discover DC....   VIRTUAL VISIT

Bing Maps     www.bing.com/maps
DC Maps & Apps     www.dc.gov/DC/OCTO/Maps+and+Apps/Online+Mapping
GeoEye       www.geoeye.com
Google Maps       www.maps.google.com
National Park Service Apps       www.nps.gov/nama/photosmultimedia/app-page.htm
Street View Of House      www.streetviewofhouse.com
Virtual Turnpike          www.vpike.com        including Google street view, area photos, local traffic 
                                                                 conditions, area webcams, local news & driving directions

discover DC.....  MOVING TO THE DISTRICT
Apartment List   www.apartmentlist.com
Apartment Ratings       www.apartmentratings.com
Apartment Reviews        www.apartmentreviews.net
Apartment Guides         www.apartmentguide.com
Apartment Home Living        www.apartmenthomeliving.com
Apartment List           www.apartmentlist.com
Bernstein Management    www.bernsteinmgmt.com
DC Curbed          http://dc.curbed.com/
DC Home Buyers Asssistance Program   HPAP   (202) 265 8200
DC Housing Counseling Services    (202) 442 7200
DC Housing Finance Agency   www.dchfa.org
DC Housing Search   www.dchousingsearch.org
DC Urban Turf        www.dc.urbanturf.com
Department of Housing And Community Development
E Cheap Apartments    www.echeapapartments.com/Washington-DC
Feng Shui        www.goodfengshui.net
Home Tryst                           www.hometryst.com
Local Living Guides      www.washington-dc.apartmenthomeliving.com
My New Place    www.mynewplace.com
Real Estate in DC        www.realestateindc.net
Rent Wiki                      www.rentwiki.com
See How Long a Rental Property Has Been On The Market   www.mynewplace.com
University Legal Services A Non Profit Housing Counseling Services    (202) 889 2196
Urbanland Company    http://urbanlandcompany.com
Zillow       www.zillow.com

discover DC....    MOVING COMPANIES
Flat Rate Movers    www.flatratemovers.us
Two Marine Moving

discover DC.....    RENTING YOUR OBJECTS
Rent Your Car    www.getwround.com
                             www.relayrides.com
                             www.whipcar.com
Rent Your Home      www.AirBnB.com
                                        www.Istopover.com
Rent Your Parking Spot   www.parkingspots.com
Rent Your Spare Bedroom    www.couchsurfing.com
Rent Yourself    www.zaarly.com
                            www.taskrabbit.com

DC is divided in to four quadrants:  North West (NW)   North East (NE)   South West (SW)    South East (SE) The center of Washington DC is inside the Capitol building dead marked on the Crypt floor.
Adams Morgan: 18th St NW between Florida Avenue & Columbia Road NW, the melting pot of DC, filled with ethnic restaurants, galleries, antigue shops and boutiqes is ethnically diverse.
Anacostia: Southeast of the Capitol and across the 11th Street Bridge
Brookland/ Northeast: Northeast of the Capitol lies Brookland, evolving in the early 1870’s when the Baltimore-Ohio Railroad locally opened its western branch, alongside the 1840’s Greek Revival Mansion of its namesake, Colonel Jehiel Brooks. More than 60 Catholic Institutions are located there including the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, the National Arboretum, DC’s oldest Monastery and the Franciscan Monastery. African American architects Hilyard Robinson and Howard Mackey designed 13 of the neighborhoods international houses
Capitol Hill/Capitol Riverfront: Southeast of the Capitol. It is the site of the US Capitol Building, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, Union Station, the Navy Yard, US Botanic Gardens, RFK Stadium and over 8000 buildings in DC’s largest historic district with Federal and Victorian style homes, cafes, restaurants, shops, flea markets, outdoor farmer markets and museums
Columbia Road: between 16th Street and Wyoming Avenue NW
Downtown: North of the National Mall between the White House and the Capitol
Dupont Circle and Kalorama
Dupont Circle: French architect L’Engant’s original design of the Circle was intended to slow enemy troops. DC’s most prestigious streets in DC, Massachusetts Avenue, Connecticut Avenue and New Hampshire, course the neighbourhood, converging at the Circle
Foggy Bottom: Located between the White House and Georgetown, south of Dupont Circle, the area, once associated with breweries and factories, is now filled with cafes, shops, restaurants, the Kennedy Center and the Nixon presidency’s infamous Watergate complex
Gallery Place/ Penn Quarter: The heart of Washington’s “new downtown” the entertainment and cultural district centers around 7th and G Streets is anchored by the Navy Memorial at 8th and Pennsylvania. The area hosts entertainment venue the Verizon Center (MCI Center), Spy Museum, Chinatown Arch, the New Convention Center and the City Museum
Georgetown: Wisconsin Avenue and M Street NW bordered by the Potomac River to the South, beyond the C&O Canal, earlier known as George Town,10 square miles, was first settled in the 17th Century was founded in 1751 remaining its own municipality until 1871. Georgetown was founded during the reign of Britain’s King George II. Some say it is named after its founders George’s Beal and Gordon. There are no Metros in Georgetown. Circulator buses take riders to limited Metro locations in the District
Glover Park: Land for Glover-Archbold Park, the western border of Rock Greek Park, is named after Charles Carroll Glover and Anne Mills Archbold who donated the land. Washington Cathedral near Fulton Street is the northern border. Rock Creek Park’s Whitehaven Park and Burleigh neighbourhood border the southern part of Glover Park. Woodley Park is to the lies to the east. Cathedral Heights lies to the north of Glover Park
Lafayette Square: North of the White House on H Street between 15th and 17th Streets NW
National Mall: DC’s Mall is the location of the Smithsonian Museums, DC landmarks the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Ellipse off the White House, the US Botanic Gardens, the National Archives and others
Southwest/Waterfront: Southwest of the National Mall to the Washington Channel
U Street/ Shaw Logan Circle: North of the Downtown and east of Dupont Circle
Woodley Park & Cleveland Park: Connecticut Avenue north of Dupont Circle, east of Rock Creek Park

discover DC....   NEIGHBORING NEIGHBORHOODS
MD     Bethesda
MD     Chevy Chase

VA     Alexandria (Old Town)
VA     Arlington
VA    Tysons Corner

discover DC....   CHOOSING NEIGHBORHOODS TO LIVE IN
LEGAL LANDLORDS: Landlords in DC must be licensed both by the BBL and the DCRA. The BBL license allows the Licensed Landlord to conduct business in the District. The DCRA license allows a landlord to legally collect rent and raise rent within the District. Many landlords in the District are not licensed with either the BBL or DCRA.
LEGAL PROPERTY MANAGERS: Property managers in DC must be licensed.
RENTING:   The District's 311 number is a veritable fountain of information. Renters can call the 311 hotline to verify their landlord is legal and licensed in the District of Columbia to rent a room, a sofa, a parking spot, an apartment or a house or if there are Housing Complaints against the Landlord and/or the property.
Contact   DCRA  Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs   
Search   www.dcra.gov
Click   PIVS   (Property Information Verification Services)  under FEATURED SERVICES
Fill in    FIND PROPERTY BY
Follow up with the Inspections Office on Results/Status
Details must be requested under FOIA   Freedom of Information Act
OFFICE OF TENANT ADVOCACY  OTA: The  OTA is mandated to help tenants in conflict with/from their landlords. The OTA is overwhelmed. They have too few people to handle too many problems many of which are not new problems just problems that recycle year after year without new laws being set in place to adress these historic issues ie. withholding security deposits, illegal rent raises, etc.

First time homebuyers considering buying in the District might consider grants or loans offering assistance with down payments and closing costs at competitive rates and terms often with little down payment required. First time homebuyers are not only those who have never owned a home.  First time homebuyers can also be those who have not co owned or owned a home in three years. Terms of affordable housing incentives and qualifications vary. Potential homebuyers are encouraged to confirm if they qualify rather than assume they earn too much to qualify. The program may not be only for low or maderate income persons. Program administrators and jurisdiction administrators should be contacted for details including credit rating, place of residency, place of work, debt to income ration, if the house will be the principal place of residence, household size, household income. The amount of liquid income put to the purchase will also have an impact. Some programs require financial counseling
IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center   -    Offers credit from $2500 if married and filing separately to $5000 for a home in the District purchased during the tax year by December 31, 2011. There are restrictions for previous homeownership and income   
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT              www.dhcd.dc.gov
Home Purchase Assistance Program   Interest free down payment loans of up to $40000 deferred for the first five years and ammortized over 40 years are offered along with $4000 for closing costs. Grantees contribute $500 or a percentage of liquid assets. Homes in need of repair can be purchased with a loan of $5000 to $35000 from a first trust lender and a second trust loan toward the down payment and closing costs from a Home Purchase Assistance 
Employer Assisted Housing Program DC government employees might qualify for matching funds of up to $1500 for down payments and loans of up to $10000 deferred.  Grants from $3000 up to $26500 are offered from the Negotiated Employee Assistance Home Purchase Program to employees covered by collective bargaining agreements
Home Purchase Assistance Program Enhancement Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 revitalizes neighborhoods devastated by foreclosures and blighted by vacant propereties. The program is limited to Deanwood, Ivy City/Trinidad and Historic Anacostia. Closing costs is offered along with down payments up to $77000
Lydias House   -  www.lydiashousendc.org/Ourprogams/OurPrograms.htm#ChangingNeighborhoods
Latino Economic Development Corp   -    www.ledcmetro.org/en/homeownership
Manna Inc    -    www.mannadc.org/template/index.cfm
University Legal Services    -    www.uls-dc.org/About_ULS-HCP.htm
Housing Counseling Services    -    www.housingetc.org

discover DC.....    FURNITURE & HOME DESIGN
Capitol Consignment     www.capitalconsignment.net
Design Within Reach     www.dwr.com
Tone On Tone                 www.tone-on-tone.com

discover DC.....    HARDWARE STORES
District Hardware The Bike Shop     www.districthardware.com  www.thebikeshopdc.com

discover DC.....   SHOPPING
Bethesda Row       www.bethesdarow.com
The Collection At Chevy Chase       www.TheCollectionAtChevyChase.com
Nordstrom                  www.nordstrom.com