So, you're finally a homeowner -- congratulations! This is an important step in anyone's life, and it's absolutely normal to feel somewhat (or wildly) unprepared for the realities of owning a place of your own. What if there's an emergency, or what if something breaks? Do you know what to do?

Here's the good news: Like so many things in life, it's not what you know; it's who you know. Some homeowners take years to get all of these names and numbers in their mental address books or their smartphones, but if you start trying to find these essential people in your homeowners' network early, then you'll have an easier time handling any problems.

An Insurance Agent
If you have a mortgage loan on your home, then you're going to need homeowners'…

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Washington, DC Metro(various colors) Condos & Coops (in yellow) In Bright MLS, the median sold price for Condo & Coop properties for October was $338,750, representing an increase of 2.7% compared to last month and an increase of 5.9% from Oct 2022. The average days on market for units sold in October was 24 days, 21% below the 5-year October average of 30 days. There was a 2% month over month decrease in new contract activity with 2,088 New Pendings; a 0.3% MoM decrease in All Pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from September) to 2,628; and a 6.6% increase in supply to 4,383 active units.

This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 0.60 pendings per active listing, down from 0.64 in September and a decrease from…

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Dogs left alone all day get bored and restless, and many find relief in barking. Some respond noisily to any and all activity. But nothing is as annoying as incessant barking, even for dog lovers. If your dog is a yapper or a yowler, please consider some of these bark-abatement ideas to keep the noise down in your area. Your neighbors will thank you!

  • Training. Always the first recommendation for any behavioral problem! Help is as close as a Google search. Training not only helps your dog, but you’ll be surprised how much it helps you, too. You may get some insight into why your dog barks so much, or what it is trying to communicate.
  • Citronella collars. A humane alternative to the electric-shock, anti-barking collar and costs about the same.…

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Years ago, when I lived in an apartment, I decided to install a water filter onto my kitchen sink. I figured a could save the cost of paying a plumber to do what I could do myself. After all, I’m pretty handy when it comes to home maintenance. So, I hit up the home depot for a nice water filter, Rodman’s for a nice bottle of wine (a red blend), and then went back home to do my Ask This Old House thing.

Two glasses in, I’ve got the filter installed, Damian Marley & Nas playing in the background, and my filtered water is flowing beautifully and tastes like purity. Another home installation in the books…

Feeling a sense of accomplishment, I go to bed that night and fall into a deep satisfying slumber. At 3:45am, I’m jolted out of my sleep and…

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In Bright MLS, the median sold price for Condo & Coop properties for September was $330,000, representing a decrease of 2.9% compared to last month and an increase of 4.8% from Sep 2022. The average days on market for units sold in September was 24 days, 22% below the 5-year September average of 31 days. There was an 8.4% month over month decrease in new contract activity with 2,131 New Pendings; a 5.6% MoM decrease in All Pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from August) to 2,636; and a 10.6% increase in supply to 4,111 active units.

This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 0.64 Pendings per active listing, down from 0.75 in August and a decrease from 0.70 in September 2022. The Contract Ratio is 13% lower than…

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The Essentials of Due Process

Inevitably, from time to time, community rules are broken. When this happens, the association informs residents about the problem and follows what is known as due process procedure.

Simply stated, this means that the association should notify residents of alleged violations before taking any action. Written notices are sent describing the possible rule violation and residents are asked to correct the problem voluntarily by a specific date. These notices also explain any action the association may take if the violation isn’t corrected.

The association should understand that things aren’t always as they seem. So, any time a notice is sent to a resident, the board should invite the resident to hear their point of view.…

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1. Washington, DC Metro (in various colors)
2. Condos & Co-ops (in yellow)

In Bright MLS, the median sold price for Condo & Coop properties for January was $295,000, representing a decrease of 1.7% compared to last month and an increase of 6.1% from Jan 2021. The average days on market for units sold in January was 38 days, 19% below the 5-year January average of 47 days. There was a 16.9% month-over-month increase in new contract activity with 2,773 New Pendings; a 13.6% MoM increase in All Pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from December) to 3,783; and an 8.3% decrease in supply to 3,041 active units.

This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 1.24 pendings per active listing, up from 1.00 in December and an…

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In Bright MLS, the median sold price for Condo & Coop properties for December was $300,000, representing no change compared to last month and an increase of 9.1% from Dec 2020. The average days on market for units sold in December was 33 days, 24% below the 5-year December average of 43 days. There was an 18.3% month-over-month decrease in new contract activity with 2,373 New Pendings; a21.2% MoM decrease in All Pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from November) to 3,329; and a 25.1% decrease in supply to 3,317 active units.

This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 1.00 pendings per active listing, up from 0.95 in November and an increase from 0.79 in December 2020. The Contract Ratio is 57% higher than the 5-yearDecember average of…

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1. Washington, DC Metro (in various colors)
2. Condos & Co-ops (in yellow)

The median sold price for Condo & Coop properties for November was $300,000, representing an increase of 3.4% compared to last month and an increase of 5.8% from Nov 2020. The average days on market for units sold in November was 30 days, 24% below the 5-year November average of 39 days. There was a 17.1% month over month decrease in new contract activity with 2,906 New Pendings; a 10.8% MoM decrease in All Pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from October) to 4,223; and a 15.8% decrease in supply to 4,431 active units. This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 0.95 pendings per active listing, up from 0.90 in October and an increase from…

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