Real Estate Live

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Elizabeth Razzi: The Post's production resources are increasingly called upon to do new and different things, and so our regular, ever-other Friday lunch date is going on indefinite hiatus. I will genuinely miss the opportunity to get to know Post readers better -- and to learn through your experiences in the field. I will continue to edit the Saturday Real Estate section, and I invite you to pass along your suggestions, outrages and ideas to me at razzie@washpost.com. I won't be able to answer specific questions about homebuing, etc., by email, but your comments certainly can shape our coverage. So, let's get to chatting, now......

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Do verbal agreements amount to anything?: It's going to be six months since my offer to purchase a short sale home was accepted by the seller. The listing agent said the bank verbally agreed to my offer and that it should be in paper in about two weeks. Do verbal agreements hold water or am I still at the whim of the bank?

Elizabeth Razzi: Well the old saying, "An oral agreement isn't worth the paper it's printed on," certainly rings true. And the bank didn't even make its oral agreement directly to you, either. They may fully intend to accept your offer, but you'll be at the whim of the bank until it takes your money and transfers the deed.

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Washington, D.C. : I don't see as many new rental properties coming on the market in DC. Is that a good sign the market is stabilizing or evidence that rent prices may be headed up?

Elizabeth Razzi: That's interesting. It could be just the normal summertime doldrums. Lots of folks make their move, even in the rental world, during springtime. And those geared to the academic calendar (student rentals, recent grads getting jobs, etc.) seem more likely to turn over in August onward. But it could be a reflection of a strenthening market. Market analysts at Delta Associates have consistently been predicting rising rents for the area. Anyone else care to speculate?

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Banks buying and selling homes: Recently looking at home sales in my zip code, I noticed some of the buyers and sellers were not people but banks. Does that mean the home was a short sale or foreclosure? Or is there some other explanation?

Elizabeth Razzi: Yep, that's what it means. I think it's a better sign IF the banks are listed as sellers (meaning the foreclosure is over with) vs. as buyers (meaning the foreclusre recently happened.)

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commute: Currently reside in Arlington (love it), thinking about purchasing a townhouse in Centreville. Can't afford Arlington, more bang for the buck in Centreville. What's the area like for a youngish couple late 20's and thinking about children? Lastly, will the commute from Centreville to Old Town kill me?? Thanks.

Elizabeth Razzi: Either place is good for kids, especially if you land in a nice, friendly neighborhood that feeds into a school you like. But certainly you can buy more square footage in Centreville. You seem to realize that the tradeoff is time. And that's one heck of a difference in commute. Please do a couple of trial commutes--on weekday rush hours--using the train or bus or car, however you envision commuting. Only you can decide if it's worth the tradeoff.

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Renting out a condo: Hi,I heard you yesterday on Kojo Nnamdi - great program!I am writing because I am just starting to look into the possibility of renting out my condo and I am very confused by the process of how to do it legally. The DCRA website is actually quite helpful -- and even has a site dedicated to basement rentals -- but I can't find information about renting out an entire condo.I looked at the various business license applications and I wondered if I have to do that. Do I also need to pay taxes on the rental income? I am getting the sense that this may be extremely complicated. Can you point me to any resources that tell me exactly what I have to do?Thanks so much!

Elizabeth Razzi: Thanks very much. The Kojo Nnamdi program on WAMU radio (88.5) was on Thursday, July 22. It was a great program (he's always such a smart, gracious host) and we had a ton of call-in questions that couldn't be tackled during the hour. As for renting, DCRA is your best source of info. (And you should call them with specific questions when necessary. Your tax dollars at work and all that...) But yes, you do need to get a license in the District. And you certainly do need to pay tax on the income (after expenses such as property tax, insurance, advertising, depreciation, etc.) A one-time consultation with a CPA familiar with District real estae might be a money-saver for you.

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Real 1BR: I've just started to look for a 1 BR place and I've noticed that some of these don't meet the standard for a 1 BR, i.e. no built-in closet, sometimes there is free-standing furniture that doesn't convey, sometimes the closet is in the hallway. Are these places to just walk away from or does this mean there is more negotiating room since it really is a studio apartment?

Elizabeth Razzi: The closet in the bedroom standard isn't always such a hard-and-fast rule, especially with old or historic properties. And it isn't really a studio if it has a hallway or two rooms, is it? You should negotiate for the best price you can get vis-a-vis comparable offerings on the market--not just in terms of closet space, but square footage, neighborhood amenities, convenience, attractiveness, etc. You can always buy an armoire--or build in a closet--if the rest of the space is right.

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closing cause: I was selling my house in Florida and because of the closing cost fee that the realtor was asking for, I couldn't go ahead and sell my property. It was over $9,000 in grants. What can be done about the high fees that the real estate companies are charging, especially in this economy? Thanks.

Elizabeth Razzi: Well, I'm not sure what you mean by "grants" and the "closing cost fee." Are you talking about the sales commission--which is the only thing the real estate agent directly controls? If so, sure, there are things you can do about it. There are firms that charge discounted commissions--and some that are primarily Web-based--which charge less in commission. Let Google help you explore online brokerages.

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long distance landlord: Thinking about keeping our townhouse as a rental when we leave town. Any recommendations or pros and cons we should weigh as we make the decision? Tentative plan would involve paying a friend to take care of maintenance problems that occur and finding new tenants. Thanks.

Elizabeth Razzi: Pros -- You have a home to return to, if you come back to the area (as so many military/diplomatic folks do). It may appreciate in value by then. Cons range as bad as your imagination lets them. Deadbeat tenants who strip your house of all its appliances and flee in the night come to mind. But preparation--and a good, businesslike attitude, can avoid most horror stories. Make sure your friend is responsible--and capable of managing your place. Do a thorough credit check on renters, and ask for a good security deposit. Line up a roster of plumbers, handy-people, electricians, etc. to cover inevitable repairs. Have a Plan B for what to do if/when your friend goes on vacation or quits. And have a well-defined plan of what to do if a tenant is late with the rent. Good luck.

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ReFi in D.C.: Hi, We're looking to refinance our conforming jumbo loan for our house in NW to try to get a better rate, and our current lender as well as other lenders that we'd be comfortable using are not offering conforming jumbos anymore. We have excellent credit and more than 20% equity - just looking for a better rate to lower our payments. Hoping to hear from some of your readers as to recent refinancing experiences similar to what we're looking to do. Thanks!

Elizabeth Razzi: That's interesting. They don't need your business, eh? Well, keep looking for lenders--and consider taking your business to one of the online mortgage lenders as well. A reputable mortgae broker may help, as well. (Get recent referrals from people you know and trust.) Anyone else running into this problem?

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Hard to find Saturday Real Estate section: Is there an easy way to find online the articles and q and a columns in the Saturday Real Estate section? If I search "Real Estate section," what comes up are the for-sale listings. What am I doing wrong?

Sarah Halzack: You can also bookmark this link to that page:http://www.washingtonpost.com/real-estate/Hope that helps!Thanks, Sarah. And thank you, also, for doing such a great behind-the-scenes job running this chat these many weeks. -- Elizabeth

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Renting: Places to List an Available Apartment?: Hi Elizabeth,Where do you recommend one list an available apartment for rent? I've thought of the Post's classifieds and Craigslist, but can't think of anywhere else.

Elizabeth Razzi: Well, they seem to be the big venues. In-house sources, like your employer's bulletin board in the lunch room, also are good sources.One note on this -- This is an old-ish scam (at least old in terms of Internet time), but I just heard of a college student who fell for a scam...She responded to a guy on Craigslist who had a great rental. Pictures looked good. He took her $500 deposit to hold the place. But he's out of the country at the moment, so she can't see it. And, of course, she never will. Beware.

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Re: Do verbal agreements amount to anything?: Verbal agreements do hold water, if you can prove their existence. Most (if not all) states have some form of Statute of Frauds. SoF is an affirmative defense to formation of a contract, generally applicable to contracts of long duration or concerning large amounts of $$ ($500 or 1000 or more), and make it near-impossible to enforce an alleged oral contract concerning more than a pittance.

Elizabeth Razzi: Well, that is the trick, isn't it? "If you can prove their existence."

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State College, Pa.: I'm sorry to hear about the chat ending. I always looked forward to reading it and I learned a lot. Thanks much for all your work.

Elizabeth Razzi: Thanks very much. I may have to revive my moribund Twitter account...

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Agent woes: How much of an agent's job is it to find the right listings? I feel like I'm much better at finding listings than our agent. I've articulated exactly what we want and yet she keeps sending us the wrong types of properties. Has this become a source of tension between agents and their clients? With the internet and online MLS listings, I can just look for places myself. Should I be worried about offending our REA by sending her listings and declining hers?

Elizabeth Razzi:

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Active adult communities: Good afternoon! My parents are 55+ and are looking to relocate to this area (preferably Virginia) from Atlanta and are in search of an active adult community with homes having the master bedroom on the first floor. After doing their own internet searching, what would you recommend they do as their next step? Find a real estate agent? How can they find a reputable one being out of state? (My realtor moved years ago.) And do you know of any new-ish active adult communities in this area? They are able-bodied, healthy and active. Thank you!

Elizabeth Razzi:

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Was it something I did?: This is the first time I've ever come to this chat, and you announce it's the last one? I took a shower, put on deodorant and clean clothes and brushed my teeth. I'm even sitting up straight. What did I do wrong???

Elizabeth Razzi: Really; it's not you. It's me. Actually, it's not me. It's the availability of behind-the-scenes resources here at the Post. They're busy trying big, bold new things, like video chats. Thanks for tuning in.

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Renting rooms: Doesn't seem like there is much of a difference, aside from a formal lease agreement?

Elizabeth Razzi: Well, I always envision the tax audit when trying to figure out these questions. And the humorless auditor notices a regular deposit to your bank account of, say $800 a month (staying under your $10 k annual goal.) How do you explain the gift? And a formal lease agreement is kind of a big difference between coupledom and paying roommate, no?

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For Active adult communities: The chatter's parents could take a look at such places in Atlanta and see if any of them are national. I think lots of these places are national--like Del Ray (I might not have the name right).

Elizabeth Razzi: Good idea. I know Sunrise is big here (where it started) but has locations elsewhere. And people in the biz tend to talk, anyway.

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End of the Chat: Will the Local Address blog continue?

Elizabeth Razzi: Well, no, I'm afraid not. I haven't been able to post to it as frequently as I would have liked, anyway, due to my editing duties. But if something just has to get out there, I can contribute to some of the Post's Businsess blogs. Or the tweet thing.

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WaPo resources: For those of us at work who can't watch video chats this is wasted energy on the part of the Wa Po.

Elizabeth Razzi: Point duly noted. I feel the same way. But if Clooney agrees to a video chat here, I'll be watching, office proticol be damned...

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Video chats: May I, respectfully, lodge a vote against more video chats? I really prefer reading the chats as opposed to seeing them. (And I imagine lots of people won't be able to watch them live as they'll be at work where that might be frowned up on.)

Elizabeth Razzi: Another vote cast. Thanks.

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Statute of Frauds: The person who wrote that oral contracts are valid re: the statute of frauds is correct...except that it doesn't apply to real estate transactions. A written contract is always required for real estate transactions.

Elizabeth Razzi: Thank you for that.

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Disappointed: I know this comment is misdirected but I find it very disappointing that the Post is opting to rely on video chats. I understand it takes up less of the reporter's time, but these online (written) chats have been one of my favorite features of the Post since I started working in DC back in 2004. There are many that I "tune into" weekly. I will not be able to watch video chats at my desk during lunch time the way I can scroll through the written chats. You will be missed!

Elizabeth Razzi: I don't think it takes up less of the reporter's time at all. But your point is noted! Thanks.

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Washington, D.C.: To whom should we complain if we want the real estate chat to continue?

Elizabeth Razzi: The Post's Managing Editor for all things digital is Raju Narisetti. Narisettir@washpost.com

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For Commute Question: If the submitter is trial driving now, they should also ask co-workers what the commute is like year round. My commute is usually 2/3 the average time in July and 1/2 in August. Then when vacations are over and school and congress are back in session everything goes back to normal (slow).

Elizabeth Razzi: Excellent point! August (and the last two weeks in December) are much lighter traffic loads. It almost makes up for the August heat.

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Video chats = substandard: It's really their loss if they start canceling chats in favor of video chats. IMO, the video chats are typically inferior to a typed chat. They are much shorter, handle fewer questions and, really, in most cases are completely unnecessary to be in video format. It's bells & whistles for the sake of the bells/whistles, meanwhile, readers will look elsewhere for stuff to *read*

Elizabeth Razzi: Point noted. Thanks.

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don't go!: No! I hate the video chats and never watch them, even though I'm used to reading the WP's chats obsessively. You guys should think about how many people read these at work -- we're not going to watch videos, which have sound, but we do read silently in our offices.

Elizabeth Razzi: thanks.

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Seller's cost: Hello, I would like to sell my home next fall. Is there any range or percentages you can provide for seller's closing costs on an approxinately $380k townhome? There is a lot of information about buyer's closing costs, but I am getting mixed information about seller's costs. Thanks!

Elizabeth Razzi: The seller's big closing cost is the real estate agent's commission, typically 5 or 6 percent of the sales price, though you can shop for those charging less. Some brokers throw on another $500 paperwork fee (maybe more) as well. Some sellers agree to pay up to about 3 percent of the price for buyer's closing costs, which is just a price reduction in disguise. You may have a couple of hundred dollars to pay for condo/homeowner association documents. A good agent will review expenses with you before you list.

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video chats: Seriously, if I want to watch something, I'll watch TV. I read these chats because I enjoy reading. This is terrible news.

Elizabeth Razzi: There will still be some written chats--those with the highest traffic numbers, such as Carolyn Hax's mega-popular chat.

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Re: Video chats: I'm another vote against video chats. Me and everyone else at work, I would guess. I actually emailed my comments to WaPo one time, and got a reply that they feel they need to explore video and keep up and blah blah blah. You know what? New and different and innovative does not equal better...this is why online for-profit higher education hasn't taken off.

Elizabeth Razzi: Thanks for your comments.

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video chats: I read your online chat faithfully, but I won't watch a video chat. It takes longer than skimming through the chat to see what topics are of interest and it's not kosher to watch video at work. So long!

Elizabeth Razzi: It's not a total print vs. video revolution here. But I certainly understand your opinion.

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Hayden Village: Close to Centreville but has that Clifton zip code. My commute is 30 minutes to Ballston each way give or take. Duty hours 6am to 230pm. Schools are excellent. In Centreville there are some very desirable communites and some with big time crime, drug and gang issues. A good real estate agent should be able to help you in this matter. Or let price be your guide higher the price results in a decline in cirme and gang activity.

Elizabeth Razzi: Thanks for the report from the field (or the Orange Line...) Alexandria can be a little tougher to get to unless you come up the 395/Rte. 1 corridor. I don't know if VRE rail line serves the neighborhoods that chatter envisions, but it's worth looking into.

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Video Chats: I don't watch them because I read much faster than any of the columnists can talk. If I want to watch something, I turn on the television. Bad idea!

Elizabeth Razzi: I agree on the speed aspect.

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Buyer's Deposit: (Trying again, with simpler approach)Under what circumstances can a home seller keep the buyer's deposit?

Elizabeth Razzi: Simple enough question, but the answer isn't very simple. Basically, you can get the deposit if the buyer doesn't hold up her end of the contract. But a good real estate contract is written with several outs for the buyer. They're called contingencies. The deal can be contingent on buyer getting decent (as specified) financing. The big one is the home-inspection contingency. All homes have something wrong with them, even new ones. Until buyer and seller have identified problems that need to be fixed, and agreed on who will do the work and who will pay what, your deal hasn't quite gelled yet. But if a buyer leaves town, never applies for a mortgage, can't/won't schedule closing, that's a pretty clear example of a situation where you keep the deposit.

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Scottsdale, Ariz.: I'm about to be offered a really great job in Scottsdale, Ariz. Though I own a house here (not much equity in the current home), I'm considering renting for six months to a year there just to get used to the area. What gives me pause from that strategy is that the Phoenix area is SUCH a buyer's market right now. What are your thoughts?

Elizabeth Razzi: I'd say listen to the cautious voice in your head. See how the job goes; see how you like Arizona. Phoenix prices are not going to rocket anywhere in six months.

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Agents and Online MLS info: We just recently bought a place this spring and we, too, did most of the leg work online finding listings ourselves. BUT, our agent proved to be invaluable in providing us information about different condo developments, construction materials and standards, and he was essential in crafting our bid just right to win out against other bidders. It was really a very cooperative process and while we didn't need him to find the listings, his advice and knowledge was exactly why we chose him.

Elizabeth Razzi: Thanks for the insight.

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Advent of video chats: I suppose I should be thankful. My productivity at work will go way up! (I gave up the written discussions for Lent.)

Elizabeth Razzi: Here's to the bright side. Maybe your productivity will garner a big, fat raise, too. Here's hoping.

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Elizabeth Razzi: Well, that's it, folks. The guy with the big hook is standing offstage. I have really enjoyed these chats with you. Thanks -- and best of luck with all your housing decisions.--Elizabeth