How Fast Will Your Home Sell in College Park or Berwyn Heights? - 03/29/08 09:36 AM
The numbers in the table above show how many months it would take to sell any home in College Park or Berwyn Heights if no other homes came on the market.  It appears that there are an average of about 9 homes selling per month with about 16 months supply available right now.
What does this mean to the person wanting to sell their home?  It means that if you would like your home to be one of the 9 that sell this month your home needs to be priced competitively and look like Martha Stewart just came to visit.
If … (0 comments)

But it's a great location... - 03/28/08 09:55 PM
Yes, Mr. Seller.  It is a great location.
Good school district, close to the Metro, close to great commuter routes, close to great shopping, big employer within a stone's throw, pretty subdivision and a nice house.  What's not to like?
Welllllll....Very little activity in the subdivision in the last six months makes finding comps hard. New construction going on three blocks away. And what is on the market  within three blocks of you has been on the market for months...and months...and months. So if the location was the big selling point, how come the other houses haven't sold?
Price is a big part of … (0 comments)

What Price is the Right Price? - 03/27/08 04:19 AM
It is an axiom in real estate that if a house is not selling it is probably over priced -- that every house will sell at the right price.
I am finding, though, that finding that price is getting harder and harder.  
Back in the days of the frenzy, it was difficult to find a "right" price because people were lined up to buy a house at any price. Sometimes Sellers would get mad at you for recommending a price too low when their house sold in four hours at $10,000 above list price even though you were recommending a price $10,000 … (9 comments)

Trying to Refinance -- Not a Walk in the Park - 03/25/08 11:47 AM
You would think that since I'm a Realtor I would know all the ins and outs of refinancing and lots of great loan officers that would be able to help me out in a heartbeat. (Pssst. Good credit scores and low debt, too) You might also think that I'd be able to walk through the refinancing process without ruffling a feather or getting a hair out of place.
You would be wrong!
Five years ago when my wife an I bought our home we decided, like many others, to roll the dice and take out an ARM -- an Adjustable Rate Mortgage … (4 comments)

Happy Easter... - 03/22/08 02:29 PM
Yes, it's Easter.  Time to break out your Easter bonnet and enjoy the flowers and spring.  Easter is always a nice miilestone for a great time of year.  New life bursts forth and optimism abounds.  Lots of neat things like hiding Easter eggs and joining your family for the traditional Easter get-together - yams, glazed ham and all the rest of it!
 And don't mak yourself sick eating too many of those tasty chocolate bunnies!

… (4 comments)

Ahhhhh, Spring! - 03/22/08 12:54 PM
The Spring has always been the "busy" season for real estate.  I think it has something to do with the combination of Daylight Savings Time, flowers blooming and the coming end of the school year.
Whatever the real reason is I'm glad that Spring is upon us. 
I've actually seen a pick up in the number of showings my listings are getting which is a god thing.  It means that there are some buyers out there looking for a new home.
A couple of things are helping the planets come into alignment:
higher loan limits for FHA loans -- it … (1 comments)

Don't Blink Your Eyes -- Mortgage Rates Down on Fed Action -- Make Your Move! - 03/17/08 08:20 PM
There has been a big hullabaloo about the Federal Reserve stepping in to save Bear Stearns, the big investment bank, and providing more liquidity to the financial markets by becoming the "lender of last resort" for many of the investment banks that hold all the mortgage backed securities that have been going bad, bad, bad.
The good news for you and me is that mortgage rates went down to between 5.5% and 5.875% for a conventional, conforming 30 year fixed mortgage.  Depending on your credit, the amount financed (or re-financed) and the exact type of loan you want, your interest … (0 comments)

Further Home Sales Declines in Prince George's County - 03/15/08 02:49 PM
This may be old news by now but it bears repeating: The housing boom of 2000-2005 is over.  More to the point: It ain't comin' back.
This article in a recent issue to The Gazette the weekly paper distributed for free by the same people who bring you The Washington Post indicate a deepening downward trend in home sales.
I can attribute this to two things:
1. the mortgage crisis has made obtaining a mortgage a lot more difficult that it used to be. Nowadays, the mortgage folks need you to be able to do more than fog a mirror to obtain … (2 comments)

The Roller Coaster of Movin' On - 03/13/08 08:20 PM
Believe it or not, this is not a post about my clients moving from one place to another.
Nah.   This is about a move I made.  Just yesterday, in fact.  I've been thinking about it for a long time and "doing the deed" really involved me getting out of my comfort zone. 
I changed Brokers.
I'm still a RE/MAXer.  I like the RE/MAX system, the brand identification and all that. I was just getting tired of the franchise I was with.   The Broker, like most Brokers, I suppose, was feeling the pinch of the downturn in the market.  Agents were leaving … (7 comments)

Playing "Mr. Answer Man" for my clients - 03/09/08 07:05 AM
I have a good friend and great past client who recently retired from the Federal Government.  It seems that part of what he does with his new found free time is peruse the Internet for news stories and opinion about the real estate market.  Every now and then (more frequently than when he was working) he'll send me an e-mail about something he read or heard.  Here is one such exchange:
Mr. Ken,
I read an article in Motley Fool yesterday which said the worst was yet to come in regard to slippage of home values.  It said values had dropped by between … (7 comments)

Hooking up with Technorati - 03/06/08 06:51 PM
Technorati Profile … (0 comments)

Just got the Word - New HIGHER FHA Loan Limits Are Approved - 03/06/08 01:24 PM
My good mortgage buddy -- Rob Mercer of First Home Mortgage -- just sent me an e-mail telling my that new loan limits for FHA mortgages have been approved.  It's a HUGE jump for the MD Suburbs of DC with the limits in Prince George's County and Montgomery County going to $729,750, Anne Arundel is going to $560,00 (poor Annapolis and Davidsonville - what were they thinking!?!).
Guidelines haven't been passed down to the lenders yet but it shouldn't be long.
What does this mean?  It means that for most home buyers the cost of borrowing just went down and the strict guidelines … (2 comments)

Rainer and Fellow MD Suburbs od DC Realtor makes the Cover of Realtor Magazine - 03/05/08 06:38 AM
Check out the most recent issue of Realtor magazine.  After all this time, they finally caught up with the fact that there is something to this Web 2.0 (or whatever) business.
Anne Marie Clements -- active Rainer, fellow RE/MAXer,Maryland Realtor and all about social networker made the cover and the inside profile article. Other mentions are Active Rain itself, The Real Estate Tomato.
Noticeably absent -- RSS Piece (no link).  No surprise there. Lack luster customer service, I guess.
Granted Realtor Magazine can be a little behind the times and not as synched in as they could be. But its nice that they're finally … (2 comments)

Facebook Information, Part 2 - 03/05/08 06:02 AM
I posted the video in a previous post that I got from a "friend" -- another RE/MAXer in Canada -- on Facebook. Is there some irony here?
I have a Facebook profile (see widget in the right hand sidebar) and as far as I can tell most of the information is stuff that's readily available simply by typing your name into the Google search field.
I guess it's a little scary that so many people can find out so much about you but, heck, the grocery store knows exactly what food you buy and when (those little bar codes do more than tell … (7 comments)

Facebook Information Collection -- As If You Weren't Paranoid Enough? - 03/05/08 05:56 AM
… (4 comments)

Court Rules in Favor of Nehamiah Down Payment Assistance Program - 03/04/08 10:58 AM
A great loan office friend of mine -- Rob Mercer of First Home Mortgage --  recently sent me the good news that the courts have ruled in favor of Down Payment Assistance program like the Nehemiah Program.  This program has been a godsend to people who want to buy a house but need assistance to make their down payment.
Typically, the Seller will make a donation to the Nehemiah Program which, in turn, will provide the buyer with the needed funds to meed down payment requirements from lenders.
To learn more about this important court decision - Click Here.
… (1 comments)