January 23, 2009, Bethesda, Md. Difficult Times.

Even the Washington area is feeling the impact of the economy. Buyers are eager to buy their new home, but are very reluctant to put pen to paper and write their offers. The mortgage industry has moved the pendulum from ridiculously lenient to unreasonable strict. For instance, a person is able to own only four mortgages, so at a time when an investor who is wealthy and able to purchase investment property, the mortgage industry is prohibiting the purchase. This is a stupid practice and is harming sellers as well as buyers. The Sellers are the most anxious, as although many buyers are looking at their home and visiting the open houses, the offers are not coming in so their houses are not selling. Of course, the price at which the buyer will write an offer is difficult to determine, so unless the seller is determined to sell that house and will make the necessary correction to the price, the property will languish. For a real estate agent, it is a time of trying to figure out the correct path for each particular home.

Agents are following two paths. One the one hand they are adding patience to their already big bag of expertise when dealing with buyers. If you are wise and have a strong stomach with secure income, buying is the right thing to do in the Washington area, so the agents are catering to those buyers who are in that position. On the other hand they are all increasing their sphere of influence by 20%so when that great train full of buyers and sellers comes down the track, barrelling our way, we will have the buyers and sellers ready are willing to use our services. The anxiety of the agents is high, but they are all putting their efforts into activity, rather that spending any time worrying about the market. We believe that this real estate market in Washington is the best one we have right now, so we will embrace it and try to not only survive but also to thrive. Regina and Carol say that they both are looking for the agents success, because they have become to enjoy their life style!! And we all know that what every Carol and Regina tells us to do, is what we will do. In 2008, our volume of sales was just shy of one Billion, so we almost kept Carol and Regine happy. This is pretty good for economy we experienced in 2008.