The Koitz Group's Blog: All Categories

Avenel, MD - Profiling some of the finest communities in the DC Metropolitan area and surrounding suburbs.

Set amidst Potomac horse country, the community of Avenel spans over more than 1000 acres of land. Here, in one of Potomac's premier neighborhoods residents enjoy living in elegant homes featuring amazing views of the rolling wooded countryside.

Once home to one of the area's largest farms, Avenel has managed to retain its natural beauty while also holding true to its equestrian routes. In fact, the neighborhood's approximately 900 residents still enjoy access to an equestrian center as well as other amenities, including the TPC Avenel golf course that serves as the backdrop for many of the neighborhood's homes. As an added bonus, those who purchase…

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So, let me see if I have this right….the government contributed $4000 towards the purchase of a new car with NO income restrictions. Anyone, regardless of salary or savings, who had a defined “clunker” was eligible for this subsidy… and it was basically delivered “on the spot.” Although the dealer was responsible for filing the paperwork for reimbursement of the clunker credit, the car buyer simply paid $4000 less for his purchase.

Sure, the Cash for Clunkers program had a limited life span – but in the end 700,000 people were able to take advantage of this wildly successful offer which cost the taxpayers just under $3 billion. Was it a good thing? I’d argue that it was. But I’d also argue that there are other parts of the economy that need a…

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To all you of my friends, colleagues, and fellow Realtors out there living with Safe TokenMLS technology, I come to all of you with news of hope for a better day.

The MRIS MLS SafeToken Is In Its Last Months!!!

I couldn't have been reading it right?  But I squinted, rubbed my eyes and it was still on the official MRIS website.

"The Next Generation of Secure Login is Coming", the title said. (That's code for we're just 3 or 4 years behind most of the rest of the country).  Regardless of my feelings, the message was loud and clear...The MRIS MLS SafeToken was going to be phased out in months to come.

Before I Rejoice - I Ask MRIS For An Apology :-)

I would've appreciated a personal apology from MRIS, the largest andn most beaurocratic, MLS in the…

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It appears interest rates are on their way up...in a big way. I received this e-mail from one of our favorite lenders today:

"I have never seen rate changes like we have today. Conventional Conforming rates are up 207 basis points from this morning's opening. That means that the opening rate which would have cost no points this morning would now cost 2 points to obtain. It translates into a 5/8%-3/4% interest rate increase in one day."

He, like other lenders, had inklings that rates weren't going to stay low but is crossing his fingers that this dramatic increase is just a blip on the radar.

Although not 100% clear yet, It appears that this increase can be attributed to:

• The current rally in the stock market
• The massive amount of federal…

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Is it a safe to assume we're all a little weary from hearing all of the gloom and doom on the news lately? From the wars, to the "Swine", to the state of our troubled economy, it seems like the media has had little "good" to report for months.

But, yesterday - "above the fold" on the front page of The Washington Post, no less - there was an article that clearly and consistently offered inklings of "economic hope"

Titled "Wider Confidence Lifts Economy From Winter's Deep, Dark Freeze", the first sentence sets the tenor:

         "The financial system, frozen solid for the past nine months, is in a spring thaw."

 

According to the article:

• Our frozen economic system is finally starting to show signs of movement again - despite the fact that…

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It’s not all gloom and doom - at least not if you recent Georgetown DC Homes & Townhome sales as your barometer. In a period where some extraordinary homes in the DC Metro area are seeing significant depreciation, first “third” (I missed the first quarter, sorry!) statistics for Georgetown DC homes and townhomes appear, dare I say, encouraging?

Georgetown DC Homes & Townhome Sales

"First Third 2008" vs "First Third 2009"

  2008 2009 Number of Homes Sold    36 25 Median Sold Price*  $1,300,000 $1,400,000 Average Days on Market*  80 … Read Full Post

“U Got Sales?”, an intriguing article in Friday’s Washington Times magazine, discusses the relatively rapid sales of a small condo development in DC. With over “10,000 condos for sale” in the DC Metro area, it’s safe to say that this genre of housing, like in many other cities, has been hit the hardest by an un-forgiving market. Even the finest Bethesda condos have taken double digit depreciation hits over the past year. I’ll go out on a limb and say for the majority of new condos in Northwest Washington DC, you can subtract 15% (give or take). But combine a resilient area, a “brandable” subdivision, and a few other variables, and “u got sales”!

U Street Corridor in NW Washington DC, home to many historic Jazz clubs and Ben's Chili Bowl (already famous…

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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), in its annual State of the Industry press briefing, released their 2009 Advocacy Agenda, which included the following recommendations:

• Permanently Increasing the Government Loan Limits to help unfreeze the housing finance system:   “MBA requests Congress to help make mortgage credit more available and affordable by setting the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Federal Housing Administration standard, nationwide loan limits to $625,500, and up to $729,750 in high-cost areas on a permanent basis.” In the Washington, D.C. area, this would mean a permanent return to the $729,750 loan limit which went into effect on a temporary basis for part of 2008, but which was reduced to the $625,500 limit beginning in 2009. The…

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