Pat Kennedy - Your Washington, DC Real Estate Connection

Selling Rosedale Cottage

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:03:35 -0600

This afternoon, I had a settlement on Rosedale Cottage, a house that I listed in April of 2008. It's a wonderful historic home in Washington's Cleveland Park - my favorite DC neighborhood.

Getting it from Just Listed to Sold has been an adventure.

It got sold (multiple offers, thank you very much), and then the perfect contract fell apart. So it was back to square one.

This was not your cookie-cutter Washington cliche house. The house had the highest pheromone factor that I've ever seen - it made heart's skip beats! And it was also what we often call "buyer specific".

It only had two real bedrooms.
The first floor ceilings were over 9 feet, but on the second floor - well, it was not a basketball player house.
There was a vacant, but buildable lot next door that most of the prospective buyers wanted to purchase, and the owner had no interest in selling it.
The price tag was just shy of $2 million.

Still, it had a gorgeous view of the National Cathedral, an adjacent park, and a location a quick walk to The Uptown Theater, Metro and a bunch of great restaurants.

The interesting thing about this journey is that I did not lower the price. I felt that the number was not the issue. There were numerous offers that came in, and they had issues and goofy contingencies that had nothing to do with the asking price. And at the end, we had two offers.

They were both from couples who I had met at the very first Open House when I very first listed the place. I felt sort of sad for the couple who didn't get it. They'd been back with their agent so many times that I felt that I got to know and like them. They just waited a little bit too long to make their move.

Still the people who bought the house were wonderful to deal with - so was their agent. And I can't tell you how great it was to be with them and my sellers, sitting around the table happy and smiling.

There's nothing quite like a big settlement that goes smooth as butter!

Speechless Sunday: Georgetown Kitty

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:19:20 -0600

© 2009 Patricia Kennedy. Unless otherwise noted, the content, both written and in pictures, is the property of Patricia Kennedy . If you would like to use this image, please email me (housepat@mac.com) with your request. I'll almost certainly say yes, and ask only that you provide a link back to my original content as well as an acknowledgment. The same thing applies to any other material you see posted here on Active Rain or on any of my other blogs.

Georgetown's Old Stone House - Very Old Stone House!

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:29:14 -0600

It’s certainly old, built in 1765, The Old Stone House is one of Washington’s oldest buildings – some say the oldest still standing. And the stone structure has served multiple purposes, from workshops and living quarters, to an office for a used car lot.

Christopher Layman, a woodworker who moved to Georgetown from Pennsylvania, built the place and lived there with his wife, Rachael, and two sons. They used to first floor as his workshop and the family’s kitchen. The Laymans were poor and lived very frugally. Soon after he finished building his home, Layman died, and a woman named Cassandra Chew bought it from his widow and renovated it.

Over the years, several different artisans used the first floor as work and shop space, often living with their families above the store. In the 1950’s, when a used car business occupied the building, Congress stepped in, bought the house for about $90,000 (a lot of money back then) and named the Old Stone House a federal historic landmark.

Today, it’s furnished to reflect the way it’s builder and fist residents lived, and the back has a sweet English garden on ground where the last private owners parked their used cars.

The house, located at 3051 M Street NW, is open to the public between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm from Wednesday to Sunday. It’s closed on Federal holidays. And admission is free!

When A Realtor® Sells Her House

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:57:39 -0600

When doctors gets sick, they go to a doctor - a colleague - to seek treatment.

When a lawyer is facing the slammer, he hires the best lawyer he can find to represent him.

When Realtors® decide it's time for a move, they almost always list their own homes.

The thought of moving has crossed my mind lately, and it's also crossed my mind that, when it comes to my own house, I have not one objective cell in my body. I need someone to come in an boss me - tell me what to do.

Over the past couple of months, I've shown several houses with listing information that indicated "agent owner".

The prices were all optimistic
One had dining room walls covered with carnivorous wall paper
Another had a swimming pool with muddy water and a bunch of leaves floating around
One reeked from an overdose of scented candles
Fang, the Realtor® eating Rotweiller lived in one, making it incredibly scary to show
A couple of the virtual tours sucked
The "brochures" on some consisted of reprints of the MRIS printout
Most were somewhat complicated to show

Basically, without professional guidance from another real estate professional, we're like a doctor trying to take out her own tonsils. Not a good idea!

Sure, we can get advice from the people in our office, but if we're paying a professional for the advice, we are more likely to take it. And if the value of what we do for other people is really worth what they pay us, perhaps it would be worth it to pay a really good Realtor® to provide the same service for ourselves.

The Aunt Bobbie China

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:39:54 -0600

My great aunt Bobbie (my mother's aunt) was quite a character.

When I was growing up, she would come to visit us a couple of times each year. And during every visit, she would give me a Tonette, an old Toni home permanent for little girls. And for the next six months, I would look like I stuck my little finger into a light socket. And by the time the frizz finally started to relax, she'd show up again. And BZZZZZZ! More frizz.

She bought me my first flute and took me to my first concert at Carnegie Hall.

Once when I was sixteen, we were walking down a street and a kid about my age passed us. And, as she patted her hair, Aunt Bobbie asked, "Did you see how that young man looked at me?" Yeah, she was pretty glamorous for an old lady, but I think the guy was actually looking at, um, me.

She died during the late 1960's, and she willed me one of her prize possessions - four full place settings of her Haviland China - the Springtime pattern, white with a flowered pattern around the edge and in the center. But there was a catch. It was to be her wedding present to me, to remain in my mother's custody until I got married.

As I entered my late 30's, my mother was starting to wonder if she shouldn't just give me the stuff. Then I surprised everyone by finally tying the knot.

So I got the china, but I was afraid to use it! It was so old and fragile. What if I broke a piece? I'd feel awful.

Then something magical happened. I discovered E-Bay, and before long I had twelve full place settings. More important, I knew that if I ever broke a piece, I could go to EBay.com to replace it!

So one of the fun things about Thanksgiving is that, first, there will be enough place settings for everyone. And two, I'm not freaking out worrying that somebody will drink too much wine and break a piece!

So thank you, Aunt Bobbie! I think our Thanksgiving turkey tasted better on your pretty plates.

Wordless Wednesday: House of Musical Traditions

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:03:05 -0600

I Could Have Gone To Safeway, But No-oh!

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:33:33 -0600

Every Tuesday before Thanksgiving, after the office meeting and brokers' tour, I head out Colesville Road to Fulton Maryland to Maple Lawn Farm to get my turkey.

The birds lucky enough to grow up at Maple Lawn lead pretty good lives. Their avian condo units are quite spacious. They get to scratch around the ground looking for worms. and the food (other than the worms) is pretty good, too.

But not that wonderful. These guys appear to be the sole survivors of a recent massacre.

And I walked out with a 20 pound bird who, until just hours before, was alive and clucking. Talk about fresh!

So on Thursday, in the wee hours of the morning, this bird goes into my oven and hours later I will serve it to my mom, my vegetarian sisters, one of whom will eat it, and a couple of token carnivores who are joining us.

Silent Sunday: Handcrafted in Ecudor

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:20:46 -0600

My Squirrely-est Settlement Ever!

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:08:01 -0600

This transaction has inspired a couple of posts, most recently This Transaction Could Make Me Bald! And yesterday was settlement day! Yippee! Whoo hoo!

But not so fast.

This might have been my all time worst settlement, except that everyone around the table kept their sense of humor and, for the most part, composure. I was the only one to drop the "F Bomb", and I only did it once.

It was supposed to settle on November 11th, and then there were lender delays, one after the other. So here we were on Friday at 4:00 pm, and the papers had just been sent over. But there was one little tiny glitch.

The sales price on all of the loan documents was wrong - too low.

The sellers' subsidy got left off.

And the lender said basically, tough. That's the way it got approved. Deal with it. If they want the house, they sign the papers.

Huh?

Three hours and a bottle of champagne later, it was fixed, and we left happy. Somehow the loan officer stepped up and convinced the lender to redo the papers, even though it was after 5:00 pm on Friday.

It could have been a very different story with a different cast of characters.

The only bad moment was when the buyers, the sellers and I realized it was almost 7:00 pm and we all had dogs in our homes who hadn't been out since early morning. Uh oh!

The buyer's agent, Delonte Moore from Keller Williams, was calm and professional, maybe because he didn't have a dog to worry about. His buyers, purchasing their first place, somehow knew that it was all going to work and they stayed very even. My sellers were terrific and got a little nervous until they finally walked out with a check in hand.

If I hadn't figured it out before, this is a new era in lending.

It's not just that they are nit picking everyone to death, but they are also stretched thin in terms of staff - trying to do more loans with fewer people to process them. And we're seeing the stupid mistakes that waste everyone's time.

When it was over, I went to my book group meeting and drank way too much wine to come home and blog about it.

But it's over! Everyone is happy! And I own Delonte Moore a big thank you.

Riding Lessons - It's Not About The Horse!

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:28:21 -0600

At the top of my bucket list has been learning to ride a horse. And last week, I joined my friend, Jean, for lessons at the Woodland Horse Center.

I've been on horses before, but I'd never learned how to get the horse to go where I want to go at the speed I'd like him to go, and to stop when I'd like him to stop.

It's about communication.

So my new buddy, a gorgeous roan named Applejack, is teaching me about communication, and not just with a horse. A lot of it applies to clients as well. For example:

It's subtle. It's easy to say "canter" when you want him to trot.
If you don't say "go" just right, he'll stop altogether.
You really need to show the horse who's in charge, but sometimes the horse is in charge - unless you're really good.
Sometimes the horse will give you this look like he must think you are a total idiot.
Sometimes you are a total idiot - at least when it comes to horses.

So while I'm trying not to get too concerned about Applejack's judgments of me as the human who rides him every week, I'm learing to sit on an English saddle and post and trot and basically sit on this guy's back without falling off.

And the other fun thing is the shopping opportunity at the tack shop. I got my cute new helmet - although I'm striving to get one with a fuzzy surface - they are really cool.

And Jean got these chaps - I have to have some! They are beautiful brown supple suede.

There are also boots and outfits and saddles and before long I'll be leasing a horse! Then I'll need to buy one and move to Potomac where thre are lots of places with stables that go with the house!

My broker will love all this. I'll have to sell a lot of real estate to support my new horse habit!

Wordless Wednesday - Applejack And Me

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:54:49 -0600

Lenders Going Back To The Future

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:40:37 -0600

A lot of us have started to go nuts as lenders are getting more and more nitsy, driving our beloved clients crazy with last second requests for documentation and other paperwork issues that seem to come to a head about two days before settlement.

This morning, I had a talk with a lender who has been making loans as long as I've been selling houses, and we were laughing about how it's getting to be just like the good old days! So now, I'm coaching all of my buyers on what to expect during the process. By preparing them for all of the stuff that is totally annoying people right now, I'm hoping that if they expect the nitsy, it won't annoy them as much. Here are some of the things I'll have them be on the lookout for:

For a while, the lenders were all pretty casual about pest inspections. Well, now it there is a single carcass of a single once alive termite on the property, there will have to be some evidence that the little guy did not die of natural causes like old age. This means evidence of prior treatment, either in the form of paperwork documenting when the treatment was done or a new treatment. Same with repairs of termite damage. You'll probably need someone to certify that it was done by a licensed termite repair contractor, or you will have to bring in a licensed termite repair contractor to say it was done properly.
They are looking at condominium documents more carefully, with an eye to saying no to people buying in buildings that look like the owners' association might be in trouble. In projects with a lot of short sales and foreclosures, this could further compound the problems they are having with owners who cannot pay either their mortgages or monthly association fees.
If you put any money into your checking account that was not your regular pay check, you will have to account for it. So if you are self-employed, keep good records of your clients' payments. Same if you are on commission. I just had some buyers need to get a letter from grandma saying the $1000 check they deposited was, in fact, a wedding present.
If you are getting a large gift from your parents, you may have to document that they did not borrow the money to give to you. You'll also probably have other lender's guidelines about the amount as a percentage of your down payment.
It is taking a lot more time to get the papers through the lender's system - getting the loans through underwriting and then getting documentation to the title companies. It's like they are trying to do the work with fewer people, which means the fewer people are going to put your papers in higher and higher piles that take longer to get to.
And they keep thinking up new things faster than we can add them to our What to Expect list!

We used to have to deal with these situations all the time before about the mid-1990's. All lenders were a pain, but it didn't seem like a pain at the time because we were totally used to it.

And yeah, they expect to get picky, picky, picky! And trust me, it will still be easier than when I was a new agent and had to walk through the snow for miles to hand deliver the extra documentation!

Speechless Sunday - Leaves

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:25:48 -0600

Most of our leaves are now on the ground. So, on this gorgeous top-down Sunday, I saw this gorgeous red tree out in Potomac, Maryland. And I had my I-Phone handy, which didn't quite catch the way the sun reflected off of the bright red leaves.

Recognizing A Stroke

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:39:19 -0600

Recently, a family member had a stroke. His stomach was upset. He thought he had food poisoning and looked like crap, and friends insisted on a visit to the emergency room. He was very, very lucky. Not everyone is, because the symptoms often don't look like a stroke, unless you know exactly what to look for.

There might be a fall, the person might be a little disoriented and loopy. There might be a numbness is the face and really bad headache. And the person having the stroke might insist he is fine - just a little trip and fall.

If you are with someone and suspect he or she might be having a stroke, here are some hints:

Ask him to smile
Ask him to repeat a simple sentence coherently
Ask him to raise both arms

If he has problems with any of these tasks, call 911.

Then there is another sign. If you ask the person to stick out his tongue and it comes out crooked - off to one side - that is another sign of a stroke. Again, call 911.

A suspected stroke is nothing to mess around with! Getting to the hospital as quickly as possible is key to surviving and making a full recovery from a stroke.

Top Five Homes Sales In Washington: October 2009

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:57:37 -0600

The five highest sales prices paid for Washington, DC properties in October is in stark contrast to the top five listed homes. The five highest priced listings range in price from a low of $10,000,000 to a high of $39,500,000. And here is what actually sold last month:

2716 36th Place NW for $1,850,000: the asking price was $2,150,000, reduced from $2,275,000. The house was on the market for 262 days. Located in Observatory Circle, this center hall brick colonial is pretty much the Washington standard. It has 6 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, and over 3700 square feet of living space. The kitchen and baths had recent high end renovations, and the entire house appeared to be in excellent condition.

P Street NW for $2,200,000: the asking price was $2,275,000. This is a Georgetown classic townhome dating back to about 1900. It has over 4000 square feet of space and has been beautifully renovated and decorated. It's interesting to note that the house does not have parking, which is unusual in this price range - and in Georgetown, parking is a very good thing to have.

4940 Indian Lane NW for $2,400,000: the asking price was $2,750,000, reduced from $2,950,000. This Spring Valley home was what we sometimes call a "granny house", looking well-cared for but with kitchen and baths that were state of the art when it was built in 1956. The interior space was over 5000 square feet, and the house is situated on a beautiful and well-landscaped lot. This one has a lot of potential, and it will be interesting to see what the new owners do with the place.

2400 Tilden Street NW for $3,330,000: listed at $3,595,000. On the edge of Rock Creek Park, this home dates back to 1796, known as the Pierce Still House. The renovation may have been one of the best I've seen, with a kitchen fireplace big enough to roast a cow! It has 6 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, and over 6000 square feet of space. It ranks as just about the favorite place I've seen here in Washington - at any price.

2446 Belmont Road NW for $4,350,000: listed for $4,995,000, and previously listed for $5,750,000 and was on the market for a total of 279 days. This stone Tudor has approximately 5000 square feet of space sits on a huge, beautifully landscaped lot overlooking Rock Creek Park. The kitchen hadn't been renovated recently, but it looked like a high quality classic from the mid-century. The house has 8 bedrooms, 6.5 baths, and the dining room is large enough to host a state dinner!

Camille, You're Doing It All Wrong! Advice for FSBOs

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:23:08 -0600

I have some clients who are looking for a great condo or coop downtown. I've found some good possibilities and my clients are adding things that they come across on the Internet.

Most of their finds are already under contract or settled. But there was one that, while not on the MRIS was on a FSBO site.

There was a description and contact information.

But wait!

It said to call Camille. I dialed the number then I noticed the little warning that Camille is on the national "Do Not Call" register, and any agent who calls her is subject to a gigantic fine.

Hang up! Fast!

OK. There's also an email option. But when I tried that, I got a warning from the Realtor® police that my email set off a red flag.

Now, the price is $550,000 and the remarks said it is firm. But wait! That's $75,000 more than anything has sold for in the building. And it's a third floor walk up, and the fees are so high that they should include dry cleaning and groceries - which ought to include delivery up the three flights of stairs!

And before I could talk my clients out of wanting to see the place, a "friend" of the owner called my number, captured from the caller ID that showed up before I hung up. And we do have an appointment to see the place tomorrow, and I'm secretly hoping that they hate the place.

If you're thinking about going it alone, selling By Owner, you can do it. While most people who try give up and eventually list with an agent, you can avoid the major pitfalls -

Don't overprice your place.
At a minimum, use a limited service company that will put your listing on the local Multiple Listing Service, and agree to pay any agent who brings in a buyer.
Be careful about the information you have on your promotional leaflets. Camille had a couple of serious mistakes on the piece that her "friend" emailed me. One of them could cost her buyer an extra $8,000 or so.
Don't have an unlicensed "friend" help you sell the place. They won't know any more than you do!

You might think it's easy. It's not.

Now, I don't want your listing. But you might want to buy a copy of The Irreverent Guide to Real Estate. There is a whole section on how to do it yourself.

Presenting Our Listings In The "Best" Light

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:02:57 -0600

Today on our brokers' tour I saw a pretty house in Woodley Park, one of my favorite neighborhoods.

The MRIS information had a very well-done virtual tour, with professionally done photos taken of very well-staged rooms. If I were a buyer doing an on-line search, these photos would certainly get my attention and make me want to put this place on the top of my list.

When I got to the Open House today, I had to admit the place was adorable. It was charming. And it wasn't really what you'd call tiny, but it also was nowhere near as large as the beautiful photos made it look.

The house way way too small for the buyers I was checking it out for, and at the same time, I am glad that I saw it. It might work for someone else. But it definitely fell short of the expectations.

The photos made the rooms look a whole lot larger than they actually are. And the agent and I started talking about this.

So the question here (and neither one of us had the answer), is it better to use wide angle lenses, PhotoShop and other modern wonders to get people into a house that might disappoint them? Or is the idea to just them in the door?

Not having the most flattering photos possible is sort of counter-intuitive, is it not?

Thank You So Much Dixon's Pest Control!

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:57:08 -0600

I have a settlement scheduled for Thursday afternoon. The termite inspector found a few dead guys and a little bit of chewed wood, but it was evidence of a prior infestation. Since there is no record of a prior treatment, we've got to get a bunch of nasty chemicals pumped into the ground around the house before Thursday. And I found out this afternoon.

So I called my friends at Dixon's Pest Control for help. And sure enough, they saved the day. Tomorrow they are treating the place - and it's a federal holiday!. I'll be able to get the last piece of paper to the lender in time to settle at four o'clock.

Like many agents, I sometimes find myself needing last minute termite treatments, sometimes because I just forgot about it. And Dixon always makes it happen. Oh, and they do a great job when it's not a last minute request as well.

So if you need a pest inspection or treatment, they can be reached at 202-882-6565 or email them at DixonsPest@hotmail.com.

What's In A View?

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:44:29 -0600

In Washington, there are certain views that can make a condo unit worth more, a lot more, than if they didn't have one.

So when I saw a condo with an optimistic price, there was a photo of the view from the unit, and it showed the National Cathedral. Now as veiws go, The National Cathedral is right up there. Maybe not as great as the Capitol, the Potomac or the Washington Momument. But it does command a few extra dollars.

Well, I'm glad that I previewed the place first.

Looking out one of the bedroom windows, you could see the Cathedral.

But from the giant windows in the living room, this is what you got:

Some day, they might turn this roof into one of the new "green" ones, with sod and flowers. Then you won't be distracted by the ugly thing, and you might even look to the west and appreciate the far off view of the Cathedral!

But in the meantime, if I were the agent, I'd maybe change the focus to make the expectations he creates meet the reality that buyers see.

Staging Faux Paux!

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:23:39 -0600

There is a very cool condo in Adams Morgan that I've shown for the second time. It is staged within an inch of its life and looks pretty good.

It's loft style place. The living-dining-kitchen is all open. The wood floors shine when the sun shines in through the huge windowns. You can just imagine how the fireplace is in the winter. The baths are even state of the art.

Then there's this industrial strength staircase leading up to a loft with big windows leading to a huge terrace.

And on that terrace, there were some chairs, a little fire pit, and a buch of mums - about eight of them.

Well, they used to be mums.

Now they are just dried out shells of former mums. Here are two of them.

So, bottom line. If you are going to use live plants in staging, you have to monitor their health and well being.

Dead plants are a complete turn-off.

Speechless Sunday: Washington Autumn

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:57:56 -0600

© 2009 Patricia Kennedy. Unless otherwise noted, the content, both written and in pictures, is the property of Patricia Kennedy . If you would like to use this image, please email me (housepat@mac.com) with your request. I'll almost certianly say yes, and ask only that you provide a link back to my original content as well as an acknowledgment. The same thing applies to any other material you see posted here on Active Rain or on any of my other blogs.

What "Color Me Beautiful" Taught Me About Staging

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:59:20 -0600

Many years ago, I had my colors done.

The idea is to figure out which groups and shades of colors make you look terrific, and which ones make you look like an organ donor waiting to happen. Of course, you want to go with the look-good-feel-good colors that work for you.

They say this approach is also useful when you are working on decor for your home. You get a good feeling about a room when it's decorated in your colors.

The woman who did my analysis worked for Color Me Beautiful. They divide people into one of four "seasons". And people in one season, the "Autumns" like and look good in browns, golds, maroons, olive greens, and unusual shades of other colors. But the Autumns only make up about three percent of the people on the planet!

So the other day, I showed a house where they had moved out the buyers pretty decent stuff and brought in a stager. Well, this gal must have been pure Autumn, because it was all the shades that made my buyers (she was a spring and he was a winter) just want to run out the door! Golden green couch, Chinese rugs with brown and gold patterns, and maroons swags.

"Wait!" I said. "You're reacting to the colors." And once they realized what it was, they were able to see beyond the staging and realize it was a terrific place. It's on the possible list now.

This made an impression because I am preparing to list a house that has all the wrong colors - out of That 70's Show! The seller is up for letting us consign his olive green couch to Value Village and bring one in from our staging warehouse. He's agreed to have the place painted to make the maroon walls in the master bedroom disappear and transform leaf gold dining room into an oasis of cross-season neutrality.

And to help choose the colors, I'm going to call a favorite colleague who helped me with my own house. Oh, my friend is a summer, but she's good at picking universal colors that everyone can feel comfortable around.

The New And Improved Homebuyers' Credit

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:25:14 -0600

President Obama is expected to sign the revised home buyer credit some time tomorrow. And, at the risk of looking a gift horse in the mouth, I'm not sure how I really feel about the whole thing.

With the increased income caps of $125,000 ($225,000 for married couples), more people in the DC area will be able to take advantage of it. But think about it a minute. Is the idea to help first time buyers? Or is it to help sellers? And who are the sellers? A lot of them are banks selling foreclosed properties.

Um. Is this one more bank subsidy?

The subsidy is providing an incentive for buyers to go into the market. With more buyers in the market, home prices are increasing in some areas, and here in Washington, we are starting to see multiple offers in the double digits for well-priced homes. So the buyer's tax credit may be offset by higher home prices, at least at the lower end of the price spectrum.

I have to keep in mind that the lower end of our price range in Upper Northwest DC is upper brackets in other parts of the area. Many neighborhoods east of Rock Creek Park and in other quadrants will benefit. And the credit will likely benefit condo sellers.

While this isn't a bad thing for sellers and the buyers who will get the tax credit, remember that a tax credit is $8,000 per transaction being subtracted from the plus side of the

national budget, which is already bursting at the seams.

In the meantime, I will try to do my part to make hay while the credit is in effect. Hopefully, the credit will benefit Realtors® around the country, and we will pay more in income taxes, unless of course, we make less than the income cap and buy a place.

Wordless Wednesday (Oops!)

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:26:15 -0600

This mural is on the side of my favorite bookstore, Politics and Prose on Connecticut Avenue. They have a large collection of both fiction and non-fiction, as well as great historical stuff about Washington, DC's rich history.

© 2009 Patricia Kennedy. Unless otherwise noted, the content, both written and in pictures, is the property of Patricia Kennedy . If you would like to use this image, please email me (housepat@mac.com) with your request. I'll almost certianly say yes, and ask only that you provide a link back to my original content as well as an acknowledgment. The same thing applies to any other material you see posted here on Active Rain or on any of my other blogs.

I'm Dreaming of a China-Free Christmas!

Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company Realtors) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:15:16 -0600

I first freaked out when I found out that Willie the Labradoodle's premium dog food was made by the same company in China whose canned pet food was tainted and killing family pets. Then A couple of weeks ago, Katerina Gasset wrote a post about Chinese drywall that got me to thinking. Why do we buy their stuff? Well, for one thing, it's pretty hard to avoid, whether you're shopping in Target, Whole Foods or Bloomingdales.

So this year, I am looking for shopping venues where I can find Christmas gifts that were made, well, not in China.

I'm starting off at my friend, Annie Groer's, holiday sale. She is clearing out a bunch of stuff. And a lot of it is pretty amazing.

Need some high quality designer costume jewelry? This is a great place to start. I walked out with some Chanel earrings on my lobes. But wait! This is supposed to be Christmas shopping for the people I love - not accumulating more stuff for me!

And if you're into poodles, there are some of those. But no Labradoodles. Oh well!

If you are in the market for pins or earrings with this little beast, there is a lot to choose from.

If you're shopping for your guy, there are some great cuff links,at least if he has any shirts that need cuff links.

Moving on from jewelry -

There are also fashion items that might fit someone smaller than I am. Especially in the feet department.

And for that person who has everything? The item to the left is probably not something they already own.

Nor this highly sophisticated collector's item - a set of rare vases!

How about some JFK memorabilia for your favorite political junkie?

Now, I am just scratching the surface here. Items include an alligator, mink jacket, some amazing articles of clothing, and much more.

To view these items, you need an appointment. Please email me at housepat@mac.com, and I will help you set one up. Now I'm off to check out a cute place in Georgetown! More later.