Charles County Realty » Saint Mary’s County

Lower Appraisals Hurting Sellers

Admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:48:11 +0000

With the influx of foreclosed and distressed properties crowding the market, it’s no wonder that sellers are up in arms about their home’s appraisal coming in thousands of dollars short of the listed price of the home. In their eyes, and the eyes of many Realtors, it is simply not fair to compare a standard home that’s not a short sale or foreclosure to those that are.

Both the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the National Associtation of Home Builders (NAHB) report substantial numbers of sales being thwarted by lower than expected appraisals.

Overall, you must remember that an appraisal is basically one person’s interpretation or opinion on what your home is worth. The appraisals are (sometimes arguably) done by experienced professionals who base their opinions upon the current local market for similar homes. When that pool of properties (referred to as comps or comparables) includes mostly foreclosed or distressed homes, it can be tricky to assess a home’s true value. Sure, your home may be worth $400,000 based on what you paid and the upgrades you did, but when the same house with the same upgrades sells for $329,000 down the street as a foreclosure, buyers are less likely to shell out the extra money for yours.

Back to Market Basics

It’s all a long, drawn out way of saying. “it’s elementary, my dear Watson.” When two retailers have the same item you want, you buy the item at whichever retailer is selling it cheaper. Appraisers are simply doing their best in a market they’ve never seen before.

If you are looking to sell and you have questions or concerns about what the true market value of your home is in the current market, contact me today!

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000 – office
301-653-8116 – cell

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$230k for a single family home on 2 acres in Mechanicsville, MD!!

Admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:20:30 +0000

If you’re looking for a great deal on a home in Mechanicsville, MD, this is it! This home is listed at just $230,000, and is sitting on 2.15 acres! The back yard is fenced in, and the rear multi-tiered deck is made of trex decking!

The home is located in the Country Lakes subdivision, and although it does need a little minor TLC, the roof, gutters, siding, windows, and garage door have all been replaced within the last six years. The heat and AC were replaced less than 3 years ago!

The home has 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and best of all, this is NOT a short sale or foreclosure! Sold As-Is.

If you would like to view this or any other property in St. Mary’s County, give us a call and it would be our pleasure to make the appointment!

Additional Information

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000
301-653-8116

Charles County Real Estate Blog
Southern Maryland Home Search
Southern Maryland Land

Lovely Home on 15 acres in Mechanicsville, MD

Admin — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:06:36 +0000

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CgKqN9dOFs]

This wonderful Home sits in the Middle of 15+ Acres. It’s The Perfect place for
Horses, Llamas, Alpacas or anyone looking for land and privacy!. House features a True Country Kitchen, Formal Living Room, Formal Dining Room, Family Room with Fireplace, Hardwood Floors, Full unfinished Walkout Basement with Fireplace, and a rough-in for extra Bath.

Lots of Storage Sheds on the property, Fenced pastures, plus a Barn with upper storage for hay or anything else you may need to store! With 3 full bedrooms, 2.5 Baths, and priced at $500,000, this is the perfect location for you to call home!

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000
301-653-8116
Southern Maryland Real Estate Blog

15 acres of secluded bliss in Mechanicsville, MD for sale!

Admin — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:23:45 +0000

Why Do You Love Southern Maryland? ~Budd's Creek Drag Strip!~

Admin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:00:00 +0000

I very rarely manage to get time off. From the time I turn my phone on at 9am until I finally call it quits around 9pm, my phone is more or less off the hook all day. Needless to say, none of us enjoy much time off. When I do see the occasional window of opportunity, I try to take full advantage of it.

Two weekends ago I got a 3 hour window of spare time and I decided to go down to Maryland International Raceway (MIR) to watch the start of the drag racing season. MIR is also known as Budd’s Creek, and is located in Mechanicsville, MD in Saint Mary’s County. Thomas went with me, and we managed to get some really nice photos of the races.

Related Link:
Mechanicsville, MD Photos
Why Do You Love Southern Maryland?

~Jonathan Benya

Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000
301-653-8116
Waldorf and Southern Maryland Real Estate
www.teambenya.com

FHA Lending Limits Change

Admin — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 10:59:34 +0000

We’ve been expecting to see this, but the new lending limits for FHA loans in Southern Maryland have been published (fair warning: this is kinda dry information, add water as necessary).

For Charles County and Calvert County, the new limit for a FHA loan on a single family home is $729,750. For those of you who know the area well, that’s an astronomical number when you consider the average sales price of a home is closer to $300k!

St. Mary’s County is considerably lower, the new limit is now $400,000, and while St. Mary’s is considerably cheaper to live in, this is still a remarkable change.

Also, Prince George’s County has been adjusted to $729,750 as well. The biggest benefit for buyers is likely to be in P.G. County, and hopefully this will help to keep loan rates down as less people will have to consider Jumbo financing.

~Jonathan Benya
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000
301-653-8116
Waldorf and Southern Maryland Real Estate
www.teambenya.com

Charles County Foreclosure Update March 2008

Admin — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:34:22 +0000

I’m seeing more and more foreclosures, and none of the government assistance programs seem to be helping stem the tide of foreclosures that we’re currently seeing.

Do Foreclosures Affect My Home’s Value?

In Charles County in the last 60 days, there have been 12 foreclosures that have been sold, and a total of 135 (resale AND REO) homes listed and sold. This means that foreclosures make up almost 9% of the total market in terms of sales.

A lot of homeowners have been wondering how much of a bearing foreclosures have on their own homes value, and it really needs to be evaluated on a home by home basis. Here is what people need to bear in mind:

There are 1,487 homes for sale in Charles County today (02/29/2008).

There are 86 Foreclosed Homes on the market today (a record high in volume, and 5.7% of total market volume).

If 5.7% of the market’s volume is generating 9% of the total sales, it is obvious that there is a disparity. Foreclosures are more *likely* to sell. Why is that?

Well, there are numerous factors involved here, but it seems apparent that the incentives to buy a foreclosure (namely, the price) outweigh the risks and problems (difficulty communicating with the banks, poor condition, etc.).

There’s another way to look at the puzzle as well. In the last 60 days, 16.5% of the total volume of foreclosures in Charles County have sold. Only 9.1% of the total homes on the market sold in the same time period (60 days).

If you’re suffering from difficulty selling your homes because of foreclosures in your neighborhood, it’s important to make sure that your homes best features are being showcased! Standard resale (i.e., not a foreclosure, short-sale, etc.) has some serious advantages!

The biggest things to consider are the differences between your homes and foreclosures when it comes to condition, ability to close quickly, and the ease of contract approval!

What’s The Market Really Like?

For Sellers
Right now there’s a 12 month overstock on Foreclosures in Charles County, and a 21 month overstock on listings in general! It’s an intimidating figure for anyone considering trying to sell, and the argument is a "lose now, or lose later" situation for some people, so trying to sell a home in this market is not a decision that should be taken lightly.

For Buyers
The potential to find a property that is right for you; at the right price is huge! The difficulty is in easily identifying the best deals. Because there are so many properties available for sale, you need to be careful to ensure that you’re seeing the best possible deals out there. This is why working with an experienced qualified Realtor is so important!

Current (3/1/2008) List of Foreclosures in St. Mary’s County (PDF Format)

Current (3/1/2008) List of Foreclosures in Calvert County (PDF Format)

If you have any questions about the current Foreclosure Market in Southern Maryland, feel free to ask! If you’d like to try and find a deal by searching for a foreclosure, I’d be more than happy to set up an automatic search for you so that you can find out about the best deals as soon as they hit the market!

~Jonathan Benya
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000
301-653-8116
Waldorf and Southern Maryland Real Estate
www.teambenya.com

How Do I Determine Southern Maryland Land Value?

Admin — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:43:00 +0000

We do a fair amount of
land sales here in Southern Maryland, and trying to determine land
values is a complicated process, much more so than determining the
value of someone’s home. Everybody wants to make top dollar for their
land when they go to sell it, but how do you know what top dollar
really is?

With home sales, this is a straight-forward process. With land,
the financial factors of the analysis becomes far more difficult. It’s
because of this reason that so many Realtors do not work in land sales
(It’s a ton of work, and it can be very tedious!). Land values can
also be affected (positively or negatively) through improvement, much
like renovating a home.

When I’m asked to research a property to determine a home’s
value, many of the variables I need to know have to be researched.
Simply checking a tax record will not provide me with enough
information (I wish it was so easy!) to properly evaluate the land. I
have a list of questions I need answered:

How Well Does Your Land Drain?

What is the Zoning?
What is the Zoning Density?
Is There a Survey Map?
Is the Land Perc’d?
What is the Soil Content?
How Much Road Frontage Does It Have?
Is there Public Sewer/Water Access?
What Does the Topography Look Like?
What Sort of Easements Exist?
Does it Have it’s TDR’s?
Was it Logged Recently?

This requires finding(not all land has an address, or even road access!) and walking
the property to make sure it’s not an obvious cliff or swamp (both of
which exist in the area), and then pulling any and all surveyors
reports and records that have ever been filed in regards to the
property.

What I’m putting together (Ideally) is a packet of information I
can use to clearly pinpoint why I am placing a given value on the
property. This packet will include Topography Maps, Aerial Images,
Satellite Images, Sewer Maps, Geo-Survey Studies, Tax Maps, and Zoning
Maps.

No Such Thing As Too Much Research!

Here’s where the real art of pricing land comes in! I have to
determine what the highest and best *likely* use of the property would
be. If it can’t be built upon, it’s worth only a fraction of what it
would be if a home could be put up on it’s location. I also determine
what the property would be worth to the surrounding owners (sometimes
they’re willing to pay a premium to ensure that it will not be
developed!).

It’s a matter of determining how much money it would cost to
develop the land, and how much development can be done. The more
building lots a property can be split into, the more the parcel is
worth. The biggest challenge to that is estimating how much of the
land must be used for roads (subtract that from the acreage), how much
must be used for forest conservation (again, possibly subtract that),
how much limitation is incurred by easement (you get the idea), ill
terrain, etc.

If you want to raise the value of the land, you need to improve
it, much like you would a home. Be sure to check out my upcoming blog
article on Land Perc’s to find out more!

~Jonathan Benya
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000
301-653-8116
Waldorf and Southern Maryland Real Estate
Southern Maryland Real Estate Blog

Credit Score Defined

Admin — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:15:00 +0000

Credit Score Defined

Everyone’s at least heard of a credit score, but for a lot of folks
the concept seems to be confusing (let’s face it, it IS confusing), but
a basic understanding of what is being computed can go a long way in
trying to ensure that you maintain a happy, healthy credit report!

What Is It?

The truth is, if you’re not a finance expert credit scores can
seem very complex, so don’t feel bad! Essentially, a credit score is a
report of you credit history that tracks current debts, bill payment
histories, late payments, etc. to try and determine how much of a
financial "risk" it would be to provide you with a loan.

Looking to buy a new car? They’re going to determine your interest
rate based off of that score. Same goes for buying a house, the lower
the score, the higher the interest rate. If the credit score is too
low, they won’t approve the loan at all. Credit Scores are ranked on a
scale with 300 points being on the low end and 850 points being on the
high end.

Who Determines It?

There’s a couple of different ways that Credit Scores are
determined. The scores are based off of reports generated by one of
three credit bureaus, those bureaus are Experian, Equifax, and
TransUnion. Each Bureau has their own method of determining your
score, and when you’re applying for a home loan, there is a fourth
method known as FICO(Fair Isaac & Co.), that is used to decide how
credit worthy you are.

How Do I Get My Score?

Consumers have the legal right to obtain their credit report every 12 months, free of charge. Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com
in order to find out what your report looks like. This is important
because it allows you to see what is on there and if there is incorrect
data (it happens, never assume that it’s right unless you’ve verified
it yourself), and from there you can dispute items that you feel are
incorrect.

What is a "Good" Score?

In terms of purchasing a home, what you’re looking for is a
minimum of 620. Anything below that is considered poor and makes it
very difficult to obtain loan approval. Remember, the higher the
score, the better your loan terms can be.

Credit Score Categories:

850-750 Excellent

749-660 Good

659-620 Fair

619-350 Poor

Maryland Undervalued Properties For Sale

Admin — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 01:20:27 +0000

This was actually one of the search terms that someone used on yahoo! search this evening. The search led them to this blog.

I had to think about this for a bit because I think everyone would love to be able to punch in a search term such as this to find fantastic real estate deals! Unfortunately it’s easier said than done. If you were able to find bargain priced homes simply by using an automated, free, public search tool such as yahoo! or google, wouldn’t we all be able to get rich and retire young?

Not that I’m against retiring rich and young, persay! I think this sort of search term highlights the importance of working with a savvy, competent real estate agent! Do I know of undervalued properties on the market? Of course I do. Am I going to start blogging about them? Probably not.

I have clients who are looking for the "deal" on the next property they buy. Why would I risk my clients chances of getting the contract in first on a great investment opportunity by broadcasting it to the entire world?

If you’re looking for a great investment property or even a primary residence that you could pick up cheap, I happen to be great at finding them! Give me a call or drop me an email and I’ll be more than happy to make sure that you’re the first to know when a great investment property pops up on the market!

As a side note, if you found this website because you were using similar search terms; I highly suggest you get a Realtor to help you identify the best undervalued homes on the market right now. I happen to know a few in my team that are great at finding those golden opportunities!

~Jonathan Benya
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000
301-653-8116
j.benya@c21nm.com
Waldorf and Southern Maryland Real Estate
Southern Maryland Real Estate Blog