VIENNA, VA — More than a decade ago, Compass real estate agent April Fearnley was doing much different work than selling houses. Fearnley spent six years prosecuting violent crime in Washington, D.C.
But as her family grew to have two young girls, she decided to make a career change to spend more time at home.
Fearnley always had an interest in real estate, so she decided to take a course at Vienna’s Weichert Realtors. She even found some similarities between prosecutor and real estate duties by using skills like negotiation, good communication and helping people through transition.
“There’s a lot of emotion in criminal law and there’s actually a lot of emotion in real estate,” Fearnley told Patch. “It’s the third most stressful event in people’s lives. It’s usually death is number one, losing a job is number two, and buying and selling a house and moving as number three. So I found that I liked the softer side of real estate — the counseling, the guiding and befriending, in addition to having all the skill sets that I had from the academic side of things.”
Fearnley worked for Weichert before several years before joining Compass during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. She is licensed in Virginia and D.C. but mainly focuses on Northern Virginia.
“I love the brokerage, and then of course, I love the clients, because to me what’s really fun is that you’re really in a relationship business, and you become a little bit of a part of that person’s family during that process that they’re going through,” said Fearnley. “You learn a lot about what’s important to them as you’re helping them find a house or maybe going through a process that’s difficult for them like selling a home after a death or a divorce.”
Trends in the Northern Virginia Real Estate Market
Fearnley has sold homes mainly in Vienna, McLean and Fairfax. But interest rates that have gone up in the past few years drove more people to look further out.
“Now that interest rates are high, there are more people interested in Ashburn, Gainesville, Chantilly,” said Fearnley. “A lot of people are looking, maybe they’re lowering their budget by $100,000 to account for the difference in interest rate, and then going even further West.”
For current homeowners with interest rates around 3 percent, it may be unappealing to sell and buy a new home when interest rates are so high. But Fearnley says homeowners can benefit from selling because there is strong interest from buyers.
“I hope that some of those sellers that are on the fence will explore selling sooner because I expect they will do very well price wise and with the terms of a sale,” said Fearnley. “I think part of what is happening is if sellers need a mortgage, these are not ideal mortgages if you have a lower mortgage rate already.”
Fearnley expects rates will improve by the end of 2025, which is when homeowners with higher interest rates may choose to refinance. For buyers, that means purchasing a home now may result in better pricing, as declining rates will motivate more buyers to compete for homes.
For example, Fearnley recalls selling a townhouse in McLean when the rates were around 3 percent. That townhouse drew 14 offers.
“It’s hard not to get attached when you’re excited about a house, but that was the reality of it. If they had a mortgage and a cash offer came in, it’s hard not to take the cash offer,” said Fearnley. “So you have to be prepared to not get emotionally attached when the rates are like 3 percent and the demand is so high.”
House inventory remains tighter in the Northern Virginia real estate market than nationally, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors’ latest report. That has resulted in higher prices and properties remaining on the market for fewer days in Northern Virginia than nationally, In January, the median selling price in Northern Virginia was $650,000, up 6.6 percent from January 2023. Fearnley says Northern Virginia will remain competitive, since the region is somewhat protected against recessions due to the federal government’s presence.
So why is the Northern Virginia market so popular? Aside from its location close to Washington, D.C., Fearnley says the region boasts quality education systems, parks and recreation facilities and other amenities you can find in a major metropolitan area.
“There are small towns here that feel warm and have a real sense of community, where you will know people when you go into different coffee shops and restaurants,” said Fearnley. “But yet you can reach fairly far within an hour or two. And I think that’s pretty extraordinary, especially when you think about the highly educated workforce, the plethora of well-paying jobs, including the government that’s right here in conjunction with a really strong school system. I think that makes these communities really special.”
Fearnley is part of that local community, too. She is a troop leader for her daughters’ two Girl Scout troops. With the older fifth grade group, they often participate in adventurous activities like whitewater rafting and horseback riding. The younger third grade group does more educational activities. One of these was a World Thinking Day at Madison High School where members would host tables for different countries and go around to try food and crafts from different countries. Another was visiting and learning from a trauma surgeon in the trauma unit at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital.
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Aside from Girl Scout activities with her children, Fearnley participates in Vienna Choral Society, volunteers at her children’s schools and runs. She will participate in the Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run in April.
She is also getting involved with housing charitable efforts through Habitat for Humanity. She first helped build a house with Habitat for Humanity during her college years at University of Virginia. She is volunteering with one of Habitat for Humanity’s stores that supplies furnishings for Habitat for Humanity’s new construction homes. Fearnley has also requested to start a team to help build a home in the Fairfax area in 2024. A date has not yet been confirmed for that home construction.
For more information about Fearnley’s real estate services, visit aprilfearnleyrealtor.com.
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