Archive for the ‘Real Estate’ category
Surplus Property For Sale By Charles County Commissioners
Working in the Southern Maryland Real Estate Market and Working allot with land, i take note of properties for sale in the area. I was driving down Middletown Rd close to where i have listed land before and noticed this sign. Now i know the Charles County Commissioners own allot of land in Charles County, [...]
Avoiding Foreclosure, Why it Matters and How To Do It!
Are you falling behind on your mortgage payments? Are you at risk of losing your home because that pesky arm has made your payments impossible? There IS hope for people out that who are at risk of losing their home. If you’re worried about foreclosure, here’s a few important things to do to help you [...]
Countrywide, You have got a lot of explaing to do!
Oh boy…. I just ran across a doozy of an article that’s DEFINITELY made my list of loony real estate news! According to the NY Times, the lender has admitted to “recreating” letters to a Pennsylvania homeowner involved in a bankruptcy case. What exactly does that mean? Well it means that Countrywide submitted letters to the [...]
Prince George’s County, MD, Real Estate Market Report, April 2008
Team Benya’s Monthly Market Report- P.G. County, Maryland What’s Happened: The Prince George’s County Market is without a doubt slanting more and more heavily towards buyers. Sellers are finding it increasingly difficult to sell and inventory of available homes is steadily growing. March 2008 saw roughly 400 homes sold in P.G., and more than 7,000homes on the market! There [...]
Sounds Like Another Liability for Realtors
Google is being sued. Nothing to shocking there….. Big companies get sued every day, right? Well in this case it’s because they took a photo. That’s right, they took a photo, and now they’re being sued. Ordinarily I wouldn’t care one bit about another corporate lawsuit, but this one is because a photo of a house [...]
Swan Point TIF Bond is approved
Looks like Swan Point will be getting it’s fancy new hotel after all! The Charles County Commissioners voted to approve the Tax Incremental Finance (TIF) Bond recently, which will pave the way for the development infrastructure there. Under the tax incremental financing, agreement, the county will issue $26 million in public bonds to fund the [...]
KB Homes Pulls out of Charles County
Actually, KB Homes has pulled out of Charles County and the entire Mid-Atlantic Region, it seems. In addition to MD, DC, and Virginia, they have also shuttered operations in Chicago, IL, and Albuquerque as well. This is in addition to a previous announcement that they have decided to cease operations in California. What does this mean [...]
Charles County Perc Testing 2008
I’ve had a lot of people asking about the perc season this year. It’s been incredibly delayed, largely due to the low water tables that the Charles County is experiencing. I am hoping to have word on if there will be a perc season by 5pm this afternoon, and I will post the info as [...]
Maryland Foreclosure Prevention Event!
If you’re currently at risk of foreclosure in the state of Maryland, there’s a big event that you should be at! March 5th is the date, and the Showplace Arena in Upper Marlboro, MD is the location! Here’s the skinny: Prince George’s County is sponsoring the event, along with HUD and a bunch of other [...]
Understanding the Foreclosure Auctions
The Washington Post just posted an article titled: “Foreclosure Auctioneer’s Lonely Task“. It’s an interesting read, even if it’s a bit theatrical. There was a quote in there that I found particularly striking: “Banks don’t want your house; they want your money. They want to work with you so you can keep your house. With [...]
Credit Score Defined for you
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? [...]
Where is the market going?
I really wish there was some sort of easy solution to the deteriorating market that we’re seeing, but I seriously doubt we’ve hit the bottom just yet. I have a couple of points to make in this post, and they are very closely related, so I’d like to apologize in advance if this gets too [...]
Solution to the mortgage crisis: Project Lifeline
Project Lifeline has been formally announced, and it’s being touted as another way for homeowners to avoid foreclosure. Like it’s counterpart, Hope Now, Project Lifeline is another “relief” program designed to soften the economic impact of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Here’s what was announced on the AP News Wire: Homeowners threatened with foreclosure would in [...]
Maryland Undervalued Properties For Sale
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 [...]
Metro Dream Homes- How Many People are Involved? and Auction Re-Cap
The Real Estate Market in Southern Maryland has been incredibly busy so far this year, so I have been unable to post updates to this blog about Metro Dream Homes. I have heard quite a bit recently, however, so I’d like to briefly catch everyone up on what I can. First off, there was a [...]
Charles County Maryland Foreclosure Report February 2008
harles County has seen an upswing in Bank Owned (REO) properties for sale in the past month. In my last report, I indicated that there were 55 current foreclosures on the market in Charles County. That number has now crept up to 69. Increasing Foreclosures REO properties are rising because of the fallout from the credit crunch, [...]
Dogs Abandoned in the Foreclosure Fallout
Foreclosure Dogs are becoming big news. Man’s best friend is quickly becoming an expendable commodity to some as people are losing their homes to the credit crunch. Regardless of what the circumstances were for the foreclosure, it’s not the pet’s fault, and now many of them are finding themselves facing euthanization. The Washington Post recently [...]
Commercial Development and La Plata, Maryland Real Estate Values
As many of you know, I have been watching new development in La Plata, Maryland very closely, and more than a few people have voiced concern about how commercial development will impact their home’s value. Obviously, this is a sensitive subject, and I don’t want to be the one that yells “FIRE!” in a crowded [...]
Southern Maryland Mortgage Meltdown Seminar (1/22/2008)
Century 21 New Millennium in La Plata, MD will be holding a seminar on the current Mortgage Meltdown here in Southern Maryland and how it affects you! Steve Combs, regional vice-president for First County Mortgage will be on hand to talk about what is happening in the mortgage market and will discuss some of the recent changes to the lending industry [...]
Metro Dream Homes Auction Scheduled (1/23/2008)
Just a quick update for all of you keeping track of what’s happening with Metro Dream Homes and Metropolitan Grapevine…. There’s going to be an auction of MDH assets this Wednesday, January 23rd, at 11am. Included in the list of items up for sale: Large Screen TVs, AVAYA phone systems, printers, copiers, monitors, Redskin memorabilia, (3) [...]
Scope of Receivership is expanded
Just as a quick update to the Metropolitan Dream Homes situation, California has granted a receivership order for and Invotex representative to take control of California based assets of Metropolitan Grapevine and related companies. The order came at the end of December (December 21st), which leads me to ask this: Just how deeply buried is [...]
For Sale By Owner Marketing Tips
I’ve heard some outrageous horror stories from people trying to FSBO in Southern Maryland. I’ve heard rumors of real estate agents telling homeowners “There’s no way you’re going to sell your home without me” or “Selling FSBO is the stupidest thing you can do”, or “*insert your own snooty Realtor comment here*” Let me first [...]
Southern Maryland Foreclosures are Big News
I recently contributed a bit of commentary to the Maryland Independent for an article they were writing on foreclosures in the region. I was excited to find this morning that the story was in fact FRONT PAGE news and the remarks I made featured prominently. Self promotional remarks aside, I am very grateful that the paper [...]
Charles County Foreclosure Statistics
Foreclosures are rapidly changing our local real estate market here in Charles County. The more foreclosures we see, the more home values are impacted, and the red hot foreclosure market is showing no signs of slowing down. County Update In 2006, we saw a total of 19 foreclosures sold through Realtors. In 2007, that number has jumped [...]
Worried About Short Sale? Good News!
Are you in the midst of a short sale, or about to do one, and worried about the associated tax burden that goes along with it? There’s so good news for you, thanks to a bill signed yesterday, the first GENUINE relief for homeowners trying to avoid foreclosure. Yesterday, President Bush signed H.R. 3648, The Mortgage [...]
Considering Short Sale?
A lot of people are facing some very hard decisions right now. Being Foreclosed on is a process that can be embarrassing, humiliating, it destroys good credit records, and is often a very traumatic experience for good people swallowed up by bad loans. There are options to avoid situations like this if you find you are behind on [...]
Don’t Ask Him How to Save on Your Heating Bill
Sad to say, there are less than reputable agents out there…. I am a firm believer in innocence until proven guilty, but there’s an agent in Naperville, IL who has been arrested and charged with setting a series of fires to different homes in the area over the last 18 months. Richard Knapp, 49 has [...]
Homeowners See Possible Relief
The cat is out of the bag, and it looks like there may be help for people who are facing unmanageable ARM’s. Now *some* people with these sub-prime mortgages can get their teaser rate frozen for 5 years in order to avoid impossible payments. The New York Times has a good article discussing the widely varying [...]
Metro Dream Homes 12/2 Update
I’m so relieved to see this story making national news!! It seems that Joy Jackson, aka “Night Rider” to all her friends back at the strip club, was recently featured on MSNBC Nightly News (video link). For those of you who need a quick update on the back story, click here. In addition, there seems to be a [...]
Foreclosure Buying Tips Part 2
This is part 2 of a 3 part series on how foreclosures work and how to find the best home to fit your needs at the best price. There’s really no great mystery to it, but there is a process to it and I’m here to do my best explaining how each step works and [...]
Foreclosure Buying Tips Part 1
Foreclosure was once that dirty word that nobody talked about, but with the recent market changes everybody who’s looking to buy a home is at least curious about how the process of buying a foreclosure works. There’s really no great mystery to it, but there is a process to it and I’m here to do [...]
Looking for a good pork sandwich? Fuhgeddaboutit!
Thinking about the good old days, when mobsters came and went freely, meeting their FBI contacts and enjoying a good pork sandwich? Well it looks like that time has gone. Yes, I know The Sopranos has been off the air for awhile now. I have to admit I loved watching each week waiting to see [...]
California Mobile Home Trailer Park to be Re-Developed
Looks like a bit of bad news for residents of a local trailer park in California, Maryland. The trailer park, located near route 4 and route 235, also known as Burkes, has been scheduled for Demolition, with 115,000 square feet of commercial space to be raised in it’s place. According to a commissioners report, 61% [...]
St. Mary’s County MD Foreclosures
ust a quick update for everyone keeping an eye on St. Mary’s County, MD Foreclosure Information. Here is a list of the current stats. Number of Foreclosures for sale in St. Mary’s County: 20 Number of Pre-Foreclosures for sale in St. Mary’s County: 18 If anyone wants to be added to the current foreclosure or [...]
Metropolitan Dream Homes quick update
I just received a copy of an email sent to investors from Metropolitan Dream Homes (MDH). Included in my post is a copy of that email: On October 29, 2007, in the Circuit Court for Prince George ’s County, Judge Smith ordered that the Motion for Freeze of the Assets of POS DH, LLC, Metropolitan [...]
Homeowners who need to get out!
I’ve gotten a few calls this week about Metro Dream Homes and here at Team Benya we are working with homeowners involved in this scandal to help them get out from under their inflated mortgage payments by negotiating short sales with the banks directly to get their homes sold before they go to foreclosure. The [...]
Parent Company POS in receivership
I want to make sure I keep you guys updated on the unfolding Metro Dream Homes scandal; It seems a company named Invotex has taken temporary receivership of POS, which is the parent company for Metro Dream Homes. They have set up a website where interested people can view copies of the court documents as [...]
October 2007 Foreclosure List
Here it is, the up to date list of active foreclosures for sale in Charles County. If anyone would like lists for other counties, please let me know and I will be more than happy to send them your way! Download 1024Foreclosures.pdf
Hats Off To Countrywide
I gotta say, they really stepped up to the plate and did what makes sense in my mind. If you haven’t already heard, here’s a link to the article: http://www.inman.com/inmanstories.aspx?ID=64991 It’s a huge relief to lot of people that are looking at a terrifying possibility of foreclosure. While it’s certainly not a final answer to [...]
Free Steak Dinner
Sounds appealing right? but the reality of it is that I showed a property earlier this year and(although unadvertised, and most likely unintentional) apparently it had just such an offer included. The property was a rehab potential and I got a call out of the blue from some investors who were interested in taking a [...]
Investment Time
It seems to me like the number of clients looking to purchase a primary residence right now are outnumbered by investors looking at the current market as the perfect opportunity to find long term investments. Although I have a few people interested in picking up renovation projects, more of my investment clients are looking for [...]
Sometimes a warning may be in order….
Reading through the blog reports on activerain.com today I came across a blog talking about finding abandoned pit bulls in a foreclosed property and the shock that the Realtor got when he walked in on them! As bad as it could have been, it reminded me of an incident not too long ago where we [...]
Foreclosures Everywhere
Foreclosure rates are up everywhere, not just in Charles County. The question on a lot of my clients minds is what exactly is available foreclosure-wise in the area? I’ve put together a list of some of the local properties that have been foreclosed on and there is a link available here: Foreclosure List in PDF Format
PG County MD Foreclosures
Just a quick update for everyone keeping an eye on Prince George’s County, MD Foreclosure Information. Here is a list of the current stats. Number of Foreclosures for sale in PG County: 250 Number of Pre-Foreclosures for sale in PG County: 489 If anyone wants to be added to the current foreclosure or pre-foreclosure mailing [...]
Michael Vick’s Home Fails to Sell
Now here’s a surprise…. Michael Vick’s Virginia Home, where his now infamous dog fighting compound was located, failed to sell at auction this week. Turns out that people weren’t interested in running up the price because of it’s notoriety. Here’s the back story: Vick sold the home for $450,000 to a real estate investor shortly after [...]
Understanding the Housing Slump in Maryland
There was an interesting news piece this morning on NBC 4, talking about how the Maryland housing market is going to continue like this for the next year. The report was based off of anticipated loss of tax revenues due to the housing slump, and stated that the market is not about to improve in the [...]
A little more information has trickled in
It’s frightening to think of just how deep the bottom line has been buried in regards to Andy Williams and Metropolitan Dream Homes. Here’s the latest info- 18 companies have been determined as subsidiaries of Metro-Grapevine, the parent company of Metro Dream Homes ( aka MDH ). over 1,000people are financially involved. Company assets that have been recovered [...]
Charles County MD Foreclosures
Just a quick update for everyone keeping an eye on Charles County, MD Foreclosure Information. Here is a list of the current stats. Number of Foreclosures for sale in Charles County: 46 Number of Pre-Foreclosures for sale in Charles County: 55 If anyone wants to be added to the current foreclosure or pre-foreclosure mailing lists, [...]
Metropolitan Money Store FRAUD Reports
It goes without saying that the predatory lending practices that have sprung up in recent years are finally starting to be understood to be just that: PREDATORY. Unfortunately there’s been more than a few reports, particularly out of PG County, about financial scams that I wanted to post a little info on. In a report [...]
We Do Have Foreclosure and Pre-Foreclosure Lists
There seems to have been some confusion regarding foreclosure and pre-foreclosure lists in the region. Yes, I do have them, Yes, they are free, and Yes, I update them daily! If you are looking for foreclosure or pre-foreclosure lists or information, please give me a call (301-653-8116) and I can send that info out to you. I [...]
I Didn’t MEAN to sell it for $280 Million
Let me start by saying that information is great. Technology has been wonderful for our industry, and it’s revolutionized the way we do business (Those Agents who had to keep their listings on Index Cards know EXACTLY what I’m talking about!). But with great responsibility comes great power (I heard that someone important said that once), and [...]
If it sounds too good to be true, It probably Is
Just another local real estate scam that is getting lots of attention, particularly from the Attorney General in Maryland AND Virginia. Essentially the accusation goes something like this: Metro Dream Homes convinced people to buy in to their investment program (about 10%-15% of the value of their home) and MDH would “invest” that money and [...]
Sex? No Thanks, I’m a Realtor
Just when you think you’ve heard it all….. I’m convinced that it’s got to be something in the water that makes people crazy, or maybe they just weren’t hugged enough as children…. At any rate, another Realtor has just made my list of Loony News Stories, This time from Miami. Turns out getting a deal [...]
Foreclosure Buying Tips Part 3
This is part 3 of a 3 part series on how foreclosures work and how to find the best home to fit your needs at the best price. There’s really no great mystery to it, but there is a process and I’m here to do my best explaining how each step works and how you [...]
FHA Lending Limits Change
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 [...]
Gorgeous FSBO in La Plata!
This one won’t last long! Includes 4 BRs, 3.5 BAs, separate dining room, hardwood floors, formal living room, large open kitchen with island, huge open family room with gas fireplace, full basement, with full bath, landscaping with irrigation system & much, much more! 4260 square feet! Priced at $560,000 with all allowable closing costs. For [...]
Update on Metro Dream Homes
There’s a front page article in today’s Fredericksburg, VA Free Lance-Star. It seems that the Attorney General has established that the company is in debt by at least $300,000,000! Their assets have been frozen and they’re trying to find the money trail, but so far only $150,000 has been found so far. They did jail [...]
Real Estate Auctions The Newest Wave?
Before the auction began we advised our client of the market price that he might expect to pay for his lot. And that he needed to decide how much he was willing to pay prior to the auction. This is very important because it is very easy to get caught up in the emotion and [...]
Calvert County MD Foreclosures
Just a quick update for everyone keeping an eye on Calvert County, MD Foreclosure Information. Here is a list of the current stats. Number of Foreclosures for sale in Calvert County: 18 Number of Pre-Foreclosures for sale in Calvert County: 21 If anyone wants to be added to the current foreclosure or pre-foreclosure mailing lists, [...]
Secret Room leads to Mold Problem
Imagine finding a “secret room” in your house. Jason and Kerri Brown of Greenville found a secret room in their home behind a bookcase, and what was inside was a massive mold infestation. It seems that the bought the home from foreclosure and decided not to get a mold test done. It seems that the [...]
Maryland Foreclosure Lists
I’ve posted a lot of information about Southern Maryland Foreclosures, and a lot of people seem interested in what’s going on locally, and curious as to what kind of a deal you can get on a foreclosed home. I’m posting a list of current Charles County Foreclosures so that you can see first hand exactly what [...]
Subscribe To Our RSS!
Subscribe to RSS or enter you email to receive newsletter for news, articles, and updates about what's new.
