Marlton Town

Beautiful four bedroom, three and half bath located in Upper Marlboro Maryland. Its twenty minutes. from DC, Waldorf, and Bowie. Beautiful gleaming hardwood floors on the main level. Inviting kitchen with island and plenty of room for your table and more.Nice double decks off the back perfect for summertime gatherings.Huge master suite with two walk-in closets, soaking tub,& double vanity.Finished basement with rec room ,full bath,& fourth bedroom.

Upper Marlboro has a downtown area along Main Street, which is home to a variety of local business as well as the Prince George’s County Courthouse and the County Administration Building. The main  Board of Education offices for the Prince George’s County Public School system are a short walk from Main Street. Additional businesses and government offices are located in the Old Mill complex a short distance from downtown. The main residential area is the to the west of the downtown on several quiet streets. The Town has about 313 dwelling units, mostly single-family homes with 657 official residents in 2008, according to estimates from the Census Bureau. Numerous civic organizations in and near the town contribute to the sense of community and “small town” atmosphere that characterizes life in Upper Marlboro.

Search For Upper Marlboro Homes For Sale

Web Link: 13312 Marlton Center Drive, Upper Marlboro Maryland 20772

Upper Marlboro MD Real Estate Sales- Ed Haraway. Owner/Broker of Exit First Realty

Exit First Realty is one of the Mid-Atlantic Region fastest growing,top-producing real estate brokerages. I specialize in helping agents market and position themselves   to sell real estate in the Maryland Metropolitan area including Bowie, Crofton,Upper Marlboro, Annapolis, College Park, Davidsonville, Gambrills, Odenton, Greenbelt, Laurel, and surrounding areas. 240.375.2871

Buckingham

Show and sell this four bedroom 2 bath Cape Cod in Bowie Maryland. It has a huge addition featuring a Family Room,Office space and den!! Home has been cleaned, landscaped and has a BRAND NEW stove!

Bowie is a great place to visit or to live. It has easy access to public transportation, strong public services, a variety of shopping choices and lots of recreational opportunities.  With the many leisure activities you will always be entertained, from the local farmer markets, to the international festivals. You will love the streets and people. Along every road there is always a friendly face to see. One of the things that make Bowie a wonderful place to live is the strong community spirit that is evident throughout our neighborhoods. Bowie residents and businesses are active in a variety of organizations that assist others and strengthen our city. They are proud of our open spaces and our recreational facilities. The City has been recognized nationally as a winner in Tree City and Plant City USA competitions.

Search For All Bowie Homes for Sale

Web Link: 2803 Buxmont Lane, Bowie Maryland 20715

Bowie MD Real Estate Sales- Ed Haraway. Owner/Broker of Exit First Realty

Exit First Realty is one of the Mid-Atlantic Region fastest growing,top-producing real estate brokerages. I specialize in helping agents market and position themselves   to sell real estate in the Maryland Metropolitan area including Bowie, Crofton,Upper Marlboro, Annapolis, College Park, Davidsonville, Gambrills, Odenton, Greenbelt, Laurel, and surrounding areas. 240.375.2871

Meadowbrook

Very nice updated Cape, shows great! Remodeled kitchen with ceramic flooring, pergo style flooring at the entrance and hall. French doors into family room (converted Garage) Thermal windows (except living room and laundry) Pella triple window slider opens to patio/deck and lovely fenced yard.

Bowie is a great place to visit or to live. It has easy access to public transportation, strong public services, a variety of shopping choices and lots of recreational opportunities.  With the many leisure activities you will always be entertained, from the local farmer markets, to the international festivals. You will love the streets and people. Along every road there is always a friendly face to see. One of the things that make Bowie a wonderful place to live is the strong community spirit that is evident throughout our neighborhoods. Bowie residents and businesses are active in a variety of organizations that assist others and strengthen our city. They are proud of our open spaces and our recreational facilities. The City has been recognized nationally as a winner in Tree City and Plant City USA competitions.

Search For All Bowie Homes for Sale

Web Link: 12407 Madeley Lane, Bowie Maryland 20715

Bowie MD Real Estate Sales- Ed Haraway. Owner/Broker of Exit First Realty

Exit First Realty is one of the Mid-Atlantic Region fastest growing,top-producing real estate brokerages. I specialize in helping agents market and position themselves   to sell real estate in the Maryland Metropolitan area including Bowie, Crofton,Upper Marlboro, Annapolis, College Park, Davidsonville, Gambrills, Odenton, Greenbelt, Laurel, and surrounding areas. 240.375.2871

Chapel Forge

This is a charming five bedroom, two bath, Devon Rancher in Bowie Maryland! Features of this home include a beautiful foyer with Pergo flooring, dinning room with ceiling fan, HUGE GREAT room with brick-front wood burning fire place , eat-in kitchen with sliding doors leading to the rear yard and large family room with double ceiling fans. The Master bedroom is spacious with separate master bath & Pergo flooring.

Bowie is a great place to visit or to live. It has easy access to public transportation, strong public services, a variety of shopping choices and lots of recreational opportunities.  With the many leisure activities you will always be entertained, from the local farmer markets, to the international festivals. You will love the streets and people. Along every road there is always a friendly face to see. One of the things that make Bowie a wonderful place to live is the strong community spirit that is evident throughout our neighborhoods. Bowie residents and businesses are active in a variety of organizations that assist others and strengthen our city. They are proud of our open spaces and our recreational facilities. The City has been recognized nationally as a winner in Tree City and Plant City USA competitions.

Search For All Bowie Homes for Sale

Web Link: 12600 Chanler Lane, Bowie MD 20715

Bowie MD Real Estate Sales- Ed Haraway. Owner/Broker of Exit First Realty

Exit First Realty is one of the Mid-Atlantic Region fastest growing,top-producing real estate brokerages. I specialize in helping agents market and position themselves   to sell real estate in the Maryland Metropolitan area including Bowie, Crofton,Upper Marlboro, Annapolis, College Park, Davidsonville, Gambrills, Odenton, Greenbelt, Laurel, and surrounding areas. 240.375.2871

There are a number of changes that have taken place recently and more on the way in the FHA loan arena. Some of these changes are specific to certain lending situations so will not effect all loans, while others are global in nature so everyone will be affected. While there have been many changes of late and more possibly to come, this column attempts to highlight the changes affecting the most borrowers .

• Mortgage Insurance: Currently the UP Front Mortgage insurance or (MIP) as it is known is 2.25% of the base loan amount. HUD Secretary Stevens announced this will be reduced to 1.0% while at the same time increasing the annual mortgage insurance from its current 0.55% to 0.90% This change will be in effect as of any new FHA case number issued starting September 7, 2010
• Condo Rules: No more spot approvals, For FHA approval at least 50% of the units must be owner occupied.
• Property Flipping: If a home is resold within by an investor less than one year after the investor purchase. The price appreciation may be limited to 20% of the investors purchase price. A second appraisal may be ordered to justify the new price and documentation may be required of the seller showing substantial improvements have been made to the home. This documentation may include, material receipts, contractor invoices ect. Tell your investors to take a lot of pics, before and after.
• Credit Scores: FHA plans to impose a minimum credit score of 500 later this year, and scores 580 will need a down payment of 10%. Credit scores over 580 will still only need the FHA minimum 3.5% down payment. This rule is really a waste of in on paper since virtually all lenders now requires a minimum credit score of 620 and some are even require a score of 640.
• Seller Concessions: FHA at present allows seller concessions up to 6% of the sales price. The new rule will be 3%. The new rule is expected to have a hugh impact on first Time Home buyers. This new rule is now in a comment period and is expected to be put into effect in the very near future.
• Underwriting Guidelines: Changes have been made to the underwriting guidelines over the last few months. These changes will be incorporated into the revised 4155 lenders manual that should be updated in the near future. Until then all the recent changes are available on Hudclips, (under mortgagee letters) The 4155 lender manual and hudclips are both available on line at the HUD website.

Maryland Mortgage Loans and Solutions – Gordon Haraway Southern Trust Mortgage, specializing in helping home buyers realize the dream of home ownership. Purchase and Refinance home loans. Gordon Haraway is a Senior Loan Officer with Southern Trust Mortgage in Crofton MD (301) 938-1655

This Article appeared in the Washington Post on March 13th, 2010

Urgent Tax Issue Affecting Short Sale Transactions

The Federal Housing Administration is proposing to increase the up-front cash paid by borrowers as part of an effort to shore up the agency’s finances, which have been staggered by rising defaults in its flagship mortgage insurance program, according to FHA officials.

The changes also include raising minimum credit scores for borrowers who receive FHA-backed mortgages and limiting the amount of money sellers can kick in, including paying closing costs or giving free upgrades.

These measures are designed to increase the amount borrowers invest in the homes they buy, thereby making it less attractive for them to default on loans and walk away from properties, as many people have done during the current housing crisis.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan is scheduled to announce the agency’s policy changes when he testifies Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee.

The FHA has played a critical role in propping up the housing market by insuring lenders against default after the mortgage market unraveled. Currently, the agency backs about 30 percent of all loans for home purchases and 20 percent of refinancing. In the past, the FHA has resisted raising down payments or insurance premiums for fear of shutting out qualified borrowers and stunting the housing market’s slow but steady recovery.

But Donovan plans to tell the House committee that the exploding volume of loans the FHA is now handling requires stricter risk controls than the previous administration had in place, according to a copy of his prepared testimony. A recent audit shows that the FHA’s financial cushion already has eroded below the level required by law.

“We’ve learned from recent history that the market is fragile, and we have to plan for the unexpected,” Donovan’s prepared statement says. “That uncertainty is complicated by an organization we inherited that, to be honest, was simply not properly managing or monitoring its risk.”

By requiring that borrowers bring more cash to the table, the agency is seeking to ensure they have “more skin in the game and a stronger equity position in their loans,” Donovan says. But he does not specify the size of the proposed increase. FHA officials said they have yet to determine how much cash will be required.

“There are several ways to accomplish this, and so we are currently analyzing various options to determine which is the most effective and consistent with our mission,” Donovan says.

Up-front cash can include down payments as well as other payments. For now, FHA borrowers can put down as little as 3.5 percent, a level that many FHA critics say is too low. One lawmaker has introduced legislation that would boost the minimum down payment to 5 percent.

As for seller concessions, the agency now allows sellers to kick in 6 percent of the home’s value. Donovan said he wants the maximum permissible level to be lowered to 3 percent, in line with industry norms.

Agency staff are reviewing whether to increase the monthly insurance premiums charged to borrowers, officials said. These payments come on top of insurance paid up front.

The current up-front premium is set at 1.75 percent of the value of the loan. FHA may decide that an increase in that premium is needed also, officials said.

To protect itself against the riskiest borrowers, the agency has decided “for the time being” to raise its minimum credit score requirements for new borrowers. Again, FHA staff are still analyzing what the new threshold should be, Donovan’s prepared testimony says.

The minimum credit score requirement is now so low — 500 out of a possible 850 — that it’s basically irrelevant. Many lenders that make FHA-insured loans impose much tougher restrictions. The concern is that if FHA does not toughen up, abusive lenders will get away with financing risky, poor credit borrowers already rejected by more reputable lenders.

Most of the new initiatives do not require congressional approval. Many have previously been suggested by critics and even supporters of the agency.

These measures are meant to build on other actions the FHA has taken to curb its risk and beef up its eroding cash reserves.

An audit released last month found that the agency’s cash reserves have shrunk to a level far below what is required by law, and the agency could need taxpayer funding if worst-case scenarios play out.

The audit, designed to measure the agency’s financial health, examined the excess cash the agency must set aside to deal with unexpected losses and found that those reserves were at about $3.6 billion as of Sept. 30, a drop from the $12.9 billion available a year earlier. The current total represents 0.53 percent of all outstanding single-family-home loans insured by the FHA, well below the 2 percent threshold set by law. This is the first time reserves have fallen under that level since 1994.

To stop the financial erosion, the FHA has focused in part on weeding out abusive lenders. This year, the agency has suspended business with seven lenders, including the now-defunct Taylor, Bean and Whitaker. It has withdrawn FHA-approval for 270 others, including Lend America. On its Web site Tuesday, Lend America said it has ceased its loan origination and operations, effective immediately.

The FHA is currently working on a new rule that would require banks it does business with to have up to $2.5 million in capital that they can use to repay the agency for losses if they were involved in fraud. Now, they are required to hold only $250,000.

On Wednesday, Donovan will ask Congress to grant the agency more authority to close down abusive lenders.