Payday

When I worked in the private sector and worked for someone else, there was one thing that I was assured of--every two weeks, on the 1st and the 15th, I would have a paycheck deposited into my bank account. Now that I work for myself as a Realtor, the checks aren't deposited into my account as often. People often think that if you're a Realtor, you make tons of money because the market's so hot. What people don't realize though is that you don't get paid until someone gets a new set of keys to put on their keyring. That's called a closing, or a settlement. I have one of those today!!! I'm so excited. Not because I'll get a check, but because the months of showing houses and offering advice and counsel has paid off and someone is about to get a new home.
That's what I love about this more than anything, helping someone realize a dream or a goal. I remember when I bought my first house. I had the best agent. She took care of everything. Back then the contracts weren't as long and sellers didn't get multiple offers. The house I wanted to buy had two contracts fall through. Mine was the third and everything went smoothly. I didn't know all the work involved, I just showed up to sign papers whenever I needed, my agent took care of everything. I closed on my new house on Dec. 20, 1990. I was thrilled.
As I practice my business, I try to make everyone feel taken care of. I don't think people realize how much work is involved. I think they assume that it's a piece of cake and not a lot of work at all. That's probably why so many people are getting real estate licenses too. Well let me tell you, it's a lot of work and it's not a piece of cake. Oftentimes, you spend months working with someone to find the perfect house. Once they find the house, you have to write the contract. A contract is a legal document that binds parties to whatever the terms of the contract are. Any mistake can cost your client thousands of dollars, expose you to lawsuits, and cause all kinds of problems for your broker. No matter how many times I do a contract, I always worry that I've missed something. That's why I try not to write a contract really late at night or when I'm in a hurry. Once the offer is accepted, the real work begins. Home inspections and appraisals have to be done and you cross your fingers that it turns out OK. Title searches have to be done. The bank has to approve the loan (even though your client has a pre-approval letter from the bank). No loan is truly approved until it goes to underwriting which can take weeks, sometimes up until the day before closing. I had a client once who didn't get underwriter approval until the day of closing and even then it was conditional. Needless to say, we didn't close that day and he ended up having to go to another bank and waiting a month to close. Fortunately the seller was patient and didn't try to take his earnest money deposit. Anyway, so many people are involved in the transaction and often things go wrong. My job is to make sure nothing goes wrong and to fix it if it does. I solve problems. There weren't many problems with today's closing. Of course I don't celebrate until every document has been signed and my client has the keys or has given away the keys (I work w/ buyers and sellers). Problems do come up at the last minute but I'm looking forward to being able to say "congratulations on your new home."

I'm disappointed that our mayor, Anthony Williams isn't going to run for a third term. I'd vote for him again as I'm sure a lot of people would. I think he has done so much to turn this city around and he should be applauded for all his efforts. He has gotten so much criticism though from people who say he hasn't done enough for the poor, that he has paid more attention to developing downtown and upper income areas of the city. What those critics fail to mention is that in developing downtown and upper income areas of the city, Mayor Williams has helped the poor because he has improved the city's tax base, thus giving the city more money to fund programs for the poor. It's easier to play the poor against the better off. I hope the next mayor understands how important it is to end the "us versus them" game. We're all in this together. What helps me, helps you and if mayoral candidates continuo to play the us versus them game, the city will go back to the days when no one wanted to be here and everyone couldn't get out of the city fast enough. I remember those days because it wasn't too long along. The city was broke and under a financial control board, our mayor Marion Barry has a mess and housing prices ere in the toilet. Crime was high, debt was high and everything was out of control. Mayor Williams wasn't a politician, he was a bean counter and he brought this city to the glory that is fitting the most powerful city in the universe. We shouldn't settle for less than that from anyone who claims to love the city and all its citizens. As the campaign heats up in the coming months, I'll give you my take on the candidates and invite you to voice your opinion. We truly are all in this together. Enjoy the rest of your day and remember you can rest when you die.

Changing weather feels so good

I love this time of the year! The weather’s cool, the leaves are changing color and the air feels so good. I wish we this weather year round.

Went to a few open houses yesterday. Yesterday was the perfect day for that, it was such a beautiful day and people want to be outside when the weather's like that. Prices in the city are going out of sight. Saw one house that was listed at $925,000. It was a nice house but nothing spectacular. It had a beautiful backyard though. I'm sure it will sell quickly. Housing prices in this area continue to go up. When Donna and I were looking for a house a few years ago we could easily find something under $300,000, often around $250,000. Lately, the starting point is $350,000 or more. In less than two years, our house has increased in value by over $100,000. I don't know of any other investment that can give that kind of return. There's always talk about the bubble. Real estate economists that I pay attention to say this area won't feel a bubble because of the strong economy and the number of jobs that this area has to offer. The largest employer here is the federal government and it's not likely that the government will close up shop any time soon. We also have an abundance of law firms, trade associations, non-profits, for-profits, tech jobs, entertainment, retail and an endless list of others. I read in the Washington Post yesterday that some guru of culture and the arts who studies cities and has great knowledge about the best places to live picked Washington, DC as the best place to live. He noted the city’s culture, diversity, arts and many other things that have people wanting to be here. DC, for all its problems, is still a great place to be. I'll never forget the day I moved here and how I felt when I drove toward the 14th St. Bridge and saw the city's skyline. It made me cry. The city isn't perfect. The streets are still trashy (depending on where you live of course), the homeless population is out of control, city services leave a little to be desired and the politicians running the city are too busy running for mayor to do what's needed to make this a better place. I'll talk more about that later.

I also read in the paper that the Mount Pleasant neighborhood is experiencing a new rash of crime that has residents truly concerned. The murder of a young man last week was absolutely senseless. My biggest concern about this city is the appearance that the city pays more attention to certain neighborhoods than others. When the waiter at Annie's was murdered last year in Dupont Circle, police were all over the neighborhood and they're still there. Mount Pleasant is not Dupont but it deserves the same level of police presence. My neighborhood, Eckington, deserves that presence too. I know the police department is short staffed but DC needs to adopt a zero tolerance for petty crimes--loitering, public drunkenness, litter, etc. Giving those crimes a pass leads to more serious crimes. Have you been to NYC lately? That place has turned around 180 degrees. I used to be afraid to even go there let alone walk the streets by myself. DC should take a page from NYC's book. So many people in this city cry about civil rights and not wanting to infringe on those rights. But if you're breaking the law, why should anyone be concerned about your civil rights. That's just my opinion. I think I spent too much time this weekend in Upper Northwest.

Anyway, this is a great place for real estate investing. If you're thinking about jumping in, let me help.

Until next time, enjoy your day. Remember, you can rest when you die.

So little time

Do you ever feel like the never have enough time? Lately, I've been felling that way a lot! Donna always says she doesn't have enough time and I'm always telling her that she gets the same 24 hours as everyone else. Some days I want more than the 24.

Lots in the news today....Alan Greenspan and his guys hiked interest rates again. If you're planning on buying a house soon, it may impact how much house you can afford because your credit card debt and other interest payments you have will likely go up too. I wish he would stop that. I've never understood the logic of raising interest rates to cool down the economy. I guess that's why I have a BS in broadcast journalism instead of economics.

Another hurricane is bearing down on the Gulf Coast. The last hurricane I went through was Hurricane Elena in 1985. It was Labor Day weekend and I was getting ready to go out of town for the holiday. I was new director at a radio station in Biloxi, Ms. My assistant news director called me as I was walking out the door to get on the road and I rushed to the station. We were on the air 24/7 with nothing but hurricane news for at least a week. My house didn't get damaged but it was a month before the power company hooked me up again. I had to take showers at friends houses as they got power. It seemed everyone got power long before I didn't. Anyway, Elena wasn't as bad as Katrina was or as Rita might be. I didn't lose anything. I have friends and family along the Gulf Coast. My niece lives in N.O. I'm still trying to locate a couple of friends in Biloxi. My cousin lives right outside of N.O. My niece and cousin are fine, their employers are relocating them so all's well. They're the lucky ones. My heart goes out to all those who aren't so lucky. And if I hear one more politician trying the blame the victims for their plight, I will scream. Brit Hume was on WTOP this morning saying that the evacuation in Texas because of Rita is much more smooth and more organized than in La., implying that government officials there are somehow better than the officials in La. Well I would hope it would be more organized, they had a whole month to watch La. and New Orleans make all the mistakes in the world. Give me a break! BTW, if you haven't donated to the victims yet, please do, they need all the help they can get.

I won't spend a lot of time talking politics. I could go on forever about that. I'll try to keep it light. Until next time. Peace.

Why do they call it Hump Day?

The middle of the week, Hump Day used to be a favorite day for me when I worked in the private sector because it meant that I only had a couple more days left to put up with the insanity that was my job. These days, working as a Realtor, there's no Hump Day. It's a whole new world.

Yesterday was such a busy day that I didn't get to post anything. I actually stayed in bed a little longer than I normally do so by the time I got up, it was too late. I had several appointments in the morning and afternoon and I also had floor duty at the Brookland office of Long and Foster (my base). Floor duty is when agent's sit on the desk and answer calls from people wanting to know how much a house costs or how much the rent is or if we have any rentals. The idea is that the agent will turn those calls into clients. I've gotten a few clients from that so I'm always happy to do floor duty. It also gives me time to catch up on paperwork, database entry or anything else that I need at least three hours to do. I did get a couple of calls that might turn into something.

People often call asking what their house is worth. There's no way for me to know that unless I've seen the house and I look at what's recently sold around the house itself. Truthfully, your house is only worth what someone will pay for it. If you're thinking about selling your home, e-mail me for a free market analysis. It's a good time to sell. It's also a great time to buy! People ask if the market is slowing. It depends on where you are. Houses are sitting on the market a little longer (2-3 days more on average) so I guess you might call that a slowdown. I think buyers are being a little more picky and also they are deciding that they don't have to pay a zillion dollars for a house just because the seller wants a zillion for it. If you see a house you want to buy, make an offer, it doesn't have to be the list price, it could be lower. Who knows, your offer may be the only offer that seller gets, period. I love it when I can tell a client that someone accepted an offer. That's why I love this gig.

Got home late from the office. Donna had already started the grill. We had salmon, chicken, green beans w/ mushrooms, baked potatoes and corn. Kevin, our house guest and Aubrey, our neighbor joined us for dinner even though we basically made it up with stuff we had in the cabinet and fridge. I love impromptu dinner parties. Overall, it was a good day. Today promises to be the same and I can't wait! Hope you have a great day, enjoy every moment of it. Remember, you can rest when you die.

Whenever I try something new I have a fear of making a complete fool of myself. I'm new to this blog thing and this is my first post so please be gentle. I'm excited about the possibilities. Let the conversations begin!

I'm a Realtor in the Washington, DC market, I'm licensed in DC and MD. I'll chat about real estate but I'll also take you into my world, my real estate gig, my neighborhood, my politics, my brain (and it's a pretty good one too).

About real estate....Believe everything you've heard about real estate in this market and believe absolutely nothing you've heard about it. Everybody's got an opinion and one is just as good as the other. Here's mine. If you're thinking about buying a home, what are waiting for? Are you waiting for the interest rates to go lower? They are at the lowest they've been in 20 years. A lot of people who bought homes 20 years ago paid as much as 18 percent interest. Now rates are under six percent. Run, don't walk, to your nearest mortgage banker and get a loan, now! Credit issues you say? Been there, done that. We all have or have had them, no excuse. I want everyone breathing to own a home. I can show you how.

We'll talk about the whole issue of affordable housing later (big deal in my city). I'll save that discussion for when I'm a little more alert because it will be a lively one.

Anyhow, I hope you will enjoy my musings and reflections on my real estate gig and the world around me. I'll try different things, post random thoughts and try to sound like I have a little sense. Enjoy your day and remember, you can rest when you die.

Me