Not for the shy among us

The first and third Wednesdays of the month at Whitlow’s on Wilson in Arlington for HariKaraoke with a live band to back you up.  If you don’t please the audience, they’ll let you know – and you could be gonged off the stage.  www.whitlows.com

That time again...

Real estate assessments will be posted on line next month at www.arlingtonva.us and alexandriava.gov.  If you want to challenge your assessment, the instructions will be there, but pay attention to the dates.  And call or e-mail us if you want help in determining a fair assessment.  The value of a typical Arlington home rose 1.4 per cent last year according to the county.

Upcoming Productions

If you didn’t see “Oklahoma” at Arena, then head there to see a lavish production of “The Arabian Nights”  www.arenastage.org

 

The Arlington Players present “The Seagull” by Anton Chekhof from January 28^th to February 12^th at the Thomas Jefferson Community Theater.  www.thearlingtonplayers.org

 

The most fun of all his plays! Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will be presented by the Synectic Theatre

at the theatre in Crystal City through January 30^th.  www.synectictheater.org.

Practice for the Olympics

Saturday, January 29^th from 5-7 at Pentagon Row for ice skating, merchant specials and giveaways, entertainment, stilt walker, magician, juggler and more!  Pentagonrow.com.

A Home Is Still a Good Investment!

According to Realtor Magazine, “Even with several years of price declines, the typical seller who purchased a home eight years ago experienced a median equity gain of $33,000 – a 24% increase-while sellers who were in their homes for 11-15 years saw a median gain of 40%. That’s according to NAR’s latest survey of home buyers and sellers, available at REALTOR.org/research. ‘Eighty-five percent of recent home buyers see their home as a good investment, and nearly half think that investment is better than stocks,’ says Paul Bishop, NAR vice president of research. ‘This indicates the long-term view of home ownership as a fundamental goal and value remains sound.’ “

Cheaper to Buy Than Rent in DC

January 24, 2011    by Mark Wellborn

According to an analysis from real estate search website Trulia.com, it is currently cheaper to buy a home than rent one in 72 percent of the 50 largest cities in the country, including DC.

Trulia’s Rent vs. Buy Index, which launched last June, calculates the price-to-rent ratio using the median list price for two-bedroom properties compared with the median rent for two-bedroom apartments, condos and townhomes listed on its site. The index uses a rule of 15, which means that if the median list price divided by the annual median rent produces a score of 15 or less, the city is considered a good place to buy. The index is separated into three categories: The first includes cities with scores ranging from 1 to 15, places where it is more expensive to rent than to buy; the second, with scores of 16-20, are places where renting or buying is more situation dependent; and the third, with scores of 21 or higher, are places where buying costs are significantly greater than renting.

Sandwiched between Detroit and Indianapolis, DC scored a 12 on the Trulia scale, which means that it is one of the cities where it is much less expensive to buy than to rent. (Maybe this is why experts are expecting rent increases over the next few years.) The data used to produce this score — based on properties in DC proper — was a median monthly rent of $2,835 and a median list price of $401,399. For comparison, New York and San Francisco (which scored 31 and 21, respectively) are cities where you should continue to rent, according to Trulia.

While the index does provide perspective on the rent versus buy debate, an individual’s decision as to whether they will buy a home requires taking a number of variables into account (property taxes, down payment, interest rates) for the total cost of ownership, a point that Trulia acknowledges.

“We created the index to determine which cities have overpriced rent and which have underpriced,” Daisy Kong of Trulia told UrbanTurf. “The decision to buy a home is a very personal one and the index should just be used as a guide in that process.”

To see how DC compares to other cities in the country, check out this interactive map based on the index findings.

Autos!

Friday, January 28^th to Sunday February 6^th at the Washington Convention Center (Metro: Mt. Vernon Place) visit the annual Auto Show.  More than 700 new makes and models plus free car giveaways, live entertainment and celebrities.  www.washingtonshow.com.

Blues Alley & The Birchmere

Coming up at Blues Alley Tuck and Patti February 13-16.  New Orleans cuisine.  www.bluesalley.com

 

Remember? The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band?    They will appear with the Birchmere favorites Seldom Scene at Strathmore February 4^th.  www.strathmore.org.

 

Crafts Festival

Check out the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival at Dulles Expo Center January 28-30.  Sugarloafcrafts.com.

Antioxidents on the run!

Chocolate tasting tour with a wine tasting addition the second Saturday of each month begins on 14^th Street at Artfully Chocolate and stops at CakeLove, Bistro a Bonne, Locolot, Hana Japanese Market and Biagio. www.dcmetrochocolatetours.com.