Thursday, September 25, 2008

Feeling Nosy about DC? MD? VA?

Ok, I know you're probably not planning on moving this very second, but here's this week's list of interesting-looking listings that have just come on the market. Mind you, they may not actually be my personal listings --- just intriguing properties I've come across this week.

Feeling nosy about the District of Columbia?
Feeling nosy about Virginia?
Feeling nosy about Maryland?

If you know someone who might be interested in this list, please forward it on to him or her. And if there's a listing that you're curious about yourself, just let me know ... and I'll show it to you ... just for the hell of it ... no obligation ... *I promise*. Really. (One of the perks of being the friend of a real estate agent ought to be that you get to freely snoop around other peoples' homes!)

First Fall Weekend in DC!

It is the first full fall weekend in Washington DC and there are so many great activities! So, nothing about real estate on the blog this week, instead I am going to suggest a few great activities for the weekend, such as:

Bike DC 2008

On Saturday morning I will be taking my bike down to Penn Ave for a great car-free bike ride around DC called Bike DC 2008. It is not too late to register, check it out at www.BikeDC.net.



National Book Festival 2008
After the bike ride we are heading down to the National Mall for the National Book Festival. An idea that First Lady Laura Bush brought about starting back in 2001. Learn more about the festival at www.loc.gov/bookfest.



Barracks Row Oktoberfest
After listening to a few authors we plan to head up the Hill to 8th Street SE (the street where out office is located) at Eastern Market and visit the Barracks Row Oktoberfest. Learn more about it at www.barracksrow.org/Ocktoberfest08.htm. While you are down there, be sure to check out my friend Leah's kitchen store "Hill's Kitchen" on the 700 block of D Street SE, learn more here: www.hillskitchen.com.



Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Festival
On Sunday, we plan to head up to the Marie Reed Learning Center at 18th and Wyoming Streets NW for the Washington City Paper's Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts Festival. Learn more at www.washingtoncitypaper.com/craftybastards.



St. Sophia Greek Festival
While we are in upper NW we will probably swing by the St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral for their annual Greek Festival. Learn more at www.saintsophiawashington.org/involved/festival.php. Be sure to get some spanakopita!

Enjoy this first full weekend of fall in DC!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Feeling Nosy about DC? MD? VA?

Ok, I know you're probably not planning on moving this very second, but here's this week's list of interesting-looking listings that have just come on the market. Mind you, they may not actually be my personal listings --- just intriguing properties I've come across this week.

Feeling nosy about the District of Columbia?
Feeling nosy about Virginia?
Feeling nosy about Maryland?

If you know someone who might be interested in this list, please forward it on to him or her. And if there's a listing that you're curious about yourself, just let me know ... and I'll show it to you ... just for the hell of it ... no obligation ... *I promise*. Really. (One of the perks of being the friend of a real estate agent ought to be that you get to freely snoop around other peoples' homes!)

Confessions of a Subprime Lender

Every day I deal with the ramifications of the subprime lending crisis. I meet great people who could have put 5% down and would have made great buyers but unfortunately in today's climate cannot afford to put the nearly 10-15% down lenders now require. That is why I was fascinated to learn of a new book by Richard Bitner's entitled "Confessions of a Subprime Lender."

The National Association of Realtors has a book review section where I found a great review of the book. I am thinking I might want to pick this one up. Click Here to read the book review.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Feeling Nosy about DC? MD? VA?

Ok, I know you're probably not planning on moving this very second, but here's this week's list of interesting-looking listings that have just come on the market. Mind you, they may not actually be my personal listings --- just intriguing properties I've come across this week.

Feeling nosy about the District of Columbia?
Feeling nosy about Virginia?
Feeling nosy about Maryland?

If you know someone who might be interested in this list, please forward it on to him or her. And if there's a listing that you're curious about yourself, just let me know ... and I'll show it to you ... just for the hell of it ... no obligation ... *I promise*. Really. (One of the perks of being the friend of a real estate agent ought to be that you get to freely snoop around other peoples' homes!)

Another Huge Auction Coming

As many of you know, in the early spring I attended the Real Estate Disposition Corporation's (REDC) house auction at the Washington Convention Center. There were over 9,000 bidders and I was able to snag 2 investment properties for my own investment group which we turned into successful rental properties. I wanted to let everyone know that REDC is coming back to town for yet another auction. The coming auction is on October 4th and 5th and will again be at the Washington Convention Center. It looks like they have about 450 houses to auction off, with most of them in Northern Virginia.

Looks like there is some good stuff in DC as well, in fact I notice there are big auction signs at the corner of 8th and K Streets NE in SOFLO (South of Florida Avenue). The exact address is 800 K Street NE, it's the big green monster on the corner that backs to West Virginia Avenue, NE. This house has been on the market a while. I have not shown it, but our Buyer Specialist Charlynne has and she tells me that it needs some serious TLC but that the bones are there.



Another one that caught my eye was 300 Oklahoma Avenue NE #201 over in Kingman Park/Hill East neighborhood. They have a starting bid on that OK Ave condo at 49K, not bad, I think you could cover rent on that if you got it under 100K easily.

For more information, be sure to see their website with all the auction listings at www.USHomeAuction.com. You will find auctions all over the country, the link to the DC listings are further down the page. Good luck, and if you want to know more about my auction experience feel free to call me at 202-369-9821 or email me at Michael@RealAstute.com

Friday, September 05, 2008

Feeling Nosy about DC? MD? VA?

Ok, I know you're probably not planning on moving this very second, but here's this week's list of interesting-looking listings that have just come on the market. Mind you, they may not actually be my personal listings --- just intriguing properties I've come across this week.

Feeling nosy about the District of Columbia?
Feeling nosy about Virginia?
Feeling nosy about Maryland?

If you know someone who might be interested in this list, please forward it on to him or her. And if there's a listing that you're curious about yourself, just let me know ... and I'll show it to you ... just for the hell of it ... no obligation ... *I promise*. Really. (One of the perks of being the friend of a real estate agent ought to be that you get to freely snoop around other peoples' homes!)

DC Annual Tax Sale Approaches

The District of Columbia has announced their annual tax sale to being on September 17th. As many of you know, I have sucessfuly purchased property at past tax sales and would be more than happy to advise folks on how the tax sale process works. Feel free to contact me at 202-369-9821 or Michael@RealAstute.com for assistance.

You can find a list of the properties being offered at the tax sale at the District's website at http://www.dc.gov/. Here is some additional information from the http://www.dc.gov/ website about the sale:

District Properties With Unpaid Taxes to be Sold at Public Auction Beginning September 17 (Washington, DC) - The District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) announced today that it is advertising for sale at public auction more than 3400 commercial and residential real property tax liens, for which property taxes for the 2007 tax year are unpaid. The sale runs 8:30 am to noon and 1 pm to 4 pm September 17-19, at the Government Printing Office, 732 North Capitol Street, NW, 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20401.

Bidder registration for the sale is mandatory and begins on Friday, September 12, and continues until the final day of the sale. To register, prospective bidders must make a deposit of at least 20 percent of their total bid and a $150 Tax Sale fee will be added to each property at the time of the sale. Purchasers are also required to complete Form FR-500, Combined Business Tax Registration Application, prior to registering. The form can be found at OTR’s website at http://www.taxpayerservicecenter.com/ under “Tax Forms/Publications.”

Property owners with unpaid taxes have until the date of the auction to pay any taxes due and avoid having their properties sold. To pay or inquire about the status of a delinquent property, call the OTR Customer Service Center at (202) 727-4TAX (4829) or visit the Customer Service Walk-In Center at 941 North Capitol Street, NE, on the 1st floor.

Last year, 2,082 liens were sold, and a total of $6.7 million in delinquent tax revenue was collected.