Newmans Own

Kitchen radio?

tcd — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:55:27 GMT

As I'm interested in an (ideally iPod-compatible) kitchen radio, I'm curious to know what Mr. Newman considered and ultimately went with. The Google link in the blog post looks more like a starting point than a winnowing process.

It's hard to beat Kaus for Most Useless Slate Feature

Trace192 — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:18:59 GMT

Well done. Be proud of yourselves, and keep on not buying a house. Kaus never stops compiling useless drivel, and one decisive mistake on your part might end up handing him back the crown.

Buyer's agents paid a percentage of the selling price?

saturday — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:59:59 GMT

How do buyer's agents effectively represent the buyer? If the agent negotiates the selling price, the agent receives a portion of the price, say, 3%. So, the agent has an incentive to get the sale to go through (no sale=no pay) and has no incentive to lower the price (higher price=higher commission).

From the buyer's perspective, it seems like, by going it alone, you can negotiate as low a price as you can, be willing to walk away if necessary, and can probably get the selling price lowered if the seller doesn't have to pay your agent.

I've never bought, though I probably will in the next year. I'm just trying to understand this better.

So much for the "buyer's market"

Billie — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:58:15 GMT

I'm a little confused. Why on earth would you pay almost $200,000 *over* the property assessment in a buyer's market? I thought the whole point was to pay *less* than the house was worth. Montgomery County says the place is only worth $386,290, yet it was listed for sale at $559,000. Did you actually negotiate them that far down on the price?

Geographic confusion

Lindemann — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:41:19 GMT

The Newmans' last post, regarding the home they bought, was tagged "Takoma Park," but they will soon be living in East Silver Spring, not the TP. (There was a helpful article in the Post on Saturday elucidating this for anyone who is confused.)

Will they be along a bus line? Yes, the F6 and a couple Ride-Ons.

Will they live on a street I have walked down many a time? You betcha.

All things come to an end.

Edmund Andrews and going broke in Silver Spring

Billie — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:04:40 GMT

As a longtime resident of Silver Spring who earns substantially less than Edmund Andrews, I would like to ask Lindemann and the other Silver Springers who've been commenting here for their opinions of Andrews's "bailout" plan (i.e., write a book pretending to be "Everyman" when you're earning well above the median income for the country). OK, I'm not the Gallup poll, so I am not even attempting to phrase the question in a neutral fashion... but it seems to me that if I were earning what a NYT reporter makes, I could've bought a house in Potomac, or at least Bethesda, rather than lowly old Silver Spring, which the Newmans have been resisting buying a house in. If SS is not good enough for the Newmans, why was it good enough for Andrews?

granite countertops

pixie superhero — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:41:53 GMT

Nothing could make me happier than for these people to move in somewhere that has granite countertops... I can't WAIT to hear Nora "explain her newly nuanced position." What a pain that woman must be. LOL

Did you guys buy a house or what?

haywoodthewise — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:02:54 GMT

I actually got into this a little bit. Please continue posting. IMO you should move to Austin's Hyde Park; just a few blocks from my home and a whole lot less expensive. You have family here. Good schools, great city, nice music scene. I will get you free tickets to any show at the Cactus Cafe you would like. Please come and please post.

the bubble?

gzuckier — Sun, 10 May 2009 00:56:56 GMT

well, an amateur's (me, duh) view is that a lot of money looking for a place to hide makes bubbles. like the baby boomers reaching their peak earning years and thinking hard about retirement. and once the bubble start inflating, everybody jumps in.

what does it leave behind? like other bubbles, the debris is good pickings. the collapse of the internet bubble left a well fibered country behind, ready for cheap high bandwidth to everybody's house. the collapse of the housing bubble? home depots on every corner.

Why Not Look in PG County?

twilight — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:35:24 GMT

Have you looked at all in PG County for a house? You could probably find all you need for less money in PG County. Or what about NE DC? South Dakota Avenue or the Takoma section of the District are nice. Or what about SW DC?

"housing bubble" led to important urban gentrification

philmels — Thu, 21 May 2009 13:33:03 GMT

Mr. Newman need look no further than many of the urban core locations of Pittsburg, Portland, Sacramento (midtown), San Francisco (area where the baseball stadium), Washington DC, Chicago (south loop, lakeview) and many other urban locations to find a benefit of the housing bubble. 15 years ago large swaths of each of these cities that now house and employ productive, artistic, playful parts of society was rundown, crime ridden, poorly schooled and poverty stricken.

To find the answer he seeks, Mr. Newman a resident of Washington D.C., need only take a walk in a hometown neighborhood in which he would not have walked 15 years ago and open his eyes (maybe he could have a java and purchase a painting too!)

This is not to pass judgment on whether it was worth it, but lets recognize that these developments most likely would not have occurred but for the financing and the semi-illusion that investments in these historically previously forgotten neighborhoods would be sound investment.

Best,
Philmels

Where I Want to Live

JGinDC — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:46:05 GMT

...apparently anywhere near you and your snobby attitude. You have actually written posts about prices dropping dramatically on houses, if you'd care to go back a few posts. And some of these were houses you considered (otherwise we would not have hears about them). Just because you haven't found one to buy yet, that doesn't mean prices haven't fallen on nice houses. Not for the Nemans does not equal not good enough for "people."

All I can say is this: If one benefit of the bursting of the bubble was supposed to be reasonable prices for houses in places where people may actually want to live, then I'm not seeing it. Not yet anyway. And yes, we're still looking.

All I can say is this: you're a snob. People want to live all kinds of places for a variety of reasons, and in many of those neighborhoods prices have fallen. The only entity hiring these days is the U.S. government based, shockingly I know, in your city which might impact some of the DC issue.

Finally, I just moved from DC to the Bay area, land of over-priced houses and prices have dropped significantly here - and had dropped there as well. Sure, you still have to fork over more than is reasonable for a house, but there have been huge percentage drops in price on the whole. The most perfect house or the most well-built house in Seattle, DC, San Francisco, etc. is still going to be expensive. If the price never did get very inflated, it likewise won't immediately get deflated.

Seriously though, you should listen to yourself. You basically just said that most of the country is unworthy for "people" who I assume have identical taste to you. There are many, many places in DC - where "people" want to live - that have seen drops in prices. They are not in YOUR ideal neighborhood, but they are quite nice and populated by people who, *gasp* might have even chosen to live there.

downtown

greengroup — Tue, 12 May 2009 01:47:23 GMT

i would say that definitely, in some areas of the country historic inner city rowhomes have been restored and downtown areas rejuvinated over the last decade, very often by people hoping to flip a house or simply own a home for less than the 300 grand a suburban house would cost. baltimore is an example, with areas like federal hill seeing much improvement. many people there are underwater on their mortgages like everywhere else, but at least thats a place where people -should- want to live.

Stay the hell away from old houses

mlang46 — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:37:34 GMT

Yeah! I watched this old house and deplore the lack of character in cookie cutter development homes. I noticed you were looking at a lot of homes with 1930 to 1935 dates. Cute little nightmares which will drive you insane and penniless at the same time. Cape Cod Homes where the roof is gone and the foundation is beyond repair and the layout reflects how people lived in 1890. The only other mistake you could make ,which would be worse, is a poorly designed solar home with a greenhouse and a Trombe wall

You want character. By an empty lot and get the book " The Not So Big House Book by Sarah Susanka and Smaller houses or get a manufactured home. Paying 651 thousand dollars for a 1600 square ft 1932 farm home makes no sense even in the DC area.

Go to the Taunton website the publishers of fine home building and see whats possible. Also there is a depression in the construction industry so contractors are willing to deal. Labor is low and material is cheap

Buying a house

Indy-Ally — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:03:28 GMT

The first house seems gorgeous! I'm wondering why you decided no.
I've been reading your blog with interest (and some envy - my hubby and I would love to live in a more cosmopolitan area). We're in a similar point in our lives - a two-year-old son, with a baby girl expected this summer. We're in our early/mid 30s and both work in academia.

At the same time, our location makes our housing search quite different. We had bought a house in small-town Illinois two years (and two jobs) ago that we're finally in contract to sell, after a prolonged zoning battle. We bought it for $87k in 2006 and are selling it for $86.5. We're also in contract to buy a brand new condo in suburban Indianapolis for $129k. After experiencing living in a good-sized, energy-inefficient, 60-year-old house, I realized that:

1. My husband will never willingly do yardwork, and with two kids I probably won't either
2. We travel a lot in the summer, so it's nice to not have to worry about it anyway
3. Shared-wall condos are much more energy efficient than drafty stand-alone houses
4. We have to move out of our apartment before the baby comes and my husband's in-laws come to help out!

So we're giving up on space and charm a bit to live in a convenient neighborhood with good schools, parks, and plenty of new construction. There aren't a lot of older houses that are in good shape in our neck of the woods, anyway.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your journey, and if that was an announcement of a new little one on the way, congratulations!

Out of Whack sales price

Bodhikai — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:04:21 GMT

The "sales" price you are looking at reflects the price at which the property changed hands - which is the foreclosure, not an actual "sale". So it will be the outstanding loan amount.

Here in L.A. it takes about 90 days for the sale to be reflected in the tax rolls. So what you're seeing is the transfer of the title of the house from the owners to the bank, followed by the transfer of title from the bank to the new owners, hence the two different numbers.

Koi-poloi

ABM — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:21:08 GMT

Is this a tear-down property? Sad, sagging house in a good location sounds like it's crying out to be torn down. Is this difficult to accomplish in DC (I live in Montgomery County)? Keep looking and blogging...

CAC is not a need!

capitolhillmom — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:30:47 GMT

People lived in that Sligo Park Hills home for decades without CAC. You can too. That is an adorable house! and it would be fun to renovate the kitchen to your "no granite!" standards. My mom just had all the boxwood yanked out of her yard-- it looks so much better. She's thrilled to not have to deal with the maintenance anymore.

What twaddle

BSWFC — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:01:36 GMT

It amazes me this smug twaddle is still being published. Whats next - a series of articles about one womans quest to find the perfect shoes in the midst of an economic downturn?

Who is interested? The Newmans and their friends, and a few other people who live in the DC area who are also buying a house? There is no universality in this blog, and it's not interesting or well-written enough to transcend it's niche.

Twee and boring

BSWFC — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:39:08 GMT

What is the point of this blog? What is interesting about a couple buying a house, especially when they conduct their tedious conversations in print for our 'benefit'? When will it end? This was a bad idea, Slate editors.

For heaven's sake

Tourmaline — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:44:17 GMT

Please understand this is very much mock exasperation but what is WRONG with you two?? This house is fantastic! By far the nicest house you (ok, we) have seen and it's far less expensive than some of the others! And you're absolutely right about updating the kitchen, there's a big advantage in making it your own. Unless it's across the street from the Love Canal you should go for it!

So glad I got this off my chest. Now I have to go back and find out what noted person used to live there. (It should say something I had to write this before getting good gossip!)

The Importance of Being Earnest

jfgroom — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:38:06 GMT

You're really showing your ignorance of basic business here; deposits have been around for a long time, and are there for a good reason; buyers often change their minds, and it costs a lot of money, and time, to sue for performance of a contract, so taking someone's deposit is the most reasonable way of making sure that contracts are enforceable. I pity your agent, as 1% is a joke, and no seller with any sense will take that. It doesn't suprise me that your a politics editor for Slate, as most people commenting on politics show the same complete lack of basic understanding as you; hence are current economic policies. If you're serious about the house, why aren't you willing to make a serious deposit?

if you think that kitchen in Silver Spring is over the top

Hoboken — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:18:28 GMT

you clearly have NOT been watching enough house-renovation TV shows! It is positively subdued! It looks like someone might actually COOK in it!

If Evangelics are expecting the rapture...

Mmmmm — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:18:12 GMT

If Evangelicals are expecting the rapture any time, wouldn't they be the ones with the low-money-down, low-initial-rate ARM's?

post 9-11 home purchases

capitolhillmom — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:03:57 GMT

My theory is that areas with higher evangelical populations increased real estate sales post- 9 -11 because those are areas outside of big cities. And rigth after 9-11 living in a big city seemed like a bad idea and living in rural area (AKA, evangelical areas) seemed like a better bet. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding a piece of the data?