L&F job loss protection program

I'm about two weeks behind this news flash. I wanted to mention it because it is a great program for sellers to offer potential buyers. L&F is really excited about the program. Check out the details in a post from Elizabeth Razzi's blog, Local Address. She summarizes the main points very well.

In my perfect world

Last week, I went on a mini-vacation to Philly. My sister-n-law (SIL) was at a medical conference for 5 days. My cousin Josh and his wife have lived there for 4 years and we've never visited. (I'm a bad relative. I know.)

I've been to Philly before but it was years ago. I think I fell in love. We stayed in Center City, went to the Rodin Museum and dined at some amazing places. But my FAVORITE place of the 2 days was Reading Terminal Market. It's a fresh, public market place with numerous merchants. There was local produce, pastries, cheeses, meats, seafood, condiments, cookies, a raw bar, a gyro stand, Middle Eastern food, coffee, etc. etc. I was in food geek heaven. I could have spent hours there.

I know we have Eastern Market, but it's in Cap Hill. I want a market like this in NW. Preferably on the U St. Corridor. I'm thinking the old church on the corner of 14th and T St. could be converted to a market like Reading Terminal and all would be right in my little world. Hello??..developers..read my blog.

Home to the Hip&Hungry: Bring It On!!

Last week in The Washington Post's food section, there was a superb article about the upcoming restaurants coming to the 14th St. corridor called "Home to the Hip&Hungry." As I said in my title "BRING IT ON!"

I knew most of the news the article was reporting because I'm a food geek and I read numerous blogs. I didn't know that Kaz Okochi was thinking about opening a sushi restaurant (holy happiness!) but the other items were reported by Metrocurean. I think I'm most excited by the Barton Seaver/Eli Hengst partnership. Eli is my old boss from the Diner. That's right..I worked at the Diner on 18th St. part time for a couple of years when I first moved into the District. I've always worked from home in some capacity and it was a great way to meet neighborhood peeps. Eli sold his share in the Diner many years ago. He has gone on to open some really interesting restaurants in the DC area like Sonoma and Mendocino, to name a few. I'm curious to see what they come up with for their latest endeavour. For all of those new to DC, Barton Seaver used to helm the kitchen at St. Ex, (pictured above) which is my all time favorite place in DC. I think I've eaten 2 bad meals at St. Ex in the 4 years we've been regulars.

As always, this type of development is amazing for the 'hood. The U St. corridor (and yes, I consider 14th St. an extension of the U St. corridor) has been home to a lot of "new and cool" types of articles in the last several months. Bring it on people. It's good for my property value!

New listing!

I have a new listing at the Rhapsody! It's a sunny, one bedroom on the third floor (#319) with garage parking and a huge storage space (5'x15') for 363K. It's 2 blocks from the U St. metro, it has 10' ceilings, HWFs, SS appliances, black granite counter tops, an open floor plan, floor to ceiling windows in the living room, W/D in the unit and it's pet friendly. It's also FHA approved! Click here for the virtual tour.

I'll be holding it Open on Sunday, 4/19 from 1:30-4pm. Please stop by if you're in the neighborhood!

Spring has sprung...

And I have a cold. Blah. This is tragic since it's been very, very busy. I want to be on the couch and I'm working instead. But hey..work is good! I can't complain about work. I can complain about the pollen which I'm positive caused my cold. Being allergic to dust and pollen is hell in the Spring.

Interesting tidbits:

#1. I wrote an offer yesterday on 1106 Columbia Rd, NW #101. It's a 2 bedroom, 1 bath with parking and it's priced at 279K. My client Nancy* has been looking diligently for about 3 weeks. We have looked at a lot of property in the 250-350K range. This place fit her needs. Guess how many offers are being submitted? 5. Yes. You read that correctly. FIVE. We also used an escalation clause.

My point of this post: for all you nay-sayers out there that are convinced the market is going to continue dropping, get over yourselves. Multiple offers ARE happening in DC in several price bands. This is my first experience in 2009 but I've been hearing stories since the beginning of the year. If it's priced well and the location is good, multiple offers. Or it's going under contract in a couple of days.

#2. I'm famous! Hehee. We all know I'm NOT famous but I like to pretend I'll see a post about myself on Perez Hilton. I doubt that will ever happen since I'm not a movie star but I was quoted by Urban Turf in a post about Foggy Bottom (FB). The Murphy Team is based in FB and we do A LOT of business in 20037. That's why we win all those awards.

*My clients name has been changed to protect her identity.

Shamless Plug v. 2-Awards Ceremony

You might remember this lovely picture from my very first post. If not, here's the Murphy Team!

The Friendship Heights (FH) office (our office in Foggy Bottom is managed by FH) had their awards ceremony yesterday for 2008.

2008 was NOT a banner year for real estate but the team won some awards anyway.

In the Regional Awards, (DC/MD) we were the number #2 group in units sold. Considering the competition is L&F offices with over 800 agents, that's impressive.

We also were the #4 group in the Region in gross commission sales. Again, this is really exciting!

I'd like to add that our Team wins awards every year. The Murphy Team has consistently been in the Regional Top 100 L&F agents list for years. Another reason you should trust us with your real estate needs. We know what we're doing!

Pho 14 is pho-licious

I've been reading Pop's updates on Pho 14 for the last several weeks. My hubby (Bobby) has been chomping at the bit to try it for over a month. He's been very excited about a local Pho place. Especially one that's only 1 metro stop from home..wohooo! As reported by Pop, it's yummy. We went for lunch today and I had a lovely bowl of Pho Ga (that's chicken soup for newbies to Pho). Today is perfect day for Pho because it's STILL COLD outside. Although I now smell distinctly like a bowl of Pho, I'm off to show property.