Photo Shoot of our Ocean City

This is a winter shot from over the inlet jetty. notice nobody on the beach and no boats in the ocean or bay.

Guidline for better expense tracking

Hi! Over the years we have read about percentages a person should follow as they go through life spending their incomes, some guidlines are good and some miss the mark completly. The advice changes because our lifestyles change, but the base line remains at about the same range. Here is yet another suggested guideline from Money Management International's Consumer Credit Counseling Services, houston. You be the Judge- but whatever you believe, Heed the advice that you should be aware of where your income is being distributed.
-Housing should be no more than 20% to 35% of your after tax income
-Food 15% to 30%
-Transportation 6% to 20%
-Medical costs 2% to 6%
-Insurance 4% to 6%
-Utilities 4% to 75
-Clothing 3% to 10%
-Personal care 2% to 45
-Miscellaneous expenses 1% to 4%
***These percentages apply AFTER you set aside at least 10% of what you earn as savings.

The Ocean City real estate market is becoming more active! Compared with January 2009, February has triple the number of pending sales. Not a surprise- the property prices have declined to an attractive level, and interest rates have stayed at their low low levels.
St. Patricks Day ( March 17th ) will be celebrated in Ocean City on March 14th this year. The parade begins at 60th Street and ends on 45th Street parking lot for food,music and green beer. Plan to join the festivities.

Long and Foster Real Estate in Ocean City, Maryland is sponsoring a huge fundraiser for the entire month of March for Diaconia. The organization is in dire need because the lost some of the public funding they were depending upon. We all are used to hearing the pleas for help during Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays, but those in need get hungry and cold all during the year. If many give just a little, we can make the difference. Our office is across the street from the Carousel at 119th Street, we will collect money for Food Lion Gift cards,food, clothing, baby and children items to include formula and baby food. We are asking for your help- its a great cause. You may call 410-524-1700 Thank You!

Just a morning laugh!

A Beginner Golfer scrubbed his tee shot into the woods, then hit into a few trees, then hit across the fairway into another woods. Finally, he proceeded to hit into a sand trap. All the while, the club professional had been watching.
"What club should I use now?" he asked the pro. "I don't know," the pro replied. "What game are you playing?"

Now for some more serious information:
In the link below is a good Wall Street Journal article, and with the new stimulus bill now passed by both the house and senate, and with it being signed by the president on Tuesday – this market will be even bigger!

The new Stimulus provides -
1. $8,000 tax credit for 1st time homebuyers (defined as not owning a home the last three years just like the current provision) but it is a pure credit. There is language about possible repayment in first three years if sold – we will send the details after signing by the President. The credit is also retroactive to January. Again, be sure to read the final language as signed.

2. Raising loan limits back to last year’s levels. This will help especially in higher sales price markets.
Click on this link for the entire Wall Street Journal article-
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123431356988570855.html

Could this work?

Hi, I know I am presenting this Blog site as a real estate Blog, and I certainley have drifted at times away from that subject. So I will drift once more. The Governor of Maryland was on MPT tonight on TV and there was a direct connection that I could not get a free line on- therefore I decided to post this Blog instead.

Incoming money to the states is a huge problem now because of the economy, and Maryland is not excluded from this problem. During WWII there was a program put in place called "War Bonds". This program helped fund the war in monetary terms, but the great success of this program was what it provided to each person that participated. Each person that purchased a "War Bond" felt that he or she was directly helping the war effort by buying that Bond. We are in a war with the economy, we need to show that we have a positive up wards direction to our economy- and to do this we must turn the confidence of the people. How can we do this-"Bonds". I don't know what marketing title you may give these Bonds, but i feel that this will work. There are a multitude of Marylanders that believe in their state and would do anything to be part of the solution to fix it. Americans are competitive and each Marylander would love to brag that Maryland came out of the economic downturn before all other states as a result of residents purchasing "_______Bonds" and turning Maryland into a solvent economy! Granted that as soon as we try this other states will get on the band wagon, but would that be a bad thing?? CONFIDENCE is our problem, and as much as I would pray that throwing $870 Billion Dollars at various possible targets might solve this problem, IT WON'T, until the people believe it will. Give people a part in correcting the problem-let them purchase Bonds.

I will now step down from my "Soap Box", but I really think this will work!

What's Happening???

Hi, I thought by this time there would be plenty of great news to share with you about the economy and how the $870 Billion plus passed by Congress is helping us get back into the "Black" again. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm still optomistic that it will be this Spring.( I know I predicted the end of January) The real estate market is showing more activity here in Ocean City, as it should be as the result of reduced prices and great interest rates.
Here is some more good information that lists reasons why to use Long and Foster and affiliates to create a "One-Stop Shopping " experience.

Understanding the Value of One-Stop Shopping

One-stop shopping brings value to both you and your clients.

96% of home buyers believe it offers a simpler home-buying experience, according to the NAR survey.

Proven higher satisfaction for both home buyers and Realtors (according to a survey by Prism Partnership from 2006-2008 with 5,924 agents responding).

Brokerage oversight of in-house services means more control over resolving “bumps” that may occur in the home-buying/selling process.

In-house services are evaluated based on how much of your business they “capture” and how well they satisfy your clients.

In-house services may have money-saving promotions and closing guarantees that outside companies cannot offer.

I hope by the next time I post this Blog I can say we are on the right track! ENJOY!

Ocean City Points of Interest

I have just returned from Las Vegas this week and from what I observed was plenty of activity on the Las Vegas Strip as well as Downtown under the Canopy, yet everyone you talk to says the economy is down 25%. Granted there are an abundance of properties to purchase because the Vegas market led all others in the past housing climb which then became the leader in the "try to buy and flip" market. Of course it seems only right that there should be a slower housing market, but from the number of people in town eating, taking in the shows, and gambling indications tell me it is starting to firm up there. In our regional area it appears even better, Wes Foster, the owner of Long and Foster Real Estate sent me this e-mail that highlights the conference that has recently concluded. I would like to share the information with you at this time.Greater Washington Economic ConferenceDr. Steve Fuller, Economist at George Mason University says “The payroll job loss as likely to go deeper and longer – perhaps 18-20 months. There are currently 13 million unemployed, and many of these people will stay unemployed because the new jobs will have different qualifications than those for the people getting laid off. He predicted oil will still be below $80 per bbl in 2011. Normally there are 5 million house sales per year (it got up to 7 million a few years ago), and we are currently around 4.5 million now. Consumer spending will be a negative 1% in 2009 vs the normal 2.5% growth per year.The Washington economy will have a 1.5% growth in GDP vs the negative nationally due the presence of the federal government. Where Detroit has autos; LA, films; Houston, oil; a third of our economy is directly tied into the feds, and that component is rising. Federal spending here will total some $135 billion in 2009. Federal procurement dollars have tripled over the last 10 years with much of the corresponding job growth going to Northern VA. Job growth has averaged 46,500 per year since 1991 with some recent years as follows:2003 – 56,0002004 – 71,0002005 – 63,0002007 – 29,0002008 – With one more month’s numbers to come in, he thinks it will net out at 25,000Washington is double the national job growth rate in professional and business services which have an annual salary of $75,000. Due to the region’s wealth, our retail trade job growth is 3 times the national average, and other services (such as daycare, etc.) twice. Steve sees the spread between our unemployment rate and the national rate (now 3%) perhaps growing to a 4% spread. He thinks our economy will begin to rebound the second half of 2009 with a total net new job growth of 230,300 for the region over the next 5 years as follows:2009 – 23,7002010 – 36,5002011 – 42,4002012 – 48,1002013 – 54,000Of these new jobs, Northern VA will have 125,900 and Suburban MD, 66,000.Needless to say, we are very fortunate to be living and working in this area for a number of reasons.
Posted by Joe Realtor at 10:43 AM

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