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Crofton Maryland Real Estate Update, May 2008
June 20th, 2008 Categories: Crofton News, Crofton Real Estate
I was eager to see Crofton Maryland real estate sales statistics for May, especially since I expected some improvement in the market. One of the reasons for this was the fact that one of my buyers couldn’t get a home inspection appointment without waiting a full week. In my mind, that was a good indication that sales were picking up in the area.
It turned out that things were not so rosy as I expected. When comparing May 2008 to May 2007, the Average Sold Price was down over 10%, the Median Sold Price was down over 20%, and the number of Units Sold was down 42%. My jaw was dropping at all these negatives, when suddenly I saw a statistic that wasn’t a negative – but then I realized it was “bad” news, as well… the Days on Market went up over 37%.
Here’s a look at the four year trend for real estate statistics in zipcode 21114, Crofton, Maryland:
So what does all this mean to sellers of Crofton Maryland Real Estate?
It means that pricing is critical, and you’ve got to let go of those 2006 numbers. Your friends and neighbors may not be up to date on this market, and you must turn a deaf ear to their well-meaning but uninformed advice. Not only that, YOU can’t fall in love with your list price, because chances are… you won’t get it, even if your home is price “right”.
YET – homes are selling! 29 of them did in May, and yours could be one of those that sells in June or July. In fact, since prices are declining, you may be better off selling now than waiting. And the good news is that prices are probably down in your destination location, as well, so the net effect is really very balanced. In fact, the situation is much worse in many other places than we’re experiencing here in Crofton, Maryland, so you may come out on top by selling and buying now.
I’ve been selling Crofton homes for too many years to count, and I can honestly say that it’s never been more important to choose the right agent – someone experienced in real estate who is also proficient in technology.
P.S. Now that you see the Crofton Maryland real estate trends, check out today’s interest rate and trends.
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Proposed Foreclosure Bailout Considered by Congress
June 18th, 2008 Categories: Crofton Real Estate
Crofton residents have always been involved citizens, so I know you’ll probably have an opinion on this issue. If so, I hope you’ll take the time to share it with our Congressional leaders.
The House and Senate banking committees are trying to iron out the details for a foreclosure rescue package. As I understand it, the proposal involves FHA refinancing for about a half million “at-risk” borrowers to help them avoid foreclosure. The committees hope to resolve their disagreements this week, but the vote could be postponed as long as three or four weeks, until after the 4th of July recess.
Here’s where you come in:
The Senate version of the Bill requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to come up with funds to back the bill, estimated to be about $96 million over three years, whereas the House version is supported with tax-payer funds.
If you have an opinion about whether it’s appropriate for you and your neighbors to bail out these “at-risk” borrowers, rather than Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who have some responsibility in creating this mess, please contact our elected representatives.
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Marketing Crofton Real Estate Online
June 15th, 2008 Categories: Crofton Real Estate
Crofton home buyers typically begin their home search online, as more than 80% of all home buyers do nationwide. That’s why I post information about many of my listings in several locations including non-traditional sites such as Craigs List, Google Base, Oodle, Trulia, Zillow, Vast, Hotpads, Geebo and others, as well as the traditional real estate sites such as Realtor.com, REMAX.com, and homesdatabase.com.
You’ve seen my blogpost about the home at 1717 Tedbury, titled Easy Living, Easy-to-Love Crofton Rancher for Sale. Now take a look at my online real estate show for the same property…
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Crofton Home Buyers Question the Power of Leverage
June 11th, 2008 Categories: Crofton Real Estate
In this market, it’s easy for Crofton home buyers (and buyers everywhere) to question whether real estate is a good place to invest their limited resources. After all, home prices have been leveling off - even dropping – for the past two years.
Yet we all know the real estate market goes in cycles, with ups and downs from year to year or even month to month. We really have to look at real estate in longer terms, just as we do other investments.
While no one has a crystal ball, it’s reasonable to speculate that real estate will go up over the course of ten years – it certainly has over any 10–year period during my 35 years in Crofton real estate. So let’s take a look at this chart, with the understanding that it is for illustration purposes only. None of these figures are either predicted or guaranteed:
As you can see, this assumes the same appreciation rate for both real estate and savings, for the sake of illustrating the power of leverage. There’s no real estate in Crofton priced at $100,000, of course, so that’s a number used for illustration purposes only, as well.
Nay-sayers will quickly point out this doesn’t account for the selling costs, in order to capture the return on your housing investment, so let’s take this a step further. Of course, if you’re going to count the selling costs, you also need to consider the equity growth for pay-down on your mortgage.
You can draw your own conclusions about the power of leverage – whether it may benefit you to invest in real estate. Or you may wish to discuss it with your own accountant or financial advisor. The goal of most investors is “buy low, sell high” – with that in mind, today is a GREAT time to buy a home!
If you’ve never purchased a home before, leveraging your money is just one of the factors to consider. For information about the home-buying process, qualifying for a mortgage, and all things real estate, SUBSCRIBE to this blog so you don’t miss any future posts – or give me a call.
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Crofton Meadows Condo for Sale
June 3rd, 2008 Categories: Crofton Real Estate
There’s no excuse for missing this great buyer’s market in Crofton real estate – not when you can buy this 2–bedroom condo at just $226,500. There’s a huge demand for rental properties in this area, and that demand is growing with all the additional jobs BRAC is bringing to Anne Arundel County.
For more information about this or any property in Anne Arundel County and nearby Howard/Prince George’s Counties, please give me a call on my direct line at 301–346–2923.
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