Fairlington, Priced Right or Not?
July 15th, 2007 Categories: Fairlington, Keller Williams, Property Values
Fairlington, it’s an amazing neighborhood just outside our nations capitol, 4 to 5 miles from The White House and if you’re heading southwest it’s another 2 miles past the Pentagon. There are over 5,000 units within the neighborhood.
I often promote it as a must see for my first time home buyers and empty nesters alike. Sometimes most units would be considered ‘tight’ if you’re in your child rearing years- a family of 4 in one of the larger 1,500 square foot units could end up tripping over each other living everyday life but if thats what you can afford it’sa great neighborhood. At any rate, I have had tremendous luck in equity gains there as a primary residence owner and investor over the past 10…yes…10 years.
I have been debating selling one of my units in the neighborhood a few months now since my tenants lease is up and they are telling me they’re leaving. After relying on my past appraisal on a 2 bedroom 1 bath in early 2006 that came in at $408K. I figured with the ”slow down” in the market that maybe today it would go for $390K (give or take a few K’s) Heres the front door of the unit…
This morning I looked up the average rents in the neighborhood for this model and found I WILL be able to increase the rents about $150-$225 per month but my CMA search came back quite differently than expected!!As the system queried active and closed listings the list included one active, for sale, entered today property that caught my attention. It was the exact same unit as mine and it was selling for*********** $319K***********!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After I picked myself up off the floor I immediately emailed the listing agent who specialized in an area about 20 miles West from here about why the price was SO LOW? Remember I am an agent and an investor in this neighborhood for the past 10 years! Within minutes she replied that, “things seem to be pretty stable now…but not what last year’s prices are…. 
“- I couldn’t believe she was defending her price. I had to vent somehere so you get the story..I couldn’t create a rift with another agent over this could I???
Is it possible that in just 17 months I could have a $100K drop in value? Please keep in mind this neighborhood is just outside of D.C. and most listing in this neighborhood fly out the door even in todays market.
Is this agent going to screw me (and anyone else in this little ecosystem of a community) when they try and sell their place for what they expect and the appraisals show a place that will undoubtedly sell within the first weekend for $100K less than the rest!…..UGH…Maybe I need to go buy it and flip it for a more acurate price 
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