Real Estate Information Archive

Housing Statistics for Waldorf MD in zip code 20603 are now available for the month of January 2015.  If you would like statistics for your zip code, please let us know.  And if you want more information on your homes' value go to http://www.WaldorfHomeValues.com

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We are happy to report that Charles County has received an additional $100,000 in State Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds in order to re-open the Charles County Neighborhood Conservation Down Payment Assistance Loan Program (NCI DPA).

The Charles County NCI DPA program encourages affordable housing in neighborhoods most affected by Foreclosure and sub-prime lending. The program provides down payment financial assistance to qualified home buyers. The program is administered by Charles County Department of Community Services Housing Authority.

For more information, or to see if you qualify for this program, please call DeHanas Real Estate Services at 301-870-1717, or email us at [email protected]. 

Calvert County:

Chesapeake Beach Fireworks - Wednesday, July 3 @ Dusk, Chesapeake Beach Waterfront

Fireworks Cruise Aboard the Wm. B. Tennison - Thursday, July 4 @ 8 p.m. until... Calvert Marine Museum 14200 Solomons Island Road South, Solomons

Solomons - Riverwalk, Solomons, Maryland. The waterfront community hosts an afternoon street fair and fireworks. Street Fair begins at 3 p.m. Fireworks at 9:30 p.m.
 

Solomons Fireworks - Thursday, July 4 @ 9 p.m. Solomons Island-wide

The Solomons Business Associations proudly sponsors the annual Solomons Independence Day fireworks display, to be held on Thursday, July 4th at approximately 9:15 - 9:30 pm (after dusk). Fireworks will be shot from a barge in the Patuxent River and can be viewed from the Riverwalk. Celebrate our nation's birth, and show your colors all day long! The Fireworks will be preceded by activities throughout Solomons, sponsored by individuals and businesses.

- Stop by the tent at the Chesapeake Biological Lab campus for an afternoon of family activities - hands-on science, fishing games, nature crafts and more!

Rain date: Friday, July 5th. All efforts are made for the display to be held July 4th. If weather factors force a last-minute delay or postponement in order to maintain the safety of the crew and spectators, the fireworks will take place on Friday, July 5th.

Traffic: Vehicular traffic on the island will be restricted. Please park in designated areas only. Parking is available at Glascock Field across from the Calvert Marine Museum, at the museum, in the public lots behind Our Lady Star of the Sea and the Solomons Medical Center. Parking at Glascock Field is $10; proceeds support the fireworks fund and SYB Optomists. The public is asked to respect private property.

St. Mary’s County:

Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department - Saturday, June 29
24801 Three Notch Road, Hollywood
On Route 235 just north of the Leonardtown-Hollywood Rd (Rt 245) intersection

Independence Day celebration featuring entertainment provided by R&R Train.  Carnival rides and games starting at 5pm, food available for purchase. Fireworks begin at dusk. Parking is $5, no coolers or pets allowed.  301-373-2900. Hollywood VFD Web site: www.hvfd7.com.

St. Mary’s College River Concert Series - Friday, July 5
Near the Townhouse Green Residences
College Drive, St. Mary's City

A Star Spangled Night with a Musical Tribute to the Sea featuring vocalist Jennifer Page.  Enjoy fireworks to the patriotic music of John Phillip Sousa. River Concert Series Web site: riverconcertseries.org

Dennis Point Marina - Saturday, July 6
46555 Dennis Point Way, Drayden, MD

The return of Fireworks to Dennis Point has been a great success and we look forward to doing it again for the 2013 season. This year the fireworks will be held at Dennis Point Saturday, July 6th. Make your reservations early, we expect large crowds this year. There will be events all day starting with the annual golf cart parade. Rick's Riverside Restaurant will be open all day. Rick has special plans which include restaurant specials, outside deck specials, vendors serving a variety of dishes along the waterfront and activities all day. Come early and enjoy Independence Day at Dennis Point. Thank you for being a part of the new Dennis Point Marina & Campground.

Charles County:

Town of Indian Head 4th of July Celebration & Fireworks - Thursday, July 4
The Village Green and Pavilion
100 Walter Thomas Road, Indian Head

The Day kicks off with a Patriotic Opening Ceremony at 3:30pm; there will be amusements, live entertainment--with Rockin Roger DJ, and food available for sale. No pets of any kind or alcoholic beverages permitted. No flea market on Sat., July 6th.
Free admission.  For more information call 240-375-4061 Visit the Town of Indian Head Web site: www.townofindianhead.org

Celebrate Charles - A Fun Filled Fourth - Thursday, July 4 @ 4:30 - 9:30 pm
Regency Furniture Stadium
11765 St. Linus Dr., Waldorf

The general public is invited to attend this family-friendly event.  Local businesses, artisans and food establishments will be showcased in the "Best of Charles County" and kids of all ages can enjoy amusements in the Celebrate Charles Family Fun Zone. Guests will enjoy live music performed by John Luskey and Three Sixty. A fireworks display will top off the evening at 9:30 p.m. Admission is free. There are fees for food and product purchases. Family Fun Zone wristbands are $5.

Guests will also be able to enjoy the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs baseball game against the Camden Riversharks. Game time is 6:35 p.m. and tickets can be purchased by calling 301-638-9788 or visiting http://www.somdbluecrabs.com . Guests who purchase a ticket to the game will receive a complimentary wristband for the Celebrate Charles Family Fun Zone.

For more information, go to http://www.CharlesCountyMD.gov or contact Ms. Rachel Reynolds, Promotions Specialist, at 301-645-0601 or [email protected]. Citizens with special needs may contact the Maryland Relay Service at 711, Relay Service TDD: 800-735-2258.

Town of La Plata Independence Day Watermelon Bash - Thursday, July 4 @ 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Grounds of the La Plata Town Hall
305 Queen Anne Street, La Plata

Join us for hot dogs, games, wet fun, and plenty of watermelon! Event is wheelchair accessible.Town of La Plata web site: www.townoflaplata.org

It's no secret that Charles County is proud of its rich and storied history. So, why not shine the spotlight on it in class and style every year? Highlighting the county’s past is one of the primary reasons that the Charles County Historic Preservation Commission exists, and the Commission's Preservation Awards and Reception Ceremony serves this purpose perfectly.

This year the Charles County Historic Preservation Commission's Reception and Awards Ceremony is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Old Waldorf School, located at 3074 Crain Highway, Waldorf.

The Historic Preservation Award is bestowed upon eligible businesses, organizations, projects and individuals annually, at a gala awards ceremony. The county's Preservation Commission created two categories for its awards, which are Preservation Service and Preservation Projects.

In the Preservation Service category, recipients are awarded some well-deserved recognition for their superior support for and exceptional achievement in furthering the preservation of Charles County's unique and special history. Some of the specific areas of consideration include the following:

• Community leadership
• Education
• Advocacy
• Research
• Planning
• Development

Under the umbrella of the Preservation Project category, you will find award recipients who have displayed outstanding leadership and initiative in preserving and restoring historic buildings, in interpreting the county's architectural features into new construction, and in the creative reuse and adaptability of the county's historic structures. Considering the number and outstanding quality of Charles County’s historic buildings, we all benefit from the efforts made to preserve and understand them.

Event details for the Charles County Historic Preservation Commission's Reception and Awards Ceremony:

• Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Old Waldorf School, located at 3074 Crain Highway, Waldorf
• Each attendee is encouraged to donate $5, which will help further to goals of the Charles County Historical Trust; light refreshments will be served
• For more information or to RSVP for the event, please contact Beth Groth at 301-645-0684 or [email protected].

The Debt Forgiveness Act, scheduled to expire on December 31, 2012 could impact many homeowners of distressed properties. Those are homes in a state of pre-Foreclosure where homeowners are attempting to avoid foreclosure by selling them as a short sale.

Federal tax law generally requires that a taxpayer who has indebtedness that is forgiven by a lender is required to claim and pay taxes on the amount of the forgiven indebtedness, which is classified as "income." As a result, prior to 2007 homeowners whose homes were foreclosed upon or who completed short sale transactions (or received principal reductions in loan modifications) were potentially required to pay taxes on the amount of indebtedness which was forgiven in those transactions. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 was passed by Congress in order to modify the law by providing taxpayers who met certain requirements an exemption from taxation on the forgiven indebtedness. That law, however, is scheduled to expire at the end of 2012 and, unless extended by Congress, will result in the loss of this exemption and the imposition of additional and potentially significant taxes on thousands of distressed homeowners.

More than 50,000 homeowners go through Foreclosure each month and the number of short sales has increased significantly over the last few years to approximately 500,000 per year. In addition, as a result of the $25 billion foreclosure irregularity settlement which the nation's largest mortgage lenders recently entered into with the federal government, thousands of homeowners may receive principal debt reductions over the next few years. Although an extension of the exemption would seem to be a "no brainer," the fact that Congress is entering a "lame-duck" session creates the possibility that little legislation will move ahead through the end of the year.         

Even if the law does expire, some homeowners will still be eligible to exclude the income from forgiven indebtedness. For example, if the debt is discharged in bankruptcy or the homeowner is "insolvent" (meaning they have more debt than assets) at the time of the debt forgiveness, no tax is due. But homeowners who are considering a short sale and their agents should take this pending expiration into account and seek competent legal or tax advice so they will be prepared for the ramifications to them, if any, that will result if the law is not extended by Congress prior to the end of the year.

According to the Sperling's Best Places.net, as of 2011 there were only 18 souls occupying the quiet and quaint rural community of Port Tobacco Village, Maryland, making it the tiniest officially incorporated town in the state. The village is small, there is no question about that, but what it lacks in population, it more than makes up for in stature, lore and legend, and historical significance.

Located in the heart of Charles County, Maryland, the community that would become the Port Tobacco Village of 2012 was initially settled by English colonists way back in the year 1727, which makes it one of the oldest in Maryland. At one time during that era of American history, when it carried the moniker of “Port Tobacco River,” the village was the second biggest river port community in the state of Maryland.

Port Tobacco Village served as the county seat city for Charles County. Its close proximity and easy access to the Port Tobacco River, Chesapeake Bay and subsequently out to the Atlantic Ocean proved a very advantageous one, turning it into a relatively calm water, weather-protected seaport. The village's seemingly charmed existence would not last long, however, as Mother Nature and advances in transportation conspired together to bleed Port Tobacco Village nearly dry of its commerce and consequently its inhabitants.

At some seemingly arbitrary point in the late 1800s or early 1900s, nature essentially cut Port Tobacco Village's umbilical chord by slowly sifting more and more silt from the ocean into the Port Tobacco River. Over time, this and other tidal changes served to eliminate the community's easy access to the Chesapeake Bay and therefore the Atlantic Ocean, making the “Port” in Port Tobacco Village superfluous.

The nearly fatal blow to Port Tobacco Village was delivered by the proliferation of railroad tracks and trains, which at the time served primarily larger communities. The county seat was moved closer to the railroad traffic in La Plata in 1895, thereby causing many of the village's remaining occupants to move away in turn.

One of the village's oldest residents, so to speak, is the Legend of the Blue Dog. Since about 1897, every year at Halloween the tale is told of the ill-fated Charles Thomas Sims, his Blue Dog, Rose Hill and greedy old Henry Hanos. Local myth says that the ghost of the Blue Dog stands guard over the spot on Rose Hill Road at which it and its master, Sims, were murdered by Hanos for Sim's alleged deed to an estate and fortune in gold. So, while Port Tobacco Village is no longer the force it once was, some of its legend still lives on.

Parents and politicians across the country have been concerned about the status of our schools and the quality of the teachers educating our children. This spurred the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and focused attention on teacher certification. The most respected form of certification is provided by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. (NBPTS) This non-profit, non-partisan organization has been applying their rigorous testing standards to teachers nationwide since 1987.

The state of Maryland is ranked in the top ten states having teachers certified by NBPTS. In February, two teachers from the Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) joined the 2,124 Maryland teachers who have achieved this prestigious certification.

Charles County teachers Cary Smith of North Point High School and Marcie Jett of Piccowaxen Middle School achieved certification after a difficult yearlong performance evaluation. The NBPTS standards are high yet both CCPS teachers were able to rise to the challenge to join the 31 of district teachers who have already met the rigorous NBPTS criteria.

Cary Smith teaches English at North Point High School and achieved her certification in language arts. Her certification was aimed at adolescence and young adulthood. Smith was first hired by CCPS as a language arts instructor at Mattawoman Middle School in 2003. She moved to North Point when the school first opened its doors in 2005.

Marcie Jett, a special education instructor at Piccowaxen Middle School, achieved her certification in working with special needs students. The certification covered children from early childhood through young adulthood. Smith originally joined the CCPS as a special-ed instructor at Dr. Thomas L Higdon Elementary School in 2001 before moving to Piccowaxen in 2007.

Both Charles County teachers Cary Smith and Marcie Jett started on their road to certification in 2010 as did the other 6,200 educators nationwide who would later be certified by the NPPTS in 2011. The yearlong certification process revolves around a teacher achieving the standard of the Five Core Propositions:

• Teachers are committed to students and their learning
• Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students
• Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning
• Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience
• Teachers are members of learning communities

The propositions are tested throughout the one-year assessment phase through many different methods including student work samples, reviewers observing the instructor in class or by video, and analysis of their student’s achievements and challenges. How the instructor interacts with their students and presents their material is rigorously scrutinized before a series of written exams. These exams rate the instructor’s knowledge in their field and how they are able to communicate this information successfully to their students.

There are many advantages of NBPTS certification for Charles County teachers and the school district. The certification is good for 10 years and leads to career advancement and higher salaries. It also allows teachers to move between states more easily as many states waive having to take state certification test if the teacher is NBPTS certified. The school districts benefit as studies have shown that NBPTS certified teachers have proven to produce students with higher grades and fewer in-school problems. The certification also helps a school and their district meet many of the Federal standards of the No Child Left Behind Act.

As demand for energy resources increases, officials in Southern Maryland have been looking for renewable and greener sources of energy. One option for renewable energy in Southern Maryland recently cleared a hurdle when the Charles County Board of Appeals granted a special exception for SMECO Solar to build the area’s first solar farm on land zoned for agricultural conservation.

Plans are in the works for a 5.5 megawatt solar farm to be built near Hughsville, Maryland by the Southern Maryland Electrical Cooperative. SMECO officials say the 48.5-acre farm will generate enough energy to power 1,200 homes or enough energy to run the St. Charles Towne Center Mall.

Co-op spokesman Tom Dennison told the Washington Post the solar farm will be owned and operated by SMECO and meets state requirements for renewable energy and customer demands. The state’s utilities are currently required by The Maryland Public Service Commission to use solar power for 0.1 percent of its energy output. This level will increase to 2 percent by 2022. State law requires 3 percent of utilities’ energy output to come from renewable energies. Dennison says SMECO currently meets these requirements through energy credits, biofuels and other natural resources.

The decision to build the solar farm has the support of local landowners and government officials and is expected to cost around $20 million to build. Federal grants and loans through the Department of Agriculture will help pay for the project. The cost-effective project will eventually pay for itself as SMECO owns the land the solar farm will be built on and the utility can generate solar credits.

Ten percent of the energy produced at the Hughesville location will be used for a new operation center near the solar farm and the rest will go to customers in Charles County.

The solar panels will be mounted on the ground and face away from traffic on nearby Route 5 to prevent glare that would distract drivers. A protective wetland zone on the south end of the property will stay protected and will not be affected by construction of the solar farm.  

The decision to build the first solar farm in Southern Maryland was made by SMECO in October of last year as new sites for renewable resources were sought.

Development plans still need to be approved by county officials but Dennison says they expect to break ground this summer and have the solar farm up and running by late 2012 or early 2013.