Kent Island and Queen Annes County Rentals 2010

March 2010: QAC Rentals

If you happen to be one of the distressed home owners who found themselves upside down on their mortgage or were forced to sale; please do not beat yourself up. Thousands of homeowners across the US are experiencing your same setbacks-you are not alone. The thing to do now, is learn from your mistake and do not repeat the same mistakes.

So what to do?? I suspect your credit may have been dinged a bit or alot -depending on who held your bank note or how you negotiated your deficiency with your lender. Some lenders will not report to the credit bureaus, if you do a short sale and continue making your mortgage payments until closing/settlement. Although, if your mortgage company does agree to not report- please, please, please get it in writing no matter what!! Every mortgage bank is different, so it doesn't hurt to ask, beg or plead-that is part of the negotiations. Right now, everybody wants a quick fix and it doesn't happen over night.

So once you have your home sold or have been foreclosed on; you may want to think about renting until your credit score has been built up to qualify for a mortgage. Or you may think the correction of the housing prices has not bottomed out and you want to wait some more. In the meantime, sift through the rentals in QAC and call me at 443-786-0200 to get you back in your own place.


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Short Sale Listings 2010 in QAC

Right now, some of the best buys are short sales and many lenders are finally realizing that they have to be more flexible to move these homes. With the push of the Obama administration, you maybe now in a better position to put an offer in and NOT have to wait 3-5 months for an answer.

Here's a list of the short sales dated March 10, 2010 (Click here) for the latest listings in Queen Annes County. If you are ready to go, have your approval lender letter in hand, please call me at: 443-786-0200. If you need help getting started, I will help you get the ball going.

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Foreclosures/Short Sale Help-REALLY??

Guess What? Another desperate homeowners program bailout. Here in QAC we had some 219foreclosures in 2009-that's pretty bad. Not even considering what it is doing for the regular sale of homes that are not distressed. It is such a sad scenario for the homeowner who played by the rules, did not use their home like an ATM machine and are faced with very low appraisals based on comparatives deemed as distressed in the neighborhood.

Like it or not, Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now, I realize, other US counties are experiencing significantly higher foreclosures, but the same applies. This program really is amazing and you can't help but wonder, who really is the winner and loser??

The whole program is centered around short sales in the US. You see, the administration actually thinks by giving homeowners a little cash to speed them on their way, is an aggressive attempt to tackle the mortgage problem.

I think they figured out the loan modification and HOPE programs are just not cutting it. Homeowners are getting tired of the run around by their mortgage/lenders/banks. It seems every homeowner I speak to has been put through a paper maze of the unknown. One department does not know what the next department is doing, all at the expense of the waiting homeowner who is in trouble. I know, I know, it is an easy argument to say, "That is what they get" -well I understand where that mindset comes from, but you have to give the homeowners who are trying to pay their mortgages some credit. Enough of that-that subject has been beaten to death.

The fact is now the Obama administration says starting April 5th, homeowners want ing to do a short sale have their blessings. So if your loan modification plans are turning into a nightmare and you just can't hold on anymore, you may want to consider this. I say this with tongue in cheek, I don't fully support this program, but it could help the people who have tried and have no alternatives. However, I don't know how the banks will feel more compelled to process short sales for a whopping $1000. It is usually the second mortgage that holds up the short sale process and it is always way more than $1000. I just shake my head and look for the phone to ring.

Pros:
You, the homeowner will be given $1500 for relocation purposes and your mortgage company will get $1000. There is more details, but that is the gist of the program. Read more here.

QAC Dems Vote for Federal Training Ctr. in Ruthsburg

Since I am following the story on the QAC federal training center, I thought I would inform you of some quick eye opening tid bits. I am sure the opponents may or may not acknowledge.

A few days ago, the QAC Democratic club had their own informational meeting on the federal training center poised for Ruthsburg and after a couple of members and invited guests shared stories, the club had a vote. And guess what? There was an majority of Democrats who are in favor of the training center, despite some of the ring leader tactics.


Then, I was emailed a link that came from a Centreville blog that surely is not checking their facts and perhaps trying to make some money.

Copied from the blog: We also have a mini documentary that shows the real impact of a hard skills facility on a community. The town in the film was largely abandoned due to quality of life issues and the promises of jobs and economic prosperity from the facility never occurred. For a donation of $5.00 to cover the cost of the DVD and shipping, we will promptly send you a copy.

Okay, the buck stops here, first off, I am from New Mexico (born and raised there) and familar with Playas and Lordsburg NM. Which is where this center is built. And let's just say the town in question has always been a ghost town. Don't blame any abandonment on the facility-please- what abandonment-there was nothing ever there before that. I know people who live in Lordsburg-which is where most of the employees live that work at the facility and they have given a boost to the city. Just check with the Lordsburg Chamber of Commerce and they will tell you how the facility helped their economy and tourism. Not to mention how the gov. helped with some infrastructure.

And this Centreville blog wants $5. to view their one-sided DVD??

Queen Anne's Co. Should Support Training Center

As an advocate of the is training center for our security in the USA, I applaud Clayton Mitchell's article titled : Queen Anne’s Co. should support training center. Mr. Mitchell, was a former Speaker of the House in Maryland.

Here's what he said:
President Andrew Jackson once said, “Eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing.” If today’s date was September 11, 2001, and the federal government asked the citizens of Queen Anne’s County for its assistance in fighting the War on Terror, no one among us would have refused the government’s request. We would have stood in line to volunteer to do anything and everything we could, just as we stood in line to donate blood and enlist in the armed forces in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.
Today, the war continues to rage on many fronts. From Iraq and Afghanistan to India and Yemen, as well as a hundred other flashpoints around the globe, our soldiers and intelligence officers are on patrol and ever vigilant. For those Queen Anne’s Countians who may have forgotten the horror we all experienced on that infamous September day, our country was recently sent a grim reminder by a suicidal fanatic (who was hell-bent on giving our nation a death-laden present by airmail over the skies of Detroit on Christmas Day) that terrorists are ever present. The enemy that sought our destruction over eight years ago is focused and determined to kill as many of Americans as it can and to disrupt our liberties and way of life.
The United States State Department recently announced its plans to place a Foreign Affairs Security Training Center on the Hunt-Ray Farm in Queen Anne’s County. The State Department’s existing security training infrastructure is not sufficient to meet its current and projected training needs. The training is currently conducted at 15 locations throughout the United States. Consolidating security training operations in Queen Anne’s County (and in close proximity to Washington, D.C.) will make training more efficient, save taxpayers’ dollars, and create much-needed jobs for our deteriorating local economy.
At the recent public informational meetings in Centreville, it was disheartening to hear friends and neighbors criticize the State Department officials. Many acted as if the proposed project was for a Wal-Mart or another 1000 home cookie-cutter development. However, this proposed federal training center has a higher purpose and a noble mission. In these times of war (and we are at war), Queen Anne’s County must “step up to the plate” and support the training facility with overwhelming support – the same way we would have on September 11, 2001. If communities across the nation had the same mind-set the opponents of this project have, our nations defenders would be deprived of the finest and most efficient locations at which to train for their missions.
I do not suggest that the neighboring property owners do not have legitimate concerns. These citizens’ concerns have been artfully expressed in articulate statements and emotional pleas to various public officials. The federal government, however, appears ready, willing and able to fully address the concerns of those most affected, work with the neighbors and make them as comfortable as possible with the design, mission and activities of the proposed facility. The well-founded and heartfelt concerns of a few, however, must not operate to dissolve this opportunity for our county as a whole.
In addition to promoting and advancing our country’s security needs, the training facility will give a much needed boost to our local economy. Many temporary and permanent jobs will be created. An ensuing “ripple effect” of economic activity would stimulate local businesses, accelerate job opportunities for our friends without work, and promote and preserve the prosperous way of life we have come to enjoy on the Eastern Shore. The newly-created jobs and the economic activity spurred by new employment would go elsewhere if the facility was not built in Queen Anne’s County.
Citizens of Queen Anne’s County – the County Commissioners have no “Plan B” for meaningful economic development for our local economy. Without these new jobs, the local economy will continue to slowly “circle the drain”; local businesses will have fewer customers with fewer dollars to purchase goods and services; the local housing market will continue its decline; more small locally-owned businesses will close their doors; property assessments will continue to fall with resulting tax revenues declining. This will lead to certain higher unemployment, deflated housing values, and higher property tax rates. We will have to sponsor a lot of chicken dinners and bake sales to raise money for our emergency response services when budget cuts become necessarily routine.
I thank Congressman Kratovil for procuring this unique opportunity for Queen Anne’s County and the Eastern Shore. His visionary actions demonstrate how a fiscally responsible consolidation of federal facilities can benefit both our local economy and the nation’s wartime campaign against terrorism. Let’s help each other prosper during this tough economic time while doing something in furtherance of our national security. Join me in supporting the Foreign Affairs Security Training Center on the Hunt-Ray Farm.
Clayton A. Mitchell, EsquireStevensville

What's this I hear? Realtors are being targeted for abusing the term "green" and saying they are using it like a marketing ploy and simply using it because it's vogue or in fashion! After reading that comment, I thought to myself well what does "Green" really mean? After all, most Realtors I know make it a priority to stay educated and attend the Green seminars for Realtors, but what really is the definition for a Green Home? And whose certifications and accreditation's should we refer to? The USGBC or NAR?

Everywhere you look you hear and read the words, "Become energy efficient, go green, change the air quality, don't use that kind of paint it's bad for the environment, don't overload and so on and on." What's a realtor or homeowner to do?

Well, I suspect this is not only new for some Realtors, but for most consumers too, even in 2010. What to do? Take some classes and become educated whether online, your home store, a Green Pro or your RE association or your local environmental organization.

If you are looking for a place to begin, try going here. If you really want to take it to the next level, you can get an energy audit of your home and appliances. I am told it takes from 2-3 hours for a total workup report. There is a fee, but it may pay in the long run. Hey, now that would be worth stating in your listing, "Total Green Energy Home Audit -Passed" and show off the report.

Or make your own YouTube video like this one, now the music is not going platinum, but the concept was good.

You know, when I speak to my clients about going green, the glaring and most obvious complaint I get is: "Why pay $4000 for installation of some of the green products and only see a $60 a year savings?" They have a point..I guess. If you are a good steward of the world you will concur for the betterment of mankind, the environment and most importantly for your grandchildren.

For more information on audits, click here.