Sure, it’s a little dated, but this post on Barry Ritholtz’s The Big Picture has a chart of the rocky week on Wall Street earlier this month that shows why I’m glad real estate indexes typically are measured by the month and not the day (or minute):
The Big Picture: What did you miss if you took this week off?
Here’s a round-up of what real estate bloggers have to say about the House of Representatives rejecting the $700 billion bailout and the subsequent stock market plunge:
Along with helping clients and finishing my MS in real estate at Johns Hopkins, I’m also becoming an expert on green habitats. These houses are more sustainable, consume less electricity and water, and can be great investments.
And–according to The New York Times–houses with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certificate, the top classification given by the U.S. Green Building Council, are a new status symbol too:
New York Times: The New Trophy Home, Small and Ecological
Any questions on green habitats? Post them in the comments or e-mail me at ken@brandongreen.com.
Sure, gas prices have (thankfully) dropped significantly in the past month, but fuel still can make up a large part of your monthly budget.
By moving 54 miles closer to her job and, hence, being able to downsize from a Dodge Neon to a Honda Scooter, a woman featured in an article on Yahoo! Real Estate was able to spend $374 less a month in fuel costs. That’s an annual savings of almost $4,500, never mind the benefits to the environment.
In 2004 a friend came across a beautiful old farm house in Boonsboro, Maryland. It didn’t take much convincing to bring me on board after my first visit to the farm: It was obvious that the property longed to be shared with others and would make a perfect bed and breakfast.
After extensive renovations, which I enjoyed planning and overseeing (it was the fourth property I’ve overhauled), Stoney Creek Farm bed and breakfast opened in 2005.
Since then Stoney Creek Farm has hosted romantic getaway weekends, work retreats, and even weddings.
If you’re interested in more information, check out the website or call the innkeeper, Denise, at (301) 432-6272.
I just encountered this great list of 25 tips to prepare your home for sale in a slow market by Austin Realtor. While it’s consistent with the advice we give our clients, it provides some details that aren’t include on our website.
All suggestions for preparing a home for sale can pretty much be summed up by these three actions though:
(Via Unclutterer)
When Apple upgraded its iPhone’s operating system in July, it added the ability to add applications to the cell phone-iPod hybrid. Along with the expected assortment of games and productivity software, third-party developers released several great real estate applications.
The best one I’ve found is rawthought’s free Puluwai Real Estate Search (the link goes to the iTunes Store).
Ever been house hunting, come across a great neighborhood, and wondered what homes there sell for? Rather than having to remember to look up that information when you return home, with Puluwai Real Estate Search you can “quickly search homes for sale near you.”
The iPhone’s GPS will prefill your location (if you have the first generation iPhone, which does not have GPS, it will estimate your location based on your proximity to cell phone towers and WiFi networks–it’s close enough) or you can enter it manually. You then can select the price range, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and keywords the listing should include (for example, pool or in-law suite).
Or if you’re just curious about prices in the neighborhood, set the minimum price to $0 and the maximum to, say, $100 million or so.
Puluwai Real Estate Search will return a list of search results that match your criteria. Tapping a result brings up a detailed listing, complete with pictures.
If you see a property you are interested in touring, from the listing you can tap the share it icon in the top right, and then e-mail it directly to me or one of the other realtors at Brandon Green Companies. We’ll be happy to schedule a tour for you.
One drawback to the application, however, is that the listings aren’t as thorough as what’s available on our site.
Click the link below for the Columbia Heights market report for August.
The volume of real estate transactions is down about 17% from this time last year (depending on which segment of our local market you look at) but inventory numbers are up only slightly. More foreclosures are selling quickly which is chewing through or excess inventory at a respectable pace. The recent drop in interest rates has helped spike activity and everyone is cautiously optimistic that an administration change will mean nothing but good things for the real estate market.
Bottom line - nearly everything in the US is on sale right now, including some great deals in real estate. We don’t know when the sale will end, but like all great sales - they don’t last forever! Keep affordability in the forefront of your mind and make decisions that are right for your life right now - and don’t worry about the market. If it makes sense for you to buy right now - based on where you are with your life - buy. If you want to sell because it will help you move on to something else you want in your life - sell.
We are helping about six people every month sell and buy real estate. Let us know what we can do for you.
Brandon was quoted in a USA Today article, click here to see!
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