4101 Albemarle St NW #352, Washington, DC 20016    Closed at $475,000   Abbott Klar Real Estate Group is happy to announce they sold this awesome condo right above the Tenleytown Metro, which makes commuting a breeze! This one bedroom unit boasts an open floor plan, garage parking, and a private flagstone patio! The condo has beautiful hardwood floors throughout and an upgraded kitchen with stainless steel appliances. The building has it all! A gym, lobby with wifi, and a concierge desk! Congratulations to our buyer, we know you will love it here!           Thanks for reading our blog! We at Abbott Klar Real Estate Group are an experienced, full-service real estate team that specializes in the diverse neighborhoods of…

The Roundhouse.

Yes! That house. Among the more extrordinary and unique houses that Abbott Klar Real Estate Group has had the pleasure to represent and sell, none compare to The Roundhouse at 1001 Irving ST NE Washington DC in Beautiful Brookland.This historically significant home was carefully renovated and expanded by Ditto Residential with plans by Architect Chuong Cao of DEP Designs. 

Ditto Residential was able to modernize the round house while skillfully reusing and preserving a great deal of the original structure. The rear circumference of the house was artistically ‘pulled out’ by 12 feet to create an expansive kitchen/living area.

The first floor now boasts a stunning kitchen, palatial living room, half bath, coat closet, and laundry

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Prudential Annual Awards were just announced and the Abbott Klar Real Estate Group was awarded the prestigious Chairman's Circle Gold Award for record-breaking production and #2 for Team Production in DC.
  Thanks to a strong team effort and a willingness to go the extra mile for our clients, we sold 41 properties in 2012.   We represented buyers and sellers all over Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia.  It was an enjoyable and remarkable year in which we sold everything from a 2,800 Square foot, 3 bedroom, 3 bath New York style Coop in one of Washington's Best Address buildings (2101 Connecticut Ave) for $1.7M
to a to a roundhouse in Brookland ,
to an adorable bungalow in Takomoa Park Maryland and many condos in Penn Quarter.  We loved working with all

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Have you thought about investing in a condo or home to house your college-bound child? If so, here are some tips and advice to consider.

Living on campus is expensive. For instance, a full-time student at George Washington University can easily spend $15,000 per year on meals and housing. And we all know that this number is only going up. With so many condos for sale near these dorms, it might be prudent to ask if buying a condo for your college-bound child is a better way to spend your money.

The first thing to think about is do you want to invest in a property with more than one room. If you purchased a condo in DC with extra rooms, you could rent out the rooms to other students and use that money to cover your mortgage. With the right investment,

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Real estate is an jargon filled industry.  Here is an attempt to declutter some of the terms.

Let's start with what is the "value" of a house?:

Appraisal:
This is what the bank uses to determine how much money they will lend on it.  This number can be flawed. 

• It is based on past data.  Appraisers can only look at homes that have sold in the last 180 days.  We all know the adage that "past performance is no guarantee of future return."  Looking at the prices of similar houses that sold recently should only be the starting point in analyzing what a home is currently worth.  Appraisals often miss turning points in markets and are often low in a rising market.

Assessment:
As a home owner you want this number to be as low as possible, as this is the

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DC real estate market is HOT! 
Now this is not really news, (DC Metro home prices are up 5.9% according to Case Shiller  and are up 8.5% year over year for DC according to RBi) as DC has remained a very strong market even in the downturn nationally.  But it It is clear that many buyers who have sat on the sidelines for the last 4-5 years are now ready to buy.  Inventory is picking up a little bit, as it always does around this time of year, but we still have 30% fewer houses on the market than last year and about a 2/3 less than 5 years ago!

Fewer homes for sale + More buyers + low interest rates = Increasing prices.

Found your dream home?  Now what?
If you've found a property you love, you now need to decide how much you're willing to offer.

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Imagine this?  A real estate agent reccomending that you should buy a house... Shocking!  Well... here are the top 3  reasons you should consider buying now:

1. Rents are going up
2. Interest rates are going up
3. Prices are going up

Rents:
Rents in DC are increasing at an increasing rate.  Why are you paying your landlord's mortgage?
In DC buying is 41% cheaper than renting.  Yes you read that right!  See the article here.  Buying now will save you money.

Interest Rates:
Predicting the future is a fools game, but... it is clear that these historically low interest rates are not here to stay.  Here is a real world example of the impact of interest rate increase on the monthly costs of a mortgage.  In DC the median price is $432,500 (Assuming a 20% down

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Here's your chance to live in the height of city luxury in a masterpiece of 6 custom-finished levels. Situated on 18 acres of fenced land in the heart of downtown Washington, DC, this lovely home encompasses an astounding 55,000 square feet of living space. 

Built originally in 1792, the 132 room, 35 bathroom home features an open, flowing floor plan with 412 custom handmande doors that allow you and your guests to glide effortlessly between rooms. Light streams into your new abode through 147 windows; they also provide unbeatable city views! On those cool winter nights, curl up with a book or a bottle of wine next one of 28 fireplaces spaced graciously throughout this true American manor home!  Since it deserved a $5.7 million reconstruction in 1950,

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Alley house on Capitol Hill.
Check out our newest listing on Capitol Hill.  512 F Street Terrace.

We love DC! Where else can you find an absolutely adorable Federal house in an alley? 

DC has a limited number of alley dwellings that are still used as residential homes, combining all the best of city living while still retaining an element of privacy.   This unique Capitol Hill home is right next to Eastern Market and all that makes Capitol Hill one of the best neighborhoods to live in. This alley house is ready to move in with modern systems, hardwood floors, renovated kitchen and private rear patio.    




Green Living: is all about not wasting resources.  So get rid of your extra stuff, sell that car, sign up for bikeshare and carshare and live the

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The Spring Market is here!  The DC real estate market got a very early start this year due to historically low interest rates and very low inventory.   According to RBI  :

1. The median Sales price for Washington DC is up by 8.5% over last year.
2. The inventory of homes for sale down by 38% year of year.

Buyers report that:

1. "There is nothing on the market". Well, not really nothing, but the inventory is very, very low.  In fact we are at about two-thirds the inventory of houses as compared to last year.
2. "The competition is fierce". With inventory being low, there are lots of buyers out there all competing for the same house. 

Real Estate Agents report that:
"Only two types of houses are selling right now."

1)  Complete shells, in other

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