Spring is here, and that means blooming flowers, green grass and the return of yard work. If you are selling your home during the warm weather seasons ahead, it is important to spend some time sprucing up your home's exterior. The goal in creating a well-kept yard is to give potential buyers a positive first impression, while also making them feel that your property is easy to maintain. The following tips can help achieve these objectives:     Prune overgrowth. Trees can hide a home's best features if planted too close to the house or if they are allowed to grow unchecked. Be sure to remove any branches that touch the house, cover a window or block a path. Blast winter away. Use a power washer to remove the cobwebs, mold and dirt that have accumulated over the winter. This is a quick a... 04/20/2009

04/12/2009

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Homes For Sale in Germantown Maryland " Homes For Sale In Germantown Maryland  ! Looking for REAL ESTATE BARGAINS  in Germantown Maryland ? We Have Some Of The Best Home Search Tools Available To You Homes For Sale Foreclosures, Short Sales, Wholesale Deals Fixer Uppers. . . Start HERE! You Can Search For Homes For Sale On A Map of Germantown MD  With A Simple Point And Click To Find The Homes You Are Looking For. or Get a Comparable Market Analysis On Your Home in Germantown,  Click On www.NOCONTACTCMA.com  Relocating To The Germantown Maryland area? We  Offer FULL Service Buyer's Agent Representation And This Is All At No Cost To You! Please contact us for a FREE community Report for Germantown Maryland including all the schoos in the area. .we can email it or send it by regular mail... 04/11/2009

The news this week has been filled with increasing evidence that the housing market, and economy in general, may be stabilizing. On a local level, we are seeing a renewed interest in real estate. For example, the average attendance at Weichert Open Houses recently hit its highest level since March 2007. Both homebuyers and sellers should be encouraged by the following reports and statistics that have made the headlines:     The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported on Monday that existing-home sales rose 5.1 percent in February, with first-time buyers accounting for half of all home sales last month. This was the largest increase in nearly six years. Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast jumped 15.6 percent. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, sales of new... 04/01/2009

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This JUST LISTED bank owned 4 Bedroom , 3 1/2 Bath home on almost 3/4 of an acre,  has almost 6000 total square feet & backs to woods. Now Listed for $549,900                   Assessment        Phase-in Value                 2009                $918,780 I represent my buyers as their exclusive Agent ... if you are interested in one of the many Opportunities now available ... I would be glad to help.  rick.boothe@longandfoster.com                            301-793-6796 This home is listed by Weichert, REALTORS 03/27/2009

I am going to present three offers tonight on a listing in Germantown that I have had on the market for two weeks. The sellers staged the property well, priced it within the range of the recent comparables and I put together a wonderful tour using Homevisit.com. The home has been shown sixteen times. Wow! I can't guarantee that one of the offers will be ratified, but multiple offers in this market is definitely a good thing. Could it be a sign of better times? I have heard from several agents recently that they have been involved in multiple offer presentations. It is said that there is no sound when the market hits bottom and until the market starts going up you don't know that you were there. I am not making that claim, but multiple offer presentations on several occassions with sever... 03/24/2009

Some Listings For Germantown Maryland Check for all Homes for sale in Germantown Maryland here     MLS #: Mc6983561Price:$1,299,900 City:Germantown Property Type: ResBedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 4 Provided By:Beck & Berlage Real Estate View Details MLS #: Mc6613234Price:$1,225,000 City:Germantown Property Type: ResBedrooms: 6 Bathrooms: 5 Provided By:Weichert, Realtors View Details MLS #: Mc7004987Price:$1,150,000 City:Germantown Property Type: ResBedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 4 Provided By:Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. View Details MLS #: Mc6937358Price:$1,149,000 City:Germantown Property Type: ResBedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 4 Provided By:Key Realty Group, Llc View Details MLS #: Mc6890096Price:$1,100,000 City:Germantown Property Type: ResBedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 2 Provided By:Weichert, Realtors View De... 03/23/2009

If you have decided to take the step to buy and aren’t sure what types of fees you can expect to see on a closing sheet or what is known as a HUD-1, the list below briefly describes the costs associated with buying. These days, most sellers are offering to pay most, if not all of your closing costs. The savings can be huge! Getting a seller to pay 3% or more will save you thousands on the items listed below! Common Closing Costs for Buyers Down payment Loan origination Points, or loan discount fees, which you pay to receive a lower interest rate Home inspection Appraisal Credit report Private mortgage insurance premium Insurance escrow for homeowner’s insurance, if being paid as part of the mortgage Property tax escrow, if being paid as part of the mortgage. Lenders keep funds for taxes... 03/22/2009

If you have been considering purchasing your first home now is an amazing time to jump into the market. The federal government is offering an $8,000 tax credit for all first time homebuyers who purchase a home before the end of 2009. A tax credit is a dollar for dollar reduction in your taxes not a deduction which decreases your taxable income. If the amazingly low prices, record low interest rates and the additional $8,000 tax credit isn't enough to make you take the leap consider the following...  7 Reasons to Own Your Home 1. Tax breaks. The U.S. Tax Code lets you deduct the interest you pay on your mortgage, your property taxes, as well as some of the costs involved in buying your home. 2. Appreciation. Real estate has long-term, stable growth in value. While year-to-year fluctuatio... 03/22/2009

I have changed the weekly update to include all properties which have been rated and have rendered our recommendation based upon the "Limejuicer Rating System". Please contact me if you would like a more detailed analysis for any of the homes listed below. Team Limejuicer and I have previewed over 3000 homes in the past year. We rate new listings and and re-rate existing listings on a weekly basis. The "Limejuicer Rating System" allows us to not only keep our seller clients informed but competitive in any market, while allowing us to find the best valued property for our buyer clients. Eagles Nest Court, Waters Edge Condo $200,000 Scored 29 out of 40 Good Condition Limejuicer Highly Recommends Eagles Nest Court, Waters Edge Condo $195,000 Scored 29 out of 40 Good Condition Limejuicer Hi... 03/20/2009

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Owning a home invokes more than a sense of pride and freedom. It is also a long-term investment opportunity. With tax season in full swing, it is a great time to speak to your tax advisor about the tax advantages associated with homeownership.   Some of these benefits include: ·         Reduce your taxable income: On your itemized income tax return, you may be able to deduct mortgage interest payments, property taxes and points paid to lower your loan's interest rate. ·         Take advantage of new tax laws: The recent stimulus package included new tax laws such as an $8,000 tax credit for many first-time buyers, the elimination of a penalty for short sellers with forgiven mortgage debt, and the ability for certain homeowners to contest property taxes. ·         Lower tax on capital g... 03/13/2009

Germantown Maryland ZIP Code Statistics - <$100K to >$5M Format ZIP Code: 20874 Germantown, MD From: 02/01/2009 to 02/28/2009                Statistics generated on: 03/06/2009 Residential Unit Sales Number of Bedrooms Active Listings   Time on Market Price Class 2 Or Less   3 4   or More   Condo Coop Ground Rent Residential    Condo Coop Ground Rent of Units Sold (No. of Units) Under $100,000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 -30 Days 11 $100,000 - 149,999 0 2 0 2 0 13 12 0 31-60 Days 9 $150,000 - 199,999 1 4 4 3 0 69 41 0 61 - 90 Days 2 $200,000 - 249,999 1 6 0 1 0 59 21 0 91-120 Days 4 $250,000 - 299,999 0 7 1 0 0 36 7 0 Over 120 Days 14 $300,000 - 349,999 0 3 1 0 0 47 6 0 Total 40 $350,000 - 399,999 0 3 1 0 0 16 1 0 $400,000 - 449,999 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 Type of Financing of Units Sold (No. of Units) $... 03/12/2009

We started off this year with an average of 1.5 homes going under contract on a daily basis. Home Inventory numbers going into the New Year were hovering around 685 homes. It has never been more apparent to me that we were a community that had a glut of inventory. Move to the present day and we have seen a decline of housing inventory by 38% to today's number 426 homes on the market. Total homes under contract and pending settlement is an astonishing 200 on the nose. To put this into perspective that is more than was sold in March 2004 (close to the height of the boom market). Should this trend continue at this pace we should anticipate a stable local real estate market by the beginning of the 3rd quarter. Breakdown of the 200 pending settlement properties is as follows and the results... 03/09/2009

More great news for homebuyers was released this week. On Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that its Housing Affordability Index (HAI) rose 13.6% in January to 166.8, a new record high. In fact, the relationship between home prices, mortgage interest rates and family income is the most favorable since tracking began in 1970. The HAI is a relative index where a value of 100 means that a family with the median income has exactly enough income to qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced existing single-family home. The higher the index, the better housing affordability is for buyers. According to NAR President Charles McMillan, "The buying power of a typical family has risen significantly. With the drop in interest rates, a median-income family can afford a hom... 03/06/2009

The properties below are this week's top rated properties in Germantown: Location: Shore Harbour, GermantownStatus: Regular SalePriced: $250,000Built in 1992 Value: 5 (Overpriced, should be no more than $230,000)Condition: 8 (Superior condition and staged beautifully)Location: 10 (This is why this home has rated so well - panoramic views of the Lake)Motivation: 7 (Average motivation)Total Rated Score: 30 - If this condo were to be priced at market it would score a 32 (4 points higher than the average home in Germantown), question the buyer could have is do I want to pay an extra $3 a day for a view? Location: Laurel Hill Way, Churchill Town, GermantownStatus: Regular Sale (Vacant)Priced: $248,750Built in 1984 Value: 7 (Market Value for the square footage)Condition: 7 (Expected conditio... 03/05/2009

Is Germantown seeing the market changing? Yes - a drop of almost 40% of inventory since the beginning of the year. Want some good news for a change? There are currently 191 homes under contract in Germantown, during the same period in 2004 there were only 149 homes under contract. These are incredible numbers considering all that has been going on lately, however, admittedly a very large number of these are foreclosed homes. What you can take from this is the following, call/email all the folks you know that don't currently own a home and tell them that the market is getting much better and the boat could be leaving port soon (in passing you could also mention the rates are only 5% fixed and they only need to have 3 1/2% total cash to buy). If you have followed my rating system (aka the... 03/05/2009