As you all know, I have maintained a successful business as a RE/MAX agent; and for the last 8 months I have been working on a very special project that I am now ready to share with you.

In one of the wealthiest counties in the wealthiest country in the world, no student should ever go hungry.  But hunger is not just a foreign third-world problem, but one that is very real and exists right here in Montgomery County, MD.  Most county residents are unaware that 44,000 Montgomery County students which is 33%, are part of the Free and Reduced Meal program in school.  This federal school program is helpful; however, there is a glaring gap in this plan –namely weekends.

Eliminating hunger has always been a passion of mine, and over the years I have regularly donated to organizations focused on hunger relief.  But having recognized that this issue exists in my own community, I decided to make an impact closer to home and create my own non-profit, Kids In Need Distributors (KIND).

The idea behind KIND is to send kids home on weekends with a backpack filled with nutritious meals and snacks to provide substance until the kids return to school on Mondays.  KIND adds a unique benefit for these students as well.  Kids who may not have enough food to eat may very well lack other basic necessities too.  For this reason, KIND will also distribute additional items such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, mouthwash, floss, deodorant, soap and shampoo at the start of the school year.

KIND is currently feeding hundreds of children in 6 different elementary schools and facilitates food deliveries to 2 others in Montgomery County, MD.  This is an endeavor that is very dear to me, and I hope to feed more kids with each upcoming year.  For more information on KIND and the work we’re doing in the community, please visit www.kindinmd.org.  Thank you all for your support.

Are you a first-time home buyer or know someone who is?  You should be aware that the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County, MD is a valuable resource when it comes to housing programs!  Let’s take a look at some of the mortgage programs that they have to offer:

HOC Mortgage Purchase Program- This program provides low interest rate first mortgage financing for first-time home buyers purchasing a home in Montgomery County

Revolving Closing Cost Assistance Loan Program- This program is available to first-time home buyers who need funds for closing costs and/or downpayment.  It must be used with the HOC First Trust Mortgage Purchase Program.

And, if you’re a Montgomery County Government Employee or Affiliate you may be eligible for the House Keys 4 Employees Program which now gives County employees the opportunity to receive even more funds to help with the purchase of a home in Montgomery County.

For more information on these programs, homebuyers education classes and more, visit www.hocmc.org

Are you looking for a way to invest your IRA or 401k? Real estate may be the smartest route to take.  Once converted into a Self Directed IRA or Self Directed 401k, you can make real estate investments that allow your funds to grow tax free!  But wait, there are more perks to this deal –you can invest in residential property, maintenance and furnishing of the home is all conducted by a property management company, and all the income you make from tenants is directed back to the self directed IRA/401k.  Retirement plans have not had the best return over the last few years, but if you invest your self directed IRA/401k, just a 1% increase over 10 years or more can generate a hefty amount of money! Now is a great time to invest in real estate and in the best markets, people are seeing returns of 20% or better.

Just remember these guidelines:

• When making investments, they must be in your own self interest with no influence from other parties
• You can’t buy or sell property from a disqualified individual –family members, investment advisors, etc.
• You can’t receive immediate benefit from a property owned by your IRA –vacation homes, personal residences, etc.
• You can’t perform cosmetic work on the house or furnish it

If you have a lot of money in your IRA/401k and want to expand your investments beyond ordinary securities, a self-directed IRA/401k can allow you to do what you want with your money in order to make more of it.

This Sunday, January 22, another great new house will be open from 1-4 pm. Come check out this masterpiece built by Welty Homes, Inc. They have built two new homes on this block, only one is left for sale.

Location: 6209 Wedgewood Rd Bethesda, MD 20816

This amazing new Arts & Crafts Colonial is finished and ready to moved into now. The house features three finished levels luxurious living. Five bedrooms, four full bathrooms and a powder room. Incredible gourmet kitchen includes upgraded stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, center island, breakfast area, walk-in pantry and a butler’s pantry between the kitchen and banquet-sized dining room. Also on the first floor is a family room and living room, each with a fireplace and a library. 2-car garage with automatic door opener and mud room right off the garage. There is arough-in for an elevator. The master suite includes dual walk-in closets and a majestic master bathroom with separate shower and bathtub and his & hers vanities. The lower level is finished to include a rec room, the 5th bedroom and a full bath.

Come check out this masterpiece this Sunday from 1-4 pm. Open to everyone.

For floor plans, specs and disclosures, please go to my website: www.jeremyhomes.com

The latest numbers are in for the month of July:

http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=711496263&ids=0MczoVe3ANcjsIdjkUd38PcP4Tb3kPd38Mej4NdOMNdjoPe34OcjsIcPoOdzAQcj4T&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod-b-ttle-44

And while July may have dipped a bit from the numbers in June, the year-to-year numbers are significantly up. Additional proof of this is shown in inventory available in Bethesda. Normally there is usually about six months of inventory available in homes for sale at a given time. Right now in Bethesda, there is only 3.01 months of inventory available. Bethesda remains one of the hottest markets in the area and new home construction is leading the way.  To date, 31 new homes have sold in Bethesda this year, with eight more homes under contract awaiting settlement. Last year, a total of 38 new homes were sold for the entire calendar year.

The market does not seem to be slowing down as we head into September. Currently I have 13 new homes being constructed that are slated to be ready either by the end of this year or by February/March of next year. Additional information and floor plans for these homes can be found on my website: www.jeremyhomes.com. If you have any additional questions or are looking for more information, please don’t hesitate to contact to me.

If you have been following my blog since it’s inception, you know that the running theme in here has been that new construction houses are selling like hot cakes in the Washington, DC area – specifically in Bethesda, MD. Now that trend seems to be catching on across the country. Here is a clip from an article in Realtor Magazine dated June 23, 2011:

The median sales price of new homes rose to $222,600 in May, a 2.6 percent increase from April, and the first increase to new-homes’ median sales price since December of last year, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. New homes are 30 percent higher than the median sales price of existing, resale homes, which is double the normal markup, analysts say.

The article also goes on to mention that inventory on new homes is down as well:

While the prices of new homes were on the rise, inventories of new homes continued to shrink, with inventories falling to its lowest level on record (166,000 homes). Economists noted that at the May sales pace, it would take 6.2 months to clear the supply of homes off the market.

The new construction home market is getting hotter and inventory is getting harder to find. But if you are in the market for a new home, you have come to the right place. In my work with the area builders in the Bethesda area, I will have at least eleven new homes that are scheduled to be completed before the end of the year. Two of them (5515 Southwick St and 5825 Conway Rd – both Bethesda, MD 20817) are already listed in MRIS (the regional Multiple Listing Service) and are scheduled to be finished by September. Floor plans and specs for all of these houses are available on my website: www.jeremyhomes.com.

Please feel free to leave me any questions you may have about these, or any of my other listings. And stay tuned to this blog – I will keep you updated about what is going on in the New Construction Housing market in the Bethesda, MD area.

Okay — you don’t just have to take my word for it. The Wall Street Journal published an article yesterday (Jun 2, 2011) confirming that housing prices increased in the Washington, DC area for the first quarter of 2011. Washington was the only major city to report an increase and the primary areas were in the city and inside-the-beltway suburbs.

Click here for the article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576359673989462558.html?mod=WSJ_RealEstate_LeftTopNews

Welcome back!

In my first blog, I mentioned that the new construction home market in Bethesda was red hot. It’s hotter than that. Let’s take a look at some of the numbers.

Since the first of the year, there have been thirteen new homes sold in Bethesda. (That’s completely sold – gone to settlement, keys handed over, new owners moved in… the works.) An additional seventeen are under contract – which means a contract has been ratified and the parties are working through any contingencies and awaiting settlement. That’s a total of 30 homes sold or under contract. There are only 25 new construction homes currently listed in the Multiple Listing Service (mls) as Active. By contrast, there were a total of 45 new construction homes sold for the entire year of 2010 in Bethesda.

As I mentioned in my last blog, the main reason for this is a pent-up demand and a lack of inventory in and around the Bethesda area for new construction homes. One of the factors driving the demand is that interest rates on Jumbo Loans are at near-record lows and banks are lending again. When you can get a 7-year ARM in the 3 1/2% range, you will get activity.

Another factor is schools. Montgomery County ranks among the top three counties in the country with its public school system. And three of the best high schools in Montgomery County are in Bethesda – Walt Whitman, Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Walter Johnson.

So if you are looking for a new construction home in Bethesda, you have come to the right place. One third of the homes that are under contract or sold this year have been my listings. Additionally I have at least 10 more new construction homes that are being built but have not yet been entered into the Multiple Listing Service because they are not at a stage where they can be shown yet. For more information on these homes, including preliminary floor plans, please feel free to go to my website at www.jeremyhomes.com.

And as always, feel free to submit your questions and/or comments right here on my blog.

Three years ago, if you had told me I would be writing a blog, I would have said you were crazy. Heck, three weeks ago, if you had told me I would be writing a blog, I would have said you were crazy. Anyone who knows me would tell you: I don’t know anything about writing a blog.

But what I do know is real estate. And one of my main areas of expertise is new construction homes in and around Bethesda, MD. In the last ten years, I have listed and sold over 200 new homes in Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Garrett Park, Kensington, Rockville and Cabin John. I have developed great working relationships with several of the local builders in this area.

The new construction market in Bethesda is red hot right now. New homes are selling like the proverbial hotcakes. The main reason is because of a lack of inventory and a pent-up demand. Since the beginning of this year, there are already 27 new homes under contract or sold in Bethesda, and only another 27 new homes active in the market. I have already had at least six new homes go under contract within days of getting the lot, before the builder even had a chance to break ground to begin construction.

In the coming weeks and months, my goal for this blog is to provide ongoing expert information about what is happening in the new construction homes market, tips on what to look for and other valuable information. If you have a specific question, please feel free to use the ‘Ask a Question’ widget on the right of the home page. I will answer your questions directly and try to incorporate some of those questions into future blogs here.

Yes folks, it’s true. I have a blog!