Baltimore Real Estate Agent

New HOA or Condo Doc Cancellation of Contract Deposit Decision

The Maryland Real Estate Commission has made a new decision on the HOA or Condo Document Cancellation of Contract deposit rules and shared that change on August 23, 2010.

In the past, if a buyer canceled their contract of sale due to an issue with the Homeowners Association Documents or Condominium Association Documents, both the buyer and the seller had to sign a release of deposit in order for the buyer to receive their good faith deposit back.

This seemed to be in misalignment with the contract of sale, which says, in essence (from the Maryland Association of REALTORS Governmental Affairs News site):

A buyer who enters into a contract but who has not received the required HOA documents and disclosures may cancel the contract any time before closing, and is entitled to “immediate return of deposits made on account of the contract.”  Real Property Article 11B-108(a).   A buyer who does not receive the HOA documents and disclosures at least five days prior to entering into the sales contract is entitled to cancel the contract within five days of receiving the documents and disclosures.  The buyer need not state any reason for canceling the contract, as long as the cancelation is in writing.  The buyer is entitled to the “return of any deposits made on account of the contract, except that the vendor shall be entitled to retain the cost of reproducing” the documents and information disclosed to the buyer.  Real Property Article 11B-108(b).

A purchaser who enters into a contract of sale to purchase a condominium is entitled to cancel the contract within 7 days of receipt of the required documents and disclosures and is thereafter entitled to “return of any deposit made on account of the contract.”  Real Property Article 11-135 (f).

In the past, Brokers had not legally been allowed to release monies from the escrow accounts:

until a transaction is consummated or terminated, written instructions from the parties are received, an interpleader is filed in court or neither party objects to the broker’s proposed disposition of the deposit. Business Occupations Article 17-505 (a).  Following this new policy statement by the Real Estate Commission, a broker may return the buyer’s deposit once written notice to cancel the contract is given.

This is a big change benefiting buyers, and I am curious to see how it will effect Maryland real estate transactions in the future. Maryland condo owners and homeowners with HOAs need to be aware of these changes, and should order their documents when they begin to market their homes so as to have them available to buyers once they go under contract. Check with your HOA how long the documents are valid, though, and if you can order updates.

Contact me to help you navigate the new changes in Maryland HOA home sales!

This Month in Real Estate September 2010

This Month in Real Estate September 2010 is here early!

September’s video discusses foreclosures, and how California, Florida, and Arizona topped the list in most foreclosures per state.

Maryland foreclosures too are at an all time high, as I discussed in both July & August, up 56.2% in the first half of 2010, and 10th worst in the US.

What the high foreclosure rate is doing is allowing buyers to take advantage of the market. In 2009, 1 of every 4 second home purchases was a foreclosure. This is partially due to the areas hardest hit being in vacation areas, but also due to the possibility of foreclosures being up to a 20% discount over neighborhood market values.

Byron Ellington discussed tips for buying foreclosures. These are great tips for buying a Maryland foreclosure:

1) Expect a little more time to hear back from your offer than you would from a general seller. Banks have a process that can take 12 days or more to respond back to an offer.

2) Understand that most banks sell their foreclosed homes AS-IS, meaning they won’t make repairs on the house for inspections or other purposes. This is especially important to understand if you are using an FHA insured loan, because often there are repairs required by the FHA appraiser — that the seller (the bank) would not agree to fix. If you are planning to use FHA for your mortgage, make sure to speak with your mortgage professional prior to even looking at foreclosed properties to understand your options and obligations.

3) Each bank has their own policies and procedures, so even if your friend or acquaintance has gone through the process, yours may be extremely different, because each bank if very different.

4) Having a real estate professional on your side is very important to help you navigate the waters.

Contact me for more information about buying a Baltimore foreclosure.

Why Do Some Houses Sell While Others Stay on the Market?

Why do some houses sell while others stay on the market?

A very good question. The answer is rather simple: price & condition.

In a Towson neighborhood where there could be 3 houses that have been on the market for months, a new one comes on. There is a flurry of activity, and the house goes under contract quickly.

Why this one? Why not the others?

The likelihood is that this Towson homeowner had their home in a staged, beautiful condition, and it was priced RIGHT. The other three may have overpriced when they first listed in an attempt to “test the market” or their house isn’t in top notch showing condition.

This video, from Jay Papasan, Vice President of of Publishing for Keller Williams Realty, and co-author of a number real estate best-sellers, demonstrates why some houses in the same market sell while others may not. His graph is a great visual of understanding!

Contact me, your Towson Realtor, to find out true Towson house values.

HampdenFest 2010

HampdenFest 2010 will be held September 11, 2010 from 10 am – 7 pm on the Avenue — 36th Street — in Hampden, Hon!

HampdenFest is a community arts festival with four blocks of arts & crafts vendors, local food and drink, antiques, kids’ activities, three stages for art & musical performances, and the Hampden Village Merchants Association shops.

The silly & fun event is the toilet racing (yes, you read that right, toilet racing), where participants will have built a car-type racing machine using a clean toilet, and race in drag-racing type competition. The first heat begins at 10 am.

A short-film mini Film Festival will be held with shorts from local producers.

This comes on the heels of the fun Annual Honfest that was held June 12 & 13, 2010. Hampden is such a great hub of neat events. So come on down to Hampden, Hon, and visit Hampdenfest on the 11th!

Buying into Baltimore $4,000 Incentive Fall 2010

Buying a home Baltimore just became a little sweeter for homebuyers looking on the east side.

The Housing Authority of Baltimore City sent a press release out this morning with this great announcement that 50 eligible buyers participating in the Buying into Baltimore event on September 11, 2010 will receive $4,000 towards their new home, an increase of $1,000 over the past 13 years of the program. These are 5 year forgivable loans, meaning that if the buyers remain in the home for 5 years, they will not have to repay.

The Spring Buying into Baltimore Fair was held on May 8, and was a great success.

September’s Buying into Baltimore Event & Tour will begin at Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School on Hillen Road in Baltimore from 8:30 am – 2 pm.

From the press release:

To receive the money, participants must:
1) live in the desired home as the primary owner/occupant,
2) possess a valid homeownership counseling certificate,
3) participate in the “Buying into Baltimore” tour and have the tour ticket validated at four homes,
4) buy in the eastern part of Baltimore (see Live Baltimore website for boundary details),
5) purchase a home that is less than $417,000, and
6) sign the home sales contract after the event takes place.

Funds are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants must close on a house within 90 days of the eastern region fair to receive the $4,000 award. There are no income restrictions on this program, nor does a recipient have to be a first-time homebuyer.

The Boundaries, from the Live Baltimore website are:

Boundary dividing line:

Starting from the North (Baltimore City/Baltimore County Line)…

• Head South on Charles St.
• To West on 29th St.
• To South on Howard St.
• To West on Camden St.
• To South on Russell St. and continue to County Line

So if you are considering buying a house in East Baltimore City, contact me to learn more!

Baltimore County Restaurant Week Extended

Baltimore County Restaurant Week has been extended through September 5, 2010 for 14 of the 15 originally participating restaurants.

2010 was Baltimore County’s first restaurant week, and from the look of things, this will continue yearly!

Restaurants from Towson to Timonium to Sparks have been and are continuing to participate with discounts for lunch and dinner!

The participating restaurants, brought together by the Milton Inn in Sparks, are:

Towson:

Cafe Troia on Allegheny Ave in Towson

The Melting Pot on York Rd in Towson

Stoney River Legendary Steaks in Towson Town Center

—————————

Lutherville/Timonium:

The Peppermill on York Road in Lutherville

Michael’s Cafe on York Road in Timonium

Christopher Daniel on Padonia Road in Timonium

Sabor in Mays Chapel in Timonium

—————————

Cockeysville/Hunt Valley:

Vito’s Cafe on York Rd in Cockeysville

Patrick’s on Cranbrook in Cockeysville

Greystone Grill in Hunt Valley Towne Center

Jesse Wong’s Kitchen in Hunt Valley Towne Center

—————————

Other Baltimore County Locations:

The Milton Inn on York Rd in Sparks

Artful Gourmet Bistro in Owings Mills

The Grill at Harryman House in Reisterstown

Mia Carolina in Glyndon

—————————-

So enjoy these great Baltimore County restaurants while they have their specials going on for the next two weeks!

Ray Lewis Real Estate Firm

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis now has his name backing a new commercial real estate firm called RL52 Realty, currently based in Boca Raton, FL.

The official kick off to Ray Lewis Realty will be at the International Council of Shopping Centers from August 22-24, 2010 outside Orlando, FL.

Ray Lewis has recently put his name behind a number of projects, including MVP Entertainment in Hunt Valley, which, according to their Facebook page has:

2 restaurants, Sub-Zero Vodka Bar, Sushi Bar, 40ft Sports Bar, 38 Bowling lanes, 2 Golf Simulators,Event Catering & arcade more…

MVP Entertainment will be located in Hunt Valley Towne Center, where the old Wal-Mart used to be. The plan is to open mid-to-late fall. This should be a great addition to the Hunt Valley shopping area!

Ray Lewis attended University of Miami, which may have a lot to do with his real estate firm opening in Florida.

Since Ray is such a great linebacker for the Ravens, I hope to see his commercial real estate venture do well. For Baltimore Commercial Real Estate needs, contact me to access our KW Commercial division at Keller Williams Excellence Realty.

Meanwhile, it’s almost officially football season. GO RAY LEWIS & BALTIMORE RAVENS!

Charles Street Construction at 695 Ramp Closures

On August 10, the Charles Street ramp to 695 West closed, and the roundabout entrance to that & I-83N reopened.

Traffic before had been routed coming north into the right lane to enter the Beltway, and those traveling south have used alternate routes to access I-695W since that entrance closed in early April.

According to the State Highway Administration’s press release, this new closure should be temporary, about two weeks.

The big upcoming change should come at about August 24th, when the west bound ramp from northbound Charles Street should re-open. The ramp to eastbound I-695 from Charles Street remains closed for the time being.

Weekend work will really change things. Look out for these big issues the weekend of August 27 -30 (or 9/10-13 in case of inclement weather):

Charles Street Bridge Traffic Switch – Weekend Work

• 9 p.m. Friday, August 27 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 30: Crews will shift all Charles Street traffic from the old bridge to the new bridge.  The Charles Street Bridge will remain open to vehicular traffic during the shift, with flagging operations and intermittent traffic stoppages throughout the weekend.

The ramps from southbound I-83 (Harrisburg Expressway) and eastbound I-695 to Charles Street will be temporarily detoured to the MD 45 (York Road) interchange during the weekend.  The flyover ramp from southbound I-83 to eastbound I-695 will remain open during the bridge traffic shift.

In case of inclement weather, the Charles Street bridge traffic shift and temporary ramp closures will take place the weekend of September 10-13.   This interchange currently carries more than 120,000 vehicles per day along I-695, with 55,000 vehicles per day along Charles Street.

Additionally, the left-turn ramp from southbound Charles Street to eastbound I-695 (Inner Loop) will remain closed until late fall, and the posted detour through Lutherville will continue.

FHA Refinance of Underwater Borrowers

FHA is offering refinances for qualifying underwater borrowers, according to a mortgagee letter sent out by HUD last week.

Mortgagee Letter 2010 -23 came as a result of the changes announced by HUD in March 2010 in the MHA (Making Housing Affordable) FHA program.

The letter states that the focus of the program is:

These enhancements are designed to maintain homeownership by providing borrowers, who owe more on their mortgage than the value of their home, opportunities to refinance into an affordable FHA loan. This opportunity allows borrowers who are current on their mortgage to qualify for an FHA refinance loan provided that the lender or investor writes off the unpaid principal balance of the original first lien mortgage by at least 10 percent.

Hopefully this will help a large number of people who do not want to leave their homes and can possibly make smaller payments per month to remain.

The refinances must have their case numbers assigned after September 7, 2010, and all of these qualifying loans must close by December 31, 2012.

The mortgagee letter is more than five pages long, and there are many details and eligibility requirements.

Participation is voluntary and requires the consent of lien holders. In order for a loan to be eligible, the following conditions must be met:
1.    The homeowner must be in a negative equity position;

2.    The homeowner must be current on the existing mortgage to be refinanced;

3.    The homeowner must occupy the subject property (1-4 units) as their primary residence;

4.    The homeowner must qualify for the new loan under standard FHA underwriting requirements and possess a “FICO based” decision credit score greater than or equal to 500;

5.    The existing loan to be refinanced must not be a FHA-insured loan;

6.    The existing first lien holder must write off at least 10 percent of the unpaid principal balance;

7.    The refinanced FHA-insured first mortgage must have a loan-to-value ratio of no more than 97.75 percent;

8.    Non-extinguished existing subordinate mortgages must be re-subordinated and the new loan may not have a combined loan-to-value ratio greater than 115 percent;

9.    For loans that receive a “refer” risk classification from TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard (TOTAL) and/or are manually underwritten, the homeowner’s total monthly mortgage payment, including the first and any subordinate mortgage(s), cannot be greater than 31 percent of gross monthly income and total debt, including all recurring debts, cannot be greater than 50 percent of gross monthly income;

10. FHA mortgagees are not permitted to use premium pricing to pay off existing debt obligations to qualify the borrower for the new loan;

11. FHA mortgagees are not permitted to make mortgage payments on behalf of the borrowers or otherwise bring the existing loan current to make it eligible for FHA insurance; and

12. The existing loan to be refinanced may not have been brought current by the existing first lien holder, except through an acceptable permanent loan modification as described below.

Baltimore underwater homeowners should find out if they are eligible by a Baltimore mortgage professional. If this option is not open to you, and you still want to avoid foreclosure in Baltimore, contact me to help you. There may be other options open to you.

New FHA Mortgage Changes H.R. 5981

Beginning October 4, 2010, new FHA Mortgage changes will be coming through, due to bill H.R. 5981 signed into law August 11.

Thank you to Dan Plunkett with Prosperity Mortgage, who clarified the changes in H.R. 5981:

The new FHA Mortgage changes include a reduction in the upfront mortgage insurance premium (also known as Upfront PMI) from 2.25% to 1%. The monthly mortgage insurance premium will rise from .50% to .85% on loans with more than 5% down over 15 years. It will rise from .55% to .90% on loans with less than 5% down (which many FHA loans are, since their minimum downpayment is only 3.5%).

Dan states that the amount borrowed will be lower, but the increased monthly mortgage insurance premium could effect approvals when the borrower is close in their income-to-debt ratio for qualifications.

It also will mean that monthly mortgage payments, in general, will rise for FHA loans.

Buyers wanting to take advantage of the FHA loan standards as they are need to be under contract and make loan application by the end of September, to ensure they have their case number assigned prior to October 4. Contact me today to take advantage of the FHA loan guidelines as they stand now!

Next Page »