I hope you had a great summer! The kids are back in school and football is in the air! Last year we moved our offices back to Lake Anne plaza, where it all started for us over forty years ago, and we could not be happier with the move. Lake Anne is t

he original reston town center, not to be confused with Reston Town Center. Lake Anne represents Robert Simon‟s original vision of a place where people of every age, income and family make-up could “Live Work and Play”. If you have not been to the plaza recently come and take another look. The plaza has never looked better.

There is a very good Greek restaurant in the old Il Cigno space; Jasmine Café and Café Montmartre continue to celebrate many years of great food and service. Singh Thai opened in the old Calvert Gourmet space and gets rave reviews. One of the best things about working on the plaza is getting to see and work with old friends, and new, on a daily basis…Linda @ Lake Anne Florist, Sue @ Small Change,

the always smiling, one of a kind Larry @Lakeside Pharmacy and Lynn Lilienthal (and her staff) at the Reston Museum. Alfredo, the former proprietor of the Lake Anne coffee shop is now serving superb breakfasts and lunches at the Café Lakeside in the drug store. Alfredo and his wife are two of the nicest human beings you will ever meet. Lest not we forget the indomitable Bob Simon who walks by my office on a daily basis; a wellspring of ideas and inspiration and serves as a constant reminder that you are only as old as you think you are – say it with me folks…97 years young…you rock Bob! Not to be left out…Cal Larsen, one of Reston‟s earliest attorneys, Tom Kamstra, one of the original/early Reston architects and Mike Miller, AIA who moved his practice and home back to Lake Anne recently along with wife Janice – an HHS classmate of mine.

There are currently 184 homes for sale in Reston (vs. 238 this time last year). 40 detached homes ranging from $259,900 to $4,449,000 (yes, four million+) w/ an average list price of $703,575; 77 townhouses ranging from $229,900 to $885,000 w/ an ALP of $395,266; and 67 condominiums ranging from $117,000 to $825,000 w/ an ALP of $325,145. We have low inventory and buyers waiting in all price ranges!
Sold Summer 2010 as compared to Summer 2011

Of note: The average seller received 98% of their asking price. Days to sell are running about 40 days.

Interest rates

Wow! Currently „thirty year‟ mortgage rates are about 4.25% with a possibility of them dropping below 4% in the near term. Another popular option is a „15 year‟ (which eliminates a lot of interest payments on the life of the loan) and are available with a ¼ to ½% lower rate than the 30 year – ideal for faster equity build up. I receive many calls from people about buying investment/rental properties and contrary to popular opinion there is plenty of money available for investors! I do believe prices in Reston stabilized last year. More and more I find people who are not happy with the stock market or other investment vehicles like CDs turning to real estate. And the nice thing about an investment property is you can go and look at, take care of it and get a good tenant to make the payments for you. We love rental property…questions, please call!
If you would like any real estate information or know anyone who is seeking to buy or sell a home, please contact me. I will use my experience and knowledge to ensure a timely and financially satisfactory transaction.
As always, we appreciate your calls, emails, questions and referring your friends and family. Visit us on historic and wonderful Lake Anne Plaza at the boat dock. Please check out the totally new and revised www.restonproperties.com. You will find early Reston photo archives, all area homes for sale and rent and learn more too! You can also follow us on Facebook for constant updates about all things Reston.