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 V. Berry, Esq.

In April of 2016, we earlier wrote on the efforts of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team and their efforts to receive equal pay as compared to the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team.

Much has happened in the past three years to warrant an update. For one, the women’s team has won another World Cup, recently with a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands. For another, national sponsors of soccer (e.g., Procter and Gamble) have begun to join the fight for equal pay on the side of the women’s team. Lastly, the equal pay movement has become stronger over the past three years. Attached is a copy of the original equal pay complaint.

Equal Pay Cases Take a Long Time

It is an unfortunate fact that the EEOC has taken so long with this case. As mentioned earlier, the case started in early 2016 and originally involved the five team captains of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team, such as Hope Solo and Carli Lloyd, who filed a wage discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of all members of the women’s team against the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Since the 3-year delay at the EEOC, all 28 women’s team players have withdrawn their EEOC case and filed suit in the federal district court in Los Angeles, alleging that the U.S. Soccer Federation has engaged in several years of institutional gender discrimination. A copy of that complaint is linked.

Equal Pay Complaint

In the latest filing by plaintiffs Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and other women’s team members, they allege the serious pay discrepancies that continue to exist between the men’s and women’s teams.

Specifically, members of the women’s team can potentially earn a maximum of $99,000 a year, while members of the men’s team earn an average of $263,320 per year. Other disparities include the U.S. Soccer Federation only providing charter air flights to the men’s team in 2017, but requiring the women’s team to take commercial air flights.

The reason why this case is so newsworthy is the fact that the women’s team has been out performing the men’s team in rankings and World Cup wins for a long time. The women’s team has been ranked number one in the world for 10 of the past 11 years.

Also, in more recent years, the women’s team has been outperforming the men’s team in revenue and profits as well, and in viewership. For instance, the 2019 Women’s Cup Final viewership was 22% higher than the 2018 Men’s Cup Final.

While the Soccer Federation has claimed market considerations as the reason for paying the men’s team more, the women’s team, according to the complaint, has started to outperform the men’s soccer team in revenue and profit in the most recent accounts.

Additionally, according to the complaint, the women’s team had even proposed a revenue-sharing agreement where women’s player compensation would be less if their revenue decreased. It seems as if the U.S. Soccer Federation needs a reality check.

Conclusion

It is time that the U.S. Soccer Federation recognize and pay the women’s team at least the same as their male counterparts on the two national teams and provide them the same benefits. We represent employees in employment matters.

If you need assistance with a federal retirement or an employment issue, please contact our office at (703) 668-0070 or at www.berrylegal.com to schedule a consultation. Please also visit and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BerryBerryPllc.

Welcome to New Homes, a monthly column highlighting the new construction real estate market, written by Conor Sullivan and Dave Moya of Three Stones Residential at Keller Williams Realty. We are here to share our experience and expertise in lot acquisition, financing and construction of custom homes. 

Deconstruction vs Demolition

What is the difference between Deconstruction and Demolition?

When a home is demolished the waste is simply torn down and then hauled away to a dump. Deconstruction is when a certified company takes apart the home carefully and attempts to reuse or recycle every part of the home possible.

What are the main benefits of Deconstruction vs Demolition?

• Reduce the environmental impact of the demolition process and reduce the carbon footprint of your new home
• Significant tax benefits in the legal write offs allowed by the federal and state governments
• Mentoring and on-site training by licensed general contractors for non-profit organizations for individuals seeking employment in the construction field who often don’t have access or intro level opportunities

How much of a tax benefit do I receive through the deconstruction process?

There are upfront costs associated with deconstruction that aren’t applicable in a simple demolition, however, the tax benefits can be upwards of $50,000 dollars for a 2000 sq. ft. home (based off of a 38-40% tax bracket).

While it may cost $25,000 to deconstruct, if you save $50,000 on your taxes your net is approximately $25,000 in savings overall. This doesn’t include the positive environmental and social benefits either!

If you have any questions about deconstruction and some local companies that work within this field please email us at [email protected].

Without further ado, here are some current options for buying new homes around the Tysons area:

• 1911 Prout Place, Falls Church — $1,499,000 — 6,032 sq. ft.
• 2316 Trott Avenue, Vienna — $1,789,000 — 6,174 sq. ft.
• 1200 Allendale Road, McLean — $2,195,000 — 5,952 sq. ft.

Want to learn more about financing a New Home build? McLean Mortgage (NMLS ID: 99665) can handle all of your construction financing needs. You can build your new home with as little as 5% down. Contact construction loan expert Troy Toureau (NMLS ID: 5618) at 301-440-4261 or AnyHomeLoans.com to learn more.

Three Stones Residential agents pride ourselves on our consultative service approach, local expertise and real estate market knowledge. With over 26 years of business experience in the DMV, we have consistently performed in the top 2% of local Realtors and are currently the #1 group at Keller Williams Metro Center. 

1303 Scotts Run Road, McLean
6 BD/ 5.5 BA
Agent: KW Metro Center
Listed: $1,799,000
Open: Sunday 2-4 p.m.

7616 Willow Point Drive, Falls Church
1 BD/1 BA
Agent: KW Metro Center
Listed: $310,000
Open: Saturday 1-3 p.m.

9736 Hidden Valley Road, Vienna
4 BD/3.5 BA
Agent: Samson Properties
Listed: $974,800
Open: Sunday 1-3 p.m.

2407 Rocky Branch Road, Vienna
4 BD/2.5 BA
Agent: Samson Properties
Listed: $775,000
Open: Sunday 1-3 p.m.

1553 Dunterry Place, McLean
3 BD/3 BA
Agent: TTR Sothebys International Realty
Listed: $680,000
Open: Saturday 2-4 p.m.

7027 Haycock Road #505, Falls Church
2 BD/2.5 BA
Agent: Redfin Corporation
Listed: $624,900
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

Our role is to offer sound advice and guidance to our clients in order for them to achieve their goals in either buying, selling, leasing or managing real estate. We are truly “Your Home… for Everything Real Estate.” To schedule a private showing of these or any other properties of interest please do not hesitate to contact us here or email us at [email protected].

Come this Sunday, Mad Fox Brewing Company will close its doors in Falls Church.

CEO and Executive Brewer Bill Madden announced the closure earlier in July on Facebook right before the brewpub’s ninth anniversary.

Madden, who got his start at Capitol City Brewing Company before working at Founders and Vintage 50, opened Mad Fox Brewing Company in 2010, taking inspiration from Euro gastro brewpubs.

Just days away from closing, Madden shared with Tysons Reporter more details about the closure and some of his favorite memories at Mad Fox Brewing Company.

Tysons Reporter: What comes next?

Bill Madden: For me? I’m thinking about whether I do something else — another type of brewing project — because that’s what I’m trained to do or whether I go into what they call ally trade.

I really haven’t had a chance to think about it that much because we were working hard to try to make this happen, and I couldn’t go public with anything until last Tuesday so I couldn’t really reach out and talk to people for fear that it might tip the scale or reveal my hand.

It’s tough when you have a business that you know is about to close. You have to do it the right way and we wanted to talk to the bank, talk to the landlord let them know so it wouldn’t be a big surprise and let our management team and let our employees know. And then we went to the public rather than surprising everybody and locking the door.

TR: It sounded like from the Facebook post that the reason why you’re closing is because of the abundance of breweries that have popped up in the area. Is that why?

BM: Well the result is our sales have reached a historic low and as much as the landlord and bank were trying to work with us, we couldn’t come to anything that was even break even. When you’re at that point, you have to say, “It’s time to close.”

So what has happened since the rules were changed in 2012 and it’s specific to Senate Bill 604 — that a food component was not required to sell a pint of beer. Once that happened, we had a whole number of breweries that opened up.

When that changed, we went from 40 breweries in the state of Virginia to 250 plus and we’ve slowly seen our beer sales go down each year from then.

TR: It looked like from the Facebook comments that several breweries around the area were thanking you for your support and your help.

BM: We were at the forefront. We were at the beginning of this new explosion of breweries or whatever you want to call it. So a lot of those brewers came through here asking questions, asking how you do it. And I was always willing to help and talk to people and be very honest about what we were doing here. And a lot of folks learned from us and then a lot of folks learned from those people.

I wasn’t the first brewery in Virginia. And there were other breweries that paved the way before me — Jerry Bailey of Old Dominion and Tom Martin of Legend Brewing in Richmond.

TR: But you were the first brewery in Falls Church.

BM: Yes — ever, that I can find record of. I always like to do a little historical research on any location I’ve worked in. Unless some of the taverns in the colonial period brewed their own, we were the first in Falls Church.

TR: There are 450 plus comments on the Facebook post.

BM: I never realized so many people had their first dates here or maybe proposed here or had their rehearsal dinner here. Or decided to have kids. There was one person who said they decided to have kids here. And I was like, “Oh my god! That’s an interesting conversation to have in our brewpub.”

It’s bittersweet. We have a lot of memories and we have a lot to be proud of. We hold our heads high for everything that we did. We collaborated with local businesses. We had rehearsal dinners and birthdays and parties.

TR: What are your fondest memories looking back over the last nine years?

BM: The early days when everything was still very new and fresh and a lot of breweries were starting to open up. We would hold events here with those [new] brewers — DC Brau, Port City, Three Stars. All of them that had started after us that were so excited and so eager to promote themselves and we were the space that did it for them in the early days. And a lot of those guys and gals came through here and gave us a lot of great experiences and now a lot of them are very, very successful.

TR: How was the anniversary party last Saturday?

BM: It was unbelievable busy — business like we haven’t seen since we opened. Probably was many [people] as the fire marshall would allow. There’s been a great outpouring of love. I think what’s happened — it’s affirmation for what we did in the beginning.

We would have folks who would come from great distances away — Vienna, Centreville, Reston — to come and experience what we had to offer here because there wasn’t anything like that in their area. Since the growth of all the breweries, now they have a brewery in their town that maybe they go to, but they remember what a great time they had here. And they realized they had a limited time to experience that again, and they’ve been showing a lot of love.

TR: Many commenters said they are going to miss the Orange Whip IPA. Do you have a favorite beer?

BM: They’re all my children.

Three Stones Residential agents pride ourselves on our consultative service approach, local expertise and real estate market knowledge. With over 26 years of business experience in the DMV, we have consistently performed in the top 2% of local Realtors and are currently the #1 group at Keller Williams Metro Center. 

The following properties were recently listed in the Tysons, McLean, Vienna and Falls Church areas.

• 1935 Leonard Road, Falls Church, VA — $569,000 
• 2295 Idylwood Station Lane, Falls Church, VA — $614,900
• 1839 Peabody Drive, Falls Church, VA — $630,000
• 915 Westwood Drive NE, Vienna, VA — $795,000
• 8808 Skokie Lane, Vienna, VA — $919,900
• 401 East Street NE, Vienna, VA — $965,000
• 334 Ayr Hill Avenue NE, Vienna, VA — $2,450,000

Our role is to offer sound advice and guidance to our clients in order for them to achieve their goals in either buying, selling, leasing or managing real estate. We are truly “Your Home… for Everything Real Estate.” To schedule a private showing of these or any other properties of interest please do not hesitate to contact us here or email us at [email protected].

Welcome to Luxury For Less, a weekly column highlighting the best deals in luxury real estate. Written by Brandy Schantz of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, Luxury For Less offers tips and tricks navigating the competitive real estate market and securing the home of your dreams. To learn more, visit ttrsir.com.

We’re in the dog days of summer and the real estate market is busier than ever.

I’m currently experiencing the busiest July of my career and I’ve spoken with multiple agents who are facing similar schedules. Inventory is still low and buyers are out trying to find a home before the school year begins.

This week’s feature home is a great home in the Town of Vienna. The Town of Vienna has many luxury new build homes that are selling for top dollar and its becoming more and more difficult to buy a home in the town without a big budget. 401 East Street has a beautiful renovation and a great location just steps from the Westwood Country Club golf course and Foxstone Park.

All of this for under $1 million! This home is a great opportunity to get in the Town of Vienna and not break the bank.

401 East Street NE Vienna (Reduced $30,000)

Check out the rest of this week’s Luxury for Less listings:

• 7821 Falstaff Road McLean (Reduced $30,000)
• 1626 Hicks Drive Vienna (Reduced $200,000)
• 2003 Mayfair McLean Court Falls Church (Reduced $50,000) 
• 1176 Old Tolson Mill Road McLean (Reduced $242,000) 
• 6020 Woodland Terrace McLean (Reduced $104,999)

The properties listed are a small selection of properties available in the Tyson’s Corner area. For a full list of properties listed on MLS and private exclusives, please contact Brandy Schantz.

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by Val Sotillo, Northern Virginia-based Realtor and Falls Church resident. Please submit your questions to her via email for response in future columns. Enjoy!

Question: We are under contract for a property in Falls Church and the home didn’t appraise for the purchase price. What are our options?

Answer: Don’t panic! Low appraisals are a common side effect of a seller’s market. Appraisals are largely based on comparable home sales that closed prior to the home you’re buying. When there is a limited number of units that have sold and the market is hot, appraisers might have a harder time coming up with a home value that keeps pace with a hot market.

But First, What’s An Appraisal Contingency?

A home appraisal is an impartial professional opinion of how much a home is worth. In a property sale transaction, an appraisal is used to let the lender know that the contracted sales price is supported.

An appraisal contingency protects buyers if the appraised value is less than the price they’ve agreed to pay for the property and gives them the right to renegotiate the sales price with the seller, or withdraw from the contract without a penalty if buyer and seller don’t come to an agreement.

Your mortgage lender cares about the appraisal only to the extent it affects the loan-to-value ratio. A low appraisal does not mean the lender won’t lend. It means the lender will make a loan based on the ratio agreed to in the contract at the appraised value.

When Is It Okay To Waive The Appraisal Contingency?

I don’t often recommend waiving the appraisal contingency, but in some unique situations it could be considered an option:

• Buyers competing with multiple offers might choose not to include an appraisal contingency in their contract to make their offer more attractive to the seller. Buyers must be financially prepared to cover any difference between the sales price and appraised value.
• For an all-cash buyer, an appraisal is not required but it’s entirely up to the buyer to have one.

Most Common Reasons For Low Appraisals

• The market is moving too quickly — In areas where homes are selling rapidly, with multiple offers and increasing prices, it may be difficult for the appraiser to keep up with them as the appraisal process compares recent past sales.
• Bad comps — Bank owned, foreclosures and distressed properties bring down the value of the subject property unless an appraiser adjusts for marketing conditions.
• Improvements are not always as valuable as you would expect — No matter how nice, the appraiser won’t value the improvements significantly higher than the same improvements in the other homes in the area.
• Lack of local market knowledge — The comps the appraiser uses may be in an area that is not as pleasant or desirable as where the subject home is, which can negatively impact the appraisal value.
• The property is priced incorrectly — A common saying in real estate is that a property is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. While some would argue that you should never pay more for a home than what it’s worth, it’s important to remember that appraisals are merely opinions of value. This is where your agent is especially helpful and he understands what the market is doing and can clarify your options so you can make the best decision for that moment.

Read More

Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA, D.C. and MD with McEnearney Associates in McLean. Reach the office at 703-790-9090.

In case you don’t know, today and tomorrow are the big Amazon Prime sale days with daily deals on various items.

If you don’t have a Prime account, you can sign up today for a free 30-day trial and use the deals without commitment. If you download the app or spend $10 at Whole Foods, they’ll give you a free $10 account credit.

But we all know Amazon is sort of like Target, how can you spend just $10 when the sales are crazy good?

If you feel the need for some retail therapy, why not do it for a cause?

First, you can help donate money without doing a thing. Amazon Smile is a program that’ll donate a percentage of your regular purchase to a charity of your choosing on eligible purchases. All you have to do is pick one. You can search for the organizations (think your local school PTA, BRAWS, Cho Inc, SHARE of McLean, etc.)

Second, you can call and find out what your favorite organization might be in need of for supplies and search the Prime Day Deals and ship it right to the organization. You can search for Bras and Tampons and send them to BRAWS (114 Courthouse Road SW, Vienna, Virginia 22180).

SHARE of McLean is in need of baby wipes, diapers, snacks, toilet paper and more. You can fill up on some of those items and ship them right to Share at 1367 Chain Bridge Road, McLean, Virginia 22101.

(Updated at 3:50 p.m.) Earlier this week, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority announced that it had poached Arlington’s top economic development official, Victor Hoskins.

Currently the head of Arlington Economic Development, Hoskins recently wooed Amazon and its HQ2 to Arlington County. Come August, he will become FCEDA’s new president and CEO — one year after its now-retired and longtime leader, Gerry Gordon, announced his plans to leave.

Tysons Reporter talked to Hoskins about how he plans to head up one of the largest economic development agencies in the country.

“I’m done in Arlington.”

Hoskins said he entered the process for the FCEDA role back in May during the agency’s second hiring search for the position.

Back in December, he told ARLnow that he planned to work for Arlington County until the office vacancy rate dropped from its then-18 percent rate to 10 or 12 percent.

With a current rate of 16.7 percent, Hoskins said that Arlington County has “nothing to worry about” with Amazon coming in. Hoskins said that the career move is coming at the right time — “Yes, I’m done in Arlington.”

“If you look at my history, I pretty much do what I need to do and move on,” he said. In the case of both his former economic development role in D.C. and his Arlington County job, Hoskins, who describes himself as a person who likes to finish projects, said that he leaves once he’s accomplished the specific challenges of a job.

New Challenges Ahead 

“What I look for in a career change is a challenge,” he said. “This is a different kind of challenge. Just the size of the market is pretty amazing.”

Hoskins said he is looking forward to encouraging companies in Fairfax County to recruit and train more top workers with a talent-focused strategy.

“We already have a lot of talent residing [in Fairfax County],” he said. “We need to keep the people we have.” A part of that will include offering more opportunities to retrain employees with skills like cybersecurity coding, he added.

He also said he would like to see FCEDA get more closely involved with the county’s Department of Housing and Community Development, in addition to continuing work with the Planning Commission, Virginia Department of Transportation and other county agencies to set priorities.

Additionally, Hoskins said that the county could use more work on placemaking.

“The size of Fairfax County makes it difficult to create places — concentrated nodes of activity,” he said, which could include creating more urban villages around the Silver Line stations and making “a nexus between residential and commercial nodes.”

Another area Hoskins wants to work on is making Fairfax County more attractive to millennials.

Some ideas he has: creating places where people want to work and eat outside, offering more housing choices, making “interesting environments” and strengthening mass transportation.

Hoskins was quick to note that many of the challenges he mentioned are not unique to the county, which he praised for its global reputation and competition with places like London and Paris.

“Fairfax is amazing right now,” he said, lauding the county’s quality of life, including its public schools and parks. “Fairfax has it all. What we’re trying to do it to move it to the next level.”

Amazon’s Impact on Fairfax County

While Fairfax County lost its bid for Amazon, Hoskins said that the tech giant will impact Northern Virginia, from adding a plethora of new job opportunities to a “back and forth between employees and employers” with Amazon and local companies.

Hoskins also mentioned a recent report by the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors and the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis, which estimated that roughly 33 percent of Amazon’s workforce would live in Fairfax County, while 16.4 percent would live in Arlington.

“It’s a higher percentage than [Amazon employees who] will live and work in Arlington,” Hoskins said.

On a larger scale, Hoskins said Amazon will transform Northern Virginia into a more innovative environment that will increase the private sector.

“[Amazon will bring an] innovation focus to the region where companies begin thinking differently about how they work,” he said.

Hoskins starts his new role on Aug. 5. Until then, he said he will help with the leadership transition at his current job before having two to three days off.

“Building an economy is more like solving a very complex puzzle,” he said.

Photo courtesy Fairfax County Economic Development Authority

Three Stones Residential agents pride ourselves on our consultative service approach, local expertise and real estate market knowledge. With over 26 years of business experience in the DMV, we have consistently performed in the top 2% of local Realtors and are currently the #1 group at Keller Williams Metro Center. 

902 Lynnhill Court NE, Vienna
5 BD/3 BA
Agent: RLAH Real Estate
Listed: $720,000
Open: Sunday 1-3 p.m.

8014 Reserve Way, Vienna
3 BD/3.5 BA
Agent: Redfin Corporation
Listed: $765,000
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

1711 Rupert Street, McLean
4 BD/2 BA
Agent: Keller Williams Capital Properties
Listed: $799,000
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

2219 Woodford Road S. #2219, Vienna
5 BD/4.5 BA
Agent: Weichert Realtors
Listed: $1,199,990
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

2518 Avon Lane, Falls Church
5 BD/4.5 BA
Agent: Optime Realty
Listed: $1,250,000
Open: Sunday 2-4 p.m.

Our role is to offer sound advice and guidance to our clients in order for them to achieve their goals in either buying, selling, leasing or managing real estate. We are truly “Your Home… for Everything Real Estate.” To schedule a private showing of these or any other properties of interest please do not hesitate to contact us here or email us at [email protected].