Ask the Realtor

Hailey Wharram • September 9, 2025

Long before he was a top-ranked real estate agent in the Washington metro area, Christopher Itteilag was a Holy Trinity student who listened closely as his mother negotiated real estate […]

The Georgetowner • July 16, 2025

By Grace Elizabeth Cady  Donna Evers believes that our hearts take the lead in life. Our heads are always a bit behind. That’s why doing work you truly love makes all […]

The Georgetowner • March 13, 2024

We asked three local realtors about the current market and what they think the future will hold. Our questions are below, followed by their responses and insights, edited for space […]

Kate Oczypok • May 9, 2022

The Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors (GCAAR) — one of the largest local realtor associations in the country — represents over 10,000 members from the D.C. area. The organization’s […]

The Georgetowner • March 21, 2022

People do crazy things to buy the home of their dreams in a hot market. They purchase properties sight unseen. They offer well (well) above asking price. They get caught […]

Kate Oczypok • February 9, 2022

The Georgetowner: In your view, what are the most significant trends in the Georgetown housing market for 2022?    Tom Anderson and Dana Landry, Washington Fine Properties: Given the shortage of […]

Robert Devaney • November 6, 2019

For this edition of The Georgetowner’s Fall Real Estate Special, we asked real estate brokers a few quick questions to assess the current situation.

Darrell Parsons • May 3, 2012

Dear Darrell: I live in Georgetown. In the process of thinking about selling my house over the past few years, I have twice asked a realtor to tell me how much I could get for it at that time. Both times the price she came back with was very different than the assessed value. Once it was higher and once lower. How is this possible? -Joan S., Georgetown

Dear Joan: I am guessing that the two realtor price opinions were in two different markets. Once when prices were on the rise, and once when they were declining. It’s common for the realtor’s opinion and the assessed value to be different. The higher/lower result is a function of the strength of the real estate market, and the fact that property assessments always lag behind what is happening in the day-to-day real estate transactions. Pricing is a subjective art in any case. The property owner and realtor are “reading” the market in a sort of snapshot. The price at the moment of that snapshot takes into consideration the recent sales of comparable properties. The tax assessors use the same process to set the assessed value, but it is six months to a year (or longer), after a given property has sold. By then the real estate market has changed — strengthened or weakened — and the assessors “snapshot” is somewhat outdated. If the gap between the assessor’s value and your opinion is quite large, it is worth challenging the assessment.

Darrell Parsons is the managing broker of the Georgetown Long & Foster office. Have a real estate question? E-mail him at darrell@lnf.com. He blogs at georgetownrealestatenews.blogspot.com.

Darrell Parsons • November 3, 2011

Dear Darrell:
I have been thinking about selling my house, but want to do it at the optimal time. I see one day in the news that the real estate market is getting better, and then the next day see that it isn’t. I can’t wait forever to sell my house, but on the other hand, I don’t want to sell it today and then discover that I could have sold it for a lot more six months from now.

Libbie R.
Georgetown

Dear Libbie:
That is a tough question. There are so many things which go into the decision to sell. It’s sounds like you aren’t under the gun to sell, and so you have some flexibility as to when to put your house on the market. In some ways that makes the decision all the harder, because absent an outside driving force, you are left with trying to “read” the market in order to determine the best time. In that task you are joining a large company of realtors, economists and others who are constantly trying to do that very thing.

The current reality of our market is that it is sporadic. It changes direction from week to week, neighborhood to neighborhood, and price range to price range. The general overall trend, however, is in the direction of a higher number of sales. In the past few months, the number of sales has been increasing, but compared to last year at this time, the average prices are lower. This is in large part because the strongest part of the market has been lower-priced properties being purchased by buyers who were looking for the $8000 tax credit. That makes the numbers spike but lowers the average sale price.

In your case, I suggest you find a realtor who will help you analyze your local market for the number and frequency of sales and the ratio of list price to sale price. If you look at that data closely, you will probably be able to reasonably conclude whether now is a good time to sell. It may come down to deciding if you can live with the price you can likely negotiate for your house at this point.

Darrell Parsons is the managing broker of the Georgetown Long and Foster office and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity regulations. Have a real estate question? E-mail him at darrell@lnf.com. He blogs at georgetownrealestatenews.blogspot.com.