About Prince George's County, MD

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?

Call Jonathan Benya at 301-653-8113 to find a Short Sale Realtor in Prince Georges County, MD or CLICK HERE TO REQUEST A FREE SHORT SALE ANALYSIS!

Maryland Short Sale FAQ’s

I work with a fair number of short sales in Maryland. Many people find the process itself overwhelming, and it shouldn’t be. I’ve put together a list of Short Sale Homeowner FAQ’s to help make the process a bit easier to understand. If you’re behind on your mortgage and need to sell your home, contact us and we can help.

What Is A Short Sale?

A Short Sale is a real estate transaction where the home owner owes their lender(s) more than the property is actually worth. This means that the bank must first approve the loss they would take should the home be sold.

I Need To Sell My Home. Would I Qualify for a Short Sale?

Probably. There is a lot of rumor and hearsay about short sales that can often lead to confusion. If you have no equity in your home and NEED to sell, then you are probably a good candidate. What a lot of people don’t realize is that the bank makes their decision to approve or deny a short sale based off of what will cause them to lose the least amount of money, not who has the biggest hardship!

What Banks Do You Work With?

When it comes to negotiating a short sale, I don’t pick and choose the easiest banks to work with, I will work with any lender in the country to negotiate a short sale on your behalf.

How Long Does It Take To Complete A Short Sale?

From the first time that we meet to the final settlement on your home, the time frame is roughly 5-8 months. Here’s how that time breaks down:

Get home listed on the market and get the short sale package put together on the property. This time frame depends completely on you as the owner getting the necessary short sale package returned to us ASAP, but should only take a week at most.

Market the property to get an offer in as quickly as possible. When we put a short sale up on the market the intent is to place the property at or just below market value in order to get an offer to the lender as quickly as possible. This can take anywhere from 30-90 days.

Once we get an offer in, submitting it to the bank is the next step. Trying to get a bank approval can happen as quickly as 1 week to as long as 90+ days, but usually we see approvals happen within 45-60 days. This process is very labor intensive for us as agents, and typically involves 50+ phone calls and emails to the lenders involved in order to make it all work.

After the bank approves the sale, getting the deal to settlement can take as little as 2 weeks, or as long as 30 days. At this point we are under the gun, so to speak, to make the settlement happen because the bank’s approval of the short sale is only valid for a very limited time frame, and it’s important that we do everything we can to ensure that we don’t miss the deadline.

What Tax Liability Will I Have If I Do A Short Sale?

When you do a short sale, it is typical that the lender may report the amount of the loss to the IRS as income, via a 1099-C, cancellation of debt. The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 Has offered tax relief to people who have gotten a 1099-C from their lender, but it is imperative that you consult with a tax adviser on this issue. More information can also be found on the IRS website.

If your home is lost to foreclosure, the lender will typically do a 1099-A, which is “Acquisition or Abandonment of Secured Property”. 99% of the time the amount of loss is greater in a foreclosure than it is in a short sale, so if you are likely to receive a 1099 either way, it’s in your best interest to consider a short sale where the loss liability is typically less.

What Are My Credit Consequences in a Short Sale?

It is difficult to gauge exactly how much damage there will be to your credit. Once you are 30 days behind on your mortgage, the lender has the right to report that to your credit. Quite often people will end up with multiple lates reported on their credit and when the short sale is completed the lender will report the debt as “settled” or “paid in full for less than the full amount”.

Can The Bank Pursue Me For The Amount Of Their Loss?

It is possible that a lender can pursue the homeowner after a short sale or a foreclosure for the amount of loss that they take. Maryland is a “Judicial Foreclosure” state, which means that they can hold the debtor liable. It is not unusual for a lender to require a cash settlement or promissory note be signed for some portion of the loss as a condition of short sale approval. While we do everything in our power to minimize the amount of liability for our clients, we cannot promise how your lender will handle the debt.

Because Maryland is a Judicial Foreclosure state, your lender may have the ability to pursue you for their loss should the home go to foreclosure. This is one of the reasons that a short sale is so important, because the amount of that loss is often greater with a foreclosure than it is with a short sale.

How Long Will It Take The Bank To Foreclose on My Home?

This varies greatly, and in Maryland that number can be as little as 6 months, although the average is a little over 1 year, and in some cases people have been in their homes for as long as 4 years without having made a mortgage payment!

When Should I Call You To Start The Short Sale Process?

Time is of the essence, and as a Realtor, I am limited by the amount of time it takes to complete a short sale vs. the amount of time it takes for the bank to foreclose. The sooner you contact an agent to assist you with a short sale, the better your chances are of successfully completing the process.

225 Foreclosures For Sale in Prince George's County, Maryland

There are 3,012 homes for sale in Prince George's County, Maryland based on today's multiple listing service (MRIS) statistics. 225 (7.5%) of the active listings are lender owned foreclosures (REO). 1,297 (43%) are short sale pre-foreclosures.

When over 50% of the available homes are distress sales, everybody knows that Prince George's County has a very troubled real estate market. There are no easy solutions for this long term problem. Home buyers and investors need to proceed with great caution. There are many bargains to be found by smart buyers. The best protection for most is to have a pre-approval letter in hand if mortgage financing is to be used and to have a buyer agent that really knows the local market.

Many of the available properties have deferred maintenance issues or repair requirements that could impact the cost and the financing. We recommend the outstanding FHA 203(k) program for those that wish to have the fix-up costs included in their mortgage. Every buyer should opt for a professional home inspection.

Available foreclosure listings, in Prince George's County, run from the highest price at $830,000 down to the lowest price at $17,200.

79 Prince George's County Foreclosures Priced at $100,000 and Below

91 Prince George's County Foreclosures Priced from $100,000 to $200,000

55 Prince George's County Foreclosures Priced at $200,000 or Above

Prince George's County, MD Prince George's County, Maryland, Real Estate Market Statistics:

During January, 2012, there were 526 closed sales, down 2.95% from last year. The average sold price was $179,834, down 2.82% from last year, with an average of 102 days on the market. The median sold price was $162,006, down 1.81% from last year. Homes were selling for an average of 89.78% of the average original list price.

Please contact us when you have questions about the residential real estate market in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC.

There is much to see and do in Maryland. Be sure to have your camera in hand to capture the special moments that you will want to share.

Longwood Gardens Orchid Extravaganza IMG_3920

Photograph by Roy Kelley using a Canon PowerShot G11 camera.

Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs

On February 9, 2012, Prince George’ County officials announced an initiative that will spur growth in the local housing market and community development. County Executive Rushern L. Baker, III, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Assistant Secretary Mercedes Marquez, and Eric C. Brown, Prince George’s County Director of Housing and Community Development signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) today, Feb. 13, 2012.

According to an official statement, the purpose of the agreement is to combine local and federal resources to provide technical assistance and capacity-building engagement that will maximize the use of federal funds to revitalize neighborhoods, help the homeless, and produce more affordable housing.

Under the agreement, the Prince George’s County and HUD will work with local corporations and non-profits to create strategies that meet and target specific needs of areas within of the county. They will work with programs such as The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Program (Homeless), The Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), The Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), and The HOME Investments Partnership Program (HOME). The HOME program is an ownership assistance program that creates opportunities for home ownership in the county by providing incentives such as down payments and closing cost assistance to low and moderate income families and first time homebuyers.

The success of MOA will aid the county in its effort to rebound from the housing crises. Many of the county’s home values have fallen to half of their values before 2008. One third of the foreclosures in Maryland are in Prince George’s County, with the town of Fort Washington leading the state with the most foreclosures. Two thirds of the homes for sales are short sales or foreclosures. Prince George’s County leads the state in filings of notices of default. The county housing market needs a jumpstart to begin its recovery.

Pattie Zanders is a realtor with Exit Bennett Realty in Greenbelt, MD, one of the fastest growing brokerage in Prince George's County Maryland. Her expertise is in 1st time homebuyers programs and short sales. She is the local expert for Capitol Heights MD Homes for Sale, Clinton MD Homes for Sale, District Height MD Homes for Sale, Fort Washington MD Homes for Sale, Suitland MD Homes for Sale, Temple Hills MD Homes for Sale, and Upper Marlboro MD Homes for Sale and other metropolitan Washington, DC areas. For a realtor who focuses on customer service and getting results, call today at (301) 919-8858.

Attention Buyers!!!

This property qualifies for My HOME financing.

Get into this home for as little as 1.75% down. That’s right…

-Up to 5% assistance to First Time Homebuyers

-Down Payment and Closing Cost Assistance

-4% 30 year fixed rate (4.275% APR)

-THIS PROPERTY IS ELIGIBLE!!!

For more information about this property or any other properties in Bowie, MD, please visit my website at www.DeniseDimares.com.

You can also call Nick Mautino at 443-574-0150 x-106 for more information on financing this property using “MY HOME” financing.