Acorn Park in Silver Spring, MD

I took this from the offical Silver Spring web site.

Acorn Park1190 East West Hwy, Silver Spring, MD 20910Categories: Public Art in Silver Spring Historic Sites Parks and Plazas Public Art map it
Acorn Park is thought to be the location of the spring that looked silver in the sunlight, thus the name Silver Spring.
Murials of Historic Silver Spring
Artist: Mame Cohalon
Acorn Park is all that remains of Francis Preston Blair's estate, "Silver Spring," named after his discovery in 1840 of a nearby mica-speckled spring. This park might be small, but it is chock-full of good stuff to see. Nestled up to the first Silver Spring Discovery building (the old Caldor) is a quaint little park with an acorn gazebo and beautiful murals. Discovery Communications is trying to rid us of the bad habit of referring to the building as the "old Caldor," but in this case it was actually the Caldor Company that commissioned the five-panel mural by artist Mame Cohalon and restored the gazebo and park.

FDA at White Oak Continues to Grow

The growing FDA campus at White Oak has passed the projected halfway mark. There are now about 5,400 employees located on campus out of a projected total of around 9,000. Construction and planning continues on the project that is not slated to be completed for a few years yet. There was a lot of controversy over this project but in the end, it has proved to be a good thing overall for the East County and Hillandale area in general. Yes, traffic is heavier on New Hampshire Ave, but we have seen a influx of new businesses-especially restaurants over the past few years. Those who have lived here for a long time know just what a wasteland for good dining this area has been. The FDA has worked hard to be good neighbors and for the most part I don't have much to complain about.

Pizza Neopolitan Style

Yesterday, I heard a piece on NPR about best new pizza places in the Washington Area. One place that got a good rating was Pacci's Pizza on Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring. (close to where Gifford's use to be) So last night after watching the excellent movie "Circo" at Silverdocs we walked the four blocks to Pacci's and gave it a try. We were not disappointed. The Pizza was just out of this world and I only regret I could not try two or three other types. We also shared a first rate salad that could, with a piece of bread, serve as a nice lunch meal on it's own. With my love for the AFI, I know that we will be eating a Pacci's a lot more in the future. This is great Neapolitan pizza cooked in a wood burning oven. Just the way I like it.

New limits to FHA allowable closing costs.

One of the major benefits to seeking an FHA (Federal Housing Authority) insured loan over a conventional loan is that the allowable closing costs contribution by the seller could be as high as six percent of the value of the home. With a conventional loan the maximun allowable amount is usually three per cent.

Well under new guidelines proposed by FHA this allowable closing help is going to be reduce to not more than three per cent. This will have an impact on home sales as many first time purchasers are short on cash and need the maximum closing assistance to buy a home. I don't think the impact will be serious but it is not going to help in this slow market that we are currently mired in. The date is not set in stone but look for this change to come about in the next month or so.

Frog grow old with dignity

Shot at the recyling center in Rodanthe NC. I sort or regret that I did not take them home.

Where are we going?

Well, there is not much I can say about the housing doldrums that we are going through right now. However, I caution all against using this recession as a gauge for analysing the housing market in Montgomery County and the metropolitan area. Housing prices go up and down with the economy-there is no secret about that and with the large recession of the past few years prices are down. I have seen it before and know that you cannot allow a few years of recession to bias your thoughts about property ownership. I tell all my clients that real estate should always be looked upon as a long term investment. If you happen to buy at the right time and reap the benefit of a rising market, so be it. However, you can also get caught with your fingers singed if you purchase at the wrong time and are looking for a quick gain.

Now, just look at Montgomery County and the long term projections for population growth. With just over a million residents now, it is projected that the population of the county may double within the next 25 years. With this influx of people comes job growth and most importantly demand for housing. People have to have homes and the fact is that much of the county has already been built out. There are two predictions that are of interest. One, is that due to the lack of suitable housing more people will be forced to live further out from their jobs (Frederick, Howard, Anne Arundel Counties) and commute longer distances. And as a result, the demand for homes that are in Montgomery County will be very high. So high in fact that the long term concern is that there will be a critical shortage of housing in the county far into the future and that home values "will go up" to the point where new residents will be priced out of the market.

In short, more people and not enough homes. What does this tell you about the overall value of homes in Montgomery County? This is not rocket science. If you can look beyond the current recession then you will see that over the long term this is a great place to buy property. It has been for the last half century. Recessions come and go but for the long term, owning a home in Montgomery County is a good thing. I would think that this data applies to the Washington Metro Area in general and expect the housing market for the overall area to be strong once the economy gets back on track. In short, buy property and plan on holding it. Property in the area is cheap now. It won't be for long

Energy audit of my own home.

OK, after 20 years of hiding from my problem I decided to bite the bullet and have an energy audit of my house. Mind you my house was built in 1938 and is probably the poster child for wasted energy. It can get pretty drafty and cold in the winter and I have always been aware of a number of defect and leaks that have been costing me money. We invited Stephen Bloie of A to Z Energy Auditors (240-676-2091) if Clarksburg, MD to come out and evaluate our home. Stephen is a licensed home inspector and brings a lot of experience and knowledge to the table. As a realtor, I have been to a lot of home inspections over the past 25 years and know my way around houses pretty well. There is a lot about my home and its energy defects that I already know but Stephen's audit showed me that there are a lot of things I did not know about my home.

The audit process is very interesting to watch. Basically, he puts up a temporary nylon barrier that seals your front door. The barrier has a high speed fan that blows air out of your house and creates and vacuum inside of the home. Air from the outside then works into your home through any holes that you might have. By locating the most serious air leaks with a thermographic camera and a small smoke maker, and then sealing them up you can save significantly on your heating bills and pay for the cost of the inspection and repairs in about a year or two. Stephen's philosophy is that most homeowners need not pay for high end repairs and remediation but that by simply sealing the most obvious air leaks for a low cost, you can have the biggest impact.

And I did learn a lot. First and foremost was that my house was built with balloon framing. My impression was that balloon framing was only found in all-wood houses but apparently my solid brick home also has balloon framing. And, from an energy loss standpoint this is not a good thing as when balloon framing is present the whole house tends to act like a giant chimney-with the open wall framing causing air to flow through the house and every hole that might penetrate the walls, up into the attic. Typically balloon framing opens into the attic all around the perimeter of the house. This all needs to be sealed and will stop the most serious air leaks. In addition, my switch plate covers, heating duct vents, ceiling fans, light fixtures and a lot of other penetrations into my walls are places where cold air is entering the home (and in summer hot air) will need to be sealed off. I was amazed to see how many holes my house actually has.

Well, I recommend that everybody do an energy audit of their homes-even newer homes. There are three steps to making your home more energy efficient. The first consists of minor easy to do things like swapping out your light bulbs or turning down the thermostat. Second comes a simple energy audit to locate the places in your home where air is penetrating and then sealing off those holes with caulk and weather stripping. The third step involves high end investments in alternative energy solutions such as solar heating or high end insulation. I recommend that you at least do the first two steps as this will give you the most return for your money. I have to be realistic in that my house is an older home and will never really be a tight energy efficient home without a serious outlay of money. However, with an energy audit and a modest outlay of money, I will be able to greatly reduce my energy bills and carbon footprint.