U r b a n T r e k k e r

Real Estate Links

I will be in class for my continuing education for the next two days. Every two years, professionals in the real estate industry especially those who work in the residentials and commercial sectors, have to continue their learning process. Will be back on Wednesday. Enjoy reading the links.

Here are selected from the Internet on real estate:

Edge Cities: Are they Here Yet? [Faiquier Times - Democrat]
Evaluating What's the Best Deal [Wash. Home Guide]
Buyers Not Feeling So Rushed [Wash. Home Guide]
Greenbrier Homes Sport Location Next to Resort [Wash. Home Guide]
Mixed Reviews for Loftier LA Downtown Condos [Matrix]
Ballston Redevelopment Nears Finish Line [Arlington Connection]
Green is Driving Force for this Housing [MSNBC]
Americans Look to the Next Baja Boom Town [Christian Science Monitor]
BART: First Transit System to go Wireless [Planetizen]
Living and Building Green [Building Press]

Strategies for Down Market

Almost everybody in real estate know that the market is softening. Inventory of homes for sale is up in almost every pocket of neighborhood in Metropolitan DC; the days homes stay on the market is longer; and we see that prices are slowly coming down. Though, prices are not coming down fast enough. It is slowly being adjusted.

There are many strategies you can use to "position" a property for sale in an already crowded market. These strategies only apply to properties within certain price range. If you have a mansion to sell, expect that your property will stay longer.. on the market. In short, I think the strategies by Kenneth Harvey can be adapted for both sellers and buyers. [Washington Post]

Prospective sellers and buyers in 2006 will need to be much closer students of the dynamics and psychology of their local markets than they had to be during 2003 and 2004, when sellers held most of the cards and buyers begged them to take their money. If you are seriously thinking about selling your primary home or an investment property next year, first you've got to comprehend precisely where your real estate is positioned inside its own sub-segment of the overall market.

The days of selling not-so-nice properties with the hope of bidding wars is almost over.. at least for temporarily. We all can agree that no one can sustain the long four years of steadily growing double digits market. It needs to slow down.. take a break.

On the long-term outlook, metropolitan DC is still a favorite place for people who migrate into this area from more expensive places. I think our radar to detect what the future holds for this area, should copy IRS approach that follows the migration pattern by tracking people's taxes.

The most important factor in my opinion, would be population -- because that's what fuel the housing market.

Related Links:
How to Sell in a Down Market [Washington Post]
Moving In and Moving On [Washington Post]
Top End of Housing Market Losing Some Froth [MSNBC]
Facts Left Out Talk About Bursting Bubble [Washington Home Guide]

10 Hottest Trends in US Housing Market

In the short term sellers market is shifted to buyers market. For the long term, the fundamentals that fuels the housing market remain strong. Take a look at the "Ten Hottest trends" and see how these trends will help shape the US housing market.[Real Estate Journal]

Conditions have been almost ideal for the housing industry in recent years.

Mortgage interest rates hit their lowest levels in more than four decades, making it much easier for Americans to buy houses. Many people who were burned in the stock-market bubble of the late 1990s decided that real estate was the best place to stash spare cash. The children of baby boomers began buying their first houses even as their parents started purchasing second homes or speculating on rental units. And American businesses finally began creating jobs again.

Home builders couldn't put up houses fast enough to keep up with all this demand. As a result, home prices are up by an average of 53% from five years ago, according to the closely watched index published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

Almost everyone agrees that prices can't keep rising this fast much longer. The debate now is whether the boom will lead to a soft landing, with gentler price increases, or to a long, painful bust, in which prices fall considerably in some places before buyers regain confidence.

I would add another trend that's not included in the list, which I believe will help redefine the real estate industry. The U.S. is home to 34 million immigrants or 12% of the population, of those, immigrants make up about 12 percent of first time home buyers market nationwide. For Washington DC area, we know there are pockets of neighborhoods with high immigrant population, like Fairfax County, Loudoun, Prince William in Virginia, the District, and Montgomery County in Maryland. Bubble or not, immigrant population will help fuel the local market.

Related links:
The Ten Hottest Trends in US Housing Market [Real Estate Journal]
Immigrants Redefining Real Estate Business [MSNBC]

Happy Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving.

clipart courtesy of about.com

Save $$ on Your Energy Bills

What better time to learn how to cut down energy bills than to start now? American Homeowners Foundation offers a freebie kit -- a self-help test that will help you save mucho dollars in your energy bills. [Realty Times]

While certainly a worthwhile undertaking for any home owners who wants to trim his utility bills, the typical, commercially-offered home energy audit is a lengthy and expensive proposition. But now there's a free and simple way to accomplish pretty much the same task.

Offered by the American Homeowners Foundation, the self-help test helps owners identify practical -- and often easy and inexpensive steps -- they can take to reduce their energy consumption.

To receive the free audit, e-mail the foundation at ahf@americanhomeowners.org, or send a stamped, self-addressed envelop to AHF, 6776 Little Falls Road, Arlington, Va. 22313.

Real Estate Links

With Thanksgiving holiday in the picture.. there isn't much news on the Web. However, here are selected stories from around the Internet on real estate:

Fun, Family Keeps it Together for Second Home Splitters [Realty Times]
Mortgage Survey: Higher Home Values, Higher Knowledge [Matrix]
Your New Neighbors: Brad and Angelina [DCist]
Homes Soar in Tampa, but Still Relative Bargain [Real Estate Journal]
Arlington, VA, Firm Built New Malls in Chicago [NYT]
Mortgage Rates Finally Fall [Washington BizJournal]

Real Estate Links

Here are selected stories from around the Internet on real estate:

Taste for Space Is Spawning Mansions Fit for a Commoner [Washington Post]
Housing Boom Forces [Matrix]
Trendy Restaurant Can Tell What Gentrification... [Matrix]
Vacation Home Choices Within 3 Hours of Chicago [Real Estate Journal]
Walkable Buildings [CoolTown Studios]
Real Estate Remodeling Slows in 3rd Quarter [Inman News]
DC Has Highest Percentage of Interest Only Loans [Inman News]
Gen Y Knocking Door of Ownership [Washington Times]
Orlando Home Sales, Inventory Continue to Climb [BizJournal]

H Street Corridor Makeover

Long awaited makeover plan is finally come to realization for section of H Street in Washington DC.

Via Washington Post.

Just east of Union Station, a church is turning what was a rundown, boarded-up building at the corner of F and Second Streets NE into what is intended to be a hip, neighborhood coffeehouse.

National Community Church, which has a largely young flock and holds its services in a movie theater at Union Station, bought the building that was once a diner for $325,000 in 2002 and is spending $2.2 million to fix it. Pastor Mark Batterson said the goal is to raise money for charitable projects and provide a gathering spot in a changing neighborhood.

The development for H Street corridor will be a mixed of everything: commercial, office, retail and residential.

Link

Wassup in So. Arlington

A couple of development projects for South Arlington is on the way. This is in addition to the conversions (Brittany and West Shirlington) plus other developments for this section of Arlington.

Two luxury developers migrate South of Arlington [Washington BizJournal].

A pair of local developers has broken ground on an $8 million residential and retail project, The Townes of Shirlington, where they'll build 12 luxury condominiums and 5,800 square feet of retail space. The first units will sell starting at $690,000 and could deliver in late 2006.

More projects are on the way, Nauck Neighborhood Revitalization Program in a section that runs on Shirlington Road between So. Glebe and 25th Road South. Another project being reviewed by the County is a 98-unit affordable housing apartment complex in Shirlington Road.

Link

Real Estate Links

It's Monday... lots of news from over today and over the weekend on the Internet on real estate:

Bucking the Condo Trend [BizJournal]
High End Transactions Spark Real Estate [Biz Journal]
Bethesda Project Hops on Condo Conversion [Biz Journal ]
It is More than Shelter: 1 out of 10 Jobs Real Estate Related [Matrix]
Affordable Housing is Remotely Available [Matrix]
Condos Go Cabanas [Real Estate Journal]
Economy Rebounds After Hurricane [Inman News]
Keeping Tabs on Credit File [Washington Post]
A Guide of Researching History of Your Home [Washington Post]
Prolific Downtown, Pasadena Thy Name [CoolTown Studios]
Rising from the Plains [Rocky Mountain News]
Gay Retirement Communities Are Growing in Popularity [NYT]
A Palace for Movie Royalty [NYT]
Psychology for Your Home: Creating Harmonius Living [Realty Times]