This afternoon, I showed some pretty houses to a favorite client, and one of them was a real standout.

The kitchen won my “10 WOW!” rating.  It had lots of granite and stainless, appliances that cooked and cleaned for you, room for a table for informal dining, and French doors leading to a lovely rear garden.

The garden was perfect for barbecues.  And the carefully planned landscaping would be lovely most of the year with very little maintenance. 

The recently refinished oak hardwood floors would have done a wonderful job of showcasing my client’s oriental rugs.  And the fireplaces were the old fashioned kind where you could burn actual wood!

Another plus - the closets in the master bedroom were enormous, with more than enough space for her beautiful wardrobe and impressive collection of footwear.

As we made out way to the top floor, excitement grew, for we had been promised a view of the Washington Monument! 

And there is was!

Then – oops!

The mullions popped off of the double paned window and snagged my angora sweater during the awkward drop to the ground!  And to my horror, I saw little pieces of Scotch tape had been holding the mullions to the glass!

I’m so glad I wasn’t wearing cashmere! 

Was this a big deal?  Of course not – and it could have been repaired properly with little effort.  It’s just that it gave the impression of sloppy maintenance.  If you have Scotch tape on the mullions, it there duct tape on the kitchen sink drain?  Where else have they cut corners?

So what could I say?  A million dollars just does not buy that much house in the Washington, DC area!  And that’s even in an allegedly crummy market!  Go figure!