As part of our ever-evolving marketing strategy, we offer various real estate tools and resources for buyers and sellers looking for the right home or property in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase, MD and Washington, D.C. corridor. For sellers, we now have detailed descriptions of our listings with custom-made searches to show properties in specific communities throughout the Bethesda-Chevy Chase, MD and Washington, D.C. corridor. Buyers can familiarize themselves with what homes are available, where properties are located, and what are accurate prices. Our website, www.TheEstridgeGroup.com, has these high-level property search tools and other resources that make us the REALTOR® of choice in our market.

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Visit The Estridge Group website to take advantage of these wonderful resources! We look forward to helping you buy or sell your home.

Melinda Estridge
Long and Foster Realtors Bethesda
4650 East West Highway
Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: 301-215-6837
Fax: 301-951-7668
Email: melinda@theestridgegroup.com

RISMEDIA, December 30, 2009—We’ve all been there on making well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions, among them promising faithfully to go on a diet, exercise and eat healthier. And sometimes, we may even keep those resolutions for a little while before falling off the wagon.

As part of the yearly New Year’s resolution-making ritual, the Alliance to Save Energy encourages consumers to check out their home’s physical fitness and, depending on its overall state of health, put it on an ‘energy diet.’

How is your Home’s ‘Physical Fitness?’
The “physical fitness” of your home can make the difference between soaring energy bills or comfortable savings this winter. By cutting wasteful energy use, an energy-efficient home is a strong defense against winter winds, rain, sleet, snow, and chill, while also reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and increasing national security.

And Uncle Sam is offering another incentive for putting your home on an energy diet: A 30% tax credit—a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your income taxes owed—of up to $1,500 during the remainder of 2009 and throughout 2010 for specific energy efficiency home improvements. Details on qualifying products, including insulation and sealing products, highly efficient furnaces, heat pumps, and windows, are available at www.ase.org/taxcredits.

The Alliance offers the following physical fitness tips to help cut your home’s energy bills and increase comfort.

Is Your Home Leaking Energy Dollars?
First plug air leaks. Your heating and cooling dollars could be going out your windows, doors, and electrical outlets. Seal all those air leaks with sealant or caulking and weather stripping.

Then, “insulate” yourself from price shocks. Install appropriate insulation for your climate based on R-values. Start with attic insulation, followed by exterior and basement walls, floors, and crawl spaces. Insulate and seal attic air ducts. These first two steps will increase your comfort, make your home quieter, and reduce your heating and cooling costs by up to 20%.

Go “window shopping” at www.efficientwindows.org to discover how high-performance ENERGY STAR-labeled windows can cut heating costs by as much as 30% compared to single-pane windows, while increasing indoor comfort and lessening fading of home furnishings.

Improve How You Care for and Heat Your Home
Heating accounts for 31% of the typical home’s energy costs. Sealing and insulating your home, as well as the other energy efficiency measures below, will lower your heating bills, increase your comfort, and decrease your carbon footprint.

Properly maintain your HVAC system. Just as a tune-up for your car can improve your gas mileage, a semi-annual or yearly tune-up of your heating and cooling system can improve efficiency and comfort.

Keep furnace filters clean. Check your filter every month, especially during heavy use months (winter and summer), and change it if it looks dirty. At a minimum, change the filter every three months. A dirty filter will slow down air flow and make the system work harder to keep you warm–wasting energy. A clean filter will also prevent dust and dirt from building up in the system, which could require expensive maintenance and/or cause early system failure.

Seal your heating and cooling ducts. In a typical house with a forced air system, about 20% of the air that moves through the duct system is lost due to leaks, holes, and poorly connected ducts. Sealing and insulating ducts increases efficiency, lowers home energy bills, and can often pay for itself in energy savings. Insulate ducts in unheated areas such as attics, crawlspaces, and garages with duct insulation that carries an R-value of 6 or higher. Also, a well-designed and sealed duct system may make it possible to downsize to a smaller, less costly heating and cooling system that will provide better dehumidification.

Let a programmable thermostat “remember” to lower the heat while your home is empty and/or overnight to reduce heating costs by up to 10%–and allow you to come home and wake up to a toasty, comfortable house.

Have to replace your HVAC equipment? Consider installing ENERGY STAR-qualified heating and cooling equipment. Installed correctly, these high-efficiency units can save up to 20% on heating and cooling costs. And, certain highly-efficient models qualify for the current federal income tax credit.

Open curtains and other window treatments on your west- and south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home, and close them at night.

Replacing or purchasing energy-using and energy-related products? Save up to 30% in related energy bills with products earning the ENERGY STAR label, the symbol of energy efficiency, on some 50 product categories, including appliances, electronics, windows, lighting, and home office equipment.

RISMEDIA, December 23, 2009—Existing home sales rose again in November 2009 as first-time buyers rushed to close sales before the original November 30 deadline for the recently extended and expanded tax credit, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Existing home sales–including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops– rose 7.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million units in November from 6.09 million in October, and are 44.1% higher than the 4.54 million-unit pace in November 2008. Current sales remain at the highest level since February 2007 when they hit 6.55 million.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the rise was expected. “This clearly is a rush of first-time buyers not wanting to miss out on the tax credit, but there are many more potential buyers who can enter the market in the months ahead,” he said. “We expect a temporary sales drop while buying activity ramps up for another surge in the spring when buyers take advantage of the expanded tax credit, which hopefully will take us into a self-sustaining market in the second half of 2010. In all, 4.4 million households are expected to claim the tax credit before it expires and balance should be restored to the housing sector with inventories continuing to decline.”

An NAR practitioner survey shows first-time buyers purchased 51% of homes in November, compared with an upwardly revised 50% of transactions in October.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.88% in November from 4.95% in October; the rate was 6.09% in November 2008. Last month’s mortgage interest rate was the second lowest on record after bottoming at 4.81% in April 2009.

NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz., said conditions are optimal for buyers in the current market. “Inventories have steadily declined and are closer to balanced levels, which indicate home prices in many areas are either stabilizing or could soon stabilize and return to normal appreciation patterns,” she said. “This means buyers still have good choices but are purchasing near the bottom of the price cycle with historically low mortgage interest rates. Throw a tax credit on top and it really doesn’t get any better for buyers with secure jobs and long-term ownership plans.”

Total housing inventory at the end of November declined 1.3% to 3.52 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 6.5-month supply at the current sales pace, down from an 7.0-month supply in October.

Raw unsold inventory figures are 15.5% below a year ago. The last time there was a lower supply of homes on the market was April 2006 when it was at a 6.1-month supply.

“Nearly all markets experienced a solid sales gain from one year ago,” Yun said. “The only markets with measurably lower sales were in San Diego, Riverside, and Sacramento, where inventory shortages for lower priced homes are limiting sales.”

For the second month in a row, sales have risen in all price classes from a year earlier. Prior to October, the only consistent gains were in the lower price ranges.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $172,600 in November, which is 4.3% below November 2008. Distressed properties, which accounted for 33% of sales in November, continue to downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes in the same area.

Single-family home sales jumped 8.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million in November from a level of 5.32 million in October, and are 42.1% above the pace of 4.06 million in November 2008. The median existing single-family home price was $171,900 in November, down 4.4% from a year ago.

Existing condominium and co-op sales in November were unchanged from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 770,000 in October, but are 60.1% above the 481,000-unit pace a year ago. The median existing condo price was $178,000 in November, which is 3.1% below November 2008.

Northeast
Regionally, existing home sales in the Northeast rose 6.6% to an annual level of 1.13 million in November, and are 52.7% higher than November 2008. The median price in the Northeast was $223,400, down 13.1% from a year ago.

Midwest
Existing-home sales in the Midwest increased 8.4% in November to a pace of 1.55 million and are 53.5% above a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $140,800, a decline of 0.4% from November 2008.

South
In the South, existing-home sales rose 4.8% to an annual level of 2.39 million in November and are 44.8% higher than a year ago. The median price in the South was $151,400, down 1.4% from November 2008.

West
Existing-home sales in the West increased 10.6% to an annual rate of 1.46 million in November and are 28.1% above November 2008. The median price in the West was $231,100, which is 4.1% below a year ago.

Do You Need Real-Time ID-Theft Protection?

Even as the effectiveness of credit monitoring services comes under fire, some of the same companies are pushing a new generation of personal data tracking: identity theft protection that involves real-time monitoring of your most important information.

Here's how it works.  Companies that track personally identifiable information, or PII, contract with third-party database providers and track any activity that involves a consumer's name, address, date of birth or Social Security number.  Some services also scour web sites where such information is illegally traded.  Providers say that these services -- which can cost between $9.95 to $29.95 a month -- have the potential to catch identity fraud before it has occurred, thanks to the ability to monitor PII activity in real time.  Credit„monitoring, in contrast, alerts consumers after their information has already been misused -- one of the main reasons why the products have been criticized by consumer advocates.

While there is no hard data on exactly how many companies are offering real-time monitoring of personal data, two of the three large credit bureaus -- Equifax and Experian -- as well as at least one lender, Bank of America, and third-party vendors like LifeLock and IdentityGuard are already selling the service.  "In the past year, there's really been an explosion among vendors offering PII monitoring," says Rachel Kim, an analyst with Javelin Strategy & Research and author of two comprehensive reports on identity protection services released in 2009 and 2007.

Providers hope that PII monitoring helps attract consumers who have been disenchanted with traditional credit-monitoring products.  "These companies are struggling to keep their revenue up and to keep their customers because consumers realize credit-report monitoring is not all that effective," says Avivah Litan, a vice president and security analyst at technology-research firm Gartner.

But it is also adding to privacy advocates' concerns over the growing prevalence of personal-information dossiers: huge databases of consumers' personal information that can be used by lenders, marketers or any other service provider willing to pay the 50 cents to $2 charge per transaction to have it scored for the likelihood of fraud.

Most lenders already engage in such real-time monitoring of consumers' personal identity information by calculating identity scores that rate the likelihood that a specific credit transaction or application is fraudulent.  (If you've ever had to answer seemingly random identity-verification questions, such as the house number where you lived 10 years ago or the issuer of the mortgage on your first home, chances are your credit„application was flagged as a potential fraud.)

PII monitoring services are making this technology available to consumers, as well.  "We are using technology that has helped many of the Fortune„500„companies detect fraud activities in real time," says Todd Davis, the chief executive officer of LifeLock.

A big catalyst for the growth of PII monitoring was a lawsuit Experian filed against LifeLock in 2008, aiming to prevent LifeLock from placing or renewing fraud alerts on consumer credit files.  (Experian claimed that consumers should not have to pay $10 a month for something they could do on their own.)

By the time the lawsuit was settled in October, LifeLock had already switched to monitoring its customers' personally identifying information.  (As part of the settlement, it will no longer place fraud„alerts.)  Many of its competitors have followed suit.  "Now that fraud alerts have been deemed something that only consumers can do, the attention is going to be turning more towards information monitoring," says Kim.

But as with any new service, its effectiveness has yet to be tested -- or at least made public by the vendors who provide it.  "What we'd like to see vendors do more of is publicly provide their testing and research to show us that it's working," Kim says.

For now, the only gauge of how well PII monitoring works may be in so-called brand-protection or cyber intelligence services used by large corporations, says Gartner's Litan.  Large corporations often hire firms to monitor what is being said about them or their brand online, aiming to detect and prevent things like trademark misuse.  Roughly 60% to 70% of the threats against companies are typically detected, Litan says.

Yet, so far consumer„response to PII monitoring has been warm, says Javelin's Kim.  When asked to rate their satisfaction with these services on a scale of one to five (one being very dissatisfied and five, very satisfied), nearly half (45%) of the respondents to Javelin's survey gave PII monitoring top marks.  (Credit„monitoring was also rated a "five" by 45%.)  "Effectiveness is only one of the reasons consumers are purchasing [PII monitoring]," Kim says.  "Apart from that is the feeling of security and getting alerts from the subscription provider.  It's the interaction they're having with the vendor that gives them peace of mind."

By: Aleksandra Todorova, www.smartmoney.com

Just a short tip:

Buyers can be a little cranky on closing day if things go wrong during the walk-through inspection. For example, the sellers' dependable old dishwasher might stop midway through its cycle and the bathroom sink might clog unexpectedly. These situations can create anxiety for the buyers and sellers, but such problems are quite common and usually simple to resolve.

Most purchase agreements require that the major mechanical systems and the appliances being conveyed are in working order at the time of the closing. Defects are often discovered during the structural inspection, allowing the sellers plenty of time to have the repairs made. Occasionally there are last-minute breakdowns or defects that are not spotted until the walk-through inspection. In that case, an agreement can be made with the sellers at the closing to escrow funds for the repair or replacement of the items in question.

You can enjoy several galleries by walking throughout downtown Bethesda’s fun-filled streets. The free Bethesda Circulator stops within a few blocks of each Bethesda Art Walk gallery, and runs continuously throughout the duration of the Art Walk.
Free Bethesda Circulator Route.

Check out all the arts venues located in downtown
Bethesda's Arts & Entertainment District!

The attached article is re-printed with permission but contains some great tips for preparing your house for sale!  We hope you enjoy this article - feel free to pass it on to friends and family.

Tips for buyers
Interested in buying a home and claiming the home-buyer tax credit? Below are five tips:

1. Don’t procrastinate. Start searching for a home now. Getting an early start will give you a better chance of finding the right house before the credit deadline. Before you start house hunting, get preapproved for a mortgage, and do a realistic assessment of what you can afford. Buyers who have to sell an existing home should price it aggressively from the beginning to drum up interest and get a buyer as soon as possible.

2. Don’t count on another extension. The credit won’t be available forever. If you want to take advantage, be sure to make that spring deadline.

3. Mind the interest rates. Mortgage interest rates are low right now, but will likely rise next year. Higher rates will affect your monthly mortgage payments, thus the affordability of the house you are buying. Average rates on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage have been hovering around 5%, but when the government stops buying large amounts of mortgage-backed securities, rates could rise.

4. Communicate with your lender. Throughout the process, make sure you’re communicating with your lender regularly; if there’s a piece of documentation you’re asked for, get it turned in as soon as possible. Good communication is important in making sure the loan closes on time. And think twice before pursuing a short sale if you want to make the credit deadline. That’s where someone sells a home for less than what he or she owes on a mortgage, with permission of the lender. The process can be lengthy and unpredictable because the homeowner’s lender has to approve any deal, and can be complicated when there is a second mortgage associated with the property.

5. Don’t take shortcuts. Don’t forgo any of the steps you would normally take just to make the tax credit deadline. Make sure the house is a good fit for your needs and get a home inspection. Skipping steps could cost you in the long run.