Mold in the home

Here is a link to a recent debate about buyer agency and mold in a home when there is a purchase contract. There are two lessons to be learned here. One is that it really is best for the buyers in a home purchase transaction to have their own representation. The seller's agent has an obligation to treat buyers fairly but whenever an agent is wearing "two hats" in a transaction there is always a greater potential for conflict. The second lesson is that if you are looking at a home and see mold, the a little red flag should go up in your head. Mold in itself is not necessarily a dangerous issue but if it is present in a home, then you need to be aware that the lender usually is going to have problems with it if the problem is not remediated before settlement.

Sweet home in Capitol View Park

Hi all,

I just put this home on the market in Captiol View Park. It is one of the nicest listings that I have had over the years. I really do love the older ones.

Market update for Maryland

Here is a great site where you can stay in touch with the Maryland and Regional Markets.

It is called rbintel

Cool old bungalow.

I have driven by this house on Randolph Rd. in Glenmont for the past 45 years. I always though it was "so cool' It is a 1920s style bungalow built in the shape of a parallelogram. Unfortunately some fool "modernized it with cheap vinyl siding and ugly replacement windows. It used to be a lovely example of the period and could be again with a little work.

I don't ever think I have seen another house built in this irregular pattern.

Spring in Hillandale

This is a great time of year in my community. My wife and I have the job of going through the neighborhood and selecting the winners of the Hillandale Home and Garden Awards-which we do three times a year. We are assisted by some able judges who are all long term residents of Hillandale. We find it fun to do as the neighborhood is full of azaleas and flowering trees. Everything just looks beautiful this time of year. Old Hillandale is the show piece and is well worth a drive through but the rest of the neighborhood looks lovely as well. There is a lot of pride of ownership in Hillandale and spring brings out the best.

Why I can't stand Verizon.

A few years back they convinced me to get FIOS. I got it for the faster internet speed but they conviced me that it was a good thing to upgrade my phone system to fios as well. Ok, so they forgot to tell me that the old copper wire system would still work in a power outage but that fios would not. But hey, Fios comes with a cool battery powered back-up system that will run your phones for about eight hours after the lights go out so I did not sweat it too much. But nooooooooo.....Now after two years the battery has died and the dang box in the basement beeps all the time to let me know that I need a new battery. I called the nice folks at Verizon. (20 minute wait) and the guy there told me that I am responsible for replacing the battery and it only comes with a one year warranty. You mean to say that this battery back up which has only come into use one or two times (and was of no use when the power went out for a week) now has to be replaced on my dime. And get this! The battery cost a cool 100 bucks if you order it from Verizon! ( You can go to Radio Shack and get one for much less). The big queston for me is am I going to have to replace this thing every other year? I am sure that this stuff is all in the agreement that I signed. You know the terms of service agreement that comes with everything you buy these days. I am sure most of you read these things but I somehow neglected to do so. Right now, I am thinking that there is somebody in the marketing department at Verizon who needs to come get my dead battery and shove it up his........... Oh, never mind.

Going Green Redux-Refrigerators

(article written by my wife, Elizabeth)

In Montgomery County, approximately 1/3 of our greenhouse gas emissions come from our homes. Refrigerators use the most energy out of all home appliances. If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, pay close attention to your refrigerator. According to Pepco, a refrigerator purchased prior to 1993 often uses more than twice the energy of a new ENERGY STAR qualified model. On average, a unit from that era costs over $50 MORE per year to operate than the latest efficient models. Models from 1980 and earlier are estimated to cost an ADDITIONAL $150 to operate annually!
Excess use of energy and the wear and tear on your wallet can really add up. Utilities in some parts of the US and in other countries are actually paying customers to get rid of these old refrigerators. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any references to this kind of “cash for clunkers” in Maryland. However, many new refrigerators do qualify for special energy star rebates.
If you are keeping that extra refrigerator or freezer around simply for convenience, think this through very carefully. We all really do not to be paying attention to how much energy we use. And take a close look at Pepco’s Home Energy Savings details to determine what you should do about the refrigerator in your kitchen. Go to http://homeenergysavings.pepco.com/md/faq#refrigerator .
Your neighbor is not going to peek into your home to see what you are doing – and neither will this editor. But all of your neighbors will benefit when we all take steps to reduce our impact on our fair planet. AND – KEEP THAT REFRIGERATOR DOOR CLOSED!