Phyllis Minik, Property Management

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It has been my busiest year ever with vacation home buyers. It's been fun helping everyone find their perfect vacation home. I also was busy moving into my new beach house that we just remodeled. Meanwhile I had to get my old beach house ready to rent as a weekly vacation home.

I've been working with alot of people that are comparing homes here on the Western Chesapeake Shore to homes in the Eastern Shore. Most people aren't aware of all we have to offer here in the Western Shore so I will be writing more about what our area has to offer besides no Bay Bridge traffic.

Foreclosures (bank owned homes) are not common in vacation and second home properties in Southern Maryland. Currently there are not any in the area with a water view. However short sales are growing with the vacation homes. Currently there are 7 short sales with a water view. Below is an explanation of what a short sale is.

A short sale is when a lender agrees to take less for the home than what is owed to them. This is to avoid foreclosure which costs them thousands in legal fees and time. With some foreclosures the property is damaged and left in poor shape and they want to avoid this making the property value go down. It offers a win-win situation where it is often much more profitable for the bank and the seller is not foreclosed upon.

In these difficult financial times, more and more sellers are finding they need to sell their homes for less than they owe on their mortgages. Some events can cause the owner of a house to have problems paying the lender:

• Job Loss
• Divorce
• Adjustable Rate Mortgage increase
• Bill obligations
• Job Transfer

Before a lender agrees to a short sale they consider the following:

• Whether the seller is deserving of a break, due to financial hardship caused by unforeseen circumstances.
• Whether it would be cheaper to simply foreclose on the house, make repairs and sell it through a real estate agent .
• Amount of properties the mortgage lender currently has in default.

If you are interested in a list of short sales in Southern Maryland with a water view just go to this link: http://www.southernmarylandvacation.com/listofshortsales.htm

Homes currently on the market is 90 active listings 39 of these are new construction. 2 are short sales. I will give an explananation about a short sale in a seperate blog. This is a sign prices are declining. 20 homes were listed in May and three homes went under contract. One house sold in May. Home prices range from 225,000 for a Solomons Landing condo to $1,730,000. View homes for sale and information on vacation and second homes in the Solomons area go to http://www.SouthernMarylandVacation.com/

Homes currently on the market is 86 active listings 39 of these are new construction. 10 homes were listed in April and two homes went under contract. Two homes sold in April. Home prices range from 225,000 for a Solomons Landing condo to $1,730,000. View homes for sale and information on vacation and second homes in the Solomons area go to http://www.SouthernMarylandVacation.com/

Homes currently on the market is 89 active listings 43 of these are new construction. 17 homes were listed in March and four homes went under contract. Seven homes sold in March. Home prices range from 225,000 for a Solomons Landing condo to $1,730,000. View homes for sale and information on vacation and second homes in the Solomons area go to http://www.SouthernMarylandVacation.com/