real estate: 'How is the Real Estate Market?'
- 06/09/09 09:08 AM
Every day, at least once, I am asked, 'How is the real estate market?' Wow. I used to be able to say, "great" and move on to their specific questions about their house projects and what has sold recently. These days, I try to be positive, because the truth is that I am super busy. The difference between now and 'before' is that every transaction is just REALLY hard! The buyers want to buy, the sellers want to sell, the lenders want to lend and the Realtors want to make it all happen; so why is everything so hard? There is … (2 comments)
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real estate: 11573 Greenwich Point Road, Reston, Virginia
- 05/21/09 07:44 AM
Lakefront Living...and a New Price!
5 Bedrooms, 4.5 Baths New Price: $985,000
Built 1991
This semi-custom CP1 contemporary home on Lake Newport is a vacation home in the middle of your everyday life! Centrally located in Reston, Virginia, North Point section, this home boasts lake views from virtually every room in the house. From the soaring 2 story ceilings, to the large picture windows, the numerous skylights and the unique windows, the light in this house is amazing. The floor plan is open and extremely functional. Walk to the local elementary school, parks, pools, tennis and shopping. … (2 comments)
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real estate: Ethics and Money CAN be Compatible
- 04/09/09 04:33 AM
Yesterday, after doing a little web-surfing, I wrote a post about some sellers offering a higher commission to more quickly sell their homes. It became a featured post (thank you ActiveRain!) and created some great discussion. That post is, Would You Pay More To Sell Your House?Let me be clear; I sell Real Estate to earn a living. If not, I would spend my time volunteering. Real Estate is not philanthropic, we are all doing it to pay the bills.
I would contend however, that the folks who are doing it for the 'long haul' do not focus too much time … (5 comments)
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real estate: In Defense of My Profession
- 01/04/09 03:32 AM
In yesterday's Washington Post Real Estate section in the Real Estate Matters column, written by Ilyce R. Glink with Samuel J. Tamkin, a reader wrote in and said, "Real Estate Agents work for the seller, not the buyer. Home Inspectors work for the real estate agent and themselves. Neither usually has a background in home maintenance. My advice: Don't trust either the home inspector or real estate agent and get a second or third opinion before buying a home."Thank you, Ilyce, for your well stated defense of both Real Estate Agents and Home Inspectors. I have included a link for those … (0 comments)
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real estate: Is there a Post-Election 'Bump' in the Washington, D.C. Metro Area?
- 11/06/08 01:45 AM
There is a an Urban Legend, perpetuated by the local press, that the day after a new President is elected real estate agents around the Washington D.C. metro are immediately called in to action helping the incoming and outgoing political players buy and sell real estate.
I am curious if any of you have seen, or experienced in the past, this phenomenon. It would be interesting to know, too, if people are more likely to rent, or rent out, their properties this time given the current state of the national real estate market.
I do think that while … (4 comments)
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real estate: FREE Home Buyer Seminar at the Cascades Library, THIS SATURDAY 11/22/08
- 09/04/08 05:27 AM
If you haven't had a chance to RSVP to our FREE Fall Home Buyer Seminar, please do not hesitate! We need to get an accurate count of the number of folks attending so that we can have enough materials on-hand. The number to RSVP is 1-877-531-4636, ext. 430.
In addition to the information below, we will also be addressing different types of loans AND providing you with an understanding of what Short Sales and Foreclosures are and how the process of buying one of these properties can affect you as a buyer (what to expect since the process and timelines can … (0 comments)
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real estate: Distrust of Real Estate Agents
- 08/25/08 03:21 AM
Sometimes I feel like everywhere I turn I find television shows, newspaper articles, books and blogs criticizing the honesty of real estate agents.
It is funny, because this stereotype is so dramatically different than the feedback that I receive from my clients. I have been told over and over how grateful my clients were for my help, how stress free I made the transaction and how they would definitely work with me again or refer me to their friends and family.
So why the disconnect? Who are these distrustful real estate agents who are giving the rest of us a … (10 comments)
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real estate: A Different Type of Incentive...
- 06/30/08 09:37 AM
With the down turn in the real estate market, it is not unusual to see sellers offering up 'incentives' if you buy their house. Some that I have seen: a Porsche, a Mercedes, a Country Club membership, a pool/tennis club membership and the most common one, an offer to buy down the interest rate on your loan.
Today I saw the strangest of all on MSN. After a year of trying to sell her house in Florida, one owner has offered the house at $340,000 or for another $500,000 you get the owner, a single mother, too! The link to the story … (3 comments)
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real estate: What are my Favorite Things About Living in Reston, Virginia? What are Yours?
- 06/23/08 02:19 AM
I am a life-long resident of Reston and would not change it for the world. What is it that makes Reston so special? I have assembled a list below of some of the things that come to mind. I know that I did not cover everything, but I gave it a shot.
My friends and neighbors: We actually know all of our neighbors and celebrate life's events with them. My oldest told me she won't have a party if we go out of town because at least 6 nearby neighbors would call us on our cell phones! They help us celebrate … (9 comments)
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real estate: Let's Get the Economy Moving!
- 01/19/08 07:34 AM
Yesterday afternoon turned out to be a snow-day here in Northern Virginia; all of my kids were home and no one was going anywhere. I made a cup of coffee and sat down to ActiveRain.
I was pleasantly surprised to run across two really great posts about getting the economy and real estate markets moving and I wanted to share these.
The first was by Al Maxwell of Atlanta, GA. He provided a really great discussion about why consumers should 'move up,' even if it looks like they will lose equity by selling their current home. I provide the link below, because I … (0 comments)
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real estate: Group Think and Real Estate
- 12/17/07 12:07 AM
There was an interesting article in the Washington Post this morning, 12/17/07. Written by Shankar Vedantam, the article titled 'Bad Ideas Can Be Contagious,'discusses the phenomenon of 'group think' and how it affects the decisions we make. What I found most compelling about the article was the assertion that this phenomenon largely contributed to the Real Estate bubble. Also discussed is the idea that those of us in the Washington D.C. metro area felt largely distanced from real estate market corrections, but now that the correction has been accepted as fact, it is believed by all.
Read the article, link below, and let me know your thoughts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/16/AR2007121601472.html
… (4 comments)
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real estate: We May Not Be Respected, But We are Happy!
- 11/26/07 03:09 AM
Constantly reminded that Real Estate agents are down at the bottom of the pile with regard to professional respect, I was thrilled to see the report in Time (p. 43, November 26, 2007) reporting that we are a pretty happy group. In fact, we were right up there with School Administrators, Physicians and Dentists! Although there were still a number of professions ahead of us, there were were MANY below us!!! It is nice to get some good news once in awhile about a profession that I love, but which is constantly disparaged in the press. … (0 comments)
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real estate: Too much Negativity!
- 08/30/07 05:34 AM
In response to my own negative postings, I decided it is time to talk about some positives in the real estate market. Not generally a negative person, I think that there are some good (better) things going on:
1) I actually heard 2 financial specialists talk positively about the real estate market this morning, on the Early Show and on Good Morning America. They said it was a geat time to buy!
2) My listing clients understand how difficult marketing their homes can be in this market and are extremely responsive to my suggestions and open to discussing offers.
3) This one is personal, … (4 comments)
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Every day, at least once, I am asked, 'How is the real estate market?' Wow. I used to be able to say, "great" and move on to their specific questions about their house projects and what has sold recently. These days, I try to be positive, because the truth is that I am super busy. The difference between now and 'before' is that every transaction is just REALLY hard! The buyers want to buy, the sellers want to sell, the lenders want to lend and the Realtors want to make it all happen; so why is everything so hard? There is … (2 comments)
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