I wish we knew. We're ready but very unsure about what we're looking for and where. It's starting to look possibly like Western Maryland. I would miss Baltimore but also want to experience what a life somewhere else in the state would be like. Not really about crime, traffic, etc., but more about a change of scenery.

Yes. Not sure which or how... but yes.

I've wasted most of 2010 looking for a distress bargain still worth buying (in several places around the country) all to no avail. They are almost all utter crap that should have been torn down before the last transaction.

The related problem is that I've seen very few medium range non-distress properties where the asking prices even approach what I choose to believe is reality. But as the economy continues to tank more and more of these are popping up. I really don't like the psychic energy of being this ruthless but thats where the market is.

Ironically though, the VERY high priced properties I've stumbled across seem to come with actual value at those higher prices. There is an actual "there" there. (This still doesn't apply to Santa Barbara though which may as well be Mars)

Maybe I should look for a late 40's single woman who needs help paying her mortgage instead... anyone?
---

I'm now in Arizona with plans to return to Oregon by way of Northern California and completely open to stopping almost anywhere along the way.

We have been looking to move for the past few years. It is just impossible for us. We live in Baltimore County and while homes we would like to buy (in Howard County) have been dropping in price at a rapid clip - our area has been dropping even faster. We own a single family home and make about $300,000 a year (husband and I together) but can't get a loan for the amounts people are still asking. We need more government stimulus and the banks to pass along the government bailout to us. We can kind of get by paying our current mortage but when we move to a more expensive home (we have 3 kids now) I am unsure how we would pay without the mortgage companies giving us a good deal. we are underwater currently but what else can we do?? We have to move to prove to our neighbors we make a lot more than them.

I'm not planning to move because I bought a house LOL and I have less mobility. :D

Yes I'm hoping to move this year. I'm sick of the crime & drugs in the City. The outrageous taxes. Lack of services. Landlords who don't care. The tenants that trash everything in their sight. The final straw for me was the murder on New Year's Eve two houses up from mine. I've got a 3 br single family home on a tenth of an acre of land. We'll never get what it's worth & probably not even what we paid for it. At this point, I don't even care if we can sell our current house. I just want out!!

I can't figure out if Patty's comment is a joke.

/facepalm

I moved last month. I finally found a house after spending months looking. My advice is to avoid ROE and short sales like the plague in the sub 250k range.

Ironhide, I'm sure that comment is a joke, if a pointed one -- the email address belongs to a regular reader (and jokester).

We just moved here from Utah (a suburb of Salt Lake City) last spring. We rented a small place on Charles Street until we got to know the area better, then this last month we negotiated a great deal on a rental in Federal Hill (I'm sure because pretty much nobody moves in December). We will probably live in Baltimore one more year before the job transfers us again. I sure wish we could sell our Utah house so we could buy another home wherever we settle!! We didn't even try to sell it because of this market. Instead some good friends are renting it for now (luckily they treat it as if they owned it themselves) and we just have to pay the difference each month between the rental income and mortgage amount. I still really wish I could just sell that house! We spent the last 6 years working on it and making it "home", but it's just too much to worry about it from this far away.

I'm moving this month, our closing is in a week! We bought the house for about 2/3 of what we would've paid just 3-4 yrs ago (at the height of the market). Also got a 4.00% fixed 30 yr rate and closing costs covered by the state (various incentive programs for teachers--my spouse is a teacher).

I doubt we'll ever refinance or sell the house. The payments are absurdly low, well below the comparable rent level. We have a family friend who rents a similar house down the block for about 2x our mortgage+taxes+PMI+insurance. In fact, our rent on the (much smaller) townhouse we're in now is $200 more than our total costs for the single family house we bought.

I'm really excited to move, needless to say. We were about to give up looking for the year (too many sellers unwilling to negotiate meaningful price reductions) and I think this seller realized they'd be unable to close out their parents' estate til next spring/summer and possibly get less money... so they were very very reasonable.

God, I hope so. We're trying to sell our house (edge of Little Italy/Harbor East) and move to an apt in Fells Point. We even know what building we want; we'll just see what they have availible when we do sell. We love living in Balt. City, but are sick of 1) the property taxes, 2)the property taxes, 3) all the work/costs/bad surprises associated with home ownership, and did I mention 4) the property taxes? ;). We're ready to focus on building up our retirement accounts, and clearly the house isn't going to be an asset. But a more predictable (and smaller- at least by the property taxes) monthly housing costs will be.

I'm in the city and I would like to sell in the spring. I'm just sick of the terrible snow removal/being called for jury duty every single year, crime, etc. I've had enough, but I've lived here my entire life so I think it's definitely time for a change.

I have been wanting to move since 2005 (and I bought my home in 2004!). I am hoping 2012 will be my year to sell, but more likely 2013. If I see now, after realtor fees, I won't have a whole lot left, and I don't want to have my house on the market 6+ months like my 2 neighbors. Selling your house can be the pits when it takes so long and I have to get my act together before I could even think of dealing with that.

I am looking to sell in 11' and to buy in catonsville/anne arundel county, however, little scared of what I will get for my house bought in 03', but will put on market to see what happens.
Chappy10...where do you find the incentives for teachers that the state provides? my spouse is a teacher as well and would love to look into the incentives that the state offers!

MrRational,

I wish you were considering Baltimore, because I am a 32 year old single female who need help with my mortgage.

John, here's one incentive for teachers (and police officers, firefighters and EMTs): http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/reo/goodn/gnndabot.cfm

The Maryland-run House Keys 4 Employees program has some school systems on the list of participating employers: http://www.mmprogram.org/hk4eParticipating.aspx

My wife and I would like to sell in 2011, but I am sure we will not be able to because of the falling home prices and the abundance of foreclosures around us in Dundalk. We purchased our 2-bedroom townhome in November of 2007 (ugh!) and homes are selling for about $20-$30k less than what we owe on the mortgage. We started a family and need to move to a bigger house, but we cannot because we owe more on our mortgage than what it is worth (according to Zillow.com).

I hope that home prices will stabilize long enough for us to pay down our mortgage enough to catch up to the market, but that does not look like it will happen in 2011. Hears to hoping 2012 will be the magic year for us to sell our house!

Looking to move in 2011. Can't stand the City anymore between the crime, taxes, most of the people, and parking. The City couldn't care less about all the people that bring money into the City and how they plan on leaving soon. I know of a bunch of people with the same thoughts and plans as I have. Here comes my money County!

My wife and I bought our house in Bolton Hill in 2006. We love the neighborhood (despite the occasional mugging, car theft, etc.), like the nursery school and like that there's a K-8 charter school that gives preference to neighborhood residents. I'm pretty sure the house is worth less than what we paid (even though the tax assessment has gone up). We plan to stick it out for a while and hope our home's value comes back by the time we're ready to move.

I am planning on staying put until the market improves. I bought a fixer upper in 2005 and the amount of money I've put into the house + what I paid for it equals more than what I would get if I were to sell today. I'm not underwater on my mortgage, but would take a loss because of everything I've put into the house. Also, I don't really have a reason to move just yet, so I'm hoping the market rebounds sometime in the next few years.

I bought last year and happy with my choice but prices are down about 10% from last year's level in my area due to all of the distressed properties. It would have been nice to wait but then again I wouldn't have sold my townhouse for as much and the distressed properities are in bad condition so its all relative.

Glad I put down 20%

We just moved to Baltimore from DC and are renting Downtown until we find a place to buy that works for us. We are astounded by property taxes here. On a house that costs $250K-$500K property taxes essentially add the equivalent in monthly payments of $50K to $100K. So, that $500,000 house we are looking at ends up costing us $600,000 based on our monthly payments. This is actually giving us second thoughts about buying in the city.

The only way we see around it is to buy and fix up a shell in an historic district and take advantage of the tax freeze. Not a fun prospect.

Jamie - one of the biggest issues for me to sell is the commission I'd have to pay an agent(s)

6% IMO is ridiculous.

Do you think agents will drop there commission rates if this market persists?

I'd love to sell, but I'd probably only sell for 10% over what I owe and there is no way I'm splitting that with agents 40/60
NO WAY

We're planning to move out of the area after almost 12 years of living in Baltimore City. We own a home here but with three young kids its just too small and we don't want to buy a bigger one in the city because 1) property taxes are so high they make it impossible for us to afford a bigger house, 2) we want our kids to attend good schools and can't afford private school tuition and 3) I'm tired of the crime, calling 911 way too many times, always watching my back. I hate that we pay all this money in taxes and still don't have good schools, crime is still a huge problem, there isn't enough parking in the neighborhoods etc... If something does not change there is going to be a mass exodus of young families like ours. I know there are a lot of dedicated city residents who are trying to make the city more family friendly but as it stands right now its not a good place to raise kids.

Miss Jamie
I hope that your daughter feels better soon.A lot of people seem to be getting sick this past week.

To answer your question.I myself bought a house 7 years ago.Im a bit old fashioned and i bought it to live in until i die[which hopefully wont be anytime soon].

I cant say for sure that i will never move.At age 41 things might change in the next 10-30 years.But overall i am content in my house and in my neighborhood. So my main plan is to pay off my 15 year mortgage early by putting a few bucks extra towards the Principal each month.

after i pay my house off i intend to fix it up some. i would prefer to own it completly before i fix it up

Thanks, Pete. My daughter seems to be doing well now, but I've caught what she had.

Hope things go as planned for you!

Not that I was clueless to the property tax and lack of quality school issues in Baltimore City, but reading these posts is making me really second guess buying a place in the city! We did have a contract on a house in December but backed out after the inspection. Maybe after a bit more soul searching, we'll begin our house search again in the spring. Until then we're hanging tight in our too-small DC apartment and riding out the cold winter... I anticipate we'll move somewhere in 2011, but now I'm not so sure where!

Wow I am also surprised to see so many people upset about the taxes in Baltimore City. I pay over 10K in taxes each year. It's ridiculous, actually.

I spoke to Jack Young a few years ago about the "promise" (remember that, Jamie?) to lower the property tax rate and he said the City Council "couldn't" do it. I think they just didn't try hard enough... There would be lots of cuts, but I would personally rather see layoffs and cuts in services rather than pay for services I can't afford.

I think the residents of the city should elect some new officials for whom lowering property taxes is a priority.

In regards to SLL's comment. The Baltimore property rate is way too high.The best thing that someone can do when fixing up thier house ,is to try to qualify for the historical Tax Credit. I know that you can qualify in Canton.And im sure that you can in Fells Point or Federal Hill, as well.

My understanding is that the requirements arent too hard.Its mainly about having to wait for paperwork. Basicly it freezes your taxes. I make around $15,000 a year and i pay more property taxes then one of my neigbors who make $150,000. Thats because they have the historical tax credit and i havent fixed up my house

Im not complaining.Im just trying to make the point that the credit makes a lot of difference

The historic property tax credit doesn't freeze property taxes. You pay the pre-renovation assessment taxes. When the building is reassessed after 3 years, you pay any difference if the value has increased.

However, the City has a scheme to make you pay more in the long run by underassessing the renovation such that the City can make a big increase in assessments next time around. That way, you wind up paying a bigger difference than you would have if they assessed the renovation properly. This is my theory, at least.

We moved last April from Baltimore City, with a third child the row house simply became to small. In looking for a new house, there was no way I could justify paying 11,000 dollars a year in property taxes. Two days before settling on my new house in Towson, I had an interesting conversation with Mary Pat Clarke, in which she said that lowering property taxes wasn't worth the battle. She stated that you would fight with the mayor for two years and maybe save fifty or sixty dollars a year on the property tax bill, and in the end everyone in the council and the mayor ended up on nonspeaking terms. She felt that people were willing to pay more to live near the symphony and museums. I didn't have the heart to tell her I was moving in two days because I wasn't willing to spend the money on property taxes. She was my council person. It just showed me how out of touch she was. The other thing that annoyed me was the fact that I paid almost six thousand in transfer taxes to the city. I lived three blocks from the former Zurich building in North Baltimore. Hopkins bought that building appraised at thirteen million dollars, paid no transfer taxes, and now that building no longer has property taxes paid on it because Hopkins is nonprofit. The city is going to have to address the inequity at some point. You can't just keep piling it on the middle class.

I don't know if this has already been shared here, but the link below is a well written analysis and proposal about the effects of high property taxes relative to nearby jurisdictions and a case study of others city's lower of the rate and the following economic boom and how Baltimore could/should do similarly.

http://mdpolicy.org/docLib/20101214_MarylandJournalWalters.pdf

Nate, I'm supposed to do a Q&A with one of the authors shortly. I figured you all would be interested.

Wow! I am "SO" suprised to see so many people bailing out of Baltimore City! lol (good luck on selling and just breaking even!), now I REALLY don't feel so bad about walking from my Titanic there!

I live in Baltimore City. If the right opportunities presented themselves today I'd be out. At this point I'm passively planning a move out of the state, hopefully by the year's end.

My reasons are crime, expenses of living here (property taxes, fees, etc.), and disgust with the lack of leadership to fix these issues.

Yep it's a shame the elected officials appear to be so out of touch :( Can they have no idea what the rest of us are paying(?)

Maybe I'll move back to Baltimore so I can run for office. :P

But really, the entire city council would need to be cleaned out in order to get a vote passed to reduce the taxes to a reasonable level.

Hey, Mayor Rawlings-Blake apparently has proposed a fee for the "nonprofits:"http://www.baltimorecity.gov/OfficeoftheMayor/NewsPressReleases/tabid/66/ID/308/Mayor_Rawlings-Blake_Introduces_Comprehensive_Budget_Plan.aspx

But I see there is still a lot of spending included in her recommendations. I respect Mayor Rawlings-Blake, but I disapprove. The tax rates are INSANELY high, so who cares about school health centers or bulk trash pickup? I say cut out ALL the fat and LOWER the tax rate. Maybe she was attempting to be diplomatic in the article, but I didn't really see enough cuts.

It sounds mean, but if the city would give up on the "War on Drugs." I'm sure we could cut the police force in 1/2. Not to mention the murder rate...

Also, it might be time to reduce the pensions. I had thought that the state paid most of the pensions, but it looks like Baltimore city is spending a lot on pensions... Maybe a small decrease across the board would make a difference.

Also, it might be time to reduce the pensions

I still dont understand why both federal and state gov'ts have pensions at all. The private sector has done away with them forcing people to use their own means such as 401k. If you want to cut the fat on our future legacy costs, start there. Also, why are firefighters and police offered retirement after 20 years? They will tell you that their job is so stressful. Cry me a river, whose isnt? Besides, they CHOSE that career path. I think we should eliminate all pensions period. IN its place, have forced place savings. You cant touch til retiremennt age.