Are you looking to improve your DC home? If so, you may want to take a second look at Houzz.com. Cited as a source for inspiration and collaboration and research for home owners everywhere, Houzz is also a source for hiring local contracting professionals, too.

With more than sixty categories of home related projects to choose from, including interior remodeling contractors and outdoor living space professionals, Houzz is more than just a place to get great ideas for your home. Houzz is also a great source for you to find the interior designers, architects, and landscapers for your home who created and constructed those designs in the first place!

Increased home values often result in homeowners deciding to make changes in their homes, whether due to a potential sale or just a quality of life improvement, and technology makes this process so much easier.

“Homeowners and professionals alike are telling us that they are moving forward with more building, renovation and design projects this year,” said Liza Hausman, VP Community at Houzz. “Houzz provides homeowners with the absolute best resource to find the right professional for their project.”

As a homeowner, ideas for improving your home may come in many forms, but Houzz.com is definitely a resource to be considered. Another resource to consider when determining whether a home improvement will add to your home value is ask me! I am in ton of DC homes daily from new Logan Circle condos to 100 year old historic row houses.  If you would like some tips on projects that will help to increase the resale value of your home, please give me a call!

Lake Anna is one of the largest freshwater inland lakes in Virginia, covering an area of 13,000 acres (53 km²), and located 72 miles (116 km) south of Washington, D.C. in Louisa and Spotsylvania counties (and partially in Orange County at the northern tips). The lake is easily accessible from Richmond and Charlottesville, and is one of the most popular recreational lakes in the state.

Featured Listing

3917 Moody Town Rd, Bumpass, VA 23024 (MLS # LA7720830)

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Privacy! On the main side of Lake Anna. Five bedrooms, four and one half baths. All the bells and whistles. Basketball court, volleyball court, horse shoe pit, hot tub, ping pong, pool table, outdoor patio with grill, jungle gym, outdoor kitchen and many other amenities.

Property Type(s): Residential for Sale

Last Updated	4/16/2013	Tract	Quarry Harbour
Year Built	2006	Community	n/a
Garage Spaces	2.0	County	Louisa
Total Parking	2	Walk Score ®	0

Additional Details

Features

Location

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

(view all details for MLS #LA7720830)

Additional Options

Showing properties 1 - 2 of 2. See more Lake Anna Waterfront.
(all data current as of 5/18/2013)

1. $998,500 : 6218 Connie Ln, Mineral
   
   5 beds, 4 full baths

   Lot size: 1.30 ac

   Year built: 2000

   Parking spots: 1

   Days on market: 111
2. $1,375,000 : 637 Bear Castle Dr, Bumpass
   
   6 beds, 5 full baths

   Home size: 6,062 sq ft

   Lot size: 1.11 ac

   Year built: 1999

   Parking spots: 2

   Days on market: 193

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Sale Comps

Rustik Tavern

We recently visited Rustik Tavern, a quaint restaurant located in the Bloomingdale Neighborhood of Washington, DC.  The eatery, while small in size, offers a large selection of microbrews and specializes in wood fired pizzas.

On our visit, which was for lunch, we started with the soup of the day, tomato and then had the Chorizo Pizza for our main course.   Both courses proved to be flavorful and were delivered to our table rather quickly.  The only issue with the restaurant, on that day, was it seemed service was limited with only the bartender seemingly serving the entire restaurant so drinks were slow to arrive.

Because of its limited size, I suspect that this spot can be very busy on evenings or weekends but the wait, if any, is worth it.  With other established pizza restaurants in the area like RedRocks in Columbia Heights and Ella’s in Penn Quarter, how do you think Rustik compares?

Rustik’s hours, menu and other information can be found on their website, www.RustikDC.com.

Coming Soon: 1010 Massachusetts Ave NW, #311, Washington DC

Penn Quarter / Logan Circle Condo Available June 1, 2013, offered at $425,000

This exclusive sneak peak courtesy of Washington DC Realtor Evan Johnson

Don’t wait! If you are potentially interested in this condo, do not wait until it hits the open market to contact Evan Johnson and register for the interest list. Email him at evan@evanjohnson.com or call 703-447-6137.

“Condominiums of Distinction” 1010 Massachusetts Ave Condominium is one of the tallest residential premium buildings in Washington DC. Unit 311 is a lovely 1 bedroom, 1 bath condo with 712 sqft. Gourmet kitchen with euro cabinetry, large island, granite counters and GE Profile appliances.  Large bedroom is 12′x12′ and open great room flows from the kitchen to the dining room and into the living room.

1010 Massachusetts Ave Condominium is a secure building featuring a 24 hour concierge desk, rooftop terrace with pool, bbq’s and multiple seating areas. In the heart of downtown Washington DC, the condo is just of K Street known as the hub of the downtown business district. Walk to multiple Metro stations, Dupont Circle, Chinatown and the Verizon Center. Just 10 block north of the National Mall and many of the Smithsonian Museums.

Video: 1010 Massachusetts Ave NW, #311, Washington DC

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Location, location,location. You’ve heard time and time again that when buying a home, location is what matters most…. and for good reason! For that purpose the concept of Walk Score was created. Dedicated to the idea that “less time in the car means more time for the things you love,” Walk Score, developed in 2008, has made it easier for home buyers to find a home that is closer to the activities and places they love.

Providing ratings from 0 to 100 to determine a neighborhood’s walkability, buyers can decide if the area they are considering is more Car-Dependent, Very Walkable, a Walker’s Paradise, or somewhere in-between. If you are searching for a home, you will also enjoy visiting tools such as Transit Score which helps in calculating the cost of your commute and the even newer Bike Score!

Bike Score was introduced this week in honor of Bike to Work Week and suggests areas that are best suited and not so desirable for bike riding. Considering such issues as hills and bike lanes, along with “road connectivity” and a town’s biking population, communities have been rated using the same type of scoring system, with 70-100 being named Very Bikeable. Topping that list were Minneapolis, Portland, and San Francisco but let’s not leave out Washington, DC ranged at number 7.

The goal of Bike Score is to help cities measure and then improve their bicycling ridership. Check it out and see where Washington DC rates by clicking here. If you would like more in-depth information about places where you can walk and ride in our local community, please contact me.

Here are the Top 25 DC Neighborhoods as rated by Walk Score.

1. Dupont Circle – 98
2. West End – 97
3. Downtown – 96
4. Penn Quarter – 96
5. Logan Circle – 96
6. Chinatown – 95
7. Foggy Bottom – 94
8. Mount Vernon Square – 94
9. Judiciary Square – 94
10. U Street Corridor – 94
11. Swampoodle – 92
12. Shaw – 91
13. Columbia Heights – 91
14. Adams Morgan – 90
15. NoMa – 90
16. Sursum Corda Cooperative – 89
17. Near Northeast – 89
18. Tenleytown – 89
19. Georgetown – 89
20. Mount Pleasant – 88
21. Capitol Hill – 88
22. Park View – 87
23. Kalorama – 86
24. North Cleveland Park – 84
25. Takoma – 83

How does your neighborhood rank?  Let us know what you think about your neighborhood.  Email us now!

Let’s Be Green!  After years of sending paper versions of Comparative Market Analysis Reports (CMA’s) out to the community, we have implemented a new service called Market Snapshot.  We are excited about the opportunities it provides because it gives YOU the control to review instant up-to-date reports when you please.  The first step is to simply input general details about your home and letting the system know when you want the report link emailed to you (usually monthly) and that is it.  Review an amazing amount of details that relate to your investment.When the market is right for you to move, contact us to set up a no obligation, private consultation to let us show you how we can put our proven marketing and sales strategy to work for you.

Thinking about buying in a certain area and want to watch activities?  This service works for you too!

To get started, use the form below to activate your Market Snapshot.  If you have any questions or need help, please don’t hesitate to ask.  We are giving you control but our focus on customer service remains our top priority.

Let’s get the facts out of the way.  Do you want to now how safe this DC neighborhood is?  Washington, DC, like all other metropolitan cities have their fair share of strengths and challenges.  In many neighborhoods in an ultra-urban environment like DC, you have the choice of dozens,  if not hundreds, of restaurants, bars, museums, theaters and national monuments to keep you occupied 365 days a year.  With that said, we have diversity and crime just like the one stoplight town of Mineral, VA.

As Realtors, when assisting buyers find that perfect home, many times we are asked about the safety, economic and/or national origin that makes up any particular area.  Other common questions we receive revolve around children or sexual orientation.  Well, the answer from anyone licensed to sell real estate is pretty easy:  As Realtors, it is illegal for us to make representations about almost anything but the home we are looking at.

Don’t think that we are leaving you out on your own, however.  While we may not be able to give our opinions or knowledge of specific types of information, it is our job to help you find
out where you can find it for yourself.  In general, here is a sample of data and resources we are allowed and do provide on a daily basis:

• General home values of different neighborhoods
• Transportation options
• Types of homes available
• Specific comparable property sales/values
• Education on making and offer
• Home inspection assistance
• Choosing title company
• List goes on…

For those things that we can not discuss, we have many good options for you to review the data.  Let’s start with the 2010 U.S. Census.  You can get extremely detailed information of the number of households, economic makeup, national origin, number of children and age, just to name a few.  You can find census data  here.

For crime reports, the best site is the DC Police directly.  You  can search by address and choose the proximity you want the data from.  They categorize the data into different types of crimes and you also have the option to cho0se the date range.  Here is the crime report  link.

These are just two sites that are used daily for data on neighborhoods.  If you are looking for other data, please let us know and we will get you there.

Washington DC Real Estate expert featured on CNBC’s Power House segment of Power Lunch.  CNBC “FIRST IN BUSINESS WORLDWIDE” interviews Realtor Evan Johnson on DC real estate market conditions and sample properties.

CNBC reviews 20 of the hottest real estate markets nationwide with the leading Realtor in each city.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Are you interested in buying or selling a home?  We are here to help!  Contact Evan Johnson for personal assistance.  

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While the national “Spring Market” is getting ready to start, here in Washington, DC, the busy season started on January 1, 2013 to sell your Washington DC home. Yes, the freezing temperatures were still there but the real estate market started heating up really early. Very low inventory and historic low interest rates are helping but most buyers seem to know, now is a great time to buy a home. 

You must take in a lot of information when you want to sell your Washington DC home. National news can play a role but local statistics are important. More important than that is immediate market knowledge of your real estate agent. Evan Johnson Real Estate is involved with home buying and selling throughout the area and knows details that are not available to the public. This experience helps our clients reach their goals quicker.

This week’s news released in the Freddie Mac U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook showed Spring as an ideal time to sell your home. Citing the combination of low mortgage rates, heightened consumer confidence and higher home prices, Freddie Mac even created a video (see below) detailing the March 2013 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook.

2 Key Factors That Bode Well For Your Washington DC Home Sale

• Anticipation of a 8-10% Increase in 2013 Home Sales.
• Home Affordability at Highest Level in Decades.

This week also marks a trend in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate, with it having remained below 4% for an entire year.  Currently the 30 year fixed rate is 3.54% with .8 point and the 15 year fixed is 2.72 with a .7 point.  The 5 year ARM remained steady at 2.61 % with .6 point and the 1 year ARM was down slightly to 2.63 with a .4 point.

According to Freddie Mac Vice President and Chief Economist, Frank Nothaft, “History shows us not all economic recoveries are created equal and consumer confidence mirrors this fact. With the spring homebuying season upon us, the recent highs in the stock market are a welcome signal of better times ahead. But it will be the gradually declining unemployment rate and steadily improving housing market that will deliver broad-based economic benefits for Americans and, in turn, support the overall recovery.”

Learn more at FreddieMac.com.

Buyers for your DC home may be interested in more than just the number of bedrooms and baths, reported the National Association of Realtors® in their just released survey results. The 2013 Profile of Buyers’ Home Feature Preferences study studied trends in home buying over the two year period ending in 2012 and gave some insight you may want to consider when selling your DC home.

While location is always a factor in home buying, the study showed that recent home purchases averaged home sizes of 1,860 square feet. Many of the homes were newer too, with the typical home purchased having been built in 1996, and more than half of the homes bought being single story.

Depending on the area of your home, different features are more highly valued. In the South, for instance, central air conditioning is a must-have, while results of the entire survey only revealed it to be of prime importance to 65 percent of home purchasers. In fact buyers still searching for a home actually stated that they would be willing to pay an average of $2,520 more for a home with central air conditioning. Even  though the study says people would pay $2,520 more for A/C, in Washington, DC, I feel that number is much higher.

Hardwood floors were another much loved feature, and considered a big value to those living in the Northeast. Garages, however, and other storage was determined to be needed across the nation, with 78 percent of recent home buyers requiring garages and 39 percent of home buyers requiring a walk in closet in the master bedroom.

According to NAR President Gary Thomas, “Deciding where to live comes with a lot of options, but buyers quickly realize that some features are more important than others when it comes to choosing the right house for them.” He further explained that when searching for homes, “Buyers need to have a clear idea of what features are important to them and know where they are willing to compromise; in this respect, Realtors® can bring buyers home. Realtors® visit hundreds of homes with buyers each year, and have a unique understanding of what buyers value in their local markets.”

You can read more of the details outlined in the 2013 Profile of Buyers’ Home Feature Preferences by clicking here.

When looking to buy your DC home, we will talk about the items you find important. A national study can tell us a lot but you are not the “masses”. We work one-on-one to find that perfect home.

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