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Kathleen Ryan's Real Estate Blog

How Important is Your Credit Score? Crucial!
Want Better Credit? Know the Score. By Nancy Trejos Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, July 21, 2007; F01 Credit scores have become increasingly important for American consumers. A survey released this week shows that more people seem to have realized this and have figured out their scores. Yet most Americans do not understand what those [...]

Benefits ? working with a Realtor
After the Purchase, The Biggest Benefits Buyers Got from Their Agents Understanding the process (First-timers – 77%, Repeat Buyers – 47%) Improved buyer’s knowledge of search areas (First-timers – 42%, Repeat Buyers - 43%) Pointing out unnoticed features/faults with property (First-timers – 38%, Repeat Buyers – 41%) Negotiated better sales contract terms (First-timers – 37%, Repeat [...]

Announcement ? Brand New Senior Citizen Homeowner Property Tax Program
Government Assistance to Homebuyers and Homeowners in the District of Columbia   The District of Columbia Government provides the most generous set of homebuyer support and tax benefits of any location in the country.  These benefits include Down Payment Assistance, Closing Cost Credits, Real Estate Tax Abatement and a special Federal Income Tax Credit.  Most [...]

Realtors and e-PRO statistics
People often wonder just how many realtors are licensed..so here are some statistics…including the number of realtors in California which is one of the states with the largest number of licensed REALTOR in the United States.  As of early July 2007, there were:   Total REALTOR population of around 1.3 Million California REALTOR population around 190,000   [...]

Condo Market Snapshot for the Metro DC area
Orange Report Activity for May 2007 by Local Jurisdiction Report Date:  June 15, 2007 Condominium Sales and All Property Contracts:  May 2007 v. May 2006    Jurisdiction - - - DC Arlington County Alexandria City Montgomery County # of Sales 2007 - -  368 174 97 256 # of Sales 2006 - -  349 138 [...]

Why Curb Appeal is So Important!
Why is Curb Appeal So Critical to Sellers and Buyers?   Wasn’t there a moment when you drove by an intriguing house, and you’ve wondered what the interior looked like? Now picture the same house with a rusty mailbox, overgrown hedges, and sea of dandelions waving above two weeks of lawn growth? Does your mind wonder now to [...]

DC Market First Quarter Growth
District home sales jump in first quarter Home sales in the first quarter were down 6.6 percent from a year ago nationally, but sales of existing homes in the District jumped 9.3 percent, the second biggest increase in the country. A quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors also says Washington-area home prices rose [...]

Response to 60 Minutes Segment on 5/13/07
NAR and GCAAR supports all business models and favors none.  Our membership includes at least Realtors® who work on a full service basis as well as those who consider themselves to be limited service, fee-for-service, minimum service, and discounters.  Real estate is a highly competitive business.  About one in every 86 adults is a Realtor®.  [...]

Why Buy Your First Home?
The Great American Speech  Buying your first home is expensive and tough. It is scary. It is also usually more expensive than renting. Why do it then? In our country it is almost impossible to save your way to wealth. Most people do not earn enough so that they can sock away $100,000 a year into their savings account [...]