3 Mistakes to Avoid when Choosing Mortgage Lenders

June 1 by Marina Brito

A house-full of packed boxes

A house-full of packed boxes

It’s the day before settlement and the Settlement company calls you to let you know that they haven’t received the required documents from the lender.   Your $10,000 deposit is on the line if you don’t close tomorrow (plus you are all packed and ready for the movers!), so you promptly get on the phone with the lender to see what’s going on.

Thankfully, your lender replies that all is well, that the documents are on their way and there is nothing to worry about (Phew!).  All is well… but what if you hadn’t been able to get hold of your lender?  Then what?

Getting a loan is the most important part of buying a home

When you are buying a home, the most critical piece of the entire transaction is your ability to obtain a mortgage loan.  Which is why choosing the right lender is a very important matter.  Continue Reading…

Best Fairfax County School Boundaries to Live in

May 25 by Marina Brito

Best Places to Live

Inspired by Washingtonian Magazine’s “Best Places to Live” on their May 2012 edition, here is a compilation of our “Best places to live in Fairfax County” – broken down by high school boundaries.

First, let’s look at boundaries serving the small towns (since the latest trend is for people to walk to quaint shops and leave the big SUV at home): Continue Reading…

How much is my house worth?

May 18 by Marina Brito

Creating a fancy cake requires the right tools

Creating a fancy cake requires the right tools

Creating a fancy cake requires having the right tools: a commercial-sized oven, a big mixer, lots of fancy decorating tools, and above all: lots of practice and experience.

Last month, when I tried making a fancy cake, I struggled trying to make it look right, because I didn’t have the right tools – and I didn’t know the tricks of the trade.

Finding out “how much my house is worth” is similar to creating a cake.

Continue Reading…

5 Reasons to Love Reston VA

May 17 by Marina Brito

Statue of Robert E. Simon (Reston Founder) at Lake Anne

Reston Founder at Lake Anne

How can one not love a town which has everything – including a couple of Elementary Schools named “Armstrong” and “Aldrin” (after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, two of the most famous astrounauts in the history of mankind)?

About Reston VA

Reston, VA was conceived in the 1960s by Robert E. Simon (see picture to the right for a bronze statue of him at Reston’s Lake Anne) as a planned community located on the northwest end of Fairfax, VA.   As a planned community, Reston has been carefully designed to allow office space, housing, schools, shopping and recreational areas to co-exist in harmony.

People who live, work, and visit Reston VA love it because of its:

1. Diverse housing options
2. Extensive recreational opportunities / nature / shopping
3. Job opportunities
4. Transportation infrastructure
5. Good schools

Let’s look at them one by one: Continue Reading…

Is buying short sale homes a good option for you?

May 11 by Marina Brito

I had to get my Mom's approval to get new rollerblades

I had to get my Mom’s approval to get new rollerblades

When I was young, I owned a pair of rollerskates. But a few months later, a new kind of rollerskates came to the market: the rollerblades.  Since I wanted a pair of rollerblades really badly, I convinced my mom that if I sold the old ones, I could buy the new ones (YAY!).

But, there was a caveat:  My mom had to pre-approve of the price that I sold the old rollerskates before I got rid of them (and I naively thought that I could get rid of them for a couple of bucks…).

Like selling my rollerskates, a home short sale is a sale that requires an approval Continue Reading…

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