In this current economy credit seems to be the hottest topic, and most people are wondering how the current situation will affect them personally.  The Washington Post recently ran a feature called The 10-Point Credit Checkup which answered some of the most common questions about credit and gave some great tips for keeping your score high and making the most of your credit.  

The article addresses questions such as:

-          Can I count on my home-equity line of credit being available when I need it?

-          I’ve put my credit cards away in a drawer so I won’t be tempted to use them. Will that hurt my credit score?

-          How often should I use a credit card so it doesn’t become an inactive account?

For the answers to these and other credit questions check out the article.

It is a buyer’s market out there for home buyers, and the data is there to prove it in DC.

The median sales price for a home in DC in August 2007 was $460,000. One year later, it is just over $400,000. The average price per square foot for a home on the market in 2007 was $420. Today it is about $389. This week, Washington City Paper featured a home that is listed at twenty percent less than it was in 2006.

So, does all this mean that you should buy a home tomorrow?

“If it were me, I would buy now,” Catherine Jardine, Redfin’s DC market manager, told UrbanTurf. “I think most sellers are at the point where they are listing their homes at market price, so you don’t really see grossly overpriced homes these days.”

But this is not the only good news for buyers… Read on at UrbanTurf.com 

Catholic University recently announced that they have selected Jim Abdo to complete a nearly 9 acre development project on their south campus site in Brookland (see map).  According to Washington Post, the development will include “a dense mix of restaurants, shops and housing, all centered around a new clock tower”.  Details of the plan remain vague, as Abdo intends to conduct community meetings to get feedback before finalizing his design.  The project would dramatically change the neighborhood bringing, about 800 new units of housing and extending the commercial corridor from 12th Street NE down along Monroe Street to better connect the University to the Brookland community. The next step will be for Abdo’s firm to obtain a Planned Unit Development (PUD) approval from the D.C. Zoning Commission for a mixed-use development, which is expected to take about a year and will require close work with the Brookland neighborhood, city officials and the university to determine the best vision for the property.
For more information read the article in The Washington Post