Rental Scams/ Craigslist real estate scams.

We are kind of surprised that we need to post this, but lately we have been getting more calls about various scam listings so here is another reminder that if it is too good to be true, it is!

Important notice: We do not handle any rentals. If you see a property rental advertisement anywhere on the internet, especially on craigslist, with our name on it, it is a scam. We specialize in residential property sales and do not handle any rentals.

The most common Craigslist scam are “Cloned listings”. These scammers steal real pictures from real listings for sale and repost them to sites like Craigslist as rentals. Usually the rental rates are significantly below market. If you find a great deal on an

Parking Wars!

To live in DC is to complain about the snow, and since we are still digging out from the 3 inches we got on Sunday, we figured this would be a good time to talk about parking.

A typical conversation on the local list serve or uber-cool-hastag-coffee-shop-hang-out-place goes something like

They should’ve closed the Schools!
Why didn’t they close they schools?
I can’t believe they closed the schools!
What was the Mayor thinking?
You call this snow?! Where I come from schools don’t close for 13 feet of snow…
Can I ski on the White house lawn?
This is why you should vote for bla bla bla..

Key takeaway here is to stay off the list serves and make your own coffee. But this is the internet and this is a blog and only experts have blogs (insert

Beautiful Brookland is no longer a secret, the Brookland real estate market started 2015 strong and is expected to break records this year.   Washingtonian magazine named Brookland and one of the best neighborhoods to buy a home in 2015.  Demand for Brookland homes is very strong and the supply is very low.  This makes 2015 a great time to sell your house.  Let's take a look as the recent home sale date in Brookland. Above are all the houses that have sold so far this year in Brookland.  Some of the most interesting houses that have sold in Brookland year to date:

1523 Monroe Street NE. $989,000

This was a new construction house built on a vacant lot by Connell & Schmidt Custom Builders
They usually do work on Capitol Hill but are now expanding to

 The taxman cometh, are you ready? At this point, most DC residents should have received their brand spankin' new property tax assessments. As usual, the assessments have been received with thunderous applause....not. This is the time of year when residents, already fed up with insane winter storms, get angry that now, on top of everything else, their property taxes will be going up. 

Unless you work for the DC Office of Tax and Revenue, you probably have more than a few questions about the yearly assessment, so let's clear up some basic info. First off, the assessment is not a tax, it's simply the estimated market value of your property. It is however, the basis for the calculation of your tax bill. For those who are mathematically challenged, the

 Washington Real Estate Market update for January 2014.

If January is any indication of market direction for the Washington DC Real Estate market, then we are in for another very competitive year, with low inventory of homes for sale, high competition by buyers and increasing prices.  Let's take an in-depth look at the numbers from Rbi:


Every data point of comparison did better year over year. Median Sold Price is up by 11.64%, Number of closed sales are up by 6.94%, Avergage Sold price is up by 10.05% and days on market is down by 18.46%.  The Washington DC real estate market continues to show strengh and price appreciation.   This is very much a sellers market with properly presented and priced properties generating multiple offers with escalation

According to a report released by RBi, median sales prices were up year over year by 9.6% in the DC METRO area and in Washington DC they were up by 10.2%.

If you are looking to buy a house in DC, now is the time to for action.  Home prices are clearly on the upswing, interest rates are still low (about 4.4% today for 20% down and gret credit), and inventory is picking up for the Spring.  Also read this  Washington post  article on the new rules for mortgages.
For specific home buying strategy tailored to your needs, call us today, we'll grab a quick coffee and start you on your way to homeownership.

Washington DC Real Estate Market in 2014

Here are some predictions for the Washington DC Real Estate Market for 2014.
The DC area remains among the wealthiest http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/12/12/the-d-c-suburbs-dominate-the-list-of-wealthiest-u-s-counties/
Loans are going to be harder to get.  New guidelines under The consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Qualified Mortgage will now require a maximum debt to equity ratio of 43% even with large downpayments.  Self employed persons will also continue to have a harder time getting a loan.  One way to avoid this is to work with a local bank or credit union that lends out portfolio money- meaning they keep the mortgage on their books and can therefor set their own rules.  Some of the

2013 was a record breaking year for Brookland. 

It all began in January with the roundest house ever sold in DC, 1001 Irving Street, listed by Abbott Klar Real Estate Group, selling for $760,000, which almost broke the record for the highest priced houses in Brookland.  Not to worry, we quickly followed that by selling 1335 Lawrence for $790,000 which broke the record for the highest priced Brookland house to ever sale!  But, alas, this record did not last for long and just a few months later we sold 3714 13th St NE for $957,983- which remains the record holder as the most expensive house ever sold in Brookland.  We are proud members of the Brookland community.  We live here and are constantly working to improve the neighborhood and shine the spotlight

Dec 2013 Brookland Real Estate Market update.

Rbi just released their data set for Real Estate Market activity in Brookland for November 2013.  Here is the data for zipcode 20017 for single family detached houses:

That's right!  In zipcode 20018, there was a 60% increase in listings, and an amazing 77.8% in new pendings of single family detached houses in November 2013 compared with November 2012!   This means that nearly all single family houses that come on the market in November in Brookland went under contract.  Simply amazing.  Of course this level of demand for Brookland houses resulted in an increase of 7.8% in the median sold price.

For zipcode 20017, the numbers are similar.


In zipcode 20017 in Brookland, there was a 20% increase in listings,

As real estate agents we already knew this, but now Rbi has done the math and proved it!  The shutdown of the Federal government had a serious impact on the Washington DC real estate Market.  In a report just released, Rbi calculates that year over year sales in November were down 14%.  So call your congressman (not you DC residents... you don't have the right to representation in the Congress- just taxation) and voice your frustration.

END Taxation without Representation in DC!

We heard directly from many sellers who decided to wait to sell their property until the dust settles, perhaps in the Spring they said.  We heard from many buyers -some who are Federal workers, and others who support Federal operations in one way or another- that they are