Nall Home Partners E-News Letter for December 2013

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year  

Click Here To View Entire E-News Flyer 

The real estate market has been terrific this year and thanks to your referrals it looks like one for the record books. We try to make it look easy but of course it rarely is, and heaven knows we couldn't do it alone. So as we wrap up the year and head into the holiday break, here's a big shout out and happy holidays to some of the many folks associated with our real estate team - with a big THANK YOU for a fantastic 2013! 

• Our terrific assistants: office manager and processor Marc Hershkowitz, marketing and internet assistant Becky Smith-Vogel, and Emily Bowers.  
• All of our dependable lenders but especially Deb Levy with Eagle Bank, Joe Nalls and Karen Van Zandt with Prosperity Mortgage, and Brian Farasy with 1st Place Bank
• Our tireless settlement attorneys John Nalls at Counselors Title, Bobby Lee at Sage Title, Tony Duvol at RGS - and all the their processors and staff too! 
• All the trades associated with getting our listings ready to show and attending to home inspection punch lists including Irshad and Nanda at Alliance Home Improvement, Casey Spears at Preston Landscaping, Nick  Sage at Smartbox, Rick Neumann, Neumann & Associates (floors), Alan Ruprecht at Benware Termite Control.  
• The folks who help us market your homes - all the photographers at Mouse on House (now TruPlace) but especially Sean and Bobby, L&F's own marketing Maven Julie Molster,  the great staff at Marketing Matters, and the unsung - but much appreciated - staff in our wonderful Long and Foster Bethesda office - Belinda, Tammy, Maureen and Pritesh

The list is woefully incomplete, but the point is the same - we are blessed to be associated with so many wonderful, dependable professionals and we truly couldn't do it all without them.

Now for a peek at 2014, check out this link for ideas about the real estate design trends and colors coming our way....

Click here to read about whats hot for home decor in 2014 Click here to read about whats hot for home decor in 2014

    

Barbara, Tom, Marc and Susan

Nalls Home Partners

The Perfect Location - Steps to Bethesda and the Crescent Trail! Updated 2 BR TH with Granite Kitchen!

Convenient Chevy Chase!

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4826 Bradley Blvd Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Subdivision: KENWOOD FOREST II

Barbara Nalls and Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. are pleased to welcome you to an extraordinary opportunity to live in real style while enjoying a location second to none. This bright, renovated end unit townhouse sits in a quiet courtyard and provides fantastic space and light along with sought after high end features like built-in cabinetry and solid wood Plantation shutters, granite kitchen and updated baths. The main level offers an inviting entry foyer, living room with custom mill-work, a table space granite kitchen, powder room, coat closet,  clever additional storage space under the stairs and a large deck overlooking the private community green-space. Upstairs are two en-suite bedrooms with private full baths and double hung closets as well as a custom laundry closet with a stackable washer and dryer.   You cannot beat this location – steps to shopping, coffee shops, Metro, the Crescent Trail, Bethesda Pool and vibrant downtown Bethesda. This is the one you've been waiting for - Welcome Home!

MAIN LEVEL............................

• Inviting entry FOYER with coat closet

• Sun-filled LIVING ROOM with custom built-ins, Plantation shutters, gleaming wood floors and access to rear deck

• Granite table space KITCHEN with ample cabinet space, breakfast bar, pendulum lighting, and wood flooring

• Updated POWDER ROOM

UPPER LEVEL..........................

• Upper level LANDING AREA with LAUNDRY CLOSET (washer and dryer installed in 2012)

• MASTER SUITE with double hung closet, wall to wall carpeting and two exposures

• Renovated, reconfigured MASTER BATH featuring custom tile work,  a large marble vanity and spacious shower

• Second BEDROOM with double hung closet, separate vanity area, and PRIVATE BATH with new shower

*Pull down stair to floored ATTIC and additional storage

This property has a “Walk Score” of 92 out of 100. This location is a Walker’s Paradise so daily errands do not require a car. Red Line Metro is just 0.4 miles away from this location. 

Year Built: 1981

Block: 4

Subdivision: Kenwood Forest II

Square Feet: 944

Condo fee: $215.00

Estimated Tax and Non-Tax Charges in the first fiscal year of ownership $ 5,518.00

Schools: Bethesda Elementary, Westland Middle School, and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (International Baccalaureate Program)

OCTOBER STATISTICS CONFIRM STABLE HOME SALES MARKET

October data released by the Maryland Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reveal
continued strength in the state’s real estate market. The number of homes sold in October increased a robust 18.9 percent from the same time period in 2012, from 4,313 in 2012 to 5,128 in 2013.  Average and median prices increased 6.7 percent and 7.0 percent, respectively, with average price climbing $18,851 and median price up by $16,819.

“We are extremely pleased at the solid increase in home sales,” said MAR President Russ Boyce. “Increases in average and median prices also continue strong, and higher levels of homes under contract and active inventory indicate a healthy real estate market,“ he noted. Boyce went on to add, “The current inventory stands at 5.3 months, which is yet another sign that this is a strong market.”

Information From Maryland Association of REALTORS®

HUD ANNOUNCES NEW FHA LOAN LIMITS TO TAKE EFFECT JANUARY 1ST

Loan limits for highest cost areas of the country to be reduced

WASHINGTON – Today the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it will implement new FHA single-family loan limits on January 1, 2014, as specified by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA). Read FHA’s mortgagee letter detailing the agency’s new loan limits.
“As the housing market continues its recovery, it is important for FHA to evaluate the role we need to play,” said FHA Commissioner Carol Galante. “Implementing lower loan limits is an important and appropriate step as private capital returns to portions of the market and enables FHA to concentrate on those borrowers that are still underserved.”

The current standard loan limit for areas where housing costs are relatively low will remain unchanged at $271,050. The new national-ceiling loan limit for the very highest cost areas will be reduced from $729,750 to $625,500. Areas are eligible for FHA loan limits above the national standard limit, and up to the national ceiling level, based on median area home prices. Additional information and loan limit adjustments for two-, three-, and four-unit properties, and in Special Exception Areas, are noted in FHA’s mortgagee letter. An attachment to the Mortgagee Letter provides information on which counties are eligible for loan limits above the national standard. Borrowers with existing FHA insured mortgages may continue to utilize FHA’s Streamline refinance program regardless of their loan balance. The changes announced today are effective for case number assignments between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2014.

This will be the first full implementation of loan-limit calculations under HERA. Approximately 650 counties will have lower limits as a result of this change in the governing law. The higher limits that have been in place for six years were established by the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 as emergency measures to assure that mortgage credit was widely available during a time when private lending options were severely constrained. The lower loan limits under HERA were originally scheduled to take effect in January of 2009, however, due to continuing strains in credit markets, Congress delayed implementation several times.

The mortgage loan limits for FHA-insured reverse mortgages will remain unchanged. The FHA reverse-mortgage product, known as the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), will continue to have a maximum claim amount of $625,500, with actual loan limits based on property value, borrower age, and current interest rates. Reverse mortgages allow homeowners age 62 and older to age in place by borrowing against the value of their homes without any requirements for monthly payments; no repayment is required as long as a homeowner lives in the home. The reverse mortgage is repaid, with interest, when the homeowner leaves the home.

Information from HUD.GOV website