Thank You, Veterans

This Friday, November 11, 2011 is a special day. Not only is it 11-11-11, but it is Veterans Day, and a day when we should thank both our veterans and our active military personnel for the freedoms they help to protect.

All weekend at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, there is a celebration. Friday there is a concert by the Baltimore Brass,  Saturday they will play at 1 & 3 pm. Friday only there will be veterans there to sign autographs and share their stories about the war(s) they were in. These are FEE FREE days, according to the website. What a great opportunity to honor our veterans!

On Friday evening, November 11, at 8pm, the Creative Alliance in Baltimore has a special event put on by the Veteran Artist Program, which empowers veterans and their art into the community by collaborating with professional artists. Read more about the event here.

Papa John’s is donating $1 to the USO for every online order from 11am EST to 11pm PST.

My son’s school is inviting fathers to come & work side-by-side with their sons, putting together care packages with Halloween candy and more to send to our troops to thank them.

The best thing we can all do is find a veteran or active personnel and say THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, VETERANS!

New Townhouses in Sparks Possible

There is a potential for new townhomes in Sparks, as plans were presented to the Sparks-Glencoe Community Planning Council Meeting in September.

The proposed development would be for 80 townhouses at York Road and Fila Way just north of Hunt Valley and Shawan Road.

Fila used to have a large plant behind this area, and had been zoned for more development. Obrecht, the developers, felt residential improvements would be better for the surrounding Sparks community.

The townhouses in Sparks-Glencoe would start at $400,000 each, and would have two or three bedrooms, according to an article in the Cockeysville Patch.

How would you feel about new townhouses in Sparks? Do you think the area needs more homes? Would you be interested in them?

Do you think new townhouses would make Sparks house values higher or lower?

Each neighborhood in Sparks is different. Contact me for more information on your Sparks house value.

FHA Condo Rules Make Selling Many Condos Difficult

Recently, there were changes made to the FHA condo regulations on which projects can be FHA insured or not.

According to a Washington Post rundown of the changes, a major one is the “spot approval” that used to be acceptable to be eligible for an FHA loan. Another article goes more in depth on the issues this is causing for condo home sellers.

The agency eliminated spot approval earlier this year. Now, any condo buyer with an FHA loan must stick to an FHA-approved building. A lender, developer/builder, homeowners association or management company can submit a package to the FHA seeking approval. The change was part of a broader initiative to tighten FHA condo policy. Some elements of that initiative have been temporarily loosened through Dec. 31 to try to stabilize the condo market.Why? Condos are widely considered the market’s shakiest segment because they are popular with speculators and financially vulnerable entry-level buyers. A lot of foreclosure-related losses have come from condos, which is why industry policies have forced lenders to look more closely at the makeup of entire complexes before extending loans.

Without that FHA approval, it ties the hands of many buyers, as most would then need more money for a downpayment, which they may not have.

I did a quick spot check on Timonium condos on the HUD site where you can review FHA condo approval statuses. I was sad to see how many had expired, leaving any sellers in those buildings at a disadvantage! Of the 23 Timonium condo communities that came up when I searched 21093, 16 of them have expired. Here is a pdf of the Timonium FHA condo statuses as of today.

I have written much about the FHA Condo Recertifications, because we have so many Timonium condos that are now affected by these changes.

This is not good news, and I hope that the associations are working toward their re-certifications, though I understand across the US that many have tried and been denied over technicalities or other issues, and that the penalty for a director providing incorrect information (even if in error) faces $1 million in fines & up to 30 years in jail, so many are not willing to take on the risk.

Hopefully there will be another resolution on this matter, so affected condo owners aren’t hurt more by the inability to sell to FHA homebuyers.

Fall Back 2011

We “fall back” this weekend, at 2am Sunday, November 6, 2011, ending Daylight Saving Time, and returning to Standard Time.

It is the perfect day for an “extra” hour of sleep, since our Baltimore Ravens take on the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night in PA. This way hopefully our team will be rested, as will we so we can stay up to watch & cheer them on!

A good idea every time you change your clocks forward or back, is to change the batteries in your smoke detectors. Though many newer homes are hardwired, and do not require the batteries to operate, older Towson homes are not, and need to be adjusted. Don’t wait until your smoke detectors start chirping — keep your family safe & change the batteries now! (Usually they take 9V batteries, which can be bought most anywhere!)

So I hope you are able to enjoy your extra hour of sleep. Of course, with a five year old, we probably won’t actually get an extra hour, we’ll just be up at 6 instead of 7…

Charm City Circulator Green Route Launches

The Charm City Circulator in Baltimore added the Green Line this morning, November 1, 2011.

The Green Line has stops in Fells’ Point, the Water Taxi at Maritime Park (At Caroline and Thames,) the Shot Tower (near the Metro and Power Plant Live), Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, plus City Hall.

Today also adds a Howard Street/Pratt Street stop to the Orange line, near the light rail.

More details on routes and hours can be found on their website!

Don’t know what the Charm City Circulator is? Check out my prior posts. It is a neat initiative for Baltimore residents and workers!

More about the Charm City Circulator Orange Route.

More about the Charm City Circulator Purple Route.

The Charm City Circulator is free bus transportation service provided by the City of Baltimore. It is designed to provide transportation around Downtown Baltimore for residents, workers, and visitors. Come Downtown and get around for FREE!

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