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9% of Maryland Millionaires in Anne Arundel County
April 9th, 2008 Categories: Random Topics
Anne Arundel County is home to nearly one in ten of the those who will pay a new “Maryland Millionaire’s Tax” passed in this year’s legislative session.
Millionaires can afford to live anywhere they want, of course, and this tax could be just the motivator for some of them to move away from Maryland and take all their personal and business tax revenue and spending with them. (20% of California’s millionaires moved out of state in response to a similar bill.) If just two or three Maryland’s millionaires decide to pack their households, companies and employees to relocate, could it cost Maryland more than any projected income from this new tax?
I thought it might be interesting to conduct an informal study tracking the higher-priced listings In Anne Arundel County, over the next year, to see if more of our resident millionaires seem to be relocating. Of course, we could only speculate whether their motive is the “Maryland Millionaire’s Tax.” The two highest-priced homes in Anne Arundel County today are:
ANNAPOLIS:
The highest priced property in Anne Arundel County right now is a Tudor-style mansion, with 435 feet of waterfront along Crab Creek, on the market for $13,900,000:
Old world elegance with the finest attention to detail and historic accuracy to the times of Old England. The manor home features a library, grand theater, fitness & billiard rooms, and eight fireplaces. There is a storybook guest home with two bedrooms, lovely kitchen & bath, a tennis court, pool, docks with deep water slips, boat house, horse barn, 3-car garage/artist studio, 9+ acres, gorgeous views. (Source: MRIS)
EDGEWATER:
A 4–year old home with 1700 feet of Brewer Creek waterfront, on the market for just three months, has been reduced from the original list price of $11,900,000 to $9,500,000. It’s described as:
One-of-a-kind 8–acre waterfront estate masterpiece is available with every amenity one could want. Over 10,000 sq. ft. of living space with features that include a theatre room, wine cellar, massive gourmet Kitchen, a 3–stop elevator, and a bar room that will leave nothing to your imagination. (Source: MRIS)
Five more Anne Arundel County homes are on the market now for more than $5,000,000. Another 26 are priced in the $3–5,000,000 price range, and there are 63 homes listed between $2–3,000,000.
Crofton real estate probably won’t experience a glut of new listings, as a result of this tax, since home prices suggest Crofton is not home to a lot of millionaires. The top list price right now in Crofton is $899,900 for a home in Braddock Farms, off Rt. 424 near Crofton Middle School. Most homes for sale in Crofton are priced below $650,000.
As soon as figures are released by MRIS for March, I’ll update you on real estate trends in Crofton. It should be this week.
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Updates for Crofton Real Estate Blog
March 27th, 2008 Categories: Random Topics
Check out these updates to earlier posts on this site:
Book Reviews By Crofton Library Staff – Crofton’s Public Library officials have reversed their decision to block public access to their online book reviews.
Gambrills Residents Worry About Pollutants – Added related links to this post.
Crofton Condo Features Fabulous View – Photos updated to better reflect the early Spring season.
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A Little Coffee for Your Garden?
March 17th, 2008 Categories: Random Topics
I wrote this article for Crofton Village Garden Club, but you may find it interesting, as well. Enjoy!
Nothing beats a good cup of coffee in the morning! Some folks suggest your garden would be happier with coffee, too.
My grandmother always told me there was nothing better than coffee grounds for azaleas, and she should know - her yard was a showplace! Every year, people would pull up in front of her home to take photos of her amazing azaleas.
I’m not as religious about it as she was - mostly because we don’t drink much coffee at home - but I do spread coffee grounds around my azaleas whenever we have them. In fact, sometimes I wonder if it would be beneficial to just buy a bag of coffee and use it straight out of the bag. Instinct tells me that would be just too acidic even for acid-loving plants like azaleas, rhododendron, dogwood, holly, hydrangea, juniper, magnolia, pine, and blueberries.
Today I came across a recent article on this very topic: Anna Hackman’s Coffee Grounds, Garden Friend or Foe? The author reports on her experience using coffee grounds to rescue some sickly rose bushes. Intrigued by the good results, yet questioning if it really was the coffee grounds (or was it coincidence?) she embarked on a quest for real research regarding this practice.
She found a study online titled Using Coffee Grounds Correctly, which includes a conversation with Will Brinton, founder and Director of the Wood’s End Research Laboratory in Maine, testers of soils, composts, and raw ingredients used in composting. I won’t try to re-cap the interview here because I think you’ll find it interesting to read the entire post.
She also spoke with a researcher and training manager at Rodale Institute, Dr. Paul Hepperly, who indicated coffee grounds are solely a soil amendment and not a fertilizer. It was his recommendation to side-dress plants with no more than one inch at a time, and to add more coffee grounds only after the original ones decompose.
I guess the bottom line is this: A little coffee can be a gardener’s friend in more ways than one – at the breakfast table AND in the garden. ‘Think I’ll head down to Starbucks and see if they have some coffee grounds they’d like to give away!
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Metallics in Your Crofton Garden
March 12th, 2008 Categories: Random Topics
The Crofton Village Garden Club suggest you put some sparkle in your landscape with the addition of metallic objects.
Copper has long been a garden favorite for its warm patina and rustic grace. Use this metal as an accent to areas of your garden that need a little warming up. Copper has the ability to glow at sunrise and sunset when plated with the warmed colored flowers. When mixed with cooler colors, it pops out from its green landscape.
Some other metals to try in your Crofton garden:
Planters made of zink, planted with grasses and evergreens, continue the look.
For a cottage look, nothing beats galvanized metal. Think of a farmhouse tin roof or an old washtub.
Aluminum and silver give a clean modern look to the patio. Whether it’s a dining set, bistro table or a chaise lounge, the gleam of silver tones set the stage for a sophisticated space.
Even the foliage you plant in your Crofton garden can reflect the trend in metallic. Explore Homestead Gardens, Behnke’s and other local plant nurseries for species that have metallic tones, such as copper sedge and silver Artemisia; group them in areas of your yard that need a little boost of high style.
Source: Crofton Village Garden Club Seeds of Thought, 3/5/2008
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Too Many FOR SALE Signs in Crofton?
March 10th, 2008 Categories: Random Topics
If you’re tired of seeing those “for sale” signs everywhere you go in Crofton and all around Anne Arundel County, Maryland, these signs will erase your frown – maybe even put a smile on your face. I found them on FunnyChill, a website featuring funny candid shots of people and places.
Here are my Top 20 favorite signs:
1. Road Closed
2. Do Not Disturb
3. Octopus Warning
4. Caution
5. Skiing / Hospital
6. Crocodile Warning
7. Rock Climbing
8. Thin Ice
9. Showgirls
10. Protected by Pit Bull
11. Sharp Edges
12. Beware
13. Nudist Beach
14. Tree in Road
15. Flying Lessons
16. Copy Hiding
17. No Dancing
18. Penguin Warning
19. On Break
20. Beware of the Dog
If you want to know just how many “for sale” signs there are in Crofton these days, how many homes sold last month, and what’s happening with home prices, check back later this week. February sales statistics for Anne Arundel County will be released today, and I’ll weed through the information to identify the data relative to Crofton. I should have some charts ready to post before the end of the week, along with my analysis of what it all means.
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