I wrote about the importance of keeping your heat pump or outdoor air conditioning compressor  cleared of snow and the like to allow it to work properly and more efficiently.  With all the snow in the area and more to come in the next few days, I had to work to create a path in order to clear out the space around it.  I actually trudged through waist high snow a few days ago after the first of the snowfall.  I took the opportunity today, though, to clear a path so that when the future snow comes — most likely tomorrow night and into Wednesday — it won’t be as hard to get to.

Here’s a short video of the path and a view of my back yard.

Clearing a Path to Your Heat Pump After a Heavy Snowfall
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In this short video the snow has stopped, the sun is out and the temperature, while cold, is not unbearable.  This is especially true after you’re out there shoveling for awhile.  My wife, Jan, was definitely throwing off some heat and when you’re in the sun it’s downright balmy.

Lucky for us about a half hour after this video was made two strapping young entrepreneurs came by to offer their services.  Needless to say, we jumped on it.  We scraped together all the cash we had, raided all the cookie jars and looked under every couch cushion.  The bottom line, though, is that the driveway is now clear and we can get in and out.

Yowsa!

This morning my wife and I had a hearty breakfast and plenty of Green Mountain French Toast flavored K-cups coffee from our Keurig coffeemaker.  The we bundled up to head outside to try and make some headway into the huge amount of snow we’ve been experiencing.  Some media outlets are saying this might be the worst snowstorm since the Knickerbocker storm of 1922.  That was a little before my time.

Here’s a short video that shows my wife, Jan, doing her best to shovel out a path.  We worked for a couple of hours and made a little headway which is now being covered up with snow.

After days of warning and hype, the snow began about noon today.  The weather service is calling for anywhere from 20″ to 30″ of snow accumulation depending on where in the MD Suburbs you might live.  The grocery stores have been raided.  Long lines have been reported at liquor stores.  Gas stations were packed and when I was out and about fro a short while this morning the traffic was just like rush hour…only at 12:30 instead of 4:00.

Shoveling out is gonna be one hell of a chore.  I shot a quickie video while you could still see my knees…

Many a year ago, there was no such thing as Virtual Tours or multiple interior and exterior photos of homes on the Internet.  Of course, many a year ago there was no such thing as the Internet.  When people wanted to buy a house, they contacted a Realtor who would help them look for homes that matched their criteria.  They would get in the Realtor’s car and go a callin’.  That’s how people decided about which home they would buy.

Fast forward to today.  Now, if a house doesn’t have multiple photos of every room in the house and lots of photos of all the angles of the exterior of the house and a few pictures of the neighborhood it might get crossed off the list.  I’ve had lots of clients tell me that if a house didn’t have photos they could look at on the Internet, they didn’t go any farther.  It wasn’t even considered.

What About Houses in Bad Shape?

There are a lot of foreclosed homes and short sales in the marketplace today.  Most of those homes do not have more than one exterior photo showing the front of the house.  Why?

• listing agents for the banks that owned the foreclosed homes don’t have the time based on the quantity of homes they list
• listing agents for sellers of short sales don’t want to be bothered
• the home may be in such disrepair that showing a photo may actually deter someone from looking at the house in person

There are even homes that are not short sales or foreclosures that simply don’t look that great.  People who have been living in a home for decades may not have made any upgrades.  Lots of people are really not that tidy.  People die and the house is just filled to the brim with collected artifacts and knick knacks.  The kids (or the Estate of the deceased owner) need to sell the house but they have no strong interest in making it look like a picture from a magazine.

The Written Description

The truth is that many Realtors will write descriptive text about a home as if you might be buying the Taj Mahal.  When you get there you wonder what planet the Realtor was on when they wrote it.  We all know the  “code”.

• Cozy = cramped.
• Lots of potential = massive fixer upper.
• Near schools = the elementary school playground is right next door.
• Golf Course view = make sure you have safety plate glass windows to deflect the flying golf balls

Yet, when some Realtors really lay it on the line and talk about the need for TLC or major rehab, people  don’t want to believe it.  That’s where some photos might come in handy.  However, I can’t help but think it would be doing a disservice to the home seller to expose a home in a state of major disrepair simply for the convenience of the Internet home shopper.

What do you think?  Pictures….or no pictures with an honest written description?

As if selling your home wasn’t hard enough in this environment with hundreds of short sales and bank owned foreclosures depressing prices in your neighborhood. Add to that the fact that mortgage guidelines are becoming more and more restrictive.  It’s a downright challenge to sell your home even if you have tons of equity.

Now, we in the MD Suburbs are having one of the most challenging winters in memory.  Sure.  We’ve always had a snowfall or two and 2″ to 4″ is usually enough to shut down the schools and even many employers including the “non-essential” US Government workers. This year, though, we’ve already had a couple of dooseies and this weekend is shaping up to be the mother of all snow storms.  My quick check of weather.com indicates anywhere from a foot to 20″ depending on your location.  However, lots of people are saying, “Hey, have you heard? We’re going to get [insert really big amount of snow here]?”

No Showings

Of course, what this means more than anything else is that there aren’t going to be many people out looking at houses.  The roads are bad. Access tot he front door is iffy.  It’s a real mess.  Meanwhile the countdown clock is still ticking for the home buyer tax credit — $8,000 for first-time home buyers and $6,500 for current home owners.

Of course, the real bummer is that if the snow is really as bad as people and weather.com are making it out to be there will be a lot of people with a lot of chips and dip and beer.  Super Bowl parties are going to be mighty slim.  The bars might be a lot emptier than they hoped and people who have been planning the big Super Bowl spread and getting all the goodies together might have a lot of leftovers.

I’m calling it for the Saints by10.

I was looking into some ways to create some income from the Internet and found a pretty interesting system. Click Here! to check it out.

This is the day when good ol’ Punxsutawney Phil comes out of his hole or whatever it is to either see his shadow or not and foretell whether we will have six more weeks of winter or enjoy an early Spring.  I’m hoping for early Spring.

It’s also the name of a hilarious movie with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell about how a TV weatherman is fated to live he same day over and over again until he gets his life right by learning that it’s not all about him.

Some interesting links:

• Punxsutawney Phil to text his 2010 Groundhog Day prediction
• History of Groundhog Day on Wikipedia
• Groundhog Day holiday site (all things Groundhog Day)
• Groundhog Day (15th Anniversary Special Edition) [Blu-ray]

Check out the Real Estate Market Trends for your area .  Just click here.  You will get a totally FREE report e-mailed to you.

Yep.  It was another snow day in the beautiful MD Suburbs of DC. This time, though, it was only about 4″ to 5″ and it was light and powdery so it wasn’t hard to shovel except that my driveway if a little on the longish side.  Luckily, I have  a garage and that’s where I keep my car.  Sure.  I keep other things in there, too.  Lots of stuff I would really like to get rid of but my wife makes me keep and some stuff that I might use from time to time.

This (very) short video reminds you that, if your home is for sale, it would be a good decision to shovel our the driveway and sidewalk to allow easy access to your home.  Potential home buyers like to be able to actually see the house they’re planning on buying and if they can’t get to the door because of all the snow, they’ll pas it by.  It’s also about the joy of having a garage so there is at least one car I don’t have to brush off.

Check out the Real Estate Market Trends for your area .  Just click here.  You will get a totally FREE report e-mailed to you.

During the cold, winter months a consortium of area churches provide space for about a week at a time for the homeless to come in and sleep.  This past week it was the Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church in Adelphi (minutes from the University of MD) that played host to about 25 folks that needed a place to come in out of the cold.  The church actually provides more than a place to crash. The members provide food and other essentials to get folks through the night.

So what does this have to do with Raulins Bakery?  Well, Raulins stepped up to the plate (literally) to provide some of the tastiest baked goods in the area — as a gift!

If you’ve never been to Raulins you’re missing a great treat. People in the know rave about their apple fritters.  I, personally, like the apple fritters just fine but tend toward the mouth watering chocolate doughnuts and their ginormous cinnamon rolls. Of course, Raulins Bakery also bakes up a large variety of breads and rolls as well as muffins and lots of other tasty treats.  They also run a sandwich take-out of some of the best sandwiches in the area.

Stop On By

If you’re in the Beltsville, MD area just north of the Beltway and the University of MD you should drop by to pick up some goodies to go.  You may just find yourself going back again and again.

Thank you, Raulins Bakery, for being a great bakery and a fantastic neighbor!

Raulins Bakery
10476 Baltimore Avenue
Beltsville, MD 20705
301-937-9595

This is going to be a short post about how some people think about buying a house vs renting the apartment, town house, condo or even the single family home they’re renting.

First, there is nothing wrong with renting a place to live.  Lots of people do it.  In fact, I know people who have rented their entire lives.  There are people who have been home owners who, for a variety of reasons decided to give up on home ownership and went back to renting.

Does It Make Economic Sense to Own a Home?

Depending on your situation, it may also make good economic sense to own a home.  I have this cool spreadsheet that allows me to plug in some numbers and a few assumptions about how your home will increase in value over time.  At the bottom of the spreadsheet is a number which tells you the difference between renting and owning a home.  Sometimes the result is amazing.

Of course, from my point of view, the real benefit of owning a home is that you don’t have to worry about the landlord raising the rent or taking their sweet time to make repairs.  Sure. When you own a place, the responsibility is yours.  That also means you can do it yourself or hire in a contractor to take care of any problems.  You can paint whatever color you like, make some renovations, whatever. You can also take the opportunity to get involved in the neighborhood whether it’s with the schools or local civic association.

My point here is that when people look at the cost of buying a house vs what they’re paying for rent, they need to take a lot of things into consideration.  The monthly mortgage payment might seem higher, at first, but after looking at the tax deduction for the mortgage interest, the increase in the value of the house over time, and other factors you may find out that it is, in fact, cheaper to own than to rent.

Give me a call.  I can run some numbers for you.

Check out the Real Estate Market Trends for your area .  Just click here.  You will get a totally FREE report e-mailed to you.