Sometimes there are some questions with Baltimore appraisals, and a big one has to do with short sales and foreclosures and whether they are used in comparisons with regular home sales. Short sales and foreclosures are "distressed" properties, often times in lesser condition than their surrounding regular homes. So why do appraisers need to take [...]
The Charm City Circulator announced a new route that will begin its' run in Summer 2012. The Charm City Circulator Banner route will run from the the Baltimore Visitor's Center at the Inner Harbor to Fort McHenry. It will have a number of stops along the way at businesses, restaurants, and neighborhoods. It [...]
Due to the economy and fraudulent transactions, many title companies here in Maryland are requiring buyers to wire their funds for settlement, instead of bringing a cashier's check, which used to be the norm. Apparently there are fake cashier's checks circulating, which puts the title company in very bad position. A title company relies on [...]
Baltimore Zillow Zestimates are still often off from true value, despite the change in algorithms last year. "Desktop Valuations" are a quick way to look at the potential value of a home, but they do not take many factors into consideration, and some of the things they DO use to determine a value should not be used! [...]
This Month in Real Estate for February 2012 has been released! Home sales in January were on pace to have 4.6 million homes sell in 2012, up from the pace of 4.4 million in December. The median home sale price was at $165,000, up $1,000 over January 2012 This Month in Real Estate. The average [...]
The Towson Circle III is a development potentially in the works for the heart of Towson with shops, eateries, and a large Cinemark Movie Theater. The development is being put together by Heritage Properties of Towson and leasing will be done by The Cordish Companies. Towson Circle III would be located on the [...]
The mortgage interest tax deduction that 38% of Maryland homeowners take advantage of could go away if a new bill introduced is passed. According to the Maryland Association of REALTORS(R) Action Alert about the reduction in tax deduction, "Under the proposal, if a Maryland taxpayer’s federal adjusted gross income exceeds $100,000; single taxpayer’s itemized deductions would decrease by 10% when [...]