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I was reading the business section of The Washington Post today and it had an article about a Wisconsin couple who is going after Chevy Chase Bank for mortgage fraud. That sounds fine, on the surface, but it turns out that their attorney is also trying to get the courts to approve a class action suit to have all “bad” mortgages rescinded. It appears as though this is something that has not been allowed in the past and, although it only seems fair that lending institutions that made fraudulent loans should be penalized, the thought of thousands (probably hundreds of thousands) of loans being rescinded seems pretty scary.

According to this Post article, “83% of federally supervised banks that issued loans at the height of the housing boom in 2005 have been…

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Those of us who are addicted to the immediate gratification provided by a BlackBerry or other such device (okay, I admit it...I’m talking about myself), are especially consumed by the question of how we ever got thru life without such access.  I’ve taken my BlackBerry out to read emails on chairlifts in Colorado in the winter and on mountain hikes in the summer.  I’m not proud of this behavior...and my husband hates it!!  But, the internet and email have totally changed the real estate business (as it has every other business).

 A perfect example of the role of the internet in my business occurred a couple of weeks ago.  I had been “introduced’ to a buyer who currently resides in Geneva, Switzerland and plans on moving back to the Washington DC…

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Here’s what we know. We know that the real estate market (at least real estate in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area) is cyclical. I have a friend who told me years ago that he believed that our market operated in 7 year cycles…the price of housing would increase for 7 years and then it would level off or decrease for another seven years…before it began a 7 year increase. I never challenged him, but I know that the last increase lasted for more than seven years. 

I think we’ve learned that houses aren’t stocks. They may be good investments, but at the core their value provides something that a stock never can…like security and a place to live. As we listen to prognosticators today, I think it’s important to consider how housing prices have been viewed… Read Full Post

In a post last week, I made a prediction about a home in Bethesda that I had shown…the one where there were seven groups of people in a one hour time span. I went out on a limb and said that, based on the activity that I observed, it would be under contract by the end of the week. I was wrong…it’s still available.

So, what does that say (other than the obvious, which is that I’m not a perfect predictor of market activity)? It looks like what’s happening (at least in the Bethesda area real estate market) is that buyers are out again, but they’re not feeling any sense of urgency. They’re taking their time…and perhaps waiting either for prices to drop or for interest rates to drop. In the case of this particular house, priced at just over $1 million, the… Read Full Post

| Bethesda Real Estate Sales Report (20817 Zip Code) |

A series of reports that looks into the Washington DC area real estate market through examining micro-markets. This market report centers on data from the northwest Bethesda area (zip code 20817) in January 2007 and January 2008. This affluent and large enclave of homes in Bethesda includes a diverse variety of more “modest” homes and luxury estates. Some of the more recognized subdivisions in this area include Bannockburn, Burning Tree, and Avenel. Here's a review and breakdown:

Bethesda Maryland Single Family Homes (Zip Code 20817)

    Jan. 2007 Jan. 2008 Number of Homes Sold 25 … Read Full Post

So maybe I just want to prove myself right…but less than a week after Super Bowl (and that was an amazing Super Bowl!!), the real estate market in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area seems to be picking up. Regular readers will already know about my theory about “Super Bowl Sunday to Mother’s Day.” Just a quick recap: I have seen evidence over past years that this time period defines our busiest market.

And, here we are…into the very beginning of that market and I have to tell you what happened to me today. I had an appointment to show a Bethesda property at 11am this morning. Because I wanted to drive by a couple of new listings, I got to the house a little early. As I sat and waited for my clients, three couples (with agents) went thru the… Read Full Post

As part of the Economic Stimulus Package being considered by the administration and by Congress, there is a proposal that would be a great boon to the housing market in the Washington, D.C. area – that is the increase in the conforming loan amount. Depending on what you read, this amount (which is currently capped at $417,000) could temporarily increase to $625,000…or even more. 

My understanding is that the temporary increase would be different for different parts of the country. Where housing prices are more expensive, the loan limit would be allowed to go higher than where housing prices are less. This makes great sense and, even if the increase is only temporary, it seems that” the powers that be” should give consideration to the fact that housing… Read Full Post

It had to happen….the pendulum needed to swing. It turned out that it just didn’t make sense to suggest that you could “buy” a home with no money down…especially if you didn’t have great credit…more especially if you were doing an “interest only” loan and REALLY especially if you also got “cash back” at closing. Why anyone thought this was a good idea is a question we all need to be asking ourselves. The only people who consistently benefited were the loan officers who made money each time one of these questionable loans was placed. 

So, we need to return to the good old days, when you saved some money in order to buy a home and when you cleaned up any credit issues prior to buying a home. But the restrictions currently being placed on the loan market…

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