We’re beginning to see the Baltimore housing market show signs of recovery, when you look at home sales from last year. Many of my fellow real estate professionals attribute this to the $8,000 first-time home buyers federal tax credit. The tax credit expired on April 30 of this year, but was recently extended to September 30 (with restrictions; see below). The credit also carried us into a strong home sales season, starting with May, which is traditionally our strongest month.

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In the Baltimore real estate market, it’s no longer unusual to come across an asking price that is clearly too low for the home’s neighborhood. Often, it’s a short sale, which means the seller’s lender is accepting a discounted payoff to release an existing mortgage.

Should you buy a short sale house?

Yes, if….

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Every Baltimore Realtor® has met people who like the idea of selling their home without using a real estate agent. Who wouldn’t want to save the 6 percent on a home sale? But if that’s all there were to it, why did for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) deals account for only about 7 percent of Baltimore-area home sales last year? (That’s what the National Association of Realtors said in a report they did for the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors.)
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