Beware the Red Menace

Well, here I am on Christmas Eve and the oddest thing just happened...

 

’Twas the night before Christmas and here in DC, I hadn’t found time yet to put up a tree or finish my shopping, or send out a greeting to clients by email, by text, or by tweeting. Instead of enjoying a long winter’s snooze, I had agents, attorneys and lenders to schmooze.

I sat at my desk as I tried to remember just when I last had such a busy December. I scheduled inspections and settlement dates while my Schnauzers slept soundly all snug in their crates. Their little legs moved as in dreams they gave chase to critters that ran at a frenetic pace.

I proofread a contract and then just for sport, reviewed the results of a termite report. I made a few phone calls and couldn’t resist checking off several things from my long “to do” list.

It seemed for a moment I might get a break for my beverage of choice and a Porterhouse steak when out on the street there arose such a clatter I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash with my doggies in tow like a hundred-yard dash. I parted the draperies and peered through the glass expecting to see what had caused the loud crash.

And what to my wondering eyes did appear but a red-suited man with six-pack of beer and a UPS driver all dressed up in brown whose eyebrows were narrowing into a frown. His truck, it was dented, his uniform, tattered, his packages strewn on the ground were all shattered.

The red-suited man was surveying the scene surrounded by reindeer and elves dressed in green. He bowed to the driver and said with chagrin, “What an awkward position we find ourselves in.”

Well, the driver, in no mood to be so polite, shook his fist and replied with his eyes shining bright, “Don’t try to pretend this is my fault! Enough! Now you tell me, just who’s going to pay for this stuff?”

But the red-suited gentleman seemed not to hear as he belched and he hiccupped and opened a beer. He raised up the can and he took a long draught while I watched from the window and had a good laugh.

Then much to my horror, he looked up and froze as the UPS guy punched him square in the nose. The force of the blow made him sit with a plop and he stayed on the ground ’til the dizziness stopped.

Then slowly he rose from his sitting position, assessing with care his most current condition. “Hey, Rudolph,” he called, “I am still quite alive, but I think I should sleep in the back while you drive.”

From the rear of his transport he pulled out a sack filled with money to pay Mr. UPS back. Then I heard him exclaim as he boarded the sleigh so he could get sober and be on his way, “This drinking and flying is really a bummer. Next year I’ll deliver my gifts in a Hummer.”

 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Decorating on a Dollar

Spring has sprung.  The grass has riz.  I wonder where the yard sales iz.

I share my introductory paragraph, of course, with that great and prolific writer, Anonymous, whom I have to thank for the topic of my treatise today.

Despite what they say on HGTV, I don’t know anyone who can Design on a Dime anymore.  Much like our property sales prices, the cost of decorating our homes has gone up.  No matter how much we can Cash and Cari, even the low end of The High Low Project can be beyond the budget of many of us.

So what do we do when the weather gets warm and we want a new trinket or objet d’art for our home?  We go and sift through other people’s stuff, of course.

We are taught that one woman’s junk is another man’s treasure, so we wake up early on a Saturday morning, smell the very strong coffee and head out with a stack of small bills in search of a bargain, be it antique or just unique.

A quick glance at the garage sales section of Craigslist offers us a variety of items for the home this week.  Some examples include:

• a stainless steel fondue pot with 6 two-tined forks for your next Mad Men party,
• a bejeweled peacock lawn ornament,
• a wooden dining chair for $25.00 (or take all 4 for just $80.00),
• an assortment of Ikea Malm dressers in various finishes and
• a pair of plaster gargoyles to welcome guests as they ascend your front porch (the guests, not the gargoyles).

Many local community organizations and neighborhood associations are planning their annual multi-family yard sales.  Some benefit volunteer fire departments and others serve as fund raisers for churches, schools and veterans groups.  You can even find a “Yake Sale” (a combination yard and bake sale) in Fairfax this weekend, so arrive hungry for some kuchen to go with that morning kaffee.

Stay close to town at flea markets in Georgetown and Capitol Hill or, for a change of pace, travel a short distance to check out the Fleagaville Indoor Flea Market in Frederick, MD.  Serious shoppers can make a road trip out of it from August 1^st through 4^th by attending The World’s Longest Yard Sale, which spans 690 miles of Highway 127 from Addison, Michigan to Gadsden, Alabama.

Estate sales promise bargains galore.  They often begin on a Thursday or a Friday, so if you can take time off from work, you can beat the weekend crowd.  Some estate sale firms will only allow a small number of people into the home at one time so you must obtain an entry ticket at the door, much like taking a number at the deli counter.  There is usually a wide variety of household items available and sometimes the firms running the sale will even accept credit cards.

I’m more of an estate sale enthusiast than a flea market floozy.  My guest bedroom, for example, contains a 1960s bookshelf headboard, a matching triple dresser with original chrome hardware and a silver Sputnik lamp that were about to be placed curbside.  The cost: hauling fees, a gallon of semi-gloss paint and two days of my time.

My den features unwanted items from various clients: a waterfall chest of drawers with brass and Bakelite handles, a scalloped drop-leaf table and a twin sofabed with a matching child-sized sleeper ottoman, all for an investment in a bottle of Old English® furniture polish and a $400.00 check to my upholsterer.

In my recreation room, a black and white loveseat and matching easy chair, purchased from a seller for $300, are the perfect complement to two high-gloss black étagères with glass shelves, which came with my house because they wouldn’t fit up the basement stairs.

The 6^th Annual Great Brookland Yard Sale (GBYS) is coming up on May 11^th.  I have participated in this community event for two of the past three years and it’s time to do it again.  After all, I need to make room in my garage for new treasures. 

You will likely find me on my front lawn that morning, trying to entice someone to buy my leftover building materials and staging items.  Stop by and say hello, but remember: sometimes one woman’s junk is just junk.

Fair Housing & Equitable Treatment

I’m a lousy blogger.  Sure, I have a lot to say and I do so frequently in other venues, but months can go by before I remember to write here.  Something happened recently, however, that I just had to share.  

I lost a client.

No, I didn’t do anything to hurt or sabotage the relationship.  We neither had a disagreement nor faced an impossible market.  No hidden agendas, no replacement Realtors®.  It was simply this: she quit her job and left the area.

 
What, you ask, especially given the current economy, would make someone do that?

In this case, I found the answer both sad and disturbing.  She quit because of a hostile work environment that she could neither control nor withstand any longer.

 As a woman who started her career in law enforcement in the mid-1970s, when a married woman couldn’t even get a credit card without her husband co-signing the application, I jumped hurdle after hurdle to prove myself worthy of every step up the ladder.  If I had spent as much time sleeping my way to the top as I was accused of, I would never have been able to walk to work.

But, ladies and gentlemen, that was more than 35 years ago.  To think that harassment, bullying, inappropriate commentary and more could still be happening today astounds me, especially in the DC area, which I have always thought of as extremely progressive and tolerant.

Every time I renew my licenses I must prove that I have taken required courses in fair housing law.  Not only is there still discrimination happening in my field but also there can be simply the appearance of discrimination in a real estate agent’s daily activities if not kept in check.  I am not so naïve as to think otherwise.

I take the training because the real estate commission says I must.  I treat people equally and with respect because it’s the right thing to do.  Big difference.

Valentine's Kiss and Other Hues

When I grow up I want to be the person who names paint colors.

Did you ever wonder whose fertile imagination came up with shades like Volcanic Blast or Fiddle Leaf? And what was going through the mind of the men or women who coined American Anthem, Grandiose and Mythical? Was Soulful Music the outcome of an evening spent with old Billie Holliday LPs?

Real estate agents have been advising sellers to “neutralize” their homes for years. In many parts of the country, this still means painting your walls Builder Beige or Winter Snow, but in the DC market where beige equals boring, the infusion of color in a room can be a critical aspect of preparing a home for sale.

DC is a city of transients, where many people accept their government and corporate transfers and move on to their next location before their home is sold. My out-of-town buyers are always surprised to find that so many of the homes we tour are vacant.

While homeowners tend to paint their walls to complement their furnishings, once those items are removed the home can look disjointed. A prospective buyer may never know how fashionable the original room looked and will focus only on a color that no longer makes sense in an empty setting and may even appear garish on its own.

Fresh paint gives a buyer the impression that a home is clean and well cared for, but beige and white are frequently considered passé. Decorators and television hosts now insist that our homes be painted in “sophisticated neutrals” with names like Moleskin and Wheat Germ. Stealth Jet is the new Black.

Imagine you have been asked by your agent to repaint the living room in a nice, neutral color. What the heck is a neutral, you ask? Aren’t the Victorian and Hunt Club palettes more “sophisticated?” Must I now avoid the Bold Sangria that promotes a healthy appetite in the dining room or eschew the calming effects of Fresh Guacamole in the kitchen? What a conundrum!

You go to the local home improvement or paint store and are immediately engulfed by a dizzying array of colors, shades, tints and manufacturers. Overwhelmed and frustrated, you buy a couple of tester-sized bottles that line the counter and spend the rest of the afternoon painting nail polish-like stripes on the living room wall, babbling softly to yourself.

Need help? Well, let me suggest a few color combinations I have used that have received positive reviews from sellers, buyers and stagers.

An Earth tone like Glidden’s Whispering Wheat is very popular. Deeper and warmer than beige, it serves as a calming color for hallways and bedrooms. Pair it with Warm Caramel, a slightly darker shade, in the living room for a striking contrast. Are your kitchen cabinets white? Then take the walls a step darker with Gentle Fawn and watch your cabinets pop.

For a slightly cooler tone, try Duron’s Simplify Beige in darker rooms, graduating to Sand Dune in lighter rooms, then to Trusty Tan in the brightest or largest room.

Want something dramatic to set off that red sofa and those stainless steel light fixtures? Take a look at McCormick’s Ice Age (light), Platinum Plate (medium) and Cast in Stone (darker). These are also great colors to offset an exposed brick wall for an industrial look.

Keep things simple by painting ceilings and trim white. Use semi-gloss paint on trim, satin or eggshell on kitchen and bathroom walls and flat paint everywhere else for a professional look.

Remember that green tones will make you look jaundiced in the bathroom mirror and that decorative paint treatments such as Venetian plaster, marbleizing and rag rolling are best left for your new home.

Need more suggestions? Talk to your agent, decorator, or home stager.

In the meantime, I’ll be in my Heirloom Lace boudoir, lying on a Bed of Roses wearing my Relaxed Khaki slacks and Best Bronze sweater, drinking Iced Champagne and eating Chocolate Truffle candies while Ambitious Amber paints my house.

New Name, Same Game

Effective November 1, 2011, Prudential Carruthers REALTORS® will merge with PenFed Realty, LLC to become Prudential PenFed Realty.

I am excited that where other firms are tightening their belts and consolidating their offices, we are continuing to grow.

Prudential PenFed Realty will begin with 1000 agents and 35 offices in DC, Maryland & Virginia, as well as in North Carolina and Texas.  Look for us to expand into new territory and to continue to offer our clients the highest level of customer service.

I expect the transition to be relatively seamless and hope to be able to provide updates on the positive effect this merger will have in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned...

DCHomeQuest.com is New and Improved!

Come Monday morning, January 17, 2011, I will be unveiling the newest version of my website, http://www.dchomequest.com/.

Over the past three months, I have consulted with clients, web developers and marketing specialists in an attempt to provide a more comprehensive and useful site. I have been especially mindful of technology and ease of navigation in creating this third iteration.

Since I was among the first to have a personal website in 1998, my goal is to remain ahead of the curve and provide clients and would-be clients with the latest tools for gathering information about buying and selling houses, condos and coops in the DC metropolitan area.

You will find a host of improvements, including an advanced search engine, updated information and general advice, historical data and even some real estate-related mobile apps that you can download to your Smartphone.

Please take a look and browse awhile. I welcome your comments and suggestions!

It is with great sadness that I post this eulogy for my dear friend and mentor of 13 years, James M. Keane. I was planning his surprise birthday luncheon on the Monday he died. He would have been 75 that Friday.

*****

In 1997 I moved to DC with nothing but a car, a computer, some clothes and my three dogs. It was later that summer that I became a real estate agent.

While trying to decide which company to work with, I scheduled a meeting at an obscure Century 21 office on Wisconsin Avenue. As I sat for a few moments in the waiting area, I noticed several photo albums on the coffee table and began to leaf through them. This was a harmonious group. And it was clearly evident that they liked to party.

As I thought to myself, “this could be place for me,” a very distinguished-looking gentleman emerged from his office and extended his hand. “Welcome,” he said, “I’m Jim Keane.”

As we chatted in the small conference room about what it took to be a top-producing real estate agent, I began to warm to the gentleman and I knew that his wealth of knowledge combined with his insistence on ethical conduct and his willingness to provide guidance and support would serve me well in my new career.

The clincher came two days later when I received a hand-written note from Jim thanking ME for taking MY time to meet with HIM. What a class act! When I followed him to Prudential a year later, I would have followed him anywhere.

Many of you who were in that photograph album on the coffee table are here today. We’re not as young and most of us are not as thin as we were in those photos, but the camaraderie that Jim fostered shines through as we pay homage to him today.

Thanks to Jim Keane, I have a successful career that I love as he did. I have a two-dollar bill that he would give out for correctly answering the question of the week at our sales meetings. I have fond memories of Bloomsday lunches, flaming saganaki and shots of Ouzo, after which, oddly enough, I would have to search for half an hour for my car.

I am saddened that the call I placed to him last week to invite him to lunch came too late. I mourn the loss of my real estate mentor and dear friend.

Jim, I know you are watching over us here today, probably sipping white wine with a Jamieson chaser. You taught me well. You were a constant source of encouragement. I could always come to you with a problem, be it professional or personal, and know that you would have sage advice coupled with a bit of blarney.

So, Jim, today I say not goodbye, but simply farewell, for I know that we will meet again… sometime subsequent to this.