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There are pros and cons to selling your home during the holidays. November through January is often considered the worst time to be on the market because buyers have other priorities and a lot of distractions. But there are advantages – real holiday buyers tend to be more serious! Generally speaking, there should be less competition in the marketplace as some homes on the market will go off expecting the spring to be a better time to sell! This year, add in the dampening effect of the government shutdown during the highly marketable time period of October as an advantage to the holiday sales forecast. Once the government reopens, buyers who have had to or wanted to wait will be ready to make a move.

If your home has been on the market for any length of time, if your To-Do list is finally done and you’re ready to go on the market, or if you just got a job promotion in another state and now you’re committed to the challenge of selling, here are some tips to get your home sold:

1. Hire a local, reputable, reliable REALTOR®! You want an agent who understands the market your home is located in, an agent who will go above and beyond to be available during the holidays, an agent who will answer the phone, respond to emails, schedule showings, meet with you when the offers come in and turn on the lights for the shows if you’re not available to do so! You want an agent who will provide professional photos, staging advice and a solid pricing strategy.
2. Price it Right! We are still in a good enough market to price a little low up front to stimulate buyers as soon as the listing hits the market. This is the best way to gain an over-asking offer. Pricing at market will take a little longer and pricing it too high for too long will ultimately backfire, often with an end price less than the “little low up front” price.
3. Staging, Photos, Floorplans & Videos! Staging is crucial. Photos must be professional and engaging. Floor plans are a huge plus and in today’s high tech world, easy to create. Aerial views of the surrounding area really make your home stand out. Don’t forget videos! Shooting a video tour and posting it on Social Media will draw extra attention. No matter the time of year, but especially in colder months, buyers start and maintain their search via the internet. Make the first impressions impressive!
4. Decorate – but don’t go all out. You want buyers to feel cozy hominess and the spirit of the holiday, but not be overwhelmed by holiday decor. Put a nice evergreen wreath on the front door, but save the giant Santa and flashing lights for your next house! It is also more comfortable for buyers to keep decor general rather than religious.
5. Maintain the Curb Appeal! If your home is occupied or vacant, this is incredibly important – and something your real estate agent can assist with. Might be snowy and dreary outside, but keep the walkway tidy and safe for buyers coming to view. For showings, turn on all the lights, make sure everything is tidy and the heat is working!

If you’re selling a home during the holiday season, following these practical tips will help facilitate the sale and ultimately ease the stress of the transaction. We believe this year the holiday season will be uniquely busy, and we hope to find buyers and sellers who will take advantage of the opportunities that await!

The Renters’ Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024 went into effect October 1, 2024. This Maryland law is the first of its kind nationwide, established to provide tenants the opportunity to purchase their rental unit in the event the owner decides to sell. It also established the maximum security deposit an owner may charge and increased the cost to file for an eviction.

This year, I’ve had three owners of tenant occupied properties contact me to tell me they are ready to sell their rental property. We discussed things like – Is it more difficult to sell a tenant-occupied unit? Should the landlord terminate the lease before marketing? Normal, smart questions. In these cases, I have always first asked – because it’s the easiest, least expensive solution for the owner: Have you asked your tenant if they’d like to purchase? The answer is almost always “no” because owners are afraid of tenants leaving before the owner wants them to leave, or they worry that the tenants will get mad at the owner because the owner intends to sell, so they might take it out on the property or worse, stop paying their rent. But now – now there is a law that says an owner of (most) residential rental property intending to sell, MUST ask the tenant first. It is called The Right of First Refusal.

You may think this sounds easy – a quick call to the tenant, they say no, off you go. Or they say yes, you agree to a price, and the deal is done. Not so fast. Not so easy. Part of the law created a new Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs to act as its caretaker, so now what might have been a simple process is complicated by the involvement of a government department to make sure landlords are following the rules and tenants are protected and yes, there is a lot of paperwork and a mandated timeline involved!

Check out APPENDIX A NOTICE OF INTENT TO SELL AND TENANT’S EXCLUSIVE NEGOTIATION PERIOD.

I’m all for the protection of tenants, for abiding by the terms of the lease, for putting all notices in writing, including any offer to a tenant to purchase a unit I own and want to sell. But I don’t need the State of Maryland telling me how it must be done, like they already know it’s my intent to harm the tenant in some way, shape or form. It’s over reach and the time line and caveats are, in my opinion, unreasonable.

Tenants already had a solid Bill of Rights! Every June 1, the Tenant’s Bill of Rights in Maryland must be updated. And guess what – in research for this article ( I’m a landlord!) I just learned something new: “Landlords must attach the latest version of this document to every residential lease.”

Do any other REALTORS® in Maryland know this? Do any other landlords in Maryland know this? Do the property managers in Maryland know this and do this and tell their owners about this?

So far, I’ve not found any owners of residential rental property who are aware of the new laws.

Resources for the Renters’ Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024

• https://dhcd.maryland.gov/Tenant-Landlord-Affairs/pages/default.aspx
• https://dhcd.maryland.gov/Tenant-Landlord-Affairs/Documents/Tenant-Bill-of-Rights-V1.pdf

By all indicators, 2025 should be a great year for sellers to sell and buyers to buy! Whether you are a first time buyer, a repeat buyer, a seller looking to downsize or upsize or an investor needing a good investment, there will be opportunities. The economists predict an increase in transactions, which equates to more opportunities for all!

For most of us, buying a home is the most expensive investment we will make. Selling a home is selling our largest, most critical asset. In most fields, and real estate especially, if you are not an expert yourself, you need a guide – a REALTOR® – who meets basic common sense criteria.

Criteria #1:

Choose a REALTOR® local to the area you’re looking to buy in or the area you are selling in. Someone who helps buyers buy and sellers sell homes like the one you want to buy or sell.

Many REALTORS® will tell you they don’t need to be “local” to assist you due to the data available in our Multiple Listing Service and the information they and their clients can find online. Since our licenses are issued by the state, we can (legally) help buyers and sellers throughout the entire state. As long as we don’t cross an ethical line, this is true. However, I am a licensed Maryland REALTOR®, but if I were to buy a house in Ocean City – I’m going to hire an Ocean City agent to help me!

Criteria #2:

Find a REALTOR® with experience. For buyers and sellers, true experience means the agent has earned a reputation for professionalism. Experience is enhanced by education: Agents have an abundance of educational opportunities at their fingertips.

For buyers, experience means the agent has sold homes to the type of buyer you are, and can tell you what issues may arise during a tour of the home and how to navigate from offer to closing.

For sellers, experience means instinctively knowing market values and how to illustrate how that market value is determined. Experience means the agent has the pulse of the market, and a strategy specialized for the type of market you’re selling in. Experience means knowing how to manage issues.

Criteria #3:

Check out the REALTOR®’s Marketing!

Sellers want to know what the agent will do to market their home. An absolute must have, in my opinion: Professional photos!! Quickly becoming “must-haves” are the add ons like floor plans, video tours, aerial photos and glossy brochures. Look at a copy of some of their published MLS listings and make sure those listings are complete, and the remarks descriptive and easy to read.

For both sellers and buyers – check out the agent’s website. Can you easily find contact information for the agent? Is it professional and informative?

Criteria #4:

Trust your instincts! Find an agent you click with, someone you know you will be able to rely on throughout the transaction.

Criteria #5:

Ask about terms and commission.This is a key “ask” at any buyer or seller consultation. Terms and costs are important for both buyers and sellers to know and understand.

Agents should not only discuss commission and normal buyer and seller costs, they should provide an example of a Seller closing cost “Net Sheet” or a Buyer closing cost “Worksheet” so there is a broader understanding of all costs associated with buying and selling. In addition, the agent should review and explain the Buyer Agency Agreement and the Listing Agreement.

If you are looking to buy or sell real estate in our Four-County Mount Airy market, you will have a wide variety of local REALTORS® to choose from! If you’re buying, we hope for the lowest possible price with the strictest of terms and if you’re selling, we hope for the highest possible price with no contingencies!

As we know, Mount Airy is where four Maryland counties meet: Carroll, Frederick, Howard and Montgomery. I think it’s fair to say the entire 21771 is a community strongly opposed to dense development, and if you see the yard signs and read between the lines: Mount Airy wants no development. At. All. However, no amount of opposition can or should stop those elected and appointed to do their job. Their job is to plan for growth, not stop it. The negativity, threats, insults and misinformation that bubbles about during the planning process doesn’t help get the job done, and it doesn’t help the public make informed decisions concerning growth.

Recently, I spotted a “Save Our Farmland” post – insinuating developments are taking our farmland away. I will argue the opposite: Planned development is in place to protect our farmland. I believe our state and counties have planned better for the preservation of land than they have for population growth and future housing needs.

A recent article in Frederick News-Post titled “Can Frederick County ever be ‘Montgomery County North’?” touted Frederick County’s goal of preserving 200,000 acres of its 427,000 acres – 47%! – via a myriad of agricultural and conservation programs.

Howard County – the 2nd smallest county in Maryland, has over 27,000 acres preserved, with the majority located in the western 21771-21797 quadrant. Montgomery County has designated approximately 93,000 acres (1/3rd) to the Agricultural Reserve. Carroll County, comprising 287,900 Acres, is The Shining Star with 75,000 acres in permanent preservation and a goal of 100,000 acres. This is just preserved land, not including total farmland, additional land zoned conservation, parkland & open spaces.

Carroll County’s website states:  “Carroll County’s Agricultural Land Preservation effort is the most successful in the State of Maryland, preserving more farms and more acres through the purchase of land preservation easements than any other county in Maryland. Carroll County’s program also ranks among the nation’s top five similar programs administered by local governments in the United States.”

The point of this article? Inflammatory posts and baseless claims against those whose job and passion it is to develop homes and businesses, insinuating those who are crazy enough to run for office to help us plan for growth were elected only to stop growth (or else they’ll be ousted!!) and insisting those who are “in the business of real estate” and volunteer their expertise on commissions and boards are only doing so to profit from their vote, is not only inaccurate but counter-productive.

That fact is, Maryland housing is at a 96,000 unit shortage and counting. I’m not sure about you, but I want our counties to keep on preserving farmland! I want the homes we must build to house our growing population to be built on smaller plots of land in more densely populated areas. It’s what makes the most sense, right? Don’t stick your head in the sand and think that fighting this can make it go away or somewhere else. I challenge you to look at the big picture – from the entire state, to the counties that surround us, to the town limits. The topic of growth and development isn’t a “for” and “against” fight – it’s a necessity we’re way behind in planning for.

Let’s keep on preserving our farmland!

In an election year, as we near the election, almost every buyer and seller asks: Will the election impact the market? Should we wait to buy, wait to sell? And right after the election, we are asked: Does the outcome of the election make a difference, will it affect pricing and interest rates as we move into the new year?

Historically, nationally, the number of transactions during October to November of an election year decrease approximately 15% – about 10% higher than the normal “fall” slowdown. But it’s just a pause, as buyers bounce right back into the market following the election and those homeowners thinking about selling move forward with their plans to sell.

What is different and better about this election year? Party preference aside, this year, at this time, we have certainty now, in only days past Election Day. With certainty comes confidence. Certainty keeps the market pause shorter. Certainty keeps the market healthy and vibrant. The experts predict more activity in 2025 – nationally a 13% increase in transactions – and I am in total agreement.

I believe we all think our 4-County Mount Airy market has been going strong for years – and it has in some ways. Everyone has heard these stories: house goes under contract before it hits the market and closes way over asking price; house goes on the market, has ten offers within 5 days and closes way over asking price. But in reality, since 2021, our market has been in a recession. Prices have risen, but the actual number of transactions has decreased. As a nation, we have not seen this few transactions per year since the 1990’s. In Mount Airy – we’ve seen a 30% reduction in transactions along with a 30% increase in prices.