In Tight Market, Even Insiders Struggle

The Washington Post
Author: Karen Tanner Allen
Nov 4, 2000

As part of a larger article:

Other real estate agents have contended with today's market in similar ways. Liz Brent, at Taylor Real Estate in Northwest Washington, marshaled all her buying tactics when looking for a larger home near where she and her husband already lived with their 2- and 5-year-old in Silver Spring. The prospective house didn't have to be huge, but should have high ceilings, spacious rooms, good curb appeal and be away from major streets, she said. Brent spent about a year scouring the multiple listing service, targeting a six-block Woodside neighborhood. She even sent letters directly to about 15 different houses, but with no leads. Finally, she heard about a gray- painted, brick colonial coming up for sale and knocked on the door, hoping to make an offer before it went on the market.

"It didn't work," she said. "They wanted the competition. Who can blame them?"

To get the house, Brent had to wait out an open house that garnered four other offers, then make her own offer aggressive: $75,000 more than the $325,000 asking price, and higher than any other house in that neighborhood had sold for.

The toughest places for real estate agents are where their clients are looking, too, in desirable neighborhoods closer into the city. But real estate agents say they still have the advantage of being willing to judge a property's value as an investment. Real estate agents, therefore, can skirt competition by considering houses that require large-scale renovations, are newly constructed, or are in less-popular neighborhoods where housing values are just beginning to rise. They can make aggressive offers with more confidence.

Brent knew that property prices in Woodside were rising; the neighborhood is just blocks from downtown Silver Spring, which is undergoing renewal. "To me, it was worth what I was paying," said Brent. "It was in the right place. . . . We're going to be in this house forever."

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