Categories for Buying

Preparing for Your First Bidding War

You walked in and knew it was “The One”. In your eyes, it was perfect in every way.  This was the house that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, raising your family, hosting holiday celebrations, and creating warm friendships with the new neighbors you saw walking ...

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Your Nose Knows How to Avoid a Bidding War

If you are really serious about finding a house that you can actually buy without doing anything stupid or crazy to get it, just follow your nose.  If you can manage to fall in love with a house that is almost perfect, except that it smells like a wet Labradoodle, ...

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Narrowing Your Search – Check the Map First!   

When you are actively looking for a new home, your agent will set you up to receive email notifications as listings in your target area come onto the market.  There will be the basic MLS information with descriptions and details, and, most important, a map pinpointing the exact location of each ...

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Narrowing Your Search – Translating the MLS Information from Realtor-eze to English!   

Each day, you get an email with multiple listing service information for homes that the computer thinks might meet your criteria.  So how do you figure out which homes actually do fit your wish list without visiting them in person?  Here are a few hints: We used to have to ...

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What’s a View Worth?

What’s a View Worth? My first condo won me over with a spectacular view of Rock Creek Park and the National Cathedral.  I could look out any window from my top floor unit and see neighborhood dogs chasing frisbees, and the season changes were stunning.  When it finally sold, the view was ...

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You Call That Dump a Penthouse?

When I lived in New York, my apartment could have been the set for the old classic, “Barefoot in the Park”.  It was the top floor of an old brownstone at 46 East 83rd Street, just off Madison Avenue.  The address was very posh.  The apartment was not. I learned ...

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