Fire badly damages interior of Avilton Inn
From Staff Reports
Cumberland Times-News
times news — AVILTON — A fire badly damaged the Avilton Inn early Friday, gutting an apartment and burning the kitchen and bar area of the restaurant at 8467 Avilton Lonaconing Road.
“The dining room got water damage,” said Sid Turner, a caretaker of the property for owner Jim Robeson.
“I just met with him this morning and he’s planning to fix it and reopen,” Turner said Monday.
“The fire started about 1 a.m. right after they closed. It started in either an electric or coal furnace.”
An attempt Monday afternoon to contact Grantsville Fire Chief Duane Stein was not successful.
Other companies responding were Eastern Garrett, Bittinger, Shaft, Clarysville, Deep Creek and Salisbury, Pa.
In addition, the Northern Garrett Rescue Squad was on the scene as was the Garrett County Roads Department.
Ryan Chapman, Maryland deputy state fire marshal, said he spoke the day of the fire with Grantsville Deputy Chief Herman Yoder and was told that the fire appeared to be accidental, beginning in the basement and spreading from there.
“We felt no need to get involved at that point,” Chapman said.
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
A Price Worth Paying - Realtor.org
Buyers will be pinched by FHA’s new rules.
By Robert Freedman | March 2010
No one likes it when changes to mortgage underwriting make it harder for working households to secure safe and affordable home financing.
But in the case of the FHA’s tightened lending requirements announced in late January, the end may justify the means. The policy changes are designed to shore up the FHA’s capital reserves and help the agency do a better job of managing risk.
“These changes, while serious, are reasonable,” says John Anderson, CRS®, GRI, a 30-year real estate veteran who chairs the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ Federal Housing Policy Committee. “I think the FHA is doing the right thing.”
Nonetheless, Anderson, broker-owner of Twin Oaks Realty Inc. in Crystal, Minn., acknowledges that many households will be adversely affected. Buyers will have to either spend more to secure financing or scale down what they buy.
Among other things, the FHA is raising its upfront mortgage insurance premium to 2.25 percent from 1.75 percent, boosting the minimum down payment to 10 percent for borrowers with a credit score of 580 and below (it stays at 3.5 percent for everyone else), and reducing permissible seller concessions from 6 percent to 3 percent.
The FHA also will seek legislation to raise the annual mortgage insurance premium to a level above the current cap of 0.55 percent. The agency already has authority to institute the other changes.
“Striking the right balance between managing the FHA’s risk, continuing to provide access to underserved communities, and supporting the nation’s economic recovery is critically important,” FHA Commissioner David Stevens said in a statement.
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 Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
Existing-Home Sales Down in January but Higher than a Year Ago; Prices Steady - Realtor.org
Existing-home sales fell in January but are above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – dropped 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 5.05 million units in January from a revised 5.44 million in December, but remain 11.5 percent above the 4.53 million-unit level in January 2009.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there is still some delay between shopping and closing that affected current sales. “Most of the completed deals in January were based on contracts in November and December. People who got into the market after the home buyer tax credit was extended in November have only recently started to offer contracts, so it will take a couple months to close those sales,” he said. “Still, the latest monthly sales decline is not encouraging, and raises concern about the strength of a recovery.”
Total housing inventory at the end of January fell 0.5 percent to 3.27 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 7.8-month supply2 at the current sales pace, up from a 7.2-month supply in December. Raw unsold inventory is 9.6 percent below a year ago, and is at the lowest level since March 2006.
“Activity should be picking up strongly in late spring as buyers take advantage of the tax credit, which is critical to absorb distressed properties reaching the market and to continually chip away at inventory,” Yun said. “With a downtrend in the number of homes on the market, especially in the lower price ranges, values are beginning to firm but with great variance around the country.”
The national median existing-home price3 for all housing types was $164,700 in January, unchanged from a year earlier. Distressed homes, which accounted for 38 percent of sales last month, continue to downwardly distort the median price because they typically are discounted in comparison with traditional homes in the same area.
A parallel NAR practitioner survey4 shows first-time buyers purchased 40 percent of homes in January, down from 43 percent in December. Investors accounted for 17 percent of transactions in January, up from 15 percent in December; the remaining sales were to repeat buyers. The survey also shows that buyer traffic increased 9.4 percent in January.
NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz., said buying a home in the current environment has become more challenging. “First-time buyers and others who need a mortgage are increasingly losing out to all-cash investors for the best bargains in many areas, particularly for foreclosed homes where cash is king,” she said.
“Inventory conditions vary by price range, and of course there are major differences depending on location. Realtors® are the best buyer resource for strategies on winning bids in increasingly competitive markets,” Golder said. “The bidding for more desirable homes will only accelerate between now and the April 30 contract deadline to qualify for a tax credit of up to $8,000.”
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage edged up to 5.03 percent in January from 4.93 percent in December; the rate was 5.05 percent in January 2009.
Single-family home sales fell 6.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million in January from a level of 4.76 million in December, but are 8.6 percent above the 4.08 million pace in January 2009. The median existing single-family home price was $163,600 in January, down 0.4 percent from a year ago.
Existing condominium and co-op sales dropped 8.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 620,000 in January from 675,000 in December, but are 38.1 percent above the 449,000-unit level a year ago. The median existing condo price5 was $172,400 in January, which is 1.4 percent higher than January 2009.
Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast fell 10.9 percent to an annual pace of 820,000 in January but are 22.4 percent above a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $245,300, a gain of 8.8 percent from January 2009.
Existing-home sales in the Midwest declined 6.9 percent in January to a level of 1.08 million but are 8.0 percent higher than January 2009. The median price in the Midwest was $130,300, which is 1.0 percent below a year ago.
In the South, existing-home sales dropped 7.4 percent to an annual pace of 1.87 million in January but are 12.0 percent above a year ago. The median price in the South was $140,200, down 2.0 percent from January 2009.
Existing-home sales in the West declined 5.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.28 million in January but are 7.6 percent higher than January 2009. The median price in the West was $203,400, down 5.8 percent from a year ago.
The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
National Guard Mobilized in Deep Creek Lake, Garrett County
Deep Creek Dunk a Success!
Regardless of the damper that the weather put on the situation, the Deep Creek Dunk was a tremendous success! Here are some photos from the dunk, by Lori Hill, a Garrett County resident. My personal favorite, some of my friends dressed up as the old school wrestlers featuring Hulk Hogan, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant, Stone Cold Steve Austion, Sting and Ric Flair. Classic:
Garrrett County's Famous for Winter Storms (again)
The website TornadoVideos.net picked up some of my photos from the latest winter storm here in Garrett County, which I have dubbed ‘Snowpacalypse 3′. Ironically, we had another 3 feet of snow drop in the area during this latest blizzard, according to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. The storm has weakened, but we are still expecting another 6-12 inches of snow today. Assuming that these totals are accurate, we are at approximately 23 feet of snow for the season! 23 FEET!
From their story at TVN:
“The latest in a series of nor’easters is currently wreaking havoc across the central Atlantic into New England. States from Vermont to West Virgina are experiencing some of the most brutal conditions of the season today as a monstrous low pressure system wobbles over the region, bringing HEAVY snow and near hurricane-force winds. Blizzard conditions have been causing serious problems all across the northeast, including power outages, massive flight cancellations and major road closures. These conditions are likely to persist until sometime tomorrow! Included are photos from New York City, which has picked up nearly 20″ of snow, and western Maryland, where another 3+foot snow event is underway. Thanks to everyone who contributed!“
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
Local Photographer Jim Crabtree finalist in Wedding & Portrait Photographers International
A great friend of mine and a local photographer, Jim Crabtree, is in the top 20 in a very important photo competition with a mummy shot of Kasey Bell. Its an international photography association called the WPPI the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International.
There were 1000’s of entries internationally and they were narrowed down to a few hundred and then narrowed down to 20. Jim Crabtree, a Garrett County native, is in the top 20.
You can vote at the official site or go to the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International convention in Las Vegas next week. You can vote as many times as you like, similar to American Idol.
GO HERE TO VOTE: Kasey is #18
http://www.rangefindermag.com/storage/contest/freshfaces_voting.html
Let’s put Garrett County on the map in the photography world and bring home the win for Jim Crabtree – a Garrett County ALL STAR!
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
Maryland maple farms offer syrup, pure and simple - Washington Post - Deep Creek Lake & Garrett County
Garrett County’s & Deep Creek Lake getting some love from the Washington Post today.
An excerpt from the story:
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In a few days to weeks, the trees in Western Maryland will start blooming . . . buckets.
As maple syrup season nears, producers in Garrett County are readying their tapping equipment for harvesting time, which runs from the end of this month through April. The sap starts to flow during the spring thaw, when the combination of mineral-rich soil and temperate weather yields exceptionally rich and sweet syrup. (Quick dendrology lesson: Sap is the sugary water that circulates in a tree after it wakes up from a cold winter.)
Roughly 30 syrup makers cluster in the mountains and valley around Deep Creek Lake, which is thick with indigenous groves of sugar and red maples. They farm the sap the old-fashioned way, by tapping holes into the sides of trees and arranging a system of rubber tubes or steel buckets to move and amass the sap. Many of them collect the liquid gold by hand, hauling heavy buckets to the evaporation room. To produce a gallon of syrup, they must boil down 40 gallons of sap. Consider that the next time you smother your pancakes in syrup.
Steyer Brothers Farm is the largest producer in Western Maryland as well as the oldest: Last year, it celebrated its 100th anniversary. In a good year, the family-run operation (Grandma still lends a hand) squeezes out about 1,000 gallons of syrup. They sell the sticky amber substance for $7 a pint or $30 a gallon. The price tag is higher than such mass-produced syrups as Aunt Jemima, but compare labels before you go cheap: Major brands may contain less than 2 percent maple syrup; the local liquid is 100 percent pure.
“The syrup here is special because of the soil and the weather,” said Randall Steyer, who runs the 100-acre farm with his wife, teenage daughters and other relatives. “You’d be surprised at how much of this stuff we sell to Vermont.”
— Ben Chapman
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
Deep Creek Lake Real Estate Sales - Call Jay Ferguson & Railey Realty
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
Snowpacalypse 3 in Garrett County & Deep Creek Lake
Wow. What a blizzard out there. We have at least a foot and a half of new snow on the ground since yesterday, and another foot and a half supposedly falling over the next 18 hours. This is an incredible noreaster with 45-50 mph wind gusts. I waited for the Garrett County Roads plow truck to plow out my neighborhood and then hit the road for some supplies. Here is a gallery of photos of downtown Oakland on Facebook. Several businesses remained open, but its so bad that Walmart shut its doors due to weather for the first time that I ever rememeber since they have been in Oakland.
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
