We have often talked about the difference between COST and PRICE. As a seller, you will be most concerned about ‘short term price’ – where home values are headed over the next six months. As a buyer, you must be concerned not about price but instead about the ‘long term cost’ of the home. Let us explain.

Last month, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the National Association of Realtors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac all projected that mortgage interest rates will increase by about one full percentage over the next twelve months. We also know that many experts are calling for home prices to also increase over the next year.

What Does This Mean to a Buyer?

One of the first stages during the hunt for a new home is crunching the numbers to figure out your budget. And no matter how high or low that budget may be, prospective homebuyers should take into consideration the cost of insuring the home.

It's easy to overlook insurance, especially since you may be more worried about the number of bedrooms, the school district, or the size of the backyard. But before you can close on the purchase, your lender will require you to line up homeowners insurance. You may be hit with some sticker shock if the home you are about to buy ends up being a high risk- and therefore high cost- home to insure.

Today, many real estate conversations center on housing prices and where they may be headed. That is why we like the Home Price Expectation Survey. Every quarter, Pulsenomics surveys a nationwide panel of over one hundred economists, real estate experts and investment & market strategists about where prices are headed over the next five years. They then average the projections of all 100+ experts into a single number.

The results of their latest survey

Importance of Curb Appeal by The KCM Crew

Contact Marilee Murphy today for all of your home buying, or selling, luxury homes or new construction needs.  I am dedicated to making sure you have a smooth transition from start to finish. Use my website to search available properties in Loudoun County located, in Northern Virginia, specifically the towns of Sterling/Potomac Falls, Ashburn, Leesburg, Chantilly, and Aldie as well as properties in Fairfax County, and Prince William County areas. You can also sign up to receive free listing updates by email

It was a picturesque scene Friday morning: the Middleburg Film Fest producers were sitting side-by-side in front of a roasting fireplace in the library of Salamander Resort. The two women, Sheila Johnson and Susan Koch, were flashing prideful smiles. Their baby was underway.

The inaugural film festival had launched a little more than 12 hours earlier with an exclusive viewing of Alexander Payne's “Nebraska” at the resort.

For Johnson, the CEO of Salamander, this was her second extravagance introduced to the cozy Loudoun County town of Middleburg in a few-month span. In August, the much-heralded Salamander opened after years of delays and setbacks.

Johnson never wavered, of course. Salamander was going to happen, and it was going to happen in Middleburg.

The same can be said for the film festival.

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Contact Marilee Murphy today for all of your home buying, or selling, luxury homes or new construction needs.  I am dedicated to making sure you have a smooth transition from start to finish. Use my website to search available properties in Loudoun County located, in Northern Virginia, specifically the towns of Sterling/Potomac Falls, Ashburn, Leesburg, Chantilly, and Aldie as well as properties in Fairfax County, and Prince William County areas. You can also sign up to receive free listing updates by email

In the October issue of the Atlantic, author Richard Florida argues that the recession created a series of winning and losing cities and regions in America and that the Washington area is one of the biggest winners.

Florida, author of “The Rise of the Creative Class,” suggests that because of its wealth, education and growing technology sector, Washington’s economy could overtake Chicago and Los Angeles on some measures.

That brings us to Washington, D.C. As the urbanist Aaron Renn wrote recently, Washington is well on its way to becoming America’s “second city,”

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Contact Marilee Murphy today for all of your home buying, or selling, luxury homes or new construction needs.  I am dedicated to making sure you have a smooth transition from start to finish. Use my website to search available properties in Loudoun County located, in Northern Virginia, specifically the towns of Sterling/Potomac Falls, Ashburn, Leesburg, Chantilly, and Aldie as well as properties in Fairfax County, and Prince William County areas. You can also sign up to receive free listing updates by email

Buying a foreclosed home can seem like a dream. What could be better than getting a home for a fraction of the market value? Some may even say that the deals sound like they could be too good to be true. In some cases, those doubters aren't too far off the mark. There are some hidden dangers in buying foreclosure properties that, if you're not aware of them, could be disheartening and disappointing. If you are pursuing this route in buying your new home, be sure to look out for these hazards and hidden costs.

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Contact Marilee Murphy today for all of your home buying, or selling, luxury homes or new construction needs.  I am dedicated to making sure you have a smooth transition from start to finish. Use my website to search available properties in Loudoun County located, in Northern Virginia, specifically the towns of Sterling/Potomac Falls, Ashburn, Leesburg, Chantilly, and Aldie as well as properties in Fairfax County, and Prince William County areas. You can also sign up to receive free listing updates by email

Check out the September 2013 Northern Virginia Update Video

Contact Marilee Murphy today for all of your home buying, or selling, luxury homes or new construction needs.  I am dedicated to making sure you have a smooth transition from start to finish. Use my website to search available properties in Loudoun County located, in Northern Virginia, specifically the towns of Sterling/Potomac Falls, Ashburn, Leesburg, Chantilly, and Aldie as well as properties in Fairfax County, and Prince William County areas. You can also sign up to receive free listing updates by email