LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
[ Vol. 3, No. 39 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
Hillsboro’s ZIP code snafu
August 9, 2018 ]
22
State of Real Estate
Realtors See Buyer-Seller Stalemate BY DANIELLE NADLER
Shields, owner of Hidden View Bed and Breakfast in Hillsboro, said if it impacts Loudoun, it could hurt businesses like hers. She said “pollution does not know boundaries.” “If the counties in the area are no longer desired, we’ve killed the wedding industry, we’ve killed the agricultural industry, we’ve killed the tourist industry, so that’s really going to impact everybody,” Shields said. “Let alone our health, and the health of these farmers, their animals as well as crops.” Loudoun supervisors, like their constituents, have only begun to hear the concerns. Supervisor Geary M. Higgins (R-Catoctin) said he hadn’t heard of the plant, and board Vice Chairman Ralph M. Buona (R-Ashburn) said he had received about 10 emails, mostly from people in
The tug-of-war between supply and demand in Loudoun County’s hot housing market is getting even more heated. The number of homes on the market locally has declined for the 36th consecutive month, dipping to the lowest recorded inventory in more than a decade. That low demand has pulled the county’s median home sale price to $500,000— the highest on record, according to the Dulles Area Association of Realtors’ latest report. Husband-and-wife team Ryan and Megan Clegg, with Atoka Properties, said the market has created a stalemate between buyers and sellers. “In a lot of cases, sellers can get unrealistic about the value of their houses and buyers want what they want for a steal,” Ryan Clegg said. “There are tons of buyers right now, but they’re not going to buy unless they feel like they’re getting value.” Homebuyers have more information about the market than they ever have before. They can scan what’s on the market from their smart phone via Zillow, Redfin and other apps, and they’ve watched a slew of home improvement shows on Bravo and HGTV that can set unrealistic expectations. “Buyers are more savvy and educated than ever,” Megan Clegg said. If they find a listing that fits all their criteria, but their research tells them it’s priced a little too high, they won’t take action. “But once it’s priced where they think is fair it creates this sense of urgency and buyers know to hurry if they want it.” On the flip side, many sellers aren’t willing to budge on their price because they know inventory is low and prices are at record highs. The Cleggs have seen a few sellers reluctant to lower their price because they want a return on any upgrades they made to the home over the years.
ROCKWOOL >> 39
REAL ESTATE >> 31
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
West Virginian Leigh Smith speaks to the Charles Town City Council Monday to oppose plans for an insulation manufacturing plant nearby. She started a Facebook group with more than 5,000 members concerned about the plant, and said if it is built, she will move away.
West Virginia Factory Plans Spark Loudoun Concerns
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BY RENSS GREENE lans for a $150 million insulation factory in Ranson, WV, have started to worry Loudouners about the impacts of the plant that will sit less than nine miles from the Virginia border. The planned Rockwool insulation plant would crush and melt rock using coal, petroleum coke and natural gas. The molten rock is then spun into “stone wool” fibers to create fire-resistant insulation. According to the Denmark-based company planning the factory, it will be a 460,000-square-foot facility on 130 acres and employ about 150 people in positions ranging from management to the production line. And under approvals from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, the plant is permitted to emit
more than 138,000 tons per year into the air of pollutants like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulate matter, formaldehyde, and sulfur dioxide. Builders broke ground in June, and construction on the plant is expected to begin in October with production scheduled to start in 2020. West Virginians in Jefferson County have recently begun to wake up to the possibilities of the plant and taken to city councils and the county commission in numbers to protest. As of this week, those living in western Loudoun and environmentalists are only starting to look into to the project and its potential impacts east of the Blue Ridge. Chris Tandy, co-chairman of the environmental group 350 Loudoun said he’s still getting up to speed. “It’s close enough that Loudoun could get polluted by it, and it sounds like it’s a big emitter,” Tandy said. And Cheri
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