Sales slow

Existing home sales are down according to the latest survey from NAR.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/25/AR2006092500357.html

More inventory, more buyers looking but not making offers. On one knows why. If you're a buyer out looking for a new home and you haven't made an offer yet, please email me at angela.jones@longandfoster.com or call me at 202-494-6797. I'd like to hear from you to get an idea of what's going on. Hope to hear from you.

I have a new listing coming on the market next week. It's a three bedroom, 1.5 bath Victorian in Ledroit. It's got lots of original stuff, including hardwood floors, pocket doors, 9 ft. ceilings, bay windows. It's actually very similar to the house I live in currently. It needs a little work though but you can move into it and do the work over time. I'll post pictures and more info next week.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

My favorite time of the year

Fall is officially here, although the fall home buying and selling season kicked off weeks ago. I love this time of the year, especially when the leaves change colors. It is such a restful time spirit wise. Not restful in the real estate arena though. Things really get busy this time of the year. People who have been thinking about selling their homes, finally decide to put the For Sale sign up. People who have been thinking about buying finally decide they need to go on and jump in, especially before we move into the holiday season and they get too busy to do anything but shop for holiday gifts. Unfortunately these days the media are so busy telling people how bad things are that some people have bought in to the motion that the bottom is falling out of the housing market. Believe me, that is not the case. More houses are on the market, true, but more people are out there looking and what the market is actually doing is becoming more normal. Sure sells are down slightly from last year but a 2 percent decrease does not mean the bottom's falling out. If you want to buy get out there are start looking. If you want to sell, look at your house from the buyer's perspective and do all those things you've been meaning to do to spruce it up and get it on the market now. If you wait until Nov. or Dec. you'll be setting yourself up for a long winter. If you have questions about the market give me a call, email me or go to my website at http://www.angelajonesrealestate.com

If you have a home equity line of credit and it's creeping up slightly because of interest rate increases, the Post had an article Sat. that is useful: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/22/AR2006092200023.html

That's it for now. Enjoy the rest of your day. Truly enjoy it because remember, you can rest when you die!

Busy times

Busy times these days, sorry I haven't been able to post something until now. I've been traveling a little to check out other real estate markets and what's happening elsewhere. I was on the Miss. Gulf Coast last week checking out things down there. There are properties to buy if you can insure them. That's the trick. I used to live on the Coast and it was heartbreaking for me to go back and see all those old homes destroyed and businesses I used to patronized totally devastated, restaurants I used to go all the time, nothing's there but the sign. It will take time for things to recover there for sure. Found something that I wanted to purchase but it turns out I'm going to have a difficult if not impossible job finding affordable insurance. I expected the premiums to be high but not as high as I'm encountering.

Here in our market, prices are going down slightly. The Washington Post had a good article Sat. about that:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/15/AR2006091500653.html

One more thing the Post noted, the number of realtors getting into the business. I've got to tell you, if you're thinking about becoming a Realtor make sure you are ready to work your butt off because this is not an easy gig. It's rewarding, absolutely, but you work hard for that reward.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/15/AR2006091500654.html

My listing on Seaton Place is open this weekend. It's listed at $599,900, 5 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, renovated and ready for you to move in. Come by and take a look. I'm there from 1-4 pm this Sunday, Sept. 24. Hope to see you there and bring your checkbook, you'll want to make an offer.
You can get more information by going to my website at http://www.angelajonesrelestate.com.

The end of summer

I'm back from the beach and playing catch up now since there were a few things that didn't get done while I was away. Of course it rained the entire time Donna and I were at the beach so we didn't have the trip that we expected. We did get some shopping in (what else was there to do at Rehoboth?), we saw a really sweet movie, Little Miss Sunshine, we rode bikes to the beach on Sat. when it wasn't raining and we spent time with some friends who have a condo there. While not the trip we planned, it was a nice time away.

Now for an update on the housing market. Summer's over and we're moving to a time when buyers begin to realize they should buy something soon. The market is slowing a little but there's still houses out there to buy if you're out there looking. The Wall St. Journal is a resource that I use often to stay informed about the market. It has several articles of interest that I've included here.

Advice for sellers from the Wall St. Journal
http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/tactics/20060615-kim.html

Advice for buyers
http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/tactics/20060906-kim.html

Unmarried couples advice
http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/tactics/20060906-bernard.html

53 Seaton Place will be open this weekend. Come by and take a look. If you have friends or relatives interested in moving to the neighborhood, send them by as well. The list price is $624,900. It will be open Sunday, Sept. 10, 1-4 pm. Hope to see you there.

Take care and enjoy the rest of your day.