In Chapel Grove, Real Estate Starts to Stabilize

Fewer Homes Sold in the Odenton Community This Year, But Prices Held Steady

With 2012 quickly drawing to a close, home prices in Odenton’s Chapel Grove neighborhood appear to have stabilized, although fewer homes will sell in the community this year.

With less than a month left in the year and most housing purchases taking more than 30 days to close, it’s unlikely any of the four remaining Chapel Grove homes currently on the market will be sold before 2012 expires. We can say, then, that average home prices for Chapel Grove will finish up 6 percent over 2011.

A closer look at the numbers, however, shows that average prices for Chapel Grove town homes are down about 1 percent from last year while average prices for detached homes are almost identical. The 6 percent increase stems from the fact that fewer town homes sold in Chapel Grove this year, meaning sales of the community’s more expensive single family homes raised the average home price.

Homes Sold in Odenton’s Chapel Grove Community

2010

2011

2012

No. Homes Sold

14

15

11

No. Town Homes Sold

4

10

6

No. Detached Homes Sold

10

5

5

No. Foreclosures/Short Sales

2

4

2

Avg. Sold Price – All Homes

$546,492

$440,593

$468,363

Avg. Sold Price – Town Homes

$368,600

$358,740

$355,333

Avg. Sold Price – Detached Homes

$617,650

$604,300

$604,000

Avg. Sold/List Price Ratio – Town Homes

100%

98%

98%

Avg. Sold/List Price Ratio – Detached

95%

95%

95%

Avg. Days on Market – All Homes

130

87

119

Avg. Days on Market – Town Homes

46

78

128

Avg. Days on Market – Detached

164

105

109

Although the number of homes sold in Chapel Grove will be lower this year, there are positive signs for the community’s homeowners. For one, after years of dramatic price declines, Chapel Grove home prices appear to have bottomed, at least for the present. Plus, the number of foreclosures and potential short sales in the community appears to have calmed.

Also from a sales perspective, Chapel Grove homeowners continue to get a very respectable portion of the asking price for their properties. Sellers of Chapel Grove town homes got an average 98 percent of their asking price this year, while owners of Chapel Grove detached properties got an average 95 percent of their asking price.

These percentages are considerably greater than what homeowners typically get in other Odenton communities and greater than in most sections of Gambrills, Crofton and Severn.

Some of the Chapel Grove sales numbers do cause concern, however. Homes sold there this year stayed on the market an average 32 days longer than last year. Chapel Grove town homes in particular suffered this chill, extending their stay on the market an average 50 days more than last year and 82 days longer than in 2010.

Currently, there are four homes for sale in Chapel Grove, all single family detached properties. The average asking price for the four homes in $646,000.

Homes Currently for Sale in Chapel Grove

MLS No.

Address

List

Price

BR

BA

FP

Gar

Days on

Market

AA7914616

1303 Waneta Ct.

$610,000

4

2.5

2

2

98

AA7931452

1619 Winesapp Dr.

$610,000

4

3.5

1

2

74

AA7949757

1307 Waneta Ct.

$635,000

4

2.5

1

2

46

AA7966068

1564 Star Stella Dr.

$729,999

5

4.5

1

2

17

Jerry Kline is a Realtor with the Odenton, Md., office of Keller Williams Flagship Realty (1216 Annapolis Rd., Odenton.) For more information on the local real estate market, contact him at (443) 924-7418.

Rents to Keep Rising -- 4 Percent Per Year Through 2015

A rise in rental costs all over the country is causing more renters to consider home ownership . . . and more homeowners to buy rental properties as investments. Rents to Keep Rising

Appraisals: Reflecting Market or Hindering It?

One in three real estate professionals recently surveyed said they’ve had problems relating to home appraisals in the last three months, with some saying contracts have even been canceled because the appraisal came in lower than the negotiated sales price. Appraisals: Reflecting Market or Hindering It?

Police Charge Real Estate Agent With Stealing Signs

Police have charged a real estate agent from Shelton, Conn., with allegedly stealing a competitor’s for-sale signs from the front lawns of listings. Naughty, naughty. Police Charge Agent With Stealing Signs

Realty Firm, Agent Sued for Not Disclosing Home's Dark Past

Lawyers say the case involves a legal "grey area" surrounding the agent's ‘duty to disclose’ the fact that murders occurred on the property. Realty Firm, Agent Sued for Not Disclosing Home's Dark Past

Odenton’s Eden Brook Condos Awarded $5.6 Million for Builder’s Faulty Construction

A jury this week found that owners of Odenton’s Eden Brook condominiums are entitled to a $5.6 million award from the company that built their homes. According to the court ruling, NVR Inc. used inferior materials and shoddy construction practices in building the community, and the firm is responsible for a host of problems that resulted, including leaking windows and defective heat controls.

The Baltimore Sun reported the story on Nov. 20 (http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/real-estate/wonk/bs-re-jury-gives-odenton-condo-owners-20121120,0,7706483.story)

Eden Brook, located in the Piney Orchard section of Odenton, is a 55-and-older community. The builder, NVR Inc., is a Virginia-based company that does business as Ryan Homes, NVHomes and Fox Ridge Homes.

According to the condo association’s attorney, NVR Inc. must pay the homeowners for defective construction and misrepresentations about the quality of the complex’s construction. The finding comes after more than two dozen Eden Brook residents testified at a five-week trial.

Eden Brook is an eight-building, 224-unit community, one of several 55+ condo groups in the Odenton/Gambrills area.

Jerry Kline is a Realtor with the Odenton, Md., office of Keller Williams Flagship Realty (1216 Annapolis Rd., Odenton.) For more information on the local real estate market, contact him at (443) 924-7418.

Foreclosure Discounts Vanishing

Foreclosure discounts have nearly dried up due to low inventory levels, according to the latest housing reports. This is certainly true here in the residential areas surrounding Ft. Meade, Md. Foreclosure Discounts Vanishing

Study: Down Payments Shrink, Buyers Bring Less to Closing

First-time buyers historically make small down payments, but repeat buyers like to put down 20 percent if they can to avoid paying mortgage insurance. Down Payments Shrink, Buyers Bring Less to Closing

Odenton's Unlovables?

These 14 Local Properties Have Been Languishing on the Market for More Than a Year

In one sense, they’re the unlovables. The unwanteds. The last kids picked for the team. The bridesmaids but never the brides. They’re the homes that sit on the market for forever.

Fourteen such residential properties in Odenton have been on the market for more than a year. Some for more than two years. One for nearly 2,000 days.

Days on

Market

ML#

Property

Address

Home

Type

List

Price

Short

Sale?

BR/BA/Gar

1,956 AA6568951 700 Orchard Overlook #304 Condo $218,083 Yes 2/2/0 1,329 AA7007200 2711 Hickory Knoll Ct E TH $319,500 2/2.5/0 1,129 AA7147058 8601 Roaming Ridge Way #201 Condo $217,000 2/2/1 573 AA7902887 1942 Palonia Ct TH $199,000 Yes 3/2.5/0 561 AA7692305 702 Orchard Overlook #301 Condo $197,500 2/2/0 534 AA7588727 1323 Tree Side Ct Detached $275,000 4/2/0 527 AA7872234 2519 Orchard Knoll Way TH $269,000 Yes 3/3.5/0 518 AA7623770 8603 Wintergreen Ct #302 Condo $344,900 3/2/1 497 AA7639282 696 Winding Stream Way #201 Condo $199,900 2/2/0 486 AA7647123 2270 Canteen Cir TH $270,000 3/2&2/0 408 AA7658866 1908 Cannon Ridge Dr Detached $265,000 Yes 3/2.5/2 392 AA7709182 1211 Breitwert Ave Detached $374,990 4/2&2/1 387 AA7712146 8610 Fluttering Leaf Trl #408 Condo $244,900 2/2/1 371 AA7721868 1310 Tree Side Ct Detached $275,000 4/2/0

So why hasn’t some good-hearted buyer taken these fine properties home from the pound? Why have the homes been on the market for so long? And -- more importantly for buyers facing a lack of housing inventory in the Odenton area -- do these homes represent a good buying opportunity?

A closer look at the homes finds several reasons behind their long stay on the market. As well as some encouraging signs that many of the properties ultimately will be sold.

Reason 1: Inflated Prices

Home buyers are discriminating and they will not pay more for a property than the market rate. Thus, homes that are not optimally priced have a hard time competing with homes that are.

This is a prime reason why several of the 14 homes on the list above have been on the market for so long.

To illustrate, of the 14 homes on the list, half have had price reductions of $20,000 or more since they first hit the market. The three properties that have been on the market for more than a thousand days have had an average price reduction of $46,000 since they were first listed. The home on Cannon Ridge Drive in Seven Oaks has dropped its list price $84,000 since it first was listed for sale 408 days ago.

It’s a hard lesson for sellers: Overpriced properties can sit on the market for years.

Reason 2: Short Sales Can Take a Long Time

Millions of homeowners are “underwater” on their mortgages, but many still want or need to sell their properties. These sellers often end up in distressed property sales.

Short sales in particular pose many problems for a home seller – and for potential buyers of the property -- because third-party approval of the sale by the lender is required. Many banks are overwhelmed by the number of short sale requests they receive and often banks are terribly inefficient at handling them.

It’s not surprising to learn, then, that four of the 14 properties included on the Odenton list are potential short sale candidates, and administrative delays and rejected buyer-offers have played a significant role in keeping these homes on the market for an extended period.

This problem is exacerbated when a home has more than one mortgage and each of those mortgages is held by a different bank. When this situation occurs (as it does for the Cannon Ridge Drive home), approval of the sale must be obtained from each of the lenders, in a timely manner. This is no easy task.

Short sales also extend a home’s time on the market in cases where the lender considers and rejects an offer, then starts the process all over again with a subsequent offer.  For example, if the lender takes six months to consider and then reject an offer, a subsequent offer might be submitted, only to take another six months of consideration. Where this happens, it’s easy to see how a year can go by and the seller is no closer to selling the property than he was when the process started.

Other Reasons for Delays

There are other reasons some of the 14 homes have been on the market so long.

- For the two homes on Tree Side Court, the properties are part of a new mini-subdivision near Piney Orchard Parkway and the Odenton MARC Train station. Each of the properties was listed on the MLS many months before construction of the homes began. Thus, their extended “days on market” is not necessarily an accurate gauge of their market appeal. According to the homes’ builder, 1323 Tree Side Court is now ready for occupancy; 1310 Tree Side just had its foundation poured.

- In addition to pricing issues, the condominiums for sale on Roaming Ridge Way and Wintergreen Court are located in 55+ communities. As such, they appeal to a significantly smaller subset of buyers (55+). Plus, they face stiff competition from existing 55+ homes and the new-construction 55+ projects at the nearby Gatherings at Forest Glen (Odenton) and Carroll’s Creek, on Waugh Chapel Road (Gambrills).

- Some sellers also have the luxury of waiting for the very best offer for their homes. This might occur for personal reasons (2270 Canteen Circle), or the seller might lease the property to a tenant while he fields the most attractive purchase offers (2711 Hickory Knoll Court).

- Finally, buyers’ tastes are notoriously subjective. Some buyers might find a particular home ugly, outdated or in poor condition. But a different buyer might want the home precisely for that reason. In the case of the home at 1211 Breitwert Ave., for example, a buyer might not want the home because it has a swimming pool.

Hope Springs Eternal

But there’s an old adage in real estate: There’s a buyer for every house. And even though a home may be on the market for an extended period, the possibility always remains that a buyer will step forward.

In fact, in the case of Odenton’s current crop of unlovables, three of the properties do have contracts on them.

- 8601 Roaming Ridge Way (1129 days on market) went under contract on Oct. 9;

- 1942 Palonia Court (573 days on market) is under contract and slated to close on Nov. 30; and

- 702 Orchard Overlook (561 days on market) is under contract and scheduled to close on Nov. 29.

There’s no guarantee these purchases ultimately will be finalized. But it proves there’s hope for the seller of every property out there.

And sometimes, you can’t help but root for them.

Jerry Kline is a Realtor with the Odenton, Md., office of Keller Williams Flagship Realty (1216 Annapolis Rd., Odenton.) For more information on the local real estate market, contact him at (443) 924-7418.

Some Buyers Seek Out Lucky Numbers When Buying Real Estate

In Nevada, homes with a seven before the zeros are 37 percent more common than in the remainder of the country. Homes in the Bible Belt are 27 percent more likely to include the numbers 316 in the listing price -- which reflects John 3:16 from the Bible.

Some Numbers Tend to Bring Luck in Real Estate