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Posted at 01:20 PM ET, 03/30/2012

House of the week: Capitol Hill pie factory-turned loft

This 3,100-square-foot property in Capitol Hill has housed a variety of ventures: It was a Kern’s Pie factory in the 1870s, an ice plant in the 1920s and a bottling facility after that.

Now, for $983,500, it can be your home.

“It’s got this old factory charm with 20-foot ceilings and really cool high beams,” said Tom Kavanagh of the Capitol Realty Team. “If you want a place where your friends walk in and go ‘Holy crap, this is cool,’ this is the house you’re looking for.”

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By  |  01:20 PM ET, 03/30/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:19 AM ET, 03/29/2012

A playroom makeover in Annandale

Cara Bremer of Annandale wants to turn her basement into a playroom for her 13-month-old daughter, Lydia. She’d like to incorporate wall decals, additional lighting and lots of color. “Calmness need not be evoked here,” she wrote. Her budget is about $1,500.
(Leah L. Jones)

In this week’s House Calls, designer Denise Willard transforms the dull basement into a room that inspires Lydia’s imagination.

See the designer’s sketches on the next page.

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By  |  10:19 AM ET, 03/29/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:07 AM ET, 03/29/2012

Mortgage rates decline, 30-year falls below 4.0 percent

On the heels of poor housing data, mortgage rates declined across the board after spiking last week, according to data released Thursday by Freddie Mac.


The 30-year average slipped back below the 4.0 percent threshold this week. (Amy Sancetta - AP)
The 30-year fixed rate average sank back to 3.99 percent after jumping to a five-month high of 4.08 percent the week prior, while the 15-year dropped from 3.30 percent to 3.23 percent. Both are still well below their averages of 4.86 percent and 4.09 percent, respectively, at this point last year, but both remain higher than new lows set last month.

The hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages each fell 0.06 percent last week, with the 5-year ARM average declining from 2.96 percent to 2.90 percent and the 1-year ARM average slipping from 2.84 percent to 2.78 percent.

Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist for Freddie Mac, pinned the declining rates to a series of weak housing economic indicators released in the past week.

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By  |  10:07 AM ET, 03/29/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  mortgage rates, realestatepage

Posted at 09:48 AM ET, 03/28/2012

Home Story: The dog and the ‘killer’ yard

Living in a one-bedroom apartment in Bowie with a rambunctious golden retriever made one thing clear to Brian and Jessica Smith: they needed a backyard.

The couple, graduates of the University of Maryland who met in high school, were saving up for a house since moving in together in the spring of 2010. Remmy, the spirited pup, became a part of the household within weeks of the move, and, not long after, a motivating factor for a bigger space.

“As much as I love my dog, he is terrible on a leash,” said Jessica, 24. “He has so much energy, so he needs space to run.”

House hunting, while on the to-do list, took a backseat to planning their wedding. After the college sweethearts tied the knot in September 2011, they began perusing online home listings.

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By  |  09:48 AM ET, 03/28/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

Posted at 12:31 PM ET, 03/27/2012

My Home Demolition Saga: Considering the wrecking ball

Special to The Washington Post


This is my home. I plan to tear it down and build something that I can live in for the rest of my life. (Mary McCutcheon)

My name is Mary. I’m an aging person with an aging house. I’m going to tell the story of transforming my house from something I don’t want into something I do.

There are a few goals for this project.

First, I want to have a house where I can get more and more decrepit. I’m a classic Baby Boomer: Born in 1947, I’ll be 65 this year. I live alone. Well, I should say I live alone except for my two dogs, three cats, five parakeets, live-in pet sitter, and multitudes of guests. Both of my parents stayed at home till they died, and their house needed very little modification.

Still, though, I remember my mother getting stuck in a bathtub that had no grab bars and my father unable to climb stairs and unable to maneuver his wheelchair through the narrow bathroom door. If I want to age in place, too, I have to prepare that place.

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By Mary McCutcheon  |  12:31 PM ET, 03/27/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)

 

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