Let’s take a closer look at Middletown Real Estate

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To me Middletown has been a wonderful bedroom community to Frederick, Rockville and the Washington DC area. Since there isn’t any major businesses in this community of approximately 3,000 residents, most residents work elsewhere. The schools have claims of Blue Ribbon awards for their excellence in education. The town has excellent proprietors and community driven downtown businesses. (My favorites are The Main Cup and The Middletown Sportsland)

This tight knit community shows it’s pride in their preservation of history, community programs and complete support of local sports (Go Knights). They just recently had elections for their township board. Here’s the results from the Middletown Elections on April 7, 2008.

Burgess:
John D. Miller –610
Phyllis G. Thompson –209

Commissioner:
Dixie L. Eichelberger – 251
Vincent A. O’Reilly – 456
Anthony M. Ventre – 472
Bill Williams - 334

The town and it’s citizens have recently been battling the future presence of Dominion Gas in the Middletown Valley. You can read the press releases on the official Middletown Website. They are facing the construction of a gas pumping station off Marker Road. The concern is the impact on the historic value of the area, along with normal industrial noise and traffic. A grass roots citizens actions committee has been created to combines community efforts for the dispute this projects current placement. Their efforts have been documented on their website; Citizens for the Preservation of Middletown Valley.

As with any community, a poorly place industrial facility can negatively impact the surrounding community(s).

Middletown has wonderful developments like the Glenbrook Golf Community, North Pointe, Fountaindale South, Foxfield, Colebrook and a few of the more exclusive neighborhoods like The Vistas at Springdale and The Legends.

The housing numbers haven’t been too enlightening for this area as the mortgage market has taken it’s toll on homeowners. According to RealtyTrac, there are seven homes in Pre-Foreclosure status, nine with proceedings already taking place for foreclosure and three bank owned homes.

Below is the most recent market activity in Middletown.

Market Conditions in Middletown MD 4/9/08

	Active	Under Contract	Sold in last 90 days	Ave. Days on Market
Condos	O	O	O	NA
Town Homes	3	2	2	49
Single Family	83	13	16	169
Total	86	15	18	157

February	2008	2007	Change
Ave Sold Price	$470,488	$527,290	-10.77%
Ave List Price of Solds	$509,687	$531,960	-4.19%
percentage of Avg List Price:	92.31%	99.12%

So what does that tell me? The prices have dropped almost 11% over last year or less than 1% a month. Middletown has been a desirable area but has not been immune to the price depreciation that the rest of the county is experiencing. The absorption rate for this area is 13 months, which is a little higher than the county average. With interest rates still at an all time low, it is a great time to buy, just a tough time to sell if you have either purchased your home in the last few years or if you pulled the equity out of your home.

This chart and others can be found on the Area Prices Page.

If you would like to know what your home is worth, please contact me for a personalized market analysis of your home.

April 9, 2008 · Filed Under Frederick MD Real Estate, Frederick Market Conditions, Market Condition

2 Comments

Market Update for Frederick area and Condos

We are in the beginning of the “Spring Market” and things are off to a good start. Creativity is up in ways of getting buyers out of the news medias grasp. Our office has been running very successful “Bargain Bus” by showing prospective buyers area aggressively priced homes whether it’s a bank owned, short sale, or foreclosure. I have heard from multiple agents that showings have increased on their listings, Open Houses are starting to get people back through them again, and the phones are ringing again. The interest rates are still very low for potential home buyers. Buyers that are on the fence need to do the math on the savings of whether to wait for the prices to come down more (or wait for the interest rates to change.)

Here’s a snapshot of the condos around Frederick.

Frederick Condo Market 4/7/08

Condo Assoc.	Active	Contract	Sold in last 90 Days	Price Range
Ambertowne	6	1	2	113,000-159,900
8th St Mews	5	2	1	189,900-219,900
Creekside Plaza	5	O	O	397,900-1,180,000
Jefferson Chase	4	O	O	149,900-192,900
Mill Crossing	13	O	1	209,900-269,900
Maxwell Place	5	O	1	325,000-673,750
Monacacy Overlook	6	O	O	174,900-215,000
Old Farm Station	12	O	1	179,900-250,000
Ridgeview II	10	O	1	210,000-250,000
Springridge	6	1	2	175,000-249,900
Wormans Mill	8	O	O	234,000-369,900
All Frederick County	171	15	30	115,000-1,180,000

Have a great day.

April 7, 2008 · Filed Under Frederick MD Real Estate, Frederick Market Conditions, Market Condition

Comment

Down Payment Assistance - How do I get it?

I just listed a home in a troubled area for pricing…imagine that! All the condos around this one is heading to foreclosure and subject to third party approval, in other words, a short sale. The pre-foreclosure market is skyrocketing higher everyday. There are 163 homes listed in RealtyTrac as Pre-Foreclosure today, while there were only 48 two months ago.

So I had to come up with a strategy to help this seller maximize her sales price and make it more marketable than the lower priced counter parts. This seller knows her stuff and had already remodeled the whole unit. She completely remodeled the Bathrooms…no one else’s cooties. Updated the kitchen with ceramic tile. New carpeting throughout the rest of the condo. And of course no remodel is not complete without a fresh coat of neutral paint. This type of upgrade is almost a given in this market if you want to be competitive. And by the way, the other condos are list “as is”…which means you, the buyer does AAALLLL the repairs. Not such a good deal after all.

But we still needed one more up on our competition…more so than Closing Cost assistance. Banks look at todays market as a “Declining” or “Soft” market, which makes it harder for the average joe to secure a loan. Most banks are requiring at leasta a 5% down payment in order to swing the loan.

In comes the Down Payment assistance programs. Since most lenders have a cap on how much assistance a seller can give the buyer, buyers either have to have the extra money in their banks accounts (chances are very slim for first time home buyers.) or they need a gift from someone. This gift is usually from a relative like Mom and Dad or everyone’s favorite rich uncle. There are a few non-profit organizations that realize the not everyone has that rich uncle, but the sellers are willing to help in order to sell the house.

Two programs that I heard success are successful and easy to use are the AmeriDream and the Nehimiah Down Payment Assistance Programs. Key things about these programs the seller has to agree to it, because they make the donation to these organizations. In turn, they give the donation back to the buyer as a gift minus a nominal fee…(a new rich uncle)

At AmeriDream, our goal is helping first-time, and low and moderate income individuals and families become homeowners. AmeriDream’s Downpayment Gift Program gives buyers up to 10% of the sales price of a home for a down payment or closing costs, removing the largest barrier for many prospective homeowners.

For this home I recommended the Nehimiah Program, ordered up some signs from them along with some program flyer’s and advertised “Down Payment Assistance Available”

Gift funds up to 6% of the final contract sales towards your downpayment and/or closing costs

Gift funds for both first time and repeat homebuyers

(Nehemiah charges a nominal processing fee that may be paid by the seller, homebuyer, or lender.)

Gift funds for both new construction and resale homes

No repayment of gift money

No income or asset limits

No geographical restrictions

The listing is brand spanking new (literally and figuratively) so I will let you know how it goes. This is one solution I offer to help sellers attract buyers. Each home is unique…so the marketing needs to be just as unique.

Contact me today, if you are ready to put your house on the market.

Here’s a peek at this diamond in the rough.

Have a great day.

April 2, 2008 · Filed Under Buyer, Frederick MD Real Estate, Friday

9 Comments

No April Fools Joke here

I missed posting the market update yesterday due to schedule and some news I have received. Everyone that knows me, definitely knows I enjoy a good belly laugh especially at their expense (or at mine.) Just as long as you laugh. Life is too short to be miserable or carry a grudge. They say laughter is the best medicine and I believe it…but sometimes it doesn’t work. So naturally you would think this is the day Bob looks forward to every year. Not today…

I received an email from a fellow real estate agent that walks with me at the Frederick Relay every year. Last year she brought a friend of hers that was battling Cancer, Jen Kelly. She was in remission and was doing well. The evening was great seeing her family (husband and two young children) with her as we walked in celebration of her Survivorship.

That’s what the whole event is about Celebrating victories and one of the harder parts Remembering the ones that weren’t so victorious. It pains me deeply that we most likely won’t be Celebrating this year. News has not been good for Jen. As I write this today, the doctors are predicting a few weeks to a month. I am very grateful for meeting Jen, as she is a vibrant young woman with a very wonderful family. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Below is from last years event.

As I have always said…