Why Houzz is the new Google search for your home.

Houzz. What is it? Chances are you may not have heard of it. This is just one of the newer tools in the real estate arsenal to get you the consumer more involved if you want to be. Houzz is a cross between Pinterest, Yelp, Amazon, Angies List, Google and a Housing Trends Blog ... I hope that was a good analogy. Houzz is a social network among professionals having to do with anything related to the home. Professionals can be found and reviewed on Houzz, creating an inner network of trusted professionals. I am a huge fan of Yelp but when it comes to anything relating to the home Houzz is the first place I look. Houzz is also a massive interactive consumer database connecting you to the online retailers. Find, Shop and Share on Houzz.

It is a resource to find new trends and ideas for your home and also an online market place for products and services. Many of the pictures you can save and post on Houzz will link to the products in the pictures allowing people like you to purchase them instantly online. Paired up with ApplePay it is now as easy as a click and the product is in the mail and on the way. Houzz is powerful!! If you have not checked out Houzz I urge you to take a look and follow me as I am just getting started as well.

My Houzz Profile Ideabooks

Below is a description from the Houzz website on how founders Adi and Alon started it all.

"When founders Adi and Alon remodeled their home, they started the way these projects often do: with a tall stack of magazines and referrals for home professionals from people they knew. But after those piles of torn out pages failed to make their dream a reality, they felt stuck. There had to be a better way.

So they built Houzz. A place to browse and save beautiful home photos. A place to find the right design and construction professionals. A place to connect with others who have been there too. Houzz started as a side project but has become a community of more than 35 million homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals—across the country and around the world."   - Houzz.com  

Alexandria Live Music Week

150 Shows. 34 Venues. 10 Days. 1 Celebration.

Bacon Brothers will be one of the kick off bands
for Alexandria Live Music Week. They will be playing
 at The Birchmere on the 16, 17 and 18th of July. 

The first ever Alexandria Live Music Week is coming July 10 -19th. Are you going? Count me in.

Music types are ranging from jazz to bluegrass, folk rock and country. Our newest restaurant to enter the Alexandria waterfront food scene (Blackwall Hitch) is hosting 10 of the performances. Other venues including Birchmere music hall, Murphy's Grand Irish Pub, Daniel O'Connell's, the Old Town Farmers Market, Virtue Feed & Grain and St. Elmo's Coffee Pub plus more.

Oh, I did mention 1 Celebration... Alexandria Live Music Week will include the Birthday Celebration of Alexandria on July 11th. Alexandria's 266th birthday will be celebrated with fireworks and the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra playing at Oronoco Bay Park at 7pm.

All tickets and costs for the events are determined by the particular venue. 

Venues are in various locations throughout Alexandria.

To find more information visit: www.LiveMusicWeek.com or go to www.AlexandriaLive.com

www.PatrickDeLeonibus.com

Update on the current real estate market for Alexandria, Virginia and Annapolis, Maryland

Alexandria Old Town 22314
For Alexandria Old Town as earlier suspected we are noticing a slow down in the number of homes going under contract and homes sold from the previous month of May. Currently for the month of June we have 32 homes under contract and 33 Sold. At this rate we are expecting a lower number of contracts for June than we had in May.  Expect for the entire 22314 market to experience a rise in DOM and the average sales to original list price to drop. This shift started to happen extremely quick in the last week of May continuing into June.

Current Conditions: Declining but a stable market

ALEXANDRIA OLD TOWN 22314

April

88 Contracts

68 Sold

May

79 Contracts

85 Sold

June

32 Contracts as of June 16th 2015

33 Sold as of June 16th 2015

193 Active Listings 

Annapolis 21401
However Annapolis (21401) is slightly different with plenty of new inventory hitting the market and new contracts for June projected to be even with the month of May but a lower than usual average sales price. With this lower average sales price and even projection of new contracts we could see the higher end listings $1mil+ take a little longer to sell, the DOM to rise and the average sales to original list price to drop across the board, but more specifically for the $1mil+ bracket. Currently for the month of June we have 34 homes under contract and 24 Sold.


Current Conditions: Neutral

ANNAPOLIS 21401

April

61 Contracts

42 Sold

May

72 Contracts

56 Sold

June

34 Contracts as of June 16th 2015 

24 Sold Half as of June 16th 2015

274 Active Listings

Now available on PatrickDeLeonibus.com are interactive graphics directly updated from the MLS for the following zip codes.

Alexandria, Virginia (22314)
Annapolis, Maryland (21401)
Georgetown, Washington, D.C. (20007)

All data for this article was pulled on June 16th 2015 and considered but not guaranteed to be accurate. Data provided by the MRIS and RealEstate Business Intelligence LLC.