Wow! We Won!!
I am very pleased to share with you that we were honored at the Long & Foster Awards Luncheon (held this year at the lovely Chevy Chase Club) to be recognized as the Top Listing Team of 2014. I swear, you could have knocked me over with a feather because I had no idea we had placed so high among such an extraordinary group of agents. We're incredibly happy and proud of the work we do with all of our clients, sellers and buyers, and we obviously couldn't have done it without you. I honestly think I have the best job in the world because we get to work with all of you. Shout out to Becky Vogel, who does our internet marketing, and Marc Hershkowitz, who does, well, basically everything. From Tom and I: great job, many thanks, and let's do it again next year! Barbara with the president of the company, Boomer Foster on the left, and Paul Foster on the right.It's a good thing that we placed in more than one category, because the picture accepting the big award is just. not. good....
But a colleague took this one clowning around afterward,
and it's sort of more fun anyway.
 The whole wonderful group invited from our office.We really do work with the best agents in the world.
Barbara, Tom, Marc and Susan
Nalls Home Partners
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Client of the Month
Our Clients of the Month are Michael Hoon and Diana Rodum. We listed their well loved Chevy Chase home earlier this spring, and it is currently under contract. This is what they wrote to us about their move:
Here is a picture of us in front of the wall of our Bryce Canyon house facing the street. After nearly fifty years on the East Coast, we returned to the Midwest to enjoy a slower pace. Of course, it has been anything but slower, with unpacking, fixing up the new house, going to various festivals in the Madison area. Next up is the BratFest! We have also been hiking in the various Ice Age parks in the region. And now we are getting ready for the canoe/seakayaking season.
It sounds like retirement suits them well! So glad to hear it. We wish them great good luck and happiness on their new adventure.
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Regional Sales Trends For Single Family Homes
Contracts Ratified Per Month
Montgomery County
Washington DC 
Information provided by GCAAR
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11628 Glen Road
Potomac, MD 20854
$1.495 Million
Very special, four bedroom, three and a half bath custom home, thoughtfully sited on two spectacularly landscaped acres - truly a rare offering. Designed by award winning architect Anne Decker, the home's simple elegance seamlessly blends classic architecture & orientation to perfectly incorporate the beauty of setting - stunning gardens, patio, pool & summer house. Too many details to list, a "must see."
Please Click Here to View the Virtual Tour
Estimated tax and non-tax charges in the first fiscal year of ownership $14,833.07
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3511 Glenmoor Drive
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
New Price: $749,000
Fantastic value. Much bigger than it looks! Four bedroom, five bath gem on dead end street. Updated throughout, multiple decks for outside entertaining, game room, off street parking in a convenient location. Freshly finished hardwoods, fresh paint, granite counters, updated baths, and ample space. You need to see this one to appreciate the space. Close to Rock Creek Park and public transportation.
Please Click Here to View the Virtual Tour
Estimated tax and non-tax charges in the first fiscal year of ownership $7,265.17
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4116 Saul Road
Kensington, MD 20815
$765,000
Big, bright, beautiful Byeford split renovated top to bottom, fresh paint, gleaming floors, and sun-filled open kitchen. Four bedroom and three full baths, including attached master, four levels, great flow - living room opens to sunny deck, family room opens to adj patio, large private lot, mature plantings, hot tub!! Two car gar plus tons of storage. Fantastic central location close to pools & schools, great commute!
Please Click Here to View the Virtual Tour
Estimated tax and non-tax charges in the first fiscal year of ownership $7,506.34
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20000 Fisher Ave
Poolesville, MD 20837
Historic property in commercial business district of Poolesville. Great flexibility of use with two separate buildings and paved parking. Several independent office/retail spaces. Main building is vacant, smaller building is retail occupied. Tenant is seller, will stay with lease or vacate with sale, your choice.
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Under Contract
2812 Terrace Drive
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
$699,000
Gorgeous renovation of the largest rambler model in beautiful, popular, Rock Creek Forest! Three / four bedrooms, three beautifully redone baths, stunning new kitchen with pro appliances, granite, glass cabinets / tile splash, etc open to dining / living areas & adjacent sunroom. Spacious, bright, sunny rooms, great flow, wonderful lower level with office and adj bath.Fantastic value! BCC Cluster!
Please Click Here to View the Virtual Tour
Estimated tax and non-tax charges in the first fiscal year of ownership $5,873.38
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Under Contract
2821 Spencer Rd
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
$659,000
Immaculate sun drenched, three bedroom, three updated full bath rambler on one of the largest lots in neighborhood. Updated kitchen & baths, open floor plan, spacious living room with fireplace and separate formal dining room. Master bedroom with full bath + 2 closets. Huge bright lower level with great recreation room, full bat, and lots of storage! Freshly painted throughout with refinished wood floors on main level. Terraced gardens & patio! Excellent Value!BCC cluster! 1/2 mile to new Rock Creek Forest elementary!
Please Click Here to View the Virtual Tour
Estimated tax and non-tax charges in the first fiscal year of ownership $6,135.46
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Under Contract
8905 Seneca Lane
Bethesda, MD 20817
$949,00
PRISTINE top to bottom renovation with show stopping attention to detail - gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. True chef's kitchen, wonderful breakfast room / garage conversion, 1st floor den, lovely baths, totally finished lower level, unusually beautiful floors, well conceived open floor plan, serene landscaping, great porch & patio for entertaining - truly a delight at every turn.
Please Click Here to View the Virtual Tour
Estimated tax and non-tax charges in the first fiscal year of ownership $8,187.30
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Sold
2719 Colston Drive
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
$699,900
Bright, beautiful, 3 bedroom, 2 full bath colonial charmer with a large main floor sun room addition in popular Rock Creek Forest. Updated eat in kitchen, modern baths, great room sizes, fully finished lower level, fenced level lot, rare attached garage. New systems and roof - ready to move in and enjoy!
Estimated tax and non-tax charges in the first fiscal year of ownership $5942.30
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Sold
4809 Chevy Chase BLVD
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
$1.29 Million
Sparkling true 5/6 bedroom, 3 full baths +2 half bath (additional full bath in studio above garage) colonial on one of Chevy Chase West's prettiest streets! Significant expansions including fantastic light drenched great room, adjacent new granite & stainless steel kitchen, shining wood floors, gorgeous details. Rare 2 car gar with finished loft above including full bath & wet bar - great for home office or au pair. Great lot, perfect quiet location close to parks, downtown Bethesda, Chevy Chase or Friendship Heights!
Please Click Here to View the Virtual Tour
Estimated tax and non-tax charges in the first fiscal year of ownership $12,532.15
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Sold
8011 Maple Ridge Rd
Bethesda, MD 20814
$1.2 Million
Expanded four bedroom, three and a half bath colonial in sought after Battery Park. Less than a mile to downtown Bethesda & Metro. Modern renovations with classic finishes. Master suite with spa bath, open kitchen to family room, hardwood floors, two fireplaces, off street parking, all in a fantastic location. Welcoming community with clubhouse, award winning schools.
Please Click Here to View the Virtual Tour
Estimated tax and non-tax charges in the first fiscal year of ownership $9,880.24
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Existing-Home Sales on the Rebound Despite Some Affordability Concerns
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Article from National Association of Realtors�
WASHINGTON (May 14, 2015) - Existing-home sales are expected to finish the year at their highest pace since 2006, but accelerating price growth and rising mortgage rates have the potential to slow sales, according to an economic forecast forum here at the 2015 Realtors� Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors�, who presented his midyear economic and housing forecast, was joined onstage by Robert Dietz, vice president of tax and market analysis at the National Association of Home Builders. Dietz shared the building industry's perspective on the housing market and the issues affecting housing supply.
Yun said existing-home sales are measurably higher than a year ago, and strengthened in March as more buyers entered the market as the spring buying season got underway.
"Sustained job growth and interest rates below 4 percent have been the catalyst behind the improvement in sales," said Yun. "The demand for buying is especially strong in parts of the country where jobs gains and economic activity have outpaced the rest of the nation - particularly in states like Utah and Florida and cities such as Denver." After falling slightly below a pace of 5 million in 2014, Yun expects home sales to rebound and steadily improve, ending up at a pace around 5.30 million (the highest since 2006) this year and 5.5 million in 2016. Yun expects the national median existing-home price to rise to around 6 percent this year (5.7 percent in 2014) before moderating to 4 percent in 2016.
On the topic of home prices, Yun said increasing demand in recent months, without meaningful gains of new and existing-homes available for sale, is starting to negatively impact affordability and is pushing price growth to unhealthier levels.
"The exception is the Northeast, where outside of Boston, contract activity and price appreciation have stagnated since late last year because of slower economic growth and weaker local job markets," he said.
A large portion of Yun and Dietz's remarks this morning centered on the topic of housing supply. According to Yun, new home construction continues to underperform and is hampering overall sales from being higher.
"Housing supply needs to increase measurably to meet the pent-up demand for buying," said Yun. "To put it in perspective, there were 37 million more people in the U.S. last year compared to 2000, yet existing-home sales that year were higher (5.2 million) than last year (4.9 million)."
Dietz added that unlike the existing-home market, demand for single-family new home construction remains weak, and the homebuilding industry is acting accordingly by focusing on multifamily rental housing. "According to our data, new home construction for first-time buyers is about half of the long-term average and the reason is simple: the decline in homeownership and marriage rates among young adults," he said.
Yun and Dietz both also pointed to several factors hurting homebuilders, including increasing costs for building materials and builders' inability to obtain financing - especially from smaller community lenders.
Looking ahead in the building market, Dietz said activity is not expected to return to normal levels until at least 2017. He also pointed to NAHB's data on townhome construction as an indicator to closely follow. "A gradual uptick in the building of townhomes would lead me to believe that young buyer demand is finally on the rise," Dietz said.
Yun is forecasting housing starts to come in around 1.1 million this year and reach 1.4 million in 2016, which he said is still below the 1.5 million needed each year to keep up with the underlying demand. New-home sales are likely to total 570,000 this year, and increase to 720,000 next year.
Referring to NAR's recent study looking at wealth inequality, Yun said rising home prices in many metro areas have helped homeowners build housing wealth in recent years, but the continued decline in homeownership means the gains are going to fewer people and leading to worsening inequality. "Household net worth is at an all-time high, but the gains are mostly going to wealthier households, who in turn have helped propel vacation home sales to record levels," he said.
Yun added, "Although there are metro areas that are the exception - such as Austin, Texas - homeownership is declining in most parts of the country, and the inability for renter households to become homeowners is leaving them behind financially."
Moving forward, Yun does anticipate the homeownership rate to slightly decline for a couple more years before gradually rising as more renters eventually transition to homeownership.
After zero growth in the first quarter, Yun anticipates Gross Domestic Product to pick up in the months ahead, likely closing at 2.3 percent this year before increasing to 3.0 percent in 2016.
Yun expects the U.S to start entering a rising interest rate environment, with the Federal Reserve increasing short-term rates in September and mortgage interest rates gradually moving upward over the next year, hovering around 4 percent in 2015 and edging-up past 5 percent in 2016.
"The impact of rising rates on affordability will greatly depend on two things: housing supply keeping up with demand and the strong pace of job creation eventually leading to meaningful wage gains," he added.
The National Association of Realtors�, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
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Useful Website
I wanted to pass on a very useful website for our Montgomery County folks, that I heard about from a neighbor. It's a sign up for notification of trash pick up - which has been extremely useful this year with all the snow and holiday delays
On this web page you can select how you would like to receive notifications and other options.
So far I haven't found that they send too much email or anything but a reminder of your trash day and it's nice not to have to do the "will they or won't they" at 10:00 pm the night before.
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Fun Event
May 30th- May 31st
Location: Glen Echo Park
The 35th Annual Washington Folk Festival will be held on Saturday, May 30 and Sunday, May 31, 2015. The festival runs from Noon to 7:00pm on both Saturday and Sunday at Glen Echo Park. Rain or Shine! The festival is FREE to the public.
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Fun Event
Hometown Holidays 2015
Dates: May 23 - 25, 2015
Location: Rockville Town Center
Memorial Day weekend for the 27th Annual Hometown Holidays Festival. The event features more than 25 live performances on four stages, the Taste of Rockville and kids activities.
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Click On Image to Visit Our Website
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Deb Levy
Eagle Bank
1425 K Street, NW Washington,
DC 20005
Office 202-292-1581
Mobile 301-332-7758
Fax 301-841-0282
NMLS ID: 481255
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Counselor Title, LLC
John G. Nalls
4400 Jenifer Street, NW
Suite 200
240-498-8290
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RTS Environmental
Services, Inc.
www.rtsenvironmental.com
301-607-6276
1-800-722-5589
RTS Environmental Services performs Pre-Purchase and discovery inspections for Mold and Asbestos building issues. RTS also provides solutions for issues which may require mold and asbestos removal according to industry methods, practices and standards.
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Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc.
Nalls Home Partners, LLC.
Top 1% of Realtors Nationwide
4733 Bethesda Ave,
Bethesda, MD 20814
Tom's Cell: 301-237-5170
Barbara's Cell: 240-602-9035
Marc's Cell: 202-425-8885
Susan's Cell: 301-943-3851
Office: 240-497-1700
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All information in this e-newsletter is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
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