Wooo...How To Find The Most Spooky Houses - 10/26/10 03:50 PM
Now, if you're reading this because you're expecting some tips on where to take the kids for a little Halloween thrill this weekend, I have to disappoint you.  Rather, I'm talking about the real thing. 
Opening the Zillow "PRO" newsletter today, I got pointed to an apparent new service they offer--identifying the "most hauted houses in the U.S."  (PROS: Make sure to check there before your next listing appointment--it might help you avoid unpleasant surprises!)
For an alternative, and probably more comprehensive, directory, visit HauntedHouses.com.  The site's operators make a very professional distinction between "real" (i.e., serious) and "fun" (i.e., … (1 comments)

Attention AR Addicts: Here Is How To Blog From Your iPad Or iPhone! - 10/21/10 02:11 PM
This is the day I made half the agents in my office happy because I showed them that they can use Zipforms, the flash-based contract-generating service we use--on their iPads after all.  (iPad acquisition has been highly contageous at our firm; all generations of agents have been equally affected.)  For dear friend and colleague, Pat Kennedy, however, Zipforms was less important.  What counted much, much more was BLOGGING!  The same simple method enables her to write posts (yes, including pictures and links!) from her iPad or iPhone!
Check out Pat's first iPad-generated blog post here.
Now, what did we do?
Basically, … (46 comments)

Waiting For Superman In DC (And A Farewell To Supergirl) - 10/19/10 05:58 PM
I felt awfully tired and beat up when I walked into the office this morning, but it was worth it. I’d been to a late-night screening of Waiting for Superman, a chilling feature-length documentary on the state of the American public school system. How we got to where we are now, where we’re headed with changing job profiles in the future, and how we can get out of the current mess -- if we choose so.
As a mother of three school-age kids—two of them currently in public schools—I felt particularly pained by the images, statistics and interviews in the film. … (12 comments)

The Not-So-Similar Twin: How Shepherd Park Differs - 10/18/10 04:13 PM

Earlier this month, we examined the 3rd Quarter market statistics for the upper DC neighborhood of Colonial Village. Today, we will take a look at Shepherd Park.
The two neighborhoods, divided only by 16th St, are often seen as a unit, as they share many characteristics as well as a very active citizen's association. Since their real estate profile and 20th century history are somewhat different, however, it makes sense to separate them for the purpose of market analysis.
To begin with, the homes and lots are--on average--a little smaller on the Shepherd Park side.  Although the neighborhood has calm, … (0 comments)

Slowly, Slowly but Stable: Colonial Village 3rd Quarter Statistics - 10/06/10 03:27 PM
Is it really so bad, so dead?  Why are there so few houses on the market? Well, the 3rd Quarter of 2010 is over, and it's time to look at some comparative statistics.  As every season is different when it comes to some enduring factors in DC real estate, we will compare to the same quarter of the previous year.
First of all, the impression that few people are putting their homes on the market at the moment seems correct.  In comparison to the 3rd Quarter of 2009, closed sales have dropped 50% (from a total of 4 in 2009 to … (5 comments)