Let Us Personally Search for a Home that Matches Your Criteria, for Free and Without Obligation. As top Marlyand real estate agents, we make it our business to be aware of every local home or property on the market. We even know of properties that will be available, but have yet to formally be placed on the market. We have direct access to entire Maryland area MLS (Multiple Listings Service), and also to every other agents in the area and all of their listings. If you give us some idea of what you are looking for, we will personally review all our sources of real estate listing information and send you everything within your price range that matches your criteria. We can save you a great deal of time! This is a totally free service, and there is no obligation. It's part of our job to offer services like this to homebuyers. 
We are Short Sale Experts!
What is a short sale? A short sale is an "arrangement" between the current owner of a home and the bank that lent them the money to buy their home to accept an offer for less than the total amount owed to pay off the home. The "deficiency" is the difference between the amount owed and what the bank collects at the short sale. Although, the "arrangement" can take many different forms, there is no other definition of a short sale. I say this because many realtors and some investors simply throw the term around as if it meant "a sale under market value." No. A bank owned (foreclosed) house is not a short sale. A seller deciding to lower their price and take less profit is not a short sale. An old lady that owns her home free and clear, selling a $150k home for $75 k, IS NOT A SHORT SALE. For it to be a Short sale, someone must be getting "shorted." Either the seller, or the bank. Most short sales arise when a seller owns more on their house than they can sell if for (upside down). The owner of the home then attempts to make an arragnement with their lender to sell the house for less than is owned. Whether looking ofr a short sale or looking to short sell, we are the people you need.
 Tell us what you are looking for! It's our job to know every property in Columbia, Ellicott City, Silver Spring, Frederick, and even ones not listed online in all of Maryland. Our personal search for you is FREE and without obligation. Please give us as many details as possible...
First Time Buyers >Your Principal Residence
The Federal Tax Code allows married taxpayers to exclude from capital gains taxes up to $500,000 in profits from selling a home (singles can exclude $250,000). In order to qualify for this exemption, you must prove that that the home has been your principal residence for at least two out of the last five years. The establishment of the home as a principal residence depends on the facts of each homeowner's circumstance. Here are two cases to consider.
Homeowner A has lived at 25 Pine Drive for 12 years. Although he stays at his vacation cottage in another town for up to three months out of each year (sometimes more), 25 Pine Drive is his principal residence, where he lives most of the time. When he sells the home, Homeowner A (filing as a single individual) can keep up to $250,000 in tax-free profit.
Homeowner B buys 108 Maple Street, intending to live there. He rents it out while waiting to sell his current home, where he has lived for six years. His principal residence sells at the end of two years. Homeowner B moves into his new house, lives there for three months, and then decides to travel. After a six-month trip, he regrets buying 108 Maple Street and sells it. Even though he has owned the house on Maple Street for over two years, it won't qualify as "owner-occupied", because he only lived in it for a few months. Thus Homeowner B is not eligible to claim the tax exemption when he sells the house on Maple Street.
Consult your tax advisor for advice about your particular circumstance.
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| Q |
What 70-room East Coast mansion was built as a summer home and is known as a "Gilded Age cottage"?
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| A |
Cornelius Vanderbilt's "Breakers" Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, named for the waves crashing along the cliff that separates the property from the ocean. |
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