Live Baltimore's big home-buying fair and tour, Buying Into Baltimore, offers $3,000 as a first-come, first-served incentive to buy a city home. More than 650 have been bought with those sweeteners since the first event in 1998, and they're everywhere -- from Woodberry to Middle East, from Walbrook to Fells Point.

Live Baltimore, a nonprofit that wants folks to take a hint from its name and live in Baltimore, compiled this statistic as it prepares its latest Buying Into Baltimore event, scheduled Sept. 12. (Pre-registration information here.)

The $3,000 -- which can be used toward closing costs or down payment -- is a city loan that turns into a grant after five years. Fifty are up for grabs. Detailed details are here, but in general, buyers qualify by getting homeownership counseling, participating in the event's home tours and buying a place within 90 days afterward. (You don't have to choose one of the 16 homes on the tour, but you do have to buy in the eastern half of Baltimore. The spring fair focuses on the west and the fall fair on the east.)

"Our Buying Into Baltimore program is mostly designed for first-time home buyers," said Anna Custer, executive director of Live Baltimore. "All of those homes we feature ... are under $250."

Many of the participants aren't planning big moves. Nearly three-quarters of the 500 people who showed up for the spring Buying Into Baltimore event were already Baltimore residents.

Some of the out-of-towners were from the Baltimore 'burbs, some from Washington and some from New Jersey. (New Jersey is the home of Fort Monmouth, due to send thousands of jobs to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County as part of base realignment and closure.)

Live Baltimore bused in BRAC relocatees for the spring event. This time, it's got an overnight trip planned with a BRAC-only tour the following day.

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: First-time home buyers, Housing events
        

The Maryland Insurance Administration is holding a hearing Thursday on title insurance -- part of the home buying process that you might barely notice unless something goes wrong. For instance, if your escrow money disappears.

A commission that intends to recommend changes to state law invites people to share "issues or concerns relating to title insurance, title agents, the manner in which real estate settlement practices are conducted, the handling of real estate escrow accounts, and any difficulties that a person may have experienced with the title insurance industry."

The hearing is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Miller Senate Office Building, 11 Bladen St. in Annapolis -- look for it in the Senate Finance Committee Room, 3 East. The insurance administration says you can find free parking at the Calvert Street Garage, 19 Saint Johns St.

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 7:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Housing events