Prince William Taxes 30% Lower

March 4, 2010

Prince William County has set its maximum property tax rate of $1.236 per $100 of assessed value in a preliminary vote making the jurisdiction the lowest (total tax bill) in Northern Virginia.
WaPo:
At that rate, the average residential tax bill would go up about 2.5 percent but would be, on average, 30 percent lower than [...]

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Cycling Triple Crown Race: DC ‘12

March 1, 2010

One of cycling’s triple crown races, the Giro d’Italia, will be held in downtown DC come 2012 according to WaPo.
Only the Tour de France is considered a more important race than the Giro d’Italia, which is part of the Triple Crown of Cycling. The Vuelta a España comprises the final leg.
Cycling officials seek to expand [...]

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PMI Loses Half Billion Dollars

February 28, 2010

PMI, the private mortgage insurer which homebuyers pay monthly premiums to if they purchase a home with less than 20% downpayment lost $659 million in 2009.
SFBT:
PMI said it had 150,925 primary loans in default on Dec. 31, up from 109,580 a year earlier.
The insurer has a virtual monopoly,  guaranteeing the remainder of the 20% equity [...]

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The Belmont Skinnys

February 27, 2010

The Belmont development in NW Ashburn VA consists of several different communities including the newer Greens at Belmont just south of the gated country club.
Residents and realtors have begun to refer to these units as “skinnys” as this type of housing unit is relatively uncommon in the Dulles area.  Ashburn Village also features skinnys without [...]

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4th Quarter ‘09 MLS Report

February 26, 2010

The 93 page 4th quarter of 2009 MRIS report is now available to the public online.
Covering the DC metro region, it has enough data to feed any stat hungry reader.
It breaks things down by zip code using the MLS dataset for the period Oct-Dec. 2009 of actual closed sales which are really what matters–not  opinions [...]

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DC Home Prices Up +10.5%

February 26, 2010

DC area home prices are up +10.5% in 4thQ 2009 vs. the same period a year earlier.
Data covers only Fannie/Freddie mortgaged homes and excludes some foreclosures according to WashBizJournal.
Virginia was the second best performing in the US.  MD saw statewide losses of -5.49% YOY.

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Haymarket VRE Moves Forward

February 25, 2010

The planned VRE commuter rail extension from  Manassas to Gainesville and Haymarket moves forward with the required environmental study and preliminary engineering work according to WaPo:
“I think this will be one of the most significant stations in VRE’s history one of these days, and we’ll put more people on at this location than at any [...]

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Wind Closes Fairfax Portables

February 25, 2010

Fairfax schools have decided to not hold classes in portable classrooms Friday according to ch. 4.
The current storm is without rain or the predicted snow in Loudoun so far.
This slow moving storm is expected to last through Saturday.

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Back To Basics Tech

February 25, 2010

People are willing to pay more for less tech according to CNN.
From consumer electronics to medical equipment, a growing number of people seem to be searching for technologies that are cheap, reliable and even somewhat retro. Computer operating systems are being stripped of new features in favor of a simplified experience; basic devices such as [...]

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Loudoun’s Limestone District

February 24, 2010

Loudoun has approved a new limestone district for most of the flat land bisected by US 15 north of Leesburg and between e/w the Catoctin Mountains and the Potomac River.
Leesburg Today:
Chairman Scott K. York (I-At Large) said the water quality issues in Raspberry Falls and any other areas were real and would have to be [...]

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