One of my biggest challenges is the inevitable website. I have tons of ideas and have seen LOTS of various offers from companies who give free hosting, a free template, etc. Make no mistake, it's always tempting to take advantage of something free, so naturally my curiosity gets the best of me and I give it a look. W/O naming names, the offer for the free hosting turned out to be true...HOWEVER, it was a wash when it came to the "extras" they offered...at a cost. Then there are the few free templates that are given, but, they are limiting in that you can only upload but so much non-text content to the pages and you don't get many pages as per the proposed content you will want to have on. Does anyone use anything other than their company supplied websites? What benefits do you have with... 08/06/2008

How does blogging work for you? Does it bring you leads? Or are you in pretty good dialouge with other RE professionals?  I ask due to a posting on another forum I frequent where the sentiment is that blogging is on it's way out...yet recently as just a year ago, it's the latest thing to do no matter what industry or social set you fall into. Doesn't it make perfect sense for us RE Professionals to blog daily, or a few times a week, at least for the sake of keeping abreast of other markets (for the sake of out of state referrals)?  According to research firm Gartner Inc. using data partially provided by Technorati Inc.,more than 200 million blogs lie abandondoned in cyberspace. The number of active bloggers worldwide is expected to peak this year at 100 million and then drop off to 30 m... 08/06/2008

Current Number of Homes Active and Under Contract in the Washington DC area: Here is the breakdown as of August 4th, 2008 This week inventory levels have dropped; mostly due to seasonal drops.  Many Listings have expired and many sellers take their homes off the market during what is often 'said' to be the "slowest" time of the year.  Washington DC, Montgomery County and Arlington County; continue to have inventory levels close to last year.  However in Prince Georges County; the number of properties are SIGNIFICANTLY higher - in fact at the highest levels in years. Here are the number of homes on the market including the number of homes that were taken Off (EXPIRED) the market last week.  example: Single Family Homes in DC; 61 LESS on market from last week, but 68 "expired" - in realit... 08/05/2008

Sooooo....can any office managers tell me what they look for in a new agent? I mean when a newbie comes to you for an interview, do you read their faces? Do you look for someone who asks more questions of you than you do of them? What has been your turnaround for those that you chose to take on? What were their reasons for leaving if they're still no longer with you?   I have TONS of questions as you can see. I look at my search for an office as though I am in the market for a new family. The place where I hang my license is where I am going to call home, even if I am not there very much. I'd like to know I can go to the "mother" or the "father" of the office and get the guidance needed so that at least SOME of the so -called inevitable "rookie mistakes" can be avoided.  Money and indep... 08/04/2008

Who said the market is dead?  In the Popular Dupont Circle neighborhood; a properly-priced condo can get multiple offers. Dupont Circle is a fantastic location for many.  With close proximity to Metro, Restaurants, shopping and the simple fact that for those folks working in many Government Offices or downtown DC businesses; it is a fantastically short commute.  (and with $4 a gallon gas - WOW). There may not be multiple offers in the burbs - where homes are a plenty... in the heart of DC... they are not building more land!  Plus the prices of the Super-New constructed condos are at Top Dollar - even in this market. With only 10 days on the market; I for the 1st time in quite a while - have multiple offers on a listing.  With two offers in hand and perhaps one or two coming Monday morni... 08/03/2008

I met the owner of Diana's Books today.. Think of how one recycles a book. Mostly, into the trash; if not, partial paper recycling. Diana' Books takes it to a whole order of magnitiude up. Donations cheerfully accepted, Thursday 6-9 pm in Fairfax. They are doing some great work, go see them. If you are looking to recycle anything else, here are a few ideas to get you thinking, the Alexandria/Arlington Reuse Directory. 07/31/2008

We all know that trees, shrubs and ornamental plants can beautify a house and certainly increase its curb appeal. Usually, that is. There are some, however, that don’t help, like when they’ve grown to completely obscure an attractive façade, or when their roots have started to invade the foundation of the home like a malicious tumor, bringing in moisture and threatening the substance of the whole structure. The "tree" in the chimney here, right at the front of a house I just showed, is probably not a serious threat.  But it's on a beautiful old house on a beautiful block in a great neighborhood.  It’s an expensive house as well, with gracious proportions and a top dollar asking price. When we looked at old pictures from a previous sale of the same property a couple of years ago, my buye... 07/31/2008

As a potential seller or buyer, you are probably wondering "Why did she bother stepping into this line of work with the kind of market we are experiencing now?" It wouldn't be the first time within the past year that question has been asked of me by friends, family, co-workers and people I have met and talked to casually. The main reason I became interested in Real Estate, was the many opportunities that I would be presented to help people, not simply just to list and sell homes. As an experienced salesperson, working retail was no longer challenging or fun, and I didn't want to start looking at customers only as transactions benefiting my pocket. Once that concern began to loom in my head on a regular basis, I knew it was time to move on and gain insight to how I could work a sales-bas... 07/29/2008

I'm not usually one for posting about other businesses, but I've decided to share a little information with the folks on the Rain. I'm a dog lover.  A big dog lover!  I mean, I have a Yorkshire Terrier who is 13 years old, and two Papillon sisters who just turned 3 years old a few months ago.  I really do love having them around ... they are constant. But that's a different post! I found this wonderful Veterinary Cinic in DC that is just wonderful.  It is call City Paws on 14th St NW at T Street.  The ladies who are the Vets at the clinic are wonderful.  They are loving towards the animals; they speak to the pets with love; they adorn their individual exam rooms with pictures of themselves with their own pets (and even their spouses); and they make it such a wonderful and gentle environ... 07/29/2008

With the focus on gas consumption, consider this tool. This route planner can suggest the most efficient way to travel to multiple locations. The salesmen in my 5th grade math class would have loved this. 07/28/2008

Dear Vered and Allan and girls, as promised, I'm keeping an eye on the renovation/construction of your home while you're overseas for the summer.   You've had enough time to witness the "demolition" and even more time to study what was left while waiting for permits from the DC bureaucracy, so let's see how it's all going to come back together in the next few months! ActiveRain (thank you, guys!) rewarded us for our participation in the inspiring Makeover2Takeover contest with this amazing little flip video camera.  I have been playing with it for a few weeks now.  So much cooler than the little mini videos from my phone or photo camera!  Now the trick is to figure out the editing, and while i've been trying hard to master that as well, you'll see it's, ehm, in the early stages... Hope ... 07/26/2008

Situation: a buyer (aka "the client") asks her Buyer's Agent to write an offer for less than asking price. The buyer is a friend on the West Coast who put this question to me. Response: Buyer's Agent delivers 3 comparison sales: 24, 12 & 4 months prior. Agent also argues that asking price has dropped $60k and is therefore valid since that's the asking price. Analysis:The Comps: A buyer who made an offer prior to Jan 2008 was making an offer before the sub-prime fiasco and before the turbulence in the energy markets. Usually, comps that are more than 6 months old are suspect, that this is very true at the moment. The Buyers Agent needs to remember why a Buyers Agent does comps. With my client base here in the metro DC area, many with more graduate degrees than I, they get as much data as... 07/25/2008

The Dupont Circle Farmers Market is the local Mecca for Washingtonians who take their foods seriously.  The market is open Sunday mornings and is set up on 20th Street between P and Q Streets   The produce is organic and is locally grown.  It’s fresh.  And it tastes different The peaches are sweet and juicy.  You can eat the tomatoes without worrying about getting botulism.  And for the first time ever, I met some fresh currants!  They’re orange.      There are exotic mushrooms and cute little carrots.    There are few farmers selling meat from animals who actually grew up in a real honest-to-gosh barnyard and pastures where they munched organic grass.  They lead happy, healthy lives with no nasty hormones or chemicals. If you want to grow an herb garden, you can get some beautiful spec... 07/23/2008

What is some of the most important things you need to consider when choosing a hardwood floor for your home or business? There are many factors: Consider which floor level your new floor is going to be installed There are several things that you need to consider when you're looking into purchasing wooden flooring. For instance, you will need to make sure that you choose the right type, style, finish, species and grade for your room. Are you confused already? Sorry! There are just a lot of things to keep in mind while you're looking at wooden flooring. As far as type of wood, if you are looking for a floor that is going to be very hardy and will last a long time, you should look at acrylic impregnated floors. These are floors with acrylics injected directly into the floor itself. The res... 07/14/2008

Well, the District of Columbia missed out by a hair on being in the Top Five this year in Forbes Magazine's ranking of the best cities for young professionals. That was slightly surprising considering Bizjournals.com named the Washington D.C. area as the third best place in the nation for job opportunities for young adults.  I reported on that story about two months ago in my blog post Young, Urban, Hip & Prosperous: The D.C. Metro Area. Forbes reports that D.C. fell one position on this year's list landing at Number 6.  Additionally the Forbes article states that D.C. rated 15th for its concentration of Forbes-measured companies and in the top quartile for both salaries and never-married young residents. The top 5 cities in the Forbes List are: 1.  San Francisco 2.  Boston 3.  Houston ... 07/11/2008

Now that I’ve learned that some of Whole Food’s organic veggies actually come from China, buying my produce at local farmer’s markets seems like a pretty good idea.  So I started off checking out Georgetown’s Rose Park Market, which is open every Wednesday between 4 and 7.   The idea was to pick up some, oh I dunno, healthy stuff.  Zuchinni, cucumbers, cherries, raspberries, peaches, maybe some herbs to plant in my “garden” once I pull out all the weeds. But wait!  What is this?  Who is this!  I am drawn to this table where I meet KarenKay Roberts.  And Oh!  My!  God!  These were cakes.  Not ordinary cakes.  They were totally amazing.Karen was disappointed in this day’s Country Coconut Pecan Pound Cake – it looked like a giant sticky bun with coconut added.  But the Strawberry Blackberr... 07/10/2008

You'd better believe it! Every time I got to  get something out of my car's trunk, there is a little reminder.  It is on my license plates - I have tags issued by the District of Columgia.  They say: "Taxation Without Representation" On this day when we celebrate our break from England - and it was, um, taxation without representation that was the major issue - I noticed my this little reminder more than usual  Enough to merit a blog post! So, for those of you around the country who may be reading this, please remember your friends in the colony of Washington, DC who cannot write their senator or congressman when they are pissed about something. We don't have one!But we do get fantastic fireworks, although this year I'll be watching the fireworks in New York's Central Park! 07/04/2008

As we get close to July 4th, this is appropriate. Somedays, I do think of things besides real estate. I'm not so thrilled with some of the comic interpretations (eg, let's not bash Pres. Bush on this one), but this is a funny way to get people to consider the implications. What is more frustrating as a DC citizen is to see neighboring districts spend lots of money in order to have an election to fill a seat which would have otherwise remain opened for a few months. If the value of those citizen's votes justify the money, then does not the value of a city with over a half million people who have never voted not also worthy of "action". So, for a funny rendition on DC's Lack of Congressional Representation... 07/03/2008

If you've got less time than you'd like, and would appreciate a traveling vet, consider this. Let me just assure you, if your pet has any loathing for a vet's office, this is a great find. I've found Nia (the Housecall Vet) to be compassionate, and through. Give her a call, and you'll save stress and time, for you and your pets. 06/30/2008

Search ALL MLS LISTINGS IN Washington DCYou can elect to register or notIT'S YOUR CHOICE !FREE ACCESS TO ALL MLS LISTINGS IN Washington DC Finding homes for sale  in Washington DC  has never been easier. You can find all houses, condos, lofts and homes for sale from the same MLS all Realtors use.The NEW MLS SEARCH SAVER feature allows you to keep track of your favorites, and receive automatic updates of new listings! When you are ready to see a MLS lising, simply click to set an appt. or request more information and you will be contacted the way you prefer, by email or phone. You can elect to register or not. . it's your choice !"START HERE NOW"Need immediate help? Call 240.426.5754 right now!Fernando@ReallyNiceHomes.comFor Sale | Frederick Condos For Sale | Urbana Homes For Sale | Fred... 06/29/2008