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College Park, MD Real Estate News

By Keji Ogunleye, GRI, SFR, KejiYour Realtor
(Fairfax Realty, Inc)
College Park MD- Below are some bargain and foreclosure properties available for sale in College Park MD. There are lots of great bargain in College Park real estate market now- Don't miss your opportunity to buy your first home, a larger home or a retirement home in this buyer's market. There are over 55 loan programs available for buyers with zero down payment, low interest rate or low down payment. To get more information about the different loan programs visit College Park MD Homes     College Park MD Condo's   6100 WESTCHESTER PARK DR #T-7, COLLEGE PARK $98k     College Park MD Detached Homes 4805 NIAGARA RD, COLLEGE PARK  $214,900k 9030 RHODE ISLAND AVE, COLLEGE PARK $239,900 5016 MINEOLA RD, COLLEGE PARK $258,725k     To get more information about any of these properties check ou...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
I've made it back from the Maryland Association of Realtors conference all in one piece and ready to go.  The conference was fun, as usual, getting caught up with friends and fellow Realtors and talking to a few exhibitors that had interesting products and services to sell. Now, it's time to get back to business.  Tomorrow is a listing appointment for a home in College Park, then meeting with a stager to talk about making the house sparkkle and shine.  The weekend is blocked out for showing a nice, young couple around the Edgewater and Annapolis area to see if we can find their first home. There might be another College Park listing appointment in there, too, if the stars line up just right. So, even though I had a great time down at the beach and even though it rained the last two days...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
Will the fun never stop? Day two and I was continuing down the path of my continuing ed.  One of the workshops was an hour and a half presentation by Anirban Basu of the Sage Policy Group (MAR's economist) on the economic outlook for both the country and, more specifically, the housing market in Maryland. Interesting stuff. I'd go into the whole thing but the bottom line is that the short term is not too encouraging but the late 2009 and early 2010 outlook is bowls of cherries and beds of roses. Seriously, it was well thought out, logical, thorough and even entertaining.  The message for me is to hang in there.  On a sadder note, one of the MAR staff members, Katie Pantos, passed away suddenly overnight while she was down here helping out and supporting the conference activities. She wa...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
I'm not an economist and I don't play one on TV.  I don't pretend to know all the ins and outs or the pro and cons of the recent take over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the Federal Government.  However, I am reading and hearing from people who should have a finger on the pulse of real estate that the takeover will result in lower interest rates. This, in turn, will increase buyer activity. I'm not exactly sure why this would be so.  After all, interest rates - even in the 6 to 7 per cent range - are low relative to what they have been in the not too farr distant past (meaning the '80s and '90s). Interest rates certaintly have an effect on how much home a person can qualify for since it directly affects the amount of a monthly mortgage payment people can afford. But, these days, rate ...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
Long day for me.  Early class for Legislative and Legal Update (3 hours of continuing ed), the annual CRS luncheon with and interesting speaker who talked about real estate auctions (and where I was also surprised to sit by fellow Active Rainer Rich Mielke), then 3 hours of Ethics followed by the Conference's Grand Opening Party.  Lots of food to munch on, free drinks and all the exhibitors -- some of whom were really pretty interesting, some pretty damn boring and some booths with no one there. Of course, the best part was hooking up with with Realtors I haven't seen in awhile.  It was a lot of fun. Tomorrow: more continuing ed and another run around the exhibit hall and then dinner with some friends and maybe a walk along the beach. After all, I'm at the ocean. Might as well get my fe...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
A lot of Realtors pooh-pooh the Annual Conference of the Maryland Association of Realtors.  I'll be one of the first to say that it could probably be beefed up both in the content of the workshops and the quality and variety of the exhiboitors.  Yet, I have never missed one since I becam a Realtor in 1999. It's really not that far - Ocean City, MD is about 2 hours east of where I live - and it's a chance to get away, see the ocean and network with Realtors that I might only see once a year.  Of course, there are he parties. RE/MAX holds one of the best and it's a ticketed event.  I've only been to one of them and I value my hearing too much to go back to it. The title companies and mortgage companies hold some parties, too.  Then there is RPAC (the Realtor Politcal Action Committee) whi...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
Listening to my morning fix of NPR  and reading through the Washington Post, I see that the Federal Government is about to propose a way to take over complete control and management of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac., according to this article in the Wall Street Journal. I guess this is a good thing.  Although, it really means that the taxpayers are going to end up with a huge bill in order to bail out the two mortgage giants from the huge losses they incurred as a result of the mortgage meltdown. It also means that shareholders will be holding valueless stock.  Now, for you and me that doesn't mean much but to the huge mutual funds, pension funds, 401(k)s and the like that invested in Fannie and Freddie thinking it was a solid investment it'll mean losses in value to their funds and, thus,...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
Last night, Congress introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 6694 that would reauthorize and reform charitable downpayment assistance. This bill would remedy a harmful provision in the new housing law which limits homeownership opportunities for low and middle-income Americans. The legislation, sponsored by U.S. Reps. Al Green (D-TX), Gary Miller (R-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Christopher Shays (R-CT) reauthorizes and reforms charitable downpayment assistance funded in part by sellers, which has helped over one million families and individuals become homeowners since 1999. The program was eliminated by legislation signed by President Bush on July 30, 2008. The Green-Miller-Waters-Shays plan would re-authorize and reform non-profit downpayment assistance and secure it as an allowable ...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
It is almost always surprising to me that when I go to visit someone thinking about allowing me to assist with the sale of their home they are always so proud of the things that they have done to fix the place up.  It doesn't matter if it's a simple thing like a new bathroom vanity or a full blown addition.  If the homeowner had a hand in actually completing the project the value it brings to their home skyrockets. For example, I have a client who is a competent professional.  He's very good at what he does and gets paid well for it.  What he does, though, has nothing whatsoever to do with home improvement.  He is not a carpenter, electrician, plumber, roofer or any of those other great occupations that help keep what is left of the housing industry rolling along.  He is pretty handy an...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
Well, it's almost a done deal.  All that's needed is for "W" to sign the thing and it's LAW.  No more Ameridream or Nehemiah help for the moderate and income buyer.  On top of that, the FHA downpayment is moving UP from 3% to 3.5% Borrowers can still get gifts from family members and the like.  One of my loan officer contacts tells me, "Think 1990 again and you have the financing down pat : ) Of course, the NAR stats for exisitng housing came out today, too, and sales are down 2.5%.but if you've been selling real estate this year you probabyl figured out there's a drop in sales. The Mortgage Bankers Association is saying that mortgage applications are down, too. Fellow AR Blogger and Mobile Home Financing Specialists, Rebecca Schrader, has been commenting on my previous posting that she...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
In today's Washington Post Business section there is this article about the pending demise of Down Payment Assistance for home buyres from the likes of the Nehemiah Program and Ameridream. It seems that HUD has finally convinced Congress that Down Payment Assistance, as it may come from one of these organizations or one similar to them, is bad, bad, bad. The rationale is that when borrowers/home buyers have absolutely no money invested in the purchase of their home they are more likely to "walk away" when times get tough and they need to make tough financial decisions about their spending habits (Lexus? House payment? Kid's private school?). This doesn't mean that Down Payment Assistance is completely vaporizing.  A home buyer can still obtain a gift from a family member or charitable o...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
I haven't bought new computer in a long, long time.  Maybe 3-4 years. And that was a desktop.  The last time I bought a laptop there was something called Windows ME as the operating system and that lasted about two months before XP came out. Anyway, I'm getting tired of being the only one in Starbucks without a computer hooked up to the WiFi or being in a hotel room stuck with watching television or paying big bucks per minute to use the hotel's business center, assuming they have one. My desktop has been getting slower and slower.  It doesn't run the new MS Office programs because it only has a half gig of memory and the 30 GB hard drive is almost full. So, I talked to people and looked on the web and I finally decided on Dell.  Yeah, Michael Dell needs my money so I went online and st...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
An update on my client's progress with his buddy, the DIYer, who has been working on this poor guy's townhouse for the last month.  Oh yeah, vacant townhouse.  So there's nothing in the way.  No one living there to schedule around.  Just go in, do the job, get paid and get out. But the contractor, er, DiYer is the guy's buddy and the client is now living in GA (not exactly down the block from this townhouse in Laurel, MD) so there's no sense of urgency to complete the job. Evidently, the DIYer is running into cost overruns.  I kinda figured this out when the conversation with the Seller went something like this: "They should be done, fir sure, next week.  I'm not spending any more money.  I've already spent $20,000 getting this place ready and I don't have any more!!  And I'll need to s...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
In this news report out from Bloomberg there are strong indications that the two secondary mortgage market behemoths will be the next ones bailed out by you and me -- the American taxpayer. It seems that there the current housing market combined with the ever increasing default rate is causing a liquidity crisis with the two entities virtually every retail (i.e., residential) mortgage broker and bank depend on for money. I don't want Fannie and Freddie to go belly up -- don't get me wrong.  After all, if they went down for the count it would make the little Bear Stearns thing look like a picnic.  What I'm a little concerned about is how much more can our government expect us to pay? We have the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have oil increasing almost daily and food not far behind. Une...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
Every now and then I goof off a little and tune into CNBC to watch a little bt of what's going on in the world of money...or, at least, the financial markets.  For the longest time. Diane Olick of CNBC has been talking down the housing market. If you wanted to get depressed in a hurry she was the one to turn to. NOW....she is actually on the air "putting things in perspective".  Can you imagine?  She's not the only one.  I've seen little tid bits here and there where the mainstream media is asking their hired guns (i.e., the experts that get air time), "Have we hit the bottom yet?"  I guess these journalistic naysayers are starting to see the threat of their own multi- gazillion dollar home values.  Who knows?  Maybe a couple of them are thinking of selling in a year or so and don't wan...
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By Delete Delete
(Delete)
College Park, Maryland Real Estate Market Update Here's what's happening in the College Park, Maryland real estate market: DETACHED HOMES Active: 111 Average Days on Market: 110 Average List Price: $336,072 Pending: 20 Average Days on Market: 104 Average List Price: $305,375 NON-DETACHED HOMES Active: 8 Average Days on Market: 100 Average List Price: $309,614 Pending: 3 Average Days on Market: 196 Average List Price: $239,267 MAY SALES Detached Homes: 13 Average Days on Market: 136 Average List Price: $320,122 Average Sales Price*: $320,069 Non-Detached Homes: 4 Average Days on Market: 153 Average List Price: $205,975 Average Sales Price*: $187,982 *Sales Price does not include any seller contribution. Seller contributions are considered when evaluating a listing price as well as an of...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
Every now and then I actually get a little surprised at a new "tactic" or some new wrinkle in the real estate buying/selling process. Recently, I came across a a different way to "negotiate" terms to the benefit on the buyer client. Here's the generally accepted method: The Buyer finds a house they like and can visualize themselves living in for the next several years. He consults with his Realtor about the structure of the offer: price, any Buyer closing costs they want the Seller to pay, a settlement date, any contingencies (such as a home inspection contingency) and so on. 1. The Buyer's Agent helps by putting the offer in writing on the proper forms and addenda (e.g., First Time Maryland Home Buyers Addendum) and then makes a copy of the lender's pre-approval letter showing the fina...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
A few months ago the large Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) -- quasi governmental entities that make up the "secondary" mortgage market - imposed declining market guidelines that forced lenders to require larger down payments in areas that were considered "declining markets". These were entire zip codes and entire counties, in some cases, that were deemed by the powers-that-be to have home prices falling so rapidly that a larger down payment was necessary to cover the risk of borrowers going into default. While it makes sense for potential home owners to have 10% and 20% down payments (plus closing costs) in order to buy a home the grim reality is that very few people have the $30,000+ they would need just for a down payment on a moderately priced home in this area. Unfortunately...
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By Ken Montville, The MD Suburbs of DC
(RE/MAX United Real Estate)
Here's a quick snapshot of the homes on the market in College Park and Berwyn Heights -- Currently Active (I.e., available for sale) -- 160 homes (condos, townhomes and single family homes)Low Price -- $117,900High Price --  $699,900Number of homes SOLD within the last 90 days -- 27 This means that there is an 18 and a half month supply of homes on the market. So if you want your home to sell there are two things to keep at the top of your mind: Price Condition The price needs to be competitive to homes similar to yours on the market.  By competitive I do not mean "the same price as...", I mean a "Look at me price".  This is a price that when a potential buyer is reviewing homes to visit with their Realtor they'll say, "Hey, let's look at this one!" The condition of your home needs to b...
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By Delete Delete
(Delete)
College Park, Maryland Real Estate Market Update Here's what's happening in the College Park, Maryland real estate market: DETACHED HOMES Active: 106 Average Days on Market: 94 Average List Price: $347,378 Pending: 24 Average Days on Market: 106 Average List Price: $315,850 NON-DETACHED HOMES Active: 4 Average Days on Market: 51 Average List Price: $354,203 Pending: 8 Average Days on Market: 204 Average List Price: $219,113 APRIL SALES Detached Homes: 5 Average Days on Market: 160 Average List Price: $349,740 Average Sales Price*: $326,400 Non-Detached Homes: 1 Average Days on Market: 119 Average List Price: $339,900 Average Sales Price*: $335,000 *Sales Price does not include any seller contribution. Seller contributions are considered when evaluating a listing price as well as an off...
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