Rates Rose Again. My Comeback Didn't Stop.

Real talk — today mortgage rates ticked up again. 30-year fixed sitting at 6.49%. The headlines literally said “rates on the rise.” And I already know what half of you did when you saw that: closed the tab, told yourself “I’ll wait it out.”

I get it. I’ve been there. Not with a mortgage — with everything. There was a season a few years back where I was watching people build the life I wanted while I was still figuring out how to get my footing in this business. No listings. No leads. Just faith, hustle, and a whole lot of “not yet.”

Nobody’s gonna tell you this, so I will: the market doesn’t wait for you to feel ready. It just keeps moving. And so does your comeback — if you let it.

What The Numbers Actually Say

Here’s what I’m watching in Northern Virginia real estate right now. NVAR just dropped June numbers — 1,919 homes closed across the region, up 3.9% year over year, with $1.85 billion in total sales volume. Median sold price hit $810,000, up 5.2%. Homes are still averaging just 15 days on market region-wide.

Zoom into Prince William County — my backyard, Woodbridge VA and everywhere around it — and it’s even tighter. Median sold price hit $599,450 in May, up 3.4%. Days on market? Down to 18. Inventory is up over 30% year-over-year, which sounds scary until you realize it means buyers finally have options instead of getting steamrolled in bidding wars.

Higher rates. Rising prices. More inventory. All at the same time. That’s not contradiction — that’s a market that’s finding its balance, same as people do.

We Don’t Talk About This Enough

Everybody wants the “perfect conditions” story. Rates dropped, I bought. Market crashed, I scooped a deal. But most wins — mine included — happened in the messy middle. I closed my first deals with imperfect credit clients, imperfect timing, imperfect everything. What changed wasn’t the conditions. It was that I stopped waiting for them to be perfect.

If you’re sitting on the sidelines in Prince William County real estate right now because rates aren’t where you want them, hear me: 18 days on market means buyers who are ready are still winning. The comeback isn’t about the rate. It’s about deciding today’s the day you stop watching and start moving.

My community deserves to know this — not the sanitized version, the real one. Long & Foster Woodbridge is where I hang my hat, but this message is for anybody in NOVA trying to figure out their next move, in real estate or in life.

Reply to this email and tell me where you’re at right now. Or if you know somebody stuck on the sidelines, forward this to them. Sometimes all a person needs is proof somebody else made it through.

— Khalil

Sine Limitatione 🔱