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This is a rare scene. You can see horses easily in this area of the Outer Banks, but seldom in the surf.
This situation occurred when an older stallion chased a younger male away from his herd of females.
This was not a friendly romp. The young one stayed in the water until the older stallion was out of sight over the dunes.
Wild horses run free in the preserve north of Corolla NC on the Outer Banks.
Although there are beach houses in this area, there are no access roads. Just the beach baby.
Kind of like a mini Daytona Beach. The horses ran free on the Outer Banks in
this area until 2000, when they were moved for the safety of all (they were hit by cars at night as you can imagine) .
Prior to their relocation, we used to have them nosing in our trash cans like
raccoons years ago when we vacationed there.
 Horses have been on the Outer Banks for hundreds of years.
They were left there originally by explorers as well as being thrown into the ocean when ships floundered in storms off the notoriously dangerous North Carolina coast.
Survivors swam ashore and populated the banks. They are not cared for or fed. They are truly wild.
Homes for Sale in Fox Mill Estates, Herndon, VA. 20171 June 2010 report
Sam: Is it true that the commuter bus lot is right in front of Fox Mill Estates and that it can take me to the West Falls Church Metro faster than if I lived closer, like in Vienna and drove to the Vienna metro, parked and THEN got on the Orange Line?
Steve: Yes it is true.
Sam: Wow, I should consider buying there!
Steve: Yes Sam, you should.
Tanya: I may want to put my house in Fox Mill Estates on the market in a couple months. I was wondering if you could post a monthly report that will show homes that have sold here the last 3 months?
I want to see what is happening with sales trend in the neighborhood.
Also, before you do that could you post a link to show me what homes are currently for sale in Fox Mill Estates as well as those that are under contract?
Steve: Happy to do so Tanya. This report shows homes for sale in Fox Mill Estates along  with those under contract as of June 24, 2010: Homes For Sale in Fox Mill Estates, Herndon VA 20171
The following report shows those homes that have sold in Fox Mill Estates in the last 3 months: Homes sold in Fox Mill Estates
 Once in these .pdf files you can expand the size to a more readable format by clicking on the “+” sign at the top middle. This report shows homes that have sold in the last three months…it also shows any seller concessions, last list price and final contract price.
After you look at this report, scroll down and there is a second format with pictures. Lots of good stuff to help you determine the market trends in the neighborhood.
Oh yes, and here is the link to Fox Mill Estate’s Home Owners’ Association web site.
Diane: What home styles can I find in Fox Mill Estates?
Steve: There are four basic styles: Rambler, Split Foyer, Colonial and Split Level. The community was built in the late 1970’s through the mid 1980s. Therefore you will also find many nice additions and variations on the main themes. You will also see some contemporary styles here that might interest you.
Most of those can be found off Magna Carta near the part of the neighborhood close to the Fox Mill road entrance. Here are a couple pictures of these above and to the right and of this paragraph.
Ted: What schools serve Fox Mill Estates?
Steve: Fox Mill Estates is served by the following schools, with links embedded:
Fox Mill Elementary
Rachel Carson
South Lakes
Always double check the Fairfax County School Locater website by entering in the address of any home you plan to purchase. School boundaries change and 3rd party on line school info is not always up to date or accurate. A follow up email or phone call to the school would also be advisable.
Fred: Is there any shopping close by?
Steve: There are more options for shopping,  entertainment and dining near Fox Mill Estates than you can shake a stick at. At the main entrance to the neighborhood, you can find everything for your daily needs.
Reston Town Center is just up the road a couple miles. Fox Mill Estates borders the west side of Reston, so all the shopping and dining establishments there are easily at your disposal.
Diane: Fox Mill Estates sounds good and looks great from these photos. What philosophical advice would you give us regarding our house hunting adventure there?
Steve: Check out the totality of the choices before you, analyze your needs and wants, separate the two, visit as many properties as you need to until you can connect with just the right home for you. It will be almost a spiritual sensation….a 1970’s terminology…you should feel the right “vibe”.
The right real estate agent will understand this and enjoy the hunt as much as you will…do not work with anyone with whom YOU don’t also have that “vibe”.…. there is no point in that.
….And try to be at peace about the whole process.
Diane: Would you and your wife be interested in helping us find just the right home?
Steve: Happy to help with no hassle and no pressure Diane. Just drop us a line and we can chat about your requirements.
Whole Lotte Love, yoja chingu.
 Terri: I am not a person that just wants to eat meat and potatoes all the time and I am sorely dissapointed in the produce and international food sections of the standard local markets. Do you have any suggestions for alternative shopping venues not too far from Reston, Herndon and Chantilly?
Steve: You are in luck. Herndon and Reston are only 15 minutes from the Shangri La of international food emporiums. Lotte.…..The produce section is about 3 times the size of your basic Safeway or Giant’s section and the prices are usually 1/3 to 1/2 that of other stores with nowhere near the selection.
 Fresh snow peas generally run $4/lb at the Giant…Lotte had them for $.99/lb a couple weeks ago. Normally they run around $1.5/lb. (I love snow peas can you tell)Bean sprouts are $.79/lb and are of awesome quality. The seafood selection cannot be matched anywhere and the guys will clean your catch at no extra charge.
Tom: Do they have Vietnamese, Spanish, Indo/Pak, Korean,  Chinese and Japanese sauces and specialties and 20 different kinds of soy sauce?
 Steve:Yes, and they have a sushi counter that is cheaper than you can get anywhere I have seen and the guy will make it custom if you want. There is a bakery, a food court, Asian cooking and serving implements, optometry and kitchen and bath remodeling. I am not making this up.
Green onions:Seven 1 inch bundles for a buck, frozen pot stickers at
1/2 the price of Giant and 40 times the selection. There are isles dedicated to the different cuisines. We got 6 full bags of stuff there last week for $27 …unbelievable.
Sue: Can you tell me how to use this stuff to make an amazing concoction out of Ramen which you can buy 6 packs for a buck?
Steve: OK Sue. Get your Ramen and follow the directions. Put sliced
mushrooms in the water at the start. Cook a couple minutes then add the noodles as directed, then with one minute left to go throw in some snow peas, bean sprouts, seafood mix (or sliced meat of your choice) turn off the heat and use scissors to top it off with cut green onion tops and cilantro ($.79 for a big bunch).
Then you can sauce it up as you see fit. We use hoisin and red pepper sauce to create what we call ”fast faux Pho” (Pho, pronounced FA is a Vietnamese soup…you probably have seen the stores in your local strip shopping center with names like Pho 90 or Pho 27 or some variation)
 After a hard day of showing property to clients, we will make this version of Ramen and have pot stickers to go with it. Takes about 15 minutes total and is extremely non boring. Check it out yoja chingu…..
it’s a trip.
Chantilly Highlands, Franklin
Farm, International food stores in Chantilly, Lotte, Lotte Plaza
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You came here for real estate or community information…not to read about all the fantastic things that we have to say about ourselves…so we don’t say it. You want to search for Homes? Same deal.
Go here: Search for Northern Virginia Homes Like an Agent
Just play around. No hassle, no spam, we won’t bug you. Fresh listings emailed to you. Want more info. Drop us a line. You’re in
control. For a regular home search click here: HomeByBachman.com
Peace.
Jan and Steve Bachman
www.HomesByBachman.com
DiscoveringReston blog
Bob: What is the difference between list price, sales price and appraised value? I want a  thorough and long answer please. I am thinking about buying ahome in Reston Virginia.
Steve Bachman: Bob, the list price is the seller’s current advertised price for his property. The price that the seller sets could be at, above or below the property’s market value. In a buyer’s market, when prices are flat and/or falling and there’s a lot of housing inventory available, you could reasonably expect to offer at or below the market value.
Bob: How does the agent figure out the market value? Can’t we just go with what Zillow says?
Steve Bachman: Bob, the market value of your Reston home of interest should be determined by your agent who will analyze the prices of recently sold comparable properties near that home, using what should be the “net” prices received by the sellers of those homes used for comparison. By “net” price, I mean that any seller’s subsidy or monetary help the buyer receives back from the seller should be subtracted from the published sales price of properties being used for comparison.
For example, if a comparable home sold for a sales price of $350,000 with the seller paying $10,000 of the buyer’s closing costs, the net sales price of that home is $340,000 not $350,000. Your real estate agent should be able to obtain and compile this data for you. It is a major part of her job.
 Do not rely on Zillow estimates or the like, they are notoriously prone to error because those folks are not using the most current data and they cannot make adjustments for improperly recorded square footage or condition of the subject properties. In a tight market, every $5,000 makes a huge difference to you as buyer, and in our experience that is the closest that the public national programs can do…. usually they are more prone to error than that.
Bob: I have heard the acronym CMA. What does that mean?
Steve Bachman: It is a home pricing analysis tool that your agent should use to provide you with data you will use to determine your offer price. It stands for Comparative Market Analysis. There is a CMA that most agents can compile from the local MLS in a relatively short period of time. These are very good for getting a “close” approximation of market value to use in comparing your homes of interest.
However,when you get down to writing an offer, if the properties that are being used as comparables are very different in style, lot size and square footage (this is often the case), the standard CMA may not be good enough.
Your agent should have the ability to do a spread sheet analysis using square footage records obtained from the tax records (which are often inaccurate and must be adjusted by experience) as well as provide you with a ratio of sold price to tax assessed value for all the properties being evaluated for comparison with the home you are offering on.
This can take hours for her to prepare since the data does not auto load from the county’s tax records and everything needs to be double checked for accuracy. Once this is done, you will then be able to see what homes in the neighborhood have been selling for on a square footage basis as well as see how the net sales price to tax assessed ratio lays out for all the properties used in comparison. With this data at your disposal, you as buyer will be well armed for negotiations.
Bob: Man, that’s a lot to remember.
Steve Bachman: Bob, don’t sweat it…good agents know how to do this. In fact when you interview prospective buyer’s agents you may want to ask them to show you some of the spread sheet analyses they have done for previous buyers.
HA! That will sort them out fast, since no amateur or real estate hobbiest will know what you are talking about.
 As far as the last part of your original question regarding appraised value…..the appraised value is a certified appraiser’s estimate of the worth of a property, and is based on comparable sales, condition of the property, square footage and numerous other somewhat “subjective” factors. It is the basis for the mortgage lender’s valuation of the property and determines in large part what they will lend on a particular home.
Bob: That was pretty thorough.
Steve Bachman: Thanks Bob, when you actually see a detailed CMA you will be pleased..they are very cool.
Sandy:We want to buy a house with a pool in Reston and are concerned about
our young  childrens’ water safety. They have never had swim lessons since they are both in pre-school. Can kids that are so young learn much? Are there any swim programs for children that young in Fairfax County?
 SwimteamAnswerman:I hate to use negative motivation to encourage parents to get their water safe at an early age, but you are right to be concerned. Whether you buy a home with a pool or not, you undoubtedly will go to the community pool, be around friends or neighbors who have pools or ponds, or be in or around water on vacation. Nothing can totally prevent disaster but you can go a long way to help protect your children by getting them trained as early as a few months old to float, hold their breath, and try to get to the pool side and hold on.
Sandy: Can really young children learn to do those things? I didn’t learn to swim until I was 7 years old.
SwimteamAnswerman: Unless you have seen what really young children can do, you would  not
believe it. My wife and I took our children to the community pool most nights after work in the summer starting when the were 6 months old. By 2 years old they were holding their breath under water, picking things up from the bottom of the pool with their head under water and eyes open and floating on their back pretty well. At that time, we were amateurs in children’s aquatics. Folks who are really trained well, can
teach your children more at an earlier age. What our kids could do between ages 2-3 can be done by children from 6 months to 1 year old if they are given the right instruction. The best web site I have seen that demonstrates with video what your children can do is at : InfantAquatics.com.
Check it out, if you have not been around children’s swimming programs you will not believe what you see.
Sandy: That website’s videos and program are awesome but I did not see that company’s programs anywhere near here. Does such training exist in other places?
 SwimteamAnswerman: Sandy, my observation is that most suburban areas with indoor pool access have infant and toddler water safety programs. Nationwide, the aquatics fraternity is very active and passionate about what they do… whether it is teaching swimming lessons, coaching summer swim teams or being involved in scholastic swimming up through college. Locally in Fairfax County you can check out program availability at the parks website: BabyAquatics.
In Reston you can check out: Infant and Pre-school swim lessons. In addition to helping your children improve their water safety skills, they will have FUN! Should you decide to enroll them in a local swim team later, (most are a combination of advanced swimming lessons, stroke clinics and an intro to competitive swimming for kids 5-18 …both genders) they will advance more easily due to their ability to control their breathing and comfort in the water.
Sandy:Really, what can 6 year olds do on a swim team?
SwimteamAnswerman: Sandy, once again unless you have seen it you will not believe it.  Our
daughter teaches a group of 6-8 year olds who are doing freestyle, backstroke, and a couple can do breaststroke. They swim around 500 yards in 25 yard increments in around 30 minutes. That is a beginners
class. There are kids that young who can swim for an hour in 50 and 100 yard or more increments. You can follow a new blog for swim team parents that I am working on that will answer this type of question at:
SwimTeamAnswerman.com. Both of our daughters were on a swim team by 5 or 6 and could do all four competitive strokes reasonably well by age 7. They were not athletic phenoms…this is common place. Your kids can do amazing things in the water regardless of their natural abilities. All you have to do is provide the transportation and pay for the training. Beginners training is usually very cheap for what you get. Go get wet!
Get your kids in the water now!
Karen: Do you think swimming or aquatic therapy is appropriate for my special needs kid?
SwimteamAnswerman: Absolutely, positively without equivocation. In general, the swimming community is the most supportive group of families we have come across in the 17 years that we have been involved with kids sports in Fairfax County. The Special needs volunteers are as you can imagine…outstanding human beings. Your child does not need to be involved in competitive Special Olympics programs to physically and mentally benefit from aquatic training. For some reason, water has a special power, it is almost spiritual. It has a calming effect on children when they are introduced to it in the right way.
The following information was taken directly from Fairfax County park web page on Adaptive Aquatics: Click here to view.
Adapted Aquatics
“The Park Authority’s award-winning Adapted Aquatics is an individualized swimming and water activity program for customers with physical and developmental disabilities. This  success-oriented program targets individuals who do not currently meet the prerequisites for participating in an inclusive environment. The program is designed to develop basic swim skills in a structured setting with one-on-one support from trained volunteers.
Students may register for:
- Adapted Aquatics Group Classes – These courses are conducted by American Red Cross certified Adapted Aquatics Instructors and trained volunteers.
- Small group lessons (one to four students) – These lessons are offered at all RECenter pools. Flexible scheduling is available. Classes can also be arranged for school groups and group homes. Call 703-324-8565 for more information.
Please note that family members may be requested to assist in the water if volunteers are not available.”
Also available are Special Olympic prep programs for developmentally delayed youth who want to participate in swimming competitions. These swim meets are awesome and encouraging. Check out what the county currently has available HERE.
Here is the main Aquatics Specialty page: Swim now!
Getting ready to sell your home?
Sam: I am thinking about selling my home in Fairfax. Do have have any tips for getting it ready to show and sell?
Steve: Sam, here is a short video with our thoughts on the subject: click here to view.
Also: Clean, neat, and neutral without being crowded with too much furniture are the main keys to making a positive impression on prospective home buyers. Organizing your home for showing is different for organizing your home for living. For example… we have too much furniture in our home for selling and showing. We have pieces from my parents, grandparents and my aunt Hazel. It works well for living since the kids (and us) often have a fair number of people over and they all need a place to sit. All this furniture fails to show off the room sizes well if I were selling. One third at least would have to go to storage when I show and sell our place. Also, most folks including ourselves have a few things on the kitchen counter tops that make living easy and fast…cleared off counters are amust when selling and showing your home for sale.
Samantha: I have so many collectibles and pictures…I have spent soooo much time making this home a reflection of who I am and what my interests are….I do not think I can get it staged like everybody says…it will be to painful.
Steve: Samantha…truly most home sellers feel exactly like you…but think of it this way….buyers are not buying your memories and the reflection of yourself. They want a clean and neat canvas where they can paint their own memories. We tell clients that when their home goes on the market it stops being their home. It becomes a product that must compete with the other products out there. This is a hard saying we know. We also advise them to stop calling it their home…it is now the “house or the “property”. Their home is where they will be going after this “property” sells. Wwill post much more info in the future on this topic.
Connie: Do you think those home selling and staging shows on TV have much merit?
Steve: YES! The advice given is generally right on target. They have actually made our job easier since their inception…sellers believe the folks on TV and take their advice to heart….whereas they often would get offended at our polite, helpful suggestions. This is a huge topic and we will have many more posts on it in the future. Please drop us a line with questions or comments. By the way, if you have a home that is in rough shape and you do not have the money for a big re-do…..just make the adjustments in your asking price compared with the homes you are competing against. Also, ask your agent to take you to visit some of the homes that are similar to yours that are on the market…see what condition your competition is in. We have found this to greatly benefit our buyers preparation and mind set.
 I want to mouse a house…where is the data current?
Cara: I have started looking online for homes for sale in Northern Virginia. I must say that I am sorely disappointed with the old data I have come across on the main public home search programs.4 of the 5 homes that I wanted more info. on turned out to have been sold or put under contract days (sometimes weeks) ago. What do you recommend I do?
Steve: Cara, the reason the big public home search programs are so out of date and such time wasters is that they have to pull info from hundreds of separate Multiple Listing Services from all over the country. It is a huge data transfer problem. We have 3 programs we use to help friends and clients search online. Right now this is the most popular: Search Like an Agent. If you click on that link it will take you to a search set up page. The data on the search site is normally updated no later than every 30 minutes, so it is the closest you can get to the Realtor’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS). You often see a home listed on a place like Realtor.com only to find that it went under contract 3 days ago…that should not happen here. Search live or set up an automated search that will email listings that meet your criteria. Just fill out the little form and accept the confirming email and your password will be sent right back to you and off you go. It’s free and easy. No one will bother you.
Cara: Is this some semi transparent attempt at blatant self promotion on your part?
Steve: If you have wandered around our blog much, you have probably noticed that we try very hard not to self promote. Hopefully you can tell from the tone of the writing that we are not annoying, painful people. We provide information. If you feel like contacting us, that’s great. If not, please have fun on our blog and search site.
Cara: What areas does the search cover?
Steve: The entire DC metro area. Virginia, DC and Maryland. It is linked straight to the local Realtors MLS and only acquires data from there. That is one reason the data is fresh…it only has to pull from one local source of data…not hundreds from all over the US.
Cara: Ok I’ll give it a whirl. Just click HERE. Is that correct?
Steve: That will do it. Please let us know if you have any questions, problems or want to go see a property. Just drop us an email at Steve@HomesByBachman.com. No one will hassle or annoy you.
Hunters Square Ct…..brought our newborn oldest daughter home to this house 22 years ago. Still looks good.
Click on this link to see Video #2 on “Things to think about….”
Jenna: Is this another amateur attempt at low quality video?
Steve: Yes. These were experiments at the time. I will re-do them with a different camera in a month or so. The content is OK though.
Jenna: OK. Does this video give me a thought process for home to approach my home buying adventure? As long as the information is solid and informative I guess I can overlook your sorry presentation.
Steve: I will strive for improvement.
Click this link: Things to Think About when Buying a Home
Sally: I want to buy a home. Is this timeless info. that never gets old?
Steve: Yes. Just watch the video by clicking on the link right under the above lovely picture. Buying a home can be fun if you are not under time pressure and the market is in your favor. There are certain things you need to do to prepare and educate yourself…that is the point of these videos and this blog. Our goal is to make you knowledgeable and comfortable with the whole process. Be at peace.
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