SATURDAY MAY 14TH- GET THE SCOOP

Attend Home Buying/Selling Seminars
Many cities put on home shows every spring and summer. These events offer a great way to meet several different Realtors at once.

If you are buying your first home, attend a First Time Homebuyer’s course. Realtors act as guest speakers for these, and you will learn a lot about the ins and outs of home buying.

GET THE SCOOP ON THE MARKET
Prospective home buyers and sellers make your way to real estate boot camp Saturday, May 14th where you will learn how to make the right choices in today's housing market.


Experts say the local housing market will continue its trend upwards in coming months.

Saturday May 14, 2011

Long and Foster

8701 Georgia Avenue

Silver Spring, MD 20901

1:00 pm -3:00 pm

FREE SCOOPS OF SORBET!!!!!!!!!

 

Make a list of questions to ask the Realtor when you meet with him. Be sure to bring a pad of paper and pen so you can take notes. Some essential questions are:

• Do you have an active real estate license?
• Is real estate your full-time career?
• How much of your business comes from referrals?
• How long have you been working in the area?
• Do you live in the area? If so, how long?
• How long does it take your average client to sell their home (or find the right home, if they’re buying)?
• Are you a member of the Multiple Listing Service (MLS)? MLS membership means you’ll have access to all the listings in the area, including pictures and descriptions.

WHAT'S GOING ON?

In the meantime, other private equity firms have started pushing deeper into real estate, Bloomberg reports. Blackstone Group is aiming to raise a new $10 billion real estate fund this year, while Carlyle is raising a new fund aimed at U.S. properties.

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According to Preqin, 439 private equity real estate funds are now seeking $160 billion, the largest number it has ever recorded.

They may be timing the market just about right. The distress is still obvious, but the commercial real estate market seems to be bottoming out finally.

The big private equity firms seem to have digested the losses and are willing to strike out anew with revamped efforts. The biggest competition may come from REITs, which drew $47.5 billion in capital in 2010. That's close to the record of $49 billion, achieved in 2006.

Read more: Private equity eyes real estate as near-term future - FierceFinance http://www.fiercefinance.com/story/private-equity-eyes-real-estate-near-term-future/2011-04-20#ixzz1KDGy1Nrm
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BY THE NUMBERS

Prince George's County has the most, followed by Fairfax and Prince William counties, although Daren Blomquist of RealtyTrac said part of the reason is that these counties are large and highly populated. Montgomery County and Fauquier County rounded out the area's top five.

Source: RealtyTrac

By the numbers

» Number of D.C.-area homes with a foreclosure filing in February 2011: 1,213

» Number of D.C.-area homes with a foreclosure filing in February 2010: 3,851

» Number of D.C.-area foreclosure sales in fourth quarter 2010: 2,155

In Prince George's, one in every 742 listed properties is a foreclosure, while the rate is one in 548 in Prince William and one in 540 in Fairfax.

"Many of these areas during the real estate boom had a lot of selling going on," Blomquist said. "Those transactions that occurred during the boom are generally where the most foreclosures are."

The promise of getting a residence at a rock-bottom price does not always pan out, however, as many area foreclosures are being snatched up by investors and buyers who can pay cash.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/real-estate-news/2011/03/investors-cash-buyers-snap-area-foreclosures#ixzz1I5cne6cI


For free foreclosure listings call 240-305-9462 or send email at isellhouses2@gmail.com

5 MYTHS

Myth #1:  It’s OK to test a high price on your real estate just to see if anyone will buy it at that price. 

Truth:  If you’re serious about selling your home, don’t play games.  In this buyer’s market you have a very small window of opportunity to pull in serious buyers when your home first enters the market.  If you play games, like overpricing your home just to test the market, buyers will stay away in droves. 

Myth #2:  You should price your real estate higher than the market value to allow for room to negotiate.

Truth:  No matter what your reasoning or rationale, overpricing your home is never a good idea.  When your home is overpriced, very few potential buyers inquire about it or visit it.  If no one wants to buy your home, you won’t have anyone to negotiate with.

Myth #3:  The appraisal value of your home has no impact on the sales price of your home. 

Truth:  Lenders consider the value of your home to be the price for which the home is appraised.  For example, if you and your buyer have agreed on a sales price of $900,000, but the appraisal comes in at $860,000, the lender considers the value of the home to be $860,000, not $900,000.   When this occurs, buyers will often want to renegotiate the sales price of the home to match the appraisal price.

Myth #4:  Real estate agents want to price homes high because they’ll make a higher commission. 

Truth:  If you’ve done the work needed to find a great real estate agent, you should trust him or her to price your home correctly.  Because of their experience, real estate agents understand more than anyone else the importance of properly pricing your home.  If they’ve incorrectly priced your home, it won’t sell, and the agents earn nothing.

Myth #5:  Real estate agents want to price homes low because they’ll sell faster and easier without the agents having to do any work.

Truth:  Professional real estate agents know that setting the price too low can be almost as harmful as setting the price too high. Buyers who are looking in a specific price range may not consider your home because of the low price tag.  They assume it will not fulfill their needs or worry that there’s something wrong with it.

GENERATION X

Generation X—young families and adults ages 28 to 45—are likely to lead the home-buying recovery as it gets underway, according to real estate experts who spoke at an educational webinar produced by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in partnership with Builder magazine.

These potential home buyers are most likely to think it’s a good time to get off the fence—and have strong opinions about the design features their new homes will include.

ANNAPOLIS HOME SALES UP 29 %

From the Annapolis Capital:

"County home sales rose 29.6 percent in January over the same month a year earlier, rising from 233 in 2010 to 302 last month, according to numbers released this week by the Metropolitan Regional Information Systems listing service.

In the Annapolis area, new home sales were up 15 percent, but the number of new contracts increased by 70 percent from the previous year. While the median price dropped as much as 70 percent in some areas, other neighborhoods saw an increase 27.1 percent."

• The average estimated value of a home in the State of Maryland is $264,820
• The average estimated value of a home in the City of Annapolis is $542,786 (this is up 0.13% from March 2009)
• In JUNE 2009, the average sales price of a home in the State of Maryland is $273,945
• In JUNE 2009, the average sales price of a home in the City of Annapolis is $803,349 (up 0.56% from March 2009)

Annapolis, Maryland: The capital of the great state of Maryland situated on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay and, in addition to countless museums, theaters, and other attractions, is home to the famed United States Naval Academy. What many people DON’T know, is that it is also a place for great neighborhoods, great locations, and great real estate. 

Rentals

Facebook co-founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, took everyone by surprise when he revealed himself as amonth-to-month renter of a house in the College Terrace neighborhood of Palo Alto, CA. He even let America take a quick tour, allowing Oprah’s camera crew inside his homefor an exclusive look at his modest digs. When the 4-bedroom house he was renting went back on the rental market last month, it became a rather hot topic as to what the billionaire’s next real estate move would be.

As it turns out, Mr. Zuckerberg isn’t ready to build a massive estate similar to many other tech titans’ homes. He doesn’t even want to be a first-time homebuyer – or leave the neighborhood. According to Gawker, Zuckerberg’s new home is another rental in the College Terrace area just seven blocks awayfrom his old house. So, why make the half-mile move? For starters, Zuckerberg did pick a slightly larger home compared to his last residence. Built in 2002, the new house boasts 3,800 sq ft and has 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. His previous residence was only 1,976 sq ft with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. But what really seemed to stem the move is the location. Now, Zuckerberg resides only a few steps away from Facebook Headquarters (see map below). This surely comes in handy since he reportedly spends upwards of 16 hours a day at the office.

One question: Is that a Craftsman?

OK two: Is that his car?

OK three: Why haven't you added me on facebook yet? Is it the picture?

ART DECO STYLE

"The City of Greenbelt has gone into the history books as the first community in the United States built as a federal venture in housing. From the beginning it was designed as a complete city, with businesses, schools, roads and facilities for recreation and town government."

"The architecture was streamlined in the Art Deco style popular at that time—with curving lines, glass brick inserts in the facades of apartment buildings, and buttresses along the front wall of the elementary school. These buttresses create vertical lines framing a set of bas reliefs by WPA sculptor Lenore Thomas. (These features make the original buildings of the city some of the finest examples of Art Deco to be found in the Washington area."

Ever dream of being an Astronaut? 
NASA is also in Greenbelt, MD

Project Location by Lessard Group

Greenbelt, Maryland

Greenbelt Metro Park integrates a 1.2 million square foot shopping mall, 1 million square feet of office space, 1,000 residences and 3,000 parking spaces with an existing Metro Rail station. The design creates a transit hub in this bustling urban center of the Metropolitan D.C. area. Each element of the site is carefully positioned to maximize the efficiency of the existing infrastructure, and preserve the wetlands and green spaces. A parking garage is situated above the Metro Rail with access to the outward-oriented mall. Commercial space is located on ground level in several mid-rise buildings along the perimeter of three plazas placed on the Metro line.

Still looking for a home?

Zsa Zsa Gabor's Estate To Hit The Real Estate Market

(CNS) Posted Tuesday January 25, 2011 – 5:49pm

Zsa Zsa Gabor's mounting medical bills and the staggering monthly costs of upkeep on her sprawling estate were the driving factors behind the decision to put the property on the market, the actress' husband said today.

Prince Frederic von Anhalt gave reporters a tour of the 28-room, 12,000-square-foot mansion, and explained that he had no choice but to put the home up for sale, with an asking price of $28 million.

"That's it. This house goes," he said. "I am sick and tired of hiding behind those three words, 'rich and famous'. Maybe we are famous, but we are not rich."

Von Anhalt said Gabor's medical care costs about $21,000 a month, while payments for debt on the home and upkeep are another $35,000.

"We are talking about $56,000 I have to raise every month," he said.

"This is why I have to sell the house. It is a must."

The sale will come with one big condition -- the 93-year-old Gabor and von Anhalt will remain living at the estate free of charge.

"The new owner has to pay for everything," von Anhalt said.

Gabor has been in failing health for the past year, and recently had part of her right leg amputated due to poor circulation and a large ulcerated area.

The estate was built by famed aviator/businessman Howard Hughes, and it was previously owned by Elvis Presley, who sold it to Gabor.

Von Anhalt said he was confident somebody would purchase the home.

For more images of the home click here.

LET'S VISIT FOR A WHILE : SALT LAKE CITY, UT

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With an estimated population of 183,171, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total estimated population of 1,130,293. Salt Lake City is further situated in a larger urban area known as the Wasatch Front, which has an estimated population of 2,298,915