Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Avoidance and Prevention

One of our great home inspectors sent this very informative checklist to avoid and prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.  According to the checklist: 

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless gas produced by the combustion of fuels such as natural gas, oil, and propane in mechanical unit including furnaces, water heaters, and stoves. These items are normally designed to vent the CO to the outside, but harmful interior levels of CO can result from incomplete combustion of fuel, improper installation, or blockages, leaks or cracks in the venting systems. Very high levels of CO can lead to incapacitation or death, with victims sometimes never having been aware they were being poisoned.

As always, please contact me, Mynor Herrera, for expert advice on everything real estate. I am licensed in D.C., Md., and Va., and I specialize in Bethesda and Chevy Chase, as well as the subdivisions of Rosemary Hills, Rock Creek Forest, East Bethesda and Whitehall Condominium.

Tax breaks for homeowners and home sellers

Earlier this month, The Washington Post published a helpful column about several tax breaks home owners and sellers should know about.

Benny L. Kass, a Washington-based attorney, notes the reprieve these critical tax breaks received at the first of this year when Congress enacted the "fiscal cliff" legislation:

Home mortgage interest remains deductible, and the exclusion of gain up to $500,000 from the sale of a principal home is very much alive, even though many influential organizations, including the Simpson-Bowles deficit commission, strongly recommended limiting (or even eliminating) those two sacred tax breaks.

Kass then gives detailed yet understandable explanations of the tax ins and outs.

New Listing! Bright & Beautiful 3-BR Townhouse

Mynor Herrera | Keller Williams Capital Properties | mynor@mynorandassociates.com | (301) 437-1622 4312 Lavender Ln, Bowie, MD Bright & beautiful 3-bedroom home in Vista Gardens! 3BR/2+1BA Townhouse offered at $289,500 Year Built 2002 Sq Footage 2,200 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 2 full, 1 partial Floors 3 Parking Unspecified Lot Size 1,786 sqft HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION Mynor Herrera proudly presents: 4312 LAVENDER LANE BOWIE, MD 20720 Bright & beautiful home with bump out providing extra square footage (2,220 SF total living area)! Features: open table-space kitchen with granite counters and island, 9-foot ceilings on main level, cathedral ceilings upstairs, upgraded floors throughout, sun room, deck, patio, garage, bonus downstairs space and more! Community includes play grounds and trails, and is close to shopping, dining, and Rt. 50 and I-495. About Vista Gardens: Vista Gardens provides security (part-time guard patrolling/manning booth), snow removal, lawn care for front and rear of all homes (mow, fertilize, weed & pesticide treatment), twice per week trash pickup and weekly recycling pickup, two playground areas and beautiful nature trails. About the community: Quiet, friendly and well-maintained neighborhood Proximity to shopping (Wegman's, Costco, Target, Home Depot, etc.). Convenience to Metro (bus across the street from entrance; New Carrolton station a few miles away). Close to U.S. 50 and I-495. Great home! Great value! Make an offer today! We are so confident in the value of this home that we will send you a list of the other homes for sale in Vista Gardens so you can see for yourself. Contact me for details! Mynor Herrera, GRI Top 5% Realtor® Nationwide Licensed Realtor® - DC, MD & VA Partner, Keller Williams Capital Properties - BCC Office Board of Directors, Greater Capital Area Assoc of Realtors DreamHomesByMynor.com Check out my NEW website to: - Search homes for sale in DC, MD & VA - Calculate your mortgage rates and payments - View my beach condo rentals - Read my blog on all the latest real estate news Keller Williams Capital Properties 7801 Woodmont Ave. 2nd Fl. Bethesda, MD 20814 mobile: (301) 437-1622 office: (240) 383-1350 e-fax: (240) 235-7066 mynor@mynorandassociates.com DreamHomesByMynor.com see additional photos below PROPERTY FEATURES - Attic - Basement - Bonus/Rec room - Dining room - Living room - Walk-in closet - Dishwasher - Dryer - Microwave - Refrigerator - Stove/Oven - Washer - Balcony, Deck, or Patio - Central A/C - Granite countertop - Hardwood floor - High/Vaulted ceiling - Tile floor ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Photo 2 Photo 1 Photo 12 Photo 11 Photo 9 Photo 17 Photo 15 Photo 3 Photo 13 Photo 10 Photo 16 Photo 6 Photo 5 Photo 7 Photo 8 Photo 4 Photo 14 Contact info: Mynor Herrera Keller Williams Capital Properties 611201 mynor@mynorandassociates.com (301) 437-1622 For sale by agent/broker Posted: Mar 15, 2013, 6:29am PDT

Mortgage rates inch up in response to good economic data

Mortgage rates have begun to inch up as a result of continued signs of a strengthening economic recovery. Jeff Clabaugh of the Washington Business Journal reports:

Freddie Mac says a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.63 percent in the week ending March 14, up from 3.52 percent last week. A 15-year fix averaged 2.79 percent, up from 2.76 percent. A one-year adjustable-rate mortgage rose to 2.64 percent from an average 2.63 percent last week. "Fixed mortgage rates rose this week on signs of job growth and consumer spending," said Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.

Kathy Orton, The Washington Post's real estate blogger, notes Nothaft gave last week's strong job growth report and consumer spending for the rise in the rates. “The economy added 236,000 new workers in February, which helped push down the unemployment rate to 7.7 percent,” Nothaft said in a statement. “This helped offset the effects of the payroll tax holiday expiration and led to a 1.1 percent increase in retail sales, which was well above the market consensus forecast.”

If you would like to discuss, call me, Mynor Herrera, for expert advice on everything real estate. I am licensed in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, and I specialize in Bethesda and Chevy Chase, as well as the subdivisions of Rosemary Hills, Rock Creek Forest, East Bethesda and Whitehall Condominium.

Housing to save the recovery from the sequester?

Here's a dose of optimism: "The sequester will not derail the recovery..." according Nigel Gault, chief US economist for IHS Global Insight. He adds that it does likely slow it down some, however, especially here in the Washington, D.C., region. "The private-sector news on the economy continues to be good, and we would be upgrading our forecast of 2013 growth slightly were it not for the federal spending sequester that began on March 1."

And experts are pointing to the rebound in residential housing as what's fueling the growing confidence in the recovery. "Lights are burning longer in real estate offices. New housing construction sites are popping up across the country," writes Laurent Belsie, staff writer for the Christian Science Monitor. That activity helps in two ways, Belsie adds:

More home building translates directly into more jobs for construction workers and more sales of everything from lumber to electrical supplies and pickup trucks. Indirectly, rising housing prices mean that people feel richer because their homes are worth more. And if they think the rise is permanent, they begin to spend more.

The latest job numbers from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that economy added 236,000 jobs in February, the second best report in the past year. As Belsie points out, that means we've regained two-thirds of the jobs lost in the Great Recession. "One of the biggest gainers was construction, which added 48,000 jobs, the biggest jump in nearly six years." And along those lines, The Motley Fool's Matt DiLallo quotes Warren Buffett, the so-called Sage of Omaha, "We will come back big time on employment when residential construction comes back. You will be surprised, in my view, how fast employment changes when that happens."

Now, if the politicians would only reach a deal to end the sequester we'd really be cooking with gas.
 
Call me, Mynor Herrera, for expert advice on everything real estate. I am licensed in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, and I specialize in Bethesda and Chevy Chase, as well as the subdivisions of Rosemary Hills, Rock Creek Forest, East Bethesda and Whitehall Condominium.

Sellers are returning to Washington housing market

Kathy Orton, The Washington Post's real estate blogger, reports that home sellers are returning to the market. "New listings increased more than 13 percent across all property segments in February compared with the previous month, according to a report released Monday by RealEstate Business Intelligence and the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis," Orton writes.  "The uptick in homes for sale is a welcome sign in a housing market that has been as dormant the past several months as the area’s flowers and trees."

She credits the causes of the historically low inventory to concerns over the federal government's budget tug of war and the fact that many homeowners owe more than their homes are worth.

Now as home values steadily rise, more sellers are starting to come off the sidelines. The median sales price climbed to $355,000 in February, a 3.4 percent increase over January and an 11.7 percent increase from February 2012. Single-family detached homes showed the biggest price gains compared to townhouses and condominiums. Their median price grew by $72,000, a 19.5 percent increase from February 2012. The average sale-to-list price ratio swelled to its highest percentage since June 2006, increasing to 97.1 percent.  

In D.C.’s tight market, home buyers go extra mile to find possible sellers

In The Washington Post's weekend "Real Estate" section, Michele Lerner reported on something I've been seeing lately. "During the past year, would-be buyers eager to take advantage of nearly record low interest rates have flooded the local real estate market," she wrote. "But the growing demand, coupled with historically low inventories, has pushed the price of the few houses that are on the market out of their reach."

Lerner continues:

Inventories in the Washington area are even tighter than they were a year ago. As a result, real estate agents say, they are stepping up efforts to find pre-sellers -- people who are on the verge of listing and people who perhaps hadn't considered listing but might be persuaded to do so with the right offer.

As always, please contact me, Mynor Herrera, for expert advice on everything real estate. I am licensed in D.C., Md., and Va., and I specialize in Bethesda and Chevy Chase, as well as the subdivisions of Rosemary Hills, Rock Creek Forest, East Bethesda and Whitehall Condominium.