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REALTOR Magazine’s cover story for their July/August issue is on “Niche” marketing and titled, “Own Your Niche”. I am featured for my Historic Home Niche. It was funny, for the print edition, a photographer shot me in the grand foyer of Rockland (thank you Mike). It took 3 hours for the one photo. Obviously the scene was spectacular, so I have to assume that it took 3 hours to get me to look good in it. Oh well, I’ll take it…

http://historichometeam.com/pdf/OwnYourNiche.pdf

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A friend sent me this rather sobering bit of “old news”. I have been in countless historic homes that date back to before the American Revolution and after more than 250 years, I believe a sensitive soul can still hear, smell and feel the human suffering and joy of past stewards. Today I feel more in awe than ever of those courageous Americans that gave us the freedom we enjoy today. Have a happy and thoughtful Independence Day!
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Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Try GOOGLING them.

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It’s not much to ask for the price they paid.

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Gary was quoted in today’s New York Times article on historic homes in the Homes Section.
See article.

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Dr. Steve Fuller, Economist at George Mason University says “The payroll job loss as likely to go deeper and longer – perhaps 18-20 months. There are currently 13 million unemployed, and many of these people will stay unemployed because the new jobs will have different qualifications than those for the people getting laid off. He predicted oil will still be below $80 per bbl in 2011. Normally there are 5 million house sales per year (it got up to 7 million a few years ago), and we are currently around 4.5 million now. Consumer spending will be a negative 1% in 2009 vs the normal 2.5% growth per year.

The Washington economy will have a 1.5% growth in GDP vs the negative nationally due the presence of the federal government. Where Detroit has autos; LA, films; Houston, oil; a third of our economy is directly tied into the feds, and that component is rising. Federal spending here will total some $135 billion in 2009. Federal procurement dollars have tripled over the last 10 years with much of the corresponding job growth going to Northern VA.

Job growth has averaged 46,500 per year since 1991 with some recent years as follows:

2003 – 56,000
2004 – 71,000
2005 – 63,000
2007 – 29,000
2008 – With one more month’s numbers to come in, he thinks it will net out at 25,000
Washington is double the national job growth rate in professional and business services which have an annual salary of $75,000. Due to the region’s wealth, our retail trade job growth is 3 times the national average, and other services (such as daycare, etc.) twice. Steve sees the spread between our unemployment rate and the national rate (now 3%) perhaps growing to a 4% spread.

He thinks our economy will begin to rebound the second half of 2009 with a total net new job growth of 230,300 for the region over the next 5 years as follows:

2009 – 23,700
2010 – 36,500
2011 – 42,400
2012 – 48,100
2013 – 54,000
Of these new jobs, Northern VA will have 125,900 and Suburban MD, 66,000.

Needless to say, we are very fortunate to be living and working in this area for a number of reasons. Let us hope we can take advantage of the opportunities that may be more evident and attainable here than in many other markets.

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On Thursday of this week (1/8/09) Prosperity Mortgage had an interest rate of 4.25% for a 30 year fixed conventional loan with 3 points (the points can be paid by the seller). That is truly incredible. Alot of home owners are refinancing, because of the low rates, and banks have limited funds available to lend, so the word on the street is borrow now (buy now) rather than later. Many analysts say that home values are near 2003 prices, which is great if you are buying, but may make refinancing a challenge. The key to taking advantage of the great buying opportunities in this market is having two things - good credit and a good downpayment. With those two things, the opportunities abound.

Now, if you have been considering a purchase, but felt the house you wanted would require monthly payments that are just out of your range, well… @ 4.25% that house may have just gotten cheaper. Something to think about…

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NEW!

In the side bar, at the bottom, you can now subscribe to our new “Homes For Sale Alert” via text messaging. When we list an extraordinary historic home and post it on our Blog, you will receive a short text message with the great news.

NEW!
Historic Home Blog is now “PDA Friendly”, so if you have a PDA, Blackberry, or a cell phone with an internet browser - you can immediately check out the new listing, with photos & description.

Life is good…

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