The Crofton Community Association General Membership Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 19, 2010. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM at the Crofton Elementary School, located at 1405 Duke of Kent Drive, Crofton, MD. The snow date for the meeting is January 26, 2010. The first meeting of the year is usually well attended because the budget for the next fiscal year will be presented. The budget, which has been mailed to all residents, contains a modest 2.3% increase. Crofton MD is one of the Special Tax Districts located in Anne Arundel, MD. An additional tax is charged to residents of the Crofton Community Association and is collected by the County. This tax surcharge is used to pay for the Crofton Police Department, recreational activities, administration and maintenance of public... 12/31/2009

The Crofton MD real estate home inventory continues to shrink as of December 2009. The extension of the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit seems to be fueling the reduction in inventory. Although inventory levels continue to decline, there is still a decent selection of homes in each price range. December 2006 - 140 Crofton homes available December 2007 - 142 December 2008 - 116 December 2009 - 97 Price Range - Current Inventory $000 - $199 - 12 $200 - $299 - 33 Excellent value in this price range for 1st time buyers. $300 - $399 - 21 $400 - $499 - 14 $500 - $700 - 17 To take advantage of the opportunities to purchase a home in Crofton MD, call your Realtor®. If you don't already have an agent, I can help. If you're SEARCHING for a home anywhere in Maryland, click here to view ALL ... 12/30/2009

Crofton homeowners are looking forward to an improved real estate market in the new year.  Will they get their wish? I’ll restrain from commenting on the ups and downs of the past decade that will impact real estate in the future because you'll be hearing and reading about that online and in the media from now through New Year's Day.  Instead, I'll go straight to the subject at hand. My Top Five Predictions for Crofton Maryland Real Estate in 2010: 2010 will continue to be a buyer’s market – i.e., buyers will have the edge in any real estate negotiations because supply will outweigh demand. Prices will remain relatively stable, with seasonal ups and downs throughout the year.  In other words, I’m expecting curves on any graph showing prices from month to month in Crofton, not sharp peak... 12/28/2009

The official November home sale statistics, compiled by the Metropolitan Regional Information System (MLS), are in and the Crofton numbers are off the charts. November 2009 Crofton MD home sales, compared to November 2008, increased by a whopping 166%. 40 Crofton homes sold in November 2009, compared to 15 in November 2008. The increase wasn't necessarily surprising to Realtors in the Crofton MD area, but not many of us believe that this increase is really reflective of the current market. The real estate market in Crofton MD is pretty stable and sales are increasing, but we generally don't see the amount of increase we saw in November, 2009. When the overall increase is that high you have to dig a bit deeper to understand why. In this case it wasn't very hard to understand the reason. ... 12/12/2009

The number of homes sold in the 21114 zipcode last month (40) was 166.67% higher than sold in November 2008 (15). Can there be any explanation other than the first-time home buyer credit?  What can I say except “WOW!” More good news for Crofton real estate last month:  Days on market for sold homes (86 days) was down 14% from November 2008 (100 days) The percentage of sold price vs. list price was up slightly to 93.12% from 92.11% in November 2008. Average and median sold prices remained relatively stable, dropping less than 2% in 2009 (compared to the same month last year) to $345,173 and $317.250 respectfully. The first-time buyer tax credit was scheduled to expire on November 30, 2009, so these closings were the result of contracts probably written in October before the tax credit wa... 12/10/2009

Real or artificial tree?  That is the question facing thousands of Crofton area residents each December as they start pulling holiday decorations out of the closet or in from the garage.  How much will the tree cost?  Which is easier to put up (and take down)?  Which looks better?  Which is safer? I did a little exploring online and found a lot of information to help answer these questions.  For example, the Maryland Christmas Tree Association offers a description of different Tree Types and information about How to Care for Your Farm-Grown Fresh Christmas Tree. There’s even a game on the National Christmas Tree Association website that you and your children will want to play online:  Attack of the Mutant Artificial Trees. These and other websites shared a lot of information about artif... 12/08/2009

The Crofton MD office of Long and Foster has a long history of working with the United States Marine Reserves and their Toys for Tots program. For years, agents and community residents have been dropping their toys off at the Long and Foster collection point. Toys can be dropped off at 2191 Defense Highway, Suite 120, Crofton, MD 21114. The office is open M - F until 7 PM and weekends until 6 PM. The generosity of Crofton area residents over the years has been amazing. I've been in the office when a donor would bring in two brand new bicycles. Bags of toys are often brought through the door to put under the tree. Many donors bring their children, I'm sure teaching them a valuable lesson about sharing with those less fortunate. Agents are encouraged to work with their spheres to get addi... 12/06/2009

Crofton Maryland residents will be very busy in December 2009.  Just take a look at this full schedule: 1 World Aids Day 2 Book Club – Crofton Library, 7 p.m. Crofton Kiwanis, 7:30 p.m. 4 Holiday Shop – Crofton Woods Elementary MORE 5 Snowflake Tea – Belair Mansion, 4 p.m. Crofton Poinsettia Sale DeliveryHolly Jolly Workshop – Crofton Elementary MORE Craft Fair – Crofton Meadows Elementary MOREHappy Birthday Walt Disney (1901) 6 Belair Mansion by Candlelight – 4:30-7:30 p.m. Wreathe-making Workshop – Homestead Gardens, 11 a.m.Happy Birthday Ira Gershwin (1896) 7 Pearl Harbor Day (1941) 8 Greater Crofton Council – 7 p.m. MOREBand & Strings Concert – Crofton Elementary MORE Mock Interviews – Arundel H.S. 9 Crofton Kiwanis – 7:30 p.m.Moms ‘n Tots – 10:45 a.m. MOREWinter Concert – Crofton M... 12/01/2009

Want to learn more about Crofton resident Kristen Becker?  Just pick up a copy of today's Wall Street Journal and turn to the Life & Style section. Or you can click on the link to When Mr. Clean meets Ms. Messy to read the article online.  You'll learn Kristen's age, how many children she has, who lives in her home besides her husband and kids, and which spouse is the neatnik (and which is the slob).  Kristen, we'll be interested in learning how columnist Elizabeth Bernstein "discovered" you and your husband. Kristen has been a member of Crofton Village Garden Club since September and she's already making her mark by volunteering as the Youth Activities Chair for the club.  She's also slated to be the emcee for our Plant it Pink Fashion Show and High Tea at Crofton Country Club on May ... 11/16/2009

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... 11/16/2009

The first-time home buyer tax credit is probably responsible for the decline in average and median home prices in Crofton Maryland since August, because first time homebuyers generally purchase at the low end of the market.  Overall for the year, however, the trend in prices has been upward with the average sold price at $268,400 in January and $319,137 in October, and the median sold price increasing from $250,000 in January to $308,000 in October.   At the same time, that tax credit may be the reason more homes sold in September and October of this year than in 2008 - the only two months of this year when closings exceeded the same month last year.   My crystal ball is still fuzzy about the future of Crofton real estate because statistics are providing mixed signals.  One thing is in ... 11/12/2009

October - 2009 2009 2008 % Change Sold Dollar Volume $8,616,700 $6,271,700 +37.39% Average Sold Price $319,137 $391,981 -18.58% Median Sold Price $308,000 $355,000 -13.24% Total Units Sold 27 16 +68.75% Average Days on Market 83 79 +5.06% Average List Price for Solds $340,054 $412,113 -17.49% Several of the Crofton, MD home sales statistics looked better in October, 2009 compared to October 2008. More units are being sold, but in the lower price ranges. 25 of the 27 sales were in the price range under $500,000, while fully 22 of the 27 listings were under the $400,000 price range. During the month of October, 2009, 37 new listings were added to the Crofton, MD home inventory, while 27 were sold. In a peek at the near term future, 46 homes went under one of the various contract categori... 11/12/2009

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 fam... 11/10/2009

We Crofton MD residents do love our tall, stately Oak Trees for the beauty and shade that they provide all summer. Now that summer is over though, all I can say is, UGH! The annual Crofton chore of leaf collection is in full progress from now until mid to end December. As a matter of fact, those last few dead leaves will probably still be there in the Spring. It doesn't matter how many times you rake and bag them, the next day it looks like you didn't do a darn thing. There are some people on my block that rake leaves every day. That's not a hobby, that's an obsession. I'm good for once every week or two. The pile you see here is from this weekend. Anne Arundel County MD trash collection has a special leaf pickup on Mondays during this time of year. They do have to be bagged and placed ... 11/08/2009

It's a November tradition for the Crofton Village Garden Club to make patriotic-themed floral arrangements for wounded soldiers and other patients. Each member makes two or three of them so we'll be sure to have enough for all 120 patients at the VA Rehab and Extended Care Facility in Baltimore, Maryland. This is a very easy and inexpensive activity that your garden club, scout troop, office or other organization could easily duplicate, following the steps in this brief video. With 40 participants, it can be accomplished in an hour or less. Please join us in thanking our wounded veterans in November and throughout the year. 11/05/2009

Why is it that the Maryland Department of Natural Resources went to great lengths to drain the pond on private property west of Route 3 in Crofton a few years ago when a Northern Snakehead fish was discovered there?  (National Geographic News) The answer depends somewhat on who you ask, but one common denominator in any conversation about this is the pond's proximity to the Little Patuxent River, just 75 feet from the pond.  Officials and biologists were worried that this "air-breathing, land-crawling, voracious predator" would invade the state's river system and even reach the Chesapeake Bay, causing irreparable harm.   However, Maryland Department of the Environment apparently isn't concerned about the impact of development on this site, so close to the Little Patuxent River.  In fact... 11/02/2009

It doesn't take much research to know that there are a large number of foreclosures on the market, including some Crofton, MD homes for sale. Picking up a foreclosure property in Crofton, MD could be a great investment, but buyers do need to be careful. If you're interested in including foreclosure properties in your home search, make sure you have a qualified, local Realtor to assist. The process to buy a foreclosure does differ a bit from a regular residential resale. Also, buyers agents usually get paid from the seller in a transaction. Even if the property is a foreclosure, where the owner is a bank. There are three distinct phases of foreclosure activity. Once an owner stops paying their mortgage the lender will file for a notice of default. Remember all those documents you signed ... 10/27/2009

For the next few weeks, I'm going to share with you weekly photos of the wetlands on the west side of Route 3 in Crofton, Maryland.  Enjoy them while you can because the property owner has somehow managed to obtain a permit from the Maryland Department of the Environment to develop this natural wetlands area into a site for a big-box store.  Community residents and activists successfully drove Walmart away and assumed the issue was dead.  Little did we know that the permit process continued.  Even if we had known it, who could have imagined that our state Department of the Environment would allow development of this 20-acre parcel along the Little Patuxent River. It is, after all, within the bounds of a designated State Scenic River, in the critical area, and it is a part of the Patuxen... 10/25/2009

Long and Foster agents in Crofton, Maryland, jumped into action when I told them about Operation Christmas Stocking, just five days ago. There were so many bags and boxes of goodies in my office, two days later, that I could barely make a path to my desk.  Yesterday, several agents and family members showed up to fill 101 holiday gift bags!   Toiletries, toys, playing cards, puzzle books and pencils, notepaper and pens, candy and lots of other things overflowed the holiday gift bags, along with a hand-wrtten Christmas card to say "thank you" to the gift bag recipient. I'd like to say "thank you" to my office for responding so quickly and generously.  You're amazing!   10/20/2009

Crofton Maryland homeowners want to know, “Is the real estate market stabilizing in Crofton?”  Using statistics from the five most recent years, I’ll do my best to answer that for you. Good news: More homes sold/settled during September 2009 in Crofton, Maryland, than September of the two most recent years, although we’re nowhere near the number of the bubble year 2006.  More good news:  “Days on Market” are down almost 15% from the same month last year, and Both the average and median prices are up slightly from September a year ago. My daughter-in-law, Christine, prepared this chart so we can see a five-year trend in all the areas tracked by Metropolitan Regional Information Services (MRIS).  I think this expanded look at the Crofton real estate market is necessary to get a true pictu... 10/15/2009