Real Estate Information Archive

Rachel DeHanas, Broker/Owner of DeHanas Real Estate Services in Waldorf, recently acknowledged Stephen  Nichols as the top agent for the month of September, 2009.  “While Steve lists and sells homes, 100% of his transactions during the month were from buyers.” Says DeHanas. Nichols settled more than $1.5 million in residential home sales during the month.

Nichols says, “I hear a lot of people talk about how slow the real estate market is, but not from what I see. Most of my buyers, lately, have been taking advantage of the $8000 tax credit promotion, which is scheduled to end on November 30, 2009. With only a few short months left buyers are coming out of the woodwork. It is also a great time for investors.”

Stephen has lived in Southern Maryland nearly all his life. He attended Lackey High School, Prince George’s County Community College, and is currently attending University of Phoenix where he is finishing up his business degree. He has over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry which enables him to provide a high level of customer service and satisfaction to exceed his clients’ expectations. Stephen is licensed in Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC.

DeHanas Real Estate Services is family owned and operated, serving buyer and seller clients in Southern Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington DC. In addition, DeHanas Property Management effectively represents Home owners choosing to invest in residential rental property.

Lennar Homes has just released pricing for its newest planned community in Waldorf, MD. Gleneagles is situated just off of Billingsley Road near the White Plains Regional Golf Course. Lennar is featuring 2-car garage single family homes starting at just $259,990.

The most recent homes sold in Gleneagles include:

The Victoria Mae at $259,990 to $279,990

The Princeton at $305,990

The Patriot at $307,990

The Briarwood at $325,990 which includes a brick front.

There are only 2 homes left at $259,990.

If you are thinking about new construction, please call our office at 301-870-1717.  DeHanas Real Estate Services offers "FULL TIME" Buyer Representation, at no cost to the buyer.

Dear Mr. DeHanas,

Thank you for contacting me about a homebuyers' tax credit in "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" (AARA, H.R. 1, Public Law 111-5). I have introduced legislation to create and expand such tax credits.

Whole communities are being affected by the housing crisis that is roiling our national, state and local economies, causing cutbacks in services, and hurting millions of hard-working Americans and their families at a time when they most need help. It is important to encourage prospective home buyers to jump into the housing market now.  First-time homebuyers account for more than 30 percent of the market.  In some communities, they account for 60 percent of the market or more.

I offered an amendment to AARA that would extend help for the ailing U.S. housing market through the end of this year by changing the date qualified first-time homebuyers could purchase a primary residence through December 31. Extending this tax credit through the end of this year will give many Americans the time to act smartly and swiftly to determine their first step into the housing market.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as agreed to in conference and signed into law by the President on February 17, 2009, would provide first-time homebuyers in 2009 a credit against their federal income tax equal to a maximum of 10 percent of a home's purchase price, or $8,000.  The tax credit is refundable, which allows lower-income households with little or no tax liability to take full advantage of the credit. 

In addition to my amendment to AARA, I introduced S. 312, First-Time Homebuyers' Tax Credit Act of 2009 with Senator John Ensign (R-NV).  This legislation would provide a $20,000 refundable tax credit to first time-homebuyers for their principal residence. The credit is per purchase, not per person. Individuals with incomes at or below $75,000 and couples with incomes at or below $150,000 would qualify for the credit. This provision would expire one year from date of enactment.

Again, I appreciate your letting me know of your support for the homebuyers' tax credit.  Please be assured that I will continue to support efforts that minimize hardship in the event of foreclosures and help ensure homeownership.  If I may be of further assistance with this or any other matter of importance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Charles County Mandatory Building Closures and Real Estate Transactions 

Due to another $5.5 million cut in State aid to the County, the Charles County Commissioners have imposed a 10 day work furlough on County employees.  Four of these days will comprise mandatory building closures that will include closing the County Treasurer's Office. 

REALTORS® and affiliates be aware that County buildings will close November 25, December 24 and 31 in 2009 and May 28, 2010.  Particular attention should be given to real estate transactions scheduled to settle near the end of the calendar year.  The County Treasurer's office will not be open for business on December 31st. 

Because the County will be closed on December 31st, December 30th will be treated like the last day of the calandar year when it comes to recording home sales.

The real estate market outlook, based on results for the month of August 2009, continues to show signs of improvement in some areas, compared to last month as well as this time last year.   There were 115 homes sold in Charles County during the month of August compared to only 103 homes sold in July, which represents an increase of nearly 20% over 2008 figures.  As a result the current overall inventory supply has dropped to 11 months.

Home prices continued to decline at the largest monthly rate we have seen this year with average sold prices down over 22% compared to last year.  The highest percentage of sales continues to fall in the $150,000 to $350,000 range with very little sales activity on homes over $400,000.  In fact, less than 10% of home sales in Charles County during the month of August were over $350,000.

Inventory “appears” to be falling, and some news sources are reporting this as good news for the real estate market. Granted it is “good news”, but it is only temporary.  What they are failing to see is the amount of inventory that banks are holding onto.  With more than 100 new defaults being recorded by the County each month, and total sales which include resales and new construction, at about the same amount, don’t add up to “continued good news”.  Also given the Foreclosure data as listed by the Multiple Listing System, the inventory numbers remain grossly understated.

As for properties in Foreclosure, Realtytrac.com reported 105 new properties in default for the month of August in Charles County.  The rate of new defaults continues to out-pace the total monthly rate of sale, which is an ongoing trend.  The total number of properties in Charles County that are in some state of Foreclosure (including Bank-owned) has dropped, modestly, to 938 properties, compared to 954 during the month of July.   The number of properties in a state of Foreclosure continues to be of concern, and all these numbers are not reflected in the MRIS Trends Report because the majority of these homes are not currently being actively sold at this time.  

Currently there are discussions taking place in the Presidents’ Cabinet, surrounding the “streamlining of the short sale Process”.  At this point, 3^rd party approvals for this process are taking from 3 to 6 months and in some cases as long as 9 months.  Most buyers do not have the luxury of waiting that long to see if they are even approved for the purchase. By instituting some consistent systems into the approval process, transactions could be shortened to just 60 days.

New construction has continued to be very aggressively priced and marketed, with builders paying all closing and adding tons of high-end extras as standard features.  Lennar Homes continues to build luxury 3-level  townhomes starting at $233,000.  About 20% of the inventory listed in the Multiple Listing System for Charles County is new construction.

Rental activity continues to remain strong.  There are currently 200 rentals on the market. Over the past 30 days 147 homes have been rented.  It is an excellent market for investors.   There is a high demand for single family rentals under $1800 a month in the Waldorf area.

If you know of anyone looking for a career in real estate, now is the time to begin one.   DeHanas Real Estate is looking for high quality people to help our clients buy, sell and rent homes.   A number of new systems we have recently instituted within our organization are producing a large volume of business.   In the past, we have found some of our best agents are former clients.  Please call us to discuss the opportunity at 301-870-1717.

Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc.  Real Estate Trend Indicator - <$100K to >$5M Format

Charles County, MD
From: 08/01/2009 to 08/31/2009                Statistics generated on: 09/09/2009

Source: Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. - MLS Resale Data

This afternoon I attended a very informative lunch meeting organized by C & F Mortgage in Waldorf. The information provided was very current to our market place, but most of all, insightful as to where the transactions of buying and selling a home are headed in the near future.

We have already seen a record number of banks fail this past month, and it has been predicted that even more banks will go by the way side.  Interest rates will go up as a result of the Government having stopped buying Mortgage Backed Securities at the end of last year, and the oversupply of debt. Also there is every indication that taxes will continue to rise. It was suggested the rates will rise to 6% and 7%.

Many more foreclosures are coming. The percentage of defaults currently have largely been sub-prime. In 2010 we will begin to see more prime mortgage defaults leading to Foreclosure.

Appraisal guidelines and loan program restrictions will become even tighter, and continue to force home values down. 

Nationally,the months of June and July have shown signs of a strengthening real estate market, while locally we remain down about 10% to last year.

It was also suggested that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will close up shop.

The current $8000 tax credit ends on November 30, 2009. While there are proposals in Congress to extend the tax credit and even increase it, without any further intervention, the real estate market will become more difficult for both buyers and sellers, and remain so for several years to come.