Washington Real Estate

Buying and Selling: Family Valuations

Real Estate Pro — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 17:20:44 +0000

Now, it's human nature to want to gravitate towards communities that share your physical makeup, religious beliefs, social standards, etc., but I'd like to think it's also human nature to want to meet new people and have new experiences, and it's just unsettling to think of developers quizzing potential buyers as to their political persuasions, so as not to match a red-state gun nut with a blue-state nancy boy.

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Buying and Selling: Family Valuations

The League of Excellence

Real Estate Pro — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 04:05:55 +0000

I kept clicking and found her website and her she is: According to her site, Mary Beth is has been "honored" with membership of the "Society of Excellence". What, exactly does the Society of Excellence get up to? Anyone can join the league; there are no membership fees; just read this blog regularly and you are automatically a member. She can now add one more title to her achievement-heavy resume - she is now in the overvalued realtor hall of fame.

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The League of Excellence

A shaggy dog on ebay

Real Estate Pro — Wed, 17 May 2006 23:01:21 +0000

This duplex is the our first wreck from an ebay auction.
Washington area of the Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles, the owner has it listed for $815k. Not at the moment, then just give it some time. However, the reverse is more likely; if you buy this wreck, your loss will be their gain. However, that charity will start in my home and not in some rancid wreck in L.A currently housing some desperate dog loving wannabe New Englanders.

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A shaggy dog on ebay

Calling all investors

Real Estate Pro — Wed, 17 May 2006 23:01:20 +0000

I am getting a very bad feeling about the Mount Washington district of LA. The realtor suggests that the house can be remodelled. The write-up also claims that it is very reasonable priced, since other houses on the street have "sold for a million dollars." Yet, there is someone on the same street who thought that that another house was worth $1 million. Perhaps, it is a very long road, and the million dollar house is way over at the other end.

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Calling all investors

DC: Watching the bubble pop in real time (the ponzi scheme ends)

Real Estate Pro — Mon, 15 May 2006 17:00:16 +0000

The speculators came in, bid prices up 50% or more, made some dough, got everyone locally excited about how great their local area was, more condos were built, and then...
Sales of new condos fell 43 percent in the first quarter of the year, compared with the first quarter of 2005, according to one report, and there are almost four times as many existing condos for sale than last year.

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DC: Watching the bubble pop in real time (the ponzi scheme ends)

CNN/Money Housing Forecast

Real Estate Pro — Mon, 15 May 2006 17:00:14 +0000

Meanwhile, according to the study, all metro areas in Colorado are anticipated to appreciate in 2006. It's worth noting that according to CNN's Best Places to Live 2005 Study, two cities in Colorado topped the list for job growth since 1990. Note: Our objective is to make this blog one of the best resources on the web for real estate and development in Boulder Colorado and surrounding communities.

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CNN/Money Housing Forecast

Colorado Mortgage Fraud Law Passed The House - $75,000 Mandatory Minimum Fine

Real Estate Pro — Mon, 15 May 2006 17:00:11 +0000

According to Justin R. Morton, State Government Relations Representative for the Appraisal Institute, a Colorado bill establishing mortgage fraud laws passed the House yesterday, April 4.
This measure imposes a mandatory minimum fine of $75,000 for residential mortgage fraud and grants the attorney general concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute mortgage fraud.

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Colorado Mortgage Fraud Law Passed The House - $75,000 Mandatory Minimum Fine

Housing Market: Double Agents

Real Estate Pro — Sun, 14 May 2006 17:55:10 +0000

Kenneth Harney at the Washington Post brings us a tale of realtors playing both sides of the transaction in an effort to get their precious commission. If you don't trust them to mess up your Big Mac order, why would you trust someone with even less training--and more incentive to pad their own pockets--to ensure you sell your home and buy for the best price possible?

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Housing Market: Double Agents

Buying and Selling: Lemon Aid

Real Estate Pro — Sun, 14 May 2006 17:55:09 +0000

The Washington City Paper has a cautionary tale about what happens when you think you're getting a condo bargain, and the price of repairs to the building is more than your entire s?!tbox is worth. Come on, Examiner, I know you're a free paper and what not, but THIS is the best you can do? You gotta wonder if the poor woman in the City Paper article really, seriously LOOKED at the place she was buying before plonking down the cash.

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Buying and Selling: Lemon Aid

Second Home Sales Hit Another Record in 2005; Market Share Rises

Real Estate Pro — Thu, 11 May 2006 18:58:15 +0000

Vacation-home sales increased 16.9 percent last year to a record 1.02 million from a downwardly revised 872,000 in 2004, while investment-home sales rose 15.7 percent to a record 2.32 million in 2005 from an upwardly revised 2.00 million in 2004.* David Lereah, NAR's chief economist, said all the factors at play in the second home market were favorable in 2005. Most investment home buyers are in the South - 38 percent of the total.

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Second Home Sales Hit Another Record in 2005; Market Share Rises

Hedge Around Your Home

Real Estate Pro — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 21:37:55 +0000

Miami is also the strongest market since the index began in 1987 and its appreciation has been double that of Denver in the period since. Marc Chandler, an economist at Brown Brothers Harriman and a one-time trader on the floor of the CME, complains it does not provide a like for like guide to prices over time, notably because it excludes the impact of home improvement, which he says contributes to the disequilibrium housing has in the economy.

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Hedge Around Your Home

Housing Market: The Great Escape

Real Estate Pro — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 04:26:00 +0000

As I prophesized, there are more and more reports that extreme housing prices are pushing people further and further inward, leaving the coasts for cheaper living costs, more space, and (they say) better places to raise families.
"They say the world is flat because of technology, and in this new flat world, people can do anything from anywhere," he said. They want security.

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Housing Market: The Great Escape

Buyer (And Seller) Beware

Real Estate Pro — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 16:45:02 +0000

You hear stories about sellers slashing listing prices to attract buyers, but home prices nationally have risen more than 10% over the past year. That leads people to take more risks than they should. The idea here is that if people's monthly payments to own a house are much higher than what they would spend to rent the same place, tax considerations included, then they must be banking on prices going up so they can sell for a profit someday.

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Buyer (And Seller) Beware

Buying and Selling: Family Valuations

Real Estate Pro — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 22:27:46 +0000

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Buying and Selling: Family Valuations

Howard's Condos Are Hot

Real Estate Pro — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 22:27:42 +0000

Although prices for the 160-unit Plaza Residences at Columbia Town Center started in the mid $500,000 range, early reservations and increased demand have driven that figure to $600,000, said Bill Rowe, vice president for WCI Communities. All told, Rowe said the development firm has taken reservations for 40 percent of the units, which range in size from about 1,500 square feet to 3,500 square feet.

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Howard's Condos Are Hot

Second Home Sales Hit Another Record in 2005

Real Estate Pro — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 22:27:31 +0000

For investment-home buyers, 55 percent said rental income was the primary factor for buying, and 35 percent wanted to diversify investments. Vacation Home Buyers - Typical vacation-home buyers in 2005 were 52 years old, earned $82,800, and purchased a property that was a median of 197 miles from their primary residence; however, 47 percent of vacation homes were less than 100 miles and 43 percent were 500 miles or more.

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Second Home Sales Hit Another Record in 2005

The United States' landlord is coming for a visit next week to inspect his properties

Real Estate Pro — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 22:27:31 +0000

Especially since the Trillion dollars of debt we owe him is in depreciating dollars
So it'll all come out in the wash for him - sell the fools junk, take their dollars and sell them their houses.
The first lavish dinner of China President Hu Jintao's historic visit to the United States next week will be in a big, secure house in Washington where the host is one of the world's most powerful men.

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The United States' landlord is coming for a visit next week to inspect his properties