different experience than the sellers below it. "

There were 117 homes sold, and the number of single-family homes that were sold jumped 38%
a month after month. A key statistic that’s good news for sellers is the number of new and active listings
is down 22%.

If you’re thinking of selling your home, the window is wide open, but you have to make
sure you renovate, price, and market it correctly.

If you want to talk more about our market or you want to put your home on the market, don’t
hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to help you.

What 3 Things Can Kill Your Home’s Value?

There are three things that can kill your home’s value if you are unaware of them.

I have been selling real estate for 17 years, and I can tell you that there are three things that are
guaranteed to kill your home’s value:

" Do not forget about the maintenance work you need to do in your home. "

1. Unpermitted work. This is generally found in basements. Most people start with good intentions,
but once they open a permit to work in their home, sometimes they do not close it. Make sure if you
finish off some work you are doing in the basement or anywhere else in your house that you close
out your permit for it so that it is recorded in your public record.

2. The topography of your home’s lot. When buying a home, most people think location, location,
location. What they do not think about, however, is the home’s lot and how that lot’s dimensions can
affect its value. If you are buying a home, make sure you check the topography of its lot. It may fit
what you are looking for, but you also have to think about the next family that will want to live in
that home.

3. Deferred maintenance. We live in a fast-paced society, and sometimes we have to juggle many
different responsibilities at once. This can make it easy to forget about the maintenance work we
have to do in our homes. Painting, plumbing, roofing, landscaping, etc., are maintenance tasks
that can kill your home’s value if you neglect them. If a buyer does a home inspection and any issues
related to these things pop up, it can change how they feel about the home.

If you have any other questions about this or any other real estate topic, please feel free to reach
out to us. We would love to help you.

Here Is the Latest News From Our Spring Market

The situation is finicky in our spring market, but buyers and sellers can still take advantage of it.

What has been happening in our spring market lately?

The situation is finicky. Rates are rising, inventory is low, many buyers are taking longer to make a
decision, and many sellers aren’t renovating their homes properly. In short, the market is adjusting
and trying to find itself.

Here are some of the latest statistics from the month of May.

First, the average sale price rose 1%, but it is still down overall in 2018. Year over year, the number
of home sales is down 15%, which is a big number. If this trend continues into June and July, we will
probably see home prices decrease a little bit lower than we would like to see.  

The number of single-family homes for sale is also down year over year, to the tune of 20%. Again,
this is primarily due to buyers taking longer to make a purchase and sellers not renovating their homes properly.

Part of the reason sellers aren’t renovating their homes properly is they are not working with agents
who have extensive home renovation experience. This is something we do very well, so if you’re a
seller, we’d love to sit down and tell you more about how we can help you in this regard.

" The market is adjusting and trying to find itself. "

Lastly, townhome sales are up by 7%. Value always sells in Lake Ridge, which means townhomes
don’t have to be renovated to the same standard as single-family homes.

Whether you are a buyer or a seller, it is important that you have a strategy if you want to take advantage of this market. We can help you with this, so if you have any questions or you would like to get started, please feel free to give us a call or shoot us an email. We would love to speak with you.