As fall rolls in with winter close behind, home improvement experts say homeowners should take preventive measures and prepare for cold weather. Protecting the outside of your home can lower energy costs, while updates to the interior can warm up spaces where family will gather for the holidays.

Kristy LaLonde, who rents an apartment in Crystal City, spent the past four years "freaking out" as home prices here climbed relentlessly. She feared she would never be able to own the kind of place she had been raised to expect.

Even when home buyers and sellers think they have found the perfect match, there's still work to do. · Remember the market. Sellers need to understand that the market has changed greatly in the past year or two. Sellers aren't automatically receiving offers above their asking price. They're not......

Who would have expected contemporary glass-walled houses in a parklike setting just 800 yards from George Washington's Mount Vernon estate?

There's a bright side to the decline in the U.S. housing market, says the National Association of Realtors: plenty of choice.

High home fuel prices have Americans looking for some big-ticket ways to save energy.

Picture this: You have lived in this country for 15 years, earned a decent wage, raised a family, and always paid your rent, utilities, cellphone charges and other bills on time, month after month. But you made little or no use of the conventional banking and credit systems -- avoiding bank loans,...

"Make no little plans," proclaimed 19th-century Chicago architect Daniel H. Burnham, "they have no magic to stir men's blood."

Q: We own a single-family house in the District that we have been renting for several years. We retained a real estate broker to assist us in selling the house, and we were told that we have to provide our tenant the right to purchase.

Q: DEAR BOB: We just refinanced our condo, receiving part of our equity in cash. Is the money we received taxable? -- Sheila D.

Here are some events that builders and developers have scheduled locally for would-be home buyers in the coming weeks. All are free and open to the public.

In the summer of 2005, Arlington County handed Arlington deputy sheriff Jun Emmanuel Gan what amounted to a golden ticket redeemable for a discounted $220,000 two-bedroom condo, which had a market value of $232,000.

Many house hunters in search of the perfect neighborhood make a list of amenities they would like. Just in case that list includes a community with its own anthem, passports, currency, navy, militia and flag, there is always Eastport.

Q: I recently purchased a condominium unit in a complex that has a large number of assigned parking spaces. I advised the board of directors that I am handicapped and requested that they assign me a parking space near the entrance of my unit.

Q: DEAR BARRY: I disagree with some of what you have written about the state agencies that license and regulate building contractors.