Speedbumps on Greenwood Rd in Towson

If you have driven down Greenwood Road in Towson in the past week, you may have noticed three new speedbumps along the road.

This was to slow down traffic in & out of both the parking lots to the Baltimore County Board of Education, and from Joppa to Charles St.

Two of the speedbumps are near each other near Joppa Rd, around the bend that is already very narrow, and the third is close to the newer light at Greenwood and Charles St across from the West Towson Elementary School.

So, be cautious and slow down as you drive along Greenwood, and save your car’s shocks!

How Can I Appeal My Baltimore County Tax Assessment?

There are three appeal possibilities for Baltimore County homeowners when it comes to your property taxes.

• The first is the Assessment Appeal. This appeal is done the year it is assessed. As soon as you get your assessment, if you disagree with the assessed value, you can file this type of appeal.

• The second is the Petition for Review. You can appeal in the two years between formal assessments for the next year – but the change won’t happen until the following year.

• The third is the New Owner Appeal. If you buy a house between January 1 and June 30 and the sale is recorded before July 1 of that year, you can appeal the assessment for an immediate change that year. If you buy after July 1 or your deed is not recorded with Baltimore County before that date, then any changes to your assessment would not take effect until the following year.

To appeal your Baltimore County tax assessment, you will need to fill out one of the forms on the State Department of Taxation and Assessments site.

Please note that most appeals take effect the following year after an assessment appeal has been won. Another thing to note is that even if you win your appeal, and you are reassessed, it does not mean you will receive a refund or reduction in property taxes if the Homestead tax credit is received.

Learn more about how your Baltimore County tax assessment is determined, and decide if an appeal may be right for you.

Possible Septic System Law Could Affect Homeowners

A new law proposed by Governor Martin O’Malley would limit construction of homes in rural areas to five in a development, if they were to be on private septic systems.

Smaller, individual developments, of a single home would be required to install more costly but less polluting septic systems than the standard as set currently.

The reason behind these proposed changes is, according to an Baltimore Sun article:

An estimated 430,000 septic systems already are in the ground across Maryland, and officials say that they are responsible for leaking 4 million pounds of water-fouling nitrogen annually into the state’s streams, rivers and ultimately the bay. Officials project that as many as 145,000 more septic systems could be installed in the next 20 years, if home construction recovers to anything like what it used to be.

A septic system collects the solids from domestic sewage and kills disease-causing bacteria, but it allows much of the nitrogen in the treated wastewater to leach into nearby streams or ground water.

Households on conventional septic systems release up to 10 times as much of the pollutant into nearby waters as do households connected to much more efficient sewage treatment plants, state environmental officials say.

These limitations and systems would reduce some of the 8% of nitrogens found in the Bay that come from traditional septic systems. Anne Arundel County’s septic systems produce 35-40% of all nitrogens found in the waterways, which is the bigger subset of the problem.

This could potentially hurt new developments especially in Harford County and many areas of Baltimore County, where many neighborhoods are serviced by private sewage systems. It could hurt house values in those areas, because the more expensive systems could make those areas possibly unaffordable to many potential homeowners.

If you have concerns about the proposed law changes, make sure to call Governor O’Malley’s office at 410.974.3901 to voice your concern.

How is My Baltimore County House Assessed for Taxes?

How is my Baltimore County house assessed for taxes?

How does Baltimore County determine my house assessment?

These are two very good questions which determine how much you pay in property taxes each year.

First, tax assessments are done as mass appraisals. This means there are many homes being valuated at the same time.

The Baltimore County tax assessors are trained as appraisers and have a number of ways they come up with your assessed value. There is a homeowner’s guide to property taxes and assessments on their website, which gives some details about the process.

Recently, I was able to listen to the heads of both the Baltimore County and Baltimore City departments, as they explained more in detail what they do.

They use a cost approach and land value. The cost value is how much the house would cost to be built today minus depreciation based on age and condition of the house. Any finished heated space is included in the valuation of the house.

They do not come into your home, so they make assumptions on things based on County permits pulled by contractors doing work on your home.

Often, when a homeowner appeals, they will point out deficits, which is how they know what problems there may be with your home.

They use the multiple listing system that real estate agents use as well, called MRIS.

Short sales and foreclosures are removed from consideration, as they consider them “bad sales”.

Neighborhoods, as determined by the Baltimore County Department of Taxation and Assessments, are not the same as the neighborhoods established.

Neighborhoods are graded on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best. An assessor I spoke with said that a well known and established neighborhood, Ruxton in Towson is graded as a 10. There are neighborhood sets and subsets, for example, Old Lutherville is a subset of Lutherville. And even within subsets, the type of house will be assessed at different “rates.”

Because these assessments are done every three years and on a mass basis, that is why there is an appeals process. Especially with higher priced homes such as those in Ruxton, the homes tend to be unique, and the mass valuation may not be correct.

Learn more about different Baltimore County tax appeal processes so you can understand if an appeal may be right for you and your home.

24% of Baltimore Mortgages are Underwater

A recently released report shows that 24% of mortgages in Baltimore are underwater.

A mortgage that is underwater means that the value of the house is less than what is owed to the mortgage company by the homeowners.

The national average of homes underwater is 27%, so Baltimore homeowners are faring a little better than others.

The Baltimore Business Journal shared the data from Zillow.com with these numbers from the end of 2010.

Baltimore house values dropped 9.7% in the fourth quarter, with the national average dropping only 5.9%, which is a larger negative number for Baltimore homeowners.

The drop in house values is good for Baltimore homebuyers, who may be able to get a great home for a lower price than they would have paid in the past and will pay in the future.

If you are considering buying a home in Baltimore, contact me, because now is the time, before the market recovers for sellers. Take advantage now!

Maryland Tax Free Weekend for Energy Star Products

From February 19-21, 2011, Maryland residents will get a 6% sales tax break on many Energy Star Products, making it a tax free shopping weekend!

Here is the list of Energy Star Products that will be sales tax free next weekend from the Comptroller of Maryland website:

* Air conditioners

* Clothes washers and dryers

* Furnaces

* Heat pumps

* Boilers

* Solar water heaters (tax-exempt at all times now)

* Standard size refrigerators

* Dehumidifiers

* Programmable thermostats

* Compact fluorescent light bulbs

This is the winter version of the August Maryland tax free shopping week of clothing and footwear items $100 or less.

So if you are in need of any new appliances or any eligible Energy Star products, make sure to get them this weekend! 6% savings right off the bat!

Towson High School Named Blue Ribbon School of Excellence

Towson High School was named a Maryland Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.

It was one of six named in Maryland in 2010, and is the 15th school in Baltimore County to receive the honor, and the third Baltimore County High School to do so.

According to the Baltimore County Public Schools article:

Blue Ribbon School designation is a state and national program that recognizes schools that meet rigorous standards developed by the Maryland State Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education.

Towson High School students are 98% proficient or above in Mathematics and 99% in English, according to the Maryland State Department of Education tests, and even Newsweek has named the school to its annual list of the best high schools in the nation for the past few years. In 2010, it was ranked #334.

This could help Towson house values as many homebuyers may look to the high school’s current zoning district to try to send their children to the school.

What buyers need to be aware of, is that school districts can be adjusted at any time, as many Towson homeowners found when West Towson Elementary School was opening.

Meanwhile, CONGRATULATIONS to Towson High School students and staff! Your hard work is definitely shining through!

Four Years to Remove Shadow Inventory

The S&P (Standard & Poor)’s rating service states that it will take four years to clear “shadow inventory” from the real estate market, according to their recently released report from the end of 2010.

“Shadow Inventory” is the number of houses where the homeowners are more than 90 days delinquent on their mortgage payments.

The Baltimore real estate market has be faring a bit better than the national average, so our shadow inventory is hopefully much much less!

There are bits of good news with this, as the S&P report shows that it is up 11% over the previous quarter, but the overall level of distressed properties has fallen since it’s height in March of 2010, and loan modifications and short sales have been helping the situation.

If you are facing foreclosure in Baltimore, please contact me. You may have other options available to you!

Milkshake Valentine Show for Autism Speaks

Milkshake is playing a show on Sunday, February 13, 2011 to celebrate Valentine’s Day and raise money for Autism Speaks.

The Valentine’s Day Spectacular concert will be at Ram’s Head Live in Downtown Baltimore, with doors opening at 1 pm, and the concert beginning at 2 pm.

Other fun things include face painting, balloon art, chocolate kisses, flowers, cartoons and videos.

Tickets are $15 per person, while children under the age of 2 are free. You can get a four person family pass for $50!

A portion of the proceeds goes to Autism Speaks, which is an organization that supports the understanding, support, and advocacy so needed for families of children with autism.

What a great way to raise money and awareness while having fun with the whole family!

Ram’s Head Live Baltimore is in Downtown Baltimore across the Power Plant Live plaza from Port Discovery Museum, at 20 Market Place, Baltimore, MD 21202.

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