Resale of the week: Flexibility in redone 1900s Georgetown home
When visitors stroll along Georgetown's residential streets, they often speculate about the interior of this community's venerable historic homes. While most people assume the inside of each home has a...
View ArticleLuxury home: New N. Bethesda home with classic details
While some homebuyers prefer the patina of age and tradition in a home, others refuse to compromise by living in a home that another family has occupied. The advantages of purchasing a new home are...
View ArticleCharting the market: Inventory drop good for sellers
Although sales fell 18 percent from October to November, last month still was a solid month for area home sellers.Washington-area home sales always drop in November and December. They are the slowest...
View ArticleCover story: Designers use talents for sick, needy
Every spring since 2008, interior designers and landscape designers from the Washington area help raise money for Children's National Medical Center by participating in the DC Design House project...
View ArticleNew in Virginia: Amberlea at South Riding
Toll Brothers is building town homes at Amberlea at South Riding in Ashburn, a planned community with a golf course, sports courts, clubhouses, swimming pools, playgrounds, parks, trails and...
View ArticleResale of the week: Expanded, updated Falls Church farmhouse
Longtime Falls Church residents may remember Wide Awake Farm in the Sleepy Hollow area near Lake Barcroft, where horses grazed in the pastures. The original farmhouse rests today on a smaller but still...
View ArticleMortgage Q&A: Don’t wait for drop in mortgages
Q. My fiance and I want to buy our first home in 2013. I think we should find a suitable home as soon as possible and make an offer. We have been prequalified and have targeted our price range.My...
View ArticleResale of the week: 6-bedroom remodeled Kensington split level
A spacious 1950s split-level home in Kensington, meticulously remodeled by its owners in 2012, is on the market for $1,099,000. The six-bedroom, four-bath home has plenty of space for family members to...
View ArticleCover story: Next year will ‘start out fast’
Perhaps the highest compliment that can be paid to the Washington area in 2012 is that it was "balanced." The market was no longer cold, nor was it irrationally hot."It was a decent year for sellers...
View ArticleLuxury home: Four levels of French elegance in Kalorama
While the District has many breathtakingly beautiful views and avenues, the Kalorama neighborhood in Northwest Washington is home to some of the best examples of residential architecture in the city....
View ArticleCharting the market: Completed sales grow 8% for year
This year saw more sales contracts on Washington-area homes than we've seen in seven years.Many of those contracts, however, fell through and never went to settlement. As a result, 2012 is not setting...
View ArticleNew in Maryland: Linton at Ballenger
Drees Homes is building 40 town homes at Linton at Ballenger in Frederick, a community with walking paths, green space and plans for a clubhouse, swimming pool and sports fields. The community is close...
View ArticleMortgage Q&A: May rates stay low in new year
Perhaps it's appropriate for my last column of 2012 to talk about the so-called "fiscal cliff." With any luck, our elected officials already will have reached some sort of reasonable agreement by the...
View ArticleCover story: Right details on additions fit existing home style
The Washington area may be home to Democrats, Republicans, independents and Libertarians, but no matter what their political persuasion, local residents more than likely live in a conservative...
View ArticleCover story: Streetcar fans see development following tracks
Back in your great-grandfather's day, streetcars cranked their way around Greater Washington with fairly predictable regularity. In the early 20th century, family weekends might include "riding the...
View ArticleCharting the market: Builders hit by lack of land
The recent woes of the housing market have been harder on homebuilders than almost anyone else.When people stopped buying existing homes in large numbers, it simply meant those homes weren't changing...
View ArticleLuxury home: A cul-de-sac of 12 estates in McLean
While McLean receives recognition around the United States for being home to politicians, attorneys, lobbyists and broadcasters, many area residents know this Northern Virginia community for its...
View ArticleResale of the week: Dupont Circle row house sits on quiet block
The Dupont Circle neighborhood inspires plenty of longing among many D.C.-area residents who visit the restaurants, shops and nightlife in this lively community and wish they lived in the midst of its...
View ArticleMortgage Q&A: Appraisals continue to puzzle
I try not to beat a dead horse when I write this column, but some things should be aired.I have a client who refinanced with me back in 2009. On my recommendation, she chose a 30-year fixed-rate loan...
View ArticleAre housing investors creating a new bubble? Cash purchases cloud outlook for...
Housing has emerged as the brightest spot in the economy this year, but some analysts are questioning whether the market's recovery is built to last.Home prices, sales and construction have increased...
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