Lead Based Paint Landlord Liability in Baltimore

A 7-0 decision was made to overturn the 1994 compromise where landlords who registered with state environmental agency would get immunity from lead based paint lawsuit liability with a cap payment of $17,000 to children with lead based paint risks.

After the decision on October 24, 2011, that cap and compromise is no longer the case.

According to an article in the Daily Record,

The Court of Appeals, in its 7-0 decision, called the immunity provision and $17,000 offer “totally inadequate and unreasonable” to remedy the harm done to children permanently brain damaged due to their ingestion of lead-based paint in a rental property.

“For a child who is found to be permanently brain damaged from ingesting lead paint, proximately caused by the landlord’s negligence, the maximum amount of compensation under a qualified offer is minuscule,” retired Judge John C. Eldridge wrote for the high court. “It is almost no compensation.”

Thus, the provision — found in the 1994 Reduction of Lead Risk in Housing Act — violated Article 19 of the Maryland Constitution, which grants individuals the rights of access to the courts and to a remedy for their injuries, the court added.

This is a very big thing for landlords in Baltimore City, where many older homes may have lead based paint if they haven’t been mitigated in the past.

Landords all around Baltimore should make sure they understand Lead-Based Paint laws, rules & regulations, to ensure they protect both themselves AND the tenants they would have living in their properties.

Part of Ground Rent Law Overturned

Those Ground Rent owners who did not register their properties with the government will not have those ground rents automatically extinguished, according to a ruling by the Court of Appeals yesterday.

According to the Baltimore Sun article reporting on the issue:

In a 5-2 decision issued Tuesday, the Court of Appeals held that the provision that took away ground leases that were not registered violates state constitutional rights.

The requirement to register is still there, but there is no longer a penalty if one does not do so.

Most title companies, when conducting settlements, treated ground rents, even if technically extinguished, as if they were still leasehold properties. I wrote about this last September when ground rent registrations were due.

Please feel free to contact me for more information on Baltimore ground rent homes and how ground rent can affect you as a homeowner!

Halloween Weekend in Baltimore 2011

Halloween Weekend is always a fun-filled weekend in Baltimore.

Though technically it isn’t until Monday, there are plenty of things to do this weekend for Baltimore Halloween fun!

• At Hunt Valley Towne Centre, kids can trick-or-treat on Friday evening from 4-6pm. Children can come in costume and get some treats at the shops on Main Street off Shawan Road in Hunt Valley!
• The Towson Town Center mall will have a festive Halloween celebration on Saturday the 29th at 11am at the Level 1 Grand Court. They will also have mall-wide trick-or-treating on Monday the 31st from 6-8pm at participating stores for children aged 12 & under. More details on their site.
• ZooBOO! at the Baltimore Zoo / Maryland Zoo in Baltimore — 10 am – 4 pm Friday 10/28 – Sunday 10/30. Come in costume, visit the animals, plus free trick-or-treating, carnival games, inflatable slides, crafts, and live entertainment, including magic, mini-theatre, and costume contests! The event comes with your Zoo admission. Costume contests are at 11:30 & 2:30 for kids under the age of 12. There are special events with many of the animals throughout the day, so make sure to visit their website for more details.
• Port Discovery is celebrating Baltimore City’s Kids Month on Saturday from 10am-5pm for FALL-O-WEEN Festival. Activities include making your own tutu or mummy, wildlife adventure, Halloween drum jam, a moon bounce, performances and more! Visit their site for more details.
• Hallowmarine is at the National Aquarium in Baltimore from 10am-4pm on Saturday. Come in costume, there are many spooky events, including a Haunted Classroom! Aqua.org for more info.
• The Great Lantern Parade in Patterson Park is *NOW SUNDAY, 10/30 due to weather!* Saturday October 29 at 7pm. There is a pre-parade Great Lantern Parade Fall Festival from 3-6:30pm. Here is their blog with more details.
• Weber’s Farm in Parkville — Really fun Hillside Slide, pumpkin picking, scarecrow making, hay maze, “Boo Barn”, farm animals, hay ride & more. $7 admission for children, $5 for adults on weekends. Open from 9:30am-6:30pm!
• Valley View Farms in Hunt Valley is open from 7am-9pm and has its’ fantastic Halloween Display, a free haunted house, and straw maze for the younger children. We did this last weekend, and our son had a blast. They even have facepainting inside — and the main building is already their Christmas wonderland!
• Huber’s Farm in Kingsville is open 9am – 5pm and has pumpkin picking, a kids area for $5 per hour, and at night from 7:30-10pm, Creepywoods, a scary haunted wooded attraction, which is supposed to be very intense, and was named one of “America’s Best Haunts.”
• Hampden HalloweenFest — 5pm-7pm on Sunday, October 30– Trick or Treating at participating stores on the Avenue, Chestnut Avenue, and Falls Rd. 6:30 is a costume contest in front of Ma Petite Shoe on 36th St. Sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Hampden.
• Kim’s Krypt is in a new location in 2011 on Eastern Avenue in Essex. It is open from 7-10:30pm Saturday through Monday — another haunted adventure. The “krypt” is indoors, while the line is outside.

So, as you can see, there is plenty to do for Halloween in Baltimore. I am sure there are many more — what events do YOU know of & can share?

Have a safe and Happy Halloween in Baltimore!

What Is The Best Day To List My House?

What is the best day to list my house?

A few years ago, prior to the internet being a terrific place to find information about a house, I would have said Tuesday night or Wednesday. Why? In the past, Broker’s Opens, generally held on Wednesday afternoons in central Baltimore County, were the “first showings” for houses. Owners got their places spiffed up, listing agents got sandwiches and cookies to share for lunch, and agents from many different brokerages were out to view the new inventory on the market.

At that time, the MLS allowed for 1-5 photos, the internet was a new thing, and Broker’s Opens were the best way for agents to get out and see the new places on the market to let their clients and potential clients know what is out there.

Now, with the internet being such a large part of the homebuying experience, data research has shown that best day to list is Friday.

Why?

Most homebuyers look at houses on the weekends. Many do not have to work, or have more flexibility or availability on weekends. The theory is that therefore, they choose which houses they want to see on Fridays, and they place them in order of newest to the market to oldest, making those that come on the market Fridays at the top of the list.

This does not mean that listing paperwork or photos should wait until Fridays. That is the day the data shown by the Redfin study say it should hit the market and websites. Note, though, that many websites do not catch up right away, and some take 24-48 hours to hit the internet. That being said, buyers who are working with a buyer’s agent get up-to-date information, and will have that data right away.

So, if you are looking to sell your Towson home, contact me to get things started, so we can plan to have it on the MLS for Friday!

 

Fall Fun at North Run Farm in Baltimore County

I’ve written before about fun places to go for Fall fun in Baltimore County.

Weber’s Farm and Huber’s Farm are two popular locations.

One I just discovered is North Run Farm near Stevenson University.

My son had his class field trip there today, and there are many fun things to do!

The maze this year is wild — a huge crab — that our entire group proceeded to get lost in.

The kids loved the animals, and even the adults learned something new. Did you know that cows love to eat pumpkins? (We didn’t!)

The farm is open Friday 12-6pm, Saturday & Sunday 10am-6pm through November 6, 2011.

Admission includes a hayride, the farm, including the animal farm, a hay play area, a hay tee pee, corn sandbox, mini hay maze, and more. Add the big maze for just $1 more! Visit their website for more details.

We really had fun at the field trip. I will give you a few tips.

1) If there has been rain in the past week, wear BOOTS. The maze & pumpkin patch will be muddy — and two days after rain there were still large, muddy puddles!

2) The port-a-potties were pretty yucky this late in the season. Bring wipes & toilet paper – and be prepared to hold your breath!

3) Bring hand sanitizer – things can get messy!

4) There is a stand with some good looking food & drinks –bring cash!

5) The entire operation only accepts cash, so be prepared to bring some for pumpkins, food, and other produce & goods you may want to get.

Lastly, enjoy!

North Run Farm is run by Rodgers’ Farm and is open usually Friday-Sunday from the middle of September through the first weekend in November. Field trips have additional time openings.

North Run Farm is located at 1818 Greenspring Valley Road, Owings Mills, MD 21117.

Strange Things That May Hurt Your Baltimore House Value

There are some things about your Baltimore home that you may have gotten used to, or don’t bother you, but could affect your house’s value.

Recently there was an article on MSNMoney where they tackled a few of these things.

Your house is different from the majority of the houses around you. If yours is the largest in the neighborhood, your value would be affected by those smaller homes around you. Buyers who are looking for that bigger home would tend to look elsewhere. Add onto that, appraisers would typically assign your home less $$ per square foot than other homes like yours in different neighborhoods.

This also comes into play with improvements. If you have put a lot of money into kitchens and bathrooms, but the neighboring houses have not, then you most likely will not get the money you put into it back when you sell.

You are missing a family room or bedroom. This goes along with “your house is different,” because if you only have three bedrooms but the others around you have four, this will affect who may look at or buy your house. Buyers have come to expect certain things from certain neighborhoods, and if your house doesn’t have what they expect, it could hurt your value in the long run.

Your house is a mish-mash of styles and updates. Your refrigerator broke so you decided to get a stainless one because it would look better over the long run. The problem is if you still have a white dishwasher, a black & white stove, and black microwave, it doesn’t show well. It could very well look like your appliances are starting to fail, and that could be the assumption a buyer makes.

Your home is showing its’ age. Are those floors really getting beaten up? Is your 50 year old front porch looking it? Those could affect value both in resale and in appraisal.

Neighbors. Some of that goes with improvements — if your neighbor tends to decorate the outside of his or her house in loud colors and designs, or leaves trash or junk around, it definitely can bring your value down.

Your Home Owner’s Association (HOA). Many HOAs make their communities better places. They make sure the outsides of houses look good, yards not a mess, and ensure that the neighbor issue from above don’t happen. Some, though, can be very strict, and that can hurt values. Why? If there are lawsuits going on, it could look like trouble. Add onto that, in the long run, it is usually the association’s dues that pay for the lawsuits….so some could worry that their dues would rise.

Your tax assessment is wrong. If square footage, number of bedrooms, or other issues are there, it could affect an appraisal on the property.

So be aware of these items that could affect your house’s value. Remember that buyers are often looking for a home, which includes the neighborhood, neighbors, and surrounding areas. Contact me for ideas on your Baltimore house value, and what you may be able to do to better yours!

21093 Home Sale Statistics September 2011

Home sales in 21093 were stable in September, with a small increase of 8.7% over the same month last year.

Average home sale price in Timonium was up 5.5% as well, up to $336,156 versus a low of $318,630 last September.

One more home sold this September, with 34 changing hands.

An interesting statistic (but not a good one), is that townhouse sales prices were down 18.22% to $250,692 while last year’s average was $306,542. It appears that there were a number of condos that sold, and they are used in the statistics. One sold for under $150,000, two for $150-200,000, and 4 in the $200-299,000 price range, which could explain the large drop in prices throughout the 21093 zip code.

At the same time, we had a price jump for detached homes, with average sales price rising to $389,062 over last September’s average of $325,538. Again, though, this number is skewed because there were FOUR sales in the $600-800,000 price range, which bring that average up tremendously and artificially.

Here is a link to the detailed September 2011 Timonium home sale report.

What this really reminds me is that real estate is extremely local. Timonium real estate is no different. There are $800,000 neighborhoods that are adjacent to $275,000 ones. Each neighborhood, even each street, can hold different values. Contact me for your Lutherville neighborhood house value!

Purple Friday October 14, 2011

It’s Purple Friday here in Baltimore, and I am ready after a relaxing BYE week.

Hopefully the Baltimore Ravens’ offense used their time off well and were able to strengthen their struggling offense.

This week I wore my Ravens gear and even got my nails painted purple (which, for those who know me, is funny because I *never* get my nails painted any sort of color!).

The Ravens vs Texans game is at 4:05pm on Sunday, so get out & enjoy the beautiful weather we are supposed to have beforehand. Then hunker down and cheer our Baltimore Ravens to victory!

Happy Purple Friday!

GO RAVENS!

Dogfest 2011

You may have seen signs all over town (I know I have!) about Dogfest 2011.

Dogfest 2011 will be held Saturday, October 15, 2011 at the Baltimore Humane Society in Reisterstown, MD.

What is Dogfest?

It is a day to benefit dogs and cats in need who live at the shelter. There are fun events including contests for best dog kiss, best tail wag, best singer, and owner/dog lookalike. (Those who know me and my long haired chihuahua, Baxter, know that we would probably win that contest. )

There are pet & owner activities, as well as fun kids activities including a bounce house, face painting, and more. Details can be found on their website.

Right now the weather forecast is calling for sunny skies and a high of 65 degrees, so it should be a beautiful day to spend outdoors!

Gates are open from 9-6, and the entrance fee is $10.

If you have dogs, bring them along for the fun. If not, there will be a number available for adoption!

The Baltimore Humane Society is located at 1601 Nicodemus Road, Reisterstown, MD 21136 (google map).

Come on out to support the Baltimore Humane Society, and have a great time while you do!

Why Did My House Appraisal Come in Low?

Why did my house appraisal come in lower than contract price?

Even with comparable sales to your contract price on your house on record, if there are other homes in the area that have sold for less since then, that says to an appraiser that values are dropping in the neighborhood.

An appraiser’s responsibility is to the buyer’s bank, to show to the bank that if they had to foreclose, the value would be there to resell it.

If he or she interprets the market to be declining, it is his or her obligation to report it that way.

If there is a long time between the contract date and the settlement date, it can make this issue more prevalent, so be aware of settlement dates more than 60 days out. Appraisers right now are looking at data generally less than four months old. If your house goes under contract, and settlement isn’t due to happen for 90-120 days, then you really don’t know what the market will tell the appraiser, and you run even more of a risk.

What can you do to prepare for an appraisal?

If you have done a lot of work to your house that is outstanding and sets your home apart from others, make sure to have those receipts, so your agent can make copies of them to give to the appraiser.

Make sure your house looks good when the appraiser is due to come through. Appraisers do understand that you are moving, so some boxes are expected, but a nice, clean house helps!

Be sure to keep up on what is happening in your neighborhood even after you go under contract. Those list prices and sales WILL affect your value!

Having a professional real estate agent to guide you through this tough market is very important. Contact me for Towson real estate needs!

Next Page »