Arbutus, MD

Are you a fan of Train Gardens? The Volunteer Fire Department in Ellicott City always put on a great show. Just down the road in Arbutus you can visit the Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department 18th Annual Train Garden at the station in Arbutus through New Years Day. With a different layout every year there is an abundance of eye candy with many different types of trains to entertain most children.

Here is a slide show of some of the great creative train journeys to be seen.

All photos were taken and are the property of Ellie McIntire. All Rights Reserved. This content may not be reproduced or reprinted without express written permission of Ellie McIntire or an officer of The McIntire Team.

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If you are planning to move to the Central Maryland area and you want a BUYERS AGENT that really knows the area and all that it has to offer, I can help. (Personal tours of the area included in the service)


If you are looking to successfully sell your Maryland home with a Realtor who will market your property with multiple resources, call me for an appointment.



These are the areas that I serve Buyers or Sellers in the Metro Baltimore area :  Howard County, Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Harford County, Anne Arundel County, Carroll County, Montgomery County or Prince Georges County . If you would like more information please call me, Ellie McIntire at 443-418-7668 or e-mail EllieMcIntire@MRIS.com

Ellie McIntire

The McIntire Team Real Estate Services.

Keller Williams Realty Centre

443. 418 7668 (cell)

443.766 1768 (O)

443.766 1769 (E-Fax)

E-mail: EllieMcintire@MRIS.com

http://www.EllieMcIntire.com

We redefine the essence of service

I had the pleasure of accompanying my daughter's Kindergarten class on a wonderful trek to Arbutus Auto Painting and Bodyworks, 4621 Leeds Avenue, Arbutus, MD.

We weren't showing them the ins and outs of accident repair, we were participating in a 13 year tradition of visiting their holiday train garden. The guys and ladies in the shop showed obvious pride in sharing their meticulous work with the 5 and 6 year olds. Amid shouts of "Did you see...?", "Hey, come look at this!" The oohs and ahhhs as the trains rode by really puts one in a holiday mood!

So much was going on in the miniature version of our town:

A stadium lovingly constructed by one man over a period of 2 years was facinating and filled with over 1000 tiny painted people in the stands ready to watch our Ravens play.

The Oscar Meyer Weiner Truck, farms complete with cows and horses, ice cream shops, fire trucks and fire fighters, ponds with boats and fishermen...too much more to mention.

The kids loved seeing some buildings they recognized (many sponsored by local businesses) and searching for things their teacher had suggested before leaving the classroom.

I would highly recommend a trek to Arbutus Auto Painting and Bodyworks for the train garden and I bet they are tops in repairs if you need them while you are there as well!

The price of admission is a non-perishable food item for Southwest Emergency Services.

Tenant Thursday - Maryland Real Estate Investing Advice. A Weekly Series on handling Tenant issues when investing in Real Estate in Maryland.

You’ve found the perfect tenant: a single woman with a clear criminal background, good references and clean credit. She’s signed her one year lease. Things are looking good. You make the appointment for the initial walk through and then it happens. She brings her boyfriend. Oh yeah, and by the way he needs to move in because of some last minute change in his current living situation.

How convenient.

What are you going to do? The most important thing is to know what’s in your lease. This will dictate what you can and cannot do in this situation.

My leases specifically state that anyone who is going to live there must be specified in the lease. Any changes must have my prior written consent. Also, all adults who will be living in the home must have a criminal background check and credit check.

This applies to former spouses who move back in, college age children moving home, parents moving in with their children…everyone. I don’t mean to suggest that I wouldn’t rent to someone because of what shows up on the background check. But as a Landlord, I need to know what I’m getting into.

There are no exceptions to this policy, and it is clearly stated in my lease. Do you know what your lease says about who can live there? And do you enforce it?

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/umjanedoan/497345293/

Tenant Thursday: But I'm Not a Real Estate Investor. Yesterday I met a woman who was interested in selling her investment property. She and her husband purchased this small, multi-family unit in Arbutus many years ago and had been renting it out ever since.

Recently, her husband passed away. She's simply not able to maintain the property and keep on top of the tenant issues any more. She knew that I owned a multi family unit nearby, and contacted me to see if I was interested in purchasing her property.

I asked her how being a Real Estate Investor over the years had benefitted her, and she replied, "Oh, but I'm not a Real Estate Investor!" It made me smile, and I certainly wasn't about to argue with her, but I have news for property owners: if you own a home (real estate) in which you don't reside, and you use that home to make a profit (invest), you are in fact a Real Estate Investor.

I guess people think that to be considered a 'Real Estate Investor', you must own multiple properties, develop subdivisions, flip homes weekly and possibly have the last name of Trump. And while those individuals are also Real Estate Investors, so are you, the single property landlord. I think it's important to keep this distinction in mind, because as you make decisions concerning your property, you have to think of how those decisions will affect your bottom line. When you forget that your property is an investment, and treat it like your own home, you can run into a lot of trouble.

Attention Real Estate Investors: follow this blog. On Thursdays, I frequently post advice about Real Estate Investing. Right now I am doing a series on common Tenant issues, and how to handle them. You can also find more content under the topics of Real Estate Investing, Thursday Q & A, and Tenant Thursday. And you can always contact me if you have a topic you'd like to see covered in the blog.

Photo courtesy of: Eric Rhoads