Bye Emilios

The Lansdowne  Town Center has lost another one of its original tenants.  Emilios closed its doors this past weekend for good marking the exit of another restaurant in the prestigious Saul Center location.  In the last 24 months the Town Center has seen Silk Road, California Tortilla, Mariachi’s, The Dock and now Emilios make untimely exits.  BF Saul, the owner of the Lansdowne Town Center also owns the Ashburn Village Shopping Center and Broadlands Village Center which also have seen a mass exodus of tenants over the last 24 months.

What in the world is going on with Saul Center?  It’s very difficult to find past or current tenants to say anything nice about the landlord that managed to chase Starbucks out of Ashburn Village, and 40% of the tenants out of the Broadlands.  I dont have a problem with a tough landlord not wanting to reduce rents for fear of resetting the market.  But in what has turned out to be a horrible economy, Saul took a hardline stance with renegotiating with current tenants.  Being a previous owner of subways, UPS stores and California Tortilla’s, I’m pretty sure I’m qualified to comment on this since I for one, had negotiate with BF Saul Co and am intimately familiar with their tactics, and am also familiar with about a dozen of leases they’ve done locally with loudmouth tenants such as myself.

New tenants seem to getting the better deals, but who wouldnt want to get a desirable lease and a restaurant full of free equipment such as what Velocity 5 is getting as the Docks replpacement.  It’s sad to see Emilios close but I’m glad that he was able to pull most of his furniture and fixtures out so as not to make it easy for the next tenant and to salvage some of his loss.

Lansdowne has such a poor mix of stores that the Village at Leesburg featuring Wegmans, LA Fitness and Movie theaters will certainly continue to pummel Lansdwone as well as some other up and coming centers in the county.  Saul Centers have one of the highest vacancy rates in the county which really isn’t unusual in the county, however, to be located on main thoroughfares such as rt 7, ashburn village blvd and claiborne parkway and run those kind of vacancy rates…well, use your imagination.

Available on Leesburvahomesforsale is our “Buyers Guide”.  Periodically I’ll pull chapters from this guide in hopes of not only helping in your search for a home, but also helping you to organize your search.  As spring gets into full swing, so does the real estate market, sellers are getting houses ready for the market and buyers begin looking at houses online and in the newspaper.  WRONG!!  The absolute first step in a home purchase should be securing your financing and obtaining a lender letter.  Below is chapter one of our “Buyers Guide”.

Most people put the cart before the horse when it comes to buying ahome. They start looking at houses first and only when they have traveled far down the road do they consider the financial aspects of the transaction.This is fine and good if you have a lot of money and an established banking relationship and understand all the different financial considerations that you have to make when buying a new home. For first time home buyers this is a terrible way to start.

Shopping for homes without an understanding of your finances and youroptions is like going to a fancy restaurant without knowing how much available credit you have on your credit card. You get to the restaurant and look at the menu. And you see the steaks and lobster and other dishes being brought out to the other tables and your mouth starts towater. Then you pick out your entree. And then when you have all yourside dishes and desserts picked out you step outside to call your credit card company to see how much money you have available.

This is how most people go about buying a house. They go online and look at all the houses. They look at the pictures and virtual tours. They go to abunch of open houses on a warm sunny Sunday. They get sick of theplace they are living and begin to dream of a new home. Maybe they haveeven found the “perfect home” during their search. And they have onlydone some very basic financial analysis and they have no idea how much they can afford or how much they will qualify to borrow or how much theyneed to have in cash to buy a new home.

Don’t be these people!!!

Once you start looking on line or even think about buying a home, youneed to look at your financial picture and get a clear understanding of howmuch house you will realistically be able to buy.

Sellers Wanted

Complete Home Real Estate Solutions is uniquely different from any other real estate solutions provider. Whereas real estate agents utilize ONE method to buy and sell properties – the multiple listing service (MLS), Complete Home utilizes 8 different strategies including traditional real estate solutions.  If you have little equity, no equity or negative equity, CHRE has solutions for you!  Any house, any situation.  Visit Complete Home Real Estate and fill out the questionarre.

Purchasers Wanted

Cant get approved for a traditional loan? Complete Home Real Estate is your destination for Northern Virginia owner financed homes for sale.  If your interested in local area owner financed homes this is where you want to be!  Visit our buyer website buyahouse4.com , create a buyer profile and have your house find you.

Having grown up on the west side of Montgomery County, Maryland, I know of many people who have enjoyed the serene trip across the Potomac River on White’s Ferry.  Always reliable and super safe, anyone who has ever routinely used the ferry has at some point or another endured the frustration of the ‘ole ”Whites Ferry Closed” sign. In my case, after being forced to take the inconvenient detour up to Frederick, MD and drop down 270, I always got to thinking about the scant 1/2 inch of rain that would cause the ferry to be closed and how some Barney Fife was probably overreacting again, as usual…well never again.

On Thursday, December 2nd, the ferry got stuck and started drifting down the Potomac.  What?!!  I could only imagine myself screaming like 5 year old getting a flu shot as the ferry started down the Potomac.  Anyway, after being stranded for 5 hours as the fire department rescued the commuters with no injuries or damage to any of the vehicles, the ferry is back in operation.  I’m still a fan until they build a bridge because of the time you save in the commute…hell, I just love the ferry!  To get the full story just click on the link below!!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/02/AR2010120205218.html