Baltimore, MD

When you are snowed in for 3 days and my street is not even plowed, you find things to amuse you. The absolute beauty is overwhelming. Look at the colors of this cardinal. Is this a perfect red, white and blue photo? The reason I have two bird feeders with the same food.. the squirrels don't know these containers are squirrel proof. This little guy certainly does not look underfed. So what does this have to do with real estate? Why Advertising is For the Birds

And more beauty right outside my window..icicle sculptures and winter trees.

OK so there is a bit of work to do while enjoying all this beauty. That snow blower, along with me, got quite a workout. Maybe tomorrow the plow will come through so we can drive out. Maybe this will happen before the next storm.

Uh oh... Our latest forecast:

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY. *PRECIPITATION TYPE... SNOW.* ACCUMULATIONS... 10 TO 20 INCHES

Thank goodness for Internet, scanners, email and tech savvy REALTORS(r) because I just received a full priced offer on one of my listings!

...and my street is not even plowed!

mrome@HomeRome.com

410.530.2400

Go here to see more photos of the blizzard.

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Vernon George

Passport Realty

443.524.4642 direct

301.741.5977 cell

www.BaltimoreWashingtonRealEstate.com

Vernon George & Tirza Chávez are not responsible for the contents or reliability of any linked websites and do not necessarily endorse the views expressed within them. The listing of a link should not be taken as an endorsement of any kind. We cannot guarantee that these links will work all of the time and we have no control over the availability of linked pages.

Baltimore Snow is For the Birds!

Where is my driveway? Where are my steps?

B Don't you love my beautiful supervisors?

Winter chair "cushions"

I found my steps buried under a few feet of snow!

I had such good plans! We had plenty of warning about this blizzard and record breaking snowfall. So prepared I was....last night I went out and shoveled the 2-3 inches of snow from my driveway and front steps. Not too bad, it was a heavy snow. Yes, I was going to stay ahead of this one. Figuring if I did this every couple hours, it would be a piece of cake. Took a nap...slept well..woke up sore from the exercise... Ha..The next time I looked...where did my driveway and steps go?

It is soooo pretty but there is soooo much work to do.

Lenn Harley wrote a post earlier this morning and I commented " Beauty abounds as long as we have internet and electricity. Thank goodness for a backup generator which turned on only once during the night. Only one of the four TVs are working. My snow shovel and I are having multiple dates today.

The male and female cardinals make excellent supervisors. Glad I put the camera in my pocket. Figure by the time I shovel the driveway (no time soon) and my front steps which are done... the plow might get here.''

So what does this have to do with real estate? Take a look at a few properties that you could Forget the Snow...Live in a Condo!

Baltimore Snow is For the Birds! Beautiful birds! So glad I filled the feeders in preparation for the snow!

www.HomeRome.com

mrome@HomeRome.com

410.530.2400

Dirt Cheap Homes in Baltimore

Baltimore City Maryland has some of the nicest homes and the nicest neighborhoods in the nation

Baltimore, also, has some of the cheapest, not just cheap, but dirt cheap properties on the real estate market today.

How can you go wrong buying a property for $5,000 or less, even if it needs lots of work?

They are here, in Baltimore, the dirt cheap properties. Take a look at the link below for a small sample of these homes.

Dirt Cheap Homes in Baltimore

Not Everyone Has a Skill

Governments are making efforts to get people working again. The federal government is proposing that, basically speaking, the government will give an employer $5,000 for hiring someone. The State of Maryland has a similar program where the amount would be $3,000.

Here is a slightly different proposal.

One, my proposal has a few objectives as shown below:

• Put people to work, which is the same objective as the federal program and the Maryland program;
• Increase the skill level of these new hires, which would help them to maintain long term employment;
• Decrease the number of vacant and boarded up houses within our inner cities and other poor areas;
• Improve the financial management skills of those who enter the program;
• Increase home ownership; and
• Decrease crime in these areas.

Two, there are some basic conditions, which currently exist, which need to be changed:

• The inner cities have a higher unemployment rate than other areas;
• The inner cities have a very high number of vacant, abandoned, and boarded up houses;
• The inner cities have a high crime rate, especially violent crime; and
• Many of the citizens in this area do not have good employable skills.

Three, this program would require the participation and cooperation of various groups as follows:

• The local government, mainly with the initial layout of funds for the program;
• Local community organizations, who will inform the people of the program and provide meeting rooms for the instruction of financial management and budgeting principles;
• Contractors who will hire and train to higher level skills those who enter the program;
• These same contractors would take on home renovation projects throughout the community;
• Banks who would provide loans to the newly employed and skilled workers for the renovated homes; and
• Real estate agents who would be willing to provide the financial training and to oversee and coordinate the transfer of these renovated homes.

Four, the program would work as follows:

• An unemployed individual from the community would enter the program;
• The individual would start training in a basic financial management workshop;
• Simultaneously, the individual would be hired by a Contractor who would take on the renovation project;
• During the renovation, the Contractor would provide skills training to the new hire;
• Many of the homes in need of renovation are already owned by the City or could be purchased by the City for a small amount; in lieu of the City, an Investor could be used for the funds;
• The Contractor, with the new hire would complete the renovation;
• Upon completion of the renovation, and completion of the financial training, the participating Bank would provide a loan for this newly employed individual; the loan will be against the newly renovated house;
• The individual, now having employment, a skill, and financial knowledge to handle a loan will be responsible for the payment of the loan;
• Any expenses related to the program will be paid for from the increased equity in the home; these expenses will include what was originally paid for the house, which should be minimal, the cost of renovation, any money which was paid by the City, a real estate agent fee, investor profit if needed

That is the basic formula. It may need some more detail to tighten it up, but otherwise, that's it.