Maryland

Gaithersburg Bulk Pick Up

Phone 301-258-6370 Email publicworks@gaithersburgmd.gov

Regular trash and garbage collection for City residents is handled by private contractors; however, the City does provide monthly bulk refuse collection for those large items that private collectors will not accept. These items include heavy electrical appliances, furniture and other large household items. Items must be clearly marked as “Bulk Pick Up” or placed in labeled containers. Materials placed in plastic bags will not be collected.

Bulk items are collected by City crews on your first recycling day of the month. If that day falls on a holiday when City offices are closed, bulk items will be picked up on the same day the following week.

Before throwing out items, please consider other ways to donate, reuse, or recycle them. For more information please contact Montgomery County Division of Solid Waste Services at 240-777-6400 or visit: www.montgomerycountymd.gov

• Large Appliances - Collected by City crews on your first recycling day of the month. Doors should be removed or secured so they cannot be opened.
  
  
• Large Household Items - Acceptable items collected by City crews on your first recycling day of the month.
  
  
• Bulk items must be separated from regular refuse and marked "Bulk Pick Up". Items improperly prepared will not be collected.

LARGE HOUSEHOLD ITEMS ACCEPTED:

Furniture, bed springs, mattresses, rugs, large toys, televisions, computers, nonmetal sinks, tubs, and toilets, and small amounts of remodeling debris (piles less than 4’x 4’ x 8’ in size).

SCRAP METAL ACCEPTED:

Predominantly metal materials must be separated for special scrap metal recycling collection. Examples include metal washers, dryers, refrigerators, air conditioners, dishwashers, sinks, stoves, freezers, furnaces, iron furniture, lawn mowers, doors, cabinets, bikes, and dissembled swing sets.

LARGE YARD WASTE ACCEPTED:

Tree trunks and limbs less than six feet long and less than 40 pounds.

ITEMS NOT ACCEPTED:

NO routine recyclable items. NO regular household refuse. NO contractor debris. NO household hazardous waste. NO propane tanks or tanks under pressure. NO motor vehicles parts, including tires. NO plastic bags. Posted on ActiveRain as a community service. Character counts in Gaithersburg. Spring flowers are beginning to bloom in Gaithersburg. Be sure to have your camera in hand to capture the changing colors of the season. Carnation, Longwood Gardens IMG_2427 Photograph by Roy Kelley. Canon PowerShot G11 camera. Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs

Which Incentive Is Better: $10K to the Agent or $10K to the Buyer?

Let's assume for the sake of discussion that there is a house listed for $200,000 and that the offered commission to cooperating brokers is 3% of the purchase price.

Other incentives for selling the house aside, such as lowering the price, improving the property, staging the home, and so on, let's focus on two particular incentives.

The first incentive is to offer, beyond the 3% commission, a bonus to the selling agent of $10,000 for a settled transaction.

The alternative incentive is to offer $10,000 in closing assistance for the buyer of the property.

Which one is more likely to lead to a faster sale of the property?

There are agents who look for bonuses and there are agents who try not to show properties if the commission is less than 2.5% to 3.0%. However, most agents who are working with buyers are, also, the representative agent of that buyer, and, hence, should be looking out for the interests of the buyer and not themselves. Additionally, in a slow market, which is when an incentive may be needed, many agents are happy just to get a sale regardless of the commission. On the other hand, in a slow market, every additional dollar is very important.

In the alternative, it is the buyer who will be making a decision to purchase a house or not purchase a house. The $10,000 bonus to the agent does nothing to make them more apt to buy any particular house, while $10,000 towards their costs directly impacts them. Most buyers when searching for a house are looking for a house that meets all of their search criteria, including a certain price range, but generally they do not look for house listings which state that closing assistance will be given. Their thinking is that they will find the house of their liking in their price range first and then they will worry about negotiating closing assistance into the contract.

So, does one incentive work better than the other?

The city of Bowie in Prince George’s County boasts of its humble beginnings from being a simple railroad stop to become the county’s largest municipality. It is also the third largest city in terms of area coverage in the state of Maryland. For this, it is not an amazing instance why there is diversity in the housing units established within Bowie real estate community.

Bowie’s rich past was anchored largely on the rail line that was constructed in 1869 by the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Company. Since then, the area grew into a residential community composed of the earliest settlements and Bowie homes. The 20^th century saw a second railroad line being constructed within Bowie’s limits. This was realized when Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Company was purchased by the then powerful Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Soon after, important developments took place in the city of Bowie. Among them were the establishments of the Bowie State University in 1914, the residential community of Belair, including the premier Belair Stable.

Individuals and families who are considering of relocating in one of the readily available Bowie homes would find living within the city a great feat. To date, the entire city landscape has changed from being an agricultural area into a very progressive and developed community. With about 50,000 residents occupying the 41 square kilometer coverage of the city, there is still an estimated 2000 acres of land that is being reserved for parking spaces and recreational parks.

If you are particular with recreational activities with family and friends, then you would surely enjoy roaming the entire city to locate its 72 ball fields and 3 community centers along with some of its famous landmarks and structures such as the Allen Pond Park which brags of its ice arena, amphitheater, skating park, boat rentals, and picnic grounds. Do not forget to set foot on Bowie Town Center where you could certainly meet other shop-a-holics and Bowie homes residents. Enjoy every purchase at Macy’s, Old Navy, and Sears. Feast your eyes with the delectable dishes offered by numerous restaurants and the enclosed food court within it.

Diverse forms of entertainment are also provided to Bowie homes residents and tourists by the 800-seater Bowie Center for the Performing Arts. The center is a popular venue of stage plays, concerts, dramas, lectures, meetings, and workshops. Around 21 structures within Bowie are included in the list of historic sites identified by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Some of them are the Bowie Railroad Buildings in Chestnut Avenue, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church at Annapolis Road, and the Williams Plains located at White Marsh Recreational Park.

On top of these, quality education is also very accessible to Bowie homes residents. It is well provided by some of the ten biggest public and ten biggest private elementary schools within the city. There are also 2 public high schools and 2 private high schools within Bowie real estate community.

Great convenience and comfort await prospective residents of Bowie. At present, the daily needs and even the luxury needs of the residents are served by 140 grocery stores, 2 supercenters, 269 convenience stores, and 267 full-service restaurants. With all of these structures, would you still set aside quality life in a new Bowie home?

Spring has arrived in Kentlands - Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs

Garbage Pail Pasta

Did the title catch your attention? Dolores prepared Garbage Pail Pasta for our dinner and it was very good. But, that is a different story than the one I wish to share in this post.

In the Cooking & Eating section of The Wall Street Journal, Rozanne Gold, a veteran cookbook author shares some of the secrets of her trade in writing successful recipes, menus and cookbooks.

Real estate professionals may learn a few tricks from this article and the recipe for Garbage Pail Pasta will be a bonus. Ms. Gold is a four time winner of the James Beard Award and the author of twelve cookbooks.

The idea is to create a best seller on paper before stepping into the kitchen. Real estate professionals should be doing the same thing by reducing their presentations to award winning form before presenting them to their clients. Titles count. Catchy phrases do just that. Cookbook authors are trying to stimulate “ISR: Instant salivatory responses”.

What kind of responses are you seeking and obtaining with your presentations?

Spend a few moments reading this interesting article and give some thought to what can be learned from a cookbook author. And, do make note Arthur Schwartz’s Garbage Pail Pasta recipe that has a total preparation time of only fifteen minutes. Dolores says that it actually takes longer but is worth the extra effort.

The Rules of Recipe Attraction by Rozanne Gold

Have an outstanding week and be sure to have your camera in hand to capture those special moments.

By the way, this is a re-post of a January blog.

Dahlias at Brookside Gardens IMG_5836

Photograph by Roy Kelley

Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs