Top Blog Posts of the Past Week
Okay, in truth, the following list should read Real World, Real World, Affordable Condos, Real World, Real World, First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit, Real World, Real World, Real World, Real World. It’s an unstoppable force! as I predicted.
But in the name of variety and, well, a “housing complex,” I’ll leave most of the Real World posts to be discovered by Googlers and those that click on the top link. All the bios I wrote about the various roommates are collected there.
(1) Here They Are D.C., Your Seven (Eight, Actually) Strangers!
(2) D.C.’s Designated Affordable Condos Are Great—Just Don’t Move Any Time Soon
President Renews First-Time Homebuyer Credit
Today, President Barack Obama signed a $24 billion stimulus bill that included renewing the first-time homebuyer tax credit (as the A.P. reports).
The National Association of Realtors has posted a Q&A about the credit, which is altered significantly in this bill, on its website. Their responses should answer all the basic questions:
Who Qualifies for the Extended Credit?
- First-time home buyers who purchase homes between November 6, 2009 and April 30, 2010.
- Current home owners purchasing a home between November 6, 2009 and April 30, 2010, who have used the home being sold or vacated as a principal residence for five consecutive years within the last eight.
To qualify as a “first-time home buyer” the purchaser or his/her spouse may not have owned a residence during the three years prior to the purchase. If you or your client purchased a home between January 1, 2009 and the date the bill is signed by President Obama, please see: 2009 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.
Study: Washington D.C. Has the Strongest Commercial Real Estate Market in U.S.
K Street downtown
Yesterday the Urban Land Institute released its annual survey on commercial real estate across the country naming D.C. the number one “recession-proof city,” ahead of San Francisco, Boston, Austin, and New York.
This is really no surprise. Though I recently posted on a vision—laid out by New York magazine—about artists transforming empty office spaces into the new loft studios, the truth is neither their city, nor our’s has suffered much in terms of office vacancies. As of last month, D.C.’s office vacancy rates were up “sharply” from the previous year, but they still remained the second lowest in the country, according to the Washington Business Journal.
Read More “Study: Washington D.C. Has the Strongest Commercial Real Estate Market in U.S.” »
Seeking Inquiries for Ask Housing Complex!
You’ve got problems. I know you do.
Ever since I started this blog, the complaints have poured in. People wonder how they can stave off rent increases. How to battle their contemptuous, secretive condo boards. How to deal with neighbors whose construction projects are encroaching on their property.
Some of the stories, I get to write about. Some need a new channel. So: I’m starting an advice column. I’ll call the real estate lawyers, dig through the city rules and regulations that you don’t have time to deal with, and weigh in on what’s on your mind (or making you lose it). Please send your stories, inquiries, and rants to:
rsamuelson@washingtoncitypaper.com
Wonderin’ what kind of thing I’m going for? Here are a few tales of woe I’ve heard from co-workers and friends, or, well, experienced myself. For example, how to handle the situation when…
- Your landlord tries to raise your rent after years of barely responding to services requests, including a collapsed bedroom ceiling which didn’t get fixed for weeks. But your landlord claims he’s within his rights to up the rate, and you’re no saint, having failed to pay your rent on time on several occasions. Is there any way to convince him he’s lucky to have such understanding tenants, regardless of your mishaps, and let you keep your current rate?
- Your neighbors don’t give a shit about anyone else: They park halfway into people’s driveway entrances. They keep refuse on their porch, which occasionally drifts into your lawn and around the neighborhood. For months, they used a busted trashcan, which leaked foam boxing materials, now whirling around the alley. You stole their busted trashcan. But how can you deal with the continuous onslaught of problems in one fell swoop?
- Your roommate begs your grouphouse to allow him to “foster” a dog, agreeing that the adoption will be temporary and he will keep the K-9 cordoned off on one floor. In mere days, he falls in love with the dog, spending nearly every moment with it—except for a few times a week when he’s forced to leave his home office or wants to go out and can’t bring the pet. At this point, the dog goes berserk—after life on the street, it has a number of doggie abandonment issues—barking incessantly and occasionally moving its bowels whenever left alone. Your roommate refuses to ditch the dog or move. Can you make him?
Image by Darkpatators, Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License
Capitol Riverfront Gets New Restaurant, Several New City Agencies
The view from Capitol Riverfront’s 55 M Street, which just signed its first tenant.
The Capitol Riverfront hastened its slow trickle of tenants and businesses during the last few weeks. On Friday, Mayor Adrian Fenty announced that the city would be taking over a building, located at 225 Virginia Ave. SE on the northern border of the neighborhood. In two years, Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), Office of Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), and District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) will move into the newly renovated, 350,000-square-foot LEED Silver certified office building.
Yeah, city agencies! Just what a neighborhood needs to generate buzz and inch onto people’s radars! Thankfully, there have been other new signs of life: As I previously noted, Harris Teeter signed a letter of intent to open a new location in the Capitol Riverfront. More recently—as in last week—the Washington Business Journal reported that a new Italian pizza/salad/sandwich joint will move into the recently completed Velocity Capitol Riverfront condo building.
Read More “Capitol Riverfront Gets New Restaurant, Several New City Agencies” »
Brooklyn’s Large-Scale Communal Living Experiment
One big happy family: Maitri House in Takoma Park
I’m still not convinced there’s an actual growing trend of co-ops, intentional communities, co-housing buildings, and other arrangements that fall into the communal living category. But the articles certainly keep coming!
Over the summer, I wrote about Maitri House, a 20-person intentional community that moved into their Takoma Park house in 2008. Then, in early October, the New York Times wrote about burgeoning interest in intentional communities and growing numbers of Craigslist users looking for communal living groups.
Read More “Brooklyn’s Large-Scale Communal Living Experiment” »
Congress May Pass New Homebuyer Tax Credit This Week
Two sources—the New York Times and Reuters—are reporting that Congress will likely be renewing the first-time homebuyer tax credit in the next few days. “After weeks of partisan bickering, the Senate voted 97 to 1 to clear a procedural hurdle and move to final passage on Wednesday or Thursday. The House of Representatives is expected to approve it quickly and send it to President Barack Obama to sign into law,” according to Reuters.
The original credit was set to expire on Nov. 30. Last week, we learned that the new version of the credit will extend to some current homeowners looking for their next purchase, and that it would apply to all contracts entered by the end of April, and closing before July 1 (via Wall Street Journal).
D.C.’s Designated Affordable Condos Are Great—Just Don’t Move Any Time Soon
MANNA Up: Jim Dickerson and Frank Demarais say the city’s stiffing affordable condo owners.
Tanya Davis spends most of her hours on the couch, watching cable television shows depicting graphic surgeries and other invasive medical procedures.
It’s not that she’s lost her job or depressed. She’s bed-ridden, waiting for her baby—“Ella” is the chosen name—to be born, and the due date is in December.
Pregnant for the first time at 40, Davis’ delivery anxiety is driving her TV habits: She wants to familiarize herself as much as possible with health care jargon and hospital-speak. Fortunately, that particular worry will fade; the real stress point is what happens after the baby comes.
If Davis feels imprisoned in her apartment now, she suspects the sense of entrapment will only grow. These two bedrooms, this living room nook, and this open linoleum kitchen in her condo are sufficient—for the moment. But three years down the road, her toddler will be running around bumping into things, and Davis and her husband might want another child. Then what? Move?
Read More “D.C.’s Designated Affordable Condos Are Great—Just Don’t Move Any Time Soon” »
Ten Ten Mass Sold Out
Perhaps the first-time homebuyers credit—which was set to expire by Nov. 30, but now is being extended—has been good to D.C.’s condo market. It looks like for-sale condos are being snapped up around the city.
Last week, we heard that Union Row, the mammoth 14th Street complex with some 270 units, was nearly sold out. This week, McWilliams|Ballard announced that Ten Ten Mass, located near Mount Vernon Square, had finally unloaded the last of its 163 condos.
Here They Are D.C., Your Seven (Eight, Actually) Strangers!
Hey, it only took 22 seasons for the show to land in Washington D.C., coming behind such locales as Key West, New York City three times, Los Angeles two times, and four international metropolises. Here is some fresh information on each of the cast members: Who they are and what to expect from this season. The show is set to air on Dec. 30.
Meet Real World DC Cast Member Erika
Meet Real World DC Cast Member Josh
Meet Real World DC Cast Member Andrew
Meet Real World DC Cast Member Ty
Meet Real World DC Cast Member Emily
Meet Real World DC Cast Member Callie
Meet Real World DC Cast Member Mike
Meet Real World DC Cast Member Ashley
