For many, especially those who are new to the area, the system of jurisdictions that we have in the Commonwealth of Virginia can be confusing. This is especially confusing in Northern Virginia, where
Virginia intersects with Washington DC and the State of Maryland.
Fortunately I have a fresh bottle of
CONFUSION-B-GON to spray liberally as needed.
Around our nation's capital
Let me start with my single-biggest pet peeve among newcomers: the term "DC proper".
I have seen this term used regularly on a site that claims to provide local information. That information is provided by people using anonymous handles. Anonymous handles should be your first clue not to completely trust the information you find.
At any rate: there is no such thing as "DC proper". There are three main jurisdictions here: Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC.
It is very common to live in Northern Virginia or Suburban Maryland and work in DC. Virginia is as different from DC as New Jersey is from New York. With a wink and a smile I have to inform you that just because you thought your job was transferring to Washington doesn't mean that you're moving to DC proper or improper.
Virginia jurisdictions
One of the keys to understanding Virginia real estate for a property search is to understand the differences between towns, counties and cities. In Virginia, as in most other states in the US, a county and an area administer below the state-level by local / county government.
Counties are often rural areas, but Fairfax County has over a million
residents and has very little rural land left.
Fairfax County aside, a county may have one or more towns within it's borders. In Virginia a town, no matter how many people live in that town, is part of a county and is managed by the county. In Virginia, towns often have governments but these governments are subordinate to and part of the
county where the town is found.
In addition to counties, Virginia has a fairly unique concept called a city. A city is like a county, except it is more urban than rural.
For example
Falls Church and
Alexandria are both cities. Cities, unlike towns, are not subordinate to counties. Cities are independent and operate on a level similar to counties.
This can be particularly confusing in Fairfax County. Fairfax County is a large mostly urban county and it surrounds Fairfax, an independent city. So the City of Fairfax is surrounded by Fairfax County, but it's not a part of Fairfax County. Falls Church, Alexandria and Fairfax are
all cities. Manassas and Manassas Park are both cities, and both are surrounded by Prince William County.
Real estate is sorted by county
It's important to understand this system of administrative organization because land tax records are stored by the county or city. Because tax records are organized by the county or city, real estate property searches are often sorted by the administrative jurisdiction.
For a newcomer it can be a little difficult to tell the difference between Fairfax and Fairfax County, between Manassas and Manassas Park and Prince William County. Another point of confusion is Arlington. Arlington is a city in a practical sense, but Arlington is a county.
Herndon,
Vienna and Clifton are all towns located in Fairfax County, which mean that these towns have local governments subordinate to the county. Springfield is much bigger than Clifton, but Springfield is not a town.
Another curious case is
Crystal City. Crystal City is located in Arlington County. Interestingly, Crystal City is not a city nor is it a town!
Unincorporated settlements
Which brings us to the next point of confusion in the area. There are many unincorporated neighborhoods, villages, towns and settlements in Northern Virginia. Unincorporated just means there is no local (i.e. town) government. Rather than having a town government, an unincorporated town is managed by the county.
Springfield,
Annandale,
Bailey's Crossroads,
Mclean Tysons Corner and Reston are just a few of the many unincorporated towns in Fairfax County. In places like Springfield this can be a little confusing because without a town there is no formal border between
Franconia and Springfield and thus no hard and fast distinction between the two. In addition, with the near completion of
Kingstowne, Franconia-Springfield is now home to one of the largest planned
communities/subdivisions in the area. Kingstowne is considered a town in and of itself by many.
Post office address
To make matters even more confusing for newcomers, there is the matter of the post office. The postal address of a property is not always an indicator of the jurisdiction of a property. For example,
many addresses in Fairfax County have an Alexandria address. Service from the Alexandria post office has no bearing on the county or city of the address in question.
Confusion-B-Gon guarantee!
Well, that's the last of this bottle of CONFUSION-B-GON. If you're still confused, no worries.
Contact Nesbitt Realty. Tell us what you seek and we'll find the property for you!
For more information or to set up an appointment call Stuart at
(703)765-0300.
I hit the jackpot!
Yes ... that's right.
I hit the jackpot. I won the lottery. Mine is the lucky number.
I won't be giving up my blog or my real estate business because I won the jackpot. In fact, I'll be working harder than ever. But today,
I pause to give thanks to God and family and friends and clients for this wonderful life of mine.
To tell the truth, I didn't hit the lottery today. I won the lottery on the day I was born and I've been reaping the benefits ever since. The best part is ... I didn't even have to buy a ticket.
You see, I was born in the United States of America, which means that I already have life better than most of my fellow man. I've never known war, or famine or pestilence. I've enjoyed an ever increasing standard of living since the day I was born. If you were born in North America you probably won the lottery too.
But ...
It gets better than that.
I was born in the Commonwealth of Virgina,
the Mother of States, the Mother of Presidents, the Capital of the Confederacy and the Pride of Dixie. The Commonwealth of Virginia, where Captain John Smith founded Jamestown. The state which George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and James Monroe and William Henry Harrison and John Tyler and Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson all called home. The state where Robert E. Lee fought and eventually surrendered.
The home of the Pentagon and the USPTO and the epicenter for the technology revolution. The Commonwealth of Virginia, most beautiful
state in the Union, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the sparkling beaches of the Eastern Shore.
The Old Dominion cradled me as she cradles the Chesapeake Bay, one of the largest and most important estuaries on the Atlantic.
It gets better than that.
I was born in Fairfax, one of the most prosperous counties in the nation. I make my home where where the Piedmont meets the Tidewater, on a ridge overlooking the Potomac River in a place called Belle Haven---one of the nicest neighborhoods in Fairfax County and Alexandria. My trusted, loyal and beautiful wife is busy making a Thanksgiving feast.
My sons are healthy and headed for home. Life could be better ... but I really don't know how.
So, today, I give thanks. Thanks to God, family, friends, clients and country for all that I have been given. I rededicate myself to the purpose of good and wish you and all of yours a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. I hope your Christmas is merry and expect you to have a prosperous and healthy New Year.
For more information or to set up an appointment call Nesbitt Realty at (703)765-0300.
For example, Mary needs to needs to sell her present home before being able to get financing on a new condo she wants to buy. So Mary makes her offer contingent upon the sale of her existing home. If Mary is able to sell her home sold within that time period specified by the contingency, she can go forward with her purchase of the new condo. But if she fails to sell within the specified time period, the condo seller has the option of getting out of the deal.
Whenever possible, seller's prefer offers that don't have contingencies. This is because sellers usually believe that they can find another buyer capable making a purchase without contingencies. However, in today's market, sellers are more willing to accept contingencies than they have been in years. So contingencies, like appraisal and home inspection, are quite common and meet with little resistance from sellers.
The exact terms of a contingency, like everything else in a real estate contract, are negotiable. As your agent I can help guide you to make sure your contract has the right contingencies.
For more information or to set up an appointment call Nesbitt Realty at (703)765-0300.
