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Friday, January 14, 2011
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17 comments:
Arlington County assessments increase for 2011
"Arlington's 2011 property value assessments are up 6.3 percent, almost eliminating last year's decline of 7.2 percent, said county finance gurus.
Residential values are up 1.4 percent and commercial property values are up 12 percent, said Michelle Cowan, director of management and finance."
Jewel-
It looks like Arlington houses slightly underperformed CS for the year. The DC area as a whole is up 3-4%, while Arlington is up ~1.4%. I guess this shouldn't be much of a surprise, because the 8K credit probably had less impact on the more expensive homes.
I am surprised though by how much commercial properties increased. Seeing that many talk about the imminent collapse in CRE, a 12% increase is huge.
VA_I Says
"I always find it quite mystifying that people have no family to turn to in times of need. "
You never met my parents. Mom helps a lot but she would never ever ever write a check. When I was starting my company she said "You can sleep in the basement, the phone has unlimited WATS service, The fridge is full. Don't ask for anything else"
That was a pretty fair thing.
My Dad well, lets say if i ever asked him for help, he would reply with a request for a check.
I never expected much from them, after I turned 18, and, whatever I did get was nice, but it never was much.
My Uncles and aunts are worse.
It's how they are.
I put myself through college, and my parents paid for my textbooks.
That meant, I actually spent a lot of time in the library checking out reference textbooks and studying with the other broke students.
Glad you can pay for college for your kids. But, I had to do that myself.
HB,
No kidding - 12% is a big jump for 1 year. Although I don't know much about the dynamics of the commercial market, so I can't comment on that.
I am very interested to see what my Arlington SFH appraises for - this is my first assessment letter :) It's down about 10% from the peak in 2006.
The assessment is down about 10% that is.
Jewel, thanks. Well, my prediction, when we discussed those several months ago, was up 4%. Not very close, whether you compare it to residential increase or to the overall increase.
HB, ditto your comments.
Now, we'll just have to wait and see how much the County Board raises the tax rate.
Pat, I think your experience is far more common than that of the kids whose parents are always there with the checkbook. VA_I's experience with tenants bears this out.
At a small business I patronize, last year I noticed that I hadn't seen one of the most efficient employees there, "John", in some time. I asked if he had left, and was told he was in the hospital. A short time later, he passed, in his 40s. The others at the small business, who had tears in their eyes as they told me this, said that his family had been notified but they weren't willing to make any arrangements, either for the hospital, or funeral, nor did they visit or attend. The small business employees and John's partner did it all.
I'm not saying that estrangement is the reason for all of the situations--it's just one of them. But many families are unable or unwilling to come through.
I think the Moores in the WaPo article were pretty extreme with respect to spending every cent of a very high income, only to find themselves on very hard times at a relatively late stage in life. The WaPo has a gift for finding less sympathetic people for articles like this. Just MHO--YMMV.
pat and Ace,
Yes, perhaps estrangement and/or going to the well one too many times. And there are families that truly can't help. It's just a foreign concept to me.
While I have never asked anything monetary from a relative. I am sure many have. It's amazing the number of people who live paycheck to paycheck.
As far as the couple who was earning 200K; how did they ever expect to retire when they can't go 9 mos (at ages in their 60's)?
I've been told that you should have saved 8 yrs income by that age. I agree that Wapo tends to show extremes. The couple arriving at the food bank in their relatively new SUV is another example.
I only pointed to our example of paying tuition as an example of living below your means and planning ahead. I was fortunate as were my brother and sister. My father worked his way through and even took a year off to work in order to get through school. My husband recieved no help whatsoever.
Va_Investor,
I agree with all your points.
If only I had limited my prediction to the neighborhood, I would have been closer - our notices came out and we were around 3%.
Anyone attending open houses today?
Ace-
I probably will wait another few months before I start going to open houses. Did you go to any if so did you see anything you like
HB, thanks, no, not much has come onto the market that looks interesting yet.
Ace, housebuyer,
different story from me - four listings we'd like to see all went UC before Sunday, look at the DOMs...
one
two
three
four
if this is the indication of what's to come we're in deep sh*t...
MM, sorry about those houses. I'd bet #1 and #3 went to developers (based on the nice size and location of the lots, and the non-updated condition of the house (judging from the photos)).
Ace & MM-
I thought about checking out this house , but decided against it. I know I want to wait another 6-10 months to buy, so if I really liked it I would be mad. So I figure it is easier to not see houses that I like. The fact it went under contract just made my decision a lot easier.
HB, that house is nicely staged, and it looks like a good house for the money (unless a bidding war pushed the price way above asking or the systems are not updated, etc.). I wonder whether the strange layout of the lots around it (to avoid being directly on Carlin Springs) causes any problems, e.g., access to driveway.
I'm sure there will be others when you are ready to look.
Ace-
From the aerial view it looks like you have pretty easy access to the driveway, but I imagine shoveling/plowing it on days like today would be pretty terrible. I will try and remember to update the board when we find out what the price is. I doubt the price will be significantly above asking price, because the house was on the market for a while (granted at a higher price)
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