To Pad or not to Pad. That is the question.

I have been on the verge of taking the Pad plunge as of late but a very good article today in the Washington Post (Yes little Timmy, reading the newspaper is sill a good thing.) has made me rethink the issue. They have been pushing the new IPad and cell phones with the new 4G network hookup like crazy these days but apparently it may not be such a good deal for the average consumer. Apparently these super fast networks come at a cost in that they are monster bandwidth hogs. Many experts think that with the explosion of on line demand for streaming video and music that the existing system just will not be able to handle the load. As a result virtually no cell phone companies is offering unlimited data downloads anymore and the costs for watching high data content is rapidly going beyond the reach of the average consumer's checkbook. So, do I really need a new IPad with super 4G if I am not willing to lay out the dough to pay for the data?

One thing they noted, they do make an IPad that can only utilize local wireless access and does not use the 4G network at all. This is probably the best option for me. But that begs the question. What real value does the super high resolution then have if you can make use that screaming fast hookup? Dunno really, but I do know that I want one of those things.

This Just in, The Recession is over!

This past Sunday I took a new listing in Elkridge, Maryland. It is a nice house in great shape and is priced around $450,000. Within a half hour of entering the home in the computer, I got a call from a fellow agent to show the house and she delivered an offer to me that evening. In 25 years this may be the fastest that I have ever seen an offer come in on a listing of mine. And this seems to be happening on a lot of homes. The housing market in the Metro area is not just recovering but is "hot" and taking off. Purchasers have been flocking to open houses and I know for a fact that three new listings out of my office had multiple contracts presented this week after just going on the market. Only three months ago agents were crying about how nobody was showing their listings. Now, just a few months later my fellow agents are crying about the shortage of suitable houses to show their clients! It has been that way in Montgomery County for about a month now and I am seeing this market activity expand out to Howard, and Frederick Counties in the past two weeks or so. The DC market is a little different as it has been very hot since the middle of last year.

Well, I am a bit cautious as I know that there are still things that have to be sorted out in Europe and many parts of the US still have an oversupply of homes on the market. In addition, we still have good number of distressed homes that will come on the market both in the region and nationwide. However, the expanding market is to me a refection in a resurgence of consumer confidence. I firmly believe that where the housing market goes the economy will follow. Right now it looks pretty darn good to me and this is the first time in over four years that I can say that. Let's see how this plays out.

Underwater on your loan? Bank of American customers might get some help.

This kind of passed under the radar last week but if you have a underwater home loan mortgage with Bank of America. (including old Countrywide Mortgage loans) you may want to give them a call to see if you are eligible for some help. You could potentially have your loan balanced reduced by thousands of dollars. Bank of America is not doing this out of charity but in the hopes of reducing the penalties it owes to the government under the big settlement announced previously. So far, BOA is the only bank to be doing this but they hold a lot of loans in the Washington area and this could come as relief to some homeowners in the area who purchased their home at the height of the bubble. For more information on this see this article.

Speaking of mortgages, I think one of the key reasons that the economy is starting to work again is that consumer spending is up. One of the reasons is that many home owners are refinancing due to the amazingly low rates being offered today. I have been in real estate for over 25 years and never thought I would see interest rates so low. (I recall they were 17% when I bought my first home in 1982) The savings in monthly payments for the average five year old home loan can be quite a bonus, and this is freeing up extra money in households for people to spend on consumer items. Overall this is good for the economy as our economy is driven by consumer spending more than anything else.

If you are sitting on an older loan it might be a good idea to talk to your lender about refinancing. You may cut your monthly mortgage expense by hundreds of dollars by refinancing now. I can't imagine rates going any lower than they are now, so better look into it.

DC Renaissance

I was downtown showing properties this week. It has been a while but I like going into the district to show homes. I prefer the older homes and there is so much variety in DC. If you do not go downtown or have not been lately then you have to take a trip downtown and see what is happening. In a time of a nationwide weak housing market the DC market has to be one of the strongest in the nation. And it shows. Take a drive down 14th street and you won't believe your eyes. For all my life the 14th street corridor has been the poster child for urban decay. It was a scary place to go at anytime of the day. However, in the last half decade this corridor has become one of the hottest places to live and work in DC. It is great to see the change and a fun place to be.

Biggest surprise for me is the Brightwood and Shepherd Park area which has always been a nice place to live but just a little dog eared. I liked the area for its affordable homes and diverse community. But I would never have termed it as a "hot" place to buy. Now that is changing. Brightwood and Shepherd Park have a lot of great older homes-built between the wars. If you like craftsman style homes this is one place to look. But prices are going up. What I did not know about were the number of stunning art deco apartment houses that are in this area. Now there is a real push among developers to take these amazing small apartment buildings and convert them to condos. For the most part I like what I see as there is a real effort to maintain the lovely historical features of the buildings while offering state of the art living spaces.

I would not say that prices are cheap but compared to the rest of Washington, this is the place to look if you want a nice affordable condo in a great location. There in nothing more beautiful than Washington's deco and post deco style building and this is the place to see them.

The building pictured above is a small coop located on Kennedy Street near Carter Baron.

The Cowboy Junkies at Rams Head

I know this is supposed to be sort of a real estate blog but it "is" my blog and there should be some room for me to ramble about other subjects. So here I go again. Last night we went up to the Ram's Head Tavern in Annapolis to see one of my favorite bands "The Cowboy Junkies." TCB is from Canada (I won't hold that against them) and it is the first time that I have seen them live. I was pretty excited about the prospect. I just don't know why this under-loved band has not gotten a better following over the years. Their music has always been very highly regarded in musical circles. Anyway, I suppose that in this case it worked to my benefit as the Ram's Head only holds about 200 patrons and Elizabeth and I were only about 20 feet away from the action.

I have to admit that I really do not go to clubs much these days. Typically the food is average at best and small intimate clubs usually mean small uncomfortable chairs in very tight quarters. The Ram's Head did not disappoint us in this case and I found myself having to get up once in a while to give my aching back a break. However, the pain was worth it as clubs are where you have to go if you really want a up close and personal experience with the artists and the Junkies gave a warm and friendly show. The experience is so much richer than you would get if you saw them at a concert hall.

Comfort aside, I would certainly recommend the Ram's Head for a musical evening out. Best to make reservations to dine there early as the tavern fare is much better than the "nacho" level crud that the serve during the performances. I am sort of surprised that I have never been there before. If you are not familiar with The Cowboy Junkies them I highly recommend you check them out on You Tube or Spotify. You won't regret it.


Check them out here