Real estate news

Before dozens of cute shops, before the town-engulfing craft fairs, Occoquan's history had as many ups and downs as its topography. The old mill town was ravaged by fire in 1916.

After six months of haggling and political gamesmanship, a massive housing relief bill is heading for final approval.

There are walking trails, swimming pools and tennis courts. The landscape is well-maintained. If you didn't know better, you might think you were walking the grounds of a resort.

Fast computers and sophisticated software give architects unprecedented ability to generate powerful designs.

Real estate editor Maryann Haggerty and columnist Elizabeth Razzi respond to a question adapted from a recent online chat.

You know it's coming. This winter's heating bills are going to be stupendous, whether you burn oil, natural gas or kilowatts. If you're going to do anything to minimize those bills, time's a-wasting, beach bum.

When Prassad Karunakaran lived on a half-acre in Sykesville, northwest of Baltimore, tending to his spread came with the mortgage. Over time, the novelty of mowing turned into plain drudgery.

Should your mortgage loan officer's fingerprints be on file in a national electronic database, even if he or she has never been convicted of a crime?

How do you turn 17,000 acres, 5,000 acres or even 300 acres into a single community that works?

Despite the housing recession, there are still more than 1.5 million real estate agents in the United States.

Congress left town for the July 4 recess with a half-baked cake in its legislative oven -- one that has huge potential significance for the housing and mortgage markets. The relief package left unfinished is designed to help hundreds of thousands of homeowners heading for foreclosure, pull buyers...

Affordable-housing problems are a perennial theme of conferences sponsored by state and local governments, professional organizations, and trade associations. Fairfax County, one of America's most affluent jurisdictions, recently came up with a smart variation on that theme for its latest housing...

Zillow, a popular real estate Web site, now has a complementary mortgage site where neither lenders nor borrowers pay for the service.

My mailbox has been full of comments on recent columns about life in homeowners associations, uncertainty with short sales and deciding how much money to invest in a bathroom.

Real estate editor Maryann Haggerty and columnist Elizabeth Razzi respond to a question adapted from a recent online chat.

Situated on 32 carefully landscaped acres just off Wisconsin Avenue NW in busy Tenleytown, the McLean Gardens condominium complex is lovely all year, but certain seasons highlight its best qualities.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Mark Twain, Edith Wharton and other famous dead people have something in common with many living Americans: Their homes are in jeopardy.

"W e live in Baltimore and are trying to sell our house," writes a reader. "My agent tells me that my listing has to be withdrawn from the local multiple listing service for at least six months, otherwise the number of days on market will carry forward from my old listing to a new listing. Our ho...

Let me tell you a story about a game of hardball played over a hot, summery weekend. It happened not at Nationals Park but in a well-kept condominium complex in Reston just a few weeks ago.

Real estate editor Maryann Haggerty and columnist Elizabeth Razzi respond to a question adapted from a recent online chat.

Karen Cepko remembers the day the cows invaded. "One afternoon I had three cows in my back yard, eating my grass," Cepko said. They had wandered in from the farm next door through a hole in the fence. That was shortly after Cepko had moved to Howard County's Holiday Hills subdivision in 1962. Bac...

Q. I recently entered into a contract to buy a house, but the deal went bad because the house did not appraise for the negotiated price.

What's wrong with down-payment "gift" programs in which all or most of a home buyer's equity stake comes from the seller, funneled through a third party? And why is the federal government determined to ban them?

The phenomenal metamorphosis of Arlington County's Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, among the region's most dramatic real estate transformations, teaches a timely lesson: Successful urban revitalization requires long-range planning and long-range public investment that sparks private investment.

The black-tie party at Washington's swank Mayflower Hotel seemed a fitting celebra tion of the biggest American housing boom since the 1950s: filet mignon and lobster, a champagne room and hundreds of mortgage brokers, real estate agents and their customers gyrating to a Latin band.

Here's what's really happening with short sales: All too often, they fall short of the finish line.

Real estate editor Maryann Haggerty and columnist Elizabeth Razzi respond to a question adapted from a recent online chat.

It did not take Dan Hurston long to get involved in his new neighborhood. Hurston moved about two years ago to Annapolis Landing in Riva and is already vice president of the homeowners association.

I have heard from numerous readers who were confused by a recent column on how to clean up your credit history (also known as a credit report) and credit score.

As a homeowner, seller or buyer, what should you make of the Federal Reserve's latest report on Americans' declining home-equity positions?

For perspective on institutional practices, nothing beats seeing how those practices differ elsewhere. Recently, I looked at how mortgage brokers and the lenders they deal with operate in the United Kingdom.

Every home seller who's serious about the job knows that scrubbing, de-cluttering, and all manner of primping are mandatory. But how far should you go in making expensive repairs to a bathroom?

Takoma has had an activist spirit from the start. An early example: Georgia Avenue was a toll road in the neighborhood's early days, and residents built out Piney Branch Road to avoid the payments. In the 1880s, when Takoma Park was founded as a railway suburb of the District, distinctions betwee...

In the collection of magazine clips and photographs that Faye Guercio gave her architect for her home renovation, she began to notice an inadvertent recurrence of turrets and towers. It wasn't long before she realized she wanted one, too.

Tysons Corner presents an extraordinary challenge and opportunity. No longer suburban, Tysons begs to be properly urbanized through visionary planning. Such planning could radically yet constructively transform one of the nation's most unattractive and dysfunctional environments.

Picture this: You're eager to take advantage of today's troubled real estate market and buy a foreclosed house at a fire-sale price. But you don't have much money for a down payment. And your credit files are scuffed up with late payments.

W hile I was hosting a radio show recently, a call came in about whether to buy a house that was in foreclosure.

Here are some of the questions I get most often from mortgage borrowers:

Real estate editor Maryann Haggerty and columnist Elizabeth Razzi respond to a question adapted from a recent online chat.

Beware the homeowners association squabble that escalates. Back-fence grousing over parking restrictions, architectural rules or allegations of cronyism can grow into civil war, and homeowners -- the source of all money in the association -- can end up paying big legal bills, no matter which side...

Cabell P. Bragg seems oblivious to what many would consider his million-dollar view of the Patuxent River.

The evidence of where the great once lived can come down to some peeling wallpaper in an upstairs room.

Q Our house has been listed for sale for more than four months. Early on, our real estate agent hosted an open house for real estate agents and brokers. At this meeting, someone suggested to our agent that we offer a bonus to the selling agent. Afterward, our agent pushed this idea, saying that t...

Over the past several weeks, I have discussed a proposal for a new type of mortgage insurance called mortgage payment insurance.

M ortgage loans that allowed you to buy without a down payment were a fast ticket to homeownership for many first-time buyers over the past decade.

When you're quoted a higher interest rate than you deserve because of information in your credit file, wouldn't you appreciate it if someone red-flagged it for you?

An ebbing tide lowers all boats, at least if you take the analogy to water-related real estate. Lower prices and longer times on the market mean it's easier for boating enthusiasts to find a home that puts them closer to casting off from shore.

Real estate editor Maryann Haggerty and columnist Elizabeth Razzi respond to a question adapted from a recent online chat.

In the midst of the Great Depression, 5,700 families applied to live in 885 Prince George's County townhouses and apartments built to make work for unemployed men.

Q: DEAR TIM: The plans for my new kitchen call for a range hood exhaust fan . Is one fan more effective than another? Years ago, the downdraft exhaust fans were popular. What kind of fan is in your kitchen? How do I make sure the one I select will adequately ventilate my kitchen?

Q: I applied to refinance my mortgage and was told that I would have to have a current appraisal. The lender contacted an appraiser to schedule a time. I paid the lender $349 upfront, which was charged to my credit card.

The National Building Museum's exhibition about Eero Saarinen presents an inspiring account of the Finnish-American architect and his memorable portfolio of modern buildings and furniture.

If you're a first-time home buyer, you'll find it a little harder to qualify for a mortgage than your counterpart did two years ago.

Could the mortgage industry scrap its controversial practice of listing hundreds of local real estate markets as "declining" -- and restricting lending there through higher down payments or credit scores?

In my last several columns, I have discussed a proposal for a new type of mortgage insurance that I think would help solve many of the problems with the current mortgage system.

Here are some events that builders and developers have scheduled for would-be home buyers in the coming weeks. All are free and open to the public.

Mary O'Connor hasn't had much trouble getting prospective buyers to hop out and check out her four-bedroom, 2 1/2 -bath home in Leesburg.

4 percent were afraid of the contractor's germs 30 percent said while fixing one thing, the contractor broke another

3 percent said a contractor asked them out on a date 2 percent said the contractor took a nap on their bed or couch

Real estate editor Maryann Haggerty and columnist Elizabeth Razzi respond to a question adapted from a recent online chat.

The gears of the mortgage market are starting to unlock for borrowers needing big loans. In expensive markets such as Washington, that covers most people looking to refinance or move up from an entry-level home.

When Melissa Jenkins received her college diploma last year, she was ready to get on with life -- and move in with her parents.

Coming home to Bayberry is like "going to sleep-away camp," resident Elliot Nudell said of the pocket of 57 homes perched on the south shore of the Magothy River in Anne Arundel County.

DALLAS Who have better credit scores on average -- home buyers with higher or lower incomes? Inside the country's fastest-growing home-mortgage program, the surprising answer is: People with lower incomes have slightly higher FICO scores. That finding, which emerged from a statistical analysis of...

Are you a baby boomer? Statisticians consider anyone born from 1946 to 1964 to be one.

Laurel Wittman and her husband, Eduardo Lopes, are examples of a rare species: successful short-sale buyers.

Properly applied mulch can help retain moisture in the soil, suppress weeds and control soil temperature.

· A mortgage with a lien position subordinate to the first mortgage. That means if the borrower defaults and the house is foreclosed upon, the second-lien holder will be paid from what's left after the first-lien holder gets its money.

Real estate editor Maryann Haggerty and columnist Elizabeth Razzi respond to a question adapted from a recent online chat.

The fact that Hillcrest is a front-porch-sitting, dog-walking, back-fence-chatting, heavily voting community is not that unusual in this area.

I'll admit it: When home prices were soaring in my neighborhood, it made me feel really smart.

A legal brawl is breaking out over how homes are appraised, at what cost and by whom. The outcome could directly affect how much you pay for your next piece of real estate and how much money you can borrow.

The nation's capital is proud of its miles of wonderful waterfront parks. For locals and tourists, waterfront cafes can be just as wonderful.

Last week, I discussed what I see as a serious weakness in the way the mortgage system deals with default risk. Essentially, interest rate risk premiums collected from borrowers that are not needed to meet current losses are paid as income to investors and not reserved to meet future losses.

Today, we take another spin through the e-mail inbox. A recent column about what happens to deposits when buyers back out of a new-home purchase drew the most response.

Many people look forward to the day they own their homes free and clear. But gathering the money to pay off the mortgage is only part of the process. It's also important to make sure all the paperwork is in order.

The Eco Wise column in the April 6 Sunday Source ( "Mattress Eco-Matters: Don't Take It Lying Down" ) leaves the false impression that to avoid exposure to allegedly hazardous fire-retardant materials, readers may be better off not buying a new mattress, which must meet a rigorous flammability...

Q Hyattsville: Every advice source suggests doing of plenty of homework before selecting a mortgage lender. Does this "homework" include actually submitting preapproval applications? In other words, is it common practice to submit more than one application, to see which rates come back, or is this...

Matthew Nguyen, 34, and Sergio Quintana, 32, had been house-hunting in the District for more than a year before they learned the name of their new favorite neighborhood.

To sell a home in many parts of the country, sellers need to outshine the competition, must be willing to negotiate on price and have to be prepared for months on the market. It's enough to make some sellers sit this season out, waiting for conditions to improve.

Like a spreading infection, restrictions on credit are moving into new and more specialized niches of the mortgage market.

Q: DEAR TIM: My city allows homeowners to install their own plumbing. To get the permit, I need to supply a rough-in plumbing diagram. What is a plumbing diagram? Can I just do a bathroom plumbing diagram? All I am doing is adding a bathroom.

Can a new house reduce your ecological footprint? An ecological footprint is a way of quantifying human impact on the earth. The originator of the concept, environmentalist Mathis Wackernagel, sees it as a way to help average people wrap their brains around an overwhelming amount of data. Wackern...

The housing finance system, while still functioning, is in a crisis. Interest rate risk premiums -- the rate increment on mortgages classified as riskier -- are two to four times as large as they were two years ago. Day-to-day rate volatility, which can cause havoc in the relationships between bo...

Does your community association have a swimming pool or hot tub? If so, you should be aware of a law that requires new safety measures.

One of the reasons many subprime loans have failed is because of weak underwriting, a new study suggests.

Here are some events that builders and developers have scheduled for would-be home buyers in the coming weeks. All are free and open to the public.

With hope of gaining perspective on the Washington-area housing market, I recently asked two deans of the brokerage business, John McEnearney, 81, founder of McEnearney Associates, and P. Wesley Foster Jr., 74, founder of Long & Foster Real Estate, to chat over lunch.

Real estate editor Maryann Haggerty and columnist Elizabeth Razzi respond to a question adapted from a recent online chat.

When Albert Fox bought his 1940s Cape Cod in South Arlington in 2004, he inherited "a high-maintenance English garden." In an attempt to ratchet down the work needed on his 8,000-square-foot lot, two years ago he replaced those beds with daffodils and daylilies -- and not much else.

In 2001, Paul and Laurie Wilner left what they described as a "typical Colonial on three-quarters of an acre near Great Falls" for a community of 104 contemporary houses without lawns or basements two miles from downtown Bethesda.

Could designations of Zip codes, metropolitan areas and entire states as "declining markets" hinder a real estate recovery and hurt minority groups and moderate-income buyers disproportionately? Growing ranks of critics say yes.

Q: DEAR TIM: Do you think a trench drain will solve my soggy yard and the chronic leak in my basement? Many of my neighbors suffered from a recent heavy rainfall, and we all are tired of dealing with water in and around our homes. Will a trench drain really work?

Needless foreclosures are happening all around us. Note that I am using a coldblooded business definition of "needless foreclosure," not a bleeding-heart one. Under my definition, if it costs the holder of the loan more to foreclose on a mortgage than to make it viable, it is a needless foreclosu...

I 've received many e-mails lately from home buyers worried about finding a good lender.

Q: My parents, who are in their eighties, own a small apartment building with my brother and his wife. They hold title as joint tenants with right of survivorship. When the property was bought, they agreed that this would be a 50-50 partnership.

A crisis looms. America's infrastructure is in terrible shape, performs badly and is destined to fail more often. Neglect, lack of political will, bureaucratic myopia and woefully inadequate funding are the primary causes.

Here are some events that builders and developers have scheduled for would-be home buyers in the coming weeks. All are free and open to the public.