Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Free Seminar about Home Improvement at the Sterling Library

Loudoun County's innovative home improvement programs will be the topic of a seminar scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Monday, December 1, 2008, at the Sterling Library, 120 Enterprise Street in Sterling.

Kelly Marrocco of the Loudoun County Department of Family Services willdiscuss the Loudoun County Home Improvement Program and the Eastern Loudoun Revitalization Program, which are designed to preserve and rehabilitateexisting affordable housing.

The programs make funds available to low- and moderate-income families who currently own homes in Loudoun County that need rehabilitation. The Home Improvement Program offers loans that can be forgivable and/or interestfree. The Eastern Loudoun Revitalization Program offers loans at lowinterest rates for 10- or 20-year terms.

The seminar is free, but space is limited. Please call Kelly Marrocco at 571-258-3819 to reserve a spot for the seminar.

Loudoun County Receives Two National Communications Awards

The Loudoun County government has received two Awards of Excellence from the City-County Communications and Marketing Association (3CMA) for activities that commemorated the county’s 250th anniversary in 2007.

Loudoun received 3CMA’s Silver Circle award in the Special Events – One-Time Event category for the day-long celebration of Loudoun’s 250th anniversary on May 19, 2007. Thousands of people attended the event held in and around the historic courthouse in downtown Leesburg. The event featured musical performances, children’s activities, a historical drama, oral histories, displays of historical documents by the Clerk of the Circuit Court, an anniversary stamp station, a one-day 250th anniversary cancellation stamp, and displays by historical and county organizations.

Judges complimented Loudoun for “accomplishing goals with no money, and that the county did an “impressive job of recruiting volunteers and organizing such a big event.”

Loudoun also received 3CMA’s award of excellence in the category of Most Creative with Least Dollars Spent for “250 Years of Service,” a year-long series of “history releases” produced in commemoration of the county’s 250th anniversary. The series focused on various milestones in the history of the Loudoun County government, with an emphasis on highlighting the broad range of services provided by the county.

Judges said that “Loudoun County really went above and beyond” with this effort, which entailed “a lot of work year-long with no budget.”

Both the 250th Anniversary event and the “250 Years of Service” history series were coordinated by the county’s Office of Public Information.

Formed in 1988, 3CMA is an international association of approximately 900 professional communicators working on behalf of city and county agencies and related organizations. The Savvy Awards program was started in 1989 as a way to recognize outstanding communications efforts by cities and counties. This year’s awards program drew more than 800 entries in a range of print, video and marketing categories.

Article taken from loudoun.gov

Loudoun Tops Berry Producing Counties in the Commonwealth

According to a new Virginia Cooperative Extension Publication, Loudoun County has the largest number of commercial berry producers in the state.

Researchers in the Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech conducted a mail-based survey to better understand the structure and organization of berry crop production in the Commonwealth. Berry crops include strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and some elderberries as well gooseberries. Production systems, farm characteristics, marketing strategies, producer socio-economic characteristics and educational needs of commercial berry crop operations were analyzed in the recently released “Describing Commercial Berry Crop Production and Marketing in Virginia: Results of a 2006 Survey.” This publication is available online here or at the Loudoun County Extension Office in Leesburg.

The results of the publication indicate that the typical berry crop grower in Virginia has an average of two acres in production, is more involved in organic practices, and markets directly to consumers. Berries are currently grown in 75 counties in Virginia. According to the Virginia Tech survey and the NASS 2004 Census, berry crop production is more heavily concentrated in Northern Virginia with Loudoun County accounting for the highest number of operations at more than twice as many as the next highest county, showing that the innovative and persevering spirit of the Loudoun agricultural community continues to thrive in many unconventional crops and markets.

Berries offer a high-value market option that can be produced on smaller scale farms. For more information on commercial berry production, please contact Leslie Blischak, Commercial Horticulturist for Loudoun County, at 703-737-8978 or at lblischa@vt.edu. Melissa Piper Nelson, Agriculture Marketing Manager at the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development, can provide information on small fruit marketing. She can be reached at melissa.nelson@loudoun.gov or 703-777-0426.

Article taken from loudoun.gov

Come Enjoy a Funny Show & Help Support a Good Cause!

Loudoun Habitat for Humanity invites you to an evening of political satire featuring the renowned Capitol Steps. Come and laugh for a great cause! Get the whole crowd out of the house for an evening of humor and relaxation while helping provide families with affordable housing in Loudoun County.

Please bring a non-perishable food item or canned good too so we can help fill the Loudoun Interfaith Relief's pantry!

When: Friday November 28, 2008

Where: Lansdowne Resort Ballroom

44050 Woodridge Parkway

Lansdowne, VA 20176

Time: Show begins at 8:00pm

Tickets: $35.00

Ticket sales and Will Call open at 7:00pm

In advance by Calling 703.737.6772 or visit www.loudounhabitat.org

Tickets also available at the door

FairGrade for LCPS

"These teenagers could be friends living in Warren, Clarke, Prince William, Falls Church, Montgomery, and Loudoun County.

If they scored an 84 on their report cards, they would all receive B's...except one.
The Loudoun County student would get a C."

Mission Statement:

FairGrade Loudoun is a parent advocacy group that supports the research from FAIRGRADE, which has demonstrated that the current grading policies put students at a disadvantage with respect to college admissions, merit scholarships, honors programs, NCAA athletic eligibility, and car insurance "good-driver" discounts.

FairGrade Loudoun was founded after three Loudoun County parents attended a presentation by FAIRGRADE, a Fairfax advocacy group formed in January 2008 to change the Fairfax County Public School grading system to the nationally recognized 10 point scale. Fairgrade’s overwhelming evidence of the disadvantage caused by Fairfax County's current grading scale (very similar to Loudoun's) inspired the Loudoun County parents to replicate Fairgrade’s efforts in our own county.

Compared to 45 nationally recognized school districts including Montgomery County, Arlington County, and the City of Falls Church, Loudoun County Public Schools grading policies are punitive and unfair. Furthermore, FairGrade Loudoun's data, in cooperation with FAIRGRADE, will demonstrate that LCPS students may lose out on valuable merit scholarships and access to college honors programs because of our county's existing grading policies.

In the past three years, many school districts with restrictive grading scales have determined that these scales hurt their students and decided to change to the standard 10 Point Grading Scale as a result. By adopting a 10 Point Grading Scale— and by increasing the weight for honors and AP courses to compare with neighboring counties —Loudoun will give its students and parents equal access to opportunities enjoyed in the majority of US school districts.

For more information or to find out how you can help, please check out their website http://www.fairgradeloudoun.org/

New Mortgage Rules – More Restrictions, Full Disclosure & Increased Holding Costs

Flipping Properties and FHA

We are seeing a lot more foreclosed properties that have been purchased by investors and rehabbed.

If your client is buying one of these properties – and if they are using FHA financing there are some restrictions:

• Only owners of record may sell properties that will be insured by FHA financing.
• Must be a minimum of 91 days between date that prior purchase was settled and the date your client first signed a contract offer. Not Ratification Date. Date the contract was first signed by your client.
• From 91 to 180 Days: If the new purchase price is higher than the prior purchase price we may need a 2nd appraisal to establish value.

Seasoning Requirements for Cash-Out Refinance

When buying a property with the intent to upgrade or rehab that property – and their intent is to then do a Cash-Out Refinance to re-coup money spent on the rehab.

• There is now a 6 month seasoning requirement (Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae) on all Cash-Out Refinances
• That would be 6 months from the purchase date or last refinance.

4506-T: Request for Transcript of Tax Return

Borrower’s sign a 4506-T at closing to allow their tax transcripts to be requested for Quality Control purposes. Bulletin came out today – Effective with loan applications dated on or after November 5th. Sign at application, not closing – and immediately request transcripts of 1040, W2s, and 1099s.

Information provided by Aimee Waltz with SunTrust Mortgage