Baltimore Metropolitan Real Estate Market Report

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Baltimore County Rentals NEED to be Registered

Please be aware that January 1, 2009 is the deadline for all rental homes in Baltimore County to be registered and inspected.

For more information on this process feel free to contact me, jbayne@cbmove.com

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Baltimore Housing Values Have Climbed

Study Shows Housing Values Have Climbed

News reports have been packed with stories about declining home values, but a recent government report shows that the situation is not nearly so dire as some reports make it sound.Despite big loses in some areas of the country, the majority of markets continue to show growth in home value over the last five years.According to the third-quarter survey released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, out of 292 metropolitan markets, 273 showed positive net home values in the last five years. Only 19 percent were negative. While home values declined 4 percent on average in the last year, values were up nearly 29 percent over the past five years.According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, markets that gained the most over the last five years were:

  • Honolulu: up 78.7 percent
  • Virginia Beach: 72.6 percent
  • Flagstaff, Ariz.: 66.5 percent
  • Bellingham, Wash.: 65.6 percent
  • Wilmington, N.C.: 62.1 percent
  • Baltimore: 60.6 percent

Source: The Washington Post Writers Group, Kenneth R. Harney, (12/06/08)

Friday, December 5, 2008

Housing Shows Signs of Recovery

Housing Showing Signs of Recovery

“With all the turbulence and losses in stocks and bad economic news in the headlines lately,
you can easily lose perspective on what's really going on in the real estate sector.

  • Well, remember that there is a huge pent-up demand simmering away out there for
    housing – especially from first-time buyers who want to scoop up low-priced deals.
  • Fixed 30 year rates fell from 6.5% to 6.24% during the week. Fifteen year rates broke
    below 6% to 5.9%, down from 6.14%.
  • Pending home sales were higher than year-earlier levels for the second straight month
    – 1.6% higher than September 2007.
  • Although pending sales contracts were down slightly for the month, in the Western
    states they were up by 3.7%, and now stand at an extraordinary 39.7% higher than
    they were at the same time in 2007.
  • Already sales are up significantly in major markets in many parts of the U.S. NAR Chief
    Economist Lawrence Yun specifically mentioned the west coast of Florida, the Phoenix
    area, Virginia, Long Island, N.Y., Kansas City, Minnesota and Idaho.

So here's the key point to keep in mind as you try to make sense of the headlines: The
stock market is NOT the housing market. It's on a whole different set of tracks. And it's been in a highly volatile state for more than a month. Housing, on the other hand, has already endured its painful correction for two and a half years … is now pretty much stabilized … and is slowly moving toward its cyclical recovery.”


-- “Real Estate Outlook: Housing in Recovery,” by Kenneth R. Harney, Realty Times, Nov. 18, 2008.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Upton Village Open House Tour


I am excited to announce that I have collaborated with several other agents who have listings in Upton Village and I've arranged to hold a neighborhood open house tour. Located just off Ridgely Ave and Upton Rd in Parkville.


Don't miss this opportunity to see six great properties for sale in Upton Village and get some treats. Sneek a peek and get some treats!

Open Sunday, October 26, 2008
1 - 3 p.m.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Free Money to Home Buyers in Maryland




It is a great time to buy a house...

It is a Great Time to Buy A House!

Motivated Sellers and Inventory

Now is an ideal time to buy, in most markets prices won’t go any lower and there is an abundance of inventory. Inventory of homes for sale is at a 15-year high. There are many options out there for many buyers and many sellers who are willing to negotiate and work towards a win-win situation that works for both parties.

Log on to www.LivingMD.com to see all active properties for sale in the MLS.

The Market is Strong in 2008 and Every Market is Different
Remember that all real estate is local and that all markets are different. There are opportunities out there for a buyer if you are willing to investigate your options. There are many grant programs out there, which can virtually mean free money for home buyers.

2007 was the fifth best year on record for existing home sales despite the public apprehension about the real estate market. In fact 2007 was very similar to the home sales and price gains experienced in 2002, when consumers were very confident about the market.

FHA Loans Set to Increase
There are many choices for buyers looking for mortgages in this market. One option, FHA home loans are a viable alternative for many first time buyers. The Federal Housing Administrative (FHA) – which is part of HUD – insures the loan, so your lender can offer you a better deal, offering low down payments, low closing costs, and easy credit qualifying. FHA market share for home purchases is expected to triple over the next 3 years, from an estimated 4% in 2007 to an estimated 12% in 2009.

Benefits of Ownership
Owning a home is the American Dream. It not only provides amazing tax benefits, but it also provides shelter and security to families. Did you know that:
▪ Dollar for dollar the rate of return on an individual’s cash down payment on a house is substantial? And that repeat buyers are able to put 19% more down on a new home due to appreciation?
▪ Home owners move less often and are more likely to vote and volunteer time for political and charitable causes than renters?
▪ When you own a home you can deduct the property taxes and mortgage interest from your income taxes?
▪ The gains that you make on a primary residence that you’ve occupied for two years out of five can be tax free?
Contact your accountant to verify this information.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Title Insurance: Rights to Your Property

Title Insurance: Rights to Your Property

You don't want problems from prior ownerships to interfere with your rights to your property. And you don't want to pay the potentially ruinous cost of defending your property rights in court. A title insurance policy is your best protection against potential title defects, which can remain hidden despite the most thorough search of public records and the most careful escrow or closing.

For a one-time premium First American agrees to reimburse you for loss due to defects existing prior to the issue date of your policy, up to the policy amount. And, should it be needed, the policy also provides for the cost of legal defense of your title. The standard coverage policy protects you against such potential defects as:

  1. Forged deeds, mortgages, satisfactions or releases
  2. Deed by person who is insane or mentally incompetent
  3. Deed by minor (may be disavowed)
  4. Deed from corporation, unauthorized under corporate bylaws or given under falsified corporate resolution.
  5. Deed from partnership, unauthorized under partnership agreement
  6. Deed from purported trustee, unauthorized under trust agreement
  7. Deed to or from a "corporation" before incorporation, or after loss of corporate charter
  8. Deed from a legal non-entity (styled, for example, as a church, charity or club).
  9. Deed by person in a foreign country, vulnerable to challenge as incompetent, unauthorized or defective under foreign laws
  10. Claims resulting from use of "alias" or fictitious name style by a predecessor in title.
  11. Deed challenged as being given under fraud, undue influence or duress.
  12. Deed following non-judicial foreclosure, where required procedure was not followed.
  13. Deed affecting land in judicial proceedings (bankruptcy, receivership, probate, conservatorship, dissolution of marriage), unauthorized by court.
  14. Deed following judicial proceedings, subject to appeal or further court order.
  15. Deed following judicial proceedings, where all necessary parties were not joined.
  16. Lack of jurisdiction over persons or property in judicial proceedings.
  17. Deed signed by mistake (grantor did not know what was signed).
  18. Deed executed under falsified power of attorney.
  19. Deed executed under expired power or attorney (death, disability or insanity of principal).
  20. Deed apparently valid, but actually delivered after death of grantor or grantee, or without consent of grantor.
  21. Deed affecting property purported to be separate property of grantor, which is in fact community or jointly-owned property.
  22. Undisclosed divorce of one who conveys as sole heir of a deceased former spouse.
  23. Deed affecting property of deceased person, not joining all heirs.
  24. Deed following administration of estate of missing person, who later re-appears.
  25. Conveyance by heir or survivor of a joint estate, who murdered the decedent.
  26. Conveyances and proceedings affecting rights of service-member protected by the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act.
  27. Conveyance void as in violation of public policy (payment of gambling debt, payment for contract to commit crime, or conveyance made in restraint of trade).
  28. Deed to land including "wetlands" subject to public trust (vesting title in government to protect public interest in navigation, commerce, fishing and recreation).
  29. Deed from government entity, vulnerable to challenge as unauthorized or unlawful.
  30. Ineffective release of prior satisfied mortgage due to acquisition of note by bona fide purchaser (without notice of satisfaction).
  31. Ineffective release of prior satisfied mortgage due to bankruptcy of creditor prior to recording of release (avoiding powers in bankruptcy).
  32. Ineffective release of prior mortgage of lien, as fraudulently obtained by predecessor in title.
  33. Disputed release of prior mortgage or lien, as given under mistake or misunderstanding.
  34. Ineffective subordination agreement, causing junior interest to be reinstated to priority.
  35. Deed recorded, but not properly indexed so as to be locatable in the land records.
  36. Undisclosed but recorded federal or state tax lien.
  37. Undisclosed but recorded judgment or spousal/child support lien.
  38. Undisclosed but recorded prior mortgage.
  39. Undisclosed but recorded notice of pending lawsuit affecting land.
  40. Undisclosed but recorded environmental lien.
  41. Undisclosed but recorded option, or right of first refusal, to purchase property.
  42. Undisclosed but recorded covenants or restrictions, with (or without) rights of reverter.
  43. Undisclosed but recorded easements (for access, utilities, drainage, airspace, views) benefiting neighboring land.
  44. Undisclosed but recorded boundary, party wall or setback agreements.
  45. Errors in tax records (mailing tax bill to wrong party resulting in tax sale, or crediting payment to wrong property).
  46. Erroneous release of tax or assessment liens, which are later reinstated to the tax rolls.
  47. Erroneous reports furnished by tax officials (not binding local government).
  48. Special assessments which become liens upon passage of a law or ordinance, but before recorded notice or commencement of improvements for which assessment is made.
  49. Adverse claim of vendor's lien.
  50. Adverse claim of equitable lien.
  51. Ambiguous covenants or restrictions in ancient documents.
  52. Misinterpretation of wills, deeds and other instruments.
  53. Discovery of will of supposed intestate individual, after probate.
  54. Discovery of later will after probate of first will.
  55. Erroneous or inadequate legal descriptions.
  56. Deed to land without a right of access to a public street or road.
  57. Deed to land with legal access subject to undisclosed but recorded conditions or restrictions.
  58. Right of access wiped out by foreclosure on neighboring land.
  59. Patent defects in recorded instruments (for example, failure to attach notarial acknowledgment or a legal description).
  60. Defective acknowledgment due to lack of authority of notary (acknowledgment taken before commission or after expiration of commission).
  61. Forged notarization or witness acknowledgment.
  62. Deed not properly recorded (wrong county, missing pages or other contents, or without required payment).
  63. Deed from grantor who is claimed to have acquired title through fraud upon creditors of a prior owner.

An extended coverage policy may be requested to protect against such additional defects as:

  1. Deed to a purchaser from one who has previously sold or leased the same land to a third party under an unrecorded contract, where the third party is in possession of the premises.
  2. Claimed prescriptive rights, not of record and not disclosed by survey.
    Physical location of easement (underground pipe or sewer line) which does not conform with easement of record.
  3. Deed to land with improvements encroaching upon land of another.
  4. Incorrect survey (misstating location, dimensions, area, easements or improvements upon land).
  5. "Mechanics' lien" claims (securing payment of contractors and material suppliers for improvements) which may attach without recorded notice.
  6. Federal estate or state inheritance tax liens (may attach without recorded notice).
  7. Pre-existing violation of subdivision mapping laws.
  8. Pre-existing violation of zoning ordinances.
  9. Pre-existing violation of conditions, covenants and restrictions affecting the land. The EAGLE Policy is our newest and most comprehensive coverage and covers all of the risks listed above
  10. Post-policy forgery against the insured interest.
  11. Forced removal of residential improvements due to lack of an appropriate building permit (subject to deductible).
  12. Post-policy construction of improvements by a neighbor onto insured land.
  13. Damage to residential structures from use of the surface of insured land for extraction or development of minerals.

HOW THE DAYS ON THE MARKET AFFECTS PRICE

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.
As you select the graphs for your county, study the second page to see how many sellers have guessed wrong about their initial price positioning and are continuing to add more days on the market to their house. They are the ones in the two categories of "price changes" and "total unsold inventory." Also notice the number of those that failed to sell because of the price and became expired listings after many days on 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. When you or anyone you know needs advice on how today's market is working, please contact me.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY A HOME

NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY A HOME

Home ownership provides a wealth of opportunity. We all need to live somewhere! Investing in a home rather than throwing your money away on rent makes good sense. Although there’s no guarantee a particular home will appreciate year after year, history has shown home ownership to be a long term investment that builds wealth for most people. Not only can you live in the home while it helps your wealth grow, your own home offers pride of ownership and a secure sense of place in your community.

When it comes to buying a home, timing it right is up there with location as a key consideration. Catching a housing market in transition toward the buyer’s advantage—as it is in many areas today—can save you a lot of money or allow you to buy more home for your budget. Your buying power may never be greater than it is today.

Of course if you have been watching the Baltimore housing market you’ve been seeing sales prices leveling off or dropping and the inventory of homes for sale growing, that signals the presence of a buyer’s market. The real estate market today has come full circle. People thinking about purchasing a home don’t always take advantage of the transition markets. Some decide to wait and see whether prices and/or interest rates drop further—which may not happen. In fact, when a market moves toward the buyer’s advantage, in certain instances prices don’t drop at all—they simply stay at current levels. That’s still a great time to purchase a home—getting in before prices or rates start to rise again.
Buying a home now may make perfect sense for you. Consider the advantages of today’s market:
  1. Better Prices - With more homes on the market waiting for buyers, sellers don’t expect to see the appreciation rates to which they have grown accustomed. Some even drop their listing price below market value to attract attention and speed the sale in order to meet a moving deadline. Bidding wars and escalation clauses no longer threaten to take a home’s sales price beyond its true market value.
  2. Negotiating Advantage - In a buyer’s market, sellers must show more flexibility not only on price, but on the terms of the contract.
  3. More Choice - With more homes on the market, buyers don’t need to “take what they can get.” These days you can pick and choose from a variety of homes in the area. Search ALL homes listed in the Multiple List Service (MLS) on my website www.LivingMD.com.
  4. More Time To Choose - Since there are fewer people out there looking for homes compared with the number of homes for sale, buyers can take more time searching for appropriate candidates and comparing them. It often isn’t necessary to rush into a decision for fear the home might immediately slip away to another buyer within hours. However, we are all aware of Murphy’s Law, don’t wait too long. The home you are going home to think over tonight may be the same home someone thought about last night.
  5. Homes in Great Shape - When buyers are harder to come by, most competing sellers spend extra time and money preparing their home for the market. They make sure their homes are in tip-top shape before they hit the market. That means buyers often can move right in without the hassle or expense of repairs or improvements to update the home.
  6. Attractive Financing - As fewer buyers apply for new mortgages, mortgage lenders compete for business by offering more generous loan terms. Not only are interest rates still low by historical standards, buyers today can take advantage of offers including lower closing costs, waived fees, free rate locks, faster loan approval and speedier processing. As in recent years, of course, today’s mortgage industry offers a wide array of loan programs you can choose from to meet you particular financial needs and goals.
  7. Tax Savings - (Please be sure to verify this information with your accountant. Each individual circumstance varies.)
    The sooner you purchase a home, the earlier you can take advantage of Uncle Sam’s generous mortgage interest tax deduction, which in effect subsidizes your payments—or shelters your income, depending on how you look at it. Tax law favors homeowners in a number of other ways too. You can take deduction for points paid on your mortgage loan, qualified home-office expenses, expenses associated with investment properties, and more. Finally, when you eventually sell your primary residence, you can qualify to keep up to $500,000 in profits tax free if you are married filing jointly, $250,000 if you are single. The recent addition of the $7,500 tax credit presents another opportunity to take advantage of the "American Dream".

Keep posted for more information on the tax credit and grants available to home buyers. Feel free to contact me personally with questions about buying a home, selling a home, home grants, or any other real estate question.

All my best,

Jennifer Bayne, Jbayne@cbmove.com