HOW MUCH IS YOUR HOME WORTH IN BETHESDA 20816If you live in the 20816 zipcode you live just over the District line in Montgomery County between River Road and the River and south of Goldsboro Road.  There  are a variety of homes here from condos in the $200s to homes in the multi million dollar price range.  Some of the most popular neighborhoods for single family homes include Westmoreland Hills and Spring Hill, Glen Echo Heights and Tulip Hills overlooking the Potomac River, and Sumner and Woodacres along Massachusetts Avenue.       Summary of Market Data for Single Family Homes in 20816 In 20816, the median sold price for Detached properties for May was $995000, representing a decrease of 17.1% compared to last month and an decrease of 8.3% from May 2016.The average days on market fo... 06/12/2017

Homes for Sale in the Ashburton Community in Bethesda MDWhy Do People Live in Ashburton?People live in Ashburton because it is so convenient to downtown Washington and the Beltway, because it has great schools, and because the mid century split levels and ramblers set on quarter acre lots with mature trees and shrubbery are affordable in relation to the rest of Bethesda. The streets are quiet and filled with children riding bikes and families walking their dogs.  This is a friendly old fashioned neighborhood that welcomes newcomers and embraces the long time residents.  Naturally a popular neighborhood like this is beginning to see new construction as some of the older and smaller homes are torn down and replaced with Craftsman homes with inviting front porches. LOOKING FOR A HOME IN AS... 06/07/2017

HOMES FOR SALE IN WOODACRES, BETHESDA MD 20816 WHY DO PEOPLE LIVE HERE?One of the biggest reasons that people choose to live in Woodacres is the great elementary school. Another reason is the proximity to shopping and easy commuting paths into DC and onto the Beltway. Perhaps the biggest reason is that Woodacres is just a great community in which to live.There is always something going on in Woodacres including a Food, Clothing and Home Furnishings Drive to benefit Woodacres' non-profit community partners, informational seminars on topics of public welfare such as household recycling, garden composting and landscape conservation, and a collection of community social occasions, like the 4th of July Parade and Picnic, a big Halloween Party and Costume Contest judged by the Great Pumpkin i... 06/01/2017

If you live in the 20816 zipcode you live just over the District line in Montgomery County between River Road and the River and south of Goldsboro Road.  There  are a variety of homes here from condos in the $200s to homes in the multi million dollar price range.  Some of the most popular neighborhoods for single family homes include Westmoreland Hills and Spring Hill, Glen Echo Heights and Tulip Hills overlooking the Potomac River, and Sumner and Woodacres along Massachusetts Avenue.   Summary of Market Data for Single Family Homes in 20816 In 20816, the median sold price for Detached properties for April was $1,200,000, representing an increase of 14.8% compared to last month and an increase of 20.6% from Apr 2016.The average days on market for units sold in April was 41 days, 19% bel... 05/26/2017

Everyone wants to know what the value of their home is - particularly in the spring market.  Are prices up? Are prices really up? or is the market softening? Home values in Bethesda MD are increasing, but so are the number of active listings.  Unlike the DC market, inventory is increasing in the Bethesda 20814 market.  There is now 3.1 months of supply, which is slightly over the 5 year average for this time of year.  However, the number of new listings on the market in April is below the 5 year average, so perhaps the increased inventory will not significantly cool the Bethesda market.      To find out how these numbers affect the price of your home in Bethesda please go to:Get the value of your home in Bethesda Md.  If you would like more specific information about the value of your h... 05/23/2017

Hot Dog! We are getting a new restaurant in Bethesda! An award-winning California-based hot dog chain, Dog Haus, will move into the former Parva space in downtown Bethesda.   Although Dog Haus has over 20 restaurants on the west coast of the U.S., this Woodmont Avenue location will be the first East Coast location.  This will compete with a favorite restaurant of mine which is just down the street, Bold Bites.  There are lots of other restaurants in the metro area serving hot dogs, including the iconic Ben's Chili BowlThe chain applied to Montgomery County for a liquor license for the 7904 Woodmont Avenue storefront. A sign on the door of the building says the Bethesda location will be one of the restaurant's "biergarten" locations, meaning it will serve a larger selection of beer than ... 05/17/2017

 There are twenty five high schools in Montgomery County, giving you a wide range of choices in school districts and life styles.  Do you want a home close to transportation and shopping or one with rolling green lawns and the sound of birds and bees on a lazy summer day?  All of the schools in Montgomery County are good, so you can't make a really bad decision anywhere in the county, but some schools are better than others.  They have a higher graduation rate, better college placements or more AP tests and higher SAT scores than others in the county. With a 98% graduation rate, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School is ranked #155 on The Washington Post’s list of America’s Most Challenging High Schools.  The average SAT score is 1080 and the average ACT score is 27.  Clearly Bethesda-Chevy C... 05/17/2017

Mother's Day is coming quickly! Have you made your reservation for Mother's Day in Bethesda? Given how popular all these restaurants are on a Saturday night, they will be filled to overflowing on Mother's Day! Pick one from this list and make that call!  Oh- and don't forget to let Mom know what time the reservation is for! Barrel & CrowBarrel and Crow will be open for Mothers Day Brunch  From 10 to 3,  There Will Be Complimentary Beignets Along With theBrunch MenuCesco OsteriaVoted "Most Popular Restaurant in Maryland." Be sure to come hungry to this one! Award-winning Chef Cesco Ricchi presents a 40-foot long buffet of dishes: homemade pastas, raw seafood bar, succulent meats, salads, and an array of desserts all made in-house. Parking in bldg. $49/adult; $15/under 10 y.o. 11am-4pm. 5... 05/07/2017

Spring is here - even if this week in Bethesda Maryland seems a bit chilly!  May means flowers and bees swarming around those flowers.  The spring blossoms are doing fine - but bees are having a hard time of it in the last few years.  For much of the past 10 years, beekeepers in the United States and Europe have been reporting annual hive losses of 30 percent or higher, substantially more than is considered normal or sustainable.  It is not clear whether the loss of bees is due to global warming, excessive use of pesticides or some other cause, but the impact is clear on agriculture. What to do? Just a hint - the answer is not Marie Antoinette's "Let them eat cake!" This time the answer is borrowed from Shakespeare- "Get thee to an ice cream store!" Specifically, be sure to go to your n... 05/07/2017

Are you considering a move to the DC Metro Area? Are you relocating to the DC area for work or family? Are you having trouble figuring out whether to choose DC, Maryland or Virginia? There are lots of great choices in each jurisdiction! Here are some suggestions for Maryland - many of them close to DC.  My favorite is Bethesda MD, my home town. There are lots of great places to live in Maryland and Bethesda has been recognized as being one of the best again this year.  According to a new set of rankings released by Niche.com, Bethesda places in the top-ten best places to live in Maryland, coming in seventh place.As a Bethesda resident, I strongly believe that Bethesda is one of the best cities to live in in the Washington DC suburbs.  It is very close to downtown D.C. and offers excelle... 04/20/2017

BETHESDA MD (20817) MARKET REPORTMontgomery County MDFEBRUARY 2017 The 20817 zip code occupies the north and western parts of Bethesda in Montgomery County, Maryland. The area is anchored by employment giants such as the National Institutes of Health, Marriott International, Lockheed Martin, Host Hotels & Resorts, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and Ritz Carlton. Its close proximity to Washington DC and access to the Metro Red Line, 495 Beltway and 270 makes this one of the best places to live in the US. With great parks, including Cabin John Regional Park; charming sidewalk neighborhoods, like Georgetown Village, Ashburton, and Wildwood Manor; and the nation’s top ranked public schools, such as Ashburton Elementary, North Bethesda Middle and Walter Johnson High, it’s no w... 04/06/2017

HOMES FOR SALE IN KENWOOD PARK, BETHESDA MD 20817                              Kenwood Park, Bethesda MD 20817 Information  Why Do People Live Here? Kenwood Park is a community built in the 1960s just on the outskirts of downtown Bethesda on the Arlington Road and Bethesda Avenue side of town. You can walk into Bethesda along Bradley Boulevard in about a half hour at a leisurely pace, putting you close to shopping, restaurants like Rio Grande and Mon Ami Gabi, and movie theaters like Bethesda Row Cinema.People move here for the schools like Whitman High School which is in the heart of Kenwood Park, and for the mid century classic homes set on quarter acre lots with mature landscaping. The streets are wide, gently rolling over small hills and curving through the neighborhood.The commute ... 03/22/2017

Homes for Sale in the Greenwich Forest Community of Bethesda, MD 20817Why Do People Live here?Greenwich Forest is a small community of treelined streets just a short walk from downtown Bethesda. It is next to Suburban Hospital, part of Johns Hopkins Medical University, and across the street from the National Institutes of Health. Some of the original 100 homes built between 1938 and 1950 are Tudors, in keeping with the Greenwich Forest name, while others are cape cods.  Because of its proximity to downtown Bethesda, this has been a popular location for builders to tear down existing homes and put in new homes more suited to the tastes of today's buyers.  It is an easy commute to downtown Washington via Wisconsin Ave or River Road. Of course, the Beltway is not far away to take you to o... 03/21/2017

Rated by GreatSchools.org as a 10 out of 10, Bradley Hills Elementary is clearly a popular school for families moving to Bethesda MD.  The teacher student ratio is appealing with about 630 students and 33 full time teachers.  Located at 8701 Hartsdale Avenue, the Bradley Hills Elementary School district is bounded by Old Georgetown Road to the east, Greentree Road to the north, Bradley Blvd. to the west until it reaches the Landon School where the border edges along Landon and then meanders through Kenwood Park until it reaches Whittier at Lenox and runs down Whittier south to River Road. The southern border is River Road until it reaches Glenbrook Road, the second part of its eastern border.  The Glenbrook Road border runs back up to Old Georgetown Road, completing the district.  (Natu... 03/19/2017

BETHESDA MD (20817) MARKET REPORTMontgomery County MDJANUARY 2017   The 20817 zip code occupies the north and western parts of Bethesda in Montgomery County, Maryland. The area is anchored by employment giants such as the National Institutes of Health, Marriott International, Lockheed Martin, Host Hotels & Resorts, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and Ritz Carlton.  Its close proximity to Washington DC and access to the Metro Red Line, 495 Beltway and 270 makes this one of the best places to live in the US. With great parks, including Cabin John Regional Park; charming sidewalk neighborhoods, like Georgetown Village, Ashburton, and Wildwood Manor; and the nation’s top ranked public schools, such as Ashburton Elementary, North Bethesda Middle and Walter Johnson High, it’s no... 02/25/2017

If you need help pulling together funds for a down payment, you might consider asking for a gift from a family member.  It is a giving time of year, and what better gift could you receive than the gift of a down payment for a home? Many people get gifts for this purpose, but  it isn't as simple as just asking for the money and depositing it into your checking account before closing.  There definitely are some rules that you need to follow. 1. The down payment must be a real gift If your lender thinks that the money you just received is a loan - rather than a gift - the lender will calculate the cost of repaying that loan and factor that into your mortgage approval limit.  Then, you will probably qualify for less than you expected - or possibly need for that purchase.  To avoid this prob... 12/15/2016

BETHESDA MD MARKET REPORTMontgomery County MDOctober 2016  The 20817 zip code occupies the north and western parts of Bethesda in Montgomery County, Maryland. The area is anchored by employment giants such as the National Institutes of Health, Marriott International, Lockheed Martin, Host Hotels & Resorts, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and Ritz Carlton.  Its close proximity to Washington DC and access to the Metro Red Line, 495 Beltway and 270 makes this one of the best places to live in the US. With great parks, including Cabin John Regional Park; charming sidewalk neighborhoods, like Georgetown Village, Ashburton, and Wildwood Manor; and the nation’s top ranked public schools, such as Ashburton Elementary, North Bethesda Middle and Walter Johnson High, it’s no wonder p... 12/09/2016

Sussex House Condominiums at 4970 Battery Lane in Bethesda MD Find similar condos for sale to the Sussex House Condos, Bethesda, MD 20814  starting at $200,000! Get the value of your Bethesda Condo in today's marketThis is where you want to be! If you are looking for a convenient and affordable condo complex in Bethesda, you have just found it. Sussex House is perfectly located at 4970 Battery Lane between the NIH Metro and the Bethesda Metro. Sussex House is a short walk to the Woodmont Triangle with its unique stores and ethnic restaurants.  Everything you need is within walking distance from the Safeway on Old Georgetown Road and the Harris Teeter on Wisconsin Ave and Battery to the Starbucks and the Tastee Diner. Sussex House is a Classic Mid Century Modern BuildingSussex House is a... 12/06/2016

On Sunday mornings I get up and make a quick run to Bethesda to pick up bagels from a local institution, Bethesda Bagels.  Located at 4819 Bethesda Avenue, this is the place to be on a Sunday morning when the line is out the door by 8 am.  Happily you don't have to live in Bethesda to enjoy Bethesda Bagels.  They have expanded to Dupont Circle,  and will open at the Navy Yard soon! Last Sunday, my son, Alex, and his wife, Maggie, and Hamilton were in for a night.  We also had my daughter, Lise Courtney and her boyfriend, drop in for breakfast too.  I made a quick trip for bagels and cream cheese spreads like lox, veggie, and raisin walnut.  Instant feast!  Even though Alex lives in New York now, he still says that Bethesda Bagel makes better bagels than anywhere else.   I prefer Bethesd... 11/20/2016

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” — Albert SchweitzerWhen I moved to Washington DC in middle school I lived in Washington DC but I attended Holton Arms in Bethesda Maryland. Holton Arms is a medium sized all girls college preparatory school which was established in 1901 by two women, Miss Arms and Mrs. Holton. Like many all girls schools, Holton began as a finishing school with an educational bent to it. By the time I got to Holton it was no longer a finishing school – except in the sense that the education I received there was so rigorous that I thought it was going to finish me off! Without a doubt, the best teachers I ever had from elementa... 11/18/2016