Charles County & Southern Maryland Real Estate Blog

Waldorf vs. Upper Marlboro: Which is Cheaper Living?

I'm writing this as a response to a debate on a web forum regarding housing costs in Waldorf and Upper Marlboro.

The question seems to be which location is more affordable, among other things. My instinct has always been the Waldorf is a little more affordable, but I've always assumed that from my "gut" rather than stats (I think it's called the Steve Colbert approach to "facts"). Obviously that's not enough to satisfy a serious query on the subject, so I pulled the sales figures for Waldorf and Upper Marlboro to compare. Here's what I have found: (all figures from MRIS.com)

From 6/1/2008-6/30/2008

Waldorf, 20601

17 Homes Sold

233 Active Listings

Sold Ratio: 1:13.7

Average Sold Price: $294,494

Median Sold Price: $280,000

Waldorf 20602

22 Homes Sold

233 Active Listings

Sold Ratio: 1:10.59

Average Sold Price: $253,954

Median Sold Price: $244,700

Upper Marlboro, 20772

30 Homes Sold

500 Active Listings

Sold Ratio: 1:16.67

Average Sold Price: $314,256

Median Sold Price: $312,500

Upper Marlboro, 20774

35 Homes Sold

465 Active Listings

Sold Ratio: 1:13.28

Average Sold Price: $282,814

Median Sold Price: $278,900

This shows a couple of interesting details:

The average rate of sales is slightly better in Waldorf
This is likely due to the lower cost of homes in the 20602 Area Code
Although the 20774 Area Code is less expensive than the 20601 Area Code, It does not mean that Upper Marlboro is less Expensive than Waldorf, as noted by prices in the 20602 Area Code.

Another potential means of comparison is through new construction. If you were to look at a home built by Ryan Homes in the Brentwood Subdivision of Waldorf, MD. You would find their base model starting at $320,000 (Was $330,000) To have that exact model built in The Ridings at Upper Marlboro, it would be priced starting at $340,000. The difference is less than 6%, but it IS a difference.

Bear in mind this does not make Upper Marlboro or Waldorf "better" than the other. Differences in commute times, amenities, and local features vary greatly. Although there is a cost of living difference, I still think it comes down to a preference of location rather than price.

(Please note that the 20603 Area Code was not included because there was a spike in prices last month for some reason, and I am working to determine why this has occurred before I show abnormally skewed figures)

~Jonathan Benya
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St.
La Plata, MD 20646
301-653-8116
301-609-9000
http://www.teambenya.com

Posted at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Jaw Dropping Home in Columbia, MD for Sale!

Words cannot describe the beauty of this home located in Columbia, MD!! From the soothing ponds and waterfalls flowing through the backyard to the majestic bedroom suites, this home has it all! The kitchen boasts not only your enormous granite counters, but also absolute top of the line appliances from the huge sub-zero fridge to the stainless steel viking stove!

Let the kids play in the attic loft while you relax in the basement fitness room, complete with floor to ceiling mirrors on the walls, or enjoy a bottle of vino in your own wine cellar!

If relaxing on the patio is more your style, you can enjoy an evening by the gas fire pit on the patio, and enjoy the splendor of a fully fenced back yard that backs to trees for a uniquely private setting, on nearly 2 acres of land.

With 6 bedrooms, 6 full baths, 2 half baths, there's plenty of space for the whole family! On top of that you have two separate garages(both of them will fit 2 cars easily), and fireplaces nestled throughout the home. You deserve a home fit for a king, and this is it!

~Jonathan Benya
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-653-8116
www.teambenya.com

View More Photos of this gorgeous home!

Join This Home on Facebook and Schedule a Showing!

Posted at 06:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Great Foreclosure Deal in Hyattsville, MD! $199,017 for a Single Family Home!

The bank has decided that this property has GOT TO GO! Here's you're chance to buy a single family home in Hyattsville, MD for less that $200,000!!!

If you're looking for a foreclosure deal in Hyattsville, THIS IS IT!!!

5017 54th Pl. Hyattsville, MD

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

Posted at 01:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Got Mold? Know Your Options (And protect your health) When Buying a Home in Charles County!

You may or may not be surprised to find out there are quite a few foreclosures on the market in Charles County, Prince George's County, and Southern Maryland that are suffering from mold problems. I've found myself walking into homes on more than one occasion that had serious mold growths that were not mentioned when I made the appointment to view the home. Perhaps agents don't realize the health/legal risk they are putting themselves in, and the risk to other agents, buyers, etc.; or perhaps they don't care.

Because I work with foreclosure buyers on a regular basis, I see homes with mold every week. Often times my clients will ask me what to do about mold growth because they REALLY like the house and the price it's listed at.

The answer is simple: They REALLY like the price because mold problems can be REALLY expensive to rectify. We all know that mold likes to grow in dark, damp places, right? It's a safe bet to assume that if you see mold growing on the walls in a home, the growth is probably much worse on the inside of the wall. If the mold growth is due to basement flooding, is there any chance that mold is growing around the heater or air conditioning unit? If so, it's possible that mold could be creeping up the ductwork.

My recommendation is this: If you're looking to buy a home and it has a mold problem, the safest bet is to just move on. Why risk your health and well-being to save a few bucks on a home? (Bear in mind that molds such as Stachybotris are carcinogenic and have been known to cause respiratory problems, headaches and bloody noses with short-term exposure. This stuff is potentially lethal!)

If you're determined to purchase, get air quality samples taken and tested. Have a remediation specialist evaluate the home and explain the cost of repairs/removal. Spraying bleach on the mold and calling it a day doesn't quite cut it. Mold can and will grow back if not properly treated and removed.

I don't want to sound like a doomsayer, but in all honesty, why on earth would anyone want to place themselves and their health in such a high-risk situation?

Also, bear in mind that if a home is being sold as-is and the owner or listing agent knows that there is a mold problem, they are REQUIRED to disclose that information. It's what we call a "material defect" in the home. Not disclosing that sort of information can lead to some pretty serious lawsuits, so it's important for Realtors to understand this and "do the right thing"!

~Jonathan Benya

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

Posted at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Another One Bites the Dust: Caruso Homes Files for Bankruptcy

As you may already know, KB Homes has pulled out of the region, Shuttering the Middletown Woods sub-division and putting the land they hold up for sale. It was a blow to local builder confidence, and now it looks like there's more evidence of how much some builders are struggling in this tough market: Caruso Homes has filed for Bankruptcy.

Supposedly they are doing this to re-structure rather than close-up shop. If it's a way for them to bring down their prices, great. Take a look at their current prices, and you'll notice that they're flat out too high. Filing bankruptcy sheds light on an interesting phenomenon: Builders profits have been cut to the core. Bankruptcy means that Caruso cannot slash their prices any further at this point without drastic measures.

Will this allow Caruso Homes to drop their prices further? Definitely! At the same time, I'm sure it's going to upset the folks they owe money to. ($500,000 from 84 Lumber alone!). As soon as Caruso announces their price reductions, I'll let you guys know. Stay tuned for more on that!

Buying foreclosures for pennies on the dollar from banks

Everybody that is looking to buy a foreclosure is trying to get a great deal, right? That's the goal at least, and a lot of people are finding it frustrating to actually find the "deal" hidden amongst the overpriced dreck that's saturated the market.

What most people don't realize is that the opportunity to buy wholesale foreclosures DOES exist, if you know where to look. People CAN and ARE buying for as little as 36% on the dollar for foreclosed homes. The challenge in doing this successfully is two-fold:

1) They're not selling properties off individually this way. This is a concept for investors, willing to spend millions or even billions at a time

2) There are a lot of people claiming to have a viable product to sell. The lists, also known as "bank tapes" are difficult to legitimately find. The risks are numerous, and it's hard to know if you're dealing with genuine individuals or not. The last thing you want to find is that their "tape" has secondary loans, credit card debt and other misrepresentation.

I've been working for months now to try and find genuine sources of product for buyers. We've met with some success, and plenty of inconsistency, false product, and other shenanigans. Finding a legitimate source of homes for sale in this manner can be a goldmine for a buyer.

Consider it like this: If you have $20m to spend on foreclosures in bulk, and you can buy them for $.45 on the dollar, taking on the task of reselling them, even at only 80% of market value can potentially earn a huge return on your money.

I've been able to find legitimate sellers, if anyone is interested in finding legitimate bank tapes and platforms, give me a call and I can put you in touch with them. Or, if you have any questions about what the process of buying property this way consists of, I'm always more than happy to answer them for you.

~Jonathan Benya

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

Posted at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Rosewick Crossing is growing in La Plata, MD

It's amazing how much commercial growth is happening in La Plata, MD, and Charles County in general. Rosewick Crossing is the latest addition to La Plata's shopping choices. As you may or may not know, Lowe's hardware store has already opened, and construction on the Giant grocery store is wrapping up as I ~~speak~~ type.

What I didn't realize about the shopping center is that there seems to be a ton of space for smaller retailers in addition to the anchor stores that are already in. I like the convenience that all of this new development creates, but in a way I sort of miss the "old" La Plata. (You know, pre-tornado times?)

It's all part of a larger plan that includes the addition of roughly 3,000 new homes along Rosewick Rd, so I imagine that there's not going to be any shortage of shoppers for the new complex once that development gets off the ground.

Feds Press Charges in Metropolitan Money Store Scheme

It looks like things are moving forward with the case against Joy Jenise Jackson (formerly known as a stripper named Night Rider), Kurt Fordham, and The Metropolitan Money Store.

Remember them? They're the one's accused of "saving" people from foreclosure, while stripping their equity out from under them, and leaving the victims in financial turmoil.

Former Stripper Joy J. Jackson Ran Foreclosure Rescue Scam
Uploaded by Scambuster2007

Well, now they've decided to press charges against 8 people, including Joy Jackson and Kurt Fordham, and (provided that the accused can be located), we may finally see some closure to this bizarre tale. It's bad enough that we've dealt with scummy lenders writing bad loans, scummy get rich quick schemes promising to pay your mortgage, and the real estate bubble bursting, leaving us with a serious foreclosure problems, but seriously, this too?

It's an embarrassment to legitimate professionals to see garbage like this happening in the region. I hate the fact that a few bad apples like this can really ruin the reputation of the industry as a whole.

It's great that they've pressed charges, but what I want to know is this: Where in the hell are they, and how do you plan to arrest them? This was in the news months ago that the feds were trying to build a case, and I'd be shocked to hear that they were still in the country at this point! **

**Correction** Multiple arrests were made thursday morning in North Carolina, including both Ms. Jackson and Mr. Fordham, among others.

Trying to save money on your next home? How about a rate reduction?

I just got out of a very productive meeting with a lender friend of mine from Wells Fargo. He's running an incentive plan right now that helps home buyers get 1% off of their starting rate on any property they buy and use him as a lender.

It looks like a good way to try and save some money on the monthly cost of your new home, and I'm excited to be working with him on it!

I also have to apologize, it's been nearly a week since I last posted, and it seems that I just started to run out of steam the last few days. I've been working very hard on Project Graduation, and now that grad night is behind us for this year, I'm back full speed ahead writing on the blog and helping people find their new home!

~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

Posted at 02:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Holiday Weekends and Wet Dogs

This past weekend was the first time in nearly a month that I took some time off. Granted, it was only a day, but taking time for yourself is important, and it's nice to get away from time to time.

I spent Saturday at my parent's home in Virginia(literally, smack dab in the middle of nowhere), and enjoyed the beautiful weather and some time with the dogs.

They say happiness is a WARM puppy. As far as my dogs are concerned, they think happiness is a WET puppy. Perhaps my dogs made a mistake. They could have a lisp for all I know.

I had a great time, aside from the smell of wet, muddy, salty dogs that I had to endure on the way home. My arm is still sore from playing fetch, and my clothes smell like fresh grass clippings. Ah, the finer things in life....

(Hmm.... How did he get this boat to move again?)

~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