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The weather has improved dramatically these past two weeks and leaves are popping out everywhere!  A number of local dogs and their owners could be found enjoying the Columbia Heights Dog Park yesterday afternoon. Temperatures in the 70s into the foreseeable future have enticed people to take their furry friends out to play!  The dog park was packed (no pun intended) for the entire afternoon.  

There are formal and informal dog parks scattered across the city.  Some of the larger parks are the Shaw Dog Park at 11th and R NW, The Dupont Circle Dog Park at 17th and S NW, Lincoln (dog) Park just East of the Capitol, and the Upshur Dog Park on the at the intersection of Arkansan and Webster Street NE, and the Bloomingdale Dog Park at Crispus Attucks…

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This month's issue was all about cars.  I don't have a need for a car right now so it was not particularly interesting but below are some things that caught my eye.

1. Its too early to buy an electric car.  They take a long time to charge and you don't get many miles out of it.  The Volt takes 6 hours to charge and you get 35 miles from that charge. 

2. Subaru is now #1 in Consumer Reports ranking of the best auto makers.  Honda has been #1 for the last 4 years.  The top 5 in order are Subaru, Mazda, Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

3. The Toyota Prius is the most practical and affordable car available if you are looking for a fuel efficient car. 

4. The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and the Jeep Liberty had the worst scores on the CR road test.  I guess you…

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Washington DC Real Estate Market-Friday Hot Property Update

Here are the deals that I think are the best on the market right now.  Take a look.  If you want to see any of them please contact me.  Thanks for looking!  Ben

430 Buchanan St NW, Washington, DC 20011

Sales Price: $350,000

Renovated homes like this are selling for over $400K.  It is hard to find anything in Petworth under $400K right now.  Good buy. 

 

89 Underwood St NW, Washington, DC 20012

Price: $204,900

Foreclosed Bank of America home.  This is in Takoma Park.  Needs AC and some other work but this is a great price.  About 8 blocks from Takoma Park Metro(Red Line)

 

2901 16th St NW #103, Washington, DC 20009

Price: $249,000

This is an FDIC owned home.  Very…

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Every Friday I will blog about the best deals that I think are available on the market.  Buyers need to understand that inventory is very low right now.  To get a good deal you must be patient and be willing to make a lot of offers with the hopes that one will stick.  A lot of the homes on the market right now are overpriced.  You need to be prepared to make a lot of lower then asking price offers and hope that the seller comes to his or her senses. 

Here are the hot properties that I think are worth looking into:

1306 FARRAGUT ST NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20011

Huge house.  Been on the market for 217 days.  Started at $680K.  Homes on this street in 16th Street Heights have huge lots.  

Current Price: $485,000

Offer Price: $425,000

Resale Price:…

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The Petworth real estate market is booming and I expect that to continue in 2012. Petworth is one of the few areas in DC that still offers affordable homes. The Petworth neighborhood is metro accessible with easy access to downtown. Young professionals and families are moving to the area because of the convenience and affordable housing prices. I consider Petworth to be Columbia Heights Jr.  The rise in prices in Columbia Heightshas been caused by investor activity in the commercial and residential sectors.  Columbia Heights has seen massive improvements to its main commercial corridor along 14th St NW.  Now Petworth is starting to see a lot of changes to its main commercial corridor (Georgia Ave NW).  Petworth has seen the following shops and restaurants…
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The Washington DC real estate market continues to be one of the strongest in the nation. It was a busy weekend out there at open houses in DC. While I was out showing buyers homes it was sometimes challenging to get them through the doors! I believe the warmer than usual weather as well as high demand due to very low interest rates is playing a big role in the high activity level. In my opinion the warm weather has created a earlier then ever spring boom in the Washington DC real estate market. The spring market looks like it will be a continuation of the current Washington DC real estate market with perhaps a little more inventory and a lot more demand. According to MRIS the Washington DC real estate market inventory level in January was down 27.59% from…

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Columbia Heights Mansion Converted to Luxury Condos

The pace at which developers are buying up dilapidated old row houses in Columbia Heights is astonishing. If a property needs updating to bring it up to market value, then it's common to see multiple offers from local real estate developers. One of the largest row houses to be renovated in the past few months is on the 3500 block of 13th Street NW in Columbia Heights. 3532_13th_street_columbia_heights_condo_front_view_648We spoke with the developer about his plans for the once stately property. Plans are in the works to convert the 4000 square foot plus building into two luxury condos, each of which will be approximately 2000 square feet and be 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. The bottom floor condo will be offered at 879k and the top floor condo will be offered…

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Last evening I met with a homeowner regarding his decision to complete a Prince Georges County Short Sale.   The meeting was initiated by the homeowners lender.  In my experience this setup is rare.  Typically, in these situations it is the borrower(homeowner) who must contact the lender to inform them that they would like to do a short sale.  The fact that the lender has reached out to the borrower to initiate a Prince Georges County short sale shows you the situation that most lenders are faced with.  In the last few years lenders have had to adjust their loss mitigation efforts due to the mistakes they have made when foreclosing on their borrower.  That may all change soon.  Last week 49 state attorneys general came to a settlement with the nation's…

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A lot of investors and homebuyers ask me about buying a Washington DC foreclosure.  In this blog I will talk about the process a bank must go through to foreclose and where to search for them. 

First, you must understand that in Washington DC there are very few foreclosures on the market currently.  It has been over a year since banks have foreclosed on a property in Washington DC.  This is due to the robo signing issue(which was just resolved last week) and the mediation law that the DC council put in place in December 2011.  The mediation law forces banks to meet face to face with the borrower to prevent a Washington DC foreclosure.  In the second half of 2011 only 25 notices of default were issued by banks compared with over 1000 issued in 2010.  A…

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Petworth short sales are a great opportunity for homeowners and investors to buy property at a discount but the risks need to be understood.  The biggest risk with purchasing a short sale is the time that it takes to go to settlement.  The time that it takes to close a short sale can easily exceed 90 days from the time the seller accepts your offer.  Buyers that are on a time crunch may not be able to purchase a short sale because of this.  If you need to move by a specific date, then you should consider a regular sale or perhaps a foreclosure.  A foreclosure sale can also have delays which are usually related to title. 

There are 15 Petworth short sales currently on the market.  The price range of these properties is from $75,000 to $425,000.  There…

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