Maryland Real Estate

National Association Of Realtors Makes Bold Predictions for Summer and Beyond

Jim Bodine, Long and Foster, 36 Year Real Estate Veteran , Passes Away

Howard County Real Estate Veteran Jim Bodine of  Long and Foster Real Estate passed away unexpectedly on Friday. Shortly after faxing over a contract to a co op agent , Jim collapsed from a massive heart attack and died at his Long and Foster office in Clarksville, Maryland. To all who knew Jim he was one of the best Realtors and human beings the real estate community had. Ironically, on Sunday,  the contract came back over the fax machine, ratified.

His viewing and funeral , held at Witzke’s Funeral Home in Ellicott City was a standing room only event. Pam Stevens, Office Manager from Re/Max Advantage Realty in Columbia Eulogized Jim by reminiscing about their days together (with many other top Realtors) at Urban Properties in the 1970′s. “Jim was the driving force behind Urban Properties being the number one office in Howard County year after year!” exclaimed Pam. Jim went on to form his own Real Estate Brokerage “Best Realty Group” in the late 80′s and then eventually joined forces with Long and Foster.

Jim was responsible for training and  raising  several agents in the room, including his step son ,Steve Allnutt, top agent of Re/Max Advantage Realty in Fulton. One agent drove down from Ocean City, Maryland just for the funeral. Never even meeting Jim before, Jim entrusted him with a referral of a client just 24 hours before he passed and made such an impression on this man that he came to pay his respects.

I can remember in about 1990, I interviewed a few times with Jim with regards to joining his company , Best Realty Group. Each time I went there he wouldn’t let me leave without a piece of new sales knowledge. I’ll never forget he taught me the classic Ben Franklin Close, where you list the pros and cons on a piece of paper in columns. Among other techniques he taught me ,  I have used that Ben Franklin Close countless times with buyers and sellers in my life. Thank You Jim for that.

I’ll remember Jim as an agent that had more knowledge than most (so you didn’t have explain much to him). He got it. Always available, always approachable, always happy to hear your voice. We did multiple deals together over the years and I can’t remember a single one with any problems that were not solved right away. The Bodine and Allnutt families have lost a beautiful man but as Jim’s brother in law eulogized last night , “We have all gained a guardian angel”.

Rest In Peace Jim.

Average Size of Home Plummets

In this week in Real Estate , Jay and Bryan discuss how the Average Home size has dropped 10% in the last few years as people are being conservative with the amount of space they need. In other words, more families are reconsidering the need for the 3rd full bath or living room that never gets used.

Pasadena Park to get Rubberized Fields!!

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold and Councilman Daryl D. Jones attended a ground breaking session on Wednesday night at Lake Waterford Park in Pasadena, Maryland..
The purpose of the groundbreaking ceremony was to celebrate the start of construction for the County’s first set of fields that cater to disabled athletes.

Daryl D. Jones, County Council

Councilman Daryl D. Jones , a Democrat first initiated the calling for the project. County Executive John Leopold got behind it next.

The project will cost the County about a million bucks of which about 65% will be financed by the state of Maryland. There are only 3 such parks with rubberized fields in the entire state.  The main field will house soccer games, lacrosse and baseball for the county’s Special Olympics program and among other such organizations that cater to disabled athletes.

Maryland State Housing Statistics Released for February 2010

MRIS and CAR released the Maryland housing statistics for February 2010.

Essentially settled units were up almost 20% from 2,348 to 2,809.

The average sales price dropped by 6.6% and active inventory is down about 12% statewide.

Some interesting pieces are that Garrett County-home of Deep Creek Lake and WISP ski resort saw a 56% drop in units sold where it’s polar vacation resort town -Ocean City Maryland and Wicomico County saw an phenominal 70.8% increase in sales.

Maybe it just takes a while for markets to move from one side of the state to the other. Garrett’s inventory level is up while Wicomico’s inventory level is down.

24,000 Jobs Slated for Fort Meade and Anne Arundel County Maryland if Alexander is Confirmed

There is a lot of talk in our office today about the potential U.S. Cyber Command come to Ft. Meade. The Washington Post reported that if Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander (Director of NSA) is confirmed by the Senate for the post to lead the new cybersecurity unit he will request that it will be located in Ft. Meade. This would bring 24,0o0 to 28,0000 jobs to our area. Some fear that the command will be hosted in California, Texas or Massachusetts. Click here for the article.

Maryland Homebuyers May Get Tax Credit Extension Until June 2010

Senate Passes Bill Now to Congress

273,000 NEW JOBS!! (but none selling donuts)

One of the hikers I was with last week in Slovenia was from San Francisco. She was looking for a new job and told me that on her way home from Slovenia she had lined up 4 government interviews in D.C.

Baltimore Good Ole Boys get pummeled by FBI

Last week a few men in their 70′s were indicted on Antitrust charges for price fixing real estate tax sales. Basically they allegedly colluded with each other to bid or not bid on certain properties so they wouldn’t have to compete and the county would most likely get less money while they got a better deal. According to the papers they were witnessed by the FBI giving hand and face signals to each other like a 3rd base coach at a little league game in broad daylight at the auctions.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/bal-md.liens17jun17,0,3171016.story?track=rss-topicgallery

It reminds me of 2 stories. The first was in the early 2000′s when 78 year old multi multi millionaire Alfred Taubman when to jail for price fixing auction commissions:

http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/press_releases/2001/8128.htm

I was also reminded of the story we were taught over and over again in real estate licensing class about the massive antitrust lawsuit involving the Montgomery County Board of Realtors.

Way back in the day several real estate brokers discussed fixing their commissions so as not to compete with regards to price, thereby causing the consumer to pay more most likely. I remember being told the story about one broker picking up his water glass, slamming it down on the table and walking out of the room. He did this to cause attention to himself so everyone would remember that he was the one that walked out. So that no one could say later……..”i don’t recall him leaving, he was still there when we cut the deal”. That broker was the smartest realtor in the room that day because all the others faced misery after that.

After 22 years of being a full time realtor in this business I can remember only two times where I’ve been propositioned by another competitor to fix our commissions. Although I didn’t slam any glasses down I quickly responded “We can’t talk about this!!” “We can both go to jail for that!!” and quickly became paranoid that it was a set up and they were wearing a wire.

It amazes me that guys in the 70′s with more money than most people will ever have get so caught up in the game that they allegedly break the law. Why risk it all to save a few bucks on a Baltimore City abandoned row house tax sale?

Lucky to have a job in Maryland

Last year the number of jobs in Maryland decreased for the first time in 5 years. (BY 15,000).
That’s alot of neighbors. The national unemployment rate is 7.2% . Many economists feel the actual number is actually closer to 10%. Maryland’s unemployment is at 5.8%, which is the most it has been since 1993. Employers everywhere in the state slashed jobs last year in construction, manufacturing, professional services, financial services and hospitality. Some noted layoffs so far this year in 2009 include U.S. Food Service in Columbia which is laying off 147 people in the next few days. Merlo, a Baltimore City fragrance company is laying off 111 people this week, Legg Mason announced 200 layoffs last month and Constellation Energy announced 800 layoffs just a few weeks ago. Even the State of Maryland said it would need to slash 1000 jobs this year not to mention the county jobs like the teachers that work in 17 schools in PG county that are shutting down. What do you think the 2009 unemployment rate will be by years end? Nothing that Brac could even put a dent in.

Last night the Senate voted for a $15,000 tax credit in the new stimulus plan for first time home buyers, up from the already $7,500 tax credit. It’s honorable that they are trying but the reality is it’s a stupid fix. Most buyers don’t understand how it works, you have to pay it back and it’s not going to change some one’s mind who is worrying about losing their job. The only thing that’s going to fix the overall issue is MORE JOBS!!!

The Bank of England dropped their benchmark interest rate to it’s lowest point in 315 years!!!
(1694!!!!) I waiting to refinance as soon as 4.5 % comes around. I’m going to take some loans on rental properties and put them in my primary residence loan at a sweet 4.5 % for the next 30 should that come to play. Rates keep inching up though because the lenders are full of new refinances as it is.

I would rather blog about good news but I think it’s important for people to understand the reasons why home prices are plummeting and where all the buyers went.