District of Columbia

Some of the pitfalls that clients and homeowners would have while negotiating for a short sale in Georgetown, DC are maintaining the utilities especially when a closing has been extended out a few weeks and utilities have been planned on being switched over to the new homeowner. A delay sometimes becomes inevitable and these delays can become costly to everyone involved in the short sale process. Appraisers are tasked to go back to the property a second or even third time and sometimes even a day before closing.

If the appraiser goes out to the property being sold on short sale in Georgetown, DC and finds out that utilities are no longer on then this can be another extra 3 days coordinating with utility companies and will cause for the appraiser to go back the third or fourth time.

What this can do is push everybody up against the wall because the seller's lender has an approval deadline and everybody has to make that deadline work.

The best you can do is make sure that utilities are on at all times up to a day or 2 after closing.

So if you have a specific situations and are considering a short sale for your property in Georgetown, DC please call 855-835-5473 or email direct at dan@greetingsvirginia.com. Our team of short sale experts in Georgetown, DC will contact you shortly and will help you stop foreclosure.

As our federal government continues to flail and waste time disputing who caused the housing market collapse, I just sit here wondering what we're going to do when Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac finally crash.

A long time buddy of mine send me a link to an article that really summarizes this concern for me. Christopher Whalen wrote a commentary on HousingWire titled On GSE reform: Be Careful What You Wish For that should make all tax-paying US citizens scratch their collective heads. I want to share a few quotes from Mr. Whalen about Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac.

Who Really Controls Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac?

Think about it. These are organizations that are funded by the government, so their accountability for profitability (think survivability if they are private businesses) is very loose. Who needs to profit when the government is backing you. So what motivates the GSEs (Government Sponsored Enterprises) if not sound financial decision making? Mr. Whalen points out:

... the close operational integration of the top four banks and the GSEs, including Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks, which are the largest GSEs of all. You cannot separate the GSEs from JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America — the four horsemen of the financial apocalypse that exercise illegal cartel control over the secondary market for residential mortgages. The big four zombie banks run the GSEs in the same way that they exercise control over special purposes entities and the private mortgage insurers.

Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Only Exist On Public Funding

The road to hell is said to be paved with good intentions, and Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac were established with good intentions in mind. But they have evolved to a cancer that is killing housing, and I believe is holding back the economy. Mark Calabria of the CATO Institute notes:

“By focusing on ‘the role of government’ in housing, [Nocera] moves the debate away from the reckless immoral behavior of Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac. He can claim this is about social policy and paint himself as a caring progressive, despite the massive regressive theft that Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac have actually been.”

Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Performance: Far Worse Than The Catastrophe Reported

Everybody knows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been hammered. Nobody argues that they are a viable, economic entity. But did you know that the reality of their financial situations is far worse than what most are reporting? On this, Mr. Whalen observes:

In the case of the GSEs, the loss on a bad loan is not recognized until the underlying collateral is sold — meaning that there are tens if not hundreds of billions of losses embedded on the balance sheets of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the form of bad loans.

Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Reality Awaits

What is going to happen when the proverbial s#*t hits the fan? If hundreds of billions of loans go bad, will our banking system survive? Or will the next administration (we know Obama is going to continue to ignore this through elections) decide to bail out the banks by printing another trillion dollars?

I know there are "way smarter" people out there who pay attention to this, I'll be looking for their thoughts and ideas. I can promise you this, the lack of leadership in Washington today might be causing a problem that could collapse our economy. It has happened elsewhere. Are we just a "Super-sized" Greece?

If we do not put some bright, non-politically charged minds, on the task of reforming and dissolving Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac, then what we know of the housing market collapse will pale in comparison to what is ahead.

At a recent property showing, my clients and I walked into a townhouse in a pretty nice neighborhood. And the showing went pretty well, until we went to the walk-out lower level family room and found these:

The buyers didn't notice the built-in bookcases or the woodburing fireplace. All they saw was some imaginary masked bad guy trying to break into the house.

When I first moved from Manhattan to Washington, I was amazed that so few homes here had burglar bars. In New York, anyone who lived within a long ladder's reach of the street had them - or perhaps they thought of it as "decorative grill work". And I started to think how all of the New York burglars could just move to DC and their jobs would become so much easier.

But after a few decades in our nation's Capital, I realize that in most areas, they are not really necessary. Between Willie the Labradoodle and an alarm system, I feel pretty comfortable going bar-less in my inner city neighborhood And when I list a property that has them, I usually try to talk the seller into taking them down.

If you have this little security feature, is it really a selling plus?

No. At least not for most buyers.

First, they are bars. Bars are associated with prison cells, or in my case, raccoon traps. And they do not make a room more attractive.

Furthermore, they won't make most buyers feel safe. They are more apt to look at the your bars and wonder why they are there. Have you had a lot of home invasions? Will it be safe walking from the Metro stop to the house, or will they run a high risk of being mugged?

Now, if you do live in a dodgy part of town, they might be a great idea - even a necessity. But in neighborhoods that are relatively safe, you are probably better off without them.

In any big city, there will be some issues. I remember years ago, the Australian Ambassador's wife was mugged walking their dog in the most elegant part of Washington, withn site of the Executive Protective Service guys who were in front of the embassy. It can happen anywhere, and you need to be smart about protecting your house. If someone is determined to break into your house, bars like this are unlikely to stop them. A loud obnoxious blare from an alarm system, however, is likely to send them flying to their getaway car.

If your buyers are concerned about personal safety, seeing burglar bars will heighten their feelings of insecurity about your home. An alarm system do not seem to bother buyers - unless I manage to set it off trying to show the house. And for me, an alarm system has been a great deterrent. Well, not to detract from Willie's efforts to scare off any bad guys who might think about trying to enter the house.

If you are planning a move to or from the Washington, DC area, I can help! I am licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. You may call, email or text me at:

Housepat@mac.com, 202-549-5167

SEARCH ALL LISTINGS IN THE DC METRO AREA

CHECK OUT MY LATEST BLOG IN THE WASHINGTON POST!

I was driving home from a long day of showing houses in Northern Virginia when I noticed the evening sky was quite red. And it was reflected in the Potomac River, making it look a bit like pink lemonade.

Still I wouldn't want to drink the stuff!

I took this shot as I was about to merge onto Rock Creek Parkway (OK, the car was totally stopped waiting for a light to change) after crossing Memorial Bridge. And I took it with the camera on my IPhone.

If you are planning a move to or from the Washington, DC area, I can help! I am licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. You may call, email or text me at:

Housepat@mac.com, 202-549-5167

SEARCH ALL LISTINGS IN THE DC METRO AREA

CHECK OUT MY LATEST BLOG IN THE WASHINGTON POST!

Trump Wins Old Post Office Bid

The Trump organization has been chosen by the General Services Administration to redevelop the Old Post Office building at 12th & Pennsylvania. The historic property will become a 250 room luxury hotel with world renowned restaurants, spa and conference facilities. A number of federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will relocate prior to the start date of development for the two year project, which is expected to begin sometime in 2014.

The next step in the process will be Trump's negotiation of the redevelopment agreement, factoring in historic preservation requirements, and the figure the federal government will receive.

Read more at http://www.susanisaacsre.com/cooldcre-real-estate-blog.html