Buying

“Golden handcuffs” have kept lots of sellers in their current homes for the last two years. Potential sellers have felt stuck, locked with “golden handcuffs” into their 3 or 4% mortgages, unwilling to sell and be forced to take a new mortgage at 75 or 8%. The good news is that mortgage rates have started to come down this month as the Fed appears to have finished its series of aggressive rate hikes – and some sellers are tired of being stuck in a home that no longer works for them.

Somerset in Chevy Chase, MD is a wonderful neighborhood close to DC that offers tree lined streets, a bit of interesting history, excellent schools and great architecture. Somerset, located between Wisconsin Avenue and Little Falls Parkway over to River Road, prides itself on being an inclusive and diverse communitywith an excellent school in its midst. The history of Somerset is fascinating because it is the story of a community trying to protect its borders from commercial development and to hold on to its identity.

$10 million condos for sale in the DC area are not common but when you find one, you will fall in love! Here are two currently on the market in November 2023, One is in DC at the Ritz Carleton with exquisite views of the DC waterfront. The second one is at the Somerset House in Chevy Chase. Which would you choose?

Homes for sale in Westbrook Elementary include properties in Kenwood, Kenwood Forest I, Greenacres, Westmoreland Hills, Westgate and parts of Friendship Heights. If you are looking for a home in this school district, you have a choice from condos, townhomes and single family homes.

The Sitzer/Burnett verdict that occurred on Halloween is a hot topic for Realtors. Here are some thoughts about the verdict and how I think it will affect consumers moving forward. One thing I amm sure of is that there are as many opinions as there are Realtors out there.

The Ghostbuster case in New York State, Stambovsky v. Ackley, highlights the buyer’s responsibility to do his or her own due diligence but draws the line at ghost detection.  In these days where it seems that everything is known because of Google and the wider internet search capabilities, the Ghostbuster case might decide that due diligence should not be so narrowly defined. 

Price drops have started in markets around the country. They are not big drops but there is definitely a market shift. The question is whether this is a seasonal adjustment or a real shift. Realtor.com has just put out a new ranking of where home prices are falling the most, compared to a year ago.

Second home purchases are down from their pre-pandemic levels. Mortgage-rate locks on second homes were down 47 percent from their pre-pandemic levels as of Aug. 2023, just shy of a seven-year low seen in February when rate locks were down 52 percent from pre-pandemic levels