Blog Category: housing values

Alexandria Virginia was hoping that Verizon would bring its high speed internet and video service called “Fios” to the area, and Verizon chose not to. Now Alexandria Virginia is hoping to be a test site for a new high-speed internet service being developed by Google. And anyone that owns real estate in Alexandria should hope this happens! Read More

Does traffic affect real estate in Washington DC, of course it does! We plan our lives around traffic, we look for the best routes to get where we are going, we think about the best times to come and go, we telecommute to beat traffic, we move into the city to beat traffic, and we work late to avoid rush hour. We do anything we can to avoid traffic! Read More

Let’s look at foreclosures in CA, MD, DC, VA. Looking at the foreclosures in California, Maryland/Washington, DC and Virginia (these are the states I operate in) is interesting. Read More

So where are housing prices going next? Everyone has an opinion, most based on emotion as opposed to facts. The facts are that real estate is local. If the state of Florida’s residential real estate is down 16% year over year, that does not mean that every house in the state of Florida went down exactly 16%. There may even be homes in the state of Florida where there is no price decrease year over year, and maybe even an increase! So always do your homework before stating an opinion about real estate. Read More

If you were rich, would you buy a huge, expensive house? Would you spend $39 million on a house?

I did a search for the most expensive home on the market in Washington DC, and came up with 1623 28TH ST NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20007. The asking price is $39,500,000. I have a lot of questions…

How do you come up with that asking price? Are there really comparable sales that can support a price of $39,500,000? Or are you pricing it to sell to a developer, and estimating the value as a developer would? Read More

I commonly hear realtors and homeowners use price per square foot calculations when assessing the value of a home. But using per square foot home values as a shortcut to determining the value of a home is flawed. Price per square foot is not a reliable indicator of market value. When you only calculate the relationship between size and sales price you are ignoring all the other variables of a home that a potential home buyer analyzes. These are thing like view, lot size, level of finish, location, and much more. Read More

I could tell you how Washington DC had an influx of population in 2009. I could tell you how strong the job market is in Washington DC. Or I could even tell you how real estate prices were up 2.9% in Washington DC last year. Instead I am going to regale you with some anecdotal stories to illustrate what is going on here in the real estate market. Washington DC Real Estate Prices Are Strong. Read More

What affects real estate prices? Perception. The macro-economy. The city. The neighborhood. The street. The curb appeal. The house. The square footage. The bedroom count. The view. The neighbors. The local economy. The condition of the house. Local zoning issues, if any. Access to transportation. Marketing. Government. Tax breaks. Interest rates. Rents. The weather. The landscaping. The Realtors involved. The sellers. The buyers. Emotion. Local income patterns. Local employment. Competition. Supply. Demand. Chocolate chip cookies…and more?

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Would A Dress Store Do A 1.5% Off Sale? I saw a house recently that was priced at $659,000. This house had been on the market for 60 days, with no offers, at $659,000. I noticed that they did a price reduction of $10,000 to $649,000 after they were on the market for 60 days. And this begs the question, “is a ‘1.5% OFF SALE’ going to draw buyers into the store?”

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