Cash for Carpools In Greater Bethesda, DC, & VA

October 28, 2009

Nope, not joking!  Hot off the presses, straight from the Dr. Gridlock columns in The washington Post is a reported 3 month program to see if $2 can cajole more people to carpool together.  I admitedly don’t read Dr. Gridlock as much as I should, so I don’t know his propoensity to kid around , [...]

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Bethesda News – First Potomac Realty "Counting Their Eggs" Irresponsibly?

October 28, 2009

Greater Bethesda Area’s First Potomac Realty looking A Little Suspicious Ehhh…just got picked up this story up on Reuters and they were kinder than I would have been with First Potomac Realty Trust, the “self-managed real estate investment trust that focuses on owning, operating, developing and redeveloping business parks and industrial properties in the Washington, [...]

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Haunted Houses of Maryland & The Trillium Bethesda

October 27, 2009

Haunted Houses of Maryland, from Potomac to Annapolis, to Baltimore, and…The Trillium Bethesda Condos? In a region so filled with history, it should hardly come as a surprise that Maryland is also home to many haunted houses and other structures. From the ghostly principal who roams the halls of George Fox Middle School in Anne [...]

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Downsides To A Real Estate Uptick?

October 8, 2009

Is there any downside to any signs of real estate market recovery? — or any other business that relies on financial institutions to operate?   Is there a such thing as a “bad economic or real estate recovery”?  Unfortunately yes — At least that’s my humble opinion.   The concept seems like a paradox or [...]

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The Beauty of Bethesda Condos

October 6, 2009

Bethesda Condos – Just A Bethesda Property Type Profile It’s no wonder that Bethesda is more and more the place to be in Metro D.C. This community continues to grow, attracting new condominium conversions and new condos. These amenity-rich condos feature everything from sunrooms and oversized windows to business centers and fitness centers. When it [...]

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The Seductions That Turn Green Real Estate Upside Down

September 17, 2009

Is Green real estate the place to be in Bethesda? Well, we all know Green is “in”…and it should be.  And not just because everyone in Hollywood drives a Prius either (although that’s part of the allure!). No…Green is cool because people dig the idea of avoiding “inconvenient realities” through relatively painless (?) lifestyle changes. [...]

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Even in NW DC & Bethesda, Appraisal Regulations Puts A Wrench in Real Estate Recovery

September 16, 2009

Note To Appraisers Serving NW DC / Bethesda Area I can’t help but start this post with a kind reminder to some of the “professional” Appraisers out there If you “serve” Northwest DC and think “Cleveland Park” is actually a Park in Cleveland, maybe it’s best to ask for help. And no since I know [...]

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DC City Council Passes New Co-op Taxation Regulations (well, almost)**

September 2, 2009

**see DC Coops update below… If you live in DC and believe in stimulating an especially satiated sector of the Washington DC real estate market, you now have the right to be slightly embittered. The DC City Council has passed a new co-op transfer tax that is set to go into effect on October 1 [...]

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Lionsgate Bethesda's Mistakes – What can We Learn?

August 28, 2009

A longtime Downtown Bethesda resident, I’ve had mixed feelings about The Lionsgate Condominiums at Old Georgetown and Woodmont. It never had “room to breathe” for one thing.  Its tight proximity to commercial/residential buildings on one side and a garage on the other made the The Lionsgate “less urban village”, and more a towering mediocrity. – [...]

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Is Goldman Sachs a Real Estate Barometer?

July 29, 2009

It’s easy to get all hot under the collar when discussing Goldman Sachs. You remember Goldman, right? Back in 2006, the firm began to hedge its exposure to home loans and managed to get rid of all of its mortgages and mortgage-backed securities before the bottom fell out of the subprime market. As a result, [...]

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