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Lawrence Evans

This week's best deals in Germantown Maryland - Courtesy of Lawrence Evans of Team Limejuicer

The below properties are this week's top rated properties in Germantown:





Location: Hickory Tree - Germantown
Status: Active - Foreclosure
Priced: $115,900 (2 Bedroom, 2 Bathroom)
Built in 1982



Value: 10 (Awesome Investment Rental Property - rent for around $1200 a month)
Condition: 5 (Needs Paint, complete flooring and new bathroom sink)
Location: 7 (Great location - convenient)
Motivation: 7 (Bank Foreclosure)
Investor Rating: 19.5
Total Rated Score: 29 (Will sell within a week)








Location: Swiss Circle - Farmingdale - Germantown
Status: Active - Trustee Sale
Priced: $189,000
Built in 1983

Value: 8 (2 Level, 2 master bedroom suites)
Condition: 9 (Almost completely renovated - fresh paint, new flooring throughout, stainless steel appliances)
Location: 7
Motivation: 8 (Trustee willing to help with buyer's closing costs)
Investor Rating: 20
Total Rated Score: 32 (One of the top condos on the market......)




Location: Saint Johnsbury Lane - Fox Chapel - Germantown
Status: Active - Regular Sale
Priced: $249,900 (Started at $369,000)
Built in 1974

Value: 10 (4 Bedroom, 2 Bathrooms)
Condition: 7 (Move in condition)
Location: 6
Motivation: 7
Investor Rating: 20
Total Rated Score: 30 (Highest rated single family in Germantown)



The above properties have either lowered their price (increased value) and/or added to their condition - they can now be considered good buys.


For your information Team Limejuicer and I have previewed thousands of homes in the past few months. We rate and rerate if necessary, homes on a daily basis - this system allows us to not only keep our seller clients informed as to their competition, but also allows us to find the best valued property for our buyer clients. Hopefully you found this information useful, if you would like to learn more about the Limejuicer Rating system please feel free to contact me directly. Team Limejuicer is waiting to serve your real estate needs and always welcomes referrals! Thank you for your time.


Lawrence Evans, P.C. - Real Estate Consultant
http://www.limejuicer.com/
Re/Max Town Center
Cell: (301) 922-2156
Office: (301) 540-2232 Ext 125
E-mail Lawrence@LimeJuicer.com
Blog: http://limejuicerrealestate.blogspot.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/3/52b/65b


The Limejuicer Rating System is copyright protected 2009

From here to Urbana

It was Sunday morning when I ventured up to Urbana (only 11 minutes without traffic from Germantown) - Of the 20 or so homes that I had previously previewed and rated only 6 had any potential.

What I discovered whilst previewing the properties in Urbana (Friday) was that they had an unusual percentage (over 95%) of distressed homes (Short sale/Foreclosure) on the market. The reason for this high percentage must be that the vast majority of these properties were built after 2003 and have little to no equity, in fact, they have substantial depreciation (over 30%).

What can we learn from this:

  1. New homes depreciate faster than resales in a buyer's market (Resale value is based on comparable resales that have sold - New homes have the builder profit built into the price)
  2. When purchasing a new home always keep in mind the potential resale value (This is relatively easy to calculate - square footage is the key)
  3. Location, Location, Location - Urbana is a really nice area to live in, however, it requires additional commute time
  4. The combination of a newer area with builders still building and a depreciating market, resale prices are going to drop faster. The builder has to remain competitive and usually have deeper pockets than the regular homeowner. The builder is going to offer incentives that the regular homeowner can't or is just not able to.

So should I buy in Urbana you ask? The answer is Yes. There are some really good valued homes that will by the next market be quite desirable. As always, remember to buy quality, location and stay well within your affordablity zone.

P.S. There are other areas that are being impacted in a similar way i.e. Clarksburg and Kingsview

Home Buyers Warranty anyone?

I have often been asked as to whether a Home Owners Warranty is a worthwhile purchase. To answer this query we have to look at the cost vs. the benefit.

Warranties can range in price from $400 to $600 a year cover the majority of items in a home; with optional items like hot tubs and well pumps at an additional cost. There is a deductible per item ranging from $60 to $150.

Let me give you a couple of examples:

Example #1

We recently had our garage door opener and our stove element break, the cost to me was $60 per item totalling $120. Had I not had a warranty the door opener would have cost $130 plus labour and the stove element would have cost $75 plus labour. So far in this warranty period (June 08 - June 09) I have spent $500 for the warranty and $120 in deductibles totalling $620. Had I not had the warranty I would have spent $205 for parts and an additional $100 or so for labour totalling $305.

So far I am out $315 for the year (I really don't want anything else to break, however, it would be nice to recoup this loss)

Example #2

In 2002 we owned a warranty on our last home the cost in those days was $375 a year - that year the following items failed and needed replacing:

Hot water heater
Heat pump/Air Handler
Dishwasher

Total cost to me to replace all these items was $375 plus $400 in deductibles totalling $775. Had I not had the warranty that year I would have been looking at over $4000 in replacement expenses.

One doesn't know when things are going to breakdown, however, one can have an educated guess as to when items in our homes will be wearing out and need replacement or fixing.

If we purchase a resale home with items that no longer have their original warranties the $500 for the warranty certainly provides us "peace of mind" - in the course of 10 years we would be spending $5000 for warranties, however, we could also be replacing our hot water heater, washer, dryer, stove, fridge, heat pump, air handler and so on......

Personally I like the peace of mind......