Rodgers Forge Real Estate Agent

This Month in Real Estate November 2011

This Month in Real Estate for November 2011 has been released!

The numbers from October, presented by Jay Papasan, showed the home sales at an annual pace of 4.9 million, down slightly from last month, but much better than September’s numbers. Median home price was $165,000, which is another drop from This Month in Real Estate October 2011. Interest rates rose very slightly to an average of 4.1% for a 30 year fixed mortgage.

The Top Story asks the question, “What are first time homebuyers looking for?” According to KW research, much of it is to stay in the same area as they were renting. 3/4 of first time homebuyers bought a single family home, and most purchased a three bedroom, two bath home.

Of course, this data is nationwide, and the Baltimore real estate market is different than any other. Many areas of the country do not have the dense, highly populated areas with rowhomes such as Downtown Baltimore in Federal Hill, Fells Point, Canton, and Locust Point. Even Baltimore County has many townhouse neighborhoods, such as Mays Chapel in Timonium, Rodgers Forge, and areas of White Marsh and Perry Hall.

In News You Can Use, Bryon Ellington discusses three things you should know about buying versus renting.

1) Equity. You can build wealth through equity. He aligns it with a long term savings account. Every month that you pay your mortgage, a portion of the mortgage goes into that “account” (your principle).

2) Appreciation. If the market where you buy appreciates, then that equity becomes even larger.

3) Make it your own. You can renovate, paint, do whatever you’d like to it!

He also points out that when you pay rent, you are still paying a mortgage. It is just someone else’s mortgage, and you don’t get the benefits of ownership.

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

St. Pius X Carnival

The St. Pius X Carnival is coming up this weekend, May 20-22, 2011.

St. Pius X is located at 6428 York Road just next to the Rodgers Forge community.

The St Pius Carnival is a big event (but on a smaller scale) like the Towsontown Spring Festival, which was held a few weeks ago in Downtown Towson, with fun for the whole family! There will be rides, an inflatable slide, a moonbounce, carnival games like “Frog Flippin” and “Toilet Paper Toss”, plus booths with food, plants, a silent auction, crafts, and more!

Hours of the Carnival are 4-11pm Friday, 12-11pm Saturday, and 12-6pm Sunday.

Photo courtesy of Find Me Famous via Flickr CC.

What is a Broker’s Open?

What is a Broker’s Open?

Here in Baltimore County, Wednesdays generally are “Broker’s Open” day. There is a fairly small area where Broker’s Opens tend to be highly successful, and that is in the Towson, Lutherville, Timonium, and Hunt Valley neighborhoods.

A Broker’s Open is where a real estate agent and their brokerage invite agents from their own and other brokerages to come view a new listing they have to showcase. Generally, they provide lunch or snacks to the agents, to thank them for taking their time to come. Visiting agents then give the listing agent feedback on what could be done to make the house more appealing to buyers, about the price, etc, to help the listing agent.

Buyers and neighbors are usually welcome to visit the home, as they would a regular weekend open house.

Please contact me if you would like to learn more about a Baltimore County Broker’s Open and how it may help to sell a home.

New Baltimore County Recycling Begins February 1, 2010

On December 10, 2009, I announced the new Baltimore County Single Stream Recycling being implemented on February 1, 2010.

Well, here we are in late January, and it is coming very soon!

Here are the details — it’s SO easy — now everyone in Baltimore County can recycle without having to think too much about it!

What’s new & easy?

• It all goes into the same container! LIDS, CAPS, LABELS & RINGS are accepted now. No throwing the cap of the milk jug or soda bottle away anymore.
• Juice cartons, aluminium pans, AEROSOL cans, frozen food boxes — ALL NOW ACCEPTED!

The changes you need to make:

• NO MORE PLASTIC BAGS. They will not be accepting plastics/glass/etc in grocery bags anymore. (So now is the time to start using those reusable bags you may have for your groceries!)
• You can put your recyclables in small cardboard boxes, in 34 gallon or less recycling containers, or 34 gallon or less trash containers marked with an “X” or “RECYCLE”.

Click here for the Baltimore County Single Stream Recycling website for all of the details.

I am thrilled that Baltimore County is implementing this new recycling system as the ease should help more residents to be involved in the program! Join in!

Robert E Lee Park Improvement Update Meeting Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Proposed Phase One of the Robert E. Lee Park ‘s improvement plan will be presented in the third community meeting held by the Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 7 pm at Dumbarton Middle School.

The proposed improvements include replacing the bridge going into the park, the development of an official dog park, and picnic areas for all to enjoy. As I discussed in an earlier post (see link above), the improvements are an exciting and necessary plan for the Robert E Lee Park, as it had become run down with crime rates rising, and bridges unsafe for walking. A one-time hidden gem, it had become unusable in its current state.

The Baltimore County Parks & Rec would like to have Towson neighborhood input in order to make our park one that all community members can benefit from having nearby.

The location of the meeting is the cafeteria at Dumbarton Middle School, located in Rodgers Forge, at 300 Dumbarton Road, Baltimore, MD 21212 (map).

For more information, or special accomodations for the meeting, please contact the Baltimore County Nature and Recreation Resources Office at 410-887-4156.

Rodgers Forge House Values not to be affected by new Towson University Stadium

The Baltimore Sun and the Baltimore Examiner report that Towson University and the Rodgers Forge Community Association have reached an agreement about the location of the new arena to be built near the Forge.

I wrote about this issue on January 22, as the fear was the design and location of the new arena would affect Rodgers Forge House Values negatively, in a market that has already taken an average 5.5% hit in the past year.

The University will now construct the arena on the other side of the current stadium, so it won’t be in view of the Forge houses and they will plant tall trees as a barrier. They are doing this despite the fact that the terrain will make the construction more expensive, but realize that this is better for the community that they are an integral part of.

SO thank you, Towson University for listening and responding to your community’s needs. We Towson-ites appreciate it!

Rodgers Forge House Values could be hurt by Towson University’s New Stadium Proposal

Towson University and its’ neighbors have always had a love-hate relationship when it comes to expansions. I remember when I lived in the Forge (as many of us affectionately call Rodgers Forge) on Stanmore Road, and our neighbors across the street had extra long yards — needed because they back to the athletic fields of the University!

Well, now, the University is planning to expand the Towson Center near Osler Drive by 5,000 seats, the Baltimore Sun reports.

In steps Senator Jim Brochin, a self proclaimed Conservative Democrat , to help the surrounding neighbors. “The community respects the school’s right to build an arena, but not on a boundary line without a reasonable buffer,” Brochin said.

Let’s hope he and the three other delegates who sent a letter about their concerns to the University can help these neighbors. “These neighbors are saying work with us, be fair and don’t build a 60-foot wall 30 feet from our boundary,” he continued.

Can you imagine a 60 foot wall in your backyard where now you have practice fields? I don’t know about you, but I think that *just might* hurt their property values….which, as we all know, are ALREADY suffering! (One year average house value change in Towson? Zillow reports DOWN 5.5% ), which though better than MOST of the country, still hurts!

So, as a Towson resident, and Towson Real Estate Agent, I will certainly be following this closely, and hoping, for my neighbors’ sakes, that this does not hurt their house values anymore than the economy already has!