Another Timonium House Sold Quickly

On January 30th, I wrote about a townhouse in Timonium that sold very quickly due to a smart pricing strategy. The others are all still on the market.

But guess what? A new one came on for $300,000. Sold in THREE DAYS. This one was only 2 BR (they knocked out the wall in between the 2nd & 3rd bedrooms, so it is the same size house as the others), but priced well + showed well = QUICK SALE!

I am excited about the energy in the Baltimore real estate marketplace, got ANOTHER call today about my listing in Hunt Valley at 11626 Hunters Run Drive, an agent who has clients from New York who want to see it as soon as possible.

March is looking very promising for both Baltimore Homebuyers AND Baltimore Home Sellers.

Pleased to see this Towson House Sell

Each day I drive my son to or from school, I drive up Thornton Road. There has been a For Sale sign outside this one house for a very long time.

To my delight yesterday, I saw the UNDER CONTRACT sign rider up — YAY!

For those of you who may not know, Thornton Road runs from Joppa Road in Towson up to Timonium Road in Timonium. At Seminary Avenue the zip code switches from 21204 to 21093.

On January 30th I wrote about the great pricing strategy of the townhouse in Timonium that sold in a few days. Well, this is just a mile & 1/2 down the road!

A cute cape cod, single family home with a great addition off the back, and fantastic curb appeal, this home was for sale much longer than expected. Yes, it has its drawbacks, namely the busy road, but it is also very conveniently located in close walking distance to Riderwood Elementary School, which is a blue ribbon school with tennis courts, playgrounds and lots of open park-like space. So why was this house on the market for 248 days? You can’t change location. Its’ condition is wonderful. The only thing you can change in price. They began up near $500,000 and re-listed at $475,000. The asking price at time of contract was $469,000, which does not mean that is the contract price.

So what does this all mean?

It means sellers have to get serious when it comes to pricing their houses if they want them to sell more quickly. This is a learning experience & market for all of us right now, and we agents are learning the curve as well. We can track data and work to predict where the price should be. And though that information may be hard for some sellers to hear, it is a necessity in order to get your home sold. Let’s get it done!

Rodgers Forge House Values not to be affected by new Towson University Stadium

The Baltimore Sun and the Baltimore Examiner report that Towson University and the Rodgers Forge Community Association have reached an agreement about the location of the new arena to be built near the Forge.

I wrote about this issue on January 22, as the fear was the design and location of the new arena would affect Rodgers Forge House Values negatively, in a market that has already taken an average 5.5% hit in the past year.

The University will now construct the arena on the other side of the current stadium, so it won’t be in view of the Forge houses and they will plant tall trees as a barrier. They are doing this despite the fact that the terrain will make the construction more expensive, but realize that this is better for the community that they are an integral part of.

SO thank you, Towson University for listening and responding to your community’s needs. We Towson-ites appreciate it!

Baltimore Housing Market Gaining Strength

Yes folks, you read that right, the Baltimore Housing Market is Gaining Strength.

What? What was that? The sound of glass breaking? Crashing to the ground in disbelief?

Well, believe it, and I have proof.

My phone, which, for awhile now, I will admit, I thought only made OUTGOING calls, has been ringing. A LOT. Since MONDAY. The spring-like weather? Maybe. The optimism of the new economic stimulus bill? Very likely!

All I know is that I had a house on the market last year in Hunt Valley that we removed from the market to have the home painted, “stuff” removed, and lay low for a little while. SINCE MONDAY I have received three phone calls — one from a perspective buyer, TWO from buyer’s agents who wanted to know, CAN WE SEE IT? When is it coming back on? (The great house: 11626 Hunters Run Drive – the photos will be updated once I get to take the new ones with the fresh paint, cleared out & staged rooms!)

Contracts are starting to flow in & out of my Timonium Real Estate Office. Baltimore Real Estate buyers are starting to realize that they need to get in NOW while the prices AND interest rates are LOW.

So, yes, I am optimistic and excited. There is SO much opportunity in this Baltimore real estate market whether in the Baltimore City real estate market, or the Towson real estate market, or even in the Timonium real estate market, and I urge buyers to take advantage NOW!

Facebook’s 25 Things

All over Twitter and, of course, Facebook,  is the tweeting of “25 Things” or “25 Random Things About Me”…there are a few variations. Even the New York Times has written an article about it — and how it yields 35,700 pages of results when Googled .

What is the draw? Why the obsession? The interest?

There are many theories out there, as you follow the discussion on Twitter and on blogs.

I’ll tell you why it resonates with me, and would be interested to hear why it does with you.

I learned SO MUCH about people that I have known for years (or even haven’t known for very long) that taught me more about why I like them. Why we may mesh well as friends.

It made me realize that I miss a few more than I ever imagined, and actually had a PHONE conversation (gasp!) with one yesterday — and we hadn’t spoken in 20 years before that. Know what? Our conversation was easy and picked up like no time had passed. Because we still knew each others’ hearts and minds, and didn’t need to do the “catch up”.

I was sad to discover one of my high school friends has had a rough life, and want to do anything I can to help. She has Grave’s Disease, had her thyroid removed, yet continues to have a bright spirit!

Another’s Mom died, and I know how close she was to her. She also wrote of her most romantic date, a double date we were on about 17 years ago that I had completely forgotten (and didn’t know how romantic her half was! Mine — well, not-so-much). I was touched that something we did has stayed with her this long, and reminded me of how good our friendship used to be. I can’t wait to visit her in NY and she has already expressed how she wants to see my Dad when he is at Sloan-Kettering for his cancer surgery.

A newer friend (met through our sons) has the same allergies & such (if not more than I do) — so we can keep each other (& our boys) away from allergens & situations and still have an enjoyable time.

I learned that you can’t flush T-paper in Greece, which has made my decision never to vacation there .

Another wants to buy a house. Not in Timonium or Towson, but I can refer her to a GREAT agent where she will be taken care of just like I would do for her. Which, of course, helps *my* bottom line as well, while helping her!

And from the comments after the 25 Things, I have learned that people really DO read them, DO care, DO remember, and DO want you to post them.

SO, in the infamous brilliant marketing words of Nike, JUST DO IT.

(And tag me so I can read it!)