Rooms w/ amazing views! Open House 11/2 12-2pm!

This is an open house you wont want to miss! Come enjoy the beautiful views of the fountain, pond, & trees from this luxurious 3100+ sq ft move-in ready home!

Whether its to see this lovely home or to talk about the current market I would love for you to join me Sunday 11/2 from 12-2pm at 11933 Falls Rd. in Cockeysville.

I hope to see you there!

Meet the Neighbors, Then Buy the House! Saturday Oct. 25th 12-2pm

Check out my featured listing at 403 S. Robinson Street and 3 others while neighbors are out BBQ'ing from 12noon - 2pm. Takes place on the 300-400 blocks of Robinson Street, only 1 block from Patterson Park, and just around the corner from the Creative Alliance. Houses are all eligible for Healthy Neighborhoods loans and possible grants! Visit http://www.southeastcdc.org/index.cfm?go=main.showPage&catID=5&docID=31 for further details or give me a call at 410-493-6854.

Customize Your Castle!
MATCHING GRANTS UP TO $10,000 STILL AVAILABLE!*

Healthy Neighborhoods Loans make it easy to make the house you like into the home of your dreams. Always wanted a hot tub? Maybe a kitchen renovation is more your style? Healthy Neighborhoods loans can be used for any repairs or upgrades to your house you would like -- with low interest rates and great buys available YOU can have it all!

Now is a great time to buy a house, rates are low and there are still a few bargains to be found, especially in the neighborhoods of Highlandtown and Bayview. Whether you are looking for the homemade-wine-making, eclectic urban feel of Highlandtown, or the “Oh so Mayberry” feel of the wide porchfront row homes with front and backyards of Bayview, there is a house for you.

Still not sure! Give me and/or the Southeast CDC a call for a neighborhood tour – we’ll show you the ins and outs of these two hidden gems.
* Restriction apply read more

Pending Home Sales Activity Surge!

WASHINGTON, October 08, 2008

Pending home sales activity surged as buyers took advantage of low home prices and affordable interest rates, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,1 a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in August, jumped 7.4 percent to 93.4 from an upwardly revised reading of 87.0 in July, and is 8.8 percent higher than August 2007 when it stood at 85.8. The index is at the highest level since June 2007 when it stood at 101.4.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said home buyers were responding to improved affordability. “What we’re seeing is the momentum of people taking advantage of low home prices, with pending home sales up strongly in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Rhode Island and the Washington, D.C., region,” he said. "It’s unclear how much contract activity may be impacted by the credit disruptions on Wall Street, but we’re hopeful most of the increase will translate into closed existing-home sales.”

Grant Programs Encouraging New Home Buyers!

Johns Hopkins Expands Home Buying Grants for Employees
Johns Hopkins recently announced a major expansion of its Live Near Your Work grant program, which encourages employees to buy homes in certain Baltimore neighborhoods. Full-time, benefits-eligible Hopkins employees may qualify for up to $17,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance. The program applies to employees of Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Health Care, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, or Johns Hopkins Bayview. Employees must contribute at least $1,000 toward the down payment and/or closing costs at settlement. Additionally, eligible employees must obtain a certificate documenting the completion of home ownership counseling prior to signing a contract of sale. There are no income restrictions, but the home must be purchased as a primary residence, and graduated repayment provisions do apply, if the home is sold or ceases to be the buyer’s primary residence within five years of the date of purchase. To see more program details and view a map of the targeted neighborhoods go to: www.jhu.edu/lnyw

CHAI Receives Foundation Grant - Charitable Foundation’s Board of Trustees recently awarded Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Inc. (CHAI) a $10,000 grant to support its Housing Services Program. The Foundation’s grant will enable CHAI to deepen its ability to serve clients in foreclosure and financial crisis and increase the emphasis on foreclosure prevention and financial literacy in its educational and counseling services. Since 1983, CHAI has been dedicated to increasing home ownership and economic stability in northwest Baltimore. CHAI’s Housing Services Program provides homebuyer and renovation loans and grants, homebuyer counseling and workshops, foreclosure prevention counseling, referrals to housing professionals, and links to public homeowner assistance programs for potential and existing homeowners in northwest Baltimore City. The Housing Services Program also acquires and renovates neighborhood properties to combat blight and spur neighborhood investment.

Market News

The number of days on the market before a property is sold is significant information for a buyer when deciding on an offering price. For example, if a buyer were interested in two very similar properties - one that had been on the market for 210 days and the other for only 10 days - the buyer would make a lower offer on the one for 210 days thinking that the seller is probably desperate to sell and would accept a lower offer whereas the other seller would not take a lower offer yet. Buyers may also feel that there might be something wrong with the house or someone else would have already purchased it. For educated buyers, usually what is "wrong" is the price is higher than the buyers' perception of value of the house.

What does that mean for sellers? Every day a property is on the market the price goes down in the minds of buyers. That is why a property sells at its highest price in the first days of exposure to the market. There is another reason for that fact. The buyers most ready to make an offer in the first days are the seasoned buyers who have been educated about the market by a REALTOR® and can act immediately because they have the cash or a mortgage pre-approval letter. If the price is too high initially, they move on and wait for another to come on the market. Sellers should therefore position their property to sell when it first hits the market.

When buyers work with me, we discuss total days on the market as they contemplate an offer. When I am representing sellers, I assist them in understanding that first days of exposure usually generate the highest offering prices.