Residential Real Estate : Buzz

Ever wondered whether Christian Siriano's home is as fierce as his fashion designs?

The New York Times showcased Siriano's Chelsea apartment, which he shares with his partner and two dogs. The Maryland native won Season 4 of "Project Runway" and is now a fashion designer to A-list stars.

"Here, treasures from flea markets and yard sales, like a barn-door sign advertising fresh tomatoes, a gift from their client and close friend Kristen Johnston," the New York Times writes of Siriano's apartment.

"Atop chests, credenzas and a painter’s scaffold that has been cleverly repurposed as a back-of-sofa console table are framed photos, candelabra, books, busts, decanters — and bird cages."

Here's a link to the slideshow. 

Next City, a public policy and current events website that explores urban issues, has highlighted the massive, $1.8 billion development in East Baltimore led by Johns Hopkins in a recent issue.

Though Hopkins has long been criticized for its relationship with the surrounding community, the university hopes that a new school opening in the fall can move the biopark and residential development forward. The school is embracing its role as a so-called "anchor institution" that can serve as a catalyst for growth in its surrounding neighborhoods. 

"The latest redevelopment promise — a $1.8 billion, 10-years-in-the-making endeavor to raze 88 acres worth of abandoned blocks and rebuild the neighborhood with a Hopkins-partnered primary school as the centerpiece — has similarly grown entangled with racial tension and accusations of corruption," Next City writes. "But this time, a plan to both enroll students from the neighborhood and attract new people to the area means that the needs of Middle East may not get left behind."

You can read the entire story here. (Subscription required.)

Baltimore resident Carol Ott’s unconventional job takes her to neighborhoods in Baltimore with boarded-up windows and vacant properties, according to the Atlantic Cities.

The website, which focuses on urban areas across the globe, reported that Ott is behind Baltimore Slumlord Watch, a blog that publishes any information that Ott can obtain about vacant properties in Baltimore. 

The goal of the blog is to identify neglected properties and their owners in an effort to solve Baltimore’s problem with vacant homes.

Ott also began a second website in June, called Housing Policy Watch, to educate renters and landlords about common issues. Ott began this project with help from the nonprofit Baltimore Neighborhoods Inc.

According to The Atlantic Cities, Ott has been a resident of Baltimore for 13 years and says that her websites are a way for her to show “some tough love” to the city.

Read the full story here.

Spring is when glorious private homes and gardens open up to the public, with the proceeds often going to a good cause. 

The New York Times listed a number of these house-and-garden tours from New York to San Francisco, including several in Maryland.

Sherwood Gardens in Guilford, "where an astonishing 80,000 tulips grow every spring," and a 1932 stucco home in Timonium that once belonged to quarterback Johnny Unitas are among the local sights.

Read the entire story here. 

Baltimore apparently isn't one of those cities where you'll see cash-strapped 20-somethings splurge on a pair of Manolo Blahniks. 

Baltimore ranks No. 8 on Card Hub's list of cities with the best budgeters. Boston, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Minneapolis were the top five on the list.

The credit card comparison site says Baltimore residents have, on average, a credit score of 738. Card Hub also took into account total debt-to-income ratios; the bankruptcy and foreclosure rates, mortgage debt and non-housing expenses.

Cincinnati, Tampa, Fla., and Orlando, Fla., were in the bottom three. 

We all know that D.C. is way more expensive than Baltimore.

But apartment rents for new leases actually grew at a faster clip last year in Baltimore versus our neighbor to the South, according to Property Management Insider.  

New apartment rents grew 2.7 percent in Baltimore compared with 1.4 percent in Washington, D.C. There's a lot more apartment construction happening in D.C., so prices there aren't growing as fast as Baltimore, where the supply is more limited.

You can see the entire report here. 

If you're in the market for a new home in Baltimore, negotiate hard. 

That's according to Zillow, which analyzed the best markets for home buyers and sellers and concluded that Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Baltimore were among the top buyers' markets. In its list of buyers' markets, Baltimore came in at No. 7, behind Cincinnati, New York and Pittsburgh. 

The study, featured on Forbes.com, was completed using Zillow's third quarter 2012 market data.

"In buyers’ markets, homes for sale stay on the market longer, price cuts occur more frequently and homes are sold for less relative to their listing price, giving buyers more negotiating power," Forbes writes. You can read the entire article here. 

More Americans are setting up new households, which the Wall Street Journal says is an indication that worries about the recession may be on the decline.

"Rising household formation, which is tied to employment growth, means more students are finding jobs when they leave college, more adult children are leaving their parents' homes and more couples feel confident enough about the future to tie the knot," the Journal writes.

The paper identifies a Baltimore couple who just purchased a $250,000 condo.  "'We're both employed and we both feel secure with our jobs. We also feel like the housing market is on an upward swing. Prices are still depressed, but they're probably going up,'" new homebuyer Imran Akran tells the Journal. 

As if Hurricane Sandy wasn't scary enough news during Halloween week...

Now Forbes and home-buying site Trulia say that Baltimore ranks No. 3 on its list of top places to find a haunted home in the South. 

Another Maryland city, Hagerstown, took the very top spot while New Orleans was No. 2. Huntington, West Virginia and Louisville, Ky., were No. 4 and No. 5. 

So what makes these areas so spooky? Regions of the country that have a higher share of old, vacant homes are more likely to have haunted houses, writes Forbes, which takes its data from Trulia. Roughly 3 percent of all Baltimore homes are both old and vacant. 

"Regions of the country that were settled later and have had recent growth have a much lower share of old, vacant homes," Forbes writes. "That means most of the South and the West."

Baltimore is also one of the top haunted cities, according to SmarterTravel.com.

You can read about buying a haunted Maryland home here. 

Baltimore Sun tech reporter Gus Sentementes is used to writing profiles of emerging tech companies. 

But this time, Sentementes is the subject of a profile himself in Fast Company after creating an iPhone app called NestPix. The app allows homeowners to track how much money they are spending on renovations. 

"'People are looking for ways to protect the value of their home,'" Sentementes tells Fast Company. "'This can give them some kind of comfort.'"

You can read the rest of the story here. 

A Federal Hill rowhome has made the cut in the New York Times "What you get for..." section. The part of the real estate section highlights properties in three different cities that are all listed for the same price. 

The Times features three homes for $900,000 in Baltimore, New Orleans and Bellevue, Wash. 

So what do you get for $900,000 in Federal Hill? A wrap-around terrace with views of downtown Baltimore, a six-burner Viking range and a wood-burning fireplace in the master suite. 

You can read the rest more about the property here. 

Johns Hopkins Hospital has unveiled its $1.1 billion twin towers. The new hospital will open April 29, reports the Baltimore Sun. 

"There will be X-boxes and a basketball court for kids, single rooms for all patients, sleeper-sofas for family, an improved dining menu and extensive sound proofing," the Sun writes. 

You can read more about the new hospital here. 

And you can read Bmore Media's story on the hospital here. 

Recently released numbers show mixed results for Baltimore's real estate market in August. Sales were up, but prices were down.

From the source:

Baltimore-area home sales grew more than 6 percent in August, but the average sale price continued to tumble.

During the month, 2,046 homes were sold, up from 1,925 in August last year, according to Rockville market research firm Metropolitan Regional Information Systems.

The uptick in home sales, one of the better August months in the past several years, is likely tied to lower interest rates and cheaper homes.

Still, the average home sale price in the Baltimore area slipped 5.4 percent to $274,735.

The full story is here.

A historic property in Federal Hill is showcased in the Wall Street Journal. The slideshow reveals exposed brick walls, hardwood floors, and granite countertops.

The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home is listed at $695,000.

See the photos here.

In Old Catonsville, the area's charming eccentricities help new and longtime residents keep falling in love with the area.

Here's an excerpt:

"If you live in Catonsville, you plunk your lawn chair on the main street to reserve your spot for the Fourth of July parade - weeks ahead of the big day. You are loyal to a snowball stand. And, residents say, you try never to leave.

The quirks of this Baltimore County college town, including a profusion of music stores, endear it to its residents. And its location close to the Penn Line of the MARC train and Interstate 95, makes it convenient for both D.C. and Baltimore commuters."

Read the entire article.