rock creek forest: Where I Have Gone - 08/27/12 03:17 AM
Well, I haven't really left, actually. It's just that it has been hard keeping up with different blogs. Admittedly, ActiveRain has been the one to suffer the most. The summer (or better, the school vacation) is sooo long, and there is only so much extra time to spare.
Therefore, for those who have been following me here, I'd like to point out that most of the recent Kit House Of The Week or Sears House For Sale, etc. blog posts have appeared on either DCHouseCat or the joint blog Marcie and I have started recently, DC House Smarts. (The most recent … (0 comments)

rock creek forest: Just How Much Can We Tell Our Buyers About Schools? - 01/09/12 01:29 AM
(Modified version of original source: Good School, Good Neighbors, Bad School, Bad Neighbors?)
Last week, my first contribution to Where We Live, the Washington Post's new buzzing real estate blog, dealt with a stormy issue: neighborhood involvement in the site selection process for the planned Middle School #2 in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase cluster. Some of the comments posted by readers there reminded me of the thin ice realtors often have to walk on when it comes to the school question.
How much advice can your real estate agent give you when it comes to choosing the school district in which you … (5 comments)

rock creek forest: DC's Colonial Village: Once More, It's Slow But Stable - 12/14/11 07:00 AM
Last year, I took at special look at some neighborhood statistics for the third quarter. I’ll do the same now. Why? Because the third quarter is a vulnerable time where trends show up in a more pronounced way. The market typically isn’t as slow as it is at the end of the year, but late summer/early fall is relocation time and often reflects strategic and economic decision home sellers and buyers make--in reaction to the local as well as national economy.
Let’s start with the market activity in Colonial Village. What do we see here?
First of all, it seems that … (0 comments)

rock creek forest: The Endless Gutter Clutter - 11/30/11 07:19 AM
Original source: DChouseCat--Over And Over Again
 

It's no fun, and one of those endlessly repeating things a homeowner has to put up with.  But it’s so important that I will preach it here again: Clean out your gutters!
If the gutters on your house look like the one on my garage here in the picture, you should actually clean them out NOW! At least in our area, the trees are pretty much done shedding--even the annual leaf collection and cutter trucks have finally passed through most of our streets.
If there was only one thing I have learned from the … (4 comments)

rock creek forest: Wow! What A Morning In Chevy Chase! - 10/05/11 04:25 AM
"What?!," asked my pre-teen daughter, "we are what?" 
"Getting up a bit earlier and walking to school," I said. "October 5th is National Walk-To-School Day."
"You've got to be kidding."
My daughter normally takes the bus to a magnet school that is--according to Google--2.7 miles from our house.  Walking allows for a cut through public park land--according to Google Maps 2.3 miles and an estimated 50 minutes.
When she heard that fresh croissants from a bakery on the way could be part of the picture, the kid came around.
We took off in perfect walking weather.  It was a crisp, sunny … (7 comments)

rock creek forest: Open Today 1-4: Mid-Century Modern in Chevy Chase - 05/14/11 07:05 PM
It's a muggy and grey weekend in DC, but here is a sunny house for you nevertheless. (Proud to see that DC Urban Turf featured us in their "Best New Listings" column!)
Looking forward to a fun and busy open house tomorrow, and as always, neighbors are very welcome!
 
 
 
… (4 comments)

rock creek forest: The Big Headache: How Do You Price the Odd-One-Out? - 04/06/11 08:15 AM
I may need some help here.
Yesterday, I showed a listing that is the biggest kid on the block, meaning, it's not only much bigger and sitting on a bigger lot than anything else in the neighborhood, but it's also unique and has features few of the homes around it share.  It's surrounded by National park land, was designed by a well-known architect, has an indoor pool and a bunch of other things.  Yet it fits very well into the landscape.
The list price is about two and a half times that of last year's average sales price in the neighborhood. 
… (5 comments)

rock creek forest: Rock Creek Forest/Chevy Chase: The Current Inventory - 03/24/11 05:57 AM
How is the market?  What is actually out there for buyers?  Not much, at least that's what we get to hear from frustrated buyers all the time.  In a few days, it will be time for an analysis of the first quarter statistics.  For now, let's look at the available properties in this DC suburb:
There are 6 active listings in Rock Creek Forest today, with asking prices ranging from $475,000 to $1,795,000.  5 homes are currently under contract, with asking prices from $535,000 to $1,150,000, after spending an average of 6 (!) days on the market.
Here are the actives, … (2 comments)

rock creek forest: My Special Treat--The Stunning House In the Park - 03/15/11 10:12 AM
 
The absolutely amazing Travis Price house I mentioned a few weeks ago, finally went on the market yesterday!  It's a big and very special house, and the sellers--hard-working DC professionals with little time to spare--did a great job to get it ready for the public.  My co-lister Bonnie Lewin and I tortured them for quite a while with our endless questions, ideas and demands!  But it was so worth it--see for yourself: [Ashboro Virtual Tour].
I said this here before, but I always have a tendency to fall in love with "my" houses.  This one you can't help being excited … (3 comments)

rock creek forest: State Of The Market: The Latest Look at Rock Creek Forest Statistics - 02/23/11 04:46 PM
While January traditionally sees the fewest closings under any market conditions in the DC area—a consequence of the lowest level of contracts entered during the holiday season—the current weather improvement gives hope that market activity soon will pick up. (The groundhog can’t be wrong!)
This would be good news for many frustrated buyers. The inventory in the more desirable neighborhoods in DC and its close-in Maryland suburbs is so low at the moment that it has actually been rather hard to find homes for those who are ready, able and willing to buy.
The Rock Creek Forest neighborhood--right on the District … (4 comments)

rock creek forest: Help! We'll Have To Put The Hoop In The Contract!! - 01/13/11 01:59 PM
This week, my colleague Bonnie Lewin and I listed the house that belongs to my neighbors, almost across the street.  It's a fabulous and very unique home designed by Travis Price, a well-known DC area architect.  It's nestled against DC's Rock Creek Park, has lots of "green" features and walls of windows and an indoor pool that overlook amazing Japanese-style landscaping.  (Check out these pictures from the architect's own website.)
So, all in all this is very exciting. 
But then, it's also a wee bit sad.
It's sad because Joanne and Barry have been the greatest asset to the neighborhood. They … (6 comments)

rock creek forest: Quite A Surprise: Rock Creek Forest Market Update - 11/05/10 09:12 AM
The 4th Quarter of each year is traditionally the "slowest" in any real estate market, at least in the DC area.  It's time to look back and evaluate some trends.  Today, we are taking a closer look at the Washington, DC suburb of Rock Creek Forest, the most eastern neighborhood of Chevy Chase, Maryland. 
To say it outright, the numbers I came up with really surprised me.  And not in a bad way!
As usual, all numbers for this year--statistics for the first 3 quarters--will be compared to those for the same period in 2009.
A total 24 homes sold in … (3 comments)

rock creek forest: Rock Creek Forest Real Estate Market Statistics For August 2010 - 09/20/10 09:11 AM
A total of four houses closed in the Rock Creek Forest Neighborhood in the month of August. While August traditionally is one of the slower months in the DC area real estate, this number is a bit of an improvement over August 2009, when only three homes closed. Even more favorable is a comparison of the sales prices which improved by 9.5% over last year.
Here are the August 2010 Closings in Detail:
4 homes closed at prices ranging from $505,000 to $639,000, for an average of $583,000. All of them were brick ramblers built in the early 1950s with 3 … (4 comments)

rock creek forest: The Scary Price Of Life In The Urban Parkland - 08/12/10 10:44 AM
It started with the cat. Early in the morning, completely against her clock work habits, she came into our bedroom, howling. She sounded like a scared puppy, pacing around in our bedroom with her tail between her legs. Barely awake, we tried to make sense of this strange behavior.
A storm seemed to be approaching, but that wasn’t anything the cat had ever been impressed by.
Minutes later, it was us who freaked out. “Take the kids downstairs,” I screamed at my husband, and he didn’t even object. The sky seemed to be in flames from the constantly overlapping lightening, and … (3 comments)

rock creek forest: What Does The Shark Have To Do With The Housing Market In Silver Spring? - 07/22/10 05:36 PM
The shark is back! Heading home from the Beltway and approaching Downtown Silver Spring at the DC Line this afternoon, I could see the tail from far away. I fiddled for my cell phone and was lucky enough to catch a few seconds at a red light. Check out that “dorsal fin”—(thanks, Amanda!)—on the roof! The Discovery Channel headquarters are decked out in celebration of the station’s “Shark Week,” a series of scary programs scheduled to run the first week of August.
So, if you live in Silver Spring, or in nearby Shepherd Park/DC and Rock Creek Forest, if you regularly … (5 comments)

rock creek forest: Bambi In the Backyard - 08/28/08 09:36 AM
I'm sitting at my desk, talking on the phone and looking out of the window.  The large, pretty deer in the driveway is unimpressed by first a car, then a man with a dog who are passing by.  It barely looks up.  My weed-ridden lawn must be yummy, although I'm sure it's not the weeds the animal targets.
After we moved from a more urban DC neighborhood out to Rock Creek Forest on the District line, the first thing our kids got excited about was the daily deer in our yard.  Visitors from the woods elegantly leaped over the fence and … (3 comments)