Do Politics Really Have an Impact the DC Real Estate Market?

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As we move into the New Year with promises of an even stronger housing outlook ahead, one can only wonder whether politics has played a role in the ups and downs of our marketplace. The truth is that there really is no formal study out there that would allow us to properly evaluate this fact.

Through speculation however, we believe that with this year’s Presidential election at hand there were many homeowners and potential buyers that had been simply “waiting the election out” to see its outcome. Until the election passed, there were a significant number of consumers that were sitting there, building a pent up demand that was almost fiercely unleashed immediately after the election. In fact, in the past years November and December are the slowest months of the year but this year we actually saw one of the strongest pick ups we have seen in a while.

Does All This Talk of the “Fiscal Cliff” Push Buyers Away?

The truth is that while there are very strong changes at hand based on how the government chooses to handle the circumstances, in actuality the true impact on our housing market comes from employment numbers. We strongly believe that our country’s economy is pumped and stays alive with strong employment rates across the board. Jobs allow people to afford housing and of course the more activity in the marketplace, the more the machine stays well oiled.
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Despite our local marketplace being one of the stronger areas in the region, we are still seeing a direct impact on our real estate market as a result of economic uncertainty rather than politics. Decisions made in the political arena, however, will affect us. Our interest rates are currently pegged by the Fed to remain low until either one of two things happen; inflation reaches over 2.5% or the national unemployment rate falls under 6.5%. Analysts are predicting this could be a few years coming.

If you are interested in a more detailed report about the happenings of our local real estate marketplace, or would like to discuss your particular neighborhood – we invite you to contact us today. Serving the Greater DC, MD and VA areas – we look forward to hearing from you!

Happy Holidays and Warm Season’s Greetings!

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To all our friends, neighbors, family and clients – we are so proud to have been able to work with you and be a part of your lives! As we end this year and turn our focus to 2013, we just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all that you bring to our lives.

We have some exciting plans in the coming year and hope to bring more success to all your real estate endeavors. With each transaction that makes it to the closing table in the coming months and years ahead – we know that new and exciting things will continue to follow for all of us.

On behalf of the entire group – Happy Holidays, Season’s Greetings, Peace and Joy!

I Need Your Help! Build a Better Future for D.C. Kids by Supporting Our Charter School

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I’m always here to help with your real estate questions and needs. But today, I’m turning the tables: I need your help for a project that stirs my passion.

I am a school board member for the E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in northwest Washington, D.C. E.L. Haynes is one of the highest performing charter schools in the city. Our school outperforms other charter schools citywide year after year.

Unfortunately, we have difficult issues to address. Two-thirds of our students come from low-income households, and these children often face difficult challenges. Citywide, just 9 percent of Washington, D.C., public school graduates earn college degrees within five years of receiving their diplomas. Our city is starved for quality high schools.

At E.L. Haynes, we want to turn these statistics around.

Construction on E.L. Haynes is well underway. $20 million of public and private money has been invested to turn an abandoned site into a leading-edge school devoted to educate our children and become a growing, dynamic part of our community.

But there is a problem: we have a $300,000 gap – a gap we need to fill by the end of 2012.

There are three ways to get involved:

1.Take a tour of this beautiful building.

2. Watch and share this video with friends, family and neighbors.

3. Make a gift to the E.L. Haynes Public Charter School. Your support will go a long way toward making public charter school education possible in our city.

To learn more about the E.L. Haynes and to take a tour and donate, contact Julie Green, the lead fundraiser for the school. Email her at jgreen@elhaynes.org or call her at (202) 667-4446.

Your generous gift will help ensure that Washington, D.C., kids have a quality education and a chance at a successful future.

Carlos Garcia      Eng Garcia Properties                     (202) 290-1313                   carlos@enggarcia.com

Why your Real Estate Agent Must be a Marketing Maven

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When I started in this business, I thought my passion and knowledge for real estate would be the chief reasons why clients would hire me as their listing agent.

Real estate passion and knowledge are vital, of course, but I learned that a listing agent isn’t worth much unless he or she is amazing at marketing properties.

In other words, your listing agent needs to be a marketing maven.

Your listing agent must carefully craft the presentation and message to entice the greatest number of interested and qualified buyers, both in the words that are used and the images that homebuyers see.

When marketing a property, you must put your best foot forward when presenting these key features:

• Location (of course)

• Home size and condition

• Lifestyle choice (is the home near lifestyle amenities they want?)

If your property is the home of someone’s dreams, they must be able to recognize that by how the property is listed.

Your listing agent must be skilled at getting this message out, especially on the Internet where everyone, regardless of their demographic, is home shopping.

Getting buyers to view your home information leads to visitors coming in for showings and attending your open house. To sell your home for the price you want, you need a lot of people coming through the door, and you need an agent to make that happen.

If you are looking for a highly responsive agent who can make these visits possible, give us a call or email us at Eng Garcia Properties when you’re looking to sell in Washington D.C., Maryland or Virginia.

Eng Garcia Properties 202/290-1313 carlos@enggarcia.com

Ready to Buy? 3 Real Estate Factors to Consider

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I love to see buyers’ eyes light up when they really want a property. Once that light bulb goes off, the buyer’s inevitable next words are, “What’s next?”

A bit of science and a bit of creativity answers that question. There are three factors you must study:

1. The marketplace. Any good real estate agent will do a thorough analysis of the real estate transactions in the area. This is the “comps” – a comparable analysis. You need to answer this question: “What’s the environment in which I am making this offer?”

2. The seller’s mindset. You must judge the seller’s mindset – his or her “world view.” A good real estate agent collects information from the other side – little by little – gathering up as much information as he can with repeated calls and meetings. You and your agent must do your best to analyze the seller’s situation and what he or she is trying to do, regardless of market conditions.

3. Your mindset. What do you want to do as a buyer? You need to determine where on the continuum you fall. Are you so passionate about the home that you must get it no matter what? Or are you the cool, calculating investor who won’t be satisfied unless you steal the property at an amazing price? Or are you in somewhere in between, like most buyers? Your answer helps drive the strategy.

To discuss real estate buying strategies, please give us a call. Eng Garcia Properties has some of the top buyer-agents in the Mid-Atlantic region, including the top two agents here in Washington, D.C.

Slow and Steady: How to Build Wealth through Real Estate

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Here’s a helpful analogy to buying a home as an investment: think of it as a bucket.

You have an empty bucket when you first buy a real estate property. If you put 10 to 20 percent down on the purchase, you have filled your bucket by that percentage. Then, your renter starts filling the bucket slowly for you as their rent pays the loan’s principal and interest.

Over the course of a 15-year or 30-year loan, you have a full bucket that other people have paid for. At that point, the home generates pure income after you have managed the flow of payments and cared for the property over the years.

Sure, some real estate investors still “flip” homes for a quick profit, but for most of us, slow and steady wins the race.

Beyond Income from Renters

In addition to renters, there are two other ways to earn real estate income: appreciation and tax deductions.

Despite the bursting of the real estate bubble, there are certain neighborhoods – such as those here in Washington, D.C. – where home values are improving. We have tools that can help you project the appreciation of real estate that we’d love to share with you.

You also can gain value through income tax write-offs, such as real estate tax and interest on your loan payment. There’s also the depreciation income-tax deduction. You might not realize that this is the second-biggest tax write-off after your interest payment.

Ready to jump into the real estate game? We are the experts to turn to when investing in real estate in D.C., Virginia or Maryland. Call us or drop us a line by email, and we’ll be happy to answer your questions on these topics and others and devise a strategy that best works for you.

The Power of Low Interest Rates to Generate Real Estate Wealth

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Imagine a business investment in which you can know – to the penny – your costs for your two largest expenses. Wouldn’t that make earning money on your investment much simpler?

Of course it would. And that’s why real estate is such a great investment. Your two largest costs – interest and the depreciation deduction – are exact for the entire life of your mortgage loan. You sure couldn’t buy a restaurant or a small business where such variables are pinned down for you.

Not only that, but our local real estate market is stable and forecasts predict that it should remain strong for decades to come. Rates are low and not rising significantly anytime soon, and we no longer expect home values to decrease after our real estate purchases.

As an active real estate investor in Washington D.C. , Maryland and Virginia, one of my obsessions is to get all of my loans at fixed 30-year rates that, as you know, are at historic lows. When buying homes as investments, you need to appreciate the power of a low interest rate.

When I started in real estate almost 20 years ago, interest rates were nearly 10 percent. Today, the rates are around 4 percent. And some of my clients are getting rates at 3.5 percent, depending upon variables such as loan size, property type and the borrowers’ financials. Securing this “cheap money” is crucial to increasing your net worth and establishing your long-term financial health. The only way to borrow such money is if you have value to borrow against. So property can become the means to which you obtain such a loan.

Right now, every $100,000 you borrow will cost between $400 and $500 a month. That’s $300 to $400 less than when I started as an investor back in the early ’90s.

In real estate investing, it’s important to know the power of interest rates and how that and the depreciation deduction is fixed and easily calculated. Combine this with today’s environment of rising rents, and you have a great time to invest in real estate.

So do the math or, better yet, contact us if you’d like us to do the math. There’s nothing more we love than to run your numbers!