I was doing a little research this morning and was so pleasantly surprised to see a bit a good news recently with the recent Home Sales reports. It seems that for the moment there is a bit of positive news in the market with resales starting to curve upward and new home construction up, and sales prices nudging up. I started wondering if buying a new home is still considered a good investment? A lot of people recently have told me and I continue to put it out there, that it truly is a good time to buy. So why? It seems that with prices dropping over that last couple of years it has made the value of a home seem like a more profitable investment in the future. Understanding that the market is very cyclical makes one see the value of purchasing now. I found a great article highlighting this so I thought I would attach it here. Thought I would share a bit of positive news.

Thanks

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33243863/ns/business-real_estate/

OK so I had my first listing appointment today. It was with my Cousin whom has a lot to sell, so its not a lot but this week has truly been a real inspiration for me. Today I plan on listing my first lot for sale and I am finding that having an "expertise" in land is a good thing... I might have another land listing next week. But This week has really been good for me. The agents that represent my project in Waldorf have sold yet another one, and I had the luxury today to meet with a real "prospect" that wants to write a contract as soon as possible. THis should be a great rambler plan that he has found online. Luckily this is an online architect that I have worked with in the past and have a discount due to previous purchases. I met with someone tonight that may be a "buyer" YEAH>>> I can't believe the change in my life from being a builder to my least favorite profession on earth... an agent. But I know that I can "single-handedly" convert my opinions of the local real estate market. LOL. But over the last couple of weeks I have met some truly inspirational agents that have nothing but good intentions in their business plans. This has made me both excited and happy. Thanks to all of you that have inspired me this week and I can only look forward to next week.

Since I was just sending out my monthly homeowner reminders, I thought I would post a little something about maintenance for your home. I think one of the most overlooked items that we forget to do to maintain our home is also one of the most dangerous. Every November 1rst in my market I recommend that homeowners "winterize" their outdoor hosebibs. Other markets need to do this sometimes much earlier, or even not at all. Here in the Washington D.C. area the freeze usually starts to occur around November one. Failing to properly winterize your hosebibs can easily result in frozen pipes. Basically what happens is when the temperature outside drops below freezing the residual water in the line starts to freeze from the farthest point out and leach its way back into the house. When the pressure on that line becomes too much the pipes actually split causing sometimes serious water damage, but it isnt the serious leaks that are the problem, what can also occur is a small "pinhole" leak causing slow drips inside the walls of your home or in areas that are not checked regularly. And when you apply a water supply to something like this, the end result is Mold... The sad part is that this simple item can be corrected with a little bit of maintenance. Remember "frost-free" hosebibs are not completely resistant to bursting. The most important thing to remember is to ALWAYS remove your garden hose from your hosebibs during the winter. The residual water inside the hose make it much easier to cause this problem. Here is a typical procedure for winterizing your Hosebibs.

Step 1-Remove garden hoses

Step 2- Go into the home and shut off the indoor hosebib

Step 3 -Go back outside and open the outdoor hosebib.

Step 4- After ALL of the water inside the line has drained you may close it back up. At this point many older homes may require a frost protective cover, which can be purchased at any home improvement center.

Remember that all homes have different procedures for winterizing hosebibs, this is only intended as a guide as well as a reminder to do it!

Hope this helps.