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The best way to rent/sell your vacation home at Deep Creek Lake

If anyone reading this wants to offer up their rental house for a Deep Creek Lake reality show, I’ll be happy to pitch the idea. It’s really not a new concept, in terms of having ‘celebrity’ homes at Deep Creek Lake, but it sure is an interesting proposal to pick up vacation rentals or real estate sales. There are some current & past NFL players, NFL owners and a few other miscellaneous celebs that still own property here at the lake, so maybe their houses are available for the Deep Creek Lake reality show project…”Deep Creek Shore”, anyone??
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Reality Show Real Estate via CNN.com

(CNN) — Want to rent the “Jersey Shore” house in Seaside Heights, New Jersey? It’ll cost you.

What used to be just one of the many homes along Seaside Heights’ stretch of boardwalk is now a prime rental property that can cost as much as $4,000 a night, said the property’s broker, Mike Loundy of Seaside Realty.

On the low end, the property rents for $1,800 a night for a three-night minimum, but as availability decreases, the per-night cost will go in the opposite direction, although Loundy is quick to note that the owners are flexible with pricing.

Since production on the reality show wrapped, the house has been rented for a variety of uses, from a Sweet Sixteen bash — $4,400 total for the night, which included access to the whole house plus a DJ and catering — to a production set for a few television personalities who thought it would be fun to stay there with cameras of their own.

The house is open for anything that’s legal, and business, Loundy said, has been brisk, even for other houses.

“No one that I know of could see how popular the show [has become],” he said. “Our rentals in the area overall are up because they’re in proximity to that house. People are star-struck by the idea of staying here.”

Read the rest of the article here

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Deep Creek Baptist Church @ Deep Creek Lake

I saw this unique photo on the front page of the Republican website and thought it would be worthwhile to profile the Deep Creek Baptist Church. There are always small grains of truth and scripture on their billboard that will make you chuckle or think.

Here is some info from their website:

Deep Creek Baptist Church

19841 Garrett Hwy
Oakland, MD 21550

Phone:
(301) 387-5688

E-mail:
pastorben@deepcreekbc.com

Website:
http://www.deepcreekbc.com/



Our Mission

Deep Creek Baptist Church is focused on pointing people toward Jesus Christ, the One and Only Son of God, as the only means of gaining eternal life in heaven.

Our History

While Deep Creek Baptist Church is the oldest Baptist church in Western Maryland, tracing its origins back to 1775. It wasn’t until 1891 that it became a part of the Maryland Baptist Union Association.

In 1879 and 1890 Reverend Frank Cunningham and Reverend W.P. Fortney, from the Jersey Baptist Church of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, came to the Friendsville/McHenry area and held a preaching mission in the local log schoolhouse. Converts and friendships were made. Seven years later the new pastor of the Jersey Baptist Church came to Deep Creek at the invitation of local residents to do some sport fishing. He was asked to hold meetings at the log school during his visit. Out of that double fishing trip (for fish and souls), the Deep Creek Baptist Church was organized on December 11, 1887, with Reverend Nathan Hart as pastor.

Deep Creek is the oldest Baptist church in Garrett County. It has been instrumental in starting two other churches in the county. The first house of worship was erected in 1888 and lasted seventy years. The church closed in 1912, the same year that Reverend Clement W. Hudson left after serving as pastor for eight years. When Reverend Hudson returned in 1916 for a summer visit, he was dismayed and shaken to find the church boarded and closed. He entered through a semi-boarded window and wrote on the pulpit Bible, “O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years”.

The church reopened ten years after forty-eight hundred acres of glade land had been made into Maryland’s largest fresh water lake directly in front of the church in 1924. A rededication service was held in September 1934. Pews and a piano were bought from a black church in Frostburg for thirty dollars. No services were held again until 1935.

On May 2, 1937, Reverend William B. Orndorff accepted a call to become the pastor of the Baptist circuit of Loch Lynn, Ferndale, and Deep Creek. The church has had a total of fourteen pastors, ten since its reopening.

In 1958 the original building was dismantled and a new fieldstone building begun. The first service in the new and present church was held on June 4, 1961. A parsonage had been erected on the church site with its first occupant being Reverend Charles P. Anderson. A centennial weekend celebration was held on Labor Day weekend in 1987.

Deep Creek Baptist Church is a community church with resort attendances three times larger in the summer. Our visitors are always welcomed and encouraged to come back and kick off your shoes to stay a while. The evening services from the end of May through Labor Day are held at the local state park. The church’s current pastor Dr. Ben J. Lahay grew up in Baltimore and as a young man came to vacation at the Lake with his family.

Continue reading Deep Creek Baptist Church @ Deep Creek Lake

Deep Creek Lake pic featured on AccuWeather.com weather blog


“No comment necessary in Deep Creek Lake, Md. Photo by AccuWeather.com Facebook user Shelley Thompson.”

A cool pic found its way to the weather blog of Accuweather.com. I found it on Twitter and wanted to share. The blog basically says we are in for another big storm beginning next week:

“From there, you guessed it, the swath of heavy snow may roll into the central Appalachians and the mid-Atlantic Sunday night and Monday.

While a wedge of warm air will try to work northward along the Atlantic Seaboard with this storm, odds favor mostly snow verses mostly rain at this time of the year, due to the cold ocean, cold ground, etc.

While this does “not” appear to be a storm that produces 2 to 3 feet of snow, it will add more weight to the existing snow on the ground and on roofs, be it water or more snow.”

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Decoding Housing Market Data- Deep Creek Lake

Great article from Zac Bissonnette @ WalletPop. His ultimate conclusion is to contact a local Realtor who can assist in decoding housing data for your community/area. I am always happy to try and assist buyers or sellers with statistics that matter most to them, so feel free to call me or email me if you want more information about the Deep Creek Lake real estate market.

The problems with housing market data: What does it all really mean?
Zac Bissonnette
Feb 16th 2010 at 7:00AM

Housing data contradictory

We’re inundated with data on the housing market every day, and the stock market moves rapidly in either direction depending on the perception of the moment: Are things getting better or are they getting worse?

One of the problems with studying the housing market is that it’s nearly impossible to draw any useful conclusions from the data. Consider the following data points:

* The USA Today reports that existing home sales “skyrocketed” 27% in the fourth quarter of 2009 versus the prior year period, and the “national median price for an existing single-family home was $172,900, or 4.1% below the median price in fourth-quarter 2008.”
* On a more local level, Trulia reports that the “Median sales price in Boston, MA went up 5.55% to $532,500 from prior quarter.” Furthermore, “Average price per square foot in Boston, MA went down 5.41% to $612/sq ft from prior quarter.”

The problem is that relatively minor changes in the mix of homes being sold can have a dramatic impact on the data, making apples to apples comparisons absolutely impossible.

As the jumbo mortgage market continues to struggle and investors pick up bargain-priced income properties, the median sales price skews lower because such a high percentage of the homes that are selling are low-end properties: million dollar listings just aren’t moving these days.

So, you say, no problem: looking at the “average price per square foot” will solve that problem. That irons out the differences in product mix, right?

Nope. The problem is that larger homes typically sell for a lower per-square-foot price than smaller homes of comparable quality in similar areas. A two-bedroom condo might have 900 square feet compared with 600 square feet for a one-bedroom condo in the same complex, but the two-bedroom is unlikely to sell for 50% more money. The 300 square feet represents an extra bedroom, but the greatest cost of the property comes from factors like bathrooms, kitchens, heating systems, etc., which do not rise proportionately with square footage. The extra bedroom is relatively cheap square footage, and that’s why smaller properties tend to have a higher per-square-foot value.

Take the Boston market for example: median sales prices are rising while prices per square foot are falling. That seems like a contradiction, but it could make perfect sense: if the market for larger homes has strengthened that would explain the jump in median sales price and the fall in price per square foot. But, and this is the problem, it tells you absolutely nothing about home values. It just tells you what kinds of homes are selling.

If you’re trying to get a handle on the real estate market in your area, looking at broad data points like this is probably not the way to go. Instead, look at a certain property and then see what prices comparable properties sold for last year and the year before — and note changes in the days on market too, to get an idea of liquidity. A local realtor can supply you with all this information, or you can find much of it yourself online.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

January 2010 Home Sales – Garrett County / Deep Creek Lake



A typical slow January month in Garrett County & at Deep Creek Lake with only 9 residential sales (details here). One reason that it’s normally slower in the winter months is that November and December buyers (who will close in January) are typically pre-occupied with the holidays, shopping, etc. Some other reasons include the weather – who in their right mind WANTS to move all of their stuff in the middle of a Garrett County winter if they don’t have to?

Also, the new lending rules that are in place now are causing some previously unforeseen delays with financing, etc. There are 30 ‘contracts’ right now which will presumably close this month or next, so the market conditions are definitely improving some.

This is certainly debatable, but 6/7 of these sales appear to vacation homes or 2nd homes, while the majority are primary residential. This certainly makes a difference in pricing strategies, specifically demand-based pricing.

The average list vs. ORIGINAL sales price is 87.97% (up 3% from December), though the ADJUSTED list vs. sales price is 91.53% of asking price (up 1% from December).

The current number of active/for sale residential listings is 586. 30 of these homes are under contract. This is a net reduction from December 2009 (16 less homes for sale, 7 more under contract). Slowly but surely, our inventory numbers are coming down! Prices have stabilized and are increasing on average over the past few months!

Here are the statistical breakdowns:

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Playing on the ice at Deep Creek Lake






My daughter, Kayleah, and my wife, Jessica, were with me today as we ventured out on the ice at Deep Creek Lake. From what the ice fishermen were saying, the ice is about 12 inches thick on the main body of the lake. Our first experience was near Ski Harbor, and we were surprised to see ‘Logan’, a beautiful yellow lab, come sprinting from the Lakestar Lodge. His owner was right behind him, but the dog had no idea he was on ice the way he sprinted towards us with his tail wagging.

Next, Kayleah and I ventured out a little further on the ice in front of Traders Landing and High Mountain Sports. You could see that there had been plenty of snowmobiles leaving their marks on the ice and snow. Kayleah made a heart in the snow and it turned out to be a great picture, as you can see. It was FREEZING with the wind chill, so we only stayed out for 15 minutes or so. Overall, FUN DAY!

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Price Reduction! $5,000! 7167 Bittinger Rd, GA7087027

A great buy on a split-foyer home located very close to Deep Creek Lake and New Germany State Parks. Features include: multiple garage spaces, circular driveway, full basement, 2nd living room room/kitchen, enclosed back porch/sun room, multi-heat options and room to expand! All this, $139,900!

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Snowmobiling at the Deep Creek Lake State Park

Snowmobile parking at the Deep Creek Lake State Park has been moved to the upper lot of the boat ramp. This will allow the Discovery Center Parking Area to be open for automobiles during regular day use visitors and special events such as the Snowflake Chase this weekend. The restrooms in the upper lot are open and heated.

To use any of the State Park or Forest designated Trails, users must have an ORV Sticker that can be purchased for $15, at any of the DNR offices. The sticker is valid for the current calendar year.

Also, in an effort to ensure safety the park has blocked areas that are not to be accessed by motorized vehicles with signs and plastic barricades.

If you have any questions about snowmobiling in the Deep Creek Lake State Park, call 301-387-5563.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

12th annual Deep Creek Dunk coming soon!

I found this awesome aerial video from Paul Thompson’s blog of last year’s Deep Creek Dunk:

Deep Creek Lake Dunk in Western MD on 2/28/2009 from Paul Thompson on Vimeo.

Here is a link to some more info on Facebook regarding the event.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

New Lot-Land listings – 1-13-10 – Buyer Client Update

Only one new lot/land listing in the last 24 hours. You can see the .pdf here, contact me for more info, plats, permits or details.

GA7235541 0.86 AC RT 219 $50,000 Oakland 37,462 .860 RES

(source: MRIS January 13, 2010, other brokers listings may be included. This market update posting is intended solely for buyer clients of Jay Ferguson & Long & Foster Real Estate)

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350