A house inside the City of Alexandria deals with City offices: the Clerk of the Circuit Court at 520 King Street, which records its deeds and probates the will of anyone who lived in the City (Va. Code § 64.2-443); Code Administration for permits and maintenance cases; and the City's Treasury Division for real estate tax. The table below names each one and links to its own page.
Not every Alexandria, VA mailing address is in the City. The Clerk's land records office says deeds for the Alexandria portion of Fairfax County are recorded with the Fairfax Circuit Court (City of Alexandria). If that is your house, our Fairfax County page lists its offices instead. Fairfax County's Franconia District, which takes in parts of Springfield, Franconia and Kingstowne, keeps its own office at an Alexandria address, 7130 Silver Lake Blvd. (Fairfax County); our Springfield page covers that area.
FastIBuyer makes a written cash offer on the house as it is today. You do not repair, clean, stage or show it, and you choose the closing date. As in any sale, the seller's usual closing costs still apply.
Who handles what for an Alexandria house
| Wills and estates | The Clerk of the Circuit Court (520 King Street, Room 307) probates wills and appoints and qualifies executors and administrators. Every probate matter is handled by appointment, in person or by remote video. |
|---|---|
| Deeds and land records | The Clerk's Land Records Division records deeds for property in the City, with recordings processed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays. Its VADeed Alert service sends an owner an email when a document matching their name or parcel number is recorded. |
| Trustee (foreclosure) sales | After advertising the sale in a newspaper with general circulation in the City, and unless the deed of trust says otherwise, a trustee may hold it at the house, in front of the circuit court building, at another place in the City the trustee selects, or, for annexed land, in the county it was once part of. |
| Maintenance cases | Code Administration's Maintenance Code Division enforces the Virginia Maintenance Code, from structural soundness and heating to trash, tall grass and rodents, and keeps watch on properties declared unfit for habitation until the cited conditions are corrected. Complaints go through Alex311 at 703-746-4311. |
| Permits and historic districts | Permits are required for most construction and maintenance work, including alterations, demolitions and renovations, and are applied for online through APEX. In the Old and Historic Alexandria and Parker-Gray districts, the Board of Architectural Review must also approve new construction and exterior alterations visible from a public way, and any demolition of more than 25 square feet of material. |
| Real estate tax | Billed in two halves, due June 15 and November 15, moving to the next business day when the date falls on a weekend. Paid late, the penalty is 5% of the tax within 15 days and 10% after that, or $10 if that is more. When the taxes are paid through a mortgage, the City bills the mortgage company. |
Historic districts and older houses
The Old & Historic Alexandria District, established in 1946, is the third oldest historic district in the United States, and the Parker-Gray District covers a 40-block area (City of Alexandria). The City counts seven National Register historic districts, Rosemont and Parkfairfax among them, but only those two are local districts regulated by the Board of Architectural Review. Outside them, City Council can designate a One Hundred Year Old Building, and the Board oversees those as well.
For an older house that needs a roof, windows or a porch, that review can be part of the work. Selling to FastIBuyer as the house stands means the repairs, and any approvals they need, come after closing and are not yours to arrange.
Selling your Alexandria house for cash, as-is
If you want to sell your house for cash in Alexandria, FastIBuyer is the buyer, not a go-between: it pays with its own funds, so the sale does not wait on a lender's approval, and it takes the house as-is, so nothing is repaired, cleared out or staged first. An Old Town house under the Board's review is bought the same way as one in Del Ray or Rosemont.
An as-is cash price is not what a fully renovated house might reach on the open market. What it gives you is a written number up front and a closing date of your choosing.
When an Alexandria sale is complicated
We buy Alexandria houses in probate or inherited by heirs, houses with a trustee sale on the calendar, houses damaged by fire, houses with an open maintenance case, rentals with tenants still in place, and houses that need major repairs. All situations →
Alexandria questions
Do I need the Board of Architectural Review's approval to sell an Old Town house?
No. The Board reviews new construction, exterior alterations visible from a public way and demolition in the Old and Historic Alexandria and Parker-Gray districts, and a sale is none of those. FastIBuyer buys the house as it is, so nothing has to change before closing.
My address says Alexandria but my tax bill comes from Fairfax County. Which page is mine?
The Fairfax County page. Deeds for the Alexandria portion of Fairfax County are recorded with the Fairfax Circuit Court (City of Alexandria). The way FastIBuyer buys is the same on both sides of the line.
The estate has a probate appointment at 520 King Street but no executor yet. Can we get an offer now?
Yes. You can have a written offer while the estate is being opened, and the closing waits until someone has the authority to sign the deed. Our probate page explains who that is in Virginia.
Are you one of the cash home buyers in Alexandria, or do you list the house?
We buy it. FastIBuyer makes the cash offer itself and, if you accept, buys the house as it is, with no listing, showings or repairs. You pay no agent commissions; we buy directly.
Sources
- Alexandria Clerk of Court: Wills & Fiduciary
- Alexandria Clerk of Court: Contact
- Alexandria Clerk of Court: Land Records
- Code of Virginia § 55.1-320
- Code of Virginia § 55.1-322
- Alexandria Code Administration: Maintenance Code Division
- Alexandria: Permit Requirements
- Alexandria: Old & Historic Alexandria and Parker-Gray Districts
- Alexandria: Real Estate Tax Information
- Code of Virginia § 64.2-443
- Fairfax County: Franconia District
