Home Styles Found in Maryland and Virginia (Resales)
Styles of homes in MARYLAND and VIRGINIA depend largely on the age and location. Going back to the first communities settled in mid-20th Century, you'll find the lovely old Victorian homes and Colonial homes popular at the time. Later, in the mid-1900s the popular Colonials, Ramblers and Cape Cod style homes. Later, in the 1970-1980 years, Split Levels, Ramblers and the Split Level homes were built to suit the taste of the builders and home buyers of the time. Later, in the 1980s and 1990s, the Rambler, Split Level became less popular because of the larger footprint and the larger lot required to accommodate these styles. Homes built in the later 1990s and in the 2000s are almost all Colonials or two story homes to reflect the smaller lots.
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Colonial
Any two story home, traditional, contemporary, Tudor, cape cod or other. |
Cape Cod
Any two story home with a front slanting roof, with or without dormer windows. |
Tudor
Any colonial with distinctive stucco exterior with wooden trim. |
Contemporary
Any home, on story or two usually designed with some vaulted, cathedral ceilings, wooden trim and/or siding. |
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Split Level
Any home with three or more levels with steps in the center of the home. |
Split Foyer
Any home with a foyer entrance with steps leading up and/or down. |
Ranch/Rambler
Any one level home with or without a basement finished or unfinished. |
About Credit Scores
About Credit Scores AND how they may help or harm your home buying ability.
GUARD YOUR CREDIT.
Preparation for buying a home in Maryland or Virginia
RULE #1. DO NOT incur new credit. Once you have made the decision to buy a home, it may harm your ability to get a home loan with significant borrowing activity showing on your credit report.
RULE #2. DO NOT take test drives for new cars. If you need a new vehicle, try to wait until after settlement on your home purchase. Inquiries from Automobile Dealerships on your credit report prior
to buying a home will lower your credit score and alert the mortgage company that you may be incurring new debt for an automobile purchase.
Your financial life is reflected by your credit report and your credit worthiness is reflected by your credit score. If you've paid all of your credit card, store accounts, furniture accounts, automobile payments and mortgage payments on time for a period of approximately two years, you should have a very respectable credit score. Companies such as Fair Isaac compile your credit history as reported to the credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Eperian and TransUnion and through the use of unique and secret algorithms, produce a score that reflects your credit worthiness. Length of credit history, amount of credit, timeliness of payments, percentage of limits charged are all examples of factors used in determining your credit score.
For purposes of purchasing real estate in Maryland and Virginia, the higher your credit score, between 400-900, the lower the interest rate your lender will offer. With the exception of FHA or VA loans, few borrowers without significant down payments will be able to obtain a conventional loan with credit scores of less than 630. Rates will be higher for borrowers with credit scores of less than 720. On the other hand, borrowers with credit scores over 770 will be approved quickly with little attention paid to LTV.
Almost all credit providers; banks, stores, finance companies, mortgage lenders and credit card vendors extend credit to applicants based on the credit score. So, it is in your interest to obtain a copy of your credit report as soon as you make the decision to buy a home in Maryland or Virginia. Lenders will pull your credit report prior to giving you a rate quote. So, it's best, especially if you have had credit problems at any time in the past to review your credit report for accuracy prior to making a mortgage application.
In Maryland or Virginia, home buyers will have to have a preliminary lenders letter in order to make an offer on a house. So, be prepared with a good credit report prior to making home purchasing decision. Your Homefinders.com buyers agent will assist you in obtaining a preliminary lender's letter and you'll be ready to find that special home.
Happy home hunting.
Get Pre-qualified or Pre-approved and Be Ready When You Find Your Dream Home
Homes for sale in Maryland and Virginia sell quickly. Many new listings will generate 3-4 or more contract offers in a matter of days. So, to be fully prepared to compete for that special home you might see on your next tour, you need to get pre-qualified and have a letter from a recognized lender to accompany your offer to buy.
We work with very helpful lenders who will review your credit report and provide us with a pre-qualification letter within hours. You'll be fully prepared to buy that home when you see it and it says "BUY ME". To have a pre-qualification letter prepared, simply print the form below, enter your personal information and fax to Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, 301-897-5993. Homefinders.com will have the credit letter prepared from a local lender and advise you of the status. You'll be fully prepared when you find your home of choice.
If you are already working with a lender who has pre-qualified you but hasn't provided a pre-qualification letter, contact them soon and let them know that you need the letter now. If they want your loan, they'll provide you with a letter. If you have already started the home loan application process and there are credit matters to clear up before the lender will give you the letter, continue to work with your lender. You will not be able to buy a home until your lender is comfortable that the loan will be approved.
Yes, I would like to get preliminarily credit approved. I understand that this is not a loan approval. I am shopping for a home and need a "lender's letter" to present with contract offers.
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Termite Inspection in Maryland and Virginia
The Maryland and Virginia contract protects home buyers in the event the house has an infestation of "wood boring insects". Buyers may have a termite inspection paid for by the buyer, but any treatment or repairs must be paid by the seller, up to 2% of the purchase price of the property. We'll make the arrangements for the termite inspection company to get access to the property and deliver the Certificate to the lender.
Virginia termite inspection clause in the contract does not have a limit for repairs to be done by the seller.
The termite Certificate is only good for 30 to 60 days, so we generally order the termite inspection approximately one week before scheduled settlement. If settlement is delayed beyond 30-60days of the Certificate, it will have to be updated.
Termite inspections are visual and include the interior and exterior of the property, any out buildings and fences although lenders do not require that any part of the property be inspected other than the home itself. Also, the seller is not responsible for infestation/damage to outbuildings and fences.
If the termite inspector finds evidence of prior infestation that has been treated but damage has not been repaired, our contract requires that damage be repaired by the seller prior to settlement. Home owners can avoid termite damage repair only so long.
Maryland and Virginia are home to some vigorous and hardy termite colonies. They thrive on the moist climate, wood frame homes and mulch that most home owners use in flower beds.
Home owners should have a termite inspection performed by a licensed company every year. Once you have had a colony eradicated, you never know when they'll be back. Better be safe than sorry. $50 is not much to pay for peace of mind.
Don't be persuaded by sellers to accept their termite warranty as evidence of no termites. Termites can't read warranties.
Home buyers from areas of the country (or out of the country) are often uninformed or misinformed about sump pumps. Sump pumps are good. In fact, they are often required by county building codes in homes with in-ground basements. While uninformed home buyers believe that the presence of a sump pump means that the basement has been or might become wet or flood, quite the opposite. The presence of a sump pump protects the home from future water intrusion and flooding.
Many if not most homes in the Maryland and Virginia real estate market place have significant ground water, underground streams which, without the sump pump in the basement, would cause serious errosion of the foundation of the structure and eventually lead to serious flooding of the basement, which, without a sump pump, would surely mean a web basement.
HOW OLD IS YOUR SUMP PUMP?
We know from experience with home inspections that few home owners do routine maintenance on or replacement of sump pumps. As long as the sump pump works, it gets no attention. But, when the sump pump fails, the basement floods, the carpet is ruined, the drywall is subjected to standing water for hours or days, one result COULD be mold growth on cellulose containing building materials in that finished basement.
REALTORS trained for the 21st Century real estate in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Consumers in the market to buy a home in Maryland and Virginia will benefit by the special skills that our e-PRO broker and agents bring to the real estate search and transaction. We are an e-PRO real estate company.
What does using an e-PRO REALTOR (R) mean to you??
Our e-PRO certified Homefinders.com agents are skilled in the use of e-mail.
No need to play telephone tag to get an important message to your agent.
Send an e-mail and we can get your message any time of the day or night.
At the same time, our Homefinders.com agents can send e-mail TO YOU to
alert you about new listings, details about schedules, inspection reports,
settlement and just about any detail about your search for a home and
the transaction.
Telephone's are wonderful. But, as we know, the call doesn't always go through. Now, with e-mail, the message will be there waiting for you. You'll get the message about new listings as quickly as you can access your mail. No need to track your agent. No need to leave a message. In some areas in the Montgomery County real estate market, that may make the difference between knowing about a new listing before it sells or afterwards, when it's too late.
Homefinders.com has e-PRO trained REALTORS (R) helping home buyers for
Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Calvert County, Carroll County,
Charles County,
Frederick County, Howard County, Montgomery County, Prince George's County,
St. Mary's County real estate in Maryland and Arlington County, Old Town
Alexandria City, Fairfax County, Falls Church City, Fauquier County, King
George County, Loudoun County, Spotsylvania County and Stafford County
real estate in Northern Virginia.
GET DAILY LISTINGS BY E-MAIL.
Homefinders.com, as an e-PRO Realty in Maryland and Virginia, has the
ability to provide you with daily updates of new listings. Simply go to
our http://www.HOMESDATABASE.COM web site and enter your criteria. The
system will alert you of new listings every day by e-mail. You can start
and stop the alerts any time you wish. NO REGISTRATION is needed to search
the listings. When you're ready to see homes in Maryland or Virginia,
we hope you'll contact Homefinders.com and preview homes with our e-PRO
agents.
We're ready ! ! ! !
We can also send you the informative eNeighborhoods demographic reports by e-mail.
Other benefits of working with the HOMEFINDERS.COM e-PRO agents.
* Daily listing updates
* Neighborhood data by e-mail
* Listings daily by e-mail
* Access to lenders who communicate by e-mail
* House photos by e-mail
Send us an e-mail and we'll get back to you quickly.
Welcome to searching for homes in Maryland and Northern Virginia in the 21st Century.
100% Financing For Your Home Choice.
HAVE THE INCOME?? DON'T HAVE THE CASE??
We have the solution. . . . . . 100% FINANCING
NOW, you can buy a home in Maryland and Virginia with 100% financing.
With the change in credit approval guidelines in the past couple of years, buyers looking for a home in Maryland and Virginia can now buy a home and finance the purchase through 100% financing.
It isn't unusual for prospective home buyers to have good income and little to no cash. Home buyers who have recently graduated and just starting up the professional ladder are ready to buy a home, have no problem making the monthly payments but have no savings can benefit from 100% financing loans. Or, a home buyer who has recently advanced in their profession to high earnings and not had time to save money for a down payment on their home of choice would benefit. A prospective buyer who may have recently paid off the balances on their credit accounts or automobile loans and depleted their savings is a good prospect for 100% Financing on real estate in Montgomery County.
Now home buyers have many options. Home buyers with good credit scores have more options. If you have a credit score of 700 or better, you are eligible for 100% financing for your home purchase. **
Criteria for 100% Financing for Maryland or Virginia Real Estate
Rates
The cost of the loan will be approximately .25% higher than market. If
market rates are 6.25% for a 30 year fixed home loan, the interest rate
for 100% Financing will be approximately. 6.5% for a 30 year fixed home
loan.
Reserves
Home buyers will need to have the equivalent of 2 to 4 months mortgage
payment in reserve. This reserve may be in the form of cash, savings,
money in your 401(k) saving plan, other retirement plan account or money
in your equity account.
The 80/20 Home Loan Option
Home buyers may obtain 100% financing on a home with the following loan.
80% First Trust. This loan meets the 80% threshold for PMI and PMI would be required. PMI is Private Mortgage Insurance for loans with less than 20% down.
20% Second Trust. This is the same as borrowing the down payment on your home purchase. The interest rate on the Second Trust will be approximately 1 to 1 1/2 % higher than the first trust, but will be on only 20% of the purchase price and can be paid off early with no pre-payment penalties for homes in Montgomery County.
Additional Benefit
Interest on the 2nd Trust is tax deductible.
Buying a home in Montgomery County means looking at all financing options. We'll help you get the best loan for your needs.
** Less than 700 Credit Score?
Maryland and Virginia home buyers who have credit scores between 600 and
700 may be able to qualify for 100% financing on their home purchase with
slightly higher than market interest rates. Rates will be based on the
credit score. Contact us and we'll have an experienced loan officer analyze
your needs. When you use Homefinders.com buyer's agents as your Realtor,
you benefit from referrals to qualified loan officers.
First Time Home Buyers and Home Buyers With No
Credit History
100% Financing is available to prospective Maryland or Virginia home buyers
and home buyers who have little to no credit history. CONTACT US and we'll
have an analysis of your real estate options done for you.
Closing Costs
Closing costs for real estate in Maryland will be approximately 4% of
the purchase price, 2-3% in Virginia. You may be able to finance some
or all of these costs. See CLOSING COSTS for a detailed explanation.
Get the help you need when you buy real estate in Maryland and Virginia. Homes in Maryland and Northern Virginia are expensive and most houses sell quickly. A Buyer's Agent will work hard to help you get the best real estate for your money.
ALL HOMEFINDERS.COM AGENTS ARE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS ®
What that to YOU, the home buyer, is that our agents have pledged themselves to adhere to a Code of Ethics that requires that WHEN REPRESENTING A BUYER AS AN AGENT, REALTORS ® will protect and promote the interests of their client.
REALTOR ® TRAINING
Membership of the local Boards of Realtors ® gives us access to advanced
training to help us represent our buyer clients better. Our focus is always,
from the day we meet face to face, at the first scheduled meeting, promote
your interest in your search for a home in Montgomery County.
Courses that our BUYERS AGENTS have taken in the past year include:
Environmental Issues
Fair Housing
Ethics
MD Real Estate Law
Residential Financing
Pricing Property & Appraisals
Contract Law
Agency Law & Buyer Representation
Contracts, Settlement Procedures & Disclosures
Taxes
Home Inspections
Homefinders.com agents attend more than the Continuing Education courses required for licensure.
In addition to the above REALTOR ® sponsored Continued Education, our office has experts give seminars regularly to keep our agents up to date on the latest information about mortgage loans, home inspectors and other topics of interest to our agents and our home buyers in Maryland and Virginia.
"We're pretty nice people"
YES, HOMES IN THE MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA REAL ESTATE MARKET PLACE
MAY HAVE HIGH LEVELS OF RADON.
Fact: Areas in the north and western part of our real estate market in Maryland and Virginia are likely to have high levels of Radon in the house you may wish to buy. Frederick County, Montgomery County, Loudoun County, Fairfax County, Baltimore County are areas where most of our high Radon level are found.
Fact: Testing for Radon levels can be done for approximately $160.
Fact: Radon remediation cost a manageable $1,000 to $1,500 and is very effective.
Fact: Since Radon levels are easy to control, this should not be a deal
killer when buying
real estate in Maryland or Virginia. Testing and remediation can be a
contingency on a
contract. Or, it can be done after settlement.
Fact: EPA estimates that approximately 15% of lung cancer is caused by Radon. Testing for Radon is something that a thoughtful home owner would do.
Fact: Due to the public awareness of the dangers of high levels of Radon,
many homes that
you select to consider for purchasing will have Radon reduction equipment
already installed.
Fact: Many builders install a passive Radon venting system in the homes that they build.
Fact: Homefinders.com will help you become a knowledgeable home buyer.
Buying a Home in Maryland or Northern Virginia
GET IN THE RIGHT FRAME OF MIND
Buying a home in Maryland or Virginia usually represents the largest single
investment for an American family. Home ownership is also the single most
valuable asset of the American family. In real estate parlance, family
can be one or more persons. It is important that home owners understand
how to make the investment wisely and protect their asset. Montgomery
County real estate is expensive based on the local average and it is important
that home buyers have help every step of the way from home search to settlement.
Buying a home is a very complicated transaction. Home buyers need to make careful and wise decisions. However, buying a home is not the same as simply buying real estate. A home often represents a very emotional purchase. Many families are buying a home in some counties so that their children can attend specific public schools. There is generally more involved in the purchase of a home, such as proximity to public schools, commuting to the job location(s), convenience to shopping needs and sports or hobby activities. The transfer of title to real property is also a legal procedure and that will usually mean that homeowners will need the help and advise of a REALTOR ® or attorney, depending on the particular laws of the state in which the home is purchased. Whether using the services of a REALTOR ® or real estate attorney, home buyers should always make sure that they understand the contract, the loan documents and the settlement procedures. Home owners should not hesitate to ask questions of their REALTOR ®.
WORKING WITH AN AGENT OR BROKER
Things a buyer's agent can do to help make your home search easier and
more productive:
* Help you know the price range for which you'll qualify to buy.
* Help you locate homes in the price range and geographical location of
choice.
* Help you preview homes with an eye for condition and value.
* Help you by preparing the contract to make an offer to purchase.
* Help you negotiate the contract with the terms and conditions most favorable
to you.
* Help you obtain loan information and make loan application for terms
most favorable to you.
* Help you understand the home inspection process and how it relates to
the contract.
* Help you by arranging the termite and other inspections by contract.
* Help you by getting the most favorable repair terms and conditions pursuant
to the home inspection.
* Help you inspect the home prior to settlement to make sure the condition
hasn't changed.
* Help you to arrange the settlement meeting where title is transferred
to you.
WHAT ELSE WILL MY AGENT DO FOR ME?
* Present your contract and negotiate the details until it is accepted
by all parties.
* Accompany you to loan application if needed and desired.
* Accompany you to the home inspections
* Accompany you to the settlement and make sure you understand the Settlement
Statement.
* If you are working with a Buyer's Agent in Maryland or Virginia, you'll
get the benefit of EVALUATION, NEGOTIATION AND PREPARATION OF THE CONTRACT,
that cannot be done except by a Buyer's Agent working for you as your
broker in Maryland.
WHAT IS THE EARNEST MONEY DEPOSIT?
As a part of the contract, you'll make a "Good Faith Deposit"
of money which is held until settlement at which time it is credited to
your closing costs.
SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES
The buyer and seller will usually attend settlement with their respective
agents. We will be there
with you, our buyer. The title company will go over the buyers' and sellers'
closing information
and accept your payment in exchange for the keys to your newly purchased
home.
You just purchased a home.