Archive for November, 2008
Walking By The Numbers: Here's One Way To Measure The Walkability Of Your Annapolis Neighborhood
November 18th, 2008 Categories: Buyers, Sellers
A Nifty New Website Is A Great Resource for Annapolis Residents Who Like To Put Their Best Feet Forward
Say you’re searching for a new home in the Annapolis area and you’re wondering how it rates for walking. If you’re not already familiar with the area – or even if you are – here’s a neat way to find out.
It’s called WalkScore.com, a website that enables you to enter the street address in question and pull up an amazing amount of walker-friendly information about the area, like where to find the library, coffee shops or local theater.
The site was launched in July 2007 and – unlike a lot of stuff on the Internet that gets dreamed up by brainy MIT dropouts who never leave their basements – this site has the stamp of maturity, and feels like it’s run by actual people who like to walk. Indeed, the site talks to the desires of an increasing number of people who are looking to reduce their reliance on cars and settle into walkable communities.
Walk Scores Around Annapolis
To that end, WalkScore ranks more than 2,500 neighborhoods in the 40 largest U.S. cities. Three of the neighborhoods – Tribeca, Little Italy, and Soho – scored perfect 100’s, but you’d have to move to Manhattan. A score of 90 or more equates to a “Walker’s Paradise.” A score of at least 70 indicates you might be able to get along without a car.
I took the site for a test drive and plugged in some local addresses. (Try it, using the WalkScore widget in the lower right-hand margin.) If you live on Main Street in downtown Annapolis, you’d score in the high 90’s – excellent. A Boucher Ave address in Eastport where we recently sold a home pulled a 69 – “somewhat walkable.”
Our own neighborhood – Riva Trace – got a modest 31, or “car dependent”, which points to the limitations of the site: Riva Trace is a great place to walk, with lovely tree-lined streets, nice neighbors and friendly dogs. I give it high points for overall desirability. There’s just nothing much to walk to.
Whether you’d like to move to a walking community or out to the burbs, we can help you find your dream home. Just give me a call at 410-507-7222 or email me at kenhaedrich@kw.com and let me know how we can help.
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Walking By The Numbers: Here’s One Way To Measure The Walkability Of Your Annapolis Neighborhood
November 18th, 2008 Categories: Buyers, Sellers
A Nifty New Website Is A Great Resource for Annapolis Residents Who Like To Put Their Best Feet Forward
Say you’re searching for a new home in the Annapolis area and you’re wondering how it rates for walking. If you’re not already familiar with the area – or even if you are – here’s a neat way to find out.
It’s called WalkScore.com, a website that enables you to enter the street address in question and pull up an amazing amount of walker-friendly information about the area, like where to find the library, coffee shops or local theater.
The site was launched in July 2007 and – unlike a lot of stuff on the Internet that gets dreamed up by brainy MIT dropouts who never leave their basements – this site has the stamp of maturity, and feels like it’s run by actual people who like to walk. Indeed, the site talks to the desires of an increasing number of people who are looking to reduce their reliance on cars and settle into walkable communities.
Walk Scores Around Annapolis
To that end, WalkScore ranks more than 2,500 neighborhoods in the 40 largest U.S. cities. Three of the neighborhoods – Tribeca, Little Italy, and Soho – scored perfect 100’s, but you’d have to move to Manhattan. A score of 90 or more equates to a “Walker’s Paradise.” A score of at least 70 indicates you might be able to get along without a car.
I took the site for a test drive and plugged in some local addresses. (Try it, using the WalkScore widget in the lower right-hand margin.) If you live on Main Street in downtown Annapolis, you’d score in the high 90’s – excellent. A Boucher Ave address in Eastport where we recently sold a home pulled a 69 – “somewhat walkable.”
Our own neighborhood – Riva Trace – got a modest 31, or “car dependent”, which points to the limitations of the site: Riva Trace is a great place to walk, with lovely tree-lined streets, nice neighbors and friendly dogs. I give it high points for overall desirability. There’s just nothing much to walk to.
Whether you’d like to move to a walking community or out to the burbs, we can help you find your dream home. Just give me a call at 410-507-7222 or email me at kenhaedrich@kw.com and let me know how we can help.
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What's In YOUR Closet? Annapolis Home Buyers DO Care About What Goes on Behind Your Closed Doors
November 13th, 2008 Categories: Buyers, One Minute Realtor, Sellers
Enough Already About the Economy, Falling Home Prices in the Annapolis Area, and the Election – Let’s Talk About What’s Really on Your Mind: Closets!
They say the eyes are the window to the soul. I say closets are the window to a homeowner’s soul. Show me a home full of chaotic closets and I’ll show you a buyer that sees red flags. Orderly closets – things arranged nicely and lined up with near military precision - sends a message that the owner is disciplined, a good steward of their home. Buyers like that.
Sellers sometimes need a little help hatching a pre-sale closet strategy. Some need more than a little. A former client had a special closet where he tossed all of his shirts onto the floor at day’s end. The pile came up to your waist. He’d pull one from the bottom of the pile each morning. It was like a giant shirt compost heap that kept getting turned every few weeks. We explained that while this arrangement might make perfect sense to his bachelor peers, it might prove a little off-putting to those with less rugged sensibilities. He eventually got it.
Your Doors Are a Good Place to Start
They should not squeak, fall off the hinges or tracks when you open them, or have dangling knobs - all of which are more common than you’d imagine. Please fix them.
Next, thin, throw away, and donate – whatever. Embrace the reality that hoarding clothes several sizes too small won’t alone make you skinny again. Be ruthless: if your closets are bursting at the seams, buyers will automatically assume they’ll never hold all THEIR stuff. Go crazy with organizers and storage boxes. Patch and paint closet walls.
Treat kitchen cabinets and pantries as if you were expecting Martha Stewart AND the health inspector to stop by at any moment. Ditto your medicine cabinets. Stash all prescription drugs in a safe place: the public has an uncommon curiosity about your ailments. In short, give your closets as much attention as you would your living areas.
Bottom line: great closets won’t sell an overpriced home. But they’ll create a very positive impression that could sway a potential buyer your way in a close contest.
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What’s In YOUR Closet? Annapolis Home Buyers DO Care About What Goes on Behind Your Closed Doors
November 13th, 2008 Categories: Buyers, One Minute Realtor, Sellers
Enough Already About the Economy, Falling Home Prices in the Annapolis Area, and the Election – Let’s Talk About What’s Really on Your Mind: Closets!
They say the eyes are the window to the soul. I say closets are the window to a homeowner’s soul. Show me a home full of chaotic closets and I’ll show you a buyer that sees red flags. Orderly closets – things arranged nicely and lined up with near military precision - sends a message that the owner is disciplined, a good steward of their home. Buyers like that.
Sellers sometimes need a little help hatching a pre-sale closet strategy. Some need more than a little. A former client had a special closet where he tossed all of his shirts onto the floor at day’s end. The pile came up to your waist. He’d pull one from the bottom of the pile each morning. It was like a giant shirt compost heap that kept getting turned every few weeks. We explained that while this arrangement might make perfect sense to his bachelor peers, it might prove a little off-putting to those with less rugged sensibilities. He eventually got it.
Your Doors Are a Good Place to Start
They should not squeak, fall off the hinges or tracks when you open them, or have dangling knobs - all of which are more common than you’d imagine. Please fix them.
Next, thin, throw away, and donate – whatever. Embrace the reality that hoarding clothes several sizes too small won’t alone make you skinny again. Be ruthless: if your closets are bursting at the seams, buyers will automatically assume they’ll never hold all THEIR stuff. Go crazy with organizers and storage boxes. Patch and paint closet walls.
Treat kitchen cabinets and pantries as if you were expecting Martha Stewart AND the health inspector to stop by at any moment. Ditto your medicine cabinets. Stash all prescription drugs in a safe place: the public has an uncommon curiosity about your ailments. In short, give your closets as much attention as you would your living areas.
Bottom line: great closets won’t sell an overpriced home. But they’ll create a very positive impression that could sway a potential buyer your way in a close contest.
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This Guy Gets My Vote
November 3rd, 2008 Categories: Faces In The Crowd, Naval Academy
Tomorrow we will elect our new President. And while I steer clear of politics here - this is a real estate blog, after all – I sincerely hope that our new Commander-in-Chief will give veterans and their cares and concerns the highest priority. I must say, I get pretty testy when I hear horror stories about returning vets who don’t get proper medical attention or can’t get their old jobs back – as required by law – when they’re discharged.
Here’s a video about a guy who makes sure our returning servicemen and women get a sincere thanks and welcome when they come home. I love hearing about people like this, regular folks with big hearts who try to make a difference just because it’s the right thing to do – not to win votes, impress others or make a buck. We need more people like this fellow.
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