Short Sales-Still lurking around out there.

The improvement in home values over the past two years has greatly reduced the number of short sales on the market. For the investor or home buyer who is not pressed for time, a short sale can be a good buy. Generally you can purchase a home for below market cost because of the distressed nature of the sale. However, in many areas including the eastern and outlying portions of Montgomery County, home values have yet to appreciate above the dizzying heights achieved around 2005-6. This means that there are still many homeowners who have mortgages where the principal owned is still higher than the value of the home. For this reason, don't expect short sales to completely disappear for a few years yet. In the community where I live Hillandale MD there are now only four properties listed as short sales. This is far below the average numbers for the past few years. If you were to look in some communities in Howard or Prince George's Counties you will a greater proportion of short sales. In DC and West Montgomery County short sales have all but dried up.

There is good news in these numbers. The reduction in short sales on the market indicate a growing economy and improving housing market. This will help us all as equity in our homes in probably the biggest investment that most Americans will ever have. If you would like to explore distressed homes for sale in your community you can go to my own listing search engine. There you can use filters to find distressed homes or set up an alert to let you know when a distressed home comes on the market in your community.

The Silver Spring Library Continues to Grow

I can't help but get a little excited when I drive up Wayne Ave and see how the construction on the new Silver Spring Public Library is progressing. It will be a while before it opens (perhaps a year) but from the design and photo published it is going to be a lovely structure and add to the excitement of downtown Silver Spring. The new Metro Purple Line  is slated to go right by the library and there is to be a stop there. Hopefully, that will draw a lot of patrons as the Purple Line will run from Bethesda through Silver Spring and on to parts of Prince Georges County. My local library is the old White Oak Branch located near the intersection of New Hampshire Ave. and Colesville Rd. That particular branch has gotten a little old in the tooth but I love it dearly and spend a lot of time there. I have always loved libraries ever since I was a little kid. Lately I have been checking out a lot of books on tapes and the movie collection at the White Oak Branch has grown quite extensive. I expect the new branch will offer a whole lot more for all county residents.

For more information about the new downtown branch you can go to the Montgomery County Website associated with it.

Home Staging. Why it is so important.

Today I have posted a nice little video on home staging. Selling real estate has changed so much in the past five years. It is important for Realtors to adapt and make sure their sellers understand the philosophy behind selling a home in today's market. Frankly, staging was not such a big deal a decade ago. However, nowadays so much home marketing is dependent on the Internet. For this reason it is key to have you home in top shape the very first day you put in on the market. This means photo and video ready because with the move to high speed Internet, the average buyer is aware of your home within hours of it being entered into the local Multiple Listing Service. And, that means they are going to go on the Internet  to try and find visual images of your property. This is where staging comes into play because it is critical to make a great first impression with the buying public.

Remember the three Ds when getting your home camera ready. De-personalize, de-clutter, and decorate. Take a look at this nice, well made video that explains it all in just a few minutes. If you are thinking about selling your home, pay a visit to  my website and I will set up a free valuation for you.

Four things you need to do if you looking to buy a home.

If you have been looking for a home or are considering looking for a home in the District and most close-in Maryland communities you need to be prepared for a seller's market. This is especially true in DC, downtown Silver Spring and Bethesda where home inventory has been low for over a year now. We simply have too many buyers chasing too few homes. The result has been a steady increase in values and a lot of multiple contracts. There is no reason not to expect the same situation for the coming year. For home buyers this means difficult times ahead.

Many purchasers are losing out on homes because they are not prepared. They are either not getting into see the home in a timely manner or are not writing the best or winning offers. This can be very frustrating. If you are a buyer here are some suggestions that might help you.

1. Find an experienced Realtor and set up a buyer's consultation.
2. Select a lender and make your loan application now.
3. Find a good mobile real estate search app and download it onto your phone and pad.
4. Commit yourself to the process.

When I hold open houses, I am surprised at the number of potential buyers that are out looking at a home but have no affiliation with a Realtor. It tells me one of two things.  Either some of these prospective clients are not seriously looking or they do not understand agency and the importance of having their own advocate who will look out for their interests. A good buyer's agent will not only be there to advise you about the home and surrounding neighborhood but will be ready to act in your interest when you are ready and the need for speed is urgent. Find a good agent and put him or her to work for you.

You must have your ducks in a row as far as the loan process goes. As a listing agent, whenever there are multiple offers, the first thing I do is look for offers that can be weeded out of the process. This serves to help me and the sellers as well. The first offers to get rejected are those that are not perfect financially. To protect my sellers, I need to know with confidence that your loan will get approved. You the buyer must be working with a reliable local lender (forget about getting a loan over the Internet) and have already made application.  Along with your offer, you need to submit a signed financial information sheet, a solid lender's commitment letter and the name of a contact with the mortgage company that I can actually reach by phone. It is important that your lender and loan officer are available for questions from the listing agent. Sometimes a quick phone discussion about a minor detail will make the difference between acceptance and rejection.

If you have been looking at homes on Trulia and Zillow  now it is time to wean yourself off of these web sites and get a good mobile search app that is linked to the local MLS service. I get frequent complaints from clients about how out of date these large web sites can be. In a competitive market you need an app that works all the time and is completely up to date. We live in a world of instant information. In a hot market the quicker you know the better.  Why not start with Keller Williams new mobile app? Click here to download it. Then ask your agent to set you up with a listing alert that will send you new listings as soon as they are placed in the Multiple Listing Service.

This is not a time to be indecisive. Either you have a need to find a new home or you don't. I have seen so many times when a casual buyer walks into my open house on a Sunday and all of a sudden finds themselves in the home of their dreams. However so frequently this sort of buyer is just not prepared to act quickly and as a result they lose out on a home that the should have had.  Don't waste your time and set yourself up for heartbreak. Take the leap and commit to finding your home. Then give me a call. I will make sure that you will get the home that is the right fit for you.

Meridian Hill Park Comes Full Circle

Until recently not many people were up to spending time in Meridian Hill Park. Located between 15th and 16th streets in the District, this lovely Washington DC landmark fell into decay and became fairly dangerous for the average visitor. Most stayed away as it gained a reputation as a haven for drug traffic. Vandalism and lack of care was an issue as well. I lived in the area all my life and up until last summer had never been in the park. However, I had passed by the park many times and wondered what was inside. From 16th street it sort of looked like a palace or fortress to me. And now that I have seen the park it has quickly become one of my favorite DC haunts.

Helped by the recent changes in the local neighborhood and  the efforts of some committed volunteers the park has undergone a transformation. There has been a lot of restoration work with more  scheduled but the beauty of this early century masterpiece is inescapable. Designed and built between 1912 and 1936 and  representative of the type of classical parks found in urban areas of Europe, the park sits on top of a the meridian fault line and offers some great views of the surrounding area. The focal piece is the Italian Renaissance style cascading fountain which was built to take advantage of the fall line running through Washington that separates the coastal plane from the Piedmont.

There are some very nice and unique statues in the park including my two favorites. The first is a fine statue of Dante and the other of Joan of Arc sitting on a horse. The park also features a  large memorial to James Buchannan, a lesser president who many do not know much about. Many locals also refer to the park as Malcolm X Park. Back in the 1970s there was a popular movement to change it's name to that officially. However since there is already a memorial to a past president, national park policy prevents a name change. Every Sunday for years the park has featured a famous "drum circle"- a popular local event that draws folks of all walks and many talented local drummers. I think the best time to visit the park is in the early morning or take a picnic and go sit by the fountain in the evening. You won't regret the trip.

I stopped in last week while doing some real estate work in the District and took some photos on my pad. Enjoy!

A Case for FHA loans

There seems to be a lot of disdain for the old FHA loan these days. Many sellers and listing agents do not like to see a purchase contract with an FHA loan rather than a conventional loans. The worry is that these loans have stiffer requirements for the seller and take longer to settle. A FHA government loan also many not seem attractive to a buyer because the mortgage insurance premiums have gotten more expensive. Today a buyer can put a bit more money down and seek a conventional loan if they can afford the extra money..

However, aside for the fact that a FHA government backed loan takes less money down to get int,o and is easier for a buyer to qualify, there is one very important reason why this type of loan is a great loan to have if you are the owner of a home. This reason is that a FHA loan can be assumed by a qualifying buyer. What exactly does this mean to you? Well interest rates today are insanely low. Everybody agrees that they will have to go up. Historically the average interest rate over the past three decades has ranged between six to eight per cent and to really have a strong economy will have to go back up to these levels.. And I have been around long enough to remember when rates were briefly at 17 per cent. Believe me that was not a fun time to be a Realtor.

If you have a very low rate government backed loan on your home then if the market goes up-especially if rates go up and the housing market softens, then you actually may have a valuable asset. Ask yourself this, in a slow market with higher rates, if you are trying to sell a home that has an assumable FHA home and your neighbor is selling the exact same home, then all things other things being equal you then have a much more attractive bargain. Imagine if you will a real estate market where interest rates are around ten per cent. (Yes, it can happen.) And your home can be bought with its assumable four per cent mortgage. That would be a pretty sweet looking deal in any market.

So think twice before you get your new loan. Perhaps a FHA loan is a better investment in the long run. If you want to read more and go into the numbers involved here is link to a good article in the Washington Post from 2010. The information is still relevant to today's market.

Outlook for 2013

As we hit mid January and the threat of the fiscal cliff is behind us. I feel that this is a good time to write a brief  post on the current market for the Metro area and state where I think we are heading. First and foremost, the real estate market is looking pretty darn good. Well, darn good for sellers that is . Not so much for home buyers who are facing a shortage of suitable homes to look at and a very competitive market in most jurisdictions. It is hard to believe but we are experiencing a critical shortage of listings on the market. We simply have very little inventory to offer home buyers. And, this shortage of homes for sale means that there will be pressure on home prices to go up. We are already seeing may full price and above price offers, along with multiple offers coming in. A well priced home that has been updated will not usually go unsold for more than a few days.

The improved market is visible everywhere around Washington DC and it's suburbs but some jurisdictions and price ranges are seeing it have a more dramatic effect. The best market is in the District and Montgomery County but even Prince Georges County which had been hit very hard by the downturn and featured a record number of foreclosures and distressed homes is finally beginning to turn.

There are a variety of reasons for the shortage of listings for sale. A lot of unsold homes were taken off the market and rented out by the owners. Many of these homes are now tied up in long term leases. Also, there are still a lot of  "underwater" homes out there and many homeowners who survived the downturn and do not have to sell will opt to wait for prices to go up before selling. I expect to see more homes on the market as the weather warms this year but also expect to see more buyers out there as our local economy continues to expand. For this reason I do not foresee listing shortage situation improving this year and predict that we will be in a good market for home sellers all year. And this means that home values will have to go up.

For a detailed report on the current market data click here.