The Koitz Group's Blog: All Categories

Could it be that you can pay your Montgomery County Maryland property taxes and get cash back?  Evidently, the answer is yes.

First of all, I’d like to give credit where credit is due.  I was at a settlement last week with another Long and Foster real estate agent and, when the settlement attorney, finished with the discussion about property taxes, she turned to both buyers (her clients) and sellers (my clients) and said, “Do either of you have a Discover Card?  Because, if you do and if you go to Rockville to pay your taxes in person, you can use your Discover Card and get the advantages of their cash back offer.”

Being the cynic in the group, I mentioned that there would probably be a fee imposed on using the card to pay your taxes.  “It’s $10,” she…

Everyone who has ever sold a house has a story about something that went wrong just as the moving trucks were pulling up.  There’s the hot water heater that chose that day to burst or the garage door spring that broke overnight, or the power failure that shut down all the banks or the snowstorm that kept the movers away…the list is probably endless.  But I think I discovered a new one and the (easy) solution is worth sharing.

As many of you know, I sold my own residence this summer (real estate agents should be forced to buy, sell and move every few years just to remind them of how stressful and tiring it can be!!).  We were fortunate enough to work with lovely buyers and a very professional and delightful buyers’ agent.  The day of settlement, the buyers…

The Bethesda Luxury Home Summer Sales Report

This market report draws on data from every area in Bethesda.  Normally I'd take data from a much smaller geogrphical pool (mircro-markets) because, as I've pointed out in previous posts about micro-niches, you can’t talk about the "Washington DC area market", or the "DC Metropolitan market", or the "Bethesda MD real estate" market or, or even the Downtown Bethesda market.  Instead, you have to analyze prices on almost a almost a block-by-block basis, and consider not only location, but also product.  But sometimes it's fun to take larger geographical areas and break down data by product or price-point.  And despite this "anti-micromarket" theme, there's always something to learn.

Luxury Homes in Bethesda…

It all started with an innocent question about 301 redirects and Google.  I had one url “301”d (as the cool kids say) from my old website to my current REW website when it went live.  My previous website had some relevant back-links - so there was some “Google love” there.  And a good man or woman knows never to turn down love from the big G. The way I understand it, that’s the most “organic” purpose of the “301” -- to tell the SEs "hey, I'm changing locations permanently but please don't forget about all that great content I had my at my old place".  That seems fair to me as long as your "previous place" is related to the current locale. 

In my case, the old website KoitzTeam.com was “301”d to KoitzGroup.com (the new site).  So, the way I think about…

Remember those wonderful Safe MLS tokens that we told you about?  The ones we need to carry with us at all times in order to log into the multiple listing service?  The ones that are sweeping the "realtor nation", from Bethesda, MD to San Clemente, CA?  The ones that Kevin was threatening to wear in the shower?

We have a token alert…. and you’ll love this. According to an email just received, “Clareity Security (MRIS’s token provider) and Secure Computing (the token manufacturer) have acknowledged a manufacturing issue with the existing tokens that is causing a higher than expected failure rate.”  In other words, this newest and greatest technology doesn’t work.  I understand that some agents were on their third and fourth token…each time getting one that…

The most recent edition of Money Magazine ranks Bethesda as one of the top 25 earning towns in the United States.  Although not a surprise to those of us who live and work here, it’s always nice to get this recognition.  The article cites some of the top employers in the area and also gives the community kudos for its “lively arts and culture scene.” 

Contributing Blogger - Gretchen Koitz

First confession – I’m a member of MRIS (don’t blame me, it’s not like I had a choice).  Second confession – I’m not sure what MRIS has done for me (except perhaps make my job harder).  MRIS is a microcosm of what happens when a company gets too large.  It becomes bureaucratic, short-sighted and even manages to forget about the desires of its customers.

But since every cloud has a silver lining I wanted to share some exciting news about MRIS’ new “canned” IDX solution and all of its industry changing enhancements.  But I can’t – my hands are tied.  Actually, I know nothing about the new “canned” solution.  MRIS is a tricky bunch and they want to reel me in slowly.  So, these beacons of creativity have decided to produce an online comic book viral…

When it comes to condos in the Greater Bethesda area (and most of DC Metro area for that matter), it seems as though developers are missing out on the “out”.  Huh?  What I mean is that they aren’t paying enough attention to outside spaces – they have interior square footage “tunnel vision”.

More and more new buildings are being constructed in Bethesda and beyond with little, if any, balcony or terrace space…and rooftop space (except perhaps very small, communal areas) are almost non-existent.  Compare this to New York City, where there appears to be a move afoot to create condos with Zen gardens.  Perhaps it’s the popularity of the “green” movement that’s prompting these NY developers, but no matter why it’s happening, this trend needs to move south (in…