...not because we don't want to, but because we're not allowed by law!When I'm out with buyers, I'm almost always asked "Is this a safe neighborhood?" or "What's the crime like in this part of town?" or "Is the school system here good?"  The issue with answering these questions is 1) that I cannot be perceived as "steering" you towards a particular neighborhood and 2) quality is always in the eye of the beholder. Here's a great article every buyer should read, with links to research on schools, crime stats, environmental effects, and demographics.What Realty Agents Won't Tell You 05/07/2007

Inventory is slowly but surely dropping to more manageable levels in the area.  Are there fewer sales? YES! But prices for the most part remain high. Why? The flippers have become landlords to ride this out, so supply dropped a bit. People who didn't have to sell decided to wait it out as well and supply dropped a bit more. There are about 20% fewer listings today than a year ago:And the local economy, as I've mentioned before, draws people to the area, so demand has helped maintain that equilibrium price. So, we have demand stable (at worst) to growing, and supply stable (at best) to shrinking. Is April's uptick in average sales price just the normal spring "bounce"? Or the start of a trend? Data Source: MRIS. Data deemed reliable but not guaranteed. 05/07/2007

I'm often asked about the Arlington condo market, with all the development going on and this being a slower market--when will it "bottom out"?This is a rolling 3 month average sales price for Arlington condos. For example, the April 2007 data point represents the average sales price (excluding any seller subsidy, but let's save that for another post) for the period February 1 - April 30.Now we can clearly see the trend since mid 2006. But wait a minute...hasn't the press been reporting that condo sales have been dropping like a stone since the peak in June 2005? What's that peak in December 2006? Oh, and for reference, the "peak" condo price in June 2005 was $387,687 (yes, that's about $20,000 less than today's price!)Despite that uptick late last year, the average price has dropped abo... 05/07/2007

First of all you cannot find a better location to live in hte Washington DC area than in Arlington Virginia!  Arlington Virginia is located just accross the Potomac River from Washington DC.  Looking for homes for sale in Arlington Virginia?  We've created this Arlington real estate page to assist you in your search.  Please fee free to contact us if you need to make arragements to see any of these homes for sale.  Arlington homes for sale, Arlington Condos, Arlington Town Homes for Sale.Arlington Virginia Single Family Homes for Sale Arlington Virginia Condos and Town Homes for Sale Arlington Homes for Sale 400-500K Arlington Homes for Sale 500-600K Arlington Homes for Sale 600-700K Arlington Homes for Sale 700-800K Arlington Homes for Sale 800-900K Arlington Homes for Sale 900-1 Milli... 04/30/2007

So I wouldn’t be able to get away with this blog unless you had read all of my other blogs that have scared off some potential buyers from buying. So if you want, I’ll wait here until you read the others and come back…(blog)  …Ok. So here is a tidbit that a Realtor might tell you eventually, but you won’t believe them. You will try to buck the trend and prove them wrong.  Your dream home is just 10-15% HIGHER than your dream price. Lets run the numbers. This happens more often with 1st time home buyers. In the DC area this can be a $500,000 home. What happens is the prospective buyers save up and they are ready to buy a home, and they feel in their gut that their max price is, lets say $550,000. There really is never any pure logic to where the number came from, it just tends to “feel r... 04/22/2007

I know some Realtors think it is their job to make their client feel all warm and fuzzy by making the buyer think that they got a "Good Deal". Kind of like how almost everyone who buys a car walks out thinking that they got a good deal! I don't believe in this.  I am not hired to be a comforter. I'm hired to get the most suitable property at the best price possible, and to do so aggressively, if that is what the client requests.While the client might have landed a "better deal" than other active or sold listings, it is only a "good deal" years later when they sell it and the cash is in their bank account. Even those appraisals that are done while you are under contract, they can come in $10k or $20k higher, that means nothing to me. Appraisers sometimes like to make their loan officers,... 04/12/2007

The townhouses and apartments that now comprise Fairlington were originally constructed between 1942 and 1945.  Fairlington itself was constructed as a garden apartment complex to house defense workers and their families during World War II. The homes were later sold to a private developer and leased as rental property. In the early 1970's, the property was converted to condos made up of seven different communities. In 1998 the areas of North and South Fairlington were added to the Virginia Landmarks Register and in 1999 they were added to the Federal registry of National Historic Places. With the rolling hills, tree lined streets, variety of housing and close location to DC and the Pentagon has made Fairlington a popular place for both first time home buyers and long time residents. Th... 04/08/2007

As an agent I often find clients look to us to set the tone for how to respond during negotiatons. From the first encounter with a client, we are  free to make a choice whether or not this is someone we want to be linked to going forward. The desperation to have a warm body to work with can often brinng addded stress to our lives  especially as we continue through the process of listing  for a seller or representing a buyer . This very important relationship should be carefully considered.  In our work we easily become intertwined with our clients needs and values. Agents often seem reluctant to express  a moral compass about how to behave in a contractual negotiation. I'm not talking church morality- but contract morality..explaining that a home inspection does not mean a buyer has the... 04/05/2007

A bomb of sorts just hit the orange line  Arlington VA condo market.  It's called 1800 WILSON condominium.  Many owners just lost $25,000+ instantly....The good news it's somewhat temporary and only affects knowledgeable buyers so that leaves a  LOT of buyers left for you to sell your condo at the price you had been thinking.  For those buyers "in the know", they will not pay the same for your orange line condo for awhile.  Why?  Because 1800 WILSON condominium just delivered with 25 more units to sell.  Probably many of those are from freaked out investors who backed out at delivery. They are listed at $359,900 for a one bedroom on the orange line in the urban village of Clarendon in Alington VA.  For that you get over 700 square feet with 42 inch maple cabinets, granite countertops in... 03/29/2007

I've been staging homes since I first began in real estate 15 years ago. With a background in fine arts that took me from stage to camera- it was clear to me that most people can't visualize when purchasing items they can't see. For example- selling homes from blue prints takes exceptional imagination on the part of buyers. This is why most new homes communites have models or prototypes that can be visited by prospective buyers. Our listings go on the market as close to model homes as is possible. Our time from list to sell is generally quicker than surrounding homes and we know it's because when a buyer visits our listings-they can see themselves living there. We remove as many obstacles and objections as possible BEFORE we are in the multilist system- because we know that there are vi... 03/13/2007

Summary: FranklyRealty.com discusses Arlington Condos switching back to rental units!Update 2-13-08 The Phoenix Condo in Arlington Reviewed The Joule condos, formerly owned by Ed Peete (Arlington Virginia) recently announced a transformation from new condos (delivery Fall 07) ownership to apartment rentals. Canceling hundreds of contracts in the process.A dozen local condo developments have taken this route and I predict that Zoso condos (also from Ed Peete) in Arlington Virginia will be next.How can I make this prediction? Lets look at the obvious facts:Ed Peete just did it with the Joule condos in Arlington.Only 60% have been sold at Zoso. That is nothing. The bank will require certain milestones be met and I bet that most of those sales were in the first 6 months, with maybe a sale o... 02/26/2007

WHY in the WORLD WOULD A BUYER SIGN THIS?How could signing ALL YOUR RIGHTS AWAY ever help you, the buyer? Where is the "What's in it for me?" in that proposition?First of all, what is an "Exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement"?This is a contract that a buyer is oftentimes asked to sign by a buyer agent Realtor. In part it commits the buyer to use this one agent exclusively for several months.But, don't you still want to be able to:Use another Realtor if you don't like this one?Buy a FSBO and have no commission be paid!Walk into a New Construction and sign papers, who needs a Realtor for that? I got them down $50k!Have 2 or 3 eager Realtors compete for your business. Each one working their tail off to find you that hidden gem. Doesn't cost you anything, so why not? (just like the Double Agen... 02/12/2007

Somebody must be reading this (actually 60 people a day) since this GREAT question came in from a customer on my regular blog. I would love to get Broker feedback on this one.Q. My listing agent is taking commission plus a $395 administrative fee. What is the administrative fee all about?Great question! Why didn't I think of that?First of all I don't know what you mean by "taking." If you are telling me that you signed a listing agreement for a certain percentage and the $395 was NOT mentioned in there, and suddenly you are expected to pay it at the closing, I think your exact words should be "over my dead body."Shameless plug: FranklyRealty.com has never charged an Administrative fee. I just never understood what it was. It is a junk fee, but allowed if you agree to it.What is an admi... 02/05/2007

First of all I would like to thank MRIS for warning agents about illegal MLS fudging. (more at the end)*Now I have reported to MRIS another violation.Lets see what they do about it.New Construction Fudging the Reporting of Seller Subsidy... how conveeee....enient.On the MLS, when a listing closes a Realtor must enter in the closed price. This can easily be verified by the tax records once it comes out. A Realtor is also required to post the seller subsidy amount. The "seller subsidy" is the "cash back to buyer" or "cash toward closing costs" and it is a marketing scheme to make a listing look more favorable, even though I tell my buyers to ignore them and just to net everything out. A $515k place with $15k back should be viewed as a $500k. Don't let that marketing confuse you.Damn side ... 02/04/2007

Ok, everyone here talks about how busy we are and how important time is.What about the time of our clients? Lets start with: What does your voicemail say? Is it long winded and polite? Maybe mentions a website or how you are honored by referrals. Maybe it is even in two languages? But does your voicemail give the person an option to skip all your sweetness and get to the damn beep? Every carrier has a different number. Verizon is * or #, Sprint is 1 etc. So call your phone from another phone and try pressing 1. If that doesn't get you the beep, hang up and try again, this time pressing star and then pound etc.  And then at the beginning of your voicemail say "Press 1 to skip this message..." That extra minute and a half that the client saves will tell them that you appreciate their time... 02/04/2007

I mention Switchboard.com in my posting about GPS with traffic but it deserve a separate shout out. This is the holy grail of route creation for BUYER AGENTS. This is a secret tip that I normally just give to my Realtors. Only one website will give you a "fastest route" search. Switchboard.com . Just last week most of the other mapping website launched "add location" options for mutli-stop routing (google, yahoo mapquest) but none will re-sort for fastest route. I know some software will do that, but who wants software. (please let me know if you know of other sites, I like being proven wrong and I probably am wrong)  So with Switchboard you start your location with your house and you end location with your house and you can map out up to 5 locations. If you need to do more, you have to... 02/03/2007

MRIS stands for Metropolitan Regional Information Systems. They are the company that provides the Washington DC area MLS system for all Realtors. They also provide data to consumers and the press to reveal how the market is doing. The only problem is that the data is limited and can easily be misinterpreted without giving proper clarification. When I first saw these numbers, I was shocked that the zip code 22204 was able to get 98.6% of the list price. Only a drop of 1.4%? How is that possible in such a slow market?So I set out to recreate the numbers and I finally think that I understand how they came up with their data. I don't question whether the data is correct, I just question how it is presented.I believe now that the "% of Asking Price" means the "% of the last and lowest asking... 01/10/2007

Recently NAR (National Association of Realtors) came out with this ad:Click for PDF of ad and read: NAR's site supporting the adThe ad talks about the benefits of buying today, yet it says "or sell"!Here are the benefit of "buying or selling" as explained in the ad:1) INTEREST RATES NEAR RECORD LOWSFrankly comment: While rates are low compared to the last 40 years, rates are higher than just a year or two ago. As a percentage as much as 50% higher with ARMs! So the buying power for a $600k house is now about $400k for a buyer using a 5 year ARM (note that the 5 year ARM is about the same price as a 30 year fix, so far fewer people are buying ARMs). On the flip side, will rates go up more? If they go from 6 to 7%, it isn't a 1% increase, it is a 16% DECREASE in buying power. So this poin... 01/10/2007