Real Estate Blog

Petition Injects Fear: Distorted APFO

2012-03-03T21:27:00.000-05:00

In the past couple of weeks, the APFO (Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance) petition circulated by (QAC Great Schools- 3 citizen sponsors) was created to cause fear of having overcrowded schools in the immediate future! This cannot be further from the truth!! Who in their right mind wants to have overcrowding in our schools? Note: The APFO is a multi-complex temporary timing tool to be used

Short Sale Benefits

2012-03-03T21:16:00.002-05:00

Short term Benefits: Less damage to credit (which may impact a variety of things such as the ability to secure a rental home, retain credit cards at lower rates; obtain financing for cars). Lower tax liability (if any) due to typically higher payout tolender Clearing employment background checks Retention of employment Stigma of foreclosure is avoided Predictable move (rather than unpredictable

Short Sale Timeline 2012

2012-03-03T21:14:00.000-05:00

Qualify Short Sale Candidate Establish listing agent relationship and obtain listing agreement 1.Short Sale Package sent to Seller for documentation gathering (Initiate 3rd Party Authorization and begin authorization process with lenders) 2.Prepare 1st half of Short Sale Package while waiting for a sales contract Review all potential sales offers, upon acceptance, receive ratified contract 3.

2011-08-06T09:21:00.000-04:00

Perspective: the Empire State Building is 1,250’ tall, Chicago’s Willis Tower is 1,451’, and NYC’s upcoming One World Trade Center (tallest building in the Western Hemisphere upon completion) is 1,776’. But Thornton Tomasetti is no stranger to mega skyscrapers—it was the structural engineer for three of the world’s highest buildings: Malaysia’s Petronas Towers, Taiwan’s Taipei 101 (which Bisnow

2011-08-06T09:18:00.000-04:00

Setbacks on Short Sales

2011-01-16T11:40:00.000-05:00

If you happen to be one of the distressed home owners who found themselves upside down on their mortgage or were forced to sale; please do not beat yourself up. Thousands of homeowners across the US are experiencing your same setbacks-you are not alone. So what to do?? I suspect your credit may have been dinged a bit or alot -depending on who held your bank note or how you negotiated your

TIME ON MARKET?

2011-01-16T09:46:00.000-05:00

There is no easy way to say this, "Pick the wrong price and you will be doomed to languish on the market." All the marketing and advertising will be wasted along with a lot of time.Time, as in "time on market", is one of the most important Real Estate statistics. This is the one piece of data that every buyer asks for when viewing a home. In fact, I can't ever remember a buyer not asking me "How

Chesapeake Bay Waterfront

2010-09-17T16:31:00.001-04:00

SAVVY ONLINE REALTORS

2010-09-15T21:48:00.000-04:00

Look for A Realtor that is Internet savvy and has a social media marketing strategy. The majority of all buyers find their home online. You need an agent that knows how to make your home the center of attention online.When looking for an internet savvy Realtor you should do a few things....Google the agents name, an address of a property they are marketing, and a very competitive term like the

TO SELL AT THE RIGHT PRICE OR GO STALE

2010-09-15T10:07:00.000-04:00

Over the last few years in Maryland as well as many other parts of the country we have seen a rapid decline in Real Estate values. In many towns around the eastern shore of Maryland it would not be unusual to see a home that sold in 2007 for $500,000 to be re-sold today around $450,000 or much less. It is an unfortunate fact of life. All good things tend to come to an end at some point.As a

Short Sale Listings 2010 in QAC

2010-03-10T13:31:00.003-05:00

Right now, some of the best buys are short sales and many lenders are finally realizing that they have to be more flexible to move these homes. With the push of the Obama administration, you maybe now in a better position to put an offer in and NOT have to wait 3-5 months for an answer. Here's a list of the short sales dated March 10, 2010 (Click here) for the latest listings in Queen Annes

Foreclosures/Short Sale Help-REALLY??

2010-03-08T14:12:00.004-05:00

Guess What? Another desperate homeowners program bailout. Here in QAC we had some 219foreclosures in 2009-that's pretty bad. Not even considering what it is doing for the regular sale of homes that are not distressed. It is such a sad scenario for the homeowner who played by the rules, did not use their home like an ATM machine and are faced with very low appraisals based on comparatives deemed

QAC Dems Vote for Federal Training Ctr. in Ruthsburg

2010-02-07T18:12:00.002-05:00

Since I am following the story on the QAC federal training center, I thought I would inform you of some quick eye opening tid bits. I am sure the opponents may or may not acknowledge.A few days ago, the QAC Democratic club had their own informational meeting on the federal training center poised for Ruthsburg and after a couple of members and invited guests shared stories, the club had a vote.

Queen Anne's Co. Should Support Training Center

2010-02-03T10:07:00.003-05:00

As an advocate of the is training center for our security in the USA, I applaud Clayton Mitchell's article titled : Queen Anne’s Co. should support training center. Mr. Mitchell, was a former Speaker of the House in Maryland.Here's what he said:President Andrew Jackson once said, “Eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the

2010-01-05T14:18:00.003-05:00

What's this I hear? Realtors are being targeted for abusing the term "green" and saying they are using it like a marketing ploy and simply using it because it's vogue or in fashion! After reading that comment, I thought to myself well what does "Green" really mean? After all, most Realtors I know make it a priority to stay educated and attend the Green seminars for Realtors, but what really is

225 Mortgage Companies Tank in 2009

2010-01-05T14:02:00.003-05:00

Record Year for Mortgage Company Failures More than 225 mortgage-related companies ended their operations or failed in 2009, more than any year since MortgageDaily.com began tracking data in 1998. Bank failures lead the decline with 140 suspended and forced into bankruptcy. There were 66 non-bank closures and 19 credit union failures. The most notable 2009 failures included Ocala, Fla.-based

Home Assessment in Maryland

2009-11-30T10:40:00.003-05:00

As we start to think of the holiday season, we all start thinking of 2010. And with that comes the thought about filing my taxes. I let out a sigh.......... I know I have to gather all my records and pull up my computer documents to get started. But I just happened to pull up an old email from Senator Pipken's office about home assessments. So, I thought I would mention again, that as a homeowner

NO Downpayment with USDA Rural Home Loan

2009-10-30T15:10:00.003-04:00

Here's another way to make home buying easy with a USDA Rural Development Home Loan Program.Here in Queen Anne's County, you can take advantage of this 100% financing with NO down payment required. The conditions are: The property has to be in designated rural areas, your income cannot exceed the moderate income limits that are based on the household's adjusted annual income and the underwriting

$8K First Time Home Credit Extended 2010

2009-10-28T12:31:00.004-04:00

Hey Everybody-Call Me for Some Free Money--It seems likely that the U.S. Senate will approve a deal to extend the $8K First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit through March 31, then its value would drop by $2,000 for each of the subsequent three quarters of 2010. This plan was offered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat.Okay,

FHA Closing Costs

2009-09-01T22:11:00.001-04:00

The other day I was trying to explain to my client about FHA closing costs and she just couldn't hang on anymore. Cell phone or not-she was overwhelmed and crashed! So I promised her I would try to break them down in bite size tid bits.For starters, these fee's are typically paid by the buyer or owner. It may be negotiated that all or part of these fee's may be paid by the home seller or lender.

2009-08-28T09:02:00.000-04:00

2009-08-13T09:00:00.003-04:00

Stress A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience, Raised a glass of water and asked? How heavy is this glass of water?'Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.If I hold it f or a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I

What Lenders Need in real estate 2009

2009-07-30T10:08:00.000-04:00

Lately, I have been talking to people who are ready to jump into the 2009 real estate market, but are puzzled as to what lenders are asking for these days and concerns about down payments and closing costs. When I say "these days" I know you all know what I mean, given the status of the real estate market in the US.So here is a list of questions I have gathered in the last few months:What factors

2009-07-13T11:27:00.001-04:00

Renting Advantages:Your costs are fixed for entirety of lease.Less liability. If someone sprains an ankle on the grounds, you're not responsible.No chance of losing equity or cash on investment.More mobile, not tied to mortgage.Low maintenance. When the toilet leaks, someone else is supposed to fix it.No large down payments and closing costs (title insurance, mortgage fees, homeowner's insurance,

QAC Impact Fees 2009

2009-07-08T10:47:00.002-04:00

QAC 2009 Impact Fees or go here QAC 2010 Impact FeesTo further break down and extrapolate the details of Chapter 18 under QAC Land Use and Development, you can search here.For QAC Zoning and Subdivision Regulations you can find more information here under Chapter 18.Good information about the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Act.