Author: <span>MHNA Administrator</span>

News

Membership Update

John Waypa, our Treasurer and Membership Committee Chairperson, continually updates the MHNA database as membership forms and dues are received. Currently, our membership stands at 252 families for the 2015-2016 dues cycle, a 21% increase from the 2013- 2014 membership level, and the highest membership ever for the Miller Heights Neighborhoods Association.

If you are not already an MHNA member, please consider joining. If you are currently a member your renewal and continued support of our community activities is very important to us. This is an important civic organization that offers our communities a collective voice when significant local issues affect us.

Meeting

Spring General Meeting – March 30

The MHNA Spring General Meeting was held on March 30, 2016 at the Waples Mill Elementary School Library Classroom from 7:30-8:30pm.  The following are the meeting minutes.

Board Members Present (underlined):
President Jim Tiani
Vice Pres. Marlene Hammond
Treasurer John Waypa
Secretary Leslie Campbell

Committee Chairs Present (underlined):
Membership – John Waypa
Webmaster – Omar Franco
Newsletter – Barry Ingram
Trails – Helen Hollingsworth
Landscaping – Leslie Lilly
Hospitality – Craig Lilly
Safety – Jim Tiani

Opening /General Meeting

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm in the cafeteria of Waples Mill Elementary School. There were approximately 8 community members in attendance (2 more trickled in). Jim indicated that attendance at this “meet and greet meeting” news blast never went out. Should we put an effort under way to switch out website and communications to another person? Most attendees came only via signage placement.

New directory is being put together for the next two years. Trying to figure out a way to keep up approx. 550 homes in MHNA area (221 paid up members in 2014-2016). Records were very up to date for new home owners. Craig tries to keep a listing of home owners by real estate records (issue would be knowing home rentals and tenants). Also some folks choose not to have names and other info posted in the directory (just list address). 20 home a year turn over on average each year.

Absentee landlords and derelict houses were discussed:
11113 Lochinver – absentee owner Blakemore
(maybe also 11109 Lochinver is absentee)
3309 Saddlestone – DP Capital owns to flip

Community Support Opportunity – There is currently a Miller Heights Facebook page that is private and moderated by Carine Flatt Newberry. This might be a good starting point for securing neighbor to  neighbor assistance on an ad hoc basis.

Other items

Yard Sale – Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend (new coordinator maybe – Donna Turlock?)
Park Clean up – 4/10/16
Per John Waypa – 244 current members (17% increase from prior term). There is approximately $12,898 in account plus another $200 in Paypal.
Leslie Lilly continues to upgrade landscaping at corner (Yay Leslie!). We may need 3 new lights at the corner sign on Oakton Road. Decision mad to have Blue Sky mulch and replace blue stone at same corner.

Blue Roan wants some trees taken down (this area is mostly part of Tattersall – which has an HOA) Woods between Conestga and Tattersall are also part of that HOA. Mike Wardall is the Pres. (are there others in our neighborhood area Windsong? Wheatland Farms?)
Permits by house – you can view past permitting history on FxCo website. Do contractors always pull permits in all cases? especially internal renovations?
Barry asked that all take the next two days and please go through current directory and review for corrections, etc. and notify him of changes.

Discussion about deer management – Jim hopes to share tips with others?

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:32 p. m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary Leslie Campbell

Article

Real Estate Update for August 2016

A lot of people ask me if I think we are in a “buyer’s market” or a “seller’s market”. After the beating we all took during the recession, most homeowners in our area seem to think sellers now have the edge and can drive a hard bargain with buyers. They also want to know how much homes have appreciated in the past year.

I think we’re in a balanced market, which favors neither side, and appreciation has been rather flat. Not losing ground, but not gaining much either. Although I hear from my colleagues that the inventory of homes has been low this year, I haven’t seen many multiple offer situations. I find this reassuring, since it means the real estate market isn’t overheated. We certainly don’t need another episode like we saw ten years ago of irrational price escalation, followed by a bust.

When I study the Miller Heights market, I look at what has sold in the previous twelve months, in this case back to the beginning of August 2015. This community has again seen 40 homes change hands (it was 39 in my twelve month look back last year), of which 30 were in what I call “classic” Miller Heights, the homes built around 1980. On average those homes sold for $745,000, which is a small drop from the $762,000 average I noted in my last report in November 2015. The average time for a home to get a contract was 53 days, but as you can see from the chart there were a lot of homes that sold in much less time.

In the newer parts of Miller Heights, like Windsong and Wheatland Farms, the average sold price of the ten homes that sold was a lot higher, $1,555,000, and the time to sell a lot longer, around 103 days. We had a number of these homes come on the market about the same time this past spring, and that flooded the market a bit.

These stats all point to a very stable market and steady demand for homes in our great community. It’s fun to see a lot of new folks joining us long-term residents (Leslie and I have been here for 19 years), bringing their energy and desire to get involved.

I hope you have a pleasant remainder of the summer. The days are getting longer and, despite the heat, we know Fall is right around the corner, with the colors and cool evenings and parade of school buses in the morning. I love it!

Craig Lilly, Realtor, Long & Foster, Vienna

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