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March 28th, 2012 Categories: Crofton Real Estate
NEW LISTING IN CROFTON, MARYLAND
Imagine a view of the 2nd fairway at Crofton Country Club from your deck, dining room, kitchen and master bedroom! Other special features of this new listing include hardwood floors & oversize windows on the main level and a huge family room “L” that’s not included in the room dimensions on MRIS. Clean and well maintained so you can enjoy living in this home while updating it at your own pace.
With a location like this, 1653 Eton Way will not be on the market for long. Please contact me directly for more information so you can be one of the first people to see the interior of this home. (301–346–2923)
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Crofton Home Seller Asks About Staging
March 23rd, 2012 Categories: Questions and Answers
Crofton MD Real Estate Q&A
Q. Why pay a stager? I can de-clutter my own home!
A. Staging is the art of converting a home which reflects the occupant’s personality and lifestyle into a property where prospective buyers can imagine themselves living.
Real estate agents will usually tell you that a home is show-ready when it is uncluttered, clean, in good repair, neutral, and accessorized. But staging takes this description to a whole new level by making it easier (if not easy) for buyers to imagine how they might utilize the space to accommodate their own personality and lifestyle.
Stagers know what today’s buyers are looking for and they know how to highight the features of a home in this context so it will generate a positive emotional response in buyers.
D.C. REALTOR Pat Kennedy gives one example in Skinny mirrors: You look great and the house does too. While I’m not suggesting home sellers should hang skinny mirrors (and Pat isn’t, either), I do believe buyers respond more favorably to a home that makes them feel good.
Young families probably won’t be attracted to a home where they can easily imagine their parents or grandparents living. On the other hand, they may like the floorplan, location, and features of the same home after it has been professionally staged. This may be as simple as replacing home furnishings, colors and accessories of the 80’s with others that are popular today.
94% of staged homes sell in less than 30 days. Wouldn’t you rather pay a stager up-front ($300–$3,000) than drop the price $5,000–$10,000 after 30 days?
Crofton homes sit on the market an average of 128 days before selling (based on statistics from MRIS). If you want to sell your home more quickly than that, contact me for an introduction to professional stagers in this area.
Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Margaret Woda
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The purpose of this blog is to provide the latest community and real estate information to relocating home buyers and current residents of the greater Crofton area. Please contact me with real estate questions or news about your local organization or business. I’m happy to share them with other readers of Focus On Crofton.
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Eye of the Beholder – a new business in Crofton, Maryland
March 21st, 2012 Categories: Crofton Businesses
Have you discovered the new consignment shop in Crofton? Eye of the Beholder is located just north of Rt. 424, near Five Guys, Vocelli’s Pizza and Floyd’s 99 Barber Shop.
Proprietor Briana Printy grew up in Crofton and attended Crofton schools so it’s not surprising she selected Crofton as the site for her business. She and her staff have done a great job with this new venture, accepting only quality items in good codition for resale and creating an attractive environment for displaying them. I’ve heard through the grapevine that some items are simply flying out the door almost as soon as they go on display!
Finding great clothing, jewelry, shoes, purses, household items and select furniture pieces at a great price is a matter of timing, so stop in to visit Eye of the Beholder soon, and often! (And please mention that you read about them here.)
Business hours are 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Monday thru Friday and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday. Email them to schedule an appointment for consigning items, or call 410–721–2006.
Address: 1117 Rt. 3 N, Gambrills, MD 21054 View Map
Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Margaret Woda
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The purpose of this blog is to provide the latest community and real estate information to relocating home buyers and residents of the greater Crofton area. Please contact me with real estate questions or news about your local organization or business. I’m happy to share them with other readers of Focus On Crofton.
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Has spring arrived in local real estate?
March 19th, 2012 Categories: Crofton Real Estate, Market Updates
Davidsonville, Gambrills, and Odenton, Maryland
February 2012 Real Estate Updates
Spring came early to the greater Crofton area, this year, and we’re loving the early blooming of daffodils and flowering trees. We just hope to see an early Spring for real estate, as well.
New pending sales and lower home inventory were great news in last week’s market update for Crofton, but what about adjacent communities?
Year to date statistics for Davidsonville show an increase in average and median sold prices, but overall sales are down 58.5% from last year. There wasn’t a single closing in Davidsonville during February, so these statistics reflect only January sales.
There was some new real estate activity last month in Davidsonville, however, as 5 properties went under contract and 9 new listings went on the market. I think it’s going to remain highly competitive for home sellers in the 21035 zipcode during the coming weeks and months. Some GREAT opportunities for home buyers!
Spring has arrived in the Gambrills real estate market! Daffodils weren’t the only things coming up in February: Closed sales, median and average prices, average sold price vs original list price and the average list price for properties – up from last year (2011) and up from last month (January 2012). Average days on market went down, also, which is also good news. WOW! It’s a great time to be a home seller in Gambrills.
As to new business, 15 new listings went on the market in Feburary, but there were 19 sales pending – let’s hope this balance in favor of new sales over new listings continues for several months. The Gambrills real estate market is alive and well, but buyers better get in the game now while they can still find a great home and great deal.
Real estate sales in Odenton last month improved in every category from January 2012, just as they did in Gambrills, but they did NOT measure up to February 2011 in any category used to measure sold and settled properties.
However, the critical word “balance” is a good description of “year on year” numbers for new activity: 36 new listings vs. 39 sales pending. This leads me to a prognosis for Odenton of cautiously optimistic about the real estate market in the coming weeks and months.
Davisonville Homes Gambrills Homes Odenton Homes
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Why do sellers pay the buyers’ closing costs?
March 16th, 2012 Categories: Crofton Real Estate
Crofton Real Estate Q&A
Q. My closing costs for selling are already close to 10%. Why do I have to pay buyers’ closing costs, too?
A. The buyers’ closing costs are just that… the buyers’ closing costs.
Who pays what at closing is more a matter of custom and agreement than law, with the exception being for some items which buyers are prohibited from paying for certain types of financing – most notably, VA and FHA.
I’m guessing someone has mentioned this to you in the context that many of today’s home sellers are paying some or all of the buyers’ closing costs… am I right? Let me explain.
This is a buyers’ market, i.e., a market that favors buyers over sellers. Buyers know they are few and far between, so they enter negotiations with a home seller from a position of strength. They often ask for the sun, moon and stars – in other words, offering a low price or asking for concessions such as closing help.
In many cases, sellers do agree to a lower price and/or closing help in order to get their home sold. Some sellers offer closing help up front, knowing this is the case.
Whether or not you pay any of the buyers’ closing costs is a matter of negotiation when you receive an offer. In the Crofton area, I find that many home sales do NOT include a subsidy.
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