If you've heard someone say the Herndon VA real estate market is cooling off, I want to stop you right there. It's not cooling off. It's getting more selective, and that's a very different thing to navigate as a seller.

Here's what I mean. In 20170, the median sale price in August came in around $700K, basically flat compared to last year. If you stopped reading right there, you might assume buyers have backed off. But 46.1% of homes in 20170 sold above asking price last month. That's up more than 13 points from a year ago. Buyers are still showing up and still competing hard. They're just being a lot more careful about which house gets that competition.

There's a moment in every closing that means something a little different to me, and it happened again this week at 4579 Derring Ln in Fairfax. My buyers weren't people who found me through a Google search or a yard sign. They came to me because a family I've worked with before, people I genuinely consider friends at this point, picked up the phone and said, "Call LeAnne." That kind of trust doesn't happen by accident, and it's exactly why being a referral-based Realtor in Northern Virginia is the part of this job I take most seriously.

NatureFest is back at Runnymede Park on September 27th from 1 to 5 pm. It's free, no tickets required; you just show up. If you haven't spent an afternoon at Runnymede Park, you're missing one of the most beautiful green spaces in Northern Virginia, and NatureFest is the perfect excuse to finally go. Interactive nature stations are set up throughout the park, plus a Bird Bingo game the kids always end up loving more than the adults expect, the Web of Life game, and nature exhibits that make learning feel like playing. It's low-key, it's outdoors, and it's exactly the kind of afternoon that reminds you why you live here in the first place.

If you haven't driven down Elden Street in the last few weeks, you're going to be surprised. I've lived in Herndon since 2002, and I can't remember the last time this much new food energy landed in one corridor at once.

Let's start with the beignets. Beignets and Brew just opened at 348 Elden Street, and it's the first Northern Virginia location for this Southeastern chain known for its coffee and warm, sugar-dusted beignets. If you've had them in New Orleans or on a trip further south, you know exactly what I mean. Now you don't have to leave town for that fix.

I get this question at least once a month from buyers weighing Oakton vs Vienna, VA, and honestly, it's one of my favorite conversations to have. Both towns sit close enough together that you could argue over which one is "better" for pizza, but they feel completely different once you're actually living there. I've walked clients through both markets for years, and the right answer almost always comes down to what your daily life looks like, not just what the listing photos show you.

I've had more buyers ask me about the W&OD Trail this year than about school ratings, and honestly, that tells you something about how people are choosing where to live in Northern Virginia right now.

The Washington and Old Dominion Trail runs 45 miles from Shirlington all the way out to Purcellville, and it cuts straight through some of the most sought-after real estate in our region. I've sold homes in nearly every community it touches, and I can tell you firsthand that living near the W&OD Trail changes how people actually use their neighborhood. It's not a nice-to-have amenity buried in a listing description. For many of my clients, it's the main reason they're moving.

I've lost count of how many buyers have told me the same thing after a Saturday afternoon in downtown Leesburg. They came for lunch and left texting me asking what's for sale nearby. That's the effect this town has on people, and honestly, I get it. There's something about walking down King Street with a coffee in hand that makes you start picturing your life there.

If you're weighing a move to Loudoun County, or you're just local and looking for a new favorite spot, let me walk you through what I love about Leesburg, VA restaurants and shops, and why the real estate around here keeps me busy.

I get some version of this question almost every week now. A buyer wants a shorter commute, a home that doesn't need a lawnmower, and enough space to actually spread out. Nine times out of ten, that leads us straight to the townhome market along the Silver Line.

If you're looking at Reston Herndon townhomes near Metro, you're already thinking about this the right way. The Silver Line changed what "convenient" means out here. You're not choosing between a walkable lifestyle and Northern Virginia space anymore. You can have both, and the townhome inventory around Wiehle-Reston East, Reston Town Center, and the Herndon and Innovation Center stations reflects that shift.

There's a version of Saturday in Chantilly that I've watched play out a hundred times, and it usually starts the same way. Someone's standing in their driveway with a coffee, not in a rush to be anywhere, and that's the whole point. If you're trying to picture what living in Chantilly, VA actually feels like day to day, forget the listing descriptions. Let me walk you through one good Saturday instead.

If you've been watching Zillow and wondering whether Herndon is still a seller's market, the honest answer is: it depends entirely on the house. I just pulled an 180-day snapshot of every closed and active listing in zip code 20170, and the pattern is clear once you know what to look for. Herndon, VA home prices are still strong, but the days of "list it and watch the offers roll in no matter what" are behind us for a meaningful chunk of this market.

People ask me all the time what makes Reston different from the rest of Northern Virginia, and honestly, it's not one thing. It's that Reston isn't really one neighborhood at all. It's a collection of villages, each with its own feel, price point, and kind of buyer. If you're looking at Reston neighborhoods and trying to figure out where you'd actually be happy, that distinction matters more than most listings let on.

I've walked clients through nearly every corner of this town over the years, and the first thing I tell them is to forget the idea that "Reston" is a single answer to "where should I live." It's more like six or seven answers, depending on what you're after.

Oakton doesn't have a Main Street, a downtown, or a Metro stop with its name on it, and that's precisely why people who find it tend to stay for decades. If you're browsing Oakton VA homes for sale, you're looking at one of the quieter, higher value corners of Fairfax County, and I want to walk you through what actually makes this market different before you start touring.

People ask me all the time why Chantilly doesn't get talked about as much as Reston or Herndon, and honestly, I think that's exactly why it's worth a closer look. If you're moving to Chantilly, VA, you're landing in one of the more underrated pockets of western Fairfax County, and I want to walk you through what it's actually like to live here, not just what a listing description tells you.

If you've driven through Herndon this summer and noticed more yard signs than you remember from a couple of years ago, you're not imagining it. I've been watching the 20170 zip code closely all year, and this Herndon VA 20170 market update will tell you the truth about where things stand, because the headlines and the reality on the ground aren't always the same.

Every so often, a listing comes along that reminds me why I love this part of Virginia so much, and 5119 Old Auburn Rd in Warrenton is exactly that kind of property. I have shown a lot of homes on large lots over the years, but it is rare to find one that gives you true privacy and acreage while still keeping you close enough to town that your commute does not turn into a second job. This one does both, and I put together a full video walkthrough below so you can see it for yourself.

I had a buyer ask me last week if she needed to waive her appraisal contingency to compete. My answer was no, not necessarily, and the data backs that up. I just got my hands on the latest contract trends report from Cardinal Title Group, pulling from 194 contracts written between August 4th and 12th across the DMV, and it gives a real, current snapshot of contingencies in Northern Virginia that I think a lot of buyers and sellers need to see.

I had two conversations last week that tell you everything you need to know about where this market stands right now. One was with a couple in Great Falls paying cash for a $2.3 million rebuild, no financing contingency, no blinking at the price. The other was with a young couple trying to buy their first place in Sterling, watching their pre-approval shrink every time rates ticked up another eighth of a point. Same market. Same week. Two completely different realities.

That's not a coincidence, and it's not just a Northern Virginia thing, though we're feeling it as sharply as almost anywhere in the country. CNBC reported this week on what economists are calling the K-shaped economy showing up in housing, and if you've been out here working with buyers and sellers like I have, you already knew it before it had a name. Luxury home sales are up 6.2% year over year nationally. Starter homes, the ones first-time buyers actually need, are sitting longer, taking price cuts, and drawing fewer offers. Two lines on a chart, moving in opposite directions.

Freddie Mac released its numbers on Thursday and the headline is the kind that makes people pause before they call me back about that house in Ashburn. The average rate on the 30 year fixed mortgage climbed to 6.69%, up from 6.66% the week before, and that's the highest it's been in over a year. If you've been sitting on the sidelines waiting for rates to drop before you make a move, I want to talk you through what's actually happening, because the headline and the reality on the ground in Fairfax and Loudoun counties are two different conversations.

My daughter Chloe was born in April 1996 with Cerebral Palsy. From the day she arrived, her health was a series of battles. We spent more time in and out of hospitals than I can count, learning to read monitors, memorizing medication schedules, and becoming fluent in a language of specialists and therapies that no parent expects to need. Chloe passed away when she was five years old (June 17, 2001). Those five years were some of the hardest and most beautiful of my life, and I would not trade a single day of being her mom.

But here's something I don't talk about enough. During those years, my husband and I used respite care, and it saved us. Not just as parents, but as a couple, and as people. Caring for a medically complex child is a full-body, full-heart, full-time job. There is no clocking out. Respite gave us a few hours here and there to remember who we were outside of the hospital rooms and the caregiving. It let us show up for Chloe as better, steadier, more present parents because we weren't running on empty every single day. That's not a luxury. That's survival, and it's also love.

I got a text last week from a client who's been sitting on the fence since spring. She'd seen a headline about home prices falling and wanted to know if she should wait another few months to buy in Ashburn. I get some version of this question almost every week right now, so let's talk about what's actually happening, because the national numbers everyone's reading are not the same story as what I'm seeing on the ground here in Fairfax and Loudoun.

Realtor.com just published its latest housing trends data, and it paints a picture of a market that's cooling seasonally, not falling apart. Nationally, the median list price came in at $428,950 in July, down 2.4% from a year ago. That's the ninth straight month of annual price declines nationwide. Sounds dramatic if you only read the headline. But dig one layer deeper and the story gets a lot more interesting, and a lot more relevant to what buyers and sellers in the Northern Virginia housing market should actually be doing right now.