Daniel Button

81. Germantown, MD

Black Rock Center in Germantown WINNERTop 100 rank: 81 Population: 59,600 Compare Germantown to Top 10 Best Places Germantown is an affordable city for its environs, yet it's still considered part of the D.C. metro area - it's 32 miles away. It was designed around two man-made lakes and contains a wide range of housing. One drawback: the city lacks a strong community feel.

<!-- <tr> <td>Snowfall<br>(average in inches)</td> <td>21.30</td> <td>24.95</td> </tr> --> Financial City stats Best places avg. Median family income (per year) $84,578 $93,313 Family purchasing power (annual, cost-of-living adjusted) $63,118 $84,802 Sales tax 6.00% 6.60% State income tax rate (highest bracket) 4.75% 5.22% State income tax rate (lowest bracket) 2.00% 2.42% Auto insurance premiums (Average price quotes, for the state) $2,139 $1,854 Job growth % (2000-2007) 5.86% 18.60% Housing City stats Best places avg. Median home price $311,600 $293,712 Average property taxes (2006) $2,248 $4,072 See Germantown homes for sale See million-dollar homes Education City stats Best places avg. Colleges, universities and professional schools (within 30 miles) 50 40 Junior colleges and technical institutes (within 30 miles) 12 20 Test scores reading (% above/below state average) 6.7% 17.3% Test scores math (% above/below average) 1.7% 16.6% % students attending public/private schools (located within town limits) 100.0/N.A. 89.5/10.5 Quality of life City stats Best places avg. Air quality index* (% of days AQI ranked as good) 75.8% 76.0% Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 33 2 Property crime incidents (per 1,000) N.A.3 25 Median commute time (in minutes) 29.9 23.0 % population with commute 45 mins. or longer 30.0% 15.8% % population walk or bike to work 1.7% 3.0% Leisure and culture City stats Best places avg. Movie theaters (within 15 miles) 29 51 Restaurants (within 15 miles) 2,174 4,141 Bars (within 15 miles) 74 338 Public golf courses (within 30 miles) 225 242 Libraries (within 15 miles) 41 90 Museums(accredited by AAM; within 30 miles) 30 11 Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 7 13 Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 2.9 1.5 Weather City stats Best places avg. Annual rainfall (inches) 43.77 36.31 % clear days in the area 29 30 High temp in July ° F 86.8° 87.8° Low temp in Jan ° F 24.2° 22.9° Health* City stats Best places avg. Has health plan (% of residents) 88.2% 88.2% Body mass index (avg. for residents) 26 27 Diabetes rates (% of residents diagnosed) 8.5% 9.6% Hypertension rates (% of residents diagnosed) 26.4% 27.3% Meet the neighbors City stats Best places avg. Median age 31.4 36.0 Completed at least some college (% of residents) 78.1% 73.6% Married 53.8% 57.5% Divorced 9.1% 8.3% Racial diversity index (100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity) 223.7 104.0 Amount spent on vacations (domestic and foreign, household avg. per year) $8,116 $8,012

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Yes folks. germantown was rated as one of the top cities to live in, in 2008 and there is a good reason why. You are at the Marc train station, which is a quick 30 minutes into DC. You have a new town center. Shopping, restaurants, and luxury car dealerships. Germantown is in between DC and Frederick. Come visit Long and Foster, Germantown at 19851 Century Blvd. Germantown, MD.

Want to know more about Germantown? Send me an Email at daniel.button@longandfoster.com.

Thanks for reading my blog and Congrats Germantown!

Here is the Press Release from Long and Foster.

THE LONG & FOSTER^® COMPANIES

APPOINTS STEVENS PRESIDENT

Chantilly, VA (October 23, 2008 )-- P. Wesley Foster, Jr., Founder, Chairman, and CEO of The Long & Foster^® Companies, today announced the appointment of David H. Stevens, 51, as President and Chief Operating Officer of The Long & Foster Companies, comprised of Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., the largest and most-respected privately-owned real estate company in America, Prosperity Mortgage Company, Long & Foster Insurance Agency, Inc., and Long & Foster Settlement Services. Stevens had been President of Long & Foster's Affiliated Businesses--mortgage, title, and insurance--since joining the firm in July of 2006.

According to Foster, "The appointment of Dave Stevens to be President of The Long & Foster Companies is designed to ensure the continued viability of our well-managed and financially stable company during these difficult economic times. Dave has the financial background and strategic thinking necessary to lead Long & Foster forward into the new reality imposed upon our industry by the nationwide liquidity and credit crisis. He will be a strong leader who will guide the company towards solutions and work for the best interests of our customers, our agents, and our employees," Foster added.

Prior to joining The Long & Foster Companies, Stevens was Executive Vice President and National Wholesale Manager responsible for all sales, operations, and finance at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President of the single family business at Freddie Mac where he was responsible for all sales and marketing, affordable lending, product development, loan prospector, and communications for the firm. At Freddie Mac, he managed all activities related to sales, market share, customer management, and business strategy. Stevens began his career at World Savings Bank where, after 16 years of increasing responsibility, he was promoted to Group Senior Vice President and National Sales Manager for its mortgage division.

Stevens was the founding executive sponsor of the Women's Mortgage Industry Network, and he coordinated the first Latino joint venture initiative between Freddie Mac and Latino mortgage industry leaders. He is on the Board of Directors of RESPRO.

Stevens is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder. He resides in Oakton, Virginia, with his wife, Mary, and four children.

Brenda Shipplett, President of The Long & Foster Companies since 2004, has chosen to return to regional management of Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc.

Google released it's G1 phone on Thursday. Its carrier is T-mobile. It goes for $170 with a 2 year contract, but without the contract it goes for around $400. This is a nice looking phone that allows you to surf the Internet, IM, text, and email. It also includes a QWERTY keyboard, blue-tooth, touch screen, and video camera. All great things of course, but what is really important is how it will integrate with our business. Can the G1 or aka "God Phone" (actually stands for Google 1) handle the extreme pressures of the real estate world? I called Greg from T-mobile to find out.

The #1 best feature of the blackberry is it's ability to synchronize with Microsoft Outlook, allowing you to stay connect while on the go. I asked Greg if the G1 offered that same service. To my disappointment he had no idea. What?

I called someone else from T-mobile.

Same answer.

How doesn't anyone know this information!? Was this not the information hot line for T-Mobile I called?

To my luck, there is a T-mobile store down the road from me that displayed the G-1 Poster. Hopefully they will have the answer. The sales person that helped me was Robin. Yes Robin was her real name. I asked if the G1 could sync with Microsoft outlook so I can receive email, check my calender, and use it, much like a blackberry. Robin actually knew the answer!

"No."

Wait, really? Oh well.

Anyways. There you go folks. Do not buy the G1 if you plan to use it for your business. The blackberry is a better choice.

Here is what you should buy it for: Staying Hip. Thinking your younger then you really are. Acting like your not in real estate. And blogging on ActiveRain.com.

Now, If you want to buy the phone and make a profit reselling it then that is the way to go. Put down $400, unlock the phone, sell for $800. There you go $400 quick bucks. Better then a rental. Ha ha.

Anyways, Thanks to everyone at T-mobile for their help, and please subscribe to my blog if you enjoy my postings!

Ever see those famed Get a Mac commercials? You know the one were there are two guys standing side by side against a white background. Where it starts off by the young guy saying "hello, I'm a Mac" and the older guy saying, "and I'm a PC." Then the two start chatting, with the young guy (who btw is Justin Long) looking all cool and the guy dressed in a suite (John Hodgman) ends up looking like a fool. If you have not seen them yet get to you tube and type in the search box: Get a mac.

Well, which one is better? That is a personal decision that you have to choose and that is one I can't choose for you 'cough' PC 'cough.' What I will tell you is the pros and cons to each so that you know which one you should get for your purposes.

First, Mac: When Apple creates computers they create the Ferrari of computers. With macs expect to see very high performance levels, lots of storage, and friendly Internet capabilities. Macs aren't cheap either, with your basic computer (no monitor, key board, and mouse) starting at $500 and going up to $$2,700. Remember you still have to buy the monitor which starts at $599.

Macs are intended for the multimedia driven person. Someone who likes writing music, uploading videos, downloading gizmo's, and surfing the Internet. They are very simple and are 99.9% virus proof.

So for those in the real estate industry that use Microsoft Office, Email, and upload a lot of photos, but who also like to not hassle with crashes, and have few computer skills go check out Macs. But beware, a lot of software will no run on a Mac.

Second, PC: What does an uptight business man and his basement living computer hacking son have in common? A PC! ahh, together at last. PCs are the computers for everything. Work, school, gaming, or home, the PC has no limits. PCs can also be found at low prices starting at $300 and going up to the $2,000 mark.

PC is the computer of the people. There is almost no program it can't run and PCs are the biggest contenders in the business world. Though, with a PC, you should always have an anti-virus and firewall running for PCs are virus magnets. Also PCs crash more then Macs and tend to run slower.

So for those in the real estate industry that like to use Microsoft Office, Email, load extra programs, and use the computer for basic picture uploads go with a PC. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.

Tip: Choose the computer that your company uses!