Fort Meade - USNA - Andrews AFB: Margaret Woda, Maryland Real Estate (Margaret Woda (Long and Foster, Crofton MD Real Estate))

Just in case you've been away from Activerain a few days and missed this when it was first posted, take a look at this ActiveRain toolbar created by our own resident genius, Brad Andersohn...

Buying a home with partial VA eligibility... Yes, you can.

There's a myth among many military veterans that VA financing is a one-time privilege... i.e., if they ever used it to purchase a home in the past, VA financing is no longer an option for them when purchasing another home.  That's not entirely correct.

There are some circumstances when you may be eligible to use VA financing again:

• The home you purchased with a VA loan was sold and paid off in full when the buyer obtained new financing.  This describes many retired military folks living in Crofton and throughout the Baltimore-Washington area. 
  
  If this is your situation, you may be able to buy a new home now with no-money down VA financing without selling your current home to restore your VA eligibility OR access current equity for a down payment on your next home.
  
  
• The home you purchased with a VA loan was sold with the buyer assuming your VA loan AND substituting his/her VA eligibility for yours.  This occurred often in the 80's, when interest rates sky-rocketed to more than 15% and VA buyers assumed lower-interest rate loans rather than getting a new one.
  
  You may now be able to buy a new home with no-money down VA financing without selling your current home to restore your VA eligibility OR access current equity for a down payment on your next home.
  
  
• The home you purchased with a VA loan has been paid off or re-financed, so your VA loan has been paid in full - yet you still own the property. 
  
  Even though you still own the home purchased with a VA loan, your eligibility is no longer tied up with a VA loan on that property.  You may be able to use it for the purchase of another home, even if you don't sell your property to access your current equity for a down paymenet on your next home.
  
  
• The VA eligibility amount has increased since you used VA financing to purchase a home.  Even if you have not paid off the balance of that VA loan, you may be eligible to use the added VA eligibility to obtain another VA loan; this most likely will require a down payment on your part, but the terms could be more desirable than a Conventional loan in some cases.
  
  Explore this option with your mortgage lender to find out exactly how much VA eligibility you may now have.  My husband and I used this option several years ago, since the VA eligibility amount increased substantially between the time we purchased our first home with a VA loan and the next time we purchased with another VA loan (without selling our first home).
  

Since many people depend upon the equity in their current home for a down payment on another home, selling before buying is required.  If you qualify for a VA loan, however, you may be able to get no-down (or little-down) VA financing on your next home - and that means you can keep your current home and convert it to a rental property.

This strategy worked for many home buyers during the Buyer's Market of the early 80's, and it could work for you today.

You owe it to yourself to find out for sure whether or not you qualify to use your VA Eligibility again, if any of the situations outlined above describe you.  It's probably the best way I know for you to take advantage of today's $6500 tax credit (until April 30) and Buyer's Market pricing.

If you're located in Crofton MD or anywhere in the Baltimore-Washington area and you are active-duty, honorably discharged, or retired military, you can contact me for referral to a VA loan expert who can help you determine your home financing options.

These photos were taken during a lazy Sunday morning stroll in beautiful downtown historic Annapolis, Maryland...

Boat owners love to dock in the Annapolis Harbour, where passers-by
can admire their boats.  This area is known as "Ego Alley".

"Ego Alley" ends here at the City Dock where you'll usually find
tourists feeding the ducks or snapping photos.

Annapolis Real Estate, December '09:

Real estate activity in Annapolis (21401) was up an impressive 68% to 37 sold/settled properties last month from the previous year (December '08).  An analysis of Days on Market provided more good news - only 120 days, which was down over 18% from a year ago.  Home prices held relatively steady in Annapolis during this period while dropping throughout much of the region:  Median price went up slightly (.13%) and average sold price went down only about 10%.

Visit the Annapolis page of MDisFun.org for more information about this beautiful city, or contact me anytime for a list of homes for sale in the Annapolis area.

No need to turn on the TV or radio any more to find out if Anne Arundel County schools are closing, opening late, or dismissing early when it snows.  Just look for a text message or email.

That's how easy it is for parents and kids in 2010.

Just register on SchoolsOut.com to receive an email notice (free) or text message ($19.95/yr) and you'll never again have to camp out in front of the TV watching school notices crawl across the bottom of your screen.

The service is available for both Anne Arundel and Prince George's County public schools, and a number of private schools and day care facilities in Maryland, as well as schools in 20+ other states.

'Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice… Santa Claus is coming to town.   La la la la la, la la la lah!

This little cutie was ready with her Christmas wish-list for Santa when I snapped this photo at Annapolis Mall last year.

Will you be ready with a wish-list for buying a home in the Crofton area when we get together in 2010? 

Before our first appointment, I suggest you do a little daydreaming and write down every feature and quality you want in a home (as if price were no object).  Then start at the top and identify the must-have (or required) items by highlighting them or marking them with a check-mark or star.  I call this your “wants and needs” list. 

For example, you may want 4 bedrooms, but could live with 3 if everything else about the home is perfect.  Or you want a fenced yard but you’re willing to install a fence yourself if you like everything else about the home.  In these examples, bedroom #4 and fenced yard are wants, not needs.  Knowing both your wants and needs will help me find homes to show you and help you verify that the home you fall in love with meets all of your needs (required features and qualities).

Why not start by looking around your current home and identifying the things you like about it.  Now ask yourself what would make it better…  If it were bigger?  Sunnier?  Had a fireplace?  On a day like today, I'll bet you're wishing for a garage so you don't have to shovel out your car after the next big snowstorm!

Remember to include practical items on your wish-list, as well - the amount of desired monthly payment, how much cash you want to invest, moving date, or special incentives.  The tax credit extension and expansion would be a good example because it creates a deadline for you to enter into a contract and settle.

Remember, making a list and checking it twice is not just for children at Christmas time… it’s also for you when you’re ready to buy a Crofton area home.  It will help you stay on track and help me help you!

Crofton Maryland residents will be very busy in December 2009.  Just take a look at this full schedule:

Please let me know if you or your organization would like an event or occasion mentioned on any monthly calendar for Focus On Crofton.

It's a November tradition for the Crofton Village Garden Club to make patriotic-themed floral arrangements for wounded soldiers and other patients. Each member makes two or three of them so we'll be sure to have enough for all 120 patients at the VA Rehab and Extended Care Facility in Baltimore, Maryland.

This is a very easy and inexpensive activity that your garden club, scout troop, office or other organization could easily duplicate, following the steps in this brief video. With 40 participants, it can be accomplished in an hour or less.

Please join us in thanking our wounded veterans in November and throughout the year.

Long and Foster agents in Crofton, Maryland, jumped into action when I told them about Operation Christmas Stocking, just five days ago.

There were so many bags and boxes of goodies in my office, two days later, that I could barely make a path to my desk.  Yesterday, several agents and family members showed up to fill 101 holiday gift bags!

Toiletries, toys, playing cards, puzzle books and pencils, notepaper and pens, candy and lots of other things overflowed the holiday gift bags, along with a hand-wrtten Christmas card to say "thank you" to the gift bag recipient.

I'd like to say "thank you" to my office for responding so quickly and generously.  You're amazing!

Crofton Maryland homeowners want to know, “Is the real estate market stabilizing in Crofton?”  Using statistics from the five most recent years, I’ll do my best to answer that for you.

Good news:

• More homes sold/settled during September 2009 in Crofton, Maryland, than September of the two most recent years, although we’re nowhere near the number of the bubble year 2006. 
  
• More good news:  “Days on Market” are down almost 15% from the same month last year, and
  
• Both the average and median prices are up slightly from September a year ago.

My daughter-in-law, Christine, prepared this chart so we can see a five-year trend in all the areas tracked by Metropolitan Regional Information Services (MRIS).  I think this expanded look at the Crofton real estate market is necessary to get a true picture of any trends occurring in the Crofton Maryland real estate market:

Not all Crofton real estate news is good, however:

• The number of new non-contingent contracts last month was lower than any September in recent memory – 17 in 2009 vs. 32 in 2006.
  
• The sold price, as a percentage of list price, is down – also the lowest it’s been any September during a 5–year period.
  
• The number of new listings is nearly double the number of new contracts.  Until these numbers are more balanced, we can't realistically expect a stable real estate market. 

Looking at all these numbers, that last bullet point is the one things that best answers the question, “Is the real estate market stabilizing in Crofton?”  As long as new listings outnumber new non-contingent contracts, we will have a supply and demand problem in Crofton Maryland real estate. 

Right now, if you divide the number of September listings (155) by the number of new non-contingent contracts (17), you will see a 9+ month absorption rate.  The scariest thing about that may be the fact that we don’t know how home values may change during that 9+ month period – they could go down.  For that reason, I encourage anyone putting their home on the market now to be aggressive in pricing their home so it sells sooner rather than later.

This chart and my commentary are based on figures for the entire 21114 zipcode.  If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home in the near future, you will want information that’s specific to your neighborhood, or at least to the type of home (detached vs. townhome, for example). 

Contact me any time for this information or, if you prefer, you can request a MARKET SNAPSHOT online.

P.S.  Thanks, Christine, for preparing this chart of Crofton Maryland real estate statistics for September 2009.

It's not too late for you and your office to participate in Operation Christmas Stocking, the nationwide mega-effort to provide Christmas stockings or gift bags to deployed troops.  However, time is getting short, since they have to be received in the Salt Lake City warehouse BEFORE NOVEMBER 1.

Just purchase some stockings or holiday gift bags at your local dollar store and ask other agents, lenders, closing attorneys, and even past clients to drop off goodies for filling them.  Items don't need to be expensive. We found it efficient to have only about 3 or 4 people actually stuffing the bags, or dividing into teams might be a good option if enough people are participating in the stuffing effort.

Here are some ideas for filling the bags:

Hard candy, socks, games, toileties (toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, sunscreen, hand cream, etc), yo-yo, playing cards, harmonica, inflatable beach ball, hand sanitizer, pen, paperback books, puzzles, bug spray, chapstick, etc.

Shipping is free, as long as the budget holds out.  Here are the shipping instructions.

For more information, visit Operation Christmas Stocking - and get started today.  If you're anywhere near Crofton, Maryland, I could use your help.  Call me at 410-721-1500 for more information.

PHOTO:  Melissa Slye stuffing holiday gift bags for the troops in October 2008.