About District of Columbia County, DC

The moving truck has just pulled away from your house, and you are totally, completely, 100 percent pooped! You spent most of the day before cleaning up years of grime and cob webs your sellers left you, and now you're looking at decades worth of all kinds of nastiness in your old house - dust bunnies (enough to knit a sweater), the mother of all bathtub rings, crust in the oven, and a cure for the next pandemic in the corners of the refrigerator's meat tray.

There's a reason that MOVE is a 4-letter word!

In most parts of the country, the written contract between the buyer and seller discuss just how clean you have to have your house for the new buyers - and how clean your sellers have to leave your new place.

When you're selling, the standard is way too clean.

When you're buying, the standard is filthy!

In this area, your place is supposed to be "broom clean" with all trash and debris gone by settlement time. And, as in most real estate contracts, the definition of clean is a little ambiguous.

Whatever the contract says, my advice to my sellers is to hire a professional to do the job.

First, it's just tacky to leave a dirty house for your buyers. And, second, I promise you won't be in the mood to pull out the oven cleaner or scouring powder to do it yourself. Finally, the last thing you want to do is invite an argument at the settlement table over whether or not you've fulfilled this part of your contract.

The condition of your house at the walk-through could very well set the tone for the entire settlement!

My advice is that, no matter what your contract say you must do, leave the place clean as a whistle - inside and out!

Have the floors swept and carpet vacuumed. Have the bathrooms and kitchen scrubbed and sparkling. Appliances, including fridge and oven, should be as close to showroom clean as you can get them. And have the windows and mirrors cleaned.

A lot of sellers forget about the garage and basement. I've been to walk-throughs where there were all kinds of cans of awful looking stuff rusting out. Sometimes it's old paint. Sometimes it's old cleaning stuff that has morphed into clutter. You are not being thoughtful leaving behind things you think your buyers might need. They don't want your old stuff! Have it hauled away!

And while you are preparing to leave your place sparkling, there is no guarantee for you on the buying end! Your sellers might be total pigs who are unembarrassed by the thought of appearing tacky! If it's totally short of whatever standard your contract sets, ask for a closing cost credit to pay for a professional cleaning.

And it's not "Do unto Others as Others will do unto You." But leaving a house clean for the next people is a great way to amass good karma.

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!

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!

I was driving east on Q Street from Georgetown and ran across this piece of fancy on the front yard of the Phillips Collection. I ran home and Googled the Phillips to try to figure out who was responsible for this whimsical sculpture. Turns out it was done by Will Ryman. We'll miss it when it goes to its next home.

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!

If you like woods, you'd love Forest Hills. And if you like to be near great restaurants, book stores and other fun, you'll really like Forest Hills. It's a neighborhood just north of the Van Ness Metro station east of Connecticut Avenue.

The homes in this neighborhood are quite spectacular. One even has it's own ballroom!

Here is the basic sales data comparing 2011 with the prior year:ore homes sold in 2010:

More homes sold in 2011, and they sold in much less time than in 2010. But the prices tended to be lower.

The 2010 average may have been skewed a bit by the sale of one very large estate, but the median price also fell by $62,500.

Did your home increase or decrease in value? Looking at the average and median prices give you an idea of market trends, but they may just mean that fewer very high end homes sold last year. To get an answer, you really need a market analysis prepared by a real estate professional.

Whatever the numbers are doing, it is a wonderful neighborhood with a great deal to offer. If prices are down, it is a great opportunity to buy something now that is likely to increase in value as the market begins to recover.

There are eight homes currently on the market, and if you are looking for an upper brackets home, you could find something beautiful that is an excellent value.

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!