Ellicott City Realtor Catonsville Realtor

Featured Listing Friday - Own a Part of Catonsville History!

True One of a Kind Dutch Colonial. Walk to the State Park or to the Shops on Frederick Rd. Beautiful Nearly Half Acre Lot with Shade Trees & Mature Landscaping. Enjoy 3 Seasons from the Large Covered Front Porch. Some Updates Include New Windows, Kitchen Cabinets & a New Boiler.


This Lovely Home Needs TLC. Lots of Potential - Ask your Lender about 203(K) Financing for Renovations and Repairs.


A Classic Home, in a Classic Catonsville Neighborhood.

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Walking Tour - New Home in Catonsville - Westchester Elementary School District

If you're looking for a new home in Catonsville, one that is finished, ready to move in, and located in the Westchester Elementary attendance area, have a look at this video, go to www.444NeepierRoad.com for more information, and give me a call at 410-480-3555 to schedule a showing today.

Top Seller Tuesday - Absorption Rates for Catonsville

May Absorption Rate for 21228 Zip Code - Catonsville, Maryland:

All Homes:  27 weeks of inventory

Homes valued under $300,000: 24 weeks of inventory

Homes valued over $300,000:  36 weeks of inventory

May Absorption Rate for 21229 Zip Code - Catonsville, Maryland:

All Homes:  124 weeks of inventory

Homes valued under $300,00:  128 weeks of inventory

Homes valued over $300,000:  26 weeks of inventory

Read this post to find out more about Absorption Rates and what they mean.  If you'd like more information about absorption rates for your area, how much your home is worth, Catonsville home sales, or how long it will take to sell your home, please feel free to contact me. 

Another Catonsville Success Story - Selling Your Catonsville Home

801 Woodsdale Road

Listed April 16, 2011.  Under contract April 26, 2011.  10 days on the market.

Don't worry about what your friends tell you, or what you hear on the news.  The only thing that really matters is whats actually happening right now in Catonsville.

If you are thinking of selling your Catonsville home, call someone who knows the market, who understands what the Buyers are looking for, and what it takes to get your Catonsville home sold.  Call me 410-480-3555.

Featured Listing - Rarely Offered Somerset Townhome - Completely Renovated
Open Sunday, April 17      1-3pm

Built in 1931 with Old World Appeal
Rehabbed in 2011 for Modern Convenience

Freshly Painted, New Modern Kitchen with Stainless Appliances. Refinished Hardwood Floors on Main and Upper Levels, Ceramic Tile Floors in Kitchen & Baths. Formal Dining Room with Pass Through to Kitchen Breakfast Bar. Charming and Bright Living Room with Stone Fireplace. Spacious Family Room in Lower Level with New Carpeting-Lower Level also has Rehabbed Half Bath. Plenty of Attic Storarge Space. All Plumbing and Electric Replaced. A Remarkable View of Your Additional 28 x 137 (non buildable) Lot for Added Privacy.

• 3 Bedrooms
  
• 1 and a Half Bathrooms
  
• End of Group
  
• Renovated Top to Bottom
  
• 9'+ Ceilings
  
• New AC with Backup Heat
  
• Flagstone Front Porch
  
• Brick Rear Porch
  
• Finished Lower Level
• 
  

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Featured Listing Friday - 444 Neepier Road in Catonsville's Westchester Oaks - Impressive Fully Finished New Home.  No detail was too small for this Certified Master Builder-from the Rubbed Bronze Door Sets to the High-End Designer Light Fixtures-this home features quality finishing throughout.

• 4 Bedrooms
  
• 4 1/2 Bathrooms
  
• Gourmet Kitchen with 42" Maple Cabinets, and Stainless Professional Appliances
  
• Luxury Master Bath with Oversized Soaking Tub, Dual Vanities, and Separate Shower
  
• Main Level features Hardwood Floors, Chair Railing, Crown Molding, Wainscoting, Decorator Finishing Touches
  
• Finished Walkout Basement with Full Bath for Rec Room, Playroom, or an Office - Lots of Room for You to Decide
  
• Two Car Garage

Located in the Westchester Oaks neighborhood of Catonsville. This home is just a short walk to where Trolley Line #9 begins, (known locally as the "Trolley Trail"), you can walk the Trolley Trail to the shops and restaurants in Old Ellicott City.

This home is conveniently located for commuters needing access to the 695 Beltway and Interstate 95. Rockwell Avenue provides easy access to shopping areas and Downtown Catonsville, yet Neepier itself is not a through street.

This home is currently in the attendance areas for Westchester Elementary School, Catonsville Middle School and Catonsville High School.  School attendance boundaries can change from year to year and should be indpendantly verified through Baltimore County Public Schools.

Below is a map of the property, surrounding area, and nearby amenities such as parks, libraries, shopping and schools.

Featured Community:  Catonsville, MD - Westchester Elementary School Attendance Area.  One thing I always tell my Buyers, if you are searching for a home in Maryland by school, it's not always an easy task.  Unfortunately, not all Agents list the schools in the MLS.  If you are using a home search tool to find a home in the Westchester Elementary School Attendance Area, and limit your search by school, you may be missing a number of potential homes.  Also, not all Agents list neighborhoods in the MLS, so you can't limit using that parameter either.

The best way, in Maryland, to search for a home in the Westchester Elementary School attendance area is to first search by the Catonsville zip code of 21228, and then use the school district's tool to check if a home is in the attendance boundary for that school.  You may also want to search in the Baltimore County zip code of 21043 - Oella - because some of those homes may be in the Westchester Elementary School Attendance Area.  You can always call me and ask me the best way to search for a home for the specific school you are considering: 410-480-3555.

Below you will find the attendance map for Westchester Elementary School in Catonsville, MD.  You will also find a link to Baltimore County Public School's (BCPS) tool to check if a home is in the attendance area for Westchester.  The information provided concerning school boundaries can change from year to year, and should always be independently verified with the school district.  The phone number to verify school boundaries in Baltimore County is 410-887-4215.

If you have any questions about searching for homes in the Westchester Elementary School Attendance Area, please don't hesitate to give me a call.  I grew up in Catonsville, and I know the neighborhoods well.  I know that schools matter to you, and what matters to you, matters to me.

BCPS School Search by Home Address

Westchester Elementary School Profile

BCPS Provided Boundary Map for Westchester Elementary School - 2010

Westchester Elementary School Report

Catonsville, MD Homes - Search for Homes in Westchester Elementary School Attendance Area*

*Not all homes on the list will be in Westchester Elementary School's attendance area.  Use the tool provided above to check BCPS school attendance.

Five Ways to Sell Your Catonsville Home in 30 Days or Less.  I can't guarantee to sell your Catonsville home in less than 30 days ...  but with a committed Seller who is willing to work as hard as I do to get their home sold, and for whom selling quickly is a priority, selling a Catonsville home in less than 30 days is certainly possible.  I will post my Five Step Strategy for Selling your home in 30 days or less over the next five days.  You can view the previous steps here: Step 1.  Step 2.  Step 3. Step 4.

Sell Your Catonsville Home in 30 Days or Less - Step Five: 

And When the Offer Comes In  ... Be Available, Be Reasonable, Have a Strategy and Stick to It

Be available - when a Buyer writes and offer on your Catonsville Home, try to remember - they are excited!  They have pictured themselves living there, and they are in the rosy glow of imagining their new life.  Be available to discuss the offer - in person with me - within a reasonable time frame of receiving the offer.  The same day, or the next day, but as soon as possible in any case.

Be reasonable.  Don't take offense that a Buyer has written what you perceive as a ‘lowball' offer for your home.  During this stage, the Buyer may simply be trying to assess your mindset - how serious are you about selling your home?    Remove your emotion from the situation, and together, we can evaluate the offer one component at a time.

Have a Strategy and Stick to It. The total negotiation process should not take more than 2 - 3 days, and really should not be that difficult.  Catch the Buyers while they are still excited.  Know your numbers, and be flexible.  Most importantly - don't take the negotiations personally.  Make a plan with all of the parties involved before you ever receive an offer, on how to handle counter offers, and how (and who!) will make the decisions.  The time to work out who will make the final decisions about the offer is not after you have received an offer.

In the past four years, during the time of the ‘downturn' in our market, my average days on market for selling Catonsville homes is 44 days.  I can't sell every home in less than 30 days, and I wouldn't claim that I could.  Selling in less than 30 days is not a priority for every Seller.

However, if selling your Catonsville home quickly matters to you, when you commit  to the process and follow my advice and Five Step Strategy, I believe that together we can accomplish your goals.  Give me a call for a market analysis of your Catonsville home, and to find out more about how what matters to you, matters to me.

Five Ways to Sell Your Catonsville Home in 30 Days or Less.  I can't guarantee to sell your Catonsville home in less than 30 days ...  but with a committed Seller who is willing to work as hard as I do to get their home sold, and for whom selling quickly is a priority, selling a Catonsville home in less than 30 days is certainly possible.  I will post my Five Step Strategy for Selling your home in 30 days or less over the next five days.  You can view the previous steps here: Step 1.  Step 2.

Sell Your Catonsville Home in 30 Days or Less - Step Three:  EMarketing - How to Make the Most of Your Catonsville Home's Online Presence

When interviewing Realtors, ask them how many photos they will be taking of your Catonsville home.  If they say anything less than 20 photos, ask them if they are aware of how Realtor.com ranks home searches.

Part of the default search result ranking on Realtor.com is by the number of photos provided.  Here in Catonsville, some agents will simply provide the standard exterior photo.  Many agents will provide the minimum number required to created an automated virtual tour -  which is six photos.

But if your Catonsville home is in a list of 50 other Catonsville homes that a Buyer is looking at, one of the ways I get your home to the top of that list is with the maximum number of photos that I can provide.

And here's where you come in - give me every opportunity to shoot every room of your Catonsville home.  If you have to have a ‘junk room', make it the garage or the unfinished area of your basement - I wouldn't take pictures of those rooms anyway.  If you have to keep a pet secure in a room, be home while I am taking pictures, so that you can move the pet to another area.

Keep your yard neat, both front and back, and I will get photos of those areas.  If you have nice landscaping, a garden, or a water feature in your yard, I'll add that to the photos as well.

I have a robust Emarketing plan for selling Catonsville homes, and it goes far beyond great photographs.  That's my job - getting your Catonsville home in front of as many interested Buyers as possible.  And when we work together, and when you stick to my Five Step Strategy, we'll get your home sold - and sold quickly.

I can't guarantee to sell your Catonsville home in less than 30 days ...  but with a committed Seller who is willing to work as hard as I do to get their home sold, and for whom selling quickly is a priority, selling a Catonsville home in less than 30 days is certainly possible.  I will post my Five Step Strategy for Selling your home in 30 days or less over the next five days.  You can view the previous steps here: Step 1.

Sell Your Catonsville Home in 30 Days or Less - Step Two:  Pictures.

Great Pictures Can Get Buyers In the Door to Your Catonsville Home - What will you do to chase them back out?

After a recent showing of a Catonsville Home, my Buyers turned to me, very apologetically, and said they were sorry for wasting my time taking them to the home were viewing - but that the home had ‘looked so great on the Internet!'.  I told them not to worry about it, that this is my job - this is what I do.  And more importantly, that I see this all the time.

Here are the top offenders when showing a home that are guaranteed to make the showing of your Catonsville home stop short:

• A dirty entryway - If you do nothing else to prepare your home for sale, please make sure the Front Door, Steps, and Porch are clean and tidy.  Your Buyers will be spending more than a few seconds on the Porch, chatting with the Realtor, assessing the property, waiting while the Realtor opens the Keybox ... don't give a reason to have a negative conversation about your home right off the bat.
  
• A smelly home - whether it's your animals, cigarette smoke, a mildewed clothes washer, or a lawnmower in the basement that makes your entire home smell like a service station - nothing will chase a Buyer right back out the door faster than a smelly home.  Conversely, try not to cover up offending odors with an excess of candles/air fresheners/cookies in the oven - oftentimes these smells can be just as offensive to Buyers.  And the combination of a smelly pet with a heavily scented vanilla candle can often be nauseating.  Just keep your home smelling fresh - open the windows, change pet bedding often, and remove the offending items a few days before listing your home.
  
• Dirty/scuffed walls and dirty floors - Recently, I previewed a home with my assistant.  We went  back 3 days later and she said to me - ‘WOW -  it doesn't even look like the same house! What did the Sellers do?'  My answer?  They painted the walls in the Living Room, they touched up the trim throughout the house, and they washed the walls in all of the other rooms.  They also tore up the old, dirty carpet to show the hardwood floors underneath.  The difference was impressive.

If you don't pay attention to the previous three items, your home will become stigmatized.  Buyers will know it, Agents will know it, Buyers will tell neighbors, friends and family members.  This is how a home begins to sit on the market ... long, longer ... and then weeks and months go by.  Don't let this happen to you!

I will take great pictures of your Catonsville home - well lit, high definition, wide angles of each room, multiple shots of large spaces, lighting that showcases both your interior spaces, and the views out your window ... I will do all of this to get Buyers in the door of your Catonsville home - what will you do to keep them there?