Downtown Baltimore Real Estate Agent

Brew at the Zoo and Wine Too 2012

Brew at the Zoo and Wine Too 2012 is Memorial Day weekend!

Brew at the Zoo is The Baltimore Zoo’s biggest annual fundraiser. The cost of admission gives adults 21 & over unlimited wine and beer samples, and for all attendees, food, crafts, as well as live music, a Kids Zone with activities for the young ones, plus admission to the zoo from 10-4.

The hours for this year’s Brew at the Zoo and Wine too is 1pm – 7pm Saturday, May 26 & Sunday, May 27. For more details and tickets, visit their site. They often sell out!

The live music: Saturday: 1pm Dagmar and the Seductones, 3pm Flow in the Dark and 5pm Old Man Brown. Sunday: 1pm The 8-Balls, 3pm Jah Works, and 5pm Kelly Bell Band.

The food vendors include:

Grilled Cheese & Co. (The crab grilled cheese? Fabulous.)

Xtreme Snowballs (A Baltimore tradition!)

Wood Fire Pizza
London Court Beverage Company (a traveling Tiki bar!)
Josef’s Country Inn from Fallston

Laurrapin Grill from Havre De Grace and more!

If you’re in Baltimore for Memorial Day Weekend, relax, support the Baltimore Zoo and have some fun at Brew at the Zoo!

Preakness 2012

Preakness 2012 week is here, and the excitement in Baltimore is building!

There are races scheduled throughout the day on Saturday, May 19, 2012. The 137th Running of the Preakness is scheduled for about 6:19pm.

The Preakness Infield is *the* place to be on Saturday, with Whiz Khalifa at 1:20pm and Maroon 5 at 4:00pm on the main stage. A second stage has a number of shows, and there are games and activities throughout the day.

The Preakness website has all of the details to join in or follow along.

Come to Baltimore Saturday, May 19, 2012 for a time like no other!

Photo courtesy of Fisherga via Flickr CC

Baltimore Star Spangled Sailabration

Baltimore will be hosting its’ first air show as part of the Star Spangled Sailabration June 13-19, 2012.

The Star Spangled Sailabration revolves around 40 tall ships coming into the Inner Harbor, beginning the National launch of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812! You will be able to have free tours of the tall ships, Harborfront activities, and the premiere of a new song by Philip Glass, the “Overture of 2012.”

The celebration coincides with Flag Day, which is June 14.

The Blue Angels will be heading the Baltimore Air Show, which should be both Saturday & Sunday afternoons, June 16 & 17. The time is currently TBD. There will be a concert and fireworks at Fort McHenry on Saturday night!

The Sailabration Village in the Inner Harbor is planning to showcase hands-on kids activities, international culinary goodies from the Tall Ship chefs, as well as performances from the countries’ embassies represented by the Tall Ships. More details are on the 200th Celebration site.

Don’t miss this exciting event in Downtown Baltimore this June. It should be spectacular!

Photo courtesy of ojbyrne via Flickr CC

Johns Hopkins University Spring Fair 2012

The Johns Hopkins University Spring Fair 2012 is this weekend, April 20-22.

It is a student-run fair, and is for both the University and the Baltimore community!

There is a large Kids section with games, arts & crafts, and educational activities. There will also be the Monkey Man, a bounce house, the Maryland Zoo Mobile, reptile fun, a magician and more!

There are events happening throughout the weekend for kids and adults alike. A beer garden awaits those 21 & older, and there will be musical performances, museum shopping, and contests. There are over 30 food vendors to enjoy, as well as arts and crafts sellers as well.

Visit their website to find details on what is happening, where, and when!

The Johns Hopkins Spring Fair runs Friday. April 20 from 12-8pm, Saturday April 21 from 10am-8pm, and Sunday, April 22 from 10am-6pm.

Bunny Bonanzoo Easter Weekend at the Baltimore Zoo

The Bunny Bonanzoo is back at the Baltimore Zoo with fun activities including an egg hunt!

The Bonanzoo is April 6-8, 2012 from 10am-2pm. The event is free to members and comes with zoo admission for everyone else. (Some activities may cost money, so check with the Zoo to find out what is included! Here is a flyer on the Zoo’s website with more details)

They will have crafts, an outdoor bounce house, games, plus live entertainment. Each child that participates in the egg hunt can trade in their eggs for Mary Sue Candies chocolates.

The rest of the time, you can visit the zoo and watch the animal enrichment activities, where they will get special treats for the holiday weekend.

We went a few years ago, and my son & niece loved it.

Enjoy the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore this long weekend! It looks like it should be a lot of fun!

Baltimore Farmers Market Open for 2012

The Baltimore Farmers Market will open for the 2012 season on Sunday, April 1, 2012 — no joke!

The 35th Annual market will be open Sundays through December 23 from 7am-12pm.

New this year from the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts website:

Parking
Free parking at the market is courtesy of Mercy Medical Center. The parking lot is located at Guilford Avenue and Pleasant Street, adjacent to the bazaar lot, and is accessible from Guilford Avenue.

Street Closures for 2012
The 600 block of Hillen Street and 300 block of Holliday Street are temporarily closed from 5am to 2pm on Sundays for the duration of the market from April 1 to December 23, 2012.

The Baltimore Farmers’ Market is located under the JFX at Holliday and Saratoga streets. Not only will there be farmers’ wares, the bazaar has crafts, there will be food vendors will be selling wood fired pizzas, pit beef sandwiches, omelets and more to enjoy while you browse & buy.

So get local and come to Downtown Baltimore for locally grown fruits, veggies, meats, seafood and crafts!

Easter Egg Hunts Around Baltimore

With Easter coming Sunday, April 8, 2012, Easter Egg Hunts are popping up all over town this weekend and next.

Baltimore County Schools are off next week, so many families will be looking for fun activities to do!

Here are a few Easter Egg Hunts around Baltimore. If you know of any others, please post them in the remarks, and I will add them to the list!

SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012

TOWSON EASTER EGG HUNTS

9:30-11:30am Central Presbyterian Church, 7308 York Rd, Towson, MD 21204. More details on their site!

1:00pm The newly reopened Robert E Lee Park, Lakeside Drive, Baltimore, MD 21209 has a Family Spring Hunt, where you can search for hints of Spring treasures! Registration is required & space limited!.$3 per person. Here is the link for more details.

10am-5pm Towson Y Family Center, Y Spring Eggstravaganza Saturday and Sunday 3/31 & 4/1. Free for Y members, $5 individuals, $10 families. Registration required & space limited. More details on their site.

TIMONIUM EASTER EGG HUNTS

11am Springlake Community Association at Pot Spring Elementary School.

1-2:30pm Easter Eggstravaganza at Timonium United Methodist Church. Details for both above events on the Springlake Community Association website.

DOWNTOWN BALTIMORE EASTER EGG HUNT

9am-12pm 5th Annual Egg Hunt at Patterson Park by the Downtown Baltimore Family Alliance. The times for hunts are different depending on the age of the child! Earliest for the littlest ones begins at 10. You can find more information and register on their site.

SUNDAY APRIL 1, 2012

LUTHERVILLE EASTER EGG HUNT

3pm  West Lutherville Park, 500 Morris Avenue, Lutherville, MD 21093. From 1-2 pm, drop off a dozen candy filled eggs per child participating, so there are enough for each! More on Lutherville Community Association’s site.

SATURDAY APRIL 7, 2012

TOWSON EASTER EGG HUNT

10am-12pm Cromwell Valley Park Sherwood Farm in Towson, 2002 Cromwell Bridge Road, Baltimore, MD 21234. Egg Hunt Times: Ages 3-4 10:30am, 5-6 10:45am, 7-8 11:00am, 9-10 11:15am. More details on their website. Reservations are not required.

DOWNTOWN BALTIMORE EASTER CELEBRATION

11am, 1pm, 3pm Not quite an egg hunt, but you can ride the rails with the Easter Bunny on Friday 4/6 & Saturday 4/7 through the B&O Railroad Museum. $3 adults, $2 kids 2-12. Info on their site.

MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2012

DOWNTOWN BALTIMORE EASTER EGG HUNT

12-2pm Druid Hill Park, 15th Annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Rawlings Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. More details here.

So join in some fun over the next few weekends, whether you celebrate the holiday or not, finding eggs with treasures is almost always a good time!

 

Baltimore Named Top 10 Metro Area for Newlyweds

Baltimore Newlyweds have it good, according to a survey run by Rent.com.

The survey ask participants about how cohabiting helped or changed them, and how their city has treated them.

In the survey, over 75% responded that their quality of life improved since they moved in together. (I hope so! I am surprised it is not higher!) 62% said their financial situation improved.

As for the top 10 cities for newlyweds, here were the criteria per the blog:

…looking at cost of living, mean annual income, the unemployment rate, and rental inventory to identify 10 great cities for Newlyweds. In fact, the first five cities on the list are all performing better than the national average for unemployment rate, annual mean income and cost of living! These top picks are all wonderful places to create a fun and affordable lifestyle:

Baltimore came in at #10, with this description:

Baltimore, MD - A modern cultural center known for its hospitality, Baltimore offers a vibrant waterfront scene coupled with a laid-back attitude. This city is perfect for couples looking for the comfort of a smaller hometown with the benefits of urban living.

Now, that site focuses on rentals, but as recent studies have shown, in Baltimore, rentals are currently at about 92% capacity, and rent rates are high. Many articles have discussed how buying is actually more cost effective for many people right now, especially in areas like Baltimore.

With interest rates still at very low rates, and prices still low in many Baltimore neighborhoods, now may be the time to buy!

For more information about buying a home in Baltimore, please contact me. I would be happy to help!

Maryland Senate Passes Ground Rent Bill

The Maryland Senate passed a ground rent bill yesterday that would require the owners of ground rents to register them before they would be allowed to collect the money from them.

This was in response to the ground rent registration law that was overturned last year, where if the ground rent were not registered by a certain date, the rent would be extinguished. Ground rent owners who had not been aware of the registration fought and won that battle, where a court found that to be unconstitutional.

A seemingly reasonable compromise is this law, which doesn’t extinguish any ground rents, that says rent cannot be collected until the ground rent is registered. Once registered, the ground rent owner has the right to collect three years’ back rent, but it cannot make claims other than that if the property were not registered before.

The Baltimore Sun reported on this bill once it was passed, and says a similar bill is in the House of Delegates, which the government is hoping helps to solve some of the ground rent issues at hand.

The issue it doesn’t resolve is when someone wants to change the property from ground rent to fee simple, and the ground rent owner cannot be identified. The one thing that the law that was overturned would have done is make those ground rents that haven’t been paid in years because no one can find the rightful owner go away. They are a big problem for many out of state mortgage companies, and therefore the title companies who are doing the research and witholdings.

There are not many mortgage companies from out of state understand leasehold properties or the history of ground rent in Baltimore, and ground rents do affect a home’s value, whether or not there is a mortgage. Two years ago, FHA changed the way that ground rent properties are appraised, so there is that part of ground rent confusion and concern as well.

The main thing for a homeowner with ground rent to know is that even if you don’t “own the ground,” like many properties in Rodgers Forge, Loch Raven Village, and Downtown Baltimore, you can still use it any way that you want or desire (according to the covenants and restrictions of the neighborhood,) as long as you pay your ground rent.

Luckily this bill, if passed by the House of Delegates, can help to ensure that only three years’ back rent can be collected, and only if the property is registered, so it doesn’t leave homeowners in a bad position if they did not know who the owner was, and therefore had not made prior payments.

For more information on Baltimore ground rent homes and how ground rent can affect you as a homeowner, contact me. I would be happy to help!

B&O Railroad Museum Turns 184

The B&O Railroad Museum in Downtown Baltimore turns 184 this year, and is having a big party on Sunday, February 26, 2012 to celebrate!

It is also the 127th birthday of the Historic 1884 Roadhouse, so expect some big fun!

The B&O Railroad Museum is offering half price admission tickets as part of the excitement of the day. Tickets are usually $16 for adults, $14 for seniors 60+, Children 2-12 $10, and B&O Members are Free. Generally when you are visiting more than one museum, the price is a little higher, but for this celebration Sunday, that is not the case!

Part of the weekend is also welcoming the Mount Clare Museum House as part of their museum family. With paid admission to the B&O Railroad museum, there will be train rides to visit the Mount Clare Museum House at a cost of $5.00 for adults, $4.00 for children ages 2-12, and FREE for B&O Members. Train rides are Saturday, February 25 at 11:00 a.m., 12 Noon, 1:00 p.m. & 2:00 p.m. and Sunday, February 26 at 12:00 Noon, 1:00 p.m. & 2:00 p.m. For more details, visit their website.

The B&O Railroad Museum is a neat place for kids and adults alike to explore. Come to Downtown Baltimore for the celebration this weekend and enjoy some trains!

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