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Legal Insider: OPM disability retirement since DOGE

By Sponsor

This is a sponsored column by attorneys John Berry and Kimberly Berry of Berry & Berry, PLLC, an employment and labor law firm located in Northern Virginia that specializes in federal employee, security clearance, retirement and private sector employee matters.

By John Berry, Esq. & Kara Osborne, Esq.

With the changes that have come to the federal government in light of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), we have seen an increase in federal disability retirement applications to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) lately. Given the efforts to reduce the size of the federal government, it appears that DOGE may actually not be opposed to increased disability retirement filings by federal employees.

What is OPM Disability Retirement?

OPM disability retirement is an entitlement for federal employees under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). This program allows federal employees who are unable to perform their essential job functions, due to a disability, to receive a retirement annuity early. The disability does not have to be work-related. However, the disability must have arisen or worsened while the employee was working for the federal government. In order to qualify, a federal employee in FERS must have: (1) at least 18 months of full-time service, (2) a disability expected to last at least one year, and (3) the inability to perform job duties with or without reasonable accommodation. This linked article provides tips for federal employees considering OPM disability retirement.

Issues that have Recently Come Up for Disability Applicants

A number of recent issues have caused the increase in OPM disability retirement applications. Many federal employees have previously worked under Reasonable Accommodations (RA), which allowed remote work. While many of these RAs have been honored, many have not. Some agencies have tried to reduce the amount of telework in these existing RA agreements. Individuals are understandably concerned about returning to the office only to have all of their RA-related telework taken away. Other federal employees also had telework agreements in place outside of the RA process. These remote work assignments enabled many federal employees with severe medical issues to continue working for the federal government. Since the government’s commitment to remote work has changed, as a result of OPM and DOGE efforts for a full return to the workplace, many federal employees with disabilities have started to consider OPM disability retirement as an option.

Individuals Struggling with Disabilities May Have Had Enough

Another reason for the increase in OPM disability retirement applications is morale. Many federal employees devote themselves to their position out of pride. The latest developments with Reductions-in-Force (RIF), the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP), and other issues have led to a serious morale issue for many federal employees. Many federal employees who have had serious disabilities have continued to work despite debilitating medical issues. Many federal employees have now come to the conclusion that they shouldn’t struggle with a severe disability any further. As a result, many individuals have decided to seek disability retirement due to a lack of appreciation.

Potential Pitfalls

There are some other disability retirement potential pitfalls that federal employees face with respect to the DRP and other departure incentives. One of these issues includes an unwritten rule where many agencies have been advising federal employees that if they take a DRP and then apply for OPM disability retirement, they may find themselves receiving a negative decision. There is nothing written about this issue yet, but federal employees should at least consider this possibility.

Quicker Processing by OPM

OPM also appears to be processing OPM disability retirement claims faster. While nothing has been specifically written about faster OPM processing times, we have received notes from several clients that disability retirement cases seem to be moving faster. OPM may have been given guidance to speed up the processing of disability retirement claims.

Seek Legal Guidance Before Filing a Disability Retirement Application

Given the unique criteria that OPM uses to decide OPM disability retirement applications, it is important to speak to experienced counsel before filing a claim. Getting legal advice early can help you decide whether or not a particular disability claim stands a good chance of being granted. Getting advice early can also help individuals gather important materials to support their OPM disability retirement claims before they apply. The process can be complex and is not as straightforward as OPM often describes.

Contact Us

Our law firm represents and advises federal employees in OPM disability retirement applications and reconsideration appeals. If you need legal assistance regarding a federal employment matter, please contact our office at (703) 668-0070 or our website to schedule a consultation.

Arts Focus: Music by the Metro returns to Clarendon for spring 2025

By Sponsor
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This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

Get ready to dance in the streets — Music by the Metro: Clarendon Concert Series is back for spring 2025.

This free outdoor concert series takes place every Thursday evening in May at 6:00 p.m. at Clarendon Metro Park, located at 3100 Wilson Blvd. Presented by the Clarendon Alliance, the series is co-sponsored by Comcast and Arlington Arts.

The curatorial collaboration between Arlington Arts and the Clarendon Alliance is one of many partnerships between Arlington Cultural Affairs and community groups, associations and business improvement districts. From the Lubber Run Amphitheater Summer Concert Series to the Columbia Pike Blues Festival and the Rosslyn Jazz Festival, the artists you see on stage are curated and supported by Arlington Arts.

Here’s what’s in store for this season’s lineup:

Zedicus
Thursday, May 1
Zedicus brings a high-energy blend of world music, reggae and jam band grooves. Based in the Washington, D.C. area, the band’s sound defies borders, fusing reggae, rock, alternative and global influences into an infectious and vibrant experience.

Mama Moon and the Rump Shakers
Thursday, May 8
A six-piece blues fusion ensemble from D.C., Mama Moon and the Rump Shakers have been shaking up the scene since 2021. Led by the barefoot blues sensation Mama Moon, the band delivers soulful performances full of flair, personality and reverence for blues traditions.

Kiti Gartner and the Drifting Valentines
Thursday, May 15
With a sound rooted in western swing, rockabilly and classic country, Kiti Gartner and the Drifting Valentines channel the spirit of 1940s Nashville, Sun Records and Bakersfield. The D.C.-based group brings nostalgia and rhythm to every performance.

Veronneau
Thursday, May 22
Led by Québécoise vocalist Lynn Veronneau and UK guitarist Ken Avis, Veronneau’s music blends bossa nova, French chanson and swing, sung in English, Portuguese, French and Spanish. The internationally recognized group has three Top 10 charting albums, and more than a million Spotify streams.

A rain date is reserved for Thursday, May 29. For full event details, visit the official Music by the Metro page.

About Arlington Cultural Affairs

Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development, delivers public activities and programs that foster a creative environment, encourage collaboration and reflect the diverse voices of the community. To learn more about upcoming events, public art and artist opportunities, visit arts.arlingtonva.us.

Just Reduced Properties in Arlington: April 30, 2025

By Sponsor

Each week, “Just Reduced” spotlights properties in Arlington County whose price have been cut over the previous week. The market summary is crafted by Arlington Realty, Inc. Maximize your real estate investment with the team by visiting www.arlingtonrealtyinc.com or calling 703-836-6000 today!

Please note: While Arlington Realty, Inc. provides this information for the community, it may not be the listing company of these homes.

As of April 28, there are 211 detached homes, 40 townhouses and 222 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 44 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week, including:

4622 Dittmar Road, 22207

Please note that this is solely a selection of Just Reduced properties available in Arlington County. For a complete list of properties within your target budget and specifications, contact Arlington Realty, Inc.

Ask Eli: Five habits of people with high credit scores

By Sponsor

This regularly scheduled sponsored column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Arlington resident. If you would like to work with Eli and his team in Northern Virginia and the greater D.C. Metro area, you can reach him directly at [email protected].

Eli and his team believe that your real estate needs should be managed by advisors, not salespeople. Their mission is to guide, educate, and advocate for their clients through real advice, hands-on support, and personalized service.

Questions: Do you have any advice for somebody who needs help improving their credit score to qualify for a better loan?

Answer: This is not the time or place to air my grievances with the US credit score system, but as it stands today and for well into the future, your credit score plays a significant role in your ability to get a mortgage and cost of your mortgage.

There are some strategies for to marginally increase your credit score over a short period of time, but the best thing you can do for a future home purchase is develop strong habits that lead to a great, long-term credit score.

For years, I have valued the wisdom and education of Paul Nagel, an excellent mortgage lender with Main Street Home Loans ([email protected] or 703-201-5147) and he recently shared an excellent article with me that he authored on the five habits of people with high credit scores that I thought was valuable to present to you in the form of a guest post.

Here is what Paul has to say…

Before going further, I’m required to state that I am not a credit repair professional, and this is based on my observations while helping clients obtain home financing over the past two decades. I’ve never seen anyone have these habits and not have excellent credit scores, and I hope the following observations can benefit you.

Habit #1: Micromanage your bills during atypical life events

Late payments hurt your credit score, but it’s surprisingly uncommon that late payments caused by a lack of available funds. Most often, late payments or collections are the result of poorly monitored bills during atypical life events.

There are two life events you should pay attention to that most often lead to mistaken late payments or collections:

  • Medical Emergencies: The complexity of our healthcare system often leads to late or missed payments so be proactive in asking for bills and making sure treatments are completely paid off
  • Moving: Late payments and collections associated with a move often happen for two reasons. First, a utility (or similar) bill may have an outstanding balance that goes unnoticed after the move, and this overlooked balance becomes a collection and large negative event on a credit report. Second, you forgot to notify a vendor of your new address and bills get sent to your old address and missed in your busy inbox. Find a moving checklist that contains reminders of all the different vendors/bills people usually have to help you remember who to notify.

Habit #2: Keep credit card balances under 45% of each card’s maximum limit

A computer program called the FICO Scoring Model accumulates your credit information and generates a score based on this information. One of the inputs is the current balance on each of your credit cards relative to the maximum credit limit for each credit card. Rightly or wrongly, this computer program will reduce your credit score if the balance of any credit card is over 45% of the maximum line of credit.

Should you have unusually high expenses one month that exceed the 45% balance, the score will adjust and improve once the algorithm is re-run after paying it down, but there will be a period of time prior to when your score is lower because of the high balance.

Habit #3: If a negative event happens, fix it right away

It’s nearly impossible to live a life free of negative credit events, but people with consistently high credit scores make fixing these issues a top priority when they happen rather than letting them linger (and possibly forgetting).

Your credit score will begin to “heal” as soon as the negative event is corrected, but it can take time for the score to fully recover so time is of the essence.

Habit #4: Keep it simple with 2-4 cards from large institutions

Rewards and perks are tempting, but the more cards you have in use, the higher the chance you have of missing a payment or mistakenly exceeding the 45% balance rule. Keep it simple to maximize the life-long benefits of a high credit score.

Typically, store credit cards have a lower credit limit and are easier to exceed the 45% balance rule with. Larger banking institutions tend to offer the highest credit limits and thus allow you to more easily stay under the 45% mark.

Habit #5: Avoid frivolous credit card inquiries

Be thoughtful and infrequent with credit card inquiries (applications for new lines of credit), this includes rewards cards from a store or airline. All credit inquiries lower your credit score, but not all inquiries are created equal.

A credit card inquiry is much more harmful and longer lasting than a mortgage inquiry. You can also have multiple mortgage application inquiries within a two-week period and it will only count as one inquiry.

Limit your credit card inquiries to times when you know you are ready to open a new line of credit, have done your homework on the card, and are confident that it will be a long-term card for you.

One final tip from personal and professional experience – occasionally we are improperly billed a small, frustrating amount from a vendor. If you are unable to correct it in a timeline manner, consider cutting your losses and paying it, rather than fight it all the way into collections. The cost of having a small, albeit improper, bill getting sent to collections can be much greater than the cost of paying it off. You can continue to fight it after paying it off.

I hope you find Paul’s guidance helpful. If you have any questions about good credit practices, ideas for short-term boosts to your credit score, or anything mortgage lending related you can reach Paul Nagel of Main Street Home Loans at [email protected] or 703-201-5147.

If you’d like to discuss buying, selling, investing, or renting, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].

Upcoming (pre-market) ERG Listings, Details and Additional Listings Available by Request

  • Yorktown – 6BR/6.5BA/6,000+ sqft – Detached Single Family (2026) – N Greencastle St Arlington VA 22207
  • Arlington Ridge/Aurora Hills – 3BR/2.5BA/2,450sqft – Detached Single Family (1961) – S Grove St Arlington VA 22202
  • Ballston – 2BR/1BA/919sqft – Condo (2005) – 1001 N Randolph St Arlington VA 22201
  • Tara Leeway Heights – 7BR/7.2BA/7,500sqft/half acre/pool – Detached Single Family (2026) – 1500 N Harrison St Arlington VA 22205
  • Highland Park/Overlee Knolls – 6BR/5.5BA/5,000+ sqft – Detached Single Family (2025) – 22nd Rd N Arlington VA 22205

Become a Champion

By Sponsor
Champions 2025

Arlington Transportation Partners (ATP)is ready to enroll your business into Champions 2025 and assist your company, property, school, or hotel provide the best transportation solutions and benefits for your business. If you are an employer, multifamily residential community, commercial property or hotel, ATP can help you make a positive impact.

What is a Champion?

Champions are employers and properties in Arlington that are committed to supporting the commuting and transportation needs of their staff and tenants. They provide and promote benefits and amenities that encourage alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles. In 2024, 152 Champions implemented 243 new transportation programs, including commuter benefits, Capital Bikeshare memberships, and commuter-focused events. These programs, combined with the robust transit options in Arlington County, allow Champions to improve the work/life experience of their employees, tenants, and residents.

Champions has four unique levels your business can achieve based solely on your goals and objectives. Promoting multiple options other than driving alone is enough to make your business Bronze Level. It’s likely your organization already has programs in place that will “earn” your company credit.

The Champions program began its pilot in 2013 with 31 participants and officially launched in 2014. Over the years, nearly 530 unique businesses and properties have added more than 3,750 transportation benefits, amenities, and programs that support the commutes of Arlington residents and employees.

Don’t miss out on becoming a Champion. When you enroll, you help your business attract and retain employees, tenants, and residents and become a role model in transportation in Arlington.

Enroll Today

DMV residents use improv classes to escape stress and find community through laughter

By Sponsor
Washington Improv Theater

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people,” said comedian Victor Borge. What’s more? Connecting and laughing with others can strengthen your resilience in the face of uncertainty and help you tackle tough challenges.

Improv classes, in particular, are great for people dealing with uncertainty and anxiety because they train you to be present in-the-moment and focus on the person and situation in front of you, instead of worrying about what the future holds. Plus, they’re incredibly fun and entertaining, offering a much-needed respite from reality.

Writing about her own improv education, Axios DC Reporter Mimi Montgomery recently wrote, “As grown-ups, we often repress the imaginative playfulness and openness we had as kids, writing off these urges as embarrassing or dumb. But that means we cut ourselves off from opportunities to grow and create — dream jobs and passion projects and wild adventures.”

Experts in Spreading Joy

Washington Improv Theater (WIT) has been the DMV’s premier destination for hilarious improv comedy shows and informative, accessible classes for more than 25 years. Each year, more than 1,000 adults take one of WIT’s “Foundations of Improv” courses.

“Everybody needs an escape from time to time, and I’d say that’s especially true right now,” says Mark Chalfant, WIT’s Artistic/Executive Director.

For the past two years in-a-row, Washington City Paper readers have named WIT’s classes as being the “Best Art Class” in the District, according to the platform’s annual “Best of DC” poll.

Start Your New Adventure!

WIT’s Level 1 classes, which teach techniques for honing your communication and collaboration skills, are currently enrolling for weekly classes that start as soon as this Sunday, April 27. There are eight classes in total plus a showcase at the end.

The theater’s talented and dedicated teaching artists are trained in providing a positive learning environment that is safe, inclusive, and welcoming to all.

“WIT students come from a variety of backgrounds and different stages in life, from 22-year-old college grads and 35-year-old mid-career professionals, to 55-year-old senior executives and individuals who are well into retirement,” says Chalfant. “Our classes serve as a laboratory for self-discovery and a catalyst for creativity regardless of how old you are or what you do.”

In addition to WIT’s classes for individuals, its organizational training arm WIT@Work uses applied improv to teach professional skills, leadership development, and team building. It’s one of the top providers of its kind in the entire country.

What WIT’s students have to say:

“I love all the people I’ve met. Improv pushes you to get out of your comfort zone, which builds confidence. It’s all been wonderful!” — Kevin T.

“It’s the best professional training for creativity and working with people. I literally use improv everyday, including trying to approach most ideas with a spirit of ‘Yes, and’!” — Julia G.

“WIT constantly teaches me it’s okay to make mistakes (and move on), and how to trust my colleagues… Your classes have helped me take the poison out of toxic people and relationships, so that we can all take away something truly helpful and powerful.” — Helen D.

Discover all that Washington Improv Theater has to offer and follow along on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and LinkedIn. You can also subscribe to WIT’s weekly newsletter to be the first to find out about upcoming classes, performances, and more!

Sign up today!

Statutes of Liberty: Airport immigration enforcement in the age of Trump

By Sponsor

This sponsored column is by Law Office of James Montana PLLC. All questions about it should be directed to James Montana, Esq., Janice Chen, Esq., and Taryn Druge, Esq., practicing attorneys at The Law Office of James Montana PLLC, an immigration-focused law firm located in Falls Church, Virginia. The legal information given here is general in nature. If you want legal advice, contact us for an appointment.

What on earth is happening at the airports? The answer is, at least in the first instance, not a matter of law, but policy.

The Trump administration is using existing legal authority in wholly novel and frightening ways. In so doing, the administration may succeed in its aim of raising barriers to admission, at least in the short term — but it may hinder its own objectives in the long term, by creating adverse legal precedents when its policies are challenged. Time will tell.

First, the legal landscape, which pre-existed the Trump administration. The airport is a border zone. At the border, CBP agents man a metaphorical wall — a gatehouse, if you will — and apply their training to decide who may or may not enter. Mere possession of proper entry papers guarantees nothing. For example, a tourist holding a visitor visa may be refused entry if the inspector believes that the tourist intends to work illegally. A green card holder can have the green card stripped — and even be detained, pending deportation proceedings — if the inspector believes that the green card holder is deportable, for criminal or other reasons.

Now, the policy. The Trump administration has turned every knob up to eleven in the inspection process. Here are a few examples:

  1. A tourist who (allegedly) confessed that she intended to do a free tattoo for a friend in exchange for some clothes from a friend of hers — well, she was found to be seeking unauthorized employment in the barter economy. She was detained for weeks, then deported.
  2. A lawful permanent resident who (allegedly) was once charged with (but not convicted of) misdemeanor drug charges has been detained since March following an airport encounter.
  3. A Russian scientist leading a Harvard lab, traveling with (allegedly) improperly labelled frog eggs, was arrested and has been detained for more than two months. She is an opponent of the Putin regime, and rightfully fears being deported back to Russia.
  4. A physician holding a valid H-1B visa who (allegedly) admitted to attending the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah was detained and deported.
  5. Disturbingly, there have been at least two incidents of U.S. citizen lawyers being (allegedly) detained at the border. In one of those incidents, the attorney was pressured to turn over his phone for a search, despite the fact that his phone contained reams of confidential client information.

This behavior has been widely reported, but it is also disputed; CBP says that media coverage of the examples described above is exaggerated or otherwise unreliable, and the truth of each of these claims is unclear. What is clear is that the Trump administration has turned up the heat at airports and border posts across the country. As these events continue, we expect that legal challenges will be brought.

Unlike the challenges to other Trump administration immigration initiatives — like the executive order purporting to ban birthright citizenship, or the administration’s efforts to summarily deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang, legal challenges to port of entry enforcement will take longer to be filed. It takes longer to gather the evidence, and the procedural rights of those applying for admission are less substantial than the rights of those already present in the interior. But bad policy, just like good policy, requires rules.

Those rules will be documented, and maintaining those rules produces still more paper: emails, memoranda, messages, and (eventually) depositions and live testimony; in short, evidence, which is just what the courts will weigh in their adjudication of whether these new policies comply with U.S. law.

Just Reduced Properties in Arlington: April 23, 2025

By Sponsor

Each week, “Just Reduced” spotlights properties in Arlington County whose price have been cut over the previous week. The market summary is crafted by Arlington Realty, Inc. Maximize your real estate investment with the team by visiting www.arlingtonrealtyinc.com or calling 703-836-6000 today!

Please note: While Arlington Realty, Inc. provides this information for the community, it may not be the listing company of these homes.

As of April 21, there are 186 detached homes, 36 townhouses and 211 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 26 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week, including:

2142 N. Dinwiddie Street

Please note that this is solely a selection of Just Reduced properties available in Arlington County. For a complete list of properties within your target budget and specifications, contact Arlington Realty, Inc.

Biz Talk: AED partners with DC Tech Meetup

By Sponsor
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This article is sponsored by Arlington Economic Development.

DC Tech Meetup is a monthly event that brings together startups, technologists and professionals from across the Washington, D.C., region. The series has become a reliable space for showcasing emerging tech and fostering collaboration in the area’s growing innovation ecosystem.

This May, the event comes to Arlington.

Arlington Economic Development (AED) is partnering with DC Tech Meetup to present its 90th event — Big Compute in Arlington — on Thursday, May 8. The meetup will be held at the National Landing Experience Center and will feature live tech demos from companies working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, big data and next-generation computing.

This event is funded through AED’s Arlington Innovation Fund Ecosystem Support Fund, which was created to enhance Arlington’s tech ecosystem and support the growth of local technology startups.

The evening will feature tech demos from some of the region’s most innovative companies.

  • ​Chris Hamoen of Data Parrot (Arlington): Data Parrot transforms messy CRM data into clear revenue signals, enabling revenue leaders to spot risks and seize opportunities — all powered by your AI analyst working 24/7.
  • Juan Manuel Contreras of Aymara: Aymara builds dev tools to measure and improve the alignment of generative AI products and models.
  • Ashley Sherry & Jacob Tucker of Empathix AI (Arlington): EmpathixAI is a full-cycle market research firm powered by AI. Our flagship product, CultureChat, delivers meaningful insights from AI-conducted interviews with representative samples – in hours.
  • Amit Mehra of NOVI (Arlington): NOVI is building multi-sensor satellites and hardware with integrated edge-processing to generate quick and cheap space-based intelligence using on-board AI applications.

A panel discussion, “The Capital Region’s Role in the Future of Compute,” will follow the demos. Featured expert speakers include:

  • ​PJ Maykish, Sr Advisor at the Special Competitive Studies Project
  • ​Alla Seiffert, Sr Manager of AWS Public Policy
  • ​Jonathan Burley, AI Director at Bloomberg Industry Group
  • ​Sanmay Das, Professor & Associate Director of AI for Social Impact at Virginia Tech

DC Tech Meetup #90: Big Compute in Arlington will take place Thursday, May 8, at 5:30 p.m. The evening includes networking and refreshments. Interested? Learn more and register to attend.

Learn more about upcoming events and subscribe to DC Tech Meetup’s newsletter at DC Tech Meetup or follow on LinkedIn.

Why Arlington?

Proximity to policymakers, talent and research institutions makes Arlington an ideal environment for technology companies. AED continues to invest in programs that attract founders, scale innovation and support a competitive local economy. Subscribe to AED’s Innovation Ecosystem emails to learn about upcoming sponsored events and exclusive innovation ecosystem opportunities. For more information on AED, please visit arlingtoneconomicdevelopment.com.

Join the Arlington Festival of the Arts on April 26 & 27

By Sponsor
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Discover your new favorite piece of art at the 11th Annual Arlington Festival of the Arts on April 26th and 27th!

From stunning paintings to unique sculptures, there’s something for every art lover. Head over to North Highland Street & Washington Blvd. in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington, VA, to explore, enjoy, and maybe even take home a masterpiece!

Learn more at ArtFestival.com/Arlington.

#ArlingtonFestivalloftheArts #ArtInspiration #ArtLovers @artfestivals @clarendonalliance

Ask Eli: Q1 housing market shifts significantly, but…

By Sponsor

This regularly scheduled sponsored column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Arlington resident. If you would like to work with Eli and his team in Northern Virginia and the greater D.C. Metro area, you can reach him directly at [email protected].

Eli and his team believe that your real estate needs should be managed by advisors, not salespeople. Their mission is to guide, educate, and advocate for their clients through real advice, hands-on support, and personalized service.

Question: How did the Arlington and Northern VA housing market perform in the first quarter?

Answer: Remember two months ago when social media and various media outlets announced the DC area housing market was collapsing? I wrote at length why they were wrong then (link) and through the first quarter of 2025, they’re still wrong. There’s no doubt that the market is fragile and more favorable for buyers than it’s been in a while, but there is nothing in the data or my experience in the market to indicate anything extreme is happening.

The Q1 Market Shift is Significant

There is no doubt that we are seeing significant market shifts across the region – we can feel it within the industry and we can see it in the data (illustrated below). Within our team, we see the fragility of the market in real-time with some homes getting multiple offers and six figure escalations and others cutting prices after unexpected days on market, offering buyer incentives to put a deal together.

The two charts below show the year-over-year (YoY) quarterly change in the number of homes for sale in Northern VA and Arlington, over the last ten years. Q1 2025 was the largest YoY quarterly increase in the past decade and 5th largest for Arlington. The four quarters with a higher YoY quarterly increase in Arlington were driven purely by the historical surge of condos for sale in 2020 and 2021 in Arlington.

This is NOT a Fire Sale

One of the more ridiculous storylines floating around when DOGE started cutting federal jobs and spending was that everybody was putting their home up for sale and fleeing the area. That was objectively false then and it remains false as we collect more data.

According to Redfin’s Data Center for all US Metro areas, new listing volume in Q1 2025 was up 5.2% nationwide. Arlington County is up 5.5%, Fairfax County is up 8.3%, and Loudoun County is up 21.4%. I suspect that the higher increase in Loudoun is correlated to new Return-to-Office mandates, causing more homeowners to sell to shorten their commute.

Keep in mind that these YoY increases are coming from years if massive drops in new listing activity, so we are still seeing a small number of homes coming to market relative to the ten-year average. New listing activity in Loudoun County needed to increase by 76.1% YoY in Q1 2025 to match the listing activity from Q1 2018.

(more…)

Homes near Arlington’s best pools (and pools you can actually use)

By Sponsor
1/8

This recurring real estate feature is sponsored by The Eli Residential Team. Their mission is to guide, educate, and advocate for their clients through real advice, hands-on support, and personalized service. This week’s post is written by Val Connolly.

Spring is in full swing and the countdown to pool season has officially begun. ARLnow readers voted on their favorite swimming spots across Arlington, and whether you’re dreaming of strolling to your neighborhood pool or lounging in your own private oasis, I’ve rounded up some great real estate options to help you live your best summer life.

Important tip: Many of Arlington’s private community pools have multi-year waitlists (yes, years), and some even use lottery systems for new memberships — so living nearby doesn’t always mean instant access. But it does mean you’ll be first in line when your name finally comes up!

Overlee Community Pool

Overlee has 4 pools, a clubhouse and grounds for recreational swimming, beach volleyball, social events, and casual fun. Located in the Westover area, it’s surrounded by charming bungalows, parks, and coffee shops.

  • Need to know: Very competitive waitlist
  • Live nearby:
    • 1453 N Lancaster St — 5 Beds/5.5 Baths — $1,999,900
      Presented by Dean Yeonas, Yeonas & Shafran Real Estate, LLC

Donaldson Run Pool

This tucked-away gem in North Arlington is beloved for its peaceful setting, close-knit community, and park-like surroundings.

  • Need to know: Waitlist applies. Memberships here are practically heirlooms.
  • Live nearby:
    • 2664 Marcey Rd – 5 Beds/4.5 Baths – $2,800,000, Presented by Sahba Samimi, Right Address Realty
    • 3959 26th St N — 3 Beds/2 Baths – $1,249,000, Presented by Betsy Twigg, Corcoran McEnearney

Dominion Hills Pool

A longtime community favorite, Dominion Hills Pool has a friendly vibe and classic neighborhood energy. It’s a great fit for those looking for something a little more laid-back — with easy access to parks and trails.

  • Need to know: Waitlist still active, but membership turnover has been moving in recent years.
  • Live nearby:
    • 949 Patrick Henry Dr — 5 Beds/3.5 Baths – $1,600,000, Presented by Timothy Pierson, KW United
    • 869 Patrick Henry Dr — 4 Beds/2 Baths – $825,000, Presented by Jen Robeson, Real Property Management Pros

These Arlington Homes For Sale Come With Their Own Pool

Whether you’re planning ahead for next summer’s membership or ready to dive into a new home with a pool of your own, I’d love to help you find your perfect fit in Arlington. Feel free to reach out to Val Connolly.

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