BRAC invasion, are you ready?

If you are a resident of the State of Maryland and live any where near Anne Arundel, Howard, Baltimore, Prince Georges, Montgomery or Harford counties, you have doubtless heard a lot about BRAC. BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) the “Maryland Realtor” reports that BRAC will account for the largest single employment growth in Maryland since World War II. State sources agree there will be 15,000 direct jobs, 40,000-60,000 indirect jobs and influx of about 25,000 new households”. The “Maryland Realtor” further reports that “A recent survey of personnel expected to arrive at Aberdeen Proving Grounds indicates the average salary is $109,000″ and “this group is preparing for home prices in the $400,000.00 range”. This is great news for a struggling real estate market which has been hard hit by an onslaught of foreclosure properties hitting the market and just as many homes in pre-foreclosure. Some analysts have even gone so far as to predict an actual housing shortage will occur due to this sudden increased demand.

A recent report on the Baltimore region from Delta Associates also gives the Baltimore region a “thumbs-up” due to continued job growth and a decline in the unemployment rate.

So what does this mean to you? As a Maryland homeowner, hold onto your home, if the housing demand increases, the value of your home will increase too! If you are a potential homebuyer and are sitting on the fence, don’t wait too long. That home you’ve had your eye on waiting for the price to go down, well, if you wait too long, it might just go up!

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Web based relocation tools that take the guesswork out!

Moving across the country or even just relocating from one part of the state to another can be scary but I have found some wonderful websites to help take some of the guesswork out of the process. Named as one of the “Top 100 undiscovered web sites of 2007” “Rentometer” is website which deals in all things rent related. You can actually enter in the address of the property you are considering renting with all of the particular details and “rentometer” will give you back a calculation letting you know if the property is a good deal or if you are paying too much based on area rents. If you have a property that you are considering renting out, it is also a great resource for you to use as well.

My next favorite relocation tool is located on the “CNN Money Magazine” website. This website offers a wealth of information including a “Best places to live” ranking (incidently, Columbia/Ellicott City was on the list at number 4 for 2006!) The rankings are based on job growth and earnings as well as amenities in the area, schools, racial diversity and general quality of life. The site also allows you to search by such topics as “top earning towns” “most singles” “most affordable”. If you have no idea where you might want to relocate to, you can fill in your criteria and the site will analyze it and give you a list of the towns which would best suit your needs. Once you have determined where you want to relocate to, scroll down the page to the relocation “calculator” which you can use to calculate your current cost of living compared to your cost of living in your new desired location. Along the sames lines, you can visit “Sperlings Best Places” to get more information.
I personally believe that it is an excellent time to purchase a home. I wrote an article for “womanscope” magazine about why 2008 is “your window of opportunity” to purchase a home. Just click on the February/March edition to read the article.
Well, that’s it for now, in the meantime, please feel free to e-mail or call me with any of your Columbia, MD relocation questions!

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Is Columbia, MD right for you?

So, you are thinking about relocationg to Columbia, MD but you’re trying to figure out, is Columbia, MD right for me? I have a unique perspective because I am both an experienced Realtor who does a lot of business in Howard County and I also live in Columbia. I would like to talk to you about pros and cons of living here from both perspectives and hopefully, I can give you some information which will be truly helpful. the first thing you should know about Columbia is that it is a P.U.D. (Planned unit development) so the look of Columbia is pretty unique. One of the things that I really do appreciate about this town is that because it was planned, many of the streets are cul-de-sacs and there is an abudundance to trees and landscaping. There are also many restrictions on businesses regarding the kinds of signage which can be used, meaning no huge McDonalds arches! I happen to think this lends a lot more beauty to the place but some people don’t like it because they feel it is difficult to find things here and that Columbia “hides” things (like auto shops and gas stations) but once you have been here a while, you get to know where all of those things are and you appreciate living somewhere where people have taken the time to make these rules and plan these things out. Another thing I really like about the County is I feel they have done an exceptional job with the road/highway infastructure. In most cases, there are several ways to get to the same place and, in general, you can get from any one place in Columbia to another place in Columbia within 15 minutes. There are also tons of restaurants and shopping places, including a great mall that has a “Nordstroms” and “Macy’s”, there is a “Cheesecake Factory” and also “P.F. Changs” as well as a fantastic AMC movie theater with stadium seating. These are just a few things that I personally enjoy about Columbia living but I have so much more to tell you, so stay tuned……and as always, I welcome your input, what do like or dislike about Columbia? Have questions about Columbia relocation: Click Here

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