Richard Iarossi, Crofton MD Real Estate, Annapolis MD Real Estate

My wife and I had the pleasure of taking a short vacation at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast in St. Michaels, MD. The name of this treasure is Wades Point Inn. The mini-vacation was a gift from our kids last Christmas and one that we really enjoyed. I'll have to remind them that Christmas is only a couple of months away :)

Not to be political but Vice President Cheney and previous Defense Secretary Rumsfeld both own houses in St. Michaels.

Just a few minutes from downtown St. Michaels you'll find the welcoming sign greeting you to a restful stay. Turn in and enjoy the stay.

No tv or phone in the rooms. Just peace and quiet.

At the end of a long driveway you'll find the main house welcoming you. Sweeping lawn in front with a huge waterfront access on the Miles River in back. Yes, that's a screened porch where guests can sit and chat in the cool evening breeze. There are guest rooms in the main house as well as another guest building to the left just out of view. We were greeted at the main house by the owner's beagle who hardy lifted her head.

Here's another view of the main house. Wonderful 19th century architecture.

Can't you just see yourself just sitting here and rocking after a hard day of doing nothing? If only there was a bar with Mint Juleps I might never leave.

Laying in the hammock I didn't even think of real estate once. Was that bad?

I don't know about you but I could watch a sunset like that every day and never get bored.

It just doesn't get any better than this.

This is the "breakfast room" of the Wades Point Inn Bed and Breakfast. Not exactly the view from Denny's now is it? Breakfast included fruit salad, cereal, eggs and a view to die for.

What a shoreline. This was taken from the guest house we stayed in and is only about half the shoreline of the property.

Some interior shots.

Until next year at the Wades Point Inn...keep my chair warm.

I'm usually OK with showing homes where dogs are present. I've been around dogs my whole life and can generally develop a rapport pretty quick.  Sort of like a mutual respect and understanding. You leave me alone, I'll leave you alone.

My rapport was tested to the extreme showing a house the other day. Although the owner was home at the time the house contained five pit bulls and what I can only describe as a wolf (the seller told me it was a German Shepard but I've never seen a German Shepard this big).  He (it) was behind sliding glass doors in the basement. Thankfully, the wolf was kept separated from everyone else because it wasn't very friendly. Shocker there. The seller asked if we wanted to go into that room and look around and I think we all answered no a bit too quickly.

If you're old enough and remember, The Little Rascals had a pit, bull and extra points if you remember his name...Petey. My recollection of "Petey" was that he was friendly and actually pretty short. Stocky but not very tall.

Anyway, these five pit bulls were enormous compared to Petey. Like they mixed steroids in their dog food. They almost came up to my waist and all five were following us around as we tried to tour the house for sale. At one point in the basement they ALL developed a fascination for smelling my crotch.  There is nothing worse than five pit bulls nosing each other out of the way to smell your crotch. I think they sensed the fear emanating from every pore of my body. If they did they were right, I was truly scared.

OK, the owner is with us but I'm thinking to myself...what the hell can a 110 pound woman carrying an infant do if five pit bulls decide to act? Nothing. She wouldn't be able to get one pit bull off, much less five. I can't imagine the liability she's letting herself in for by having people view the house while the dogs are loose. Did I mention there were five pit bulls?  

We flew through the house as best we could. Actually, my buyer clients seemed to be OK with the animals following us around. When I initially expressed concern they were the ones who said let's go inside.

I don't fault the agent because I'm sure he instructed the sellers to get rid of the dogs when someone has an appointment to view the house. Maybe some fault though because when I made the appointment, I was never told there were dog(s) in the house. I can't really fault the sellers either. I have two small dogs and I know what trouble it is to corral them up when I need to. Where do you put five pit bulls and a wolf? Now that I think about it, what do you feed five pit bulls and a wolf? Maybe we should check for missing real estate agents in the area.

I'm sure that house will be on the market a long time. Not everyone is comfortable viewing a house with one dog, five is out of the question for most agents and buyers. Even if people do go in it's like a sprint to view the house and get back out. A good number of buyers will spend less time in a house with a dog that is not crated.

I'm thankful my clients weren't interested in the house so I don't have to go back.

As reported by The Sunday Capital yesterday:

• Anne Arundel County School Superintendent Salary: $231,750
  
• State School Superintendent Salary: $195,000
• Governor Salary: $175,000
• County Executive Salary: $150,000

The number of Anne Arundel County school employees earning more than a six figure income jumped from 213 last year to 450 this year. The top 100 school employees received raises of 18 to 33% from 2007 to 2009. I know you have to pay well to get good employees but WOW!

Only in America could you have a County School Superintendent making more money than the Governor of the entire State.

Congratulations to Coldwell Banker for completing a survey of what first time homebuyers want when purchasing a home. Drum roll please...first and foremost they want a home that is in move in condition. Fully 80% of first time homebuyers expressed this as a requirement according to the Coldwell Banker survey. This is one of those stats that pass the smell test. It just makes common sense. Probably more than most, first time homebuyers don't have the additional monies to perform fix up and maintenance repairs to this major purchase of a home. I know that in Maryland I deal with a fair amount of first time homebuyers who make good money, have good credit, but don't have much in the way of savings.

Size of the home came in at 71% for first time homebuyers as well. More so than in the past, apparently the size of the first home is important. 41% of the respondents listed proximity to job as being the most important aspect. That makes more and more sense with gas prices being what they are today and the recent past.

Lastly, 73% of first time homebuyers expressed a desire for help with the entire homebuying process, including paperwork, negotiations, neighborhood identification, etc.

It's not in the survey results but my experience with first time homebuyers indicate that they want to know they are getting a good deal. Who doesn't, right? With all the news about foreclosures and short sales this is getting more and more important...and they're not just taking their agent's word. They check Zillow and a number of other internet resources to support their decision.

Source: REALTOR® Magazine - Daily News 9/8/08

I usually enjoy picking up the local paper, The Capital, from the driveway and bringing it in to read while enjoying a fresh cup of coffee. I especially like reading the Saturday Real Estate section since I'm in the industry. While I don't advertise to any great extent in the paper I do like seeing what the competition is doing and saying about their listings.

Lately, I can't even finish my coffee by the time I'm done with the Real Estate section twice. Even with the highest inventory in years the amount of ink devoted to Real Estate continues to decline dramatically. Two or three turns of the page and I'm done. I don't even think that this is a bad thing, just an observation in the local Annapolis MD real estate market. Maybe it's just "green" real estate agents trying to do their best to save the planet...or maybe the transition to internet based advertising is almost complete.

Even the major brokers don't advertise as much in the newspaper as they used to. Where I used to see two full page color ads I now see one. Ads that used to run every week will skip a week or two each month.

I would take no joy if the local paper went under. There is a place for local newspapers in our lives. Not everything makes it's way to the internet, nor should it. Just like reading a book, there is something comforting about reading a newspaper and getting the ink smudges on your fingers.

The paper is doing their best to survive. Cutting editorials, eliminating the TV guide weekly section, and, just today an announcement that if you want to "enhance" an obituary, that can be done for a fee. Frankly, I don't think they're going to make enough from that to compensate for the death of real estate advertising.