DC Real Estate and Area Events: January 2009

Renee Lowery, loan officer with Ameridream sent me this e-mail. I thought I share it with the rest of local Real Estate Professionals here on Active Rain. I definitely plan on attending this event and hopefully blog about it here on Active Rain.

NAHB will be having a Regional State Chapter Meeting 

LOAN ORIGINATORS,BROKERS AND REALTORS FROM  THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA , MARYLAND  AND N. VIRGINIA ARE WELCOME...

    TOPICS COVERED:

 FHA UPDATES

CHANGES IN THE  APPRAISAL PROCESS

LEGISLATIVE CHANGES IN OUR INDUSTRY

CHANGES IN LICENSING REQUIREMENTS

NEW NATIONAL DATABASE FOR ORIGINATORS

CURRENT CONDITIONS IN THE INDUSTRY

...and much more 

SPEAKERS REPRESENTING:

COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE OF THE STATE OF MARYLAND

COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE OF THE STATE OF VIRGINIA

COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

FHA/HUD

CONFERENCE OF STATE BANK SUPERVISORS

FINANCIAL STRATEGIES 

PLACE: HILTON GARDEN INN

LOCATION: 7810  Walker Drive ,  Greenbelt , Md 20770

DATE: February 17,2009  

TIME: 1-4 PM

  THIS IS A FREE EVENT!    

REGISTER@NABMB.ORG 

Please give us your name,number and company name.

 For additional questions,please call 202-543-1084. 

Looking for a Washington DC Real Estate Professional that will help you buy or sell your next house or want a "Free Real Estate Market Report" in your area of choice? Check out my website Houses for sale in Washington,DC. I can also be reached at Lanre Folayan "Buy home Washington DC" (EXIT PREMIER REALTY ... or Twitter http://twitter.com/DCHomesforsale. Please give me a call at 202-378-0283 (Direct) or 301-560-6700 x1154 (Office) at your earliest convenience. Thank you very much. Looking forward to helping you make your home purchase or sale a stress free and very happy one. Have a great day.  "Buy home Washington DC"

Before I say much,I want to say thanks to Colleen Kulikowski Licensed Real Estate Salesperson. If it wasn't for her,I would not have known about this. She wrote a post about Buffalo. Buffalo,New York made New York Times list as one of the 44 places to go in 2009.

Washington DC made the list of 44 places to go in 2009. Of course January 20,2009 which was the President Inauguration brought a lot of people to Washington DC. But why is Washington DC also one of the places to go in 2009? And which Active Rain cities made the list? Click on this list to see the complete list of 44 places to go in 2009.

The 44 Places to Go in 2009 - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com

Looking for a Washington DC Real Estate Professional that will help you buy or sell your next house or want a "Free Real Estate Market Report" in your area of choice? Check out my website Houses for sale in Washington,DC. I can also be reached at Lanre Folayan "Buy home Washington DC" (EXIT PREMIER REALTY ... or Twitter http://twitter.com/DCHomesforsale. Please give me a call at 202-378-0283 (Direct) or 301-560-6700 x1154 (Office) at your earliest convenience. Thank you very much. Looking forward to helping you make your home purchase or sale a stress free and very happy one. Have a great day.  "Buy home Washington DC"

About 10:40 pm yesterday,I said on Facebook that Lanre is about to blank in one hour and twenty minutes. (You will find out the answer at the end of this blog).

Later my brother who is in the Navy at Patuxent River,Maryland comes in the room and he tells me something.

He also gave me a card that said "To have a caring,humble,intelligent and driven brother like you is not a gift but a blessing. God loves you and he has something great in stock for you. He has started moving in your life and he wont stop moving until he perfects what he has started. Your business shall flourish inspite of the bad economy. You shall be elevated financially in Jesus name. I love you. (Blank)

My big brother who is in Nigeria sent me an e-mail. It said. ( Blank) It is well with you in Jesus name. I want you to know that we are all very proud of you and the world is ernestly awaiting your manifestation. Keep your eyes on the ball as you have done. The race of life in individual and very unique; no two people have it the same but we all have a testimony.You have done well and I you will yet do greatly.( Blank ) cos you deserve it. Bobo (His wife) is not in town so she can not send a message untill later she woke me up to remind me that I must not forget. She will reach you too .Stay blessed.

My dear sweet God loving,God fearing,caring,loves everyone mother left me like three messages on my cellphone. I finally called her and we talked. She gave me words of encouragement,prayed for me,said that she is proud of me,loves me and she is always praying for me (My mom probably prays for me more than I pray for myself-And I pray a lot).Besides the love of God of course,there is nothing like the love of a loving mother.

My other sister in law called and left me a message. She then handed the phone to my brother who said something nice before he hung up.

Debbie Malone, Realtor (R), Lynchburg, Smith Mountain Lake, VA (RE/MAX 1st Olympic)   and Rebecca Levinson, Real Estate Marketing Consultant (Real Skillz-Clear Marketing for Your Real Estate Vision)  were both nice enough to leave me a message on my Facebook profile.

A Mortgage company in our building even called me. (I wish they can give me some great leads next time they call).

Two of my cousins in Bowie,Maryland left me a message on my Facebook profile.

No matter how you feel,it is great to hear many nice words and words of encouragement from loved ones and friends. The barrage of nice words and wishes brought me to tears. God has been so good to me. Its okay to cry. Psalm 126:5 says that "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. My tears were definitely tears of Joy. There is nothing wrong with crying. Jesus wept. When I think of all of the blessings that he has bestowed upon me,I am thankful. If it wasn't for God's Grace,where would I be.

2008 was a very tough year for me. So I need the great kind words from my family members and friends today. This year is going to be a great year for me in all of the areas of my life and my prayer to you is that God bless you this year so much that you won't have enough room to receive it- Amen.

Sometimes the best gift you can receive from someone is "Words of encouragement and great wishes". Today is my birthday. I turned 18 again for the 15th time-LOL. You do the math. 18+15 = My age. Today was"One Sweet Day".

Looking for a Washington DC Real Estate Professional that will help you buy or sell your next house or want a "Free Real Estate Market Report" in your area of choice? Check out my website Houses for sale in Washington,DC. I can also be reached at Lanre Folayan "Buy home Washington DC" (EXIT PREMIER REALTY ... or Twitter http://twitter.com/DCHomesforsale. Please give me a call at 202-378-0283 (Direct) or 301-560-6700 x1154 (Office) at your earliest convenience. Thank you very much. Looking forward to helping you make your home purchase or sale a stress free and very happy one. Have a great day.  "Buy home Washington DC"

Being busy as usual made me unable to write this blog a day or two ago so I apologize for giving it to you a couple of days late-better late than never right? With too many great blogs being submitted here on Active Rain probably every minute,it's hard to keep up. Sometimes we don't have time to read blogs because we are too busy with our career-That is the only way we are going to eat and pay our bills.

So in case you are mad at yourself and thinking "I wonder what great blogs I missed today?". Sometimes when don't even miss a day,you still end up missing some great blogs. But don't worry,I have at least five good ones that I hope you will like just as much as I liked them.

So here are my five non featured Active Rain blogs that you probably missed for the Week January 18-24 2009. Enjoy.

1. I started writing FIVE posts today!! But don't have ONE by Mary Douglas. United Country Ponderosa Realty.  Red Feather Lakes,CO.

Ever started out writing a blog(s) and all of a sudden,you hit a brick wall?(Well not a brick wall but I am sure you know what I am talking about) Many great writers and bloggers come to that complete stop like a car that just ran out of gas called "Writers block".  Mary talks about five blogs that she started with but didn't end up writing. So what were they? And what did she end up writing in this blog? Read Mary's blog to find out.

2. Spreading the Good News by Stephen Wolfe. www.livinginbirmingham.com. Birmingham,AL.

Have you ever been surprised by someone before? Ex: Baby will you marry me?-Marriage proposal,I got a job offer with Hooters-LOL. ( I am sorry my viewers I am joking )etc.  Stephen captured on camera the good news that was delivered to his mother and mother in law. Not only was the news great but how he delivered it to them is something that you have to see. Read his blog to find out.

3.  I Believe WE All Can Fly - And Touch the Sky by Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman. Century 21 Liberty Homes. Mililani,HI.

Don't you sometimes feel discouraged and need something to lift you up? This is one of those lift me up blogs. Sally created POSITIVE ATTITUDE for the Weary Soul for a reason.

4. Would Losing a Game 100-0 Shake Your Spirit? Not when You've Got the ActiveRain Cheerleaders! by Kim Daugherty. d+b real estate. Mckinney,TX.

Would losing a Game 100-0 shake your spirit? is like asking me "Do you sometimes think of getting out of Real Estate?". Many Real Estate Agents are leaving this business. Some of them are established real estate professionals. Kim said that this story which actually happened (The link to the story is in kim's blog),sparked her interest and emotions. She also felt that a great lesson from this story can be applied to real estate. But how? Read her blog to find out.

5. www.ilist.com It's a 2 in 1 by Sephora Mohammed. Metro Brokers/GMAC Real Estate. Lawrenceville,GA.

Looking for another website to join? (Like the million memberships that I already have isn't enough). You might want to check out this website. But why should you join this website? If you are a member of Twitter,Myspace,Facebook,Friendfeed and/or Yahoomail? Check out Sephora's blog to find out.

Hope you find enjoyed and possibly learned something from reading each one of these blogs like I did.

Looking for a Washington DC Real Estate Professional that will help you buy or sell your next house or want a "Free Real Estate Market Report" in your area of choice? Check out my website Houses for sale in Washington,DC. I can also be reached at Lanre Folayan "Buy home Washington DC" (EXIT PREMIER REALTY ... or Twitter http://twitter.com/DCHomesforsale. Please give me a call at 202-378-0283 (Direct) or 301-560-6700 x1154 (Office) at your earliest convenience. Thank you very much. Looking forward to helping you make your home purchase or sale a stress free and very happy one. Have a great day.  "Buy home Washington DC"

 Hello! Welcome to Free Washington DC Events. To my two loyal viewers-Thank you for supporting me. You are the reason I continue to write this blog every week. And before I say anything I just want to congratulate once again our new president Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. May God bless and keep you,your family,your staff and their family in his perfect peace-Amen.

Now here is your Free Washington DC Events

                                                        SATURDAY

Gwen Ifill discuss and sign copies of the "Breakthrough Politics and Race in the Age of Obama" at Politics and Prose on 5015 Connecticut Ave NW Washington DC. Time: 6pm. Call 202-364-1919 for more information.

Yoga Day USA. Some of the workshops are free. Call 1-877-964-2255 for more information or visit www.yogadayusa.org.

                                                         SUNDAY

Werner Cohen, Bill Gilcher and Gail Rosen-Editors read from words that burn within me,a collection of Hilda Stern cohen's work at Politics and Prose on 5015 Connecticut Ave NW Washington DC. 202-364-1919. Time: 5pm.

Lauren Victoria Gray's dance will celebrate the diversity of Arab Culture by performing folklore from Egypt,the Arabian Gulf and North Africa at the Millennium Stage- The John F.Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on 2700 F St NW Washington DC. Call 202-467-4600 for more information.

And there you have it folks. The "Free Washington DC Events". Hope you do something very exciting and fun this week. Me,I am doing nothing except work,work,work. This is yours truly. Have a great and safe weekend.

Looking for a Washington DC Real Estate Professional that will help you buy or sell your next house or want a "Free Real Estate Market Report" in your area of choice? Check out my website Houses for sale in Washington,DC. I can also be reached at Lanre Folayan "Buy home Washington DC" (EXIT PREMIER REALTY ... or Twitter http://twitter.com/DCHomesforsale. Please give me a call at 202-378-0283 (Direct) or 301-560-6700 x1154 (Office) at your earliest convenience. Thank you very much. Looking forward to helping you make your home purchase or sale a stress free and very happy one. Have a great day.  "Buy home Washington DC"

Hello! Welcome to Washington DC Events. To my two loyal viewers-Thank you for supporting me. You are the reason I continue to write this blog every week. And before I say much I just want to congratulate once again our new president Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. May God bless you and keep you in his perfect peace. Now here is your Washington DC Events.

                                                            SATURDAY

Female hip hop group Yo Majesty perform at Black Cat on 1811 14th St NW Washington DC. Price: $15. Call 202-667-7960 for more information.

Lisa Lampanelli performs stand up comedy at the Warner Theatre on 13th and E Streets NW Washington DC. Price: $39.50. Time: 7pm. Call 202-397-7328 for more information.

Bill Cosby will be performing stand up at the John F.Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on 2700 F St NW Washington DC. Time:7pm and 9:30pm. Price: $54-$79. Call 202-467-4600 for more information.

Duke Ellington School for the Arts Jazz Orchestra will be performing at the Millennium Stage- The John F.Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on 2700 F St NW Washington,DC. Call 202-467-4600 for more information.                                           

                                                            SUNDAY

Richard Avedon who has photographed many celebrities will exhibit his pictures at the Corcoran Gallery of Art on 500 17th St NW Washington DC. Price: $14. Call 202-639-1700 for more information. Or go to www.corcoran.org for more information.

Nats Fest - The Washington Nationals players such as Ryan Zimmerman and Willie Harris along with manager Manny Acta will sign autographs and talk to fans at the Nationals Park on 1500 South Capitol ST SE Washington DC. Price:$10. $5 age 11 and younger. Time: 1-5pm. Call 1-888-632-6287 or go to www.nationals.com for more information.

And that's it for this week. Tune in next week for another blog from yours truly. Hope you will find something on this list to do. Have a great and safe weekend.

Looking for a Washington DC Real Estate Professional that will help you buy or sell your next house or want a "Free Real Estate Market Report" in your area of choice? Check out my website Houses for sale in Washington,DC. I can also be reached at Lanre Folayan "Buy home Washington DC" (EXIT PREMIER REALTY ... or Twitter http://twitter.com/DCHomesforsale. Please give me a call at 202-378-0283 (Direct) or 301-560-6700 x1154 (Office) at your earliest convenience. Thank you very much. Looking forward to helping you make your home purchase or sale a stress free and very happy one. Have a great day.  "Buy home Washington DC" Zip codes 20019,20020,20032 and 20011.

Ever wanted to know about the people that are in key positions on President Barack Obama's staff? Well here they are-a complete profile of everyone on Barack Obama's staff. From the Vice President Joe Biden all the way down to President Barack Obama's assistant.

While you are looking through every one's profile,remember their names and keep them in your prayers. President Barack Obama and his family,Vice President Joe Biden and his family and President Barack Obama's staff and his family need our support and prayers. Pray that God continue to direct their paths and order their steps. Know that God and his angels are praying for them daily.

Click on this link and see the profile that the New York Times did on every single member of President Barack Obama's staff. May God bless every one of them.

Obama's People - The New York Times 

Looking for a Washington DC Real Estate Professional that will help you buy or sell your next house or want a "Free Real Estate Market Report" in your area of choice?,then check out my website Houses for sale in Washington,DC. I can also be reached at Lanre Folayan "Buy Home Washington DC" (EXIT PREMIER REALTY ... or Twitter http://twitter.com/DCHomesforsale. Please give me a call at 202-378-0283 (Direct) or 301-560-6700 x1154 (Office) at your earliest convenience. Thank you very much. Looking forward to helping you make your home purchase or sale a stress free and very happy one. Have a great day.  "Buy home Washington DC" Zip codes 20011,20019,20020 and 20032

Numbers are in for the Petworth- zip code 20011 Real Estate Market Report for December 2008. The numbers are good. More houses sold last month than December 2007. And the average days of a house on the market that sold in Petworth is about the same as it was in December 2007.

So here are the numbers for the Petworth-zip code 20011 Real Estate Market Report:

• Total sold dollar volume of houses for sale that sold in Petworth Washington DC zip code 20011 was $15,109,721 compared to $14,920,249 this same time last year a 1.27% increase.

• Average sold price of a house for sale that sold in Petworth Washington DC was $335,772 compared to $466,258 this same time last year a 27.99% drop.

• Median sold price of a house for sale that sold in Petworth Washington DC zip code 20011 was $307,000 compared to $393,500 this same time last year a 21.98% drop. 

• Total units of houses for sale that sold in Petworth Washington DC zip code 20011 was 45 compared to 32 houses that were sold this same time last year a 40.63% increase.

• Average days on the market of a house for sale in Petworth Washington DC zip code 20011 that sold was 97 days which took as many days this same time last year.

• Average list price of sold houses in Petworth DC zip code 20011 was $380,633 compared to $517,803 this same time last year a 26.49% drop.

Time on the market houses sold

1-30 days = 15

31-60 days = 10

61-90 days = 3

91-120 days =2

Over 120 days =15

Types of Financing

Conventional =17

FHA = 17

VA=1

Assumption = 4

Cash = 5

All other = 1

Please view these Washington DC Market reports to help you in your home buying and/or selling decisions.

Congress Heights Washington DC Real Estate Market Report Statistics ( Zip code-20032 ) for December 2008

Anacostia Washington DC ( Zip code 20020 ) Real Estate Market Report - December 2008

Deanwood Market Report Statistics Zip code 20019-December 2008

Washington DC Real Estate Market Report for December 2008

FHA Assumptions

Looking for a Washington DC Real Estate Professional that will help you buy or sell your next house or want a "Free Real Estate Market Report" in your area of choice? Check out my website Houses for sale in Washington,DC. I can also be reached at Lanre Folayan "Buy home Washington DC" (EXIT PREMIER REALTY ... or Twitter http://twitter.com/DCHomesforsale. Please give me a call at 202-378-0283 (Direct) or 301-560-6700 x1154 (Office) at your earliest convenience. Thank you very much. Looking forward to helping you make your home purchase or sale a stress free and very happy one. Have a great day.  "Buy home Washington DC"

Exactly a week ago,I wrote a blog here about Your Website. What has it done for you lately? Part I. And as I promised,here is the second part to this series.

Here are the DO's and DONT's of a Website.

Website Do's

• Your website should be updated real time- As soon as current information is available,you want people viewing your website to know about it.
• You want a agent and customer friendly site.
• Include a property search ( IDX or RETS )
• Consider your selection of domain name.
• Lead generation features.
• Site needs to be rich content for search optimization.
• Include good relevant local links.
• Refresh content often- Make it content rich.
• Advertise your website.
• Stick with .com- Its more popular than .net.

Website Don'ts

• No property search feature.
• TMI- Too much information about you.
• TMJ- Too much junk.
• Stale information- Information that is not updated.
• Mandatory/forced registration.
• Ignore your leads.
• Mistreat return vistors.
• Keep your Web site a secret.

The instructor also told us that we should put our website on our voicemail- I keep forgetting to do that. All information should be on one page and you never want a horizontal bar on your website.

Also put a RSS Feed on your blogs and websites. Carnival of Real Estate is a great way to promote your blogs Real Estate Market Reports Blog Carnival. My instructor also mentioned www.bloggingsystem.com as a good blogging site.  Putting yourself into a virtual tour is a great way for people to know you. You should also never use music on your website. Why?You can get them in trouble when the music comes on. A lot of home buyers (who are very busy with less time on their hand) start their search online at work.

                                      Marketing your site

When you are marketing your site,you want to

• Build your brand       

          Find your niche- Ex: Baby boomers,Military families,new home buyers,first time home buyers etc. You are trying to attract a large percentage of a small population. It doesn't mean that you forsake and alienate everybody else who might end up being your potential client.

         Contact local marketing companies that specialize in real estate branding.

• Service your community.

          Reach out to multicultural customers.

• Buy advertising through search engines.

Google AdWords: Keyword Tool-Auction on keywords. The more popular the word that's the one you want to buy-GREAT TOOL IF YOU WANT TO ATTRACT MORE TRAFFIC TO YOUR BLOGS AND WEBSITES.

• Incorporate your web site into traditional advertising. Our instructor recommended a book called "Long tail" by Chris Anderson. He said that it is a great marketing tool book.

If you can translate your website into another language,it is a great way to gain more leads and business.

Extra tips

•  You should always do a search on other real estate agents so you can know what you need to do to give yourself an edge over your competition.
• Research from a customer perspective.
• KISS- Keep it simple sweetie.
• Watch new technology

Magazines

• Revenue Today.
• Search Marketing Standard - This magazine is about search engine marketing.
• Fast company.
• NAR or VAR Realtor magazine.

Books

• Real Estate Rainmaker: Guide to Online Marketing.
• Realty Blogging: Build Your Brand and Outsmart Your Competition.
• Blogging for Dummies.

Website

www.realestatetomato.com - Who is also a member here on Active Rain.

If you have any other tips,please don't hesitate to share it here. Everybody here on Active Rain love sharing tips. That's why Active Rain is the best online real estate social networking site.

Looking for a Washington DC Real Estate Professional that will help you buy or sell your next house or want a "Free Real Estate Market Report" in your area of choice? Check out my website Houses for sale in Washington,DC. I can also be reached at Lanre Folayan "Buy Washington DC Real Estate" (EXIT PREMIER REALTY ... or Twitter http://twitter.com/DCHomesforsale. Please give me a call at 202-378-0283 (Direct) or 301-560-6700 x1154 (Office) at your earliest convenience. Thank you very much. Looking forward to helping you make your home purchase or sale a stress free and very happy one. Have a great day.  "Buy a home in Washington DC"

Numbers are in for the Congress Heights Washington DC Real Estate Market Report -Zip code 20032 for December 2008. You know what they say,sometimes you can find good in something that is bad. The numbers doesn't look appealing at all to most home owners and sellers.

But home buyers who knows a good thing when they see it,this will be a great time to buy a house in Congress Heights Washington DC Zip code 20032. Why? Less competition from other home buyers and you have a very good chance of the sellers accepting your offer only if you put in a reasonable offer.

Just don't think you can submit an offer of $25,000 on a $250,000 house- Don't waste my time,the listing real estate agent's and the home owners/sellers time. Time is money. Home owners who are now selling their house didn't steal their house. So home buyers shouldn't do the same either.

So here are the numbers for the Congress Heights Washington DC Real Estate Market

• Total sold dollar volume of houses for sale that sold in Congress Heights Washington DC zip code 20032 was $777,000 compared to $3,905,600 this same time last year a 80.11% drop.
• Average sold price of a house for sale that sold in Congress Heights Washington DC zip code 20032 was $194,250 compared to $205,558 this same time last year a 5.50% drop.
• Median sold price of a house for sale that sold in Congress Heights Washington DC zip code 20032 was $190,000 compared to $198,400 this same time last year a 4.23% drop.
• Total units of houses for sale that sold in Congress Heights Washington DC zip code 20032 was 4 compared to 19 houses that were sold this same time last year a 78.93% drop.
• Average days on the market of a house for sale in Congress Heights Washington DC zip code 20032 that sold was 193 days compared to 73 days this same time last year a 164.38% drop.
• Average list price of sold houses in Congress Heights Washington DC zip code 20032 was $233,463 compared to $217,634 a 7.27% drop.

Time on the market houses sold

• 1-30 Days = 0
• 31-60 Days = 0
• 61-90 Days = 0
• 91-120 Days =1
• Over 120 Days =3

Types of Financing used   

• FHA loans=4

Highest priced home that was sold in Congress Heights Washington DC was a three bedroom house in the $200,000-$249,999 price range.

Congress Heights Washington DC zip code 20032 is a neighborhood that is bound to recover from this housing market slump. Please click on these links and read these blogs.

CONGRESS HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD INVESTMENT FUND PLAN

Congress Heights on the Rise: THE GREAT STREETS INITIATIVE

FHA Assumptions

Looking for a Washington DC Real Ehttp://getdcsold.com/post/1777731/fha-assumptions-more-ales-state Professional that will help you buy or sell your next house or want a "Free Real Estate Market Report" in your area of choice?,then check out my website Houses for sale in Washington,DC. I can also be reached at Lanre Folayan "Buy Washington DC Real Estate" (EXIT PREMIER REALTY ... or Twitter http://twitter.com/DCHomesforsale. Please give me a call at 202-378-0283 (Direct) or 301-560-6700 x1154 (Office) at your earliest convenience. Thank you very much. Looking forward to helping you make your home purchase or sale a stress free and very happy one. Have a great day.  "Buy a home in Washington DC" Zip codes 20011,20019,20020 and 20032