Close to 70% of families say they have a dog or a cat in their household. If you are in that sizeable majority and are planning on relocating to Montclair, Dumfries, there are some planning steps you can take to help ease the move for your four-legged family members. 

Since the daily routine is going to be thoroughly undermined, on the day of your move, do as much as is practical to retain a calm atmosphere. If possible, provide a small quiet area where the pets can stay out of the way and safely clear of any wide-open doors. If you have portable fencing that’s strong enough to do the job, remember to make it available with the first wave of unpacking.

Fostering calm is especially important while your goods are being moved in and out by big, scary…

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When I update Port Potomac Woodbridge readers about the latest news in housing prices, it’s usually not as ‘latest’ as I’d like. The reason is that there is a delay in most of the truly reliable indexes that measure housing prices. The big indexes are national (Port Potomac Woodbridge housing prices are another matter), and they have a built-in two-month delay.

We can look at trends and directions, but if there is a change afoot, we won’t be sure of that for about 60 days.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal found a way to present unusually fresh numbers. Reporter Nick Timiraos ignored the S&P/Case-Shiller Index, which reported statistics from back in March, and leapfrogged into April with the first solid news about our much-anticipated spring…

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If you are selling a home in Westridge, Woodbridge this year, even in the improving market you certainly know there is a great deal more to it than sticking a sign in your front yard. It will be a competition between like-minded homeowners — some with very competitive properties to offer. This is where the help of a trained professional and the network that is the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) can make all the difference.

You’ve probably worked with it before: the MLS is a central online database hub where licensed real estate agents representing available homes list and promote them. It’s a central marketplace in the same way that the New York Stock Exchange is (only without a NASDAQ to compete for customers). The National Association of Realtors®…

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Abuzar Waleed- The Team USA 888-884-3396

The Real Estate Staging Association is always telling the world that when you are selling your home, you can expect to spend 73% less time on the market if you use the services of a professional staging company. Although this is an outcome everyone aims for, the cost of full-bore professional staging can be a budget-cruncher.

A compromise solution is to combine a little personal elbow grease with some of the ‘inside’ tricks stagers use. When selling your home in Montclair, Dumfries VA as quickly as possible is the goal, it’s worth following through with these staging pointers:

Magic Act

Everyday living creates clutter — but to establish the look of a well maintained, move-in-ready home, the debris has…

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Mother's Day is a special day that is set aside for beloved mothers in our family, society, and around the world. Anna Jarvis campaigned in 1905 to make Mother's Day an official holiday in the America. Her mother died in the same year and she wanted to commemorate her mother, a peace activist, who tended to injured soldiers during the American Civil War. In addition, Jarvis wanted to address public health problems with the celebration of Mother's Day.


The proposal was rejected and lawmakers even joked that if they allowed Mother's Day, then there would have to be Mothers-in-Law Day. Thankfully, 1911 saw Mother's Day as an official holiday.

So visit your mother, call her on the phone, or message her on Facebook. Tell her how much you love her and how…

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 Disclosure Signatures

Disclosing material facts that might affect your Westridge, Woodbridge property’s value is a fair obligation that’s understood by everyone. Yet properly disclosing all material facts won’t help you at all if an issue comes up later but you can’t prove the disclosure. A good agent will double- and triple-check all the signatures, but at the end of the day, your peaceful sleep at night is only protected when you also take care to keep complete copies of the paperwork with all signatures accounted for.

Earnest Money 

Ah — the thrill of getting the first offer! After readying the property and listing your home, when an offer comes quickly, you’ll be tempted to say, “Where do I sign?” But slow up: getting a great offer is just…

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If you are readying your home for sale this spring or summer, one of my favorite tactics to set your property apart from other Montclair, Dumfries listings is to order a pre-inspection. If you’re not familiar with the term, a pre-inspection is a less detailed, less expensive visual inspection designed to report major conditions certain to be noted in the final. Why add this extra expense? Won’t buyers ultimately get their own inspection?

Yes, they will. But the purpose is not to replace a final inspection — it’s to attract more offers and hasten a final sale by minimizing re-negotiation.

Picture yourself as a prospective buyer. Montclair, Dumfries listings which headline the availability of a pre-inspection report automatically seem to be offered by…

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…an energy audit, that is. That’s a lot more than a piece of tax-time humor – it’s a growing trend that rising energy costs have made ever more practical.

A survey by Fannie Mae found that the cost of heating, cooling, and hot water is now the highest single cost of homeownership, second only to the cost of the loan on the property. When buyers are prowling through the Port Potomac, Woodbridge listings this season, the more savvy among them are beginning to look for a HERS number: its Home Energy Rating System audit score.

HERS was developed by the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET). This score represents the foremost nationally recognized system for calculating energy efficiency. Even if a formal HERS audit hasn’t been conducted (Port…

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When driving to neighborhood of Montclair, you get a feeling of belonging, and appreciation the community as a whole. It is established in 1969, Montclair is comprised of approximately 3,800 homes surrounding a 108-acre lake, with a broad central boulevard separated by exquisite flowering trees, attractive landscaping and bordered by wide sidewalks perfect for walking, jogging or cycling. The community is within walking distance of several schools, a golf course, tennis courts, soccer fields, two swimming pools, two shopping centers and a fire and rescue squad. The community itself is pleasant and welcoming.  

Let’s talk about the 108-acre lake in the heart of Montclair. It’s the hub of the community. Every activity that takes place in Montclair is…

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One of the toughest question most of us face when thinking about a move is figuring out where to live. In the back of our head, we are already decorating our new kitchen or setting up the new grill in our backyard than doing some research. I admit it is more fun to daydream about a new kitchen, luxurious bedroom, beautiful bathroom, or to be surrounded by a garden full of flowers and trees. But, to make that into reality we often forget to focus on our dream neighborhood.

Picking the right neighborhood not only ensures your happiness and peace of mind but also the comfort of our family, home appreciation and let’s not forget your future re-sales.

Owning a house can improve your quality of life, provides stability and gives a sense of control to…

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