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No matter whether you’ve been naughty or nice, D.C.’s holiday season is shaping up with a wide array of fun this year, starting with the D.C. Santa Crawl.

The D.C. Santa Crawl is billed as D.C.’s “biggest holiday event” (although I don’t see how it can top the Nutcracker) and offers a holiday-themed barhopping even in the downtown area. It runs from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. next Saturday, Dec. 8. It’s $15 if you register online or $20 that day. You get a refillable mug and access to some specialty and discount D.C. holiday fun beverages.

The whole crawl includes some great little bars – BlackFinn, Recessions, Public Bar, The Bottom Line, Irish Whiskey, The Mighty Pint, Ozio, and Black Rooster Pub. Many bars are right at Farragut Square, where I used to work,…

A new Walmart is coming to the Chinatown area on H Street near the intersection with New Jersey Avenue NW in Ward 6.  It will be next to Gonzaga High School and across from the Government Printing Office.  The Walmart coming to Chinatown will be one of the first Walmart stores in the country to have apartments in the complex, making it the most urban of the new Walmart stores coming to DC.

The new development will include a 4-story 85,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenter encased in large glass windows.  This is about half the size of an average Walmart, but within that Supercenter, shoppers will find 40,000 square feet of grocery and pharmacy areas.  Surrounding the Walmart coming to the Chinatown area will be a mixed-use building containing retail at…

The Brightwood Walmart is coming to Georgia Avenue, NW in Ward 4 near Missouri Avenue.  It will be the first Walmart to open in the District.  The development project began in September 2011, but has been plagued by delays from various opponents.

The new Brightwood Walmart development sits on the site of the former Curtis Chevrolet dealership. After demolition began, residents sought protected status for the site from the Historic Preservation Board.  But development continued after the application was denied.

In February, Occupy DC and Respect DC teamed up to stage a demonstration at the Brightwood Walmart construction site.  The protest prevented some crews from entering the construction site that day, but did not end the project.

Even after the…

Like many communities on the outskirts of Washington D.C.’s long-established downtown and Dupont areas, the Shaw neighborhood  has been slower to change but is now welcoming a surge of enhancing development that’s triggering a hot housing market.

Referred to as the “Harlem of Washington D.C.” for its rich black culture, this area in Northwest along Florida Avenue is predominantly known for Howard University and the U Street corridor of bars, restaurants and shops. Now, its apartment, condos and Victorian row homes are in high demand.

Properties there range from a $267,000, 453-square-foot condo on Marion St. NW to a $1.2 million, 4,200-square-foot townhouse on Florida Avenue NW. House hunters can find 1880 Federal-style single family homes or brick…

Union Market is a year-round food market with 40 local artisans located between Gallaudet University and New York Avenue on 5th Street in Northeast DC.  It’s also near the H Street Corridor and Trinidad neighborhoods. 

What can you find inside the 47,000-square-foot warehouse that is Union Market?  Fresh vegetables, cheese, meats, oysters, tacos, empanadas, breads, beverages, olive oils, vinegars, pickles, gelato, cupcakes, home decor, and more.  Maybe I should have asked what you can’t find there!

The culinary destination opened in September and is curated with a selective process to find the best food artisans.  The vendors have a mix of experience from well known restaurant owners to brand new entrepreneurs.  Some will be permanent vendors, while…

The Petworth community, a mix of brick row houses and single-family homes tucked between Arkansas Avenue and North Capital Street Northwest, has come a long way from its origins as two privately owned country estates in the 1800s.

Petworth, which started to blossom as a community with a streetcar stop on a route from Silver Spring to downtown, is still bulging with project. They include a new and long-awaited Safeway, more bars along Georgia Avenue and at least one new restaurant on Upshur Street that are already receiving strong reviews from patrons.

The area’s first development came after Washington D.C. annexed the 204-acre Petworth site owned by Col. John Tayloe and the 183-acre Marshall Brown Estate. Two private development firms purchased the…

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…

Cathedral Commons is coming to Cleveland Park in Fall 2014!  What the heck is that?  It’s a mixed-use development including 137 apartments, 8 townhouses, retail, and parking.  The project will occupy 2 blocks of Wisconsin Avenue (between Macomb and Idaho) in view of the National Cathedral.

The cornerstone of Cathedral Commons will be a new 56,000 sq. ft. Giant grocery store, replacing the outdated 18,500 sq. ft store built in the 1950s.  The new supermarket will include full-service floral, bakery, meat, seafood, and deli departments.  In addition, the store will expand it’s offerings of fresh produce, as well as natural, organic, gluten-free, and international products.

This has been a contentious project from the start.  Some local residents are…

Generally speaking your offer will be based on a few key factors:

1) The most recent comparable sales.
2) How long the property has been on the market. 
3) How much competition is out there.  For example: Are there multiple offers? Has the seller received a previous offer that wouldn't work for them?
4) Terms: It's not always just about price!  If you can work with the seller on terms such as the closing date, the inspection, a potential rent back etc you may have extra leverage.

If you're a buyer looking to make your offer more attractive without offering more money, you'll need to adjust your terms. Remember, it's not just the offer price that may sway the seller in your direction; well crafted terms may make the difference between losing out on an…