This summer, Restaurant Week is August 13-22, 2010.

Restaurant Week is always an exciting time with special meals and dining deals — $35.10 for a three course meal at nice restaurants in Baltimore. Lunch menus are only $20.10! The full list of participating eateries is here.

Baltimore’s Winter Restaurant Week 2010 was extended this past February because of our dual blizzards in one week, beginning February 5. Luckily this time, it’s just heat! So, get out of the heat and enjoy some fantastic food at great prices. Be sure to make reservations, because Baltimore Restaurant Week has people coming out to eat!

Many are up in arms over the 3.8% tax that would have to be paid.

Luckily for most Americans, this tax DOES NOT APPLY.

From Factcheck.org:

…only those with incomes over $200,000 a year ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly) will be subject to it. And even for those who have such high incomes, the tax still won’t apply to the first $250,000 on profits from the sale of a personal residence — or to the first $500,000 in the case of a married couple selling their home.

If you are married, you would only pay on PROFITS over $500,000 on your personal house that you sell. And that’s only IF you make $250,000 or more each year in income. Right now, you already can’t be taxed on your primary residence for this amount, and that remains true.

Washington Post columnist Benny L Kass, who also happens to be an attorney, reiterated much of the same information in his recent post:

First, it is not a sales tax, nor does it impose any transfer or recordation tax. It is called a Medicare tax because the money received will be allocated to the Medicare Trust Fund, which is part of the Social Security system.

So, please don’t worry. The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010’s “real estate tax” will not effect most Americans. Those who will be are in the top 2% of income earners in the US, and won’t be affected until 2013.

CNNMoney.com named the top 25 cities for highest income per single households, and Towson, MD was #14 in their list.

This is due to the median family income of $102,302, and the 35.4% rate of singles versus married households. Many Towson professors at the nearby Towson University and Goucher College live close to the schools.

Towson Feet on the Street is noted as a big plus for singles living in Towson, as well as the restaurants and bars along Allegheny Avenue.

If you are considering living in Towson, contact me today!

Lowe’s Home Improvement gave some great advice to check and follow!

• Fans and Ceiling Fans — a simple fan can make a room feel 6-7 degrees cooler because it helps to move the air around. Place one near an air conditioning register, and face it towards people, and you have instant cooling. This way you can possibly raise the thermostat but feel just as comfortable.

• Close Shades and Blinds — though natural light usually creates light so you don’t have to use your lamps and lights, the heat coming in from the windows may be negating that effect. There are heat-deflecting curtains, and white on the outside always helps!

• Control Internal Heat — Not using appliances? Unplug them.

Use a toaster oven instead of the regular oven if you can.

Don’t put appliances that put out heat near a thermostat. This will make your A/C run harder and longer than necessary.

Don’t cook in the middle of the day, try to cook after dark when it is a bit cooler!

Wash/Dry clothes in the evening as well because the humidity is what can cause it to feel even warmer. Those appliances create humidity in the air.

• Plants — having shade around the A/C unit is good — but don’t let it get too close, because then it may block the airflow and work against you!

Hopefully these tips can help you keep your Towson home cooler in this oppressive heat. Remember to stay hydrated!

There were 6,304 foreclosures filed in Maryland last month. This is up 104% from last year in the same month. This is an interesting statistic, considering that across the US, foreclosure filings were down 7%.

The entire first half of the year also saw a large rise in Maryland foreclosure filings, up 56.2% from last year to 28,293.

The Baltimore Business Journal reported:

“The roller coaster pattern of foreclosure activity over the past 12 months demonstrates that while the foreclosure problem is being managed on the surface, a massive number of distressed properties and underwater loans continues to sit just below the surface, threatening the fragile stability of the housing market,” RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio said in a statement.

I am hoping to see the foreclosure numbers drop as more people look to do a short sale in Maryland.

Contact me for more information on how to avoid foreclosure in Baltimore.

Many of those who received the erroneous additional property tax bill were newer Baltimore City homebuyers who bought their homes sometime between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010.

The mix up occurred partially due to the Homestead Tax Credit, which many homeowners collect, but new homeowners cannot until they have lived in the house for a year.

Jamie Smith-Hopkins reported in the Baltimore Sun:

New buyers can qualify for the credit after living in their homes for one full tax year. They can end up paying much higher taxes than the previous owner, especially if that owner lived in the home for a long time. But the increase doesn’t kick in until the new homeowner’s first July 1 in the property — because any taxes before that point are calculated based on the previous owner’s liability.

Here’s what went wrong: The Homestead credit amount for the last tax year was somehow erased from the property accounts for at least some of the more than 5,000 people who bought in the city during those months. Suddenly, it looked as if they’d underpaid.

City officials state that this week owners should receive a correct bill.

If you are a Baltimore City homeowner and received what you feel is an incorrect bill, you can check the Baltimore City Government’s website to find your correct amount due.

The company, based in Rockville, had a ribbon cutting ceremony on their 56,000 square foot facility on Lombard Street in Downtown Baltimore on Friday.

Emergent is the maker of the only FDA approved anthrax vaccine. The Washington Post reports that they are hoping that this location near Johns Hopkins Bayview will help them get into more commercial biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

This is great for Baltimore residents because there will be more job opportunities opening in the area, which could also help the Baltimore real estate market, especially Canton house values, since it is so close by and right on public transportation routes!

I wrote about these possible changes in January, in my post “More FHA Changes to Happen Mid Summer.” Also in January, HUD made major changes in FHA fees and upfront mortgage premiums. These changes are to keep the FHA afloat to be able to continue to insure mortgages.

HUD released a letter Thursday asking for public comment, and posted the three questions for comment in the next 30 days on their website:

Question 1:

Update the combination of credit and down payment requirements for new borrowers. New borrowers seeking FHA-insured financing will be required to have a minimum FICO score of 580 to qualify for FHA’s flagship 3.5 percent down payment program. New borrowers with credit scores of less than a 580 will be required to make a cash investment of at least 10 percent. Borrowers with credit scores of less than 500 will no longer qualify for an FHA-insured mortgage.

Essentially, if you have a low credit score, you would need to put 10% down rather than the usual 3.5% FHA financing minimum downpayment. This appears to be due to the large number of lower credit score borrowers defaulting on their FHA insured mortgages. The higher downpayment would give FHA more to work with should they need to foreclose on the FHA mortgaged home.

The good news is that the originally proposed increase for all FHA borrowers to 5% is not one of the questions posed.

Question 2:

Reduce allowable seller concessions from six to three percent. Allowing sellers to contribute up to six percent of the home’s sales price to offset a buyer’s costs exposes the FHA to excess risk by potentially driving up the cost of the home beyond its appraised value. Reducing seller concessions to three percent will bring FHA into conformity with industry standards.

This is the one that many of my clients in the past would have had issues with. Maryland closing costs are very high, and many borrowers need approximately 4-5% to cover the additional closing costs in addition to downpayment. This could really cause a big problem with Maryland FHA borrowers.

Question 3:

Tighten underwriting standards for manually underwritten loans. When using compensating factors in the underwriting process, lenders will be required to consider those factors which are the best predictive indicators of loan performance, such as the borrower’s credit history, loan-to-value (LTV) percentage, debt-to income ratio, and cash reserves.

This one would be the easiest change, because loans that must be manually underwritten tend to have big reasons that the digital systems would not allow them to go through.

What are your thoughts on the proposed changes?

Would any of these FHA changes prevent people you know from buying a home? It is very likely!

The one that concerns me the most is #2. The high Maryland real estate transfer tax rates are already an issue, and without a seller concession to help with the majority of the closing costs could make homeownership for many an impossibility.

Contact me today to take advantage of the FHA loan guidelines as they stand now, before any of these proposed changes may go into effect.

This year marks the 29th anniversary of the festival, and it is expected that over 350,000 people will attend. Why so many people? Artscape is free!

Artscape is located right in the heart of the Arts District in Downtown Baltimore, right near the Lyric Opera House.

Each day begins at noon, Friday & Saturday run until 10 pm, Sunday it ends at 8 pm.

What is Artscape? From the website:

America’s largest free arts festival, Artscape features 150+artists, fashion designers and craftspeople, including DIY/new wave crafters; visual art exhibits on and off site, such as outdoor sculpture, art cars, photography and the Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize; incredible live concerts on four outdoor stages; a full schedule of performing arts including dance, opera, theater, fashion, film, experimental music and performances by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; family events such as hands-on projects, demonstrations, jazz vocal and combo competitions, children’s entertainers and multiple street theater locations; and a delicious, international menu of food and beverages available throughout the site.

There is a kids art area for hands on fun, exhibits, live performances, entertainers, exhibits and food.

So this weekend, head to downtown Baltimore to enjoy the free Artscape festival!

The national average is 4.57% for a 30 year fixed conventional loan.

MSNBC reports that:

Rates have fallen over the past two months. Investors, concerned with the European debt crisis, have poured money into the safety of Treasury bonds. Treasury yields have fallen and so have mortgage rates, which tend to track yields on long-term Treasurys.

Though the rates are very low, many people have already taken advantage of the low rates that have been in place for months now. These rates also don’t include add on fees, which Freddie Mac reports right now theirs are averaging about 0.7% of the loan amount.

Others are not refinancing due to the fact that they actually cannot. They have less equity in their home than is on their current mortgage, and do not have the money to make up the difference. So despite the possible lower payments, these distressed people cannot take advantage of the historically low rates.

Many Baltimore homeowners are in the same situation, putting them at risk for a short sale if they need to sell.

People who have been on the fence about buying a home should consider the moment to be now. With rates this low, plus Baltimore home prices being so low, there has rarely been a better time to buy!

If you are ready to buy a Baltimore home, contact me today to take advantage of these incredible low interest rates.