New inventory has hit the market and 11 Stone Park Place in Nottingham is one hot pick.

Enjoy cooking in your beautifully updated, eat-in kitchen...

Historic charm and an open floor plan make this row home at 3301 E Baltimore St. ideal. For instance, there is storage galore with original architectural details peppered throughout...

Thanks to the University of Maryland/Maryland Grows this informative article about National Moth Week. All images are from University of Maryland/Maryland Grows.

The last full week of July is National Moth Week. I encourage everyone to take a closer look at the vast diversity of moths that fill our natural world. Butterflies and moths belong to the same insect group, but moths far outnumber butterflies in species diversity. Since many moths have muted colors or fly at night, we’re largely unaware of this bounty. Let’s take a whirlwind appreciation tour of the group to illustrate the amazing, bizarre, and quirky features of this major insect order.

Moth adults come in all shapes and sizes, and like butterflies, wings are their ...

Thanks to Clean Sweep for this episode of Tips from the Pros on recognizing signs of mold.

Realtors work hard to earn and maintain their reputation with homebuyers and sellers alike. As such, you are likely no stranger to helping clients check every box to ensure their needs are met. Along your journey of advocating for your clients during a transfer of homeownership, be sure to remember the potential for hidden dangers lurking inside the home. Without a keen attention to detail, you could be missing something as serious as a hidden mold infestation.

Mold Growth

Let’s take a look at a few of the signs of mold growth.

1. Visible Mold: The most obvious sign of a mold problem is visible growth throughout the home...

Devices that use smart home technology can make your life easier but there are also certain risks. It is vitally important that you protect your smart devices so unknown predators can’t steal your personal information.

A good password that is not easily guessed is one way to protect yourself. Don’t choose a password that is a pet’s name or a birthdate. Use upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols (if allowed, in some cases they are not) to come up with an excellent password. Use different passwords on different sites, and don’t use the same password on all or most sites you use.

The information below provides some tips on how to protect your smart devices. 

In addition, if you need help buying or selling a home, or know someone who does, please contact me.
Oh, by the...

Thanks to Cindy Bernstein of Aim4Order for this episode of Tips from the Pros on how to organize computer files.

More people are using their computers to keep track of everything these days, QuickBooks for record keeping, calendars for appointments, work files and more. It is important to organize computer files so you can find them again if you need them.

Trash removal

The first step is to get rid of old files you don’t need any more. It’s not necessary to keep every letter you’ve ever written. If they are really old, you probably don’t need them any longer. Information is probably outdated and no longer relevant.

Inbox

Email builds up in your inbox. If you don’t go through your emails every now and then, it can become quite a chore.

Visit your inbox regu...

The Kona Ice event has become one of my favorite get-togethers of the year. It’s always a fun way to say thank you to clients for their support and referrals!

As luck would have it, the day was perfect for some Kona Ice fun. What a great way to spend a summer evening!

I appreciate my clients and love being able to meet in person to catch up and see how their lives are going. While Kona Ice has trucks that will come to you, we met at the Parkville permanent location where there are picnic tables for people to congregate.

The kids and adults alike had a great time ...

Thanks to the University of Maryland/Maryland Grows this informative article about how to manage bagworms.

Bagworms

“Why are the pinecones on my tree moving?” a client asks.
“Because those aren’t pinecones, they’re bagworms,” I reply.  

Dangling from evergreens like teardrop-shaped Christmas tree ornaments, bagworms cause many a homeowner to scratch their head in wonder. Pinecones that dance?

But the tell-tale thinning of trees that can follow is no laughing matter. Covered with bits of needles and leaves, the bags that give bagworms their name serve as protection for the caterpillars inside. Bagworm caterpillars are the juvenile form of a moth.  

That sounds innocent enough, but like al...

Thanks to Clean Sweep for this episode of Tips from the Pros on myths about chimney cleanings and home sales.

Is it okay to DIY chimney cleaning? Are homebuyers really concerned about the safety of a chimney before signing on the dotted line? Can a home inspector detect all the potential issues with a chimney? If you ask these questions to a variety of people, you are bound to receive a variety of responses. However, there are correct answers to each of them! As such, let’s bust a few of the most common chimney myths as they relate to home sales.

Sellers Can Simply DIY Their Chimney Cleaning

This myth is just as false as it is dangerous for everyone involved. Any chimney cleaning or chimney inspection services should be completed by a certified and trained chimney sweep...

Thanks to L. K. Benson for sharing this blog about inflation.

Inflation is an important financial concept to understand and has always been a critical factor in our long-term financial planning analysis for clients. It can be difficult to grasp how rising prices erode the purchasing power of your cash when the inflation rate is low and you don’t see and feel the effects of prices rising on a regular basis. That is exactly the environment we have been in for almost forty years, which can be seen clearly in the following chart:

From 1983 to 2021, you can see a downward trend in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is the most frequently cited measure of inflation. The average CPI over that time was around 2% and it rarely spiked very high above that...