Prince William County Real Estate Blog: October 2009

When I say improve curb appeal I do not mean

• Altering featutres of the home or
• Adding and deleting plants, trees, high tension lines or anything else that would be deceptive.

However, I take photos on cloudy or rainy days - my schedule does not give me the luxury to only take photos of homes on sunny days with a beautiful blue sky filled with clouds.  The photo below is a prime example - the row of town homes appears as bleak as the day the photo was taken.  They certainly will not enhance the appearance of an MLS entry or a blog about the subdivision

Take a look at the photo below.  I did not make any enhancements to the photo above except to add blue sky and clouds that we have on file  Everything other than the sky is exactly the same as it was in the photo above.  I didn't even edit out the newspaper on the right hand side of the photo

Is it unethical?  Absolutely not

• Mother Nature would have come by in a day or two to add the blue sky and clouds.
  
• I just made it look as though she had already been there before I took the photo.
• There is no place in the US that only has gray skies

I believe more people would be attracted to the lower photo as opposed to the original photo above.  The simple addition of blue sky even had a positive effect on the other colors in the photo.

We have the option to submit our own photos to our MLS.  Some of them look like the one above.  I prefer to take my own photos and have "blue skies smiling at me".

The good news is that it took less than 10 minutes with four simple steps to make the change.

Although there any number of photo editing software programs available we find Adobe Photoshop Ekemernts 7 the most user friendly for us.  The four steps we use can be found in "The Photoshop Elements 7 Book" by Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski.  All of the photo editing ideas in the book are far simpler than the instructions that accompany the sotware.

Step One:

Open a photo that needs the addition of a blue sky.

Step Two:

Type W to

• select the Magic Wand Tool
• Click in the area that needs blue sky and release - the tool will do the rest selecting the entire gray area.
• Do nothing further with the photo

Step Three:

• Open a stored blue sky photo
• Under Select choose All
• Under Edit choose Copy
• Close out of the blue sky photo

Step4:

• Since you closed out the blue sky photo the original photo will reappear
• On the Layer palette choose New
• Go to Edit and choose Paste into Selection
• Press Ctrl-D to Deselect

Voila!!!!  Just go to File and Save As

Middle Valley is a community of detached homes sited on 1/4 acre lots. The homes were built by two highly respected builders, Ryland Homes and NV Homes, However, the majority of Middle Valley homes were built by Ryland Homes.

Commuting

• The main entrance is on Gambrill Road just about one mile from the Gambrill Park and Ride Lot at the Fairfax County Parkway where you can board
• Fairfax County Commuter Bus Route 305 for the scheduled 8 minute ride to the Franconia-Springfield Metrorail Station and board subway trains to the Pentagon, Washington, DC and all other atations in the National Capital Area
• Fort Belvoir is approximately 20 minutes via Rolling Road
• Springfield Interchange (I-95, I-395 and I-495) is approximately 10 minutes. See Springfield Commuting Crossroads

Schools

• Elementary age children attend Hunt Valley Elementary
• Middle school children attend Washington Irving Middle School
• High school students attend West Springfield High School
• Pohick Regional Library is within 15 minutes

Shopping and Recreation

• There are two neighborhood shopping centers within approximately 10 minutes - Huntsman Square Center and Saratoga Shopping Center.
• South Run Rec Center - a Fairfax County park facility with year round pool, exercise facilities and many other activities is approximately 10 minutes
• Burke Lake Park - a Fairfax County park with golf, small boat rental, camping and picnic facilities is within 15 minutes

The Kruschka Team has 33 years full time experience in the Springfield area. Contact Karen and Art by Email or call us at 703-690-6569. Put our record of customer service, real estate experience and state-of-the-art technology to work for you in Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Prince William County, Stafford County or the entire Northern Virginia Area.

Greentree Village is a small town home community (124 homes) very conveniently located off Old Keen Mill Road. The entrance is just west of Huntsman Boulevard on Fieldmaster.

• It is sited between Old Keene Mill and Sydenstricker surrounded by trees.
• The community itself has trees throughout and several treed common areas that resemble a village square.

Two of the principal features that were standard when the homes were built are

• All brick construction
• Three finished levels

Commuting

• There are 628 parking spaces at the Rolling Valley Mall Commuter Lot (approximately five minutes from the homes). All three of the options below operate from Rolling Valley Mall
• Fairfax County Commuter Bus Route #310 to the Franconia-Springfield Metro is available 7 DAYS A WEEK on OLD KEENE MILL ROAD.
• The Rolling Valley SlugLine has service to all DC locations as well as Crystal City and the Pentagon
• Metrobus Route 18P provides Pentagon service
• It's approximately 20 minutes to Fort Belvoir via Rolling Road

Community

• West Springfield High School Pyramid
• Pohick Regional Library
• South Run Rec Center is approximately 10 minutes from Greentree Village
• Two neighborhood shopping centers, Rolling Valley Mall and Huntsman Square are within approximately five minutes.

The Kruschka Team has 33 years full time experience in the Springfield area. Contact Karen and Art by Email or call us at 703-690-6569. Put our record of customer service, real estate experience and state-of-the-art technology to work for you in Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Prince William County, Stafford County or the entire Northern Virginia Area.

Newington Forest (over 1800 homes) is the largest subdivision in Springfield. It is located in the southeastern corner of the Springfield area of Fairfax County. Since construction began in the 70's and was completed in the 80's there are numerous features not to be found in many newer subdivisions

• Detached homes with large lots
• Town homes with treed and grassy central areas for separation
• Extensive amount of treed common area
• Close-in convenience

Commuting Options to the Pentagon, Washington, DC, Fort Belvoir and all Northern Virginia work centers

• Fairfax County Connector Bus Route #305 service to Franconia-Springfield Metro
• operates within Newington Forest. It is approximately a 30 minute trip.
• There is a Slug Line at the Sydenstricker Commuter lot.
• The Lorton VRE sataion is within 15 minutes

• Fort Belvoir is approximately a 15 minute drive.

Schools and Library

• Depending on location in Newington Forest school age children attend schools located in either the Hayfield or South County Pyramid. You can locate all school grade levels by entering a specific pproperty address at Fairfax County Public School Boundary Locator
• Pohick Library is approximately 15 minutes away

Shopping

• Two shopping centers, Saratoga Shopping Center and Huntsman Square are within approximately 15 minutes

Recreation

• Newington Forest has its' own swimming pool
• Audrey Moore Rec Center in Wakefield Park with its year round pool and gymnasium plus a myriad of other sports and activities is within 15 minutes
• Wakefield Skate Park is also in Wakefield Park next to the Audrey Moore Rec Center
• South Run Rec Center with year round pool, exercise facilities and other activities is within approximately 10 minutes. There is a hiking/biking trail to Buke Lake Park
• Burke Lake Park with golf course, camping, picnic areas, small boat rental, fishing, carousel, miniature train and ice cream parlor is approximately 15 mimutes
• Lake Accotink Park with small boat rental, fishing and picnic facilities is approximately 15 minutes.

The Kruschka Team has 33 years full time experience in the Springfield area. Contact Karen and Art by Email or call us at 703-690-6569. Put our record of customer service, real estate experience and state-of-the-art technology to work for you in Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Prince William County, Stafford County or the entire Northern Virginia Area.

Newington Forest (over 1800 homes) is the largest subdivision in Springfield. It is located in the southeastern corner of the Springfield area of Fairfax County. Since construction began in the 70's and was completed in the 80's there are numerous features not to be found in many newer subdivisions

• Detached homes with large lots
• Town homes with treed and grassy central areas for separation
• Extensive amount of treed common area
• Close-in convenience

Commuting Options to the Pentagon, Washington, DC, Fort Belvoir and all Northern Virginia work centers

• Fairfax County Connector Bus Route #305 service to Franconia-Springfield Metro
• operates within Newington Forest. It is approximately a 30 minute trip.
• There is a Slug Line at the Sydenstricker Commuter lot.
• The Lorton VRE sataion is within 15 minutes

• Fort Belvoir is approximately a 15 minute drive.

Schools and Library

• Depending on location in Newington Forest school age children attend schools located in either the Hayfield or South County Pyramid. You can locate all school grade levels by entering a specific pproperty address at Fairfax County Public School Boundary Locator
• Pohick Library is approximately 15 minutes away

Shopping

• Two shopping centers, Saratoga Shopping Center and Huntsman Square are within approximately 15 minutes

Recreation

• Newington Forest has its' own swimming pool
• Audrey Moore Rec Center in Wakefield Park with its year round pool and gymnasium plus a myriad of other sports and activities is within 15 minutes
• Wakefield Skate Park is also in Wakefield Park next to the Audrey Moore Rec Center
• South Run Rec Center with year round pool, exercise facilities and other activities is within approximately 10 minutes. There is a hiking/biking trail to Buke Lake Park
• Burke Lake Park with golf course, camping, picnic areas, small boat rental, fishing, carousel, miniature train and ice cream parlor is approximately 15 mimutes
• Lake Accotink Park with small boat rental, fishing and picnic facilities is approximately 15 minutes.

The Kruschka Team has 33 years full time experience in the Springfield area. Contact Karen and Art by Email or call us at 703-690-6569. Put our record of customer service, real estate experience and state-of-the-art technology to work for you in Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Prince William County, Stafford County or the entire Northern Virginia Area.