
As another storm races up the East Coast, threatening to dump a foot or more of snow, owners of homes around Vienna, VA with high-efficiency natural gas furnaces should know this tip.
Natural gas furnaces vent to the side of your house.
Swirling winds can cause light, flaky snow to blow up against your exterior walls and quickly build snowdrifts that cover these critical furnace pipes.
So, note where the pipes exit your home and go outside to make sure they are completely clear of snow or debris.
Last winter this exact situation happened to one of my clients who had bought a new home in Vienna, Virginia.
In his situation, fast blowing snow had built up over the air intake pipe which was located about two feet off the ground at his house.
The built-in safety switch worked well, shutting off the furnace on one of the coldest days of the year,
After spending an hour flipping switches and checking circuit breakers, he ventured outside to discover a snowdrift covering the fresh-air intake pipe to his furnace. These high-efficiency systems pull in the fresh air, and then exhaust the combustion fumes out a secondary pipe.
Most new homes have two heating systems, one for the basement and main level, and one for the bedroom level(s). The lower-level heating systems are the ones most prone to shut down by snowdrifts.
New natural gas furnaces are extremely energy efficient and work differently than older-style gas furnaces.
New home construction, especially here in Vienna Virginia, seems to be focused on making homes super energy-efficient. One technique is using advanced insulation products like spray foam insulation, known as Icynene, which is commonly sprayed where floor joists meet exterior walls.
Icynene is sprayed into these joints where the Icynene expands before it hardens in place creating a very solid barrier that allows virtually no airflow.
Pulling in the combustion air and exhausting the fumes makes for a very efficient system.
For information about new home construction in Vienna, send me an email at doug@dougfrancis.com and I’ll get back to you.
]]>Yes, a termite inspection clause is part of the standard Northern Virginia real estate sales contract.
You need to keep in mind, this inspection needs to be done within 90 days prior to Settlement.
Last week, I received a question via email from an upset seller who had just been told that he was being required to have his home treated for live termites. He wanted to know if this was accurate (getting a second opinion) because he really didn’t want to spend another $800+.
I responded that I work here in Vienna and that I was unclear where the heck he was located or what his real estate contract may require. But, here, the Northern Virginia Contract states that the Seller shall be responsible for treating “LIVE” insects at their expense and show a written receipt.

As you can see, it is the “Wood-Destroying Insect Inspection” because we also have Carpenter Bees which drill perfectly round, quarter-size holes in decks, rake boards, trim boards, and anything made of wood around your house.
Inspections cost $30-$75 and the Purchaser can select which party will pay that inspection fee when they put together their original offer. I recommend that my clients select and pay for the inspection.
If there are LIVE wood-destroying insects found then the Seller is obligated, per the contract, to pay for a treatment or necessary repairs.
I have found many home inspectors recommending that you get a WDI or termite inspection at the same time as your home inspection. This is sensible, especially in Virginia where termites are a fact of life in residential real estate. Treatments are easy but, if there is structural damage, then you can include the repair in your negotiation or you may decide to void the contract if the damage is extensive (such as joists).
The Home Inspection Contingency also gives you a way to void the Contract if it is determined that there are serious structural integrity issues from the damage. Although this scenario is unlikely, old homes may have serious issues and a Home Inspection Contingency will allow you to easily exit the Contract and get your Deposit returned in full.
If your Settlement date is more than 90 days away, then you will need to pay for a second inspection closer to Consummation.
Hey, that is just the way that the contract is written.
If there isn’t a home inspection contingency, I recommend scheduling the inspection 3 or 4 weeks before your closing, just in case repairs need to be scheduled. This way, any treatments can be completed if necessary and the revised WDI Report showing the repairs can be submitted to the buyer’s lender and underwriter for approval.
Gone are the days when termite inspections get done at the last minute… like a Vienna real estate agent once pulled on me. If you wait to the last minute and the results change the closing documents then you might have triggered a mandatory three-day waiting period.
Although Paragraph 16 is a standard part of the NVAR real estate contract, Purchasers or Consumers using FHA or VA loans should be aware of the specific WDI clauses included in those appropriate financing addenda. And condo buyers should note that most upper-level condos don’t require WDI inspections ~ again, consult with your mortgage professional in advance.
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I decided to repost this blog post because we have been getting intense downpours this summer, 2025, and it is time to remind people of this important homeowner task.
Clean your gutters and drain pipes!
Watch the video below that a client in Falls Church sent me one night as he panicked when seeing water stream into his window well. Caller ID showed me it was him, so I picked up late Sunday night… I’ll finish the story after you see the video.
Last Sunday I spent the afternoon showing homes to some clients in Centreville while it rained really hard… all afternoon. We saw plenty of backyards resembling small ponds and gutter downspouts shooting water right next to a home’s foundation. And, this morning, one of my Vienna, VA neighbors told me about the water in his basement after last night’s inch of rain.
A few years ago a friend told me that, in a total panic, she called the Wet Basement Guys during a hurricane because water was seeping into her basement.
They asked her: “do you have extensions on your downspouts?”
“No” she responded.
You see, the Wet Basement Guys were so insanely busy that they were giving away an insider secret when it comes to keeping rainwater out of your house. It was the fact that those ugly black eight-foot tubes really do work when placed properly at your downspouts sloping downhill (gravity will help you) and extended away from your home will solve most rainwater problems.
Last weekend’s rain set a record at Dulles Airport, and the rain forecast for today may add another 3″ of rain to the swollen ground. A week like this can cause a dry basement to get wet for the first time, and once water finds an easy path to follow then the basement will get wet again.
When it isn’t raining, consider designing a rainwater management system that will benefit your lawn or garden.
Next time you are at Home Depot take a look at the NDS Drainage tools that they sell. They have simple pop-up drains and ideas to help you bury these black pipes so you are protected from sudden downpours and doing your part to limit runoff.
Home inspectors always look at the grade around your home, and if they do not see a slope away from the structure will recommend adding soil (not mulch) for added protection.
Before you get your next heavy rain, plan to add some simple downspout extensions to move the water away from your house.
It was Sunday night and it was pouring rain again. It was a tropical downpour.
We had met friends for dinner at La Côte D’Or Café in Falls Church and experienced the summer deluge firsthand. The dinner was good, but the drive home was treacherous with rivers instead of streets from Falls Church to Vienna.
My phone rang around 11:00, and Aaron asked me if I knew a plumber. It was an emergency.
He told me that he had a problem with his sump pump and I asked him to send me a video of the situation.
He was a few minutes from having a flooded basement, and no plumber was going to be able to help him in the limited time he had to take action.
I told him to find where the black drainpipe exited because it was obviously (to me) clogged. With me on the line, I had him locate the green pop up which was covered in mulch. I told him to pull the green plug up and off.
Water shot out of it immediately breaking the dam and saving his basement.
SO, One last thing every homeowner needs to take care of today.
If you already have drainpipes in your yard, then take a look (in the daylight) at where they are draining. To an open area, maybe downhill? Too often, I see these pipes buried under thick grass, dirt, or a pile of mulch..
When I can’t find an exit or end of a drainpipe, I often pour a watering can of water to see where it shows up. If you can’t find that water then you may have to replace the entire pipe.
Good luck.
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Real estate taxes are paid annually in two installments, due July 28, 2026 and December 7, 2026.
The town’s real estate tax rate is 19 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
Town of Vienna homeowners also pay Fairfax County real estate tax of $1.12 per $100 of assessed valuation and homeowners will also pay a stormwater fee of 0.0325 cents per $100 of assessed value.
Combined, the tax rate is $1.3425 for Town of Vienna homeowners in the tax year.
If you’d like to understand the Town of Vienna 2026 budget, read more here at Town of Vienna.
Insight: The Town provides homeowners services such as trash pickup, recycling collection, leaf pickup, street cleaning, and snowplowing. Vienna has a police department, a parks & recreation department, public works, and water and sewer services. The Town has an elected Mayor and Town Council.
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There is limited seating at Yeonas Park (Vienna Little League Park) in the stands. Bring chairs or blankets, but no chairs allowed on the ball fields.
Parking along the streets will be allowed but at a reasonable walking distance since the close-by streets are narrow.
So, plan to walk a little.
The Town of Vienna has NOevents scheduled for the day’s events at the Community Center and on the Town Green, and a map showing the fireworks site and areas to sit on the Little League field to watch the fireworks on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2026.
Have a safe and fun 4th of July weekend, and hope to see you there on Wednesday the 2nd.
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Here’s the first home seller checklist I give designed to help anyone get started.
It’s work, but delivers a worthy ROI!
In 2025, my main marketing strategy will be helping each client’s home look its best online with careful planning, staging, and professional photography.
For example, the photo above didn’t just happen. It involved my staging team and a creative professional photographer to compose this captivating warm and inviting space.
We follow certain steps to add market appeal to every photo.
Right now, I know if you have some do-able home projects, they are just what you need to reduce your stress levels and see a brighter future at home. Really, it’s okay to pretend a little while improving your home and current lifestyle.
Putting together plans to help my clients prepare their homes to appeal to the real estate market is always fun (in a way). Many of my clients who have retired and are downsizing have found this checklist to be a really helpful guide.
So, here are some ideas of smart home projects that you can start today.
I hope that you will consider a few of these projects and then let me know how a home project turned out at your house. Email me a photo or two will be great (before and after) and then I’ll feature it here in a series to inspire others.
To give you an idea, here is a room that I did for clients last summer.
Before:

There were a few things in this 2012 dining room that I knew needed to change. The wall paint needed to have greater contrast to the extensive white trim work. The ceiling was painted similar to the wall color which dulled this bright room and hid the three piece crown molding. And, the “heavy” chandelier needed to have a modern vibe like what I see in competitive homes.
After:

This is the professional photo that I used. The ceiling has been painted white. The trim work was fine so it wasn’t repainted. The wall is a nice gray from Benjamin Moore. And, the modern farmhouse chandelier gives a minimalist feel.
There are more before and after photos that you should take a look here at Case Studies where I’ll show you a variety of recent listings. I always help improve a clients home to get the greatest interest from home buyers here or ones locating to Vienna.
In the meantime, know that I am thinking about everyone who is sheltering from the virus at home, and dealing with this hardship on so many levels.
I look at data all the time and the Fairfax County real estate market has remained remarkably strong. Buyer demand far outstrips the supply..
All in all, this makes an excellent case for using your home as a hedge against future inflation. Lock in long-term loans or refinance, and understand that inflation will continue to lift the value of your home.
Long time or retiring homeowners looking to move should start to plan now as we find that finding your next home, anywhere in the country, will be more difficult than finding a buyer for your home. There are some specific strategies that I plan to cover in a future post.
Did this checklist help get you planning?
Shoot me an email if you want me to set a time to pop by and give you pointers. I’m right here in Vienna!
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Rates hit 6%, and then quickly rose to 6.525% in May.
I always hear questions about pricing and market activity in Vienna, and I like to talk about what is happening today. Specifically: active inventory, days on market, buyer activity, number of offers, and other important factors that monthly “stats” don’t always make obvious.
And, with today’s shifting market with interest rate increases, this is exactly the information that is valuable and you really need to know.
The Vienna VA real estate market gets broken down by the three zip codes that cover the Vienna mailing address. As you can easily see from these three charts of the three Vienna Zip Codes, 22180, 22181, and 22182 that there has been a decline in the number of active homes over the two year period. A stable absorption rate remains as new “Active Listings” hit the Vienna VA real estate market and then become “Pending Listings” (homes that are Under Contract).
When I see trends that you should know about then I will write related blog posts that you should find insightful. Although this data is good, in my opinion, the stats for the Town of Vienna or 22180 do not show the whole story because of the intense activity from builders and investors who are actively building new homes in Vienna. These statistics don’t reflect what I see on the ground and, please understand, my opinion will change month to month ~ sorry to be vague but there are far more direct sales to builders with cash in hand than shown here. Contact me if you want to learn more.
Okay, here are the latest 2026 stats on real estate activity in Vienna, Virginia.
Here is a snapshot of Active Listings over the last ten years in Northern Virginia as a whole. The trend has been downward supply constantly over the years.
Specifically, the number of Active listings in September 2015 was 5,821. In April 2026, that number was 2,556, about half as many active listings available for home buyers to see as a decade ago.
It almost seems hard to believe that the number of Active Listings has dropped by 50%. Today’s active home buyers in Vienna always seemed shocked when I tell them there were often more than 2x the number of homes to look at.
The result of limited supply is classic Economics 101, prices will increase when demand outstrips supply.
The Vienna real estate market will continue to appreciate as the housing supply has increased minimally.
Over the last 15 years, most new construction in Vienna replaced one house with a new house, 1 for 1. I wrote about this trend years ago, Builders betting on Vienna, when I recognized building trends advising clients who were buyers of new homes across Vienna. These clients have seen their equity increase over 50% or more.
Customized Charts
Home sales can change neighborhood by neighborhood. So if you live in Wolf Trap, Eudora, then the Vienna Woods stats may seem very different and I can provide you that type of breakdown through an e-mail. Often a breakdown by elementary schools can help you too because homes feeding into Wolftrap ES, Westbriar ES, Louise Archer ES, Vienna ES, Flint Hill ES, Cunningham Park or Marshall Road ES may be how a home buyer is refining their search.
Understanding how you want to define a search is essential. Home sellers should look beyond their own neighborhood to understand current home buyer trends at any given moment as recent “sold comps” in your neighborhood may not accurately reflect today’s demand and market value. If you want to see what is available right now in specific price ranges, check out my Vienna Real Estate Guide.
Know instant “get your home’s value” web sites really aren’t the best way to gauge your home’s unique value. Read this article because there are many factors that can influence market value and appeal.
Give me a call, or e-mail me and I can create a customized chart for you whether it is your current home, a tear down, or you are selling your childhood home in Vienna.
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This parade is full of Marching Bands, Fire Engines, Dancers, Floats and kids… and more kids. One friend who recently moved back to London always commented how “you Americans sure love your fire engines with sirens blazing!”
This year I’ll probably be walking with the pet owners. My daughter will be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and our dog will be Toto, he’s a Cairn Terrier (born for the role). At this point, I may be the Scarecrow!
The primary grandstand will be set up at the Vienna Town Green, and my tip is to be nearby since this is where each group will definitely perform. It’s busy, so be prepared to get there early if you plan to sit down to watch.
So be prepared for some noise. But really, the 78th Vienna Virginia Halloween Parade will be a lot of fun and you should try and make it.

Everyone is invited and the parade usually lasts about 90 minutes to two hours. It all starts down at Branch Road SE, then up Maple Avenue past the Vienna Town Green, and then turns on Center Street and ends in front of Town Hall.
After that, stop in at the Vienna Inn!
This is one of the events that helped Vienna make Money Magazine’s list of Best Places to Live.



I updated this article to include a new 2024 Dulles Disclosure
One of the benefits of living in Northern Virginia is that you can get a flight almost anywhere in the world at one of the local airports. Each of these “local airports” qualifies to be in the top tier of U.S. airports for passenger traffic and daily flights.
When a real estate client from Texas asked me about airport flight paths over Vienna, VA, I had to say the area is covered with overlapping flight paths. We have Dulles International, Reagan National, Joint Base Andrews AFB, and plenty of helicopters going wherever helicopters can land!
I happen to live in one of the overlapping areas where I can see planes on approach to Reagan National (DCA) to my right, on approach to Dulles International (IAD) to my left, on approach to Joint Base Andrews overhead, and hear a medevac helicopter en route to Fairfax Hospital.
The helicopter wins out in the noise department since the airplanes, for the most part, have low sound output on approach.
On the map above, I did not include BWI Airport which is outside Baltimore and a major Southwest Airlines hub because those planes don’t touch our airspace.
You should know that Washington Dulles International handles over 21 million passengers in 2022, and Reagan Washington National Airport handles over 24 million passengers in 2022.
Added up, that’s a lot of flights!
Although most residents can’t tell the difference, flights on approach to Andrews Air Force Base (in Maryland) make a final approach over Northern Virginia. And one morning at my son’s early morning soccer game in Alexandria VA, I counted ten Air Force C-17’s gaining altitude.
Helicopter traffic is significant and includes medevac choppers to the hospitals, every imaginable military helicopter including Marine One, Coast Guard helicopters, Fairfax County Police helicopters, U.S. Park Service helicopters, and the TV News choppers out searching for “news”.
In reality, living here isn’t quite as noisy as I may have depicted here. Really!
FYI – It’s just going to be impossible to find a home in Northern Virginia that isn’t near a potential flight path.

The Freeman House on Church Street The historic Freeman House is located on Church Street in Vienna. It is really the unofficial center of town and its active lifestyle, as on one side is the Vienna Town Green, a Saturday morning farmers market, the W&OD Trail (you can walk or run too), an organic bakery, The Sandwich Shop, The Pure Pasty Shop, Ristorante Bonaroti, great pizza at Pizza Vienna, Bikes@Vienna, The Vienna Inn, The Virginian, Caffe Amouri, Cocoa Vienna, Caboose Brewery and so much more.
Church Street has charming brick sidewalks and a perfect spot for a dozen events throughout the year.
The Town of Vienna, Virginia is where I have lived for the past 25ish years (time flies). One of this blog’s categories is Living Here, and when I stumble across something interesting that may be off the typical radar, I will write a blog post.
The Town of Vienna has an elected Mayor and Town Council. There is a Public Works Department, Police Department, Volunteer Fire Department manned by professional Fairfax County Firefighters, a town hall, attractive town green, annual Halloween Parade, 4th of July fireworks show, and much more.
Although the Town is within Fairfax County, residents of the Town pay an additional property tax currently set (2026) at $0.195 per $100 of assessment on top of the Fairfax County VA property tax. This additional tax provides for a wide array of services including trash and recycling for residents
The Town of Vienna covers 4.4 square miles and has a population of approximately 16,550.
Late April:
Memorial Day Weekend: Viva Vienna on Church Street 5/23/26 – 5/25/2026 10:00 to 10:00
September: Fall Native Plant Sale at the Vienna Community Center 9/19/2026 8:00 to 12:00
Early October: Oktoberfest on Church Street 10/3/2026 from 11:00 to 7:00
Late October – 80th Annual Halloween Parade 10/28/2026 from 7:00 to 9:00
Late November: Holiday Stroll on Church Street 11/30/2026 from 6:00 to 9:00
Juneteenth and Liberty Amendments Day 6/19/2026 First Baptist Church of Vienna
The Vienna Town Green: Summer Concert Series Friday and Sunday nights (will update when the schedule is published)
Chillin’ on Church – Friday evening pedestrian events during the summer 6/12/2026 6:30-9:30
Vienna Farmers’ Market is held Saturday mornings 5/4/2024 through 10/2024 8:00 to 12:00
Vienna real estate ranges from in-town condos, town homes, single family homes, new homes, and luxury homes.
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