Times have changed in the mortgage industry, haven't they? There used to be a time when I actively discouraged my clients from a) the use of online mortgage services, and b) independent mortgage brokers. This is why: Right in my first year of business one of my buyers insisted on working with a
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06/24/2008
This could have been an easy and sweet success story from beginning to end. After he had been looking for different things in different neighborhoods, my buyer finally walked into the place that had it all: the right kind of building, the right floor plan, the right types of amenities, a conveni
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06/03/2008
Catarina Bannier | Evers & Co. | (202) 487-7177 1704 White Oak Drive, Silver Spring, MD Expanded and renovated 1940s colonial on serene block inside the Beltway. Walking distance to Metro, shopping, restaurants, schools, parks and trails 4BR/3.5BA Single Family House offered at $624,900 Year Bui
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05/22/2008
A lot of serious doubts have been voiced here about the choice of AR star Patricia Kennedy as an Apprentice in the Makeover2Takeover contest. My Apprentice, that is. Oh -- just you wait. When we received our first M2T contest challenge today (in short, to develop a powerful contact management sys
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05/19/2008
There’s a reason Mary Poppins had to fall in love with a chimney sweep--she was a lucky girl. Europeans firmly believe that nothing is a better predictor of good fortune than the sight of a passing chimney sweep. The English hire them to be guests at their weddings, and in Germany even grown-ups
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05/14/2008
Well, at first I was excited to hear that the DC Government launched its "Green DC" website, a "comprehensive resource on environmental issues." The idea suggested that the government takes new initiative, maybe in better educating people, maybe in creating incentives to conserve energy, maybe i
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05/07/2008
Do most real estate agents suffer from house envy now and then? Or are we immune after a while? We get to see a lot of magnificent homes. Most of the time I feel inspired by a great place. I don't ever recall wanting to live in one of them. But how about a certain type of house? A certain fe
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05/05/2008
Well, I'm excited to report that neither my clients nor I play any roles in this drama anymore. There has been an unexpected turn of events, and from now on, we're just going to lean back and watch the show. A week and a half ago, I wrote a somewhat desperate [members only] blog about preparing
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04/27/2008
Termites are a pretty common threat to houses in our area. They must like the swampy climate. The DC housing stock is on average pretty old, and it seems to me that at least every other house I have sold showed some traces of a prior encounter with termites. That's why most lenders require a pe
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04/01/2008
Today, the Washington Post came out with its annual Real Estate "Mega Section." It was all about what houses are really worth in a confusing market. The opening article on the cover page was really exciting because it featured our brokerage quite prominently. It described --using a current exa
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03/29/2008
