ICE! at the Gaylord National Harbor is Super Cool!

December 13, 2009 by Jonbenya · Leave a Comment 

Have you been to the Gaylord National Harbor Recently?

The Gaylord hotel at the National Harbor in Fort Washington, MD has gone all out for the holiday season!
What Is ICE?
As part of the festivities, 40 Chinese artisans were brought in to hand carve thousands of blocks of ice, turning a 15,000 square foot tent [...]

How the wrong Realtor will cost you $20,000!!!

August 17, 2009 by Jonbenya · Leave a Comment 

The PG County “Down Payment on Your Dream” program, also known as the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) or Down Payment Closing Cost Assistance Program (DPCCA) is proving to be wildly popular.
I get multiple calls each and every day regarding the program, and unfortunately not everybody found out about the program in time. I get at [...]

Yes, You CAN Buy a PG County Foreclosure for $1,000 Down!

July 10, 2009 by Jonbenya · Leave a Comment 

As you may have heard, HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), has been implemented in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and the incentives for buying a foreclosure in PG County are STAGGERING!
The goal of the program is to reduce the number of vacant homes in neighborhoods troubled by foreclosures. Through a government funded program (Thanks to [...]

Down Payment Assistance for PG County Foreclosures!

July 7, 2009 by Jonbenya · Leave a Comment 

If you’re looking to purchase a foreclosure in PG County and you’re a first time home buyer, there’s good news afoot!  HUD has approved a new program to provide down payment assistance for low income families in PG county ONLY!
The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) and the Down Payment Closing Cost Assistance Program (DPCCA) have [...]

$8,000 Tax Credit Can Be Used for Down Payment!

May 15, 2009 by Jonbenya · Leave a Comment 

If you’re looking to buy your first home but can’t afford the down payment, there may be help out there!
Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said that the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow homeowners to use the $8,000 tax credit as a [...]

Maryland Home Equity Thief Pleads Guilty

December 11, 2008 by Jonbenya · Leave a Comment 

If you’ve been following my blog for awhile now, you probably know that I like to keep up to date on the real estate scams that have littered the metro area in recent years. One of the scams that I wrote about awhile back was the Metro Money Store scam.
I won’t go into all [...]

Maryland Short Sale Negotiation- The Art of the Hardship Letter

November 5, 2008 by Jonbenya · Leave a Comment 

There’s been a huge increase in Southern Maryland Short Sales over the last year thanks to the ongoing housing crisis. More often than not, they end up as foreclosures, many times because the path to negotiating is at best, murky.
When working with a lender to get a short sale agreement, there are several things [...]

Getting Ready To Sell Your Home? Rule #1 to Choosing an Agent

October 21, 2008 by Jonbenya · Leave a Comment 

Choosing a Realtor is a big decision.  Every Realtor (myself included)  is trying to tell you why they’re the greatest thing since sliced bread and why it would be a mistake to even consider working with someone else.  It makes Realtors gigantic windbags, but that’s a real estate agent’s job: to market/promote themselves and their [...]

An Elementary Lesson: Avoiding New Construction Fraud

October 13, 2008 by Jonbenya · Leave a Comment 

There was an article in yesterday’s Washington Post about a possible homebuilding scam in Upper Marlboro, MD.
It’s pathetic to see yet ANOTHER real estate scam being run in Maryland, but it underscores how important it is to do your homework when buying a home.

Take the time to learn a little more about your builder, and [...]

Prince George's County real estate market update for August, 2008

September 5, 2008 by Jonbenya · Leave a Comment 

The volume of foreclosures in P.G. County is still roiling the local real estate market.  Inventory (Active Listings) continues to rise (over 8,000 homes available, there were less than 1,000 listings at the peak of the market), and home sales continue to slope downwards.
It’s interesting to note that there was a spike in average sales [...]

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