Beautiful Town House in the Heart of Upper Marlboro, Walking Distance to Shopping and Easy Comute to DC... Large, Well Maintained 3 Level Town House with Deck Overlooking Golf Course and Lake. Features Hard Wood Floors, Large Eat In Kitchen, Formal Dining Room, Sunken Living Room, Family Room, Garage, and Drive Way Parking. Subject to Short Sale.
Peace and Quiet 1+ Acre, in the heart of Southern Maryland. Have your own garden, and gather fruit from your own trees. Lots of roses and flowers. Home features 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, Living Room with fireplace and kitchen with eat in area. Formal dining room, Deck, and oversized 2 car garage.
Beautiful 4 year old home with easy commute to DC. Home Features 5 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths, Master suite with Master Bath. Gourmet Kitchen with Granite Counter tops. Family Room with Gas Fireplace, Formal Living Room, formal Dining Room, Full Finished Basement With Wet Bar and Space for theatre area, Fenced Back Yard, Deck, Separate Laundry area. 2 Car Garage, and off Street Parking.
This lovely home sits in the heart of Waldorf, Close to Schools, Shopping, Lake and Walking Trails. Home Features Over 1550 Finished Square Feet, 3 Bedrooms 2.5 Baths. Bedroom Level Laundry, Private Fenced Backyard with Deck. Backs to Walking Path and Trees. Large Family room, Eat in Kitchen.
Charles County welcomed the new Southern Maryland Blue Crabs to the area on Friday, and local residents can now officially enjoy the national past-time right here in Waldorf!
The Regency Furniture Stadium itself is gorgeous, and really captures the essence and flavor of the region perfectly! I was on the fence about participating personally, but I have to say that I love how the new ball park looks and feels! This is an excellent recreational destination, and team owner Brooks Robinson has already announced that REO Speedwagon will be playing a concert there this summer on August 11th!
It sounds like I'm going to be heading to the stadium quite a bit this summer......
I recently found the perfect property for one of my clients that had been searching for that elusive parcel of land that was Perked, and ready to go. I met him in October ff 2007 and he told me that he had been searching since 2003 for just a couple of acres that was ready to build on.
Unfortunately, everything he found was tied up by a builder, and he wanted his dad to build his house for him. I think he had seen every lot that had come up for sale in the county for the past 4 years. So my team and I went to work trying to find a property that accurately fit his criteria. Low and behold, the AUCTION listing came up.
My client loved it! The process was simple; there were 4 lots that a builder was liquidating. We met our buyer at the site the morning of the auction, and for a $5,000.00 deposit, he could bid on the lots. The auctioneer stated that the highest bidder would be able to choose the lot they liked best of the 4 available.
Before the auction began we advised our client of the market price that he might expect to pay for his lot. And that he needed to decide how much he was willing to pay prior to the auction. This is very important because it is very easy to get caught up in the emotion and momentum of an auction, and it is very easy to get carried away in moment, and you can end up paying much more than you expected. I have been to hundreds of auctions and have seen this happen time and time again, much to the dismay of the winning bidder.
We also made sure that the perc's were still valid, checked to make sure the engineering study was up to date, and checked if the school allocations had been paid or not. This could have been a real problem since we are not sure if there will be a perc season in our area next year, and the school allocation could mean an extra $13,000.00 to $15,000.00 per lot. These are Questions that our buyer had not even thought about prior to this time.
In the end our client was able to get the lot of his choice for exactly the price we advised him, he was prepared to pay $25,000.00 more than the bidding went, the lot had a current sewage easement plat, and the school allocation had already been paid. He was very happy with our services, and managed to quickly find a lot that suited his family within two months of our first meeting.
The bottom line is that even in the auction arena, Agents do have a place, and a responsibility to protect and advise our clients. We still need to do our homework, know the ins and outs of the property being sold and help our clients make an educated decision.
To top it all off, the local newspaper was there on auction day to cover the event because auctions of this nature are unusual for our area. By the time all was said and done, Our client paid $75,000 LESS than the builder had invested in the property! It's great to see people able to get a deal and know that they're interests have been protected by knowledge, professional Realtors!
Your Real Estate Business is very much like the vehicle you drive. Constant care and maintanence is required to keep it running in tip top shape. At times an extended shop visit is need and serious adjustments must be made, and with the changes the market has seen this year, it might be time to consider that overhaul!
For myself, I finally established my own team this year, and boy, what an education that has been! Previously my business had been primarily with developers, but with droughts restricting perc tests in my region, establishing my team meant re-establishing a foot-hold in residential sales.
Now that December has arrived, I'm trying to determine what worked out well and what didn't, but here's what I've seen so far, and I make no promises as to the validity of my discoveries in relation to the quality of your market and/or business! So here they are, in no particular order:
Web Based advertising return values rose in 2007- This isn't new, but the value of web marketing is here and will continue to rise. Agents that don't believe this are going to find it increasingly difficult to maintain market share among an increasingly web-based business.
FSBO's are starting to understand the need to use a Realtor with increasing return- A tough market is exceedingly difficult for a FSBO. More and more people are willing to work with a Realtor if they are confident that they are getting VALUE for the money they spend on our fees.
Purchasing Leads Online CAN be profitable- There is a huge number of companies trying to sell cold, dead leads, however. If you can find a company that works for you, great, but don't expect it to be cheaper than doing your own lead generation.
Farming still works- Everyone receives mail. The important thing to remember that with an increasingly web-savvy audience, don't wait to get to the point! We live in a get-it-now mentality, and consumers are better informed than ever before. Be willing to make necessary adjustments in order to appeal to that mind-set.
Include your web and/or blog address to EVERYTHING- Allowing consumers to know where and how to find you online is vital. It allows them to view and understand who you are on their own time, and lets them see just how active and you attune to their needs that you really are.
NOTHING has been able to replace the value of talking to people- First Degree Contact is STILL the most cost-effective way to generate business.
Just Listed Mailers have seen a poor return recently- On the other hand, Just Sold Mailers have seen a very strong return for picking up new listings. It seems that this is a smarter way to spend marketing dollars right now.
Blogging and Forum Chatting has been very positive- We're seeing the phones actually ring based off of online discussions, and we're going to continue exploring this avenue of marketing.
Sitting down and analyzing what has worked well is essential to a successful business. Don't be afraid to experiment! Our job is to get homes sold, first and foremost. How we do that has to change as the technology around us changes.
Real Estate Books like Homes And Land were once a staple for my new lead generation. Now it's supplemental. My website was once supplemental; now it's primary. We're going to continue to evlove and improve our strategies. I'd love to hear what other markets are seeing, what's been working, and what hasn't!
I think that this nation suffers from some serious self absorption issues! There, I said it, what a way to start my first active rain post!I apologize for starting off on a soap box like that(*steps down*), but it's been said before and I think it needs to be said again.
I think it's all the more important for us as Realtors, because we're a service industry, and because we spend our lives front and center of consumers, the image and ideals we project ARE IN FACT INFECTIOUS.
I chair a group that provides a cost-free party to graduating high school seniors on grad night called PROJECT GRADUATION. It's a very familiar group in my county, and in fact Charles County Maryland is the ONLY County in the state that has not had a drug or alcohol related death among seniors on grad night in over 20 years, since the program was started.
I wouldn't claim that PROJECT GRADUATION is the sole cause, but it makes a huge impact. Providing a safe, monitored, drug and alcohol-free party goes a long way. If we as a group have managed to save even one life over the last 20 years, it's well worth the effort. People who have children attending this year can remember going themselves, and can attest to the fun they had when they went, blah blah, blah, I could go on for hours, but that's beside the point.
When it comes to funding, we work very hard to ensure enough private and corporate donations to make it happen. What becomes a much scarcer commodity come graduation time, however, is TIME! We're not the only ones, thousands of groups across the country are desparate for donations of time and labor to make their organization succeed!Here's where Realtors can make a big difference.
I don't make my volunteer work a focal point of marketing myself. I don't say "Hire me because I'm active in the community". I DO however tell my clients about the program and encourage them to donate time or encourage them to convince the companies they work for to donate money or gifts in exchange for advertising.It works as a huge boost for Project Graduation!
I'm able to parlay my work as a realtor to continue to give back to my community, and everybody feels a little bit better knowing that they are able to help promote healthy activities among our local youth.
So here we come to the self-absorption part(*FINALLY*)! There's no excuse for people to NOT give back to our communities. If money is an issue, donations of time are very greatly appreciated, believe me, we all need it! As Realtors we work on a flexible schedule, finding a way to make time is always possible, and clients love to work with people who they know genuinely care about their community!
Use it as a PR tool if you'd like.
Take a tax deduction on your donation.
Think about the difference you can make locally to help your neighborhood!
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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