There is a lot of work that goes into holding an Open House. Most of it is done behind the scenes and is something that very few people are going to realize was even done. Today was just such an occurrence as I previewed all the competition in the zip code for the property I will be holding open this Sunday from 1:00-4:00 at 12136 Folkstone Dr in Oak Hill, Va.
Most of the properties that had been on the market in the Folkstone subdivision have gone under contract and there is only the one I am holding open and one other that are currently active. I made certain to see the other one as it is $150,000.00 less, claims to have an additional bedroom, and nearly 1000 additional sq. ft. I have to admit I am not the best at eyeballing square footage but I have to say the house I am holding open looks larger and the additional bedroom was an in-law suite they had converted the garage into. It doesn't look like more sq. ft. but that doesn't mean it isn't.
Two of the more interesting properties I previewed were townhomes. I wonder what they are doing on this list as they shouldn't be in competition with single family homes unless they can completely blow them out of the water with their features, but they didn't. One of the townhomes did have a home theater in it but with the advent of flat screen TVs it is better to watch on one of those than on a projection screen. At least that is my opinion. The townhomes were nice but I am not sure a townhome wants to find itself in competition with single family homes.
In order not to be too wordy about all that I saw today and because seeing so many properties in one day can be a bit mind blowing I will hit the highlights. The best subdivision I saw today was Bradley Acres. It is much more of a neighborhood than Folkstone. Folkstone is a heavily wooded neighborhood which will give more privacy from one's neighbors, but Bradley Acres is a neighborhood where houses are next to each other and it gives people an ease of ability to get to know the neighbors.
The homes I saw in Bradley Acres ranged from $550,000.00 to $599,000.00. There was a common layout to the homes with the kitchen in the rear with either the living room or dining room off to the side and the family room on the other side. They all had large master bedrooms with the second bedroom being larger than most second bedrooms in Fairfax County homes.
I would have more to say but looking at 13 homes in one day can be overwhelming. I normally limit my buyers to six views a trip out and perhaps the same rules should apply to myself as my brain is now just muddled with what I saw. After awhile homes start to run together especially when they have such similar floor plans.
A couple of the homes were very unique. One of them had put in brick walls in the kitchen which gave it the look of an old farm house kitchen and the other had taken out the back wall and built an addition onto the back of the house which they used as a sitting area and office. Nice open areas are hard to find in homes and when seen it is really something special and an opportunity people should jump at.
I learn something new in real estate everyday
so you don't have to
David Huzzard
www.SuperNoVaRealty.com
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