Neighborhood Expert: My favorite houses on the market this week

Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA, D.C. and MD with McEnearney Associates in Vienna. You can follow Laura on Instagram at @LauraSchwartzRealtor or her Facebook page. Laura can be reached at 703-283-6120 or Laura@GuidingYourMove.com.

Continuing my “ask the expert” series, I wanted to give you a real estate agent’s perspective when we look at houses on the market.

Sometimes I look at them for market insights, sometimes I have a particular client in mind for it, and sometimes I’m just checking out inventory to keep a pulse on things. I want to give you my 5 favorites houses on the market this week in Vienna and tell you WHY I picked them.

In order from cheapest to most expensive:

419 Cynthia Lane NE, Vienna, VA 22180

A charming colonial on a cul-de-sac walkable to Church St, Glyndon Park, W&OD, Foxstone Park and easy commuter access. The house has an assumable VA loan with a 2.5% interest rate — a HUGE savings for our VA eligible buyers. Happy to explain what that means if you don’t know — just email me. The house itself is nearly 2400 sq. ft. on 3 finished levels. A traditional floorplan offers lots of natural light, fully fenced yard, tons of storage, and a carport for 2 cars. At $950k, the house offers lots of updates that you don’t need to do like windows, major systems, roof, and appliances, leaving space for you to make it your own in other ways.

2791 Marywood Oaks Lane, Vienna, VA 22181

A 2008 built large townhouse with a 2 car garage, and 3400 sq. ft. Spacious everywhere — for a townhouse to feel spacious, that’s a big win. Not only is there a sitting area in the primary bedroom, you get a walk out basement, a deck and a patio fully fenced. A nice bonus is that it’s on a dead end street with direct access to the trail to Nottoway Park and also just a few blocks away from the Vienna metro for convenience. The kitchen is updated with tons of cabinet and counter space.

430 Malcolm Road NW, Vienna, VA 22180

A like new 3 year old build by Everegreene. Get the benefit of the owners paying for blinds. I love the floorplan on this house because it’s everything you need and nothing you don’t. At $1.75m, this house feels like a steal compared to similar homes that are brand new. With just over 4800 sq. ft., you get a screened in porch, main level office with bookshelves, and space everywhere the matters. The fact that it’s walkable to town or Louise Archer is a nice bonus.

617 Truman Circle SW, Vienna, VA 22180

A brand new build by a local custom guy, Barry Schwartz of Dunhill Builders. The house has 5,900 sq. ft. on 4 finished levels on a cul de sac. Dunhill is known for the quality of their build, so you’re getting a great value for the size and quality at the $2M price tag. You get a surprising amount of living space in places that matter, plus a moody dark kitchen that looks amazing. They just installed a fence and while there’s a Trex deck already, there’s still room for a screened in porch if you wanted to add one.

626 Hillcrest Drive SW, Vienna, VA 22180

A brand new build by Reel Homes on a rarely available half acre walking distance to town. It’s a massive home at 9,065 finished square feet, 3 car garage, 7 bedrooms, 7 full baths and 2 half baths.

At that price tag, they did multiple things right: vaulted ceiling in the primary bedroom to give you something unique, heated screened in porch with fireplace, plus a covered porch and the yard is prime space for a pool, sport court, or whatever else you can dream up since it’s flat and give you tons of room to roam. I think a $3M house in town should offer something different than the rest of the homes to set it apart. It’s not a mass appeal house, that’s a unique buyer need, so having something special about it besides the volume of space it something I’d be looking for.

I tell clients all the time — there is no perfect house. Every house has a weak point. You just need to decide what’s important to you and then decide which house checks most of your boxes and gives you that “we’re home” feeling.

When I’m looking at houses for clients, I’m looking for things like quality of care of the home, general use of space compared to what they’ve said they need/want, and value.