Monthly Archives: August 2012

Annapolis Maryland Hosts 2012 Sailboat and Powerboat Shows In October

Annapolis Maryland will once again host the 2012 Sailboat and Powerboat in-water boat showings in October of this year. Each fall Ego Alley at City Dock in downtown Annapolis is transformed from parking lot and boat slips into the one of the best all around boat shows to be found in the United States. Held in two parts, the sailboat show has always proceeded the powerboat show. Visitors to the boat shows, and you really need to go to both, can find the newest boats to the latest gear. There are often classic yatchs on display. Climb aboard and explore boats of all sizes and rigs. Stroll through tent and after tent of vendors. You will find everything from sailing gear to fishing gear.

Here is what United States Yacht Shows has to say about the upcoming Sailboat Show:

Now in its 43nd year, the United States Sailboat Show, October 4 – 8, 2012, attracts more than 50,000 boating enthusiasts from around the world to the waterfront of historic Annapolis, Maryland. The Chesapeake Bay town is also home of U.S. Naval Academy. Recognized worldwide as the premier sailing showcase, this is the place to buy, sell or dream.

Following a quick turnaround, sailboats are replaced by powerboats, sailing gear is replaced with fishing gear. Here is what they have to say about the upcoming Powerboat Show:

Now in its 41st year, the United States Powerboat Show, October 11-14, 2012, attracts over 40,000 attendees. The show, the nation’s oldest and largest in-water powerboat exhibition, is just three days after the renowned United States Sailboat Show, October 4-8, 2012.

When you attend either the Powerboat Show or the Sailboat Show, you will find a wide selection of marine equipment, electronics, accessories, and gear. Many boat manufacturers are represented showcasing new boats in all price ranges and sizes. There are boat brokers with used boats for sale. You can also find related services from local marinas, charter outfits, lessons, insurance firms and lending institutions.

If you have wanted to experience the luxury of a Hinckley Yacht or lounge aboard an extravagant Hatteras Yacht, the sailboat show and the power boat show are the place to go. October not only brings cool weather but is the time when the best in-water boat shows for sailboats and powerboats are held in Annapolis Maryland.

This White House And The White House Share Something In Common

This white house and The White House share something in common: two bricks. During the 1947 to 1952 renovation of The White House building materials were removed and sold to the public. The original owners, Charles S. Murphy and his wife Kate G. Murphy, for whom the house (below) was built, acquired two bricks which they subsequently embedded at the time of construction in the fireplaces found in their home.

The extensive renovation of The White House followed several years after President Truman’s succession to office upon the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. According to The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum’s website “a number of pieces of White House material – bricks, wood, nails, and stone – that were removed during the renovation and packaged for sale to the general public as souvenirs”. The Truman Library contains many of Mr. Abbie Rowe’s photographs where “he extensively documented the White House before, during and after the renovations which started around 1947 and finished in early 1952″. He was “a photographer for the National Park Service in Washington D.C. who had unprecedented access to the official activities of five Presidents from 1941 through 1967.”

The bronze plaque attached to brick reads “Original White House Material Removed In 1950″. It bears the Presidential seal and is securely attached to the brick with bronze nails. Built in 1961, the source of building materials used in the construction of this “all brick” home is unknown to me. The bricks most likely came from a local brick yard in operation in 1960 or 1961 when the construction was planned and building materials acquired.

This estate-sized home is located on Crab Creek which is off the South River in Annapolis Maryland, and it is my opinion that the home offers outstanding water access to some of the very best water oriented recreational areas on the Chesapeake Bay. So, were you to acquire this home, you’re not only buying a piece of Annapolis waterfront on Crab Creek, you are also purchasing a piece of American history.

Mid-century Modern Homes For Sale In Annapolis Maryland

There are some Mid-Century Modern homes for sale in Annapolis Maryland. Mid-Century Modern style homes are increasingly valued for their easy indoor-outdoor flow and provide inspiration for today’s modern house plans. Mid-Century Modern is a style of architecture, product and furniture design that began after the end of World War II and continued into the 1960′s.

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In my opinion the single most forgotten lesson about Mid-Century Modern modern design is that old school passive design is highly sustainable. With lots of overly used design words like sustainability and green design easily bantered about, important design concepts have been cooped by the marketing department. An example of passive design found in many MCM homes but absent in today center staircase colonial mini-mansions is well considered roof overhangs.

Mid-Century architecture was frequently employed in residential structures with the goal of bringing modernism into America’s post-war suburbs. This style emphasized creating structures with ample windows and open floor-plans with the intention of opening up interior spaces and bringing the outdoors in. Many Mid-century houses utilized then-groundbreaking post and beam architectural design that eliminated bulky support walls in favor of walls seemingly made of glass.

Throughout my real estate career I have had the pleasure of showing prospective buyers excellent local examples of mid-century architecture in and around Annapolis. One such example of MCM on the waterfront can be found off Canal Lane in Annapolis.

For Mid-Century Modern house plans, photographs and more, there’s a collection of images at MidCentArc’s Photostream on Flickr that features 30-plus images of MCM Maryland homes. The Frank Lloyd Wright styled Vandamm home, a very suitable setting for the lead villan in Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest, exemplifies the organic luxury, comfort and styling found in Mid-Century architecture (which wasn’t an actual home at all).

If you are interested purchasing an MCM home, feel free to contact me directly to see any contemporary home currently for sale in the MLS or to setup a personalized search for your Mid-Century Modern dream home near Annapolis Maryland.

August 2012 Baltimore Maryland Metro Region (including Annapolis and Anne Arundel County) MarketWatch

The August 2012 Baltimore Maryland Metro Region (including Annapolis and Anne Arundel County) MarketWatch is now available.

Realestate Business Intelligence (“RBI”) produces a monthly video covering local real estate market conditions. The one below is for the Balitmore Maryland metro region, which includes Annapolis and Anne Arundel County for August 2012. The video is about three minutes long and reviews the real estate market statistics for our region.

Real estate trends can be very local, one subdivision or neigborhood trending up in price while another one is trending down in price, and the very next month it could flip-flop.

When selling a home, knowing the current trends that might affect the sale of you home is critical information to proper price positioning. Without knowing the trends, you could easily overprice your home and scare buyers away or underprice your home and give it away. Either way, you’ll miss the market and possibly loose money along the way.

When buying a home, knowing which way home prices are trending offers critical guidance so that you don’t over pay for your next home. While “timing the market” is very difficult, knowing the current real estate trends will help you know just where a home fits into todays market.

Related MarketWatch Posts

July 2012 Baltimore Maryland Metro Region (including Annapolis and Anne Arundel County) MarketWatch

Maryland Homestead Eligibility Application Filing Due By December 31, 2012

Maryland homeowners have until December 31, 2012 to file their Homestead Eligibility application to continue to be eligible for the Homestead Tax Credit on their principal residence. Maryland state law established the the Homestead Property Tax Credit to help homeowners deal with large assessment increases on their principal residences (not on their investment or rental properties). Each Maryland county is required to limit taxable assessment increases to 10% or less per year. The credit effectively eliminates property taxes due on the assessment increases that would exceed the 10% cap.

Homeowners can look up their address using Maryland’s online database of real property maintained by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (better known as “SDAT”) to check the status of their application. In the example below, it shows that this homeowner’s application has been accepted.

Questions about the Homestead Tax Credit and eligibility should be addressed to SDAT. Please telephone 410-767-2165 or toll free 866-650-8783 or e-mail homestead@dat.state.md.us with your questions. To qualify for the Maryland Homestead Credit homeowners must file their application by December 31, 2012.

Simple 5-Step Program For Buying Your First Home

Outlined below is a simple five step program for buying a home. So, if you are a first time home buyer and have ever wondered what basic steps are to buying a home, there are five simple steps to take towards home ownership.

Step 1: Get your finances in order by pre-qualifying for a mortgage

At some point in the home buying process, usually early on, you will want to get “pre-qualified” for a mortgage. That means talking with a lender to determine if they’ll consider loaning you money for a mortgage. You can contact a bank, savings and loan, credit union or lending institution to get pre-qualified. Many lenders can qualify you quickly and over the phone so you’ll know right away if you can purchase a home.

You will most likely speak with a loan officer. He or she will want to know some basic information like how much you make, what recurring debts you have (car payments, student loans, credit cards). You may be asked for your social security number since they will want to “pull” your credit history (your track record for repayment of loans and obligations) in order to obtain your credit score from Experian, Transunion, and/or Equifax (these are the three credit reporting agencies). If you have been paying your bills on-time and have not gone bankrupt in the past, you are likely to have credit score that could qualify you for a loan program.

Later you will make written application for a mortgage. But, that often comes after you’ve found the house you want to buy and have negotiated the sales price and other terms. Then, later in the process, you will have “loan approval” once you have satisfied all the banks conditions. Then you will be ready to close.

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Step 2: Find a Realtor and start looking for a home

Most sellers will be working with a real estate agent to market their home to prospective buyers. Sellers’ agents put listing information into a database call multiple listing service or “MLS” for short. The local MLS is the starting point from where listing information about homes for sale is propagated all over the Internet.

Real estate agents have access to the MLS and can help you in your search for a new home. Consumer websites, such as Realtor.com or Zillow.com to name just two, are great, but the information they contain may be less than what is available to a Realtor who has access the MLS. For example, consumer website provide basic search capabilities but Realtors can perform very sophisticated searches, for example, searches based on water depth for waterfront home or for pet-friendly rental listings.

You might want to interview several Realtors before you start working with them. Real estate professionals can be experienced or inexperienced, know the area you are looking in or not, have worked with other buyers purchasing the type of home you are considering or not. Skills and experience can vary greatly from real estate professional to real estate professional. You will probably want to work with an agent that has the your same style. So, if you use text messaging as your primary means of communication, make sure you’re working with a real estate professional that is up on all the current technology.

Some real estate professionals will work with you initially without an exclusive buyer agency agreement and some will not. Don’t be afraid of a buyer representation agreement. All it really means is that if you purchase a home where that agent represents you, they are guaranteed compensation. In Maryland, don’t assume that the agent can or does represent you when you go look at a home. Agency comes in several different flavors, including seller agency, buyer agency, presumed buyer agency, dual agency, inter-company agency, secret agency (OK, well not secret agency, you’ve got to have a sense of humor sometimes about this stuff!). Maryland law requires that licensees (salesperson, associate broker and broker) discuss with you the types of agency (or representation) available to you at the first scheduled meeting.

You will probably look at one or a dozen and one homes before deciding which one to purchase. If you are browsing the Internet you will have toured tens of homes, maybe even hundreds of homes before deciding which one to set foot in. If the listing has only one picture or has only pictures of the exterior you likely to ask “what are they hiding at that house”. So when you start searching for a home online, you will have toured, at least virtually, many homes before actually scheduling an appointment to see it in person. Once you are at the house, take your time, look around, open doors, just explore. You will know when it “just the right house”.

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Step 3: Make an offer to purchase and negotiate the deal

Once you have found the home of your dreams, then you will need to decide on the price your want to pay for it and other terms you want to include in your offer to purchase. The list is short and includes:

Sales Price
Closing or Settlement Date
Earnest Money Deposit
Financing (Cash, Conventional, FHA, VA)
Inspections (Home, Radon, Well Water Quality, Septic System, Environmental, Roof, Chimney, etc.)

You real estate professional won’t write the offer for you, you write the offer. All the agent can do is “fill in the blanks on pre-printed forms” unless they are also an attorney, to do anything else is practicing law without a license. The real estate agent will use pre-printed contract forms when assembled together will be your offer. In Maryland, that can mean 50 or more pages that will include the buyer agency agreement, the contract of sale, and all the special addendum and disclosures necessary for a complete offer. Be prepared to read and sign them all before the agent will submit your offer to the seller’s agent for presentation to the seller.

You will be relying on your Realtor to assist you in the negotiations. And, you will want an expert at negotiation. An agent’s negotiation skills can make or break the deal. While your agent will make suggestions about negotiations strategy and tactics, ultimately the decisions are yours. So, asking your agent “what you should do” at any point in the negotiation really translates “what options do you have” at this point in the negotiation.

Ask you Realtor to prepare an estimated settlement cost worksheet based on the sales price and terms you want to offer. Experienced real estate professional can give you a breakdown of down payment, fees and expenses so you will know how much “cash to close” is required. Your real estate agent can work up different scenarios from paying asking price to getting a real steal so you know where there might be room for negotiation and what is fixed no matter what.

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Step 4: Inspect the home for defects and repairs

Once you have a deal on the table, now is the time to inspect the property for defects and necessary repairs. Many buyers will throw in ALL the possible inspections they can think of, including: home, radon, well water quality, septic system, environment, roof, chimney, mold, swimming pool, termite, and more. Once you see how much it is going to costs to conduct all those inspections, you will probably select fewer. You see, inspection are paid by you at the time services are rendered whether or not you end up buying the home. So, going wild with inspections can a) cost a lot of money up front and out of pocket, and b) turn off sellers resulting in them passing up your contract for some other buyer’s contract with fewer or no inspections. While it is your decision which inspections you want before purchasing a home, at least do a home inspection and termite, if nothing else.

What inspections you do get to preform will depend on what you negotiated as part of the contract of sale. So, if you forgot to include a chimney inspection or roof inspection in the contract, all is not lost. You may be able to inspect, but, you may not be able to ask for repairs if you find a defect. In any event, your lender will want a termite inspection and a water quality inspection if the property is on well water. You will want at least a home inspection and maybe other inspections depending on the age and condition of the home. The whole point of inspections is that should you find something wrong, you may be able to get the seller to repair it before they sell you the home. There can be exceptions where the seller either cannot afford to make repairs, as is often the case of a short sale, or unwilling to make repairs, as is almost always the case of foreclosures. Usually you’ll retain the unilateral right to terminate the contact in the case of an adverse result inspecting a short sale or foreclosure.

If it is a regular sale and you find something wrong, all is not lost. You may be able to negotiate with the seller so that they make the repair before settlement, obtain a monetary concession in the form of a credit at the time of settlement in lieu of the seller making the repair, or skillfully negotiate a lower sales price and fix the defects and make the repairs to your satisfaction after you have purchased the home.

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Step 5: Settle the sale by exchanging money and keys

Once you have completed all inspections and you are satisfied with the condition of the property, it is time to get the title company and your lender working on settling the sale.

The lender will order an appraisal. When you make written loan application the lender will ask you for about $500 which goes to paying for the appraisal. The appraisal is for the lender’s benefit even though you are paying for it. They want to make sure that you are not over paying for the home. Furthermore, they want to be able to sell your loan on the secondary mortgage market, so the home you are buying will need to meet certain standards, this will be especially important if you are using FHA or VA financing. The lender will also submit your loan to underwriting. It the underwriter’s job to review everything to make sure that it meets all loan program guidelines. Be prepared to provide additional documentation should the underwriter request it. Without the underwriters blessing you will not get a mortgage, no ifs, ands or buts.

The title company will order an abstract of title and check on outstanding liens and encumbrances. The seller probably has a mortgage, so the title company will order a mortgage payoff from the seller’s bank (or banks if there is more than one loan). You will want to buy your first home “free and clear”, meaning all the loans are paid off, taxes that are due have been paid, water bills are paid, HOA/condo fees are paid up, front foot assessments are paid, and ground rent (if applicable) is current. On the day of settlement there will be a proration of fees and taxes and anything else that has been prepaid by the seller and must be reimbursed.

While you are waiting for all this to get worked out, you will need to obtain homeowner’s insurance, you will need to request utility service be established at the property in your name, and you might want to order cable or satellite and Internet service installation. Don’t forget to pack and call the movers (or reserve a truck and the assurances of your friends and family that they will help with you move). And don’t forget to give proper notice to your landlord that you intend to move out and therefore terminate your lease.

Assuming there are no other issues, the parties involved, you and the sellers and the real estate agents, will gather together for settlement at the appointed time and place. The lender will send the title company all the documents you’ll need to sign for your loan and wire in the money. You will need to bring a bank check for your down payment and any other amounts you owe. The check should be payable to you so that you can sign it over to the title company as part of settlement (if settlement were not to occur for some reason, you would simple endorse it and deposit it back into your own account). The first thing the settlement office will do is review the HUD-1. This is the accounting of all the money. Then you’ll sign your loan papers, the seller will sign over the deed, and finally the settlement officer will disburse the funds and you’ll get the keys!

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Conclusion

It really is a rather simple process. How long will it take? Well, that will depend on the price range you are shopping in and the availability of homes that meet your requirements.

Land For Sale In Anne Arundel County Maryland – August 2012

What is land selling for in Anne Arundel County Maryland? In the last 365 days there were about 100 residential parcels of land sold in Anne Arundel County. They ranged from $5,000 to $1,500,000 in price. There were 374 pieces of land for sale in the county in August 2012.

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In the last 365 days there were 100 parcels of land sold in Anne Arundel County Maryland. The average list price was $224,386 and they were on the market for 432 days. The average sold price for land in Anne Arundel County during the period was $192,236 for a 78.45% sold-to-list ratio off the original list price. The average lot size was 1.10 acres. The average asking price per acre for land in Anne Arundel County Maryland was $204,396 and the average sold price for land in the county was $175,110 per arce.

With about 8 lots selling each month, there is a 46.75 month inventory of land parcels for sale in Anne Arundel County Maryland. When months of inventory is less than six months, this is generally considered a “seller’s market”. When months of inventory is more than six months, this is generally considered a “buyer’s market”. Current conditions suggest that it is a “buyer’s market” for lots in Anne Arundel County Maryland.

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Data was collected data on August 9, 2012. Information believed to be accurate, but should not be relied upon without verification, is made available “As Is” and subject to revision at any time without notice. Land in Anne Arundel County Maryland is selling.

Rising Home Prices Are No Surprise

It has been an incredibly busy spring and summer selling season at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Annapolis Maryland. For several months now, sales professionals have been abuzz with stories of multiple offers over asking price and homes going under agreement within a matter of days. So it comes as no surprise that the Wall Street Journal recently reported in the article Home Prices Reflect Strengthening that home prices in the second quarter rose from the previous year for the first time since 2007.

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Home sale prices rise when there are lower levels of housing inventory. When inventory levels drop, it signifies less competition for the home seller and limited choice for the buyer. Additionally, incredibly low interest rates and renewed confidence in the economy are compelling buyers to act now. With these elements in play, the competition between buyers who have their sights set on the same dream home can become fierce.

We at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Annapolis Maryland recognized this low inventory level trend in early spring, and it is still occurring in many markets. According to the Wall Street Journal’s quarterly survey of housing market conditions in 28 U.S. metropolitan areas, inventories of unsold homes have fallen in every market and are down by more than 20 percent in two-thirds of those markets. To see if this movement is occurring in your community of interest, follow the links to the counties (below) or explore the Market Trends section of this blog.

For those who are thinking of selling their home, this could still be an opportune time to act, especially for those who have built equity in their home. Stories of home sellers making a profit on their home’s sales have also been on the rise, and buyers continue to be attracted by historical low interest rates.

I can help you determine if now is the right time for you to sell your home and conduct a competitive market analysis, identify the inventory levels that will impact you, and advise you on appropriate marketing and pricing strategies.

Make the necessary improvements to your home before placing it on the market. Properties that are in good condition and are move-in ready are moving more quickly. I can also advise you on which improvements will have the most impact. The late summer and early fall have historically been known as slower selling seasons compared to spring, but this year we at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage would have to disagree. If you want to move now, you can reach me at (443) 994-8043.

Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Culpeper, Dorchester, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince Georges, Prince William, Queen Anne, Somerset, Stafford, Sussex, Talbot, Washington, Wicomico, Worcester

Golf Course Homes For Sale Near Annapolis Maryland

Golf course homes for sale in Annapolis Maryland include those near the Annapolis Golf Club in Bay Ridge, in the 55-plus community where the Heritage Harbour Golf Club is located, and at the gated community surrounding the Sherwood Forest Club. Annapolis boast four golf courses, both public and private. What comes to mind for many people when they think of Annapolis Maryland is, of course, the Chesapeake Bay and boating. However, Annapolis offers opportunities for fun both on the water and off the water where golf is a big part of the fun ashore.

Golfers of all abilities are welcome at the Eisenhower Golf Course in Crownsville, Anne Arundel County’s first public golf course. And, if accompanied by a member, you can play the private U.S. Naval Academy Golf Course located on the Broadneck Peninsula.

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In nearby Edgewater you can find homes for sale that wrap around The Golf Club at South River Colony. In Arnold there are homes with access to the Bay Hills Golf Club. In Davidsonville you can live along side and play at Renditions Grand Slam Experience. Or live on the Chesapeake Bay and play the exclusive venue of the Gibson Island Club. In Crofton you will find homes for sale that back to Crofton Country Club and Walden Country Club. In Pasadena you can purchase a home nestled among the four courses found at Compass Pointe Golf Course.

Contact me directly to see any golf course home currently for sale in the MLS or to setup a personalized search for your golf course dream home near Annapolis Maryland.

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