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This column is written and sponsored by D.C. real estate agent and Edgewood resident Jessica Evans. Email her questions at  [email protected].

Hello February! It’s so hard to believe that we are already 1 month into this year. If you’re thinking about buying in 2018 you have plenty of time, and this week were moving on to Step #3 in this series. If you missed the first 2 columns, you can find them here:

Step 1: Define your objectives
Step 2: Figure out your financing

After you’ve decided what you want to buy (and why) and how you plan to buy (and how much you want to spend) the next thing to figure out is where. I completely understand if you’re thinking “Do we really need to spend time on this topic? I already know where I want to live.” The answer is, yes. To make an informed decision you should know what your options are in a variety of different locations.

When you think about location for renting, the typical mindset is what can I get for my money where. When you think about location for buying the decision is magnified by the fact that you will be investing money in you and your future life, money that you hope will grow into more, and you will need to consider your future happiness and needs along with your present.

I’m not suggesting that you include the entire DC area in your home search, but I do recommend considering a few different neighborhoods, with different price points and offerings, so that you can compare what you get within your budget in each. Here are a few things that I think are helpful consider when exploring different locations for your home purchase: (more…)

After an equipment glitch hampered the rollout of police body cameras in April, the Chesterfield Police Department has announced the program is back on track with 240 body cameras currently on the street and 11,000 video recordings, thus far.

A spokesperson for the department said that additional cameras will be put in service each week as more officers go through the required training for the devices. The goal is to have a total of 450 police officers equipped with cameras over the next few months.

The initial rollout was stalled with approximately 50 of the cameras which had been put in place had to be pulled off the street because of an issue with cables that connect the camera and controller becoming overheated. The cables were described as “hot to the touch” and so all the cameras were pulled by the company awarded the body camera contract, Axon. The company was formerly known as Taser International.

All of the videos recorded by police will be stored on a cloud-based storage system provided by Axon. So far, officers have averaged 343 videos each day. The debate of whether or not law enforcement agencies should require officers to wear body cameras has garnered increased debate over the past few years, especially in light of several high-profile police shootings.

One of the most controversial of those incidents was the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown by Ferguson, Mo. police officer Darren Wilson. At the time of the controversial shooting, more than 75 percent of law enforcement agencies in the country were not using body cameras. This has led to many criminal justice advocates, as well as many law makers, to push legislation requiring the cameras.

There are several benefits of police body cameras, including the increase of police accountability and collection of evidence. Many police departments find that once officers are equipped with the cameras, the number of citizen complaints sharply decrease.

In Chesterfield, the cameras are being given to patrol officers and patrol sergeants and will be used mostly for incidents such as traffic stops or crimes which are allegedly in progress.

In a discussion regarding the body cameras, Attorney Braswell of the Price Benowitz Law Firm commented, “I think it should be a requirement of every law enforcement agency in the country that body cameras be part of the standard equipment for every officer. It is a critical component in making sure officer do not cross the line into unacceptable — or dangerous — behaviors.”

This weekly column is written and sponsored by D.C. real estate agent and Kalorama resident Jeffrey Tanck.  He can be reached at [email protected].

As an active Realtor I see a lot of homes. Between showing properties to Buyers and preparing properties for Sellers, I have a unique insight on how people actually live. While not universal, one of the things that has struck me over the years is how much stuff people have that they actually never use: boxes in closets/storage areas, unused clothing, plastic take-out containers, books, inherited items that we don’t know what to do with, CDs and other outmoded media.

I’m going to call it what it is: Clutter. Clutter can cause an emotional response — and it’s usually negative. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests clutter is bad for us physically and mentally. It’s also expensive.

Clutter and real estate have a complicated relationship. Sellers spend a lot of time getting rid of clutter before they put their house on the market to make it look more spacious. Buyers look at places through the lens of their current clutter and how it will fit into their future home.

If a Buyer’s current kitchen is stuffed full of take-out containers, they will judge the kitchens during their home search by the way they will be able to store those same containers in the new space. If that Buyer edited their plastic collection down to the few pieces they actually use, they would likely discover that the smaller kitchen in that cute apartment would actually be perfect.

In the era of micro units and rising real estate costs, every square foot really does count. Price per square foot is a popular data point that many people use to value real estate.

It is an easily computed metric that can give an indication of value: sales price/property’s square footage = price per square foot. (more…)