"What's With You Guys?" I quote my client whose house I have listed with this statement: "What's With You Guys?". By "you guys", he means real estate agents.  He was nice enough to exclude me from this remark, but I don't know, maybe I am as guilty as those whom we believe are the problem. The problem or the"what's with" is a failure to understand why so frequently his front door is left unlocked after a showing, the lights, many of them, are left on both in and outside the house, a door, or even a window, is left open. Other clients ask related questions like: "15 minutes notice, come on now?!";  "Somebody left the furnace at 95 degrees, can you find out what agent did this?"; "Maybe I should just have given a carpet allowance; the new carpet is filthy; can't they wipe their feet or ta... 12/23/2013

FHA Loan Limits Are Going Down In 2014 In the Greater Baltimore region, the loan limit for FHA loans is going down in 2014 from $560,000 to $494,500 for a single family home.  This area includes Baltimore City, and the counties of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, and Howard. In DC and the Maryland metro counties of DC, the limit is going down from $729,750 to $625,500.  This includes the Maryland counties of Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George's. This change is effective for FHA case numbers ordered after December 31st, 2013. While these reductions are taking place, mortgage interest rates are slowly and steadily climbing.  They are predicted to reach 5.0% to 5.5% by the end of 2014.  Currently, 30 year fixed rate FHA mortgages are still available for un... 12/21/2013

It Is Okay To Offer Less Than Asking Price Before I get into discussing it being okay to offer less than asking price, let me, also, state that it is okay to offer more than asking price. It depends on the particular property, the asking price of that property, and the local market for that property. The aforementioned factors are facts to which we can gain access, therefore we can use them to determine an appropriate asking price. What we do not know, typically, are the motivations behind why the seller is asking a certain price and why the seller is selling, so these are facts which we can not use.  We, also, can not assume that the seller has reasonably priced the property. Simply offering less than asking price is not a good strategy. Let's look at some example numbers. A property i... 12/16/2013

You Were Not Courteous To An Agent And You Lost A Customer An agent made an appointment to show a listing. Although the showing instructions were relatively basic, a problem occurred. Instructions:  Use the electronic lock box located on the front railing to obtain the keys.  Knock first because there is a tenant on the second floor, but he has been notified so you are okay to show. Problem:  The lock box was not operating because of a dead battery. An Aside:  Make sure that you change the battery in your lock boxes before they go dead. What Happened:  The agent left with his client and did not make any calls to let anyone know about the dead battery.  Understandably, he may have been frustrated, however, he must not have reached the age when giving up isn't who you are, the age of know... 11/12/2013

Mortgage Interest Rates Will Rise Per The Experts Real estate agents have been saying for the last couple of years that mortgage interest rates would be increasing. There is real data to show that this has been true.  Interest rates have risen from the range of 3.0 to 3.5 percent to an average of close to 4 percent. This is not expected to be the end.  Experts predict that rates will increase by another point up to 5.0 percent or more by the end of 2014. Here are some of the predictions for the 4th quarter of 2014: Fannie Mae:  5.0% National Association of Realtors:  5.4% Freddie Mac: 5.1% Mortgage Bankers Association: 5.0% Rates have been kept artificially low in recent times because of actions by the Fed.  The Fed has been making bond purchases, which have kept the rate low without th... 11/09/2013

Landlord, Take Care Of The Cat The tenants were a nice family consisting of mister, misses, three young children, their belongings, and their pet cat. At first, they were an ideal tenant paying their rent on time, but eventually hard times came to the employment situation of the husband, which led to the rent being paid later and later in the month. Apparently this was, also, putting a stress on their marriage as the wife and the children moved to her mother's house.  Note, the husband and the cat stayed behind. Eventually, the husband was finding work, but it was not sufficient to pay the rent and it was frequently taking him out of state, which left the property vacant for days at a time. This left the landlord with far from the rental amount which was agreed upon in the lease and a m... 11/04/2013

Welcome to Perry Hall and the Oakhurst Community in Seven Courts. Oakhurst is a townhome community nestled in the Seven Courts Neighborhood off of Joppa Road in Perry Hall. It is comprised of 672 townhomes...most 3 bedroom and 2 baths. Oakhurst is in walking distance to the Weis grocery store and Seven Oaks Elementary. It is in close proximity to shopping centers, major highways, and Perry Hall Schools.   Within the last 180 days (as of 10/25/2013), there has been quite a bit of turnover activity in Oakhurst. Currently, there are 3 townhomes Active-ranging from $215000-230000 and 3 townhomes Under Contract-ranging form $175000-$234,900. All of these are Standard Sales. There have been 17 townhomes SOLD in Oakhurst in he last 6 months!! 17!! Sales range from $166000-$235000 with an aver... 10/25/2013

I Will Not Charge You A Cent Honestly, I will not charge you a cent.  Of course, I will not be working for you so it only makes sense that I will not charge you. When would you need to make such an obvious statement?  You would make it when a buyer who is interested in your listing asks you to lower the commission because they are not using an agent. Well, good for you, buyer, that you are not using an agent, or maybe bad for you since you will have no representation. I work for the seller and the seller will be paying me and it is none of your business what the seller is paying me. I do not work for you, so there is no commission to lower. If you had representation, then you would have a buyer agency agreement, and with such an agreement it would state that you owe your agent a commiss... 10/23/2013

I Can Support A High Price Or I A Low Price: Which Way Do I Go? I have two houses listed on the same street in the same neighborhood. When I listed the first of the two houses, I suggested a price to the owner, which was in the high $200s, but I cautioned the owner, that while I had good comparable properties to support the price, there were other properties around the area, which could just as easily be used to support a lower price. Naturally, as most sellers like to do, he opted for the higher price.  I was fine with this, because I could truly support the price. Soon after taking this listing, I listed another house further down the street, but in the same neighborhood.  With this house, I thought that the price should be a little lower than the first house, because it had a few les... 10/16/2013

Perhaps Many Americans Are Under Employed If This Is What They Do I received 15 text messages in the last three days all telling me about getting a loan. They include statements such as: (Have you ever received a loan?)  Enter an email address to see your options! (Get paid today!)  We can help with a 1k cash deposit TODAY! (Need cash for the weekend?)  We can help with a 1500 cash deposit! (Are the bills piling up?)  We can help with a 1500 cash deposit today! (Money Deposited Today!) Apply in minutes and get direct cash today!  Fast (Consolidate Loans Today!)  We can help you get rid of all of them. (laveta, got approved in minutes!)  You can get $1500 instantly! (Get cash deposited today!)  Check out the site brittaney got $1500 from yesterday!   And, here are some real good ones: (T... 09/30/2013

I Made an Appointment to see a House, Not to be put on an Email List I am working with a Buyer Client.  After determining what type of house that they would like, I search the Multiple List to find a home which meets their requirements.  Per the instructions in the Multiple List, I make an appointment to see the house with my client. So far, this all makes perfectly good sense. But, somewhere along the way, I miss the part that says, now that you have made an appointment to see one of our listings and now that we have you in our database, we will send emails to you to announce every new listing that our office gets, any changes to those listings, and open houses for those listings. I am subscribed to the Multiple List and it provides all of this information. Are you telling me that I no... 09/30/2013

Showing Instructions The house is vacant and the key box is on the front door. What?  That's it?  Wow!  Wouldn't it be nice if all showing instructions were this easy? Frequently they are this easy, but not always and usually there are reasonable explanations for why the instructions are sometimes more complicated, sometimes much more complicated. For instance, the following may be the case: not all people have vacated the house, the occupants may not be capable of leaving the house for every showing, some people have pets, the owners may not be comfortable with having a lock box on their house (remember, they don't know you and have no reason to trust you, in spite of all of the ethics training that you have), for extra security, there may be an alarm which needs to be disarmed during ... 09/19/2013

Housing Inventory Is Low, So Increase Your Choices By Looking At Lots The housing inventory is low, meaning that it will take buyers longer to find a house which meets their needs and desires. Additionally, when they do find that house, there will be competition from other buyers such that they may not even get the house. To increase the chances of finding a house which meets a buyer's needs and desires, buyers might consider adding lots to their list when looking for a home. With a lot, there will be less competition and even though it will require the house to be built, the time frame may be just as quick as looking for an existing house, because the search time will be shortened.  Instead of taking 8 months or so to find a suitable house, the buyer can possibly quickly find a lot in ... 09/16/2013

FSBO Seller Did Not Want to Use a Middleman, The Real Estate Agent I came upon a FSBO in my travels and the owner happened to be arriving home at the same time that I stopped to take a quick look. The owner asked if she could answer any questions, so rather than beat around the bush, I directly asked her "Why aren't you using a real estate agent?". She told me that she considered a real estate agent to be like a middleman and that she saw no reason to pay a middleman. The implication in her answer was that the real estate agent, the "middleman", added no value to the transaction, but simply collected a commission. While she and her husband showed me the house, we talked some more and I asked how they had arrived at their price.  She told me that a friend of the family, a real estate age... 09/06/2013

27 Colleton Court Baltimore Maryland LOVELY 3 BEDROOM 1.5 BATH TOWN HOME IN NOTTINGHAM THAT IS VERY CONVENIENT TO EVERYTHING AND FEATURES NEW W/W CARPET ON UPPER LEVEL, FRESH PAINT, DOUBLE PANE WINDOWS, FULLY FINISHED LOWER LEVER WITH WALK OUT, FENCED REAR BACKYARD. NICE UPDATES. COME CHECK IT OUT!!! Full Detailshttp://www.buy-sellmdhomes.com/listing/mlsid/161/propertyid/BC8159533/syndicated/1/cgltguid/1B461EBB-F20E-43FF-A29D-6D2D663B6E65/?ts=crg Click on photo to see more photos of 27 Colleton Court Baltimore Maryland! Compass Home Group of Keller Williams American Premier Realty  Tim Langhauser & Michele McCartin  Call or Text 443-360-0086 for information  Home - Buy - Sell - Market Insider - Meet - Contact Us - Partners PROPERTY SEARCH MARYLAND Aberdeen - Abingdon - Bel Air - Churchv... 08/23/2013

Celebrating the Fourth of July Just like in May, when thousands of Americans celebrated Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican Independence Day, thousands of Mexicans, south of the border, will be enjoying parties, fireworks, and such as they celebrate, the Fourth of July, Independence Day for the United States. Wait a minute, there is something wrong with this picture. Well, not really.  When the United States declared its independence, it was soon after that they included an inalienable right within its Constitution.  That right is the right to free speech. In the United States, I am allowed to make a satirical statement like the one that starts this post. Not only that, but our citizens are allowed to celebrate someone else's independence day if they so choose, as absurd as it may seem. What's f... 06/24/2013

He Couldn't Pick An Agent So He Had Twenty Broker Signs on His Lawn That's just plain ridiculous . . . or is it really that ridiculous or that uncommon? Doesn't a seller have major concerns with using just one real estate agent to sell his or her home? Aren't sellers leery about using just one real estate agent, concerned about whether or not they can trust the agent, worried that their agent is doing the best job, wondering if they are going to get the best price and the best contract terms, and stressing with trepidation about whether or not they are doing the right thing by using just one agent? As true as it may be that these concerns may exist to some degree, somehow it has become common practice for a seller to hire just one agent to list his or her house for sale. Many of the pos... 06/02/2013

Rental in Nottingham, Maryland     Well Maintained, Beautiful Home, and Available soon   Located in the Perry Hall School District   Eat in kitchen,   Separate dining room & formal living room   Entrance foyer w/closet & bath   Finished lower level   Master suite w/full bath w/two vanities &   Walk-in closet   Easy access to I-695, I-95, Rte 1 & Commuter Rail Line                           05/19/2013

Homes for Sale in Nottingham, MD   Real estate market data for Nottingham, Maryland provided by Helene Kelbaugh of Keller Williams Realty Baltimore   Nottingham Home Prices Looking at the data, several straight month of increased sold prices on home prices in Nottingham are not stopping anytime soon.  The market is hot and continues to sizzle.   If you are a buyer ready to find a home in Nottingham, don't worry!  There are great deals still out there.  Don't keep thinking.  Act now as home prices are going up.  To protect your interests and the best way to make this work is by having a knowledgeable REALTOR who knows the market in the area.  The worst decision you make is to wait and not take action right away.  When purchasing in a market with very low inventory, like the market we are... 05/10/2013

Are You Waiting For The Economy To Improve Before You Buy A House? If you are waiting for the economy to improve before you buy a house, then you are actually waiting for interest rates to go up before you buy a house. Recent economic indicators regarding employment showed that: Jobless claims were 342k versus an expected 345k; Unemployment was 7.5% versus an expected 7.7%; Non-farm payrolls increased by 165k versus an expected 135k. These are all positive results for employment and for the economy, yet mortgage interest rates rose by about 1/8 percent. When the economy is ready to grow, it needs money to fuel that growth.  This money is fed to the economy via the stock market.  A growing economy will yield positive results for stocks. When the economy is not growing, investors still wa... 05/03/2013