Michelle Buckman

If you’re a dog lover and you are new to the Washington DC area or thinking about moving here you might want to consider the Capital Hill area. Capitol Hill, one of the oldest residential communities in Washington DC takes its name from the hill which rises in the center of Washington and extends eastward. The hill area is made up of more than 150 square miles and diverse neighborhoods. The “Hill” is one of the dog friendliest areas in all of Washington. The neighborhoods are full of children and friendly dogs and the Hill has perhaps the most unique dog park anywhere in the country “Congressional Cemetery” http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/. That’s right a cemetery! The Capital Hill district has great parks but dogs are required to remain on a leash in public areas. That’s not the case at Congressional Cemetery, local residents and even those with pets as far away as Arlington VA pay $100 annually to allow there 4 legged friends run leash free in the fenced in cemetery. All of the funds go to the preservation and up keep of the cemetery. It might sound a little weird using a cemetery as a doggie playground but you have over 50 acres of varied terrain and history to roam and the animals and their owners love it! While Fido runs around you can stroll and read the tombstones and learn interesting facts about some of the famous people that have been laid to rest at Congressional. They include John Philip Sousa, Renowned Civil War photographer Matthew Brady and FBI founder J Edgar Hoover are among the famous that are buried here. If you know of any other interesting facts about Congressional I’d love to hear form them. Why not take a minute and share by posting any interesting facts you might know of. For more information you may wish to visit the community section of my website: http://www.buckmanrealtor.com/community-information/

A leading DC real estate attorney called me and told me the following information. I thought other realtors might find the information useful.

•· The District of Columbia now has the right of 1^st refusal to purchase property.

•· DC's rights are subordinate to the rights of the tenants.

•· Applies to properties with 5 units or more.

•· The District's rights are exercised by providing a written statement of interest to the owner and tenant within 30 days of receipt of the copy of the offer of sale which is filed with DCHD at the time the tenants are notified.

•· If DC chooses to purchase the property, it must be used for affordable housing. DC also has the option of assigning its right to purchase to a person or entity which will maintain the property as affordable housing.

•· If DC issues the statement of interest, they have 150 days to negotiate a contract with the Seller of the property.

•· If the tenants choose to exercise their rights, DC's 150 day negotiation period does not begin until the tenants have failed to consummate a contract

ALL OF THIS IS SUBJECT TO REGULATIONS TO BE ISSUED BY THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. AS OF MARCH 17, 2009, THE REGULATIONS HAD NOT YET BEEN ISSUED.

One of my recent clients's decided he needed to move out of the city. He had reached the end with his cramped condo, the constant noise and crowds associated with city living. He wanted me to find him a detached house in Germantown, MD.

I am licensed in DC, MD and Virginia. I sell homes in Montgomery County, MD all the time. Germantown is in Montgomery County. It is about 25 minutes (without traffic) from my office and 40 minutes from Dupont Circle where my client lived. Frankly, I do not go to Germantown very often. I told my client this and h e said we would explore the area together. Okay, I said. Let's look at houses in Germantown.

Before we went there, I wondered how did Germantown get its name? In the 1830's and 1840's local landowners and farmers would go to the central business area between Liberty Mill Road and Clopper Road. The merchants and business owners had accents that were thought to be German sounding. The locals would say they were going to the German Town to do their shopping. The name stuck. As it turned out, they may not have been German at all.

Germantown's claim to historical fame was with Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Co-conspirator, George Atzerodt was captured in Germantown on April 20, 1865.

Filled with a bit of information, I went to pick up my client. Because Germantown is built around 2 man-made lakes and parks, I could not help but notice all the wooded areas in the neighborhoods. As I drove by wooded areas, I spotted a few deer. I heard birds honking and looked up. Flocks of Canadian Geese were flying over head. It felt like I was in the country.

I thought to my self what a nice place to come home and unwind after the hustle and bustle of downtown DC and work. My client thought so too, and immediately found the perfect house and made an offer. He closed on it last week.

To be competitive in today's market, I was told to have a website. So, I have a website. Then I was told a website is not enough. Your website can be fantastic, but if no one knows about it, what good is it? If a prospective buyer or seller does an internet search for a realtor and your website comes up on page 50, it will never be viewed. To solve this problem, I was told I needed Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Today, it seems as if everyone is doing SEO. I was told by my techie, to get my name on the first page of an internet search, I needed to write articles and post them on my website. I also need to write a blog, do internet advertising, use tag words and have links to other sites, In other words, I need to work hard at being and staying in the front. Okay, I said.

I try to do everything to help me get to the front page and stay there. I am constantly checking statistics to see how many times my website, my ads, my blog, etc. have been viewed. And, I am constantly checking to make sure I keep my position. I find I am comparing myself to other websites, blogs, ads; trying to be better than the competition.

This whole competitive scene feels very familiar to me. It reminds me of my high school years. I went to an academic high school. Almost everyone in my graduating class went to college. The competition was constant. Fellow students were always so concerned about their grades and class ranking. Classmates always wanted to know what grade someone else received on an exam or a paper. I can still hear in my head, "If only I did such and such, I would have gotten the extra point and could have been on top." What a drag. As Yogi said, "Déjà vu all over again."

Well SEO is screaming the same words. If only I use such and such tags, Google will recognize my website articles and move up my page ranking. If only I write more articles, Yahoo will move up my page ranking.

I am doing SEO because I feel I need to do it. But, I'm not sure I want to constantly be reminded of high school

Almost every morning I walk my two beautiful black Labs in Rock Creek Park. I go to the section of the park across from St. John's College H.S., off Military Road, in Chevy Chase, DC. Each time I step into the woods, the same thought always runs thorugh my mind. "What beauty!" I can not believe I live in the city and can step into the country and nature within minutes of my home.

As I walked this morning, I noticed how bare the tall brown trees looked. These trees look so strong and powerful against the deep blue sky. It was very sunny this morning. The sun made the colors of the sky, trees and ground very vivid and bright. The woods was quiet. The only sounds were birds chirping, occasional cars driving by in the distance ( I walk after morning rush hour), wind blowing and my dogs running and jumping through fallen leaves.

I love to watch the absolute delight on my dogs' faces as they run and leap through the leaves and jump over fallen tree branches. This is such a peaceful time for me.

Each time I walk through Rock Creek Park, I imagine Teddy Rossevelt riding his horse through the woods. DC is truly a great city. We are the Nation's Capitol. We are a sophisticate, hard working city that works long hours. How lucky this city is to have Rock Creek Park, a place to go for peace, beauty and fun.