Does anyone know the current composition of units?
- # primary residence
- # 2nd home units
- # investment property
The total units in the building are 54.
This unit is currently pending sale, Beacon Condominium Baltimore
The first 4 floors are known as the Beacon Condominium
Floors 5,6,7 are known as Lighthouse Point
Thanks for your help
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17034 Barn Ridge Drive
Silver Spring MD 20906
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Listing office:
Re/max Realty Centre, Inc.
Susan Ellis
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Homes listed in Norbeck Knolls subdivision
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Search more 20906 homes for sale
1910 Gayfields Drive
Silver Spring, Maryland 20906 | MC7300819
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4 bedroom, 3 full baths
1.13 acres, Pool
Walking distance to Golf Course
Elementary School: Stonegate
Middle School: William H. Farquhar
High School: James Hubert Blake
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Listing Office:
Amy & Mike King
King Real Estate, Inc.
301-467-5677, Mike
301-467-1877, Amy
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See more homes for sale in the Silver Spring Gayfield community
More 20906 homes for sale
19603 GALWAY BAY CIR #104, GERMANTOWN, MD 20874
FHA approved condo for sale
Elementary School: Clopper Mill
Middle School: Roberto W. Clemente
High School: Northwest
Property Taxes: $2,077
Monthly condo fee: $263
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See more units for sale at Ashmore at Germantown
Do those purchasing a co-op unit –who qualify in all other respects for the DC tax abatement, still qualify, even though they as an individual would not traditionally pay their own individual property taxes?
–A Co-op for tax purposes is treated exactly like any other home purchase.
For many struggling homeowners who owe more than their home is currently worth and would like to make a strategic exit before the home goes into foreclosure, a short sale would be the ideal solution. Unfortunately, getting approval for a short sale from their loan servicer has often been just one more struggle for beleaguered homeowners to have to
deal with. Fortunately, a new, more uniform process could help facilitate short sales for many distressed home sellers and hopeful potential homebuyers.
In a short sale, a lender agrees to take less than the full amount owed on the property. In that case, an owner receives no equity from the sale, but does avoid the more damaging credit consequences of foreclosure. If the amount from an anticipated sale will not cover the mortgage balance plus closing costs and the seller is unable to make up the difference, a short sale is needed.
For a purchaser, a short sale property can be a great buy, because they are usually in better condition than foreclosed properties offered at comparable prices, and, so, can frequently constitute a bargain. However, homeowners seeking approval of a short sale and the purchasers seeking to buy them have often been thwarted by balky lenders. Early on, lenders were slow to institute processes to deal with short sale requests and too often have been resistent to fair offers even against their own interest, since foreclosure isusually a more costly alternative.
Now, though, the federal government is requiring that a more uniform process be followed by those mortgage servicers who are participating in the Home Affordable Modification Program. These include some of the biggest servicers in the country, including Bank of America, CitiMortgage, J.P. Morgan Chase, Wachovia and Wells Fargo. The new initiative is the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program. Under HAFA, homeowners can get preapproval of the terms for a short sale, including what the servicer considers to be the minimum acceptable net proceeds.
Previously, home sellers would have to list the home, hope for an offer, then forward it to the servicer and wait (and wait and wait) for their approval or a communication stating how the terms of the offer would have to be modified. Many buyers would just lose patience with the delay or refuse to accept the servicer’s demands for changes to their offer. This would often result in a lose, lose, lose for all parties involved. The new process, which establishes a series of timetables and rules for short sales, currently applies only to homeowners who seek help through the Home Affordable Mortgage Program.
However, servicers are finally realizing how useful short sales can be, and have been giving their in-house short sale mechanisms more attention. We hope the new process will become a model. Several categories of HAMP-eligible borrowers should soon be receiving notification from their servicers of the availability of the new program. A borrower will then have 14 days (calendar days, not business days) to sign the short sale agreement and send it back. This is crucial to understand; if you get a communication from your servicer that you are eligible, you need to respond without delay! Once the agreement is signed, the borrower will have an initial period of 120 days to sell the house, although that can be extended for up to twelve months.
Once a purchase offer is received, the borrower or the real estate agent must submit a request for approval to the servicer servicer, with a host of documentation, required. This is where having your Realtor working for you comes in handy! Once the servicer receives the request and supporting documents, they will have ten days to either approve or deny it. The servicer may require the closing to take place within a reasonable period after approval, but not sooner than 45 days from the date of the sales contract unless the borrower agrees.
Also important, is that the investor who owns the loan must agree to neither seek a deficiency judgment against the borrower nor require a promissory note for any deficiency. Some investors have slapped sellers with deficiency judgments for the difference between what was received from the sale and the mortgage balance, adding more pain to sellers who have just suffered the loss of their home. What if a seller has other assets or strong income, but simply doesn’t want to cover the shortage from sources outside of the transaction? Don’t expect to get approval of a short sale in that case.
There is an important tax issue to understand in connection with a short sale. The rule had been that any mortgage debt discharged (forgiven) by a lender was considered taxable income. However, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act provides a temporary rule for discharges that occur through 2012 on debt on a residence. The special rule applies to discharges on up to $2 million in indebtedness, so long as the debt was incurred in the acquisition, construction or substantial improvement of a principal residence.
BJ Matson
Montgomery County, MD | REMAX Town Center
240-281-6732 direct, bj@choicerealestate.net
301-540-2232 (o)
Marie Jessie Bell, Realtor®
240-350-5124
Joe Sabelhaus
RE/MAX TOWN CENTER
301-540-2232
Spring homebuyers should continue to find exceedingly attractive
mortgage rates as they do their house shopping. So far this year, rates have remained right around 5% for benchmark 30-year fixed-rate conforming loans, still within a stone’s throw of alltime lows.
The increased demand for mortgages that accompanies spring’s faster pace of home sales may nudge rates up a bit, but most economists don’t see mortgage rates topping 6% until 2011.
The National Association of Realtors’ latest economic forecast projects that 30-year fixed mortgages will average 5.4% for the April-June quarter of this year. The first place to turn for a loan will be
FHA. With a 3.5% downpayment minimum, this will be the place to look
for those who don’t have a lot of cash. The base FHA loan limit is $271,050, but in higher cost areas it is 115% of the local area median home price, up to a maximum of $729,750. If you are going to put 20% down, look to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, because you can then avoid having to pay any mortgage insurance premium.
The basic conforming limit for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans this year remains at $417,000, where it has been since 2006. In areas with higher housing costs, a special limit, sometimes called “conforming jumbo” loans, is 125% of the median area home price, with a maximum loan of $729,750. What if you have 10% or more to put down, but can’t get to the 20% needed to avoid mortgage insurance? If you go to Fannie or Freddie, you will need to purchase private mortgage
insurance and you had better have a 700 credit score or better and don’t live in a “high risk” area where PMI companies might have additional requirements. Even if you can get PMI, you might want to consider the benefit of going with FHA in order to keep as much cash
as possible to bolster your reserves. We tend to assume that most borrowers today will opt for fixed-rate mortgages.
Why take on the risk of an adjustable rate loan when there is little
potential for a rate reduction when the first adjustment rolls around and much greater possibility that your rate will be higher, maybe substantially? In addition, the start rates for adjustables aren’t as appealing these days. 15-year fixed-rate loans have been more popular. They have stayed at or below 4 1/2% so far this year.
Hopefully a surge of spring buyers might overwhelm mortgage lenders’ back office staffs. Lenders, like many businesses during the recession, have kept their payrolls lean and been slow to hire despite the expected uptick in loan demand. So homebuyers should be prepared to do everything the lender requires as quickly as possible in order to not be the source for any holdup. Sometimes the demands may seem senseless and they may well be, but there is a reason:
lender’s are obsessing and overreacting. Faced with being stuck with billions of dollars of bad loans, Fannie and Freddie have been sending out auditors to ferret out faulty underwriting, such as improper documentation or inaccurate information). And when they find it, they’re making the lenders take the loans back. Ironically, most of the loans that are coming back to lenders were underwritten before 2008. More recent loans, underwritten with greater care and tighter standards, are expected to have decidedly lower default rates.© 2010, Real Estate Information Services, Capitol Assets, Choice Real Estate.
BJ Matson, 240-281-6732
Montgomery County Realtor®
choicerealestate.net contributing writer
5615 Warwick Place
5528 Warwick Place, detached
6615 Hillandale Road, townhome
5133 Fairglen Lane, detached, Bradley Hills
Search all active Chevy Chase homes for sale. Contact us to pull listings per any school districts you are interested in.
Chevy Chase subdivisions
BJ Matson, 240-281-6732
Montgomery County Realtor®
If you have decided to become a homeowner in 2010, then consider
doing it as early in the year as possible, because delay has another drawback in addition to the risk of losing out on the first-time buyer credit.
For every day that passes after January 1, you will find it harder to take full advantage of the tax benefits during your first year of ownership. This results from the way the federal income tax system (and most state income tax systems that piggyback on the federal law) works for those who itemize deductions.
Buying a home is typically what turns short-form 1040A and 1040EZ filers (who take the standard deduction) into long-form 1040 itemizers. To get the benefit of deductions for home mortgage interest and property taxes, two of the largest deductible items for most tax filers, you must first exceed the standard deduction. For 2010, the standard deduction will be $11,400 for married persons, $5,700 for singles and $8,400 for single heads of household.
Deductible items that are typical and common to both homeowners and renters include state and local income taxes, personal property taxes and charitable contributions. Together, these items are rarely enough for taxpayers to itemize. However, adding mortgage interest and real estate taxes usually raises the total itemized deductions above the standard deduction level, making it advantageous to itemize.
Unfortunately, many first-time buyers still wind up taking the standard deduction during their first year. If you purchase late in the year, your mortgage interest and real estate taxes may be insufficient to make you an itemizer. As a result, you essentially lose the tax benefits of homeownership during the first year, whether for just a few weeks
or a few months.
However, if you purchase a home early in January, you will get nearly a full year’s worth of mortgage interest and property tax deductions and should have no trouble exceeding the standard deduction and, thus, maximizing your tax benefits. Don’t think that just because there is a first-time homebuyer credit that will wipe out your tax liability, you shouldn’t do as much as you can to minimize your tax tab before applying the credit.
Because the credit is refundable, lowering your tax bill as much as possible will mean getting an even bigger check from the government! © 2009, Real Estate Information Services, Capitol Assets, Choice Real Estate, Inc.
BJ Matson, 240-281-6732
Montgomery County Realtor®
choicerealestate.net contributing writer
The House passed the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit earlier TODAY
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*The tax credit gives up to $8000 for first-time home buyers (not owned a home the past 3 years)
*This allows up to $6500 credit for move-up buyers (those who have owned and occupied their present home for at least five years).
*Recipients of the tax credit must ratify a contract no later than May 1st and close on their purchase no later than June 30, 2010.
*This is for primary residences only. No investment properties.
*Income cap of $125,000 for single filers and $225,000 for joint filers.
*Purchase price of $800,000 is the max.
*If the property being purchased fails to remain a primary residence anytime within the first 36 months, the tax credit will have to be repaid in full for that tax year.
Homebuyers will qualify until April 30, 2009, and have an additional 2 months (until 6.30.09) to close the transaction.
Energy tax credits expanded for ‘09 and ‘10
The economic stimulus bill increased the energy tax credit for homeowners who make energy efficient improvements to their existing homes.
The new law increased the credit to 30% of the cost of qualifying improvements and raised the maximum credit limit to a total of $1,500 for improvements placed in service in 2009 and 2010.
The credit applies to improvements such as adding insulation, energy efficient exterior windows and energy-efficient heating and air conditioning systems. Homeowners should be aware that the efficiency standards in the new law are higher than for the 2007 credit. Manufacturers can certify that their products meet the new standards.
© 2009, Real Estate Information Services, Capitol Assets, Choice Real Estate, Inc.
BJ Matson, 240-281-6732
Montgomery County Realtor®
choicerealestate.net contributing writer
If you are paying $1,000 per month for an apartment, and you know your rent will increase 5% every year, then over the next five years you will pay your landlord $66,309. If you are currently renting a house, you may be paying much more than that each month. Either way, you gain no equity by shelling out this monthly housing expense and you certainly won’t benefit when the property value goes up!
If you were to purchase your own home or condominium, you would be well on your way towards building equity within that same five-year period. By choosing a fixed-rate loan program, you can have the comfort of knowing that your monthly mortgage payment will never go up. Rates are still very low right now.
In addition to building equity, there are tax advantages that come into play with home-ownership. Depending on your tax bracket, owning a home is often less expensive than renting after taxes.
Interest payments on a mortgage below $1 million are tax-deductible, and your Choice Finance® Loan Officer (www.choicefinance.net) should help you evaluate the tax advantages of various loan scenarios, and share this information with your tax consultant to get feedback on your behalf.
Your Loan Officer will need to evaluate your monthly household income, current assets and savings, as well as any monthly obligations you may have for credit card payments, car payments, child support, etc. These pre-qualification factors, along with your 3 credit scores, will determine how much house you can afford and at what interest rate.
FHA loans will enable you to buy a home with 3.5% downpayment! FHA lending generally states that your mortgage payment, including principal, interest, taxes and insurance (PITI) should not exceed 31 percent of your gross income, and the PITI plus other long-term debt (car payments, etc.) should not exceed 43 percent of your gross income. FHA rates are just as competitive as conventional..
Housing is an expense that takes a big bite out of the monthly budget. If you are a renter and feel that “home” is more than just some place to hang your hat, it may be time to take the necessary steps of becoming a first-time homebuyer. Together let’s devise a game plan that works for you, and let’s get you going to help you build your personal net worth as a home owner.
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