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All States have their areas of natural beauty. Maryland is no exception. Out on the Eastern Shore of Maryland is a wonderful little island, operated and maintained by the National Park Service, Assateague Island.

This paradise island is a place to enjoy white sandy beaches, take Marsh and Forest tours, study ecology, camping, and of course, a visit with the Wild Ponies.

There are two herds of Wild Ponies on Assateague Island. They have the run of the island and we humans are just visitors. There is a sister island in Virginia, Chincoteague Island, which also has its own herd of Wild Ponies.

The Assateague Wild Ponies have adapted to an environment which is not common to their domesticated partners. Their diet consists of Marsh and Dune grasses. On Assateague Island, there is plenty of fresh water, both natural and provided by the National Park Service, and the ponies know just where to quench their thirst. Summer months can be very hot and unforgiving. This year has been especially brutal.

The island has a bounty of bird life in addition to the famous ponies. Great Blue Herons, Egrets, Wigeons, and others can be found in the Marshes, forest areas, and on the water.

Enter the parking lot and the Wild Ponies will frequently be there to greet you. Probably looking for a handout.

Egrets catching a ride. They may be keeping the fly's from bothering the horses.

A new foal destined for an interesting life on Assateague Island.

Cars wait for the Wild Ponies, not the other way around.

I wasn't able to get any pictures of the horses on the beach with the Atlantic Ocean in the background. That just gives me another excuse to go back to Assateague Island.

If you're in the area you should explore Assateague Island. Be prepared to walk the Marsh, Forest and Dune trails. Stay clear of the Wild Ponies though. They are cute, but they are wild, and not all that friendly.

All photos and written content were produced by Richard Iarossi. Copyright 2010 - All Rights Reserved. This content may not be reproduced or reprinted, except for Active Rain Re-blogging, without express written permission of Richard Iarossi, REALTOR®, Long and Foster® Real Estate, Inc., Crofton, MD.

Thirteen new listings became active during the week of 8/15 to 8/21. Prices on these new entries ranged from $225,000 to $525,000.

Four homes went under contract/no kick out status, and six went under full contract status. These contract changes are an indicator of future settlements in Odenton, MD.

One rental applications were registered, and ten homes were rented last week in Odenton, MD. Again, another indication of the strong rental market in Odenton.

Six homes completed the entire sale process and settled. Congratulations to these new Odenton, MD home owners. Closings remain strong in Odenton, MD.

One active listing expired, and six active listings were withdrawn from the Odenton, MD real estate market.

If you're looking for a home to buy or rent in Odenton, MD, or anywhere in the surrounding area, I can help.

Clicking any icon on the map below will display all homes for sale or rent in Odenton, MD.

Richard Iarossi, REALTOR®
Long and Foster® Real Estate, Inc.
Crofton, MD 21114

410-451-6255 Office
443-995-9595 Cell

Web: http://www.RichSellsHomes.com
eMail: Rich@RichSellsHomes.com

Annapolis MD Real Estate Specialist
Bowie MD Real Estate Specialist
Crofton MD Real Estate Specialist

©2009 - RichSellsHomes, All Rights Reserved

Eight new homes became active during the week of 8/8/10 to 8/14/10. One of these would be new construction. The current available homes for sale in the Crofton, MD inventory remains at 154. This is an excellent combination spanning all price ranges. The least expensive Crofton, MD home is listed for $129,900 and the most expensive is listed for $650,000.

Five homes went under contract/no kickout status, and three went under full contract status. One home went under contract with a kickout. This activity is an indicator of future settlements in Crofton, MD.

Three application was registered on rentals, and eight homes were rented last week in Crofton. Another indicator of the strength of the rental market.

Six homes completed the entire sale process and settled. Congratulations to these new Crofton, MD home owners. They ranged in price from $234,995 to $529,900.

Two active listings were withdrawn from the Crofton, MD market.

Clicking any icon on the map below will display all homes for sale or rent in Crofton, MD.

Richard Iarossi, REALTOR®
Long and Foster® Real Estate, Inc.
Crofton, MD 21114

410-451-6255 Office
443-995-9595 Cell
Web: http://www.RichSellsHomes.com
eMail: Rich@RichSellsHomes.com

Annapolis MD Real Estate Specialist
Bowie MD Real Estate Specialist
Crofton MD Real Estate Specialist

©2009 - RichSellsHomes, All Rights Reserved

I can remember a few years ago when our office was going to convert to using a showing service to book listing appointments. Oh boy, the howls, screams and gnashing of teeth, coming from both listing and showing agents.

Centralized Showing Service hasn't changed much since that time, but it just keeps plugging along every day, doing what it was designed to do very efficiently, which is make appointments. For the nominal charge per listing, the service has turned out to be a terrific time saver for brokerages and agents.

Listing agents enter the showing data, and all calls to show listings go to a centralized number. Reports are available to the agent, seller, or both. Listing agents get emails when a showing is scheduled. Showing agents get a confirmation email with the showing details. Quick, easy and efficient.

CSS sends out one or more emails asking for feedback. If you don't want feedback, you can set an option for that too. I don't have a 100% success rate with feedback, but asking an agent for feedback in an email seems to be more acceptable than asking by telephone.

Where the service really stands out is when showing homes. When you're making appointments to show multiple homes, I can get all the CSS ones out of the way with one phone call. It's easy to make half a dozen appointments to show homes in the space of about two minutes. I cringe now when I see the ones where I have to make an appointment through the brokerage, or worse yet...through the agent.

Are there stories of CSS making mistakes? Sure. I do wonder though, whether the mistake was theirs or the information provided by the listing agent. Personally, I've found that their error rate is pretty low.

There are other showing services we occasionally run into when making appointments, but Centralized Showing Service is the 800 pound gorilla in our market.

Why a brokerage would want to keep making appointments in house escapes me. CSS is a win/win for listing agents, showing agents, and brokerages alike.

Hallmark Woods in Gambrills is a wonderful community tucked away in the woods, yet near major roads and transportation routes. Just minutes from Crofton, Hallmark Woods sub-division has 108 homes, all on an acre, or more of land.

Prices of these single family homes in Hallmark Woods range from the mid $400's to the high $500's.

If you're looking for a single family home in a rural setting, Hallmark Woods is an area you should explore. There are currently 5 homes for sale in Hallmark Woods. all 5 can be seen on the map below.

If you're not already working with a REALTOR® to find a home in the Gambrills, Annapolis, Crofton area, I can help.

The Crofton, MD rental market is extremely robust right now. Quality, affordable rentals are very hard to come by. I'm getting calls and emails every day from people looking for decent rentals in the area. Renters are getting pretty aggressive trying to get into a place before school starts.

Many military families are being relocated and will be working at Ft. George G. Meade, or the NSA. Some as a result of the Base Realignment and Closing initiative (BRAC), and others with their Permanent Change of Station orders.

Crofton, MD is an excellent choice for renters. Located about 15 minutes from Ft. George G. Meade, Crofton has a lot to offer both buyers and renters. 

Crofton has a nice selection but only 20 rental homes in the current inventory. This is a pretty small inventory for a community this size. All of the properties are condos or townhouses. No single family homes are available today, August 15, 2010. That will change.

The map below shows all of the homes for rent in the Crofton, MD home inventory. Click on any of the icons and you will see additional details on each property. Log in and get automatic email updates when new homes go on the rental market in Crofton, MD.

If you're not already working with an agent to rent a house in Crofton, MD, or the surrounding area, I can help.

Four new homes became active during the week of 8/8/10 to 8/14/10. The current available homes for sale in the Crofton, MD inventory stands at 154. This is an excellent combination spanning all price ranges. The least expensive Crofton, MD home is listed for $129,900 and the most expensive is listed for $639,990.

Four homes went under contract/no kickout status, and four went under full contract status. This is an indicator of future settlements in Crofton, MD.

One application was registered on rentals, and eight homes were rented last week in Crofton. Another indicator of the strength of the rental market.

Four homes completed the entire sale process and settled. Congratulations to these new Crofton, MD home owners. They ranged in price from $187,999to $425,000.

Four active listings were withdrawn from the Crofton, MD market.

Clicking any icon on the map below will display all homes for sale or rent in Crofton, MD.

Richard Iarossi, REALTOR®
Long and Foster® Real Estate, Inc.
Crofton, MD 21114

410-451-6255 Office
443-995-9595 Cell
Web: http://www.RichSellsHomes.com
eMail: Rich@RichSellsHomes.com

Annapolis MD Real Estate Specialist
Bowie MD Real Estate Specialist
Crofton MD Real Estate Specialist

©2009 - RichSellsHomes, All Rights Reserved

With the kids going back to school shortly, this is the time of year that many States try to help out parents by forgiving the State sales tax for a period of time. Actually, you can see all the States policies here. I know the concept of a sales tax is foreign to those of you who reside in States that don't have one, but here in Maryland we're used to it, even if it's not our favorite way of giving back.

The timing on the sales tax forgiveness is short lived so don't miss out on this opportunity.

For those of you residing in Maryland, here is the official State website outlining the "Tax Free Week" promotion.