Restaurant Review- Zola in Penn Quarter

I really enjoy Zola Wine and Kitchen for a quick lunch when I'm downtown so I was thrilled when some wonderful clients of mine gave me a gift certificate to try the main restaurant. I immediately really liked the space because there was a fun dark bar with music playing that would be perfect for happy hour or after dinner drinks but it was totally separated from the dining room, so you could still have a nice quiet dinner. We were impressed with the kitchen from the start because the bread basket was fantastic. There was wonderful pumpkin bread that could have been a dessert and these salty olive rolls that were divine. My aunt and I both decided to start with the butter lettuce salad because it sounded amazing. It definitely was; lots of little orange slices, tart parmesan cheese (or "dante cheese" which is what I now see the menu calls it but for all intents and purposes it was parmesan) and crispy butter lettuce in a creamy dressing. Only complaint is that the menu claimed there were dates and my salad only had one little teeny date piece. I wasn't too upset because I decided on the three "tastings" instead of an entree and one of my choices was the rich bacon wrapped dates (DELICIOUS). Perhaps the kitchen thoughtfully skimped on my salad because they didn't want me to be date-d out by the time my second course came out? My other two tastings were the steak tartar with quail egg yolk which was rich and amazing and the chopped liver which was good but a tiny portion. My aunt got the Tuna entree and gave me a slice of tuna which was absolutely delicious, fresh and perfectly prepared. We opted to finish our bottle of wine rather than order dessert because we were so full and satisfied. I would definitely recommend Zola to anyone looking for a great dinner and I will most certainly be back!

Home built on "parking space" lot in Japan!

Notes from a financing class

Last week I attended a really interesting continuing education class on financing changes in our area at GCAAR. Once again, I was reminded how fortunate we are to be in Washington. In our market 18% of homeowners have negative equity, meaning that they owe more on their home than they could sell it for. While that statistic may seem grim, it's 70% and 47% in Nevada and Florida respectively. According to this teacher, the government is starting to wonder whether the push for homeownership is a correct economic strategy. Apparently homeownership rates are back at the year 2000 levels, on a graph there is a very high peak and then it goes right back down to where we were in 2000. What is truly sad about the downturn is how the crash has disproportionally hurt minority communities. So what is coming up and what can you expect from the realtors, the lenders and the government? Expect to see a lot of adds from the National Association of Realtors promoting homeownership as part of the "American Dream" to counteract any change in government strategy. There will also be a push to standardize foreclosure proceedings (so many mistakes have been made due to the fact that each state has different laws and procedures) and reduce loan fraud. Websites like www.preventloanscams.org will hopefully hinder those out to make an illegal buck, as will a provision in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act that requires lenders to take continuing ed and pass tests to continue to lend. Apparently DC is #5 in the country for fraud rates which is why I stress to clients that they they should not be shopping around on the web for lenders and title companies and they need to use someone from my list of trusted sources for their transactions.

On a positive note, the teacher did let us know that there will be changes in the lending industry to make a past foreclosure less of a Scarlett Letter on one's financial history. If the foreclosure is "circumstantial" (job loss, illness, etc...) the borrow may be lendable again in 2 years rather than 7. The key here is that they will need lots of documentation, so I would advise anyone in a foreclosure or precarious financial situation to keep all financial records in order to prove that they didn't simply walk away from their house.

New Rental Listing in Georgetown

Kevin Shirley and I have this new rental in Georgetown. You have the option of the whole house for $5300, or the main part of the house for $4300 and the in-law suite for $1700.

From $2,700,000 to $1,250,000, This Loft is Now a Steal.

I blogged about this loft in the spring of 2009 after attending a party there and loving it. I did write, however, that if I were going to spend $2.7 million that I wouldn't want to live across from a Jumbo Slice! I saw on Urban Turf's tweet this morning that the price had dropped AGAIN and it's now at $1,250,000 which is a great deal for that much space. Click here for Urban Turf's article, a few comments echo my sentiments about Jumbo Slice!

C of O, friend of foe?

Patting myself on the back as I type for thinking of a clever title to talk about certificates of occupancy! Chances are if you've lived in DC for a while and you have friends who are interns, hill staffers, or work at non-profits, you have been in many "english basements." Basically it's an apartment on the lower level of a house. I'm half joking about hill staffers and interns as some are deep dark basement-feeling spaces and some are largely above ground, bright and renovated to the nines (and no less expensive than any other apartment). Of the english basements, very few have a certificate of occupancy. Technically the basement apartment is a rentable in-law suite and the house is still a single family home. If you have a certificate of occupancy for the lower level, the property becomes classified as a two-unit building. These C of O's are rare as many of DC's houses are older and were not built to the specific terms of DC codes with regard to ceiling heights and having two entrance/exits.

I recently encountered a C of O issue with a deal I did and got two interesting takes on the value of a C of O. When I spoke to Ryan Dailey at Prosperity Mortgage, he felt that having a C of O was a huge asset to the owner for resale purposes. When a prospective buyer qualifies for a loan, he/she can use the expected rental income from the lower level as income. So for example, if someone expects a rent to be $1200/month, that helps that buyer qualify for an additional $200,000 of purchase price (assuming rates are such that borrowing $100,000 costs around $600/month). If a home with a C of O on the basement apartment is listed for $600,000, it can be purchased by someone qualified only up to $400,000 which greatly opens up the pool of buyers.

An appraiser I spoke with had a very different take on the value of a C of O. In his opinion, the C of O had absolutely no effect on the market rent of the basement, and therefore little effect on the value of the house. Since there are so many comparable properties with rentable "in law suites" it didn't make much difference to him when appraising a property whether the lower level had the C of O or not. He said the owners are better of without one as they will get taxed at a higher rate for owning a two unit building, so why bother?

At my office meeting this morning I struck up a conversation about this issue with a colleague who has clients purchasing a home in DuPont circle with a lower level apartment with a C of O. They don't particularly care about the C of O, as they plan to convert the home back to a single family and incorporate the lower level into their living space. However, when they went to get their loan, the bank required a higher down payment because they were purchasing a two unit rather than a single family home.

I just thought all of these different perspectives were so interesting and I am still torn as to whether having a C of O is necessary or if I should counsel clients to only shop for houses with "legal" basement rentals. I am curious to see if DC decides to crack down on this issue and start enforcing rules about basement rentals, but I really hope not. Being able to rent out part of a home has made homeownership affordable for many Washingtonians and taking that away might cause another wave of foreclosures which would be awful to see.

Bethesda's Biggest House

My "ok this is tacky" line is usually drawn around 10,000 square feet. I'm no environmentalist but it just seems absurd and wasteful to heat and cool that much living space for a normal sized family. Well, this house is 35,000 square feet, three and a half times my tacky limit. It's in a gorgeous part of Avenel and the foyer shot makes it kind of look like the Von Trapp family compound from the sound of music so I guess that makes up for the ridiculous size! Pictures and info here.

Bedbugs, will they start to invest DC's real estate?

I recently got a call from a client who found bedbugs in the Kalorama condo that she is renting. She wanted to know if I had previous experience with bedbugs and if I thought she could ask her landlord to pay for the extermination. DC hasn't had the problem with bedbugs that New York has had, I had only heard of a few issues here and there. My take on it is that renters could probably get the landlord to pay if it's a whole building issue; but with bedbugs, it's so hard to track how they got in the apartment. New York Magazine ran this article about bedbugs being a silent epidemic on the Upper East Side where coop boards deny deny deny and exterminators show up in unmarked vans. The article got me thinking about the real estate implications of bedbugs in condo and coop buildings. I have a feeling people would start using their 3 day walk-away option with the condo docs if they saw mentions of bedbug infestations, even if the bugs are long gone. However, if the condo boards leave that out of the budget or out of meeting notes, could that be considered fraud? I have a feeling that if bedbugs become more pervasive in Washington that these questions of disclosure and properties being stigmatized due to bedbugs will become an issue.

A "Real Housewife"s real McLean McMansion is for sale

Mary Amons, one of Bravo's Real Housewives has her McLean home for sale. I can't decide if I think the family portrait over the fireplace is horribly cheesy or cool and different. Check out the rest of the pics here.

"Curbside Cook-off" for DC's food trucks October 7th and 8th

If you haven't noticed there is a huge trend in DC's food scene- traveling food trucks that are steps up from the hot dog and junk food carts along the mall. Think Indian food, lobster rolls, and all natural frozen yogurt. Unfortunately these trucks don't make there way up by my office in Upper NW, so I plan to catch them at the 2010 "Curbside Cook-off" a festival for Street Truck food at the old convention center! See details HERE.

Make sure those drains are clear....

...Or else you might have to do this to your newly renovated basement apartment. DC has had some crazy weather this summer (in case you haven't noticed...) and a lot of homes in the area have had issues with flooding. This house was vacant for renovations and the storm drains clogged which lead to a flood in the lower level and mold growth on the drywall and in the air pocket between the drywall and the baseboards. Luckily, this seller had tile flooring that wasn't damaged (ALWAYS put tile in basements folks!) Just a reminder to keep those drains free of leaves and sticks.

LOVE this house...

No blog post necessary for this- just a house I love by Logan Circle that decided to have a little fun!

The One That Got Away...

UrbanTurf just posted this great article about "Heartbroken Buyer Syndrome." Basically, in order to make a winning offer, some buyers need to get their heart broken when they lose out on a property either because of multiple offers or they took time to think about it and lost out to another buyer. Buyers in DC often think that this is such a buyers market that they can take all the time in the world or ask for unnecessary concessions and often that is not the case. I've had a buyer go back and forth a few too many times on small price negotiations that the seller got exhausted and fed up and took the property off the market- deciding not to sell it at all! All of these situations are very frustrating for buyers and once they get over that property they have the motivation to make stronger offers next time. They will pay what they have to pay, not what they want to pay, to avoid the "heartbreak" all over again! On the flip side, a lot of sellers will refuse the first offer which winds up being MUCH higher than what they wind up with 3 or 6 months later.

Under Contract! 126 Rhode Island Avenue $549,995

After looking at loads of condos, my buyers fell in love with this house and decided they were house people! This lovely re-done home with lower level apartment caught their eye and the neighboring condos couldn't compare. The current owners bought it as a dilapidated foreclosure and re-did the entire home to the nines. They look forward to frequenting Big Bear and Window's Cafes in their new hood. See pics here.

Support Girls Rock Music Camp!

I have friends and clients who are volunteering this year at a Girls Rock!DC, a week-long camp that helps young girls build self confidence and learn about music. The campers have a showcase at the 9:30 club from 11-1 on Saturday August 14th. For $10 you get to see a fun show (it's certainly going to be more exciting than my summer camp's talent show!), check out what the 9:30 club looks like in daylight, and support a great cause. More info here.

Under Contract! 1624 Corcoran Street #J $699,000

After looking at 1 and 2 bedroom condos all over Dupont and Georgetown, my out of town buyers picked this lovely 2 BR at 17th and Corcoran to call home. They liked the more traditional separated layout over the newer units with their total openness. Having two fireplaces and a gorgeous kitchen helped seal the deal as well. Pictures here.

Under Contract! 912 F Street #1109 $849,900

My buyers fell in love with the large kitchen and amazing city view that this penthouse 2BR has to offer. It's in the heart of Penn Quarter and within blocks of their favorite restaurants, museums, and shops. Check out all of the windows! Pictures here.

Coop Boards and Landlords use Facebook to Check Out Prospective Residents.

The New York Times Real Estate Section recently wrote this article entitled "Caught in the Web" about Coop boards and landlords going online to check out Facebook photos and Google search records of potential building inhabitants. DC doesn't have coop boards that are as strict or political as Manhattan's, but I think that this internet searching is a fair housing MINEFIELD and I'm concerned about it happening here. In Washington the fair housing laws prohibit clients who use Real Estate Professionals from discriminating based on the following: Race, Religion, Color, Age, Sex, Familial Status, Disability, National Origin, Marital Status, Matriculation, Personal Appearance, and Source of Income. Going online and seeing that your well qualified potential tenant has a teenage soon who looks "up to no good" is discriminatory because you are judging familial status as well as personal appearance. We as members of our community, whether that be as Real Estate Professionals, landlords, members of coop or condo boards, or in other capacities need to put our stereotypes aside and focus on who is financially able and then not worry about what their Facebook photos or Google results. Long and Foster's Leasing Services does a very thorough background check on applications for our company's rental listings and if there is something misrepresented or financially questionable they will find it.

DC's Transience

We know DC is a transient city, people are constantly moving in and out of the Washington area...This website shows a map of where the residents are coming from and where they are moving to. Scroll down and compare DC to LA which apparently is losing residents in droves.

Bidding Wars in Penn Quarter

This lovely 3BR in Penn Quarter came on the market a few weeks ago and my clients wanted to get in immediately. There were multiple offers and my clients wrote an escalation clause into their contract that went well over the listing price of $775,000 and still were not the winning offer. This is extraordinary as the last unit with this floorplan sold for $690,000 (it was tenant occupied and in a lesser condition- but still a large difference!). Although my clients were dissapointed and it was frustrating to lose out to another buyer, I thought it was a great sign for Penn Quarter and how in-demand larger units are there.