Let's face, searching for a home can be overwhelming! Between mountains of paperwork, tons of homes on vying for your attention, and a multitude of financing options unique to Southern Maryland, the prospect of finding the perfect home to suit your needs can be very challenging indeed! The important thing to remember is this: When you're buying a home it can become easy to forget about some of the features you really need in a new home. Is storage space important to you? Your new home may have plenty of storage now, but will still have enough space for you in a few years? What about lighting and windows? Items like these can cost big bucks to upgrade later, so you may want to pay more attention to those factors BEFORE you buy your home, rather than regret it later! Some other factors to... 04/13/2010

Are short sales and foreclosures tempting you into home ownership? Did you find the perfect starter home that happens to be listed at an amazingly low price due to foreclosure? It’s certainly a buyers market here in Southern Maryland! If you think that home ownership can be had for less money now than before, you’re right. However, don’t bite off more than you can chew. Sure, you can buy a used Mercedes Benz and stay in your budget, but you better be prepared when maintenance bills come due. Forbes.com has a great list of 10 tips for first time home buyers (see 10 Tips For First-Time Home Buyers). I agree with all of them, so I wanted to pass the information along. # 1 To Own or Not To Own? Sure, you can pay the same amount for a mortgage on a foreclosure as you’re paying now for rent, ... 04/13/2010

Waldorf, MD SOLD Homes February2010 Houses SOLD:  48 Average LIST price:  $229,013 Average SELLING price:  $227,210 Average DAYS ON MARKET: 91 LOWEST SALE price:  $78,500 - 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath townhome home built in 1980.  Located in St. Charles Wakefield- foreclosure HIGHEST SALE price:  $448,900 - 5 bedroom, 5 bath single-family home located in Mallards Pond, built in 1999 - foreclosure    Waldorf, MD ACTIVE listings (as of 3/14/10)                   ACTIVE Houses:  396 Average LIST Price:  $267,506 LOWEST LIST Price:  $79,000 - 3 bedroom, 1 bath townhome built in 1982.  Located in Huntington - short sale HIGHEST LIST Price:  $1,200,000 - 5 bedroom, 7 full, 4 half baths single family home under construction.  Located in Friendship Estates - short sale Current Average Days on Market:  ... 03/14/2010

Description and Features           Links www.freelistofhomesforsale.com www.GetDCSold.com Waldorf Maryland Houses for sale 02/27/2010

The smell woke me up! - Waldorf Ford F-150      The smell woke me up out of my sleep at 5AM. It was a burnt plastic stench. I tried to ignore it and go back to sleep but I knew something was wrong. I got up and looked all around for smoke or any appliances left on but found nothing.      Sniffing all around I couldnt locate anything out of place or any appliances that were not working. It was definitely from the kitchen but everything was in order.       After a few hours it was evident that our refrigerator was toast. The compressor must have burned up because all the lights and fans were working but no cold air. What to do?       Oh and by the way we were in the first few hours of a blizzard! It was not looking good for my weekend. My wife was extremely upset after moving everything t... 02/16/2010

The Humane Society of Charles County's    TOP DOG DINNER DANCE! Top Dog is back! And you can order your tickets online! The most fun event of the year is happening on Friday, March 12th, 7 p.m. to 11:00 P.M. at the Greater Waldorf Jaycees Community Center located at 3090 Crain Highway, Waldorf, Maryland 20601. Tickets are $55 per person. You'll experience a wonderful buffet meal and dessert, two free drinks, a silent auction, hobby horse races, a no-cash casino event, a cash prize drawing, music and dancing, and more! Only 400 individuals can attend this event, so get your tickets now before they are gone! Get your tickets early! To order tickets, please go to the ticket ordering page or complete the order form and fax it to 301.870.6905 or call Robin at the Humane Society of Charles C... 02/14/2010

I have been working with a Buyer in Charles County Maryland and have recently learned about The Charles County Department of Community Services Housing Authority NCI Down Payment Assistance Program. This initiative is a great tool that provides down payment financial assistance up to $39,999 per home! For those that meet the requirements on foreclosed homes! This seems to be a great program with a lot of opportunities if your looking for foreclosures in Charles County Maryland. I can help you to find the right foreclosure and help facilitate the assistance program. THis program combined wtih the First Time Homebuyers Tax credit. It really amounts to an unprecedented chance to buy a new home. Give me a call so that I can help you. http://www.charlescounty.org/webdocs/cs/publications/hous... 02/04/2010

[photo:listing:10878787] Cozy Cape Cod! Lots of Great Features! • 2 bath, 4 bdrm 2 story "With Charming Dormer WIndows!" - MLS® $255,000 - Great Value! Huntington, Waldorf  -  Charming cape cod in convenient Waldorf location - home features main level bedrooms, 2nd level bedrooms w dormers, spacious kitchen & living areas, fireplace, 2 car garage & much more! Beautiful in-ground swimming pool! Recreation nearby includes tennis courts, community pool, playgrounds, bike trails, shopping, skating, gym, bowling, etc! Freshly painted, new floors, recent exterior updates includes roof, siding and more! Property information Call Marie to schedule a private showing on this adorable home!  Just in time to take advantage of the tax credits available to both 1st time homebuyers and move-up buyers!... 02/02/2010

Southern Maryland, (and more specifically, Waldorf) developer American Community Properties Trust (ACPT) recently announced plans for a community of green, energy-saving homes right here in St. Charles. Their vision entails a 12,000 home community, complete with offices, stores, and industrial parks. ACPT is also banking on plans for a large solar energy facility and natural gas plant coming to fruition in the same area. The reported energy-saving features of the homes in the planned community include: Low flush, low flow toilets and showers Better-than-normal insulation Recycled carpets Energy Star appliances Energy-saving windows Smart thermostats What ACPT doesn't mention is that SMECO already has a smart thermostat program! It is FREE to enroll in, and the Energy Star certified Cool... 01/15/2010

 News was recently announced that Washington D.C.'s Federal Capital Partners Completed the purchase of American Community Properties Trust (ACPT) for $43.6 Million Dollars.  This is big news for the Waldorf real estate market, as ACPT is a big developer here in Southern Maryland Who is ACPT? In short ACPT is the developer responsible for developing the Saint Charles Region of Waldorf.  They own a ton of land in the region, and have been involved in the area for decades.  They developed multiple neighborhoods and shopping districts, including the mall, subdivisions such as Carrington, Hampshire, Dorchester, Lancaster, Wakefield, Bannister, Fairway Village, and even the land that the Blue Crabs Stadium now rests on was part of ACPT's development holdings. Why Does This Matter? ACPT has be... 01/14/2010

If you live in Waldorf or St. Charles, odds are good that you should have just gotten some good news in the mail!  New tax assessments were just released for roughly one-third of the county, mostly in Waldorf and Saint Charles, and over 99% of those assessments FELL from the previous years!  What Is a Property Tax Assessment? In short, a tax assessment is the approximate value of your home, according to the government, used for taxation purposes.  It is NOT an appraisal, nor is it an estimate of the sales value of your home.  Homes are assessed every three years by the government, and then annual adjustments are made based on average value changes each year.   How it Works: When you look at your property tax bill, the amount of tax you pay is based off of this assessed value.  For homes... 01/06/2010

Once Again, the decision on the fate of the Cross County Connector has been put on hold.  I've been following the progress (or lack thereof) on this project since July, 2008, and it's no big surprise that the decision of the road has been pushed back once again. Essentially the dispute is between the County Commissioners, who want to see this project happen, and environmentalists who claim the risk of damage to the Mattawoman Creek Watershed is too great. The importance of this road cannot be understated.  Charles County is in a state of growth due to it's proximity to Washington, D.C..  As Charles County grows, roadways become more congested, and alternative routes of transportation are necessary to support the residents of the county.  Adding the connector will also reduce traffic acr... 12/31/2009

Crash site photo from the MD Independent Call it a case of youthfull error perhaps, but one surprised homeowner in Waldorf was startled Tuesday morning by the sound of an SUV being driven through the front door! It was all due to a 17 year old driver who lost control of the SUV he was driving and somehow ended up inside a townhouse at the 3600 block of Kimpsford Field Place.  The vehicle ended up taking out the staircase inside the home, and rescue crews had to resuce the property tenants from the second floor!  Fortunately nobody was hurt, but there's no word yet on possible charges related to the incident. I wonder if the tenants are looking for a new place to live?  If so, I know a great Realtor who works in the area!   12/21/2009

I have an admission to make:  I haven’t put any lights up on my home for the holidays.  I’ve brushed it off this year, telling myself that my holiday decorations were probably stolen by a furry green dude with a suspicious resemblance to Jim Carrey.  I don’t know that it’s true (I’d probably need to crawl into the attic and actually LOOK for my decorations to make such claims), but it makes for a good story, and it deflects the guilt I’m feeling for being a bad holiday neighbor.   All of the other houses on my block have gotten into the spirit, cheerfully trimming their homes with colorful lights, blow up Santas, and cardboard reindeer, while my home sits dark, indicating my Dickensian (Dickenslike?) attitude towards the community’s Christmas spirit.   If I had been smart about it, or e... 12/15/2009

Someone recently sent me a photo of a FSBO (For Sale By Owner) sign that I had to share. I understand that you can't always choose your neighbors, but when it comes to selling your home because you hate your neighbors, there is good news! Fortunately, bad neighbors are not what you would call a "material defect" in your home (Regardless of how defective you think they may be). If you hate your neighbors, odds are that other people may hate them as well. My advice would be to keep the commentary about the obnoxious neighbors to yourself, and let the next owner find out in their own sweet time. Enjoy the photo! 10/19/2009

I was doing a little research this morning and was so pleasantly surprised to see a bit a good news recently with the recent Home Sales reports. It seems that for the moment there is a bit of positive news in the market with resales starting to curve upward and new home construction up, and sales prices nudging up. I started wondering if buying a new home is still considered a good investment? A lot of people recently have told me and I continue to put it out there, that it truly is a good time to buy. So why? It seems that with prices dropping over that last couple of years it has made the value of a home seem like a more profitable investment in the future. Understanding that the market is very cyclical makes one see the value of purchasing now. I found a great article highlighting th... 10/11/2009

OK so I had my first listing appointment today. It was with my Cousin whom has a lot to sell, so its not a lot but this week has truly been a real inspiration for me. Today I plan on listing my first lot for sale and I am finding that having an "expertise" in land is a good thing... I might have another land listing next week. But This week has really been good for me. The agents that represent my project in Waldorf have sold yet another one, and I had the luxury today to meet with a real "prospect" that wants to write a contract as soon as possible. THis should be a great rambler plan that he has found online. Luckily this is an online architect that I have worked with in the past and have a discount due to previous purchases. I met with someone tonight that may be a "buyer" YEAH>>> I ... 10/09/2009

Bowl for the Animals! On Saturday, June 27th The Humane Society of Charles County (HSCC) would like you to join them as they BOWL FOR THE ANIMALS. This family day is a fundraising event that will help them raise the money to meet the needs of the homeless animals and keep the spay/neuter costs affordable to the community. Everyone is invited to participate - no bowling skills are required! All you need is the willingness and enthusiasm to raise money for the HSCC. Cost is $20.00 per person and will include two games of bowling & shoe rental. - Sign up using their Bowling Registration Form- Pledge sheets are available online at Bowling for the Animals web page or by calling them at (301) 645-8181 (call or leave a message)- Prizes will be awarded for most money pledged, high bowler and m... 06/04/2009

26TH ANNUAL AMERICAN INDIAN FESTIVAL & POW WOW! Join the Cedarville Band of Piscataway Indians on the grounds of the American Indian Cultural Center in Waldorf, Southern Maryland.  Date:  June 6, 2009, Saturday - 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM and           June 7, 2009, Sunday - 12:00 PM to 5 PM Native American music & dancing, traditional food, arts and crafts.  Please contact Natalie Proctor @ (240)-464-5899 or Email:  info@piscatawayindians.org for additional information. Directions To The American Indian Cultural Center   Plan to attend the 26th Annual American Indian Festival & Pow Wow!  Enjoy your visit and hope that you will leave with a better understanding of the history and culture of the Piscataway people.For centuries, their ancestors inhabited the woodlands of Southern Maryland. Toda... 05/19/2009

GARCIA REALTY GROUP 888.909.3556 (Office) www.GRGMD.com   Most service and business firms are very adamant about how different and innovating they are. At Garcia Corp, we truly are. We have and will always demonstrate through our results. From the owners to the agents, we have an internal focus on servicing our clients thoroughly. This means: In-Depth Knowledge: We are always updating our knowledge on real estate, business and economy and how that may effect our clients and our services. If you have a question we do not have the answer to; you can expect us to find the answer right away. Network Relationships:Over close to a combined experience of half a century, with just the owners alone,; we have developed close relationships we businesses who help our clients in every step of the t... 05/14/2009