Arlington VA real estate listings and homes for sale, home buying, home selling information – McEwen-Lunger.com

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February 2nd, 2012 6:25 PM

If you bought or sold property last year, you will probably be eligible for certain deductions from your federal income tax. Where do you find the numbers? Look on the settlement sheet (HUD-1), that legal length form that had all the number, which you probably went over with the settlement agent before doing anything else. We will be sending a copy of the HUD-1, sheets to all our last year's clients next week. If you weren't our client, but want to have a copy of your HUD-1, you can contact your agent.

Posted by Gerald McEwen on February 2nd, 2012 6:25 PMPost a Comment (0)

Lower House Prices Coming?

January 31st, 2012 3:52 PM

If you're waiting for lower house prices in Arlington, you have missed out! Arlington, as with DC and other close in suburbs has turned things around. see the following from the Wall Street Journal: "

"S&P/Case-Shiller home-price data moved lower in November on both a monthly and annual basis.

The composite 20-city home price index, a key gauge of U.S. home prices, dropped 1.3% from October and fell 3.7% from a year earlier. Nineteen cities posted monthly declines, with just Phoenix showing an increase. Atlanta, Las Vegas, Seattle and Tampa posted new index level lows.

Eighteen of the 20 cities posted annual declines in November, with just Detroit and Washington D.C. notching gains. . . ."

In effect, the number of properties available in Arlington have reached a serious low, so the inventory is much more like a sellers' market than a buyers' market.

Posted by Gerald McEwen on January 31st, 2012 3:52 PMPost a Comment (0)

Potomac Overlook Park, New Year Program

January 26th, 2012 12:43 PM

Help Potomac Overlook Regional Park kick off our 39th year!

Join in on lots of fun activities for all ages!

Featuring: The Jazzy Juggler, Nature and Art Exhibits, Birthday Cake, Refreshments, Frank the Banjo Man, Games, Door Prizes and much more!

A brief program about our 2012 programs and activities will introduce Potomac Overlook's 2012 theme - "The Story of the Woods" and feature many of the sustainability activities promoted by the park.

The Arlington Central Library is located 1015 N. Quincy Street, Arlington, VA.

Posted by Gerald McEwen on January 26th, 2012 12:43 PMPost a Comment (0)

How Much Will the New Tax Break Cost You!

January 14th, 2012 2:28 PM

The benefit of not paying the payroll tax on social security is obvious to most people, but what will that tax break cost you? If you are already a home owner, and don't intend to move, you're in good shape. However, if you intend to buy a home, you'll be looking at a 0.125% to 0.25% increase in interest on your new government insured loan, and that's just for the current two months of the tax break that's been approved by Congress and signed by the President. All this happens in March.

Posted by Gerald McEwen on January 14th, 2012 2:28 PMPost a Comment (0)

Volunteer Requirements for Students?

March 1st, 2011 2:44 PM

Here is an excellent way for students to discharge their volunteer requirements, and for the whole family to participate as well. Come to the Potomac Overlook Regional Park in Arlington, 10:00 AM the first Saturday of the month, and help out getting and keeping the park in shape. This Saturday, March 5, will be restoring a site near the picnic area and getting the butterfly garden ready for the growing season.

No need to sign up, and bring a picnic lunch to enjoy. There will be a meeting in front of the Nature Center to start off. Again, 10:00 AM, March 5. Any help is greatly appreciated! Check out your park on the Internet, and enjoy the season.

Posted by Gerald McEwen on March 1st, 2011 2:44 PMPost a Comment (0)

Bank Account Scam

August 15th, 2010 4:38 PM

Many of us use on-line banking, as it is so convenient. However, scammers have learned that some of us don't pay enough attention to the emails we're getting, and ones that look official, and warn us of problems with our bank account get noticed. A common scam that's coming around again says that your bank account with (Wells Fargo, Bank of America, etc.) has been compromised by a hacker trying to get into it. The account was locked because there were too many tries to access it without the correct password. Therefore, please download the attached message that will tell you what to do to take care of the issue. The downloaded message asks for personal information, like full name, date of birth, social security number, etc. Of course with all this information, the scammer can easily apply for a new credit card and run up a large debt, or even something more ambitious. How to protect? Don't EVER respond to a request for information from a website, unless you've initiated the contact, and even then be careful. If you get such a message, call your bank first, and don't use the phone number given in the message, use the one on your bank statement. Thankfully, all of these scams I've seen, so far, have had attrocious English spelling and grammer, so it's not hard to see that they don't come from a company in the U.S.

Posted by Gerald McEwen on August 15th, 2010 4:38 PMPost a Comment (0)

Renters Beware! New Craigslist Scam.

August 3rd, 2010 2:52 PM

A new Craigslist scam offers houses for rent that are currently for sale, claiming that the owners have been transferred overseas (i.e. Warsaw, Poland), and that although the houses are also for sale through some Realtor, they (the owners) are handling the rental personally. And, the price of the rental is always well under market price! What makes this seem legitimate is that the scammers get an email address with the owner's name from Yahoo, Hotmail, etc., and then use that as the "reply to" address for their Craigslist ad. So, the person being scammed thinks he's messaging the owner of record. No, they don't then ask for money, too coy for that, they ask for personal information. You can imagine, a person who thinks they are talking to an owner about renting a house, then being asked for name, address, telephone, even ss#, and not being concerned! BEWARE! Once they get your personal information the sky's the limit!

Contact us to let us know if you've run into this scam yet, and how far it went before you were aware it wasn't on the up and up. Thank you.

Posted by Gerald McEwen on August 3rd, 2010 2:52 PMPost a Comment (0)

Solar Energy Weekend at PORP

September 29th, 2009 1:40 PM

Try out an electric bicycle!

Learn more about getting a home energy audit!

Solar Homes and More!

Hands-on Solar Energy Weekend at Potomac Overlook Regional Park

Come see solar home components, ride an electric bicycle and try hands-on demonstrations and games at “Solar Homes and More” to be held on Saturday, October 3, and Sunday, October 4 at Potomac Overlook Regional Park, in Arlington, VA. Activities will take place Noon – 4 p.m. on both days. (Potomac Overlook is listed on the 19th Annual Washington DC Solar Tour of Homes for Saturday, October 3.)

Potomac Overlook’s solar energy and energy efficiency installations and a new suite of exhibits called the “Energerium” will be featured and park staff will engage visitors of all ages with a variety of energy activities. Also, Pedego [electric] Bikes and Continuum Energy Solutions, a local company specializing in energy audits, weatherization and renewable energy will exhibit their products and services.

Potomac Overlook has been a leader in energy education since the early 1990s and, in 2007, was awarded the Green Innovation Award as the Best Green Organization in Virginia from the Virginia Sustainable Building Network.

Potomac Overlook Regional Park is located at the end of Marcey Road, off of Military Road, in north Arlington, VA. Call 703-528-5406 for directions and more information.

Posted by Gerald McEwen on September 29th, 2009 1:40 PMPost a Comment (0)

Big Doin's at Potomac Overlook Regional Park Labor Day Weekend

September 2nd, 2009 5:34 PM

Everyone's invited to the Park this Saturday for the final concert of the season, featuring Poor Ellen Smith,

http://www.poorellensmith.com/Home.html

"Poor Ellen Smith is a new acoustic duo in the DC area. Armin Hadamer and Steve Galbraith take a faithful yet uniquely fresh approach to traditional American music. Their singing and high-powered guitar picking conjures up musical worlds reaching from Doc Watson all the way to Jerry Garcia. Add top-quality songwriting, pioneering arrangements, and the occasional friends sitting in with them—and you’ve got the PES experience."

As always, concerts begin at 7pm. Bring your picnic dinners, and any donations are most welcome, but not required!

There's also a special event on Sunday, for the "Meet me on a Sunday . . . at Potomac Overlook" 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.

The Park is planning a festival, sponsored by a teacher in Arlington, to benefit Amman Imman, an organization dedicated to bringing sustainable sources of water to the people of the Azawak in Niger. Activities will include: face painting, water relays, a nature hike, friendship bracelet making, music and more. Donations are welcome, but all activities are free, as always.

Remember: "Meet me on a Sunday . . ." happens EVERY Sunday 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.! And there's always lots of neat activities for the children.

Posted by Gerald McEwen on September 2nd, 2009 5:34 PMPost a Comment (0)

How to "Green" Your Home!

July 24th, 2009 9:17 PM

Introduction to Home Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

Join Kent Baake, president of Continuum Energy Solutions on Wednesday, August 19, at 7 p.m. to learn how to add renewable energy and energy efficiency features to your home. This program will provide insights into products and incentives for solar and wind energy; for instance, federal incentives now exist for 30% of solar energy systems, and prices have dropped 30% in the last year! Also learn how current and new technologies can save you money, reduce your risk during power outages and increase the value of your home!

The cost of this program is $5. Please RSVP to Continuum Energy Solutions at info@ces-va.com<mailto:info@ces-va.com> or by calling 703-354-0262.

This public lecture will be held at Potomac Overlook Regional Park. The park is located at the end of Marcey Road, off of Military Road, in north Arlington, VA. Call 703-528-5406 for directions and more information.

Posted by Gerald McEwen on July 24th, 2009 9:17 PMPost a Comment (0)