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.

Restaurant Review- Tackle Box in Georgetown

Tackle Box opened almost two years ago and billed itself as a "lobster shack" in the city. I had been hesitant to try it because I am totally spoiled when it comes to lobster and nothing compares to buying them live to cook for dinner at my grandparent's house and packing lobster rolls the next day for a beach picnic. A friend of mine bought a "groupon" coupon and wanted to try it so we went last Sunday night for dinner. It's a little bizarre to have a fish shack in the middle of M Street that doesn't have any outdoor seating; and while DC is a friendly town, I didn't love having to share a picnic table with other diners. Tackle Box's menu has different meal combos and you chose one entree, one or two sides, and then a sauce. I was going to go for scallops until the cashier told me they were fried...so I asked for the grilled trout instead and got a side of mac and cheese. The mac and cheese was good and gooey and the trout was okay but nothing was exceptional. One friend got a side of sweet potato fries that were stringy and soggy and another got the lobster roll with friend green tomatoes. The tomatoes were good and she said the lobster roll was as well but not worth $20. Overall I think Tacklebox is a bit of a tourist trap and I'll stick to authentic fish shacks even if I have to drive a ways to get to them!

Price Reduction! 3020 Dent Place #24W $525,000

New Listing! 3020 Dent Place #24W $550,000

Perfect starter condo in Georgetown, 2BR/1 Bath with plenty of closet/storage space and it lives like a house with a nice foyer, separate kitchen, dining room, and living room. Crown moldings and nice wood floors make the home very charming. Very well priced at $550,000.

New Listing! 3047 N Street NW $1,329,000

This lovely jewel-box house will be open Sunday Oct. 18th 1-4.

Restaurant Review- Blue Ridge in Glover Park

I have been dying to try Blue Ridge ever since it's opening in Glover Park earlier this summer. I finally went in last week with my father and some friends who joined us for dinner. The restaurant was EMPTY which I actually loved because I hate shouting to be heard, and apparently had joined other DC restaurants in extending restaurant week since the week-long specials didn't bring out as many diners as hoped. Because several of us got the three course (with anything on the menu) restaurant week deal they gave us several other appetizers to share. We chose the deviled eggs and the sweet potato fritters, both delicious. My meal was a mixed green salad with paper thin apple slices and a lemon dressing and the grass-fed hanger steak that came with root vegetable "mash" which I think was mostly mashed sweet potatoes. For dessert I had ice cream but got to try some of the peach cobbler and pecan pie, both scrumptious! Everything was wonderful, the service was good, and the decor was country but not too kitschy. I would highly recommend Blue Ridge (it is so worth the trek to Glover Park for some grass fed beef!)and I hope it can stay open in this tough climate for restaurants!

JFK's Former Home on the Market

The above house on 31st Street has just been put on the market for $1,595,000. This three bedroom home was JFK's first Georgetown home when he came to Congress in 1947 (according to the listing remarks). Virtual tour here.

Two Houses With Fabulous Outdoor Space

These two new listings both have fantastic outdoor space that would be perfect for entertaining or just relaxing solo.

The first photo is 4526 Brandywine which I think is VERY well priced at $875,000. It's walkable to the Tenleytown metro and on a very large lot for AU Park! The backyard is stunning in this one as well. See the pictures here.

Second photo is 3137 N Street. Price at $1,395,000 as the house is recently re-done to the nines and is quite a bit bigger than it looks from the street. The home also has a 2 car garage in back with a storage area and studio overhead! The back patio is so pretty and there is a lovely fountain. Take a look at the pics here.

Good Real Estate News You Won't Read in the Washington Post

In general it is a little rough right now in the DC real estate market, but there are some great success stories out there. This house in Glover Park just sold for $100,000 OVER the asking price. This shows that there are still serious buyers out there willing to make offers and escalate the price of a nice house that is well-priced! 2451 Tunlaw was listed by Long and Foster at $799,000 and went to closing on New Years Eve for $900,000, a great way to end 2008! See more pictures of this beautiful renovated house here.

Welcoming Obama and Perhaps Oprah?!

For many Washingtonians this upcoming Inauguration is both exciting and terrifying! After a lot of thought, I plan on attending the historic ceremony despite the crowds. Unfortunately there is not much helpful information out there about what metros will be open, what streets will be closed, what time to get there, etc... but this website had some information and will hopefully be updated with more info as we get closer to January 20th. I plan to keep checking this website for more details as all of the kinks get worked out and they know more about how everything will be run.

Speaking of big names from Chicago...rumors abound that Oprah is coming to Washington and looking at some well known mansions in Georgetown. One is Evermay, which I have blogged about but I don't know if Nate Berkus is up to the challenge of bringing this home up to Winfrey's high class standards. Apparently it needs quite a bit of work. Other houses she is considering can be seen in this article from New York Social Diary.

If either Oprah or Obama need a fellow Chicagoan to show them around, I'm happy to oblige!

Restaurant Review- Agraria, Georgetown Waterfront

Agraria is one of my favorite restaurants in Washington, and without a doubt the best in the Georgetown Harbor/Waterfront area. The restaurant is owned by a farmer's union and serves food and wine from local farmers and fisherman that use organic and sustainable methods of production. I remember my first trip to Agraria was surprising because I wasn't expecting a farmers' restaurant to be so chic! The menu changes often, as only seasonal ingredients are used and waiters often tell you where different meats or vegetables come from. On Saturday night it was quite crowded and the service was definitely lacking (I find the service to be hit-or-miss depending on the night) but the food was amazing. Even the butter tasted better than normal restaurant butter, and I felt less guilty eating a filet that I knew was farm raised and grass-fed. Order dessert here because most are small portions and it will be well worth the calories!

Long and Foster to List Evermay Estate in Georgetown!

This fabulous home in Georgetown can be yours for a cool $49 million! Congratulations to Jeanne Livingston in the Long and Foster Georgetown office for getting this fantastic listing, the most expensive listing EVER in Washington DC!
www.evermaydc.com for more info and pictures of this historic estate

Restaurant Review- Heritage India in Glover Park

That is my book club with our waitor at Heritage India. After reading, "Beneath a Marble Sky" by John Shors, a beautiful historical fiction novel about the building of the Taj Mahal in India, we decided to meet at Heritage India in Glover Park to discuss. Now I thought I wasn't a big Indian food lover, but recently I have been feeling more adventurous with spicy foods so I went ahead and ordered a spicy lamb dish in saffron and yogurt sauce. Basically I needed a LOT of bread and rice to keep my mouth from igniting b/c it was very spicy but it was some of the best lamb I've ever had. I could tell it had been slow cooked because it was just so tender and came apart really easily. I also got to try other dishes and appetizers like tandori chicken, samosas, and this appetizer with potatoes and date-jelly. Everything was delicious. I would recommend this for a group dinner since its a lot of fun to pass everything around and get to try new things, its also very reasonably priced.

Brokers Open Tuesday Sept. 16th 11-1

Im holding a Brokers' open at 3405 N Street in Georgetown tomorrow...it is a gorgeously renovated old house with lots of space. Technically the open is for agents to preview, but if you are around Georgetown at lunchtime tomorrow come by and see it! More pictures here: http://slideshow.mris.com/slideshow.cfm?ListingKey=90015176849

Restaurant Review- Mie N Yu, Georgetown

I had been to Mie N Yu on M Street once or twice for drinks so I was already prepared for the cool ethnic decor, great people watching and belly dancers. What surprised me for such a lounge-y restaurant was that the food was amazing. Everything was interesting (banana-pesto hummus?) but the flavors worked well together in every dish. My friend and I decided to get several dishes to share and everything was great, I would recommend the seaweed salad, Mei N Yu sushi roll (spicy tuna and tempura shrimp with avocado), bacon-chorizo-date thingys, and the lamb entree. Its worth a trip just to see the decor, the belly dancers are a bit much, but you really do feel transplanted to another time and place.

Tennis anyone?

Warm weather gives Washington area residents so many options for free outdoor activities. One I like to take advantage of is tennis. There are so many well kept public courts around, there is no need to join a private tennis club. Courts I love: 23rd and N (lit up!), Volta Park in Georgetown, and 18th and California in Adams Morgan. Use the links below to find courts in your neighborhood:

List of DC tennis courts (by quadrant):

http://app.dpr.dc.gov/DPR/information/tennis_courts/tennis_courts.asp?quad=NW

List of Arlington tennis courts (by zip):

http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/ParksRecreation/scripts/sports/ParksRecreationScriptsSportsTennisZipCode.aspx

List of Montgomery County tennis courts:

http://www.mc-mncppc.org/Parks/enterprise/tennis/index.shtm

Extraordinary Properties, Summer Magazine

Long and Foster has an Extraordinary Properties division for the marketing of upper bracket homes. They send out a quarterly magazine to affluent homes all over the Washington area and, of course, to Long and Foster agents. I love flipping through the glossy pages and seeing all of the gorgeous pictures. Stu Estler, EP's photographer does such an outstanding job making these properties shine. I usually have a favorite in every magazine, and while there are many stunning homes, I think this garden in Georgetown is the winner this quarter.

Click to see my dream house (and dream backyard): http://www.homevisit.com/mlsTour/select/?id=32187

For more Extraordinary Properties to drool over click: http://homes.longandfoster.com/Real-Estate/Extraordinary_Properties.aspx

Just Sold! 2828 Wisconsin Avenue

This morning, 2828 Wisconsin Avenue #502 went to settlement at SettlementCorp in Friendship Heights for a price of $565,000. Frank Griffin of Long and Foster represented the Seller and Nancy Itteilag and I represented the purchasers. This fantastic 2BR duplex condo really lives like a townhouse. It is so bright and open. Watch for it as a rental soon, as the European owners purchased the property as an investment. Now the paperwork begins to obtain the small business license that DC requires to be a landlord!

This one sale represents a larger trend of foreign investment in American real estate, which must be driven in part by the strength of the Euro and other currencies against the dollar. Unfortunately the mortgage community has not been able to accomodate this foreign investment very well, it took calling around to several banks to find one that could do a mortgage for these well-qualified buyers. The clients are premier bankers at HSBC abroad and so the Arlington branch was able to do a loan, but only with a large down payment.

I certainly wish the dollar was doing better so I could travel to Paris and not pay $20 every time I sit down for coffee. However, I think all of this foreign investment (the purchser was headed straight from the settlement table to Macy's to stock up on American favorites) is great for our economy.

Too see more pictures of 2828 Wisconsin Ave. Clink the Link Below:

http://matrix.mris.com/Matrix/Public/DisplayITQPopup.aspx?iid=39&did=13547&params=2803%20MTA0Mjg0ODM1Njc);2807%20RnVsbA))&exk=1563373490