The Koitz Group's Blog: All Categories

When, as part of the Economic Stimulus Package, it was announced that the FHA would raise their loan limits, members of both the housing and the banking industries rejoiced.  With the tightening of lending regulations (some justified, some an over-correction) this would help “free” up money and stimulate home buying.

Like every other real estate agent across the country, I was faced with the task of (re) learning the rules of FHA mortgages…but it was a relatively easy task because opportunities abounded for refresher courses.  Even with the initial uncertainty of the amount of the rate increase (which was determined by regional economic indicators), lenders went into high gear and provided as much information as possible.  In the Washington, D.C. area we…

Read Full Post

Dear MRIS, I’m writing this letter in regards to your new “SafeMLS Token”.  You know, the oval shaped piece of plastic with the LCD that looks like it came straight out of a 1980s digital wrist watch – the one with the button I push that gives me a new passcode that’s required every time I need to log into my MRIS account.  The “Token” that I therefore have to have with me at all times in order to do my job.  Yeah, just wanted to thank you for making my job that much more complicated.  Further, I appreciate your short-sightedness and continual bureaucratic ideologies -- punishing those who follow the rules with another layer of red tape. 

I’m not sure how other Realtors across the country log into their MLS systems for property searches, tax records,…

Read Full Post

So, lately I’ve been reading the business section of both the Washington Post and the New York Times.  With the real estate industry so tied to the economic news, and more specifically to the banking news, it just seems that it makes sense to stay up on what’s happening in that sector. 

On Tuesday, the front page of the Business Day section of the New York Times has a story about the JPMorgan purchase of Bear Stearns.  A photo accompanies the article.  It shows two men in white shirts, ties and suits walking side by side.  One is identified in the photo as James Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan and the other gentleman is not identified at all.  It becomes clear, as one studies the photo, that this unnamed gentleman is there for a specific reason. …

Read Full Post

I guess anyone who’s been involved in an occupation for over 20 years has stories…but I do think that being a real estate agent exposes you to the potential for some really great stories.  I’ve decided to occasionally share some of my favorite stories.  Although the names have been changed to protect the innocent, you have my word that all of these stories are true.

I was probably in about my 6th or 7th year of business when, one evening, I got a phone call from a teacher at one of my son’s elementary school.  She explained that she and her husband, both of whom had been married before, had just written their last tuition check.  All of the offspring were now totally on their own and this couple, who had rented their entire married life, now wanted to…

Read Full Post

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), today published the new single family loan limits for conforming and FHA loans.  These new, increased loan amounts were mandated by the Economic Stimulus Act, but we were awaiting the actual numbers to be released.  Congress had given HUD 30 days to publish these new loan limits and they managed to get them out over a week early.  The increases are local in nature and are based on the housing costs in various parts of the country.

The good news for what appears to be (on quick glance, I must admit) the entire Washington Metropolitan Area is that the new conforming loan limit and the FHA loan limit will be increased to the maximum amount of $729,750.  This is a HUGE benefit to our area, given that the…

Read Full Post

Washington DC & Bethesda Luxury Real Estate Sales Report

So this leap year gave me one extra day to compare January sales in a specific “micro-market,” but the day ran away from me so I’m giving myself one extra day before we start comparing February data. In an effort to go out with a bang (!), I decided to take a look at the Washington DC area luxury home market. I define the luxury niche as a property with a sales price of over $2M. This market report centers on data from most of NW Washington DC west of Rock Creek Park. The Bethesda area data includes all Bethesda zip codes plus Kensington, Potomac, and Chevy Chase...just for fun! Here's the review and breakdown:  

  Jan. 2007 Jan. 2008 …

Read Full Post

I was reading the business section of The Washington Post today and it had an article about a Wisconsin couple who is going after Chevy Chase Bank for mortgage fraud. That sounds fine, on the surface, but it turns out that their attorney is also trying to get the courts to approve a class action suit to have all “bad” mortgages rescinded. It appears as though this is something that has not been allowed in the past and, although it only seems fair that lending institutions that made fraudulent loans should be penalized, the thought of thousands (probably hundreds of thousands) of loans being rescinded seems pretty scary.

According to this Post article, “83% of federally supervised banks that issued loans at the height of the housing boom in 2005 have been…

Read Full Post

Those of us who are addicted to the immediate gratification provided by a BlackBerry or other such device (okay, I admit it...I’m talking about myself), are especially consumed by the question of how we ever got thru life without such access.  I’ve taken my BlackBerry out to read emails on chairlifts in Colorado in the winter and on mountain hikes in the summer.  I’m not proud of this behavior...and my husband hates it!!  But, the internet and email have totally changed the real estate business (as it has every other business).

 A perfect example of the role of the internet in my business occurred a couple of weeks ago.  I had been “introduced’ to a buyer who currently resides in Geneva, Switzerland and plans on moving back to the Washington DC…

Read Full Post