Focus on Crofton

Gambrills and Odenton Real Estate - October 2009

Margaret Woda — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:47:08 +0000

Earlier this month, I posted October real estate statistics for Crofton and Davidsonville. Now, here is the information for Gambrills and Odenton:

As you can see, the number of Gambrills sales in October 2009 was the highest since the same month in 2005, but the average and median sold price is the lowest we’ve seen in five years. It’s likely that the first-time home buyer tax credit created an emphasis on the lower-priced properties in the community rather than any individual home prices dropping that much. Days on market went down significantly in Gambrills from October last year to the level of 2006 and 2007.

Odenton also showed an increase in the number of homes sold during October. And again, a significant drop in the average and median sold price – probably triggered by that first time home buyer tax credit. While it’s still taking nearly three months to sell a home in Odenton, that is down significantly from October 2008.

If anyone doubts that “all real estate is local”, just take a look at the following chart which tracks the average sold price for Crofton and three nearby zipcodes:

While Crofton and Odenton have followed a pretty level track, Gambrills and Davidsonville numbers are all over the place. There are two reasons for this: First, the number of homes sold is lower in those areas than in Crofton and Odenton, so the statistics are less reliable; and second, home prices within the zipcode vary widely. One very high-priced home or very low-priced home really affects the average.

Again, this chart is not an indication that property values are up or down or even level within the zipcode. It is simply the average sold price, i.e. the total sales volume divided by the number of homes sold.

For a breakdown on other statistics in the local real estate market, CONTACT ME any time. I’ll be happy to research the information for you and help you interpret it to determine whether it is relative to your own home sale or purchase.

Tags: Odenton+Real+Estate, Gambrills+Real+Estate, Crofton+Real+Estate

Share This

Day Care Available Next Week

Margaret Woda — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:31:30 +0000

School is out in Anne Arundel County on Monday and Tuesday next week, not just for Thanksgiving. I’m sure the kids are happy, but what are you going to do… take off work for the whole week?

Once again, it is Sport Fit to the rescue! Click through to Child Care for School Furlough Days to learn more, including contact information.

_________________________________

Share This

Real Estate Activity Picking Up in Davidsonville MD

Margaret Woda — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:05:19 +0000

The first-time homebuyer credit had no direct impact on real estate sales during October in Davidsonville, Maryland, since prices in this zipcode typically exceed the first-time buyer price range. Yet activity did increase last month over October of 2007 and 2008.

Other good news for Davidsonville home owners is that both the average and median prices increased over the same month last year and the days on market were nearly down to 2006 numbers.

Unfortunately, the percentage of sold price to list price is still under 90% - although it went up 2% from the same month last year.

As you can see from this chart, the volume of real estate sales in Davidsonville is very low, so it’s easy for statistics to take a dramatic swing up or down if just one sold property is extremely high or low.

For that reason, if asked to make a pricing recommendation to you today, I would expand my search to include both comparables and real estate trends in other Anne Arundel County communities with homes in similar neighborhoods priced in the same range. Other pricing considerations would include location, features and condition of your property.

If you’re thinking of selling or buying a home in Davidsonville, Maryland, or if you’re simply curious about the real estate market, please feel free to contact me for more information or click on the links below:

Share This

Does a Home Office Affect Property Value in Crofton?

Margaret Woda — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:07:39 +0000

Don’t believe everything you read about which upgrades do or do not increase your property value. All real estate is local, even hyper-local, and some general statements about real estate just don’t apply in Crofton Maryland and other communities in the Baltimore-Washington area.

According to Allegra Muzillo, in a blog post earlier this month on Real Simple, it will de-value your home to convert a bedroom into a home office. Just to add validity to her point, she cites a Manhattan real estate expert who agrees, and says doing this will give you one less bedroom to advertise.

In fact, I’ve never seen an agent in this area advertise a home as having three bedrooms when the fourth bedroom is furnished and used as a home office. And I’ve never encountered a prospective buyer who couldn’t imagine office furniture in a bedroom or bedroom furniture in an office.

Maybe we’re just smarter in the Crofton area than folks in other parts of the country! But what about your property value…

I don’t believe it will make any difference at all in the sale price of your home, at least not in the eyes of an appraiser or assessor who is concerned with above-grade finished square footage. If the room has a closet and a window large enough to satisfy fire regulations for a bedroom, those factors will likely determine if it’s a bedroom – not the furniture placed in the room or its usage.

My recommendation is very simple: Put your existing living space to work for you!

In neighborhoods like we have throughout this area, homes are similar enough that comps, market trends and condition will determine your property value. When you’re ready to sell, focus on de-cluttering, cleaning, neutralizing, making repairs and staging because THAT will make a far greater difference in your selling price than whether or not you have a home office!

Tags: Crofton+Home+Office

Share This

Has Crofton Real Estate Bottomed Out Yet?

Margaret Woda — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:22:49 +0000

Looking at a five-year chart of real estate statistics in Crofton Maryland for October, the number of new contracts and sold/settled properties suggests that the real estate market may have bottomed out in 2008, although the number of sold properties is still a relatively small percentage of homes on the market for sale (20%).

While the tide seems to have turned in the volume of sales, it hasn’t in pricing. Both the average and median sold prices of Crofton homes are down since last year – probably reflecting the surge of first-time buyers motivated by the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers. These buyers naturally tend to purchase homes at the low end of the price range for the area.

The percentage of selling price to list price for Crofton homes has dropped below 95% for the first time in five years. At the same time, the average days on market has topped 80. Both of these figures seem to contradict the original premise, based on sales volume, that the Crofton market has bottomed out.

Aside from all these mixed signals, as to whether the Crofton real estate market has bottomed out, there is one particularly encouraging set of numbers:

New listings: 37
New non-contingent contracts: 25
New contingent contracts: 21

Since the market is largely driven by supply and demand, this is exactly what I’m looking for – the number of new contracts exceeding the number of new listings. Let’s watch this for the next few months. If this continues, I think we could consider it a turn-around for the Crofton real estate market, regardless of any other statistics.

Tags: Crofton+Maryland+Real+Estate+Market, Average+Sale+Price+in+Crofton

Share This

What’s the Best Way to Honor Crofton Veterans Today?

Margaret Woda — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:18:37 +0000

May I suggest you spend this evening in the company of your neighbors as members of Baldwin Methodist Church, St. Steven’s Episcopal Church, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Parish perform Howard Goodall’s Requiem to honor our fallen service members.

This memorial service will be held at 7:30 p.m. tonight at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1800 Seton Drive in Crofton, off Rt. 424 near Crofton Middle School. It will be the premier of this music East of the Mississippi and the National premier of the arrangement created especially for parish performance.

Participants in this extravaganza have been rehearsing for many weeks, and they say it’s exhilarating new music with expressive colour and driving rhythms. What a wonderful way to honor the veterans in our families and local communities!

Why not take a Veteran out to dinner tonight and then attend this service together?

There are specials today for veterans and active duty military at many area restaurants including Outback Steakhouse and Applebee’s. Check with your favorite restaurant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following presentation has nothing to do with the memorial service here in Crofton, but it’s my small way of honoring veterans – especially the ones in my own family: My grandfather, Ray Farrell, who had a key role in the peace treaty negotiations for World War I; my dad, Dick Loveless, who spent much of his youth as a POW at Stalagluft III during World War II; and my husband, Larry, who spent the early years of our marriage off the coast of Vietnam.

Tags: Veterans+Day+in+Crofton

Share This

Surprise, Your Home Has Radon!

Margaret Woda — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:34:51 +0000

These are five words you don’t want to hear, whether you’re an Anne Arundel County homeowner testing for your own family’s safety or a seller whose buyer has a contract contingency for a satisfactory radon test.

What are you going to do if results of a radon test reveal that your home has a dangerous level of this carcinogen?

Most homeowners head straight to their computers to find out exactly what radon is, how it got into their house, and how to make it go away. Let me save you some time and trouble by giving you a link to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Citizens Guide to Radon for answers to those questions and any others.

Radon is a cancer-causing radioactive gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless and basically invisible. It is very common in wells located in some areas of Anne Arundel County (Radium And Your Drinking Water – A Homeowner’s Guide), so it’s not totally unexpected for an air quality test to yield results exceeding 4 pCi/L in those same areas.

If your home does have a dangerous level of radon, the “fix” is not terribly expensive or difficult. There are a number of radon mitigation companies in this area, and installation of a radon mitigation system (right) is usually priced around $900 -$1,200, depending on whether your home is one level or two, has a sump pump or not, and other considerations. The system can be installed in your home in about 2 hours, and it usually comes with a guarantee.

Since radon is not uncommon in Anne Arundel County, testing is something any homeowner, tenant or homebuyer should do. You can order a radon test kit online for as little as $25 or, if you prefer, you can have a test conducted by Amerispec or another home inspection company.

Don’t wait ‘til you sell your home and risk hearing “Surprise, Your Home Has Radon!” No home buyer, real estate agent or inspector wants to tell you that, and I’m sure you don’t want to live in a home with radon un-checked until you sell.

Illustration: ASHI Radon Mitigation Inspection Checklist

________________________

REMINDER: The Crofton Regional Community Center is on the agenda at tomorrow night’s meeting (11/10/09) of the Greater Crofton Council.

Tags: Radon+Mitigation+in+Anne+Arundel+County, Radon+Testing+in+Anne+Arundel+County

Share This

Homebuyers Tax Credit Extension and Expansion Signed

Margaret Woda — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:08:32 +0000

BULLETIN: The Mortgage Banker’s Association announced yesterday that President Obama signed a bill Friday extending the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, making it applicable to contracts entered into by 4/30/10, and closing by 6/30/10.

The bill also includes a new $6,500 tax credit for homebuyers who have previously owned a home, if that home was their primary residence for five consecutive years out of the last eight years.

Both the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit and the $6,500 repeat home-buyer credit have higher income limits ($125,000 individual and $225,000 couples) than the bill expiring at the end of this month, and the maximum cost of the home being purchased is now up to $800,000.

For more details, read Obama Sgns Extended Tax Credit Into Law on REALTOR.com.

Tags: Crofton+Tax+Credit

Share This

Are You Looking at Me?

Margaret Woda — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:49:00 +0000

Are You Looking at Me? is the title of this prize-winning photo taken by Crofton resident Sunny Frank.

At the District II semi-annual meeting for Federated Garden Club of Maryland, this image of an African Gray-Crowned Crane placed first in the “birds” category of the organization’s photo contest.

Sunny captured this shot at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin, during a trip to Madison for a wedding.

Flowers, birds and outdoor scenes are favorite subjects for this talented amateur photographer. Her waterlily photo is featured in the 2009–10 Crofton Village Garden Club yearbook and on the club’s website.

If you’re a benefactor, patient or staff member of the University System of Maryland Medical System, you may recognize this photo from the cover of their 2008 calendar. The Sandy Point Lighthouse is another of Sunny’s masterpieces…

Sunny and her husband Tom are long-time Crofton residents and she is the current president of the Crofton Village Garden Club.

Thank you, Sunny, for sharing the lighthouse photo with Focus On Crofton readers, and congratulations on winning the District II photo contest. We’re so glad you enjoy photography because we want to see more of your pictures!

______________________________________

Tags: Sunny+Frank, Crofton+Photographer

Share This

Wye Oak Seedlings Available for Crofton Residents

Margaret Woda — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:47:50 +0000

In the two years since I posted Why Plant a Wye Oak in Crofton?, several people have contacted me to find out how they can get a seedling for themselves.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is again offering them for sale, and you can order online now. These two-year old seedlings, approximately 15 inches tall, were raised from acorns collected from the original Wye Oak. There is limited availability, and they will be shipped on a first-come basis (except to AZ, CA, FL, LA and OR, due to plant quarantines in those states).

You will receive your seedling in the Spring, along with a certificate showing the authenticity and history of the famous tree.

Click here to read more if you’re new to Maryland and unfamiliar with the history of the Wye Oak.

PLACE YOUR ORDER HERE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST

Share This