I was on a mission to get some shots of Davidsonville, Anne Arundel County's own "horse country," when I pulled off Rt. 214 to take this photo.

This fella wondered what was going on and came over to check us out.

Homes in Davidsonville tend to be very grand, and located in upscale communities with acre+ lots.

You'll find beautiful historic churches...

And the new Renditions Golf Course. (This is the 30's style clubhouse, seen from the driveway as you approach the course.)

Each hole is a replica of a famous hole on a golf course that has hosted one of the PGA major championships.  Renditions is open to the public, so check out their website for more information.

If you're looking for a luxury home or a place where you can keep your horse(s), Take a look at DAVIDSONVILLE HOMES FOR SALE.  Davidsonville is conveniently located west of Annapolis, east of Bowie (and D.C.), south of Crofton (and Baltimore).

Photos:  Margaret Woda
Copyright 2009.  All rights reserved.  Margaret Woda

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For more information, check out Focus On Crofton and Your Online Relocation Package for Anne Arundel County by Margaret Woda.

Serving Crofton and the neighboring communities of Annapolis, Bowie, Crownsville, Davidsonville, Fort Meade, Gambrills, Millersville, and Odenton.

You Love Them... They Love You...  But...

HOME SELLERS:

Those loving friends of yours are shaking their heads and saying that your listing price is too low... the commission you're offering is too high... and you chose the wrong agent.  You believe those friends mean only the best for you, and that's why you rely upon them even though they have no professional expertise in real estate.  Of course, they'll quickly tell you they have all the right answers (from reading the Washington Post and watching CNN):

1. Raise the price of your home - Quick, before someone makes an offer.
2. Drop the commission - Why pay more, when you could pay less? 
3. Fire your agent - Hire the discount broker and/or someone who will advertise in the newspapers and give you a magnet for your refrigerator.

To all of you, I have a single word of advice:  NO!

FRIENDS OF HOME SELLERS (AND BUYERS):

If you love your friends and truly care about them, please keep your advice to yourself.  Here's why:

Pricing is an art.  It requires a lot of factual knowledge AND experience that you simply don't have.

You may not know how many homes sold last month, and whether that is more or fewer than the previous month or the same month last year.

You may not know how long homes are taking to sell, or what it will take to sell more quickly than the average.

You may not know how many homes are competing for the same buyers, or the details of those homes' size, features, and location.  In fact, you may not know that information about your friend's home.

You may not know the average or median sold price last month, and whether that is higher or lower than the previous month or the same month last year.

You may not know today's financing requirements, including the trends with appraisals and underwriting. 

You may not have a professionally-developed Buyer Profile to enlighten your opinion on whether or not the agent's marketing will be effective.

You may not know what commission rate and/or bonuses are the current trend or what may catch the eye of buyer-agents with live warm-bodied clients.

You may not be proficient in technology and realize that 80% of today's home buyers begin their search on the Internet (not in the classifieds or driving around looking for "sale" signs).

You may not know what other "comparable" homes sold for recently, or what the terms of the sale may have been.  (In the Crofton market, the average last month was 10% below list price - not counting any closing help or other concessions.)

You may not know the prices of competing properties for sale, including short sales and foreclosed properties priced significantly lower than other active listings and recent sold comps.

You may not know the professional qualifications of the agent advising your friend, possibly years of experience and hundreds of successful real estate transactions.

You may be relying upon your own unique experience in pricing a home or choosing an agent - 3 years ago.  If you haven't sold a home (or 2 or 3 or 10) in the past 30 days, you are not qualified to judge what may be effective NOW.

All of these factors go into pricing a property for sale, and a seller cannot afford to be wrong.  Overpricing will only backfire!  The same considerations apply for home buyers, from their perspective, when they choose an offering price.

Chances are very good that your friend's listing or selling agent is better qualified to advise him or her than the best and most well-intentioned friend.  Have faith in your friend's judgment... he/she is capable of making an informed decision based on the facts of today's local market.

Give your friend a hug and your moral support - but please don't give real estate advice (even if he/she asks your opinion).  No doubt your friend sat down with an agent, or perhaps several agents, and learned a lot about the local market (as opposed to the regional or national market reported in the media).  Together with the listing agent, your friend probably considered the pros and cons of different pricing strategies, marketing plans and commission options (sellers) or contract strategies, offering price and financing options (buyers).  After some stress and maybe even some agony, your friend made a decision based on facts and the professional recommendation of his/her agent.

Please respect his/her decisions and encourage patience.  In this market, a LOT of patience is required on the part of home sellers and buyers, and that is easier with the moral support and encouragement of friends.  Making them second-guess their decisions is not helping.

Images:  Iclipart
Copyright 2008.  All rights reserved.  Margaret Woda

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For more information, check out Focus On Crofton and Your Online Relocation Package for Anne Arundel County by Margaret Woda.

Serving Crofton and the neighboring communities of Annapolis, Bowie, Crownsville, Davidsonville, Fort Meade, Gambrills, Millersville, and Odenton.

Arundel Wildcats Varsity boys basketball team is playing Northeast H.S. on the courts Tuesday, February 17, but that's not all.  They're also taking on the battle against Cancer as part of a larger school effort to create awareness and fight the disease.

• They're  asking fans to make a donation to the American Cancer Society at the door for the Senior Night game.
• Arundel Wildcats Varsity girls wear new uniforms, with a splash of pink as a reminder of the fight against breast cancer.
• A mural is being created to honor friends and family members of students who have been touched by cancer, funded by $1 student donations.

Arundel High School is located at 1001 Annapolis Road in Gambrills.  Visit the school website for a complete schedules of games for all their sport and more information about their athletic program.

Source:  FocusOnCrofton.com
Image:  istockphoto.com
Copyright 2009.  All rights reserved.  Margaret Woda

If you enjoyed reading this and want to learn more about schools in the Greater Crofton area, visit Focus on Crofton by clicking on this button:

Are you relocating to the Pentagon, or perhaps Andrews AFB or Fort Meade. and trying to decide where to live  in the D.C - Baltimore - Annapolis area?  Now your choice of where to focus your home search will be much easier because an unbiased source has rated public school systems throughout the country, including Maryland, Virginia, and D.C.

According to Education Week's Annual Quality Counts Report for 2009, Maryland Public Schools top all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Criteria for this ranking by the education publication included:

1. Chance for Success
2. Transitions and alignments
3. School finance
4. K-12 achievement
5. Standards, assessments, and accountability

In fact, Maryland ranked number one in transitions and alignment policies, which measures a State’s ability to connect the K-12 education system with early learning, higher education and the workforce.  The state also achieved a grade of 100 for early-childhood education, 90 for college readiness, and 100 for her economy and workforce.

Maryland moved up from 3rd last year, while schools in neighboring Virginia advanced from #5 to #4 since the 2008 report.  Maryland's score of 84.7 and Virginia's 83.2 are significantly above the national score of 76.2.  Even at Number 1, however, Maryland has room for improvement because no state scored "A" in the ranking.

If you'd like to find out how the public school system ranked in your state compared to Maryland or a neighboring state, you can click on this map with it's list of scores for every state.

Military personnel and others relocating to the D.C.-Baltimore-Annapolis Triangle can be easily overwhelmed at the hugeness of this area.  Deciding between Maryland, Virginia and D.C. is the first step to choosing a community, and perhaps this chart (Education Week) will help you do that:

For information about schools in the Greater Crofton Area, check out these earlier articles.

Photos:  School, Margaret Woda;  Students, istockphoto.com
Source of Data for Chart:  Education Week

As you drive past Crofton on Route 3, you will see the back of brick townhomes overlooking Lake Louise.  No surprise, then, that the neighborhood in which they're located is called "Lake Louise."

The townhomes in this neighborhood are brick front and back, with siding used on very few of them and only for architectural detail. 

Their location is wonderful, just inside the main gate, within blocks of the Crofton Village Green and Crofton Country Club.

Some could say these townhomes are "cookie cutter" because their exteriors are very similar, but that doesn't detract from their appeal at all. 

There is one basic floor plan modified with an extra wing on some end units for a 4th bedroom upstairs and a first floor den or home office. And there are a few 2-bedroom units in the neighborhood, again the same layout but on a smaller scale.

Currently there is only one Lake Louise townhome on the market, a 2-bedroom home priced at $307,000.  Since September 1, there has been just one sale - a 4-bedroom end-unit on Albermarle Drive, listed at $345,000 and sold at $322,000.

There are many lovely townhome neighborhoods in the greater Crofton area, and they satisfy every need and budget, from less than $200,000 to over $400,000.  But no other is quite as charming, well-maintained and convenient!

Find the Crofton area neighborhood that's right for you or find out what your Crofton home is worth.  Just use one of these buttons for a shortcut.

Copyright 2009.  All rights reserved.  Margaret Woda

I wrote something about NATIONAL WEAR RED DAY last year on the actual day, and some people commented they wished they'd known about it before they got dressed for work that day.  So... here's some advance notice.

Tomorrow is a day for wearing red as a reminder of Women's Heart Health, and there are some national sponsors that may interest you. 

Shop Macy's February 4-8, while wearing red - You will get a special discount. 

Win a cookbook when you participate in the Heart Smarts Challenge sponsored by Merck and Company.

... and check out other corporate partners on the GoRed website.

There's a Flickr Group, and a Facebook Group for all you social media people, too.

As it says on the website, Everyone can support the fight against heart disease in women by wearing red. It's a simple, powerful way to raise awareness of heart disease and stroke.

Now, take a minute for this Go Red Check-up - that's where I'm headed now.

Remember WEAR RED on Friday!

How would you like to drive by a golf course on your way home every day?  If you live in Old Crofton, that's a likely occurrence.  In fact, I drive past the Par 3 twelfth hole of Crofton Country Club every day on my way home.  It's literally a block from my house.

Other lucky Crofton residents live in one of the homes that line the fairways of this golf course or nearby Walden Golf Club.

Even if you don't play golf, you gotta admit it's nice to have the open space to enjoy visually, or more actively by walking or jogging on the cart paths.

Like many Crofton kids, my children grew up playing golf.  In fact, my sons literally ran home from school to get their golf clubs and head up to Crofton Country Club.  We never had to wonder where they were, because we could always find them on the practice range or putting green - never far from the watchful eyes of adult members.   

If you'd like to check out homes in this golf-course community, you can do so at your own pace, as often as you like.  Just use this handy link to Crofton Homes for Sale.  Then, if you see one online you like, let me know and I'll be happy to show it to you.

More on Crofton area golf:

• Anne Arundel County Golf Course Communities (LOCALISM FEATURED)
• Crofton Real Estate - Tee it up!

Other posts in the Crofton in Photos series:

• First Baptist Church of Crofton
• The Village at Waugh Chapel
• The Crofton Village Green