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Spring in the Nation’s Capital brings two certainties: cherry blossoms and more listings showing up on the real estate market. It has been quite the seller’s market over the winter, with a high demand and low supply of properties in the DC area. The sales price to original asking price is close to 100% right now. While we don’t foresee it turning into a buyer’s market anytime soon, there will be more listings coming available throughout the spring and summer.

Most well priced listings are seeing multiple offers. More often than not, the winning offer is above the seller’s asking price with very few, if any, contingencies. It’s commonplace in DC for purchasers to accept the property “as-is,” and many buyers are choosing to waive any financing,…

It’s a very good time to own a home in the nation’s capital! Homeowners are enjoying their fourth straight year of rising values. Sales continue at a brisk pace with demand outweighing supply. The government sequester never seemed to put much of a dent in demand. Potential buyers eager to take advantage of low interest rates and an appreciating real estate market are facing stiff competition. 

Most listings are seeing multiple offers. More often than not, the winning offer is above the seller’s asking price with very few, if any, contingencies. It’s commonplace in DC for purchasers to accept the property “as-is,” and many buyers are choosing to waive any financing or appraisal contingencies to sway the seller in their direction. Some neighborhoods…

Chinatown in DC’s Penn Quarter seems like the obvious place to find authentic Chinese cuisine. But according to Todd Kliman, Dining Editor for Washingtonian Magazine, the best place for gourmet Chinese food in the DC area is Rockville, MD.

Kilman says that many Chinese immigrants first settled in Chinatown in the 1950s and 60s. But since that time, they have gradually been moving into Maryland. Edward Shen, co-owner of Seven Seas restaurant in Rockville, immigrated to the US in the 1970s and opened his Chinese restaurant in 1986. When his wife moved to Maryland from Seattle in 1993, she says, “He called Rockville a Little Taipei, meaning that I can get all sorts of gourmet Chinese food in Rockville area. ...Rockville is becoming a small Chinatown in…

Restaurant reservations make the dining out process easier. But sometimes it can be difficult to get a reservation at a hot, new dining establishment.

The advent of online restaurant reservation systems like OpenTable and CityEats has made reservations fast and easy. But some restaurants do not list all of their reservations online to accommodate walk-ins, regulars and VIPs. That’s why some big names in the restaurant world like Tom Sietsema, the Washington Post food critic, and David Hale, the general manager and wine director for Central Michel Richard, still make restaurant reservations by phone occasionally. 

If you were trying to make a restaurant reservation for four people at a particular time, the online system may only have two two-tops…

What would you do if your husband ate Libido ice cream with another woman?  It happened to me!

My friend from college and his wife were visiting from out of town.  He and I both ride motorcycles, so we took mine out for a spin.  Not to be outdone, my husband took my friend’s wife to Larry’s Ice Cream in Dupont Circle.  He highly recommended the Libido ice cream, and she was game.

Libido ice cream just sounds so scandalous, especially with someone else’s wife!  Larry’s Ice Cream must have a clever marketer because “Bailey's with Pistachios” just doesn’t have the same shock value.  Plus, the jokes that can go along with ordering Libido ice cream are endless.  

Is there any truth to Larry’s Ice Cream’s silly name?  Can ice cream actually increase your…

The June edition of our monthly newsletter "DC REal Estate Monthly Muse" is now avaialable online at: http://www.rcrdc.com/june-2012-newsletter.php

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…

Welcome to the Rock Creek Realty blog! My goal is to cover what’s happening in different neighborhoods throughout DC including upcoming events, tasty restaurants and reasonably priced bars, general real estate tips and, of course, Rock Creek Realty news.

We’ll start the first blog about a trip to Cleveland Park.

Last Friday night the wife and I had an impromptu date night. She makes the decisions (ha) and decided on sushi. We live in 16th St Heights and didn’t want to trek all over the city, so we headed over to Cleveland Park for some sushi rolls at Spices. Cleveland Park was alive with people, pets and cars creeping for a parking spot at 7:30pm on a Friday night. On the way to Spices we passed St Arnolds mussels bar, which was crowded, so we made a…