Fort Washington, MD

Fort Washington, MD SOLD Homes January 2010

Houses SOLD: 42

Average LIST price: $223,469

Average SELLING price: $222,266

Average DAYS ON MARKET: 95

LOWEST SALE price: $108,850 - 4 bedroom, 2 bath single family home built in 1941 - foreclosure

HIGHEST SALE price: $461,030 - 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath single-family home located in Palmer Estate, built in 2007 - foreclosure

Fort Washington, MD ACTIVE listings (as of 2/6/10)

ACTIVE Houses: 283

Average LIST Price: $301,537

LOWEST LIST Price: $49,900 - 3 bedroom, 1 bath single family home, built in 2001

HIGHEST LIST Price: $1,650,000 - 4 bedroom, 5 baths, single-family home currently under contruction in the Tantallon Subdivision

Current Average Days on Market: 201

Fort Washington, MD UNDER CONTRACT listings (as of 2/6/10)

UNDER CONTRACT Houses: 209

Average LIST Price: $243,043

LOWEST LIST Price: $49,900 - 1 bedroom,1 bath single family home built in 1941 - bank owned

HIGHEST LIST Price: $849,000 - 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath single-family home built in 2001 located in River Estates - short sale

Average Days on Market: 100

Fort Washington, MD is located in Prince George's County. Fort Washington is accessible to the Nation's Capital as well as to Northern Virginia and is home to the new National Harbor project. Several luxury hotels and gourmet restaurants are located within a few minutes drive.

If you would like to buy or sell a home in Fort Washington, MD please give Stacey Baugh a call.

Prince George's County Deputy Sheriffs, County Police Officers, & Municipal Police Officers are eligible for a reduction in the Prince George's County transfer taxes when purchasing a home:

First Time Homebuyer - Eliminates the Prince George's County transfer taxes of 1.4%

Repeat Homebuyer - Reduce the Prince George's County transfer taxes from 1.4% to 1%.

To qualify for this tax reduction:

1. The purchase property must be improved residential property located in Prince George's County, Maryland.
2. At least one of the Purchasers must be employed as a Prince George's County Police Officer or Deputy Sheriff, or a municipal corporation police officer serving in Prince George's County.
3. The police officer must reside in the property as his/her principal residence.
4. A qualified purchaser must maintain their employment as a County Police Officer, Deputy Sheriff, or Municipal Police Officer for three years following the purchase or they will be required to repay the tax.

If you would like more information about this tax reduction, or about buying or selling a home in Prince George's County, MD, give Stacey Baugh a call.

Getting a conventional loan for a flipping project can be difficult. The lender will order an appraisal, which will list defects that are found in addition to placing a value on the house. Some are deal killers while others aren't. If the problems are not too bad, the lender may require that money be set aside in escrow to cover the costs of any repairs that may be necessary. If the repairs are mostly cosmetic in nature, you could be ok. Things like paint, carpet, cleaning up the landscaping and other minor items should not stop you from getting a loan. Other things such as major plumbing and electrical problems, foundation issues, a bad roof or other major items could be enough to make a lender decline a loan.

Just as there are closing costs when you purchase the house, there are also costs involved in obtaining a loan. Some of these costs are paid up front in the form of an application fee and appraisal fee. These fees are generally not refundable if you are not approved. Therefore it is better to have an idea as to whether or not the property itself qualifies before you even apply. A good loan officer should be able to give you the lender's criteria prior to submitting an application. You need to be aware that there is a tendency among mortgage professionals to claim that they can do anything. Remember that they usually do not get paid unless they actually close a loan and they do not want you going to a competitor. So be wary of someone who makes promises that sound too good to be true.

Vicki Irvin

http://www.vickiirvin.com

The old phrase, "Real Estate is Local", has been worn out by countless Realtors, desperate to paint as bright a picture as possible in a bleak real estate market. It's more than just a worn out catch phrase, though, and without paying attention to what's happening in the region you're looking to buy or sell in, you can find yourself extremely frustrated.

I've written 5 contracts for buyers looking in Fort Washington, MD over the last 3 weeks. All of them have been on foreclosed properties. In 4 out of the 5 contracts, we have found ourselves competing with other buyers in a multiple-bid situation. The first question that comes to buyers mind when they hear this is usually something along the lines of: "Is the real estate market really that good?"

Here's a quick breakdown on what's really happening in the Fort Washington, MD real estate market:

From the current MRIS statistics, the majority of homes for sale in Fort Washington are non-foreclosures. In fact, as of today there are only 42 homes in the 20744 zip code that are listed as bank owned (REO). 272 properties listed for sale in Fort Washington are NOT foreclosures.

Seeing considerably fewer foreclosures listed than traditional resales is an excellent thing. The bad news is that 41% of all homes that are currently under contract (98 homes out of 234 listed) are bank owned.

The fact of the matter is that people are gravitating towards buying foreclosed properties in the area. the fact that there are more REO's under contract than there are available is very telling. typically the ratio of homes under contract vs. homes available is 1:4. right now that ratio is closer to 2:1 in the area. As far as foreclosures are concerned, Fort Washington would be considered a sellers market. (It's incredible how quickly things can change!)

The other thing to look at is total sales volume. In Fort Washington, property sales volumes have been picking up as well. Although it's nowhere near the sort of monthly volume we had seen during the boom years, total sales volume has grown considerably in the last few years. This is due largely due to the incentives in PG county to buy a foreclosure (Not only the $8,000 tax credit, but also the Down Payment incentive program)

What about Prices?

The other significant factor to look at is homes sales prices. The current average sales price is $251,141. A look at the average sales price over the last year shows that sales prices have fallen only marginally over the last year. In January the average sales price was $267,883, which represents a depreciation of only 6.3%. The national average is 13.4%, but heavy job growth in the government sector has helped stabilize prices in the D.C. Metro area.

It's obvious that foreclosures are driving the Market in Fort Washington for the time being. The good news is that the market is showing signs of what is hopefully stabilization. long term consideration of future regional job growth should help to shore up the market even more. It is entirely possible that we may see home sales slow again once the tax credit and foreclosure incentive programs expire, but only time will tell how large of an impact these programs will actually have on the real estate market.

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000 - office
301-653-8116 - cell

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