This blog is the first in our series of cities near Fort Meade, MD and the National Security Agency where we will explore some of the best places to live within a 30 minute commute to Fort Meade.  We've chosen this commuting range as it is the most frequently requested by our clients.

We're starting out with Odenton Maryland population 43,000 which is located in Anne Arundel county and borders Fort Meade to the Southeast.

Odenton, MD is a top destination request for Fort Meade homebuyers and renters due to the convenient 5 - 20 minute commute time to the base, the wide variety of housing options (including condominiums, townhomes and single family homes priced from around $250,000 - over $1,000,000), nearby shopping, top rated schools, quick access to the Odenton MARC station & BWI, fantastic restaurant options, nearby cultural events, and lots of nearby recreational opportunities.

If you're thinking of making Odenton your new home, The Roskelly Team would love to get you started with some recommendations for places to live, along with a search link to all homes currently listed for sale in that neighborhood.  If the links below show no results, there are not currently homes for sale in that neighborhood.  Odenton is popular, and homes sell quickly.

The top neighborhoods in Odenton, MD based on recently closed sales are:

Cedar Ridge - Condominiums
Chapel Grove - Luxury townhomes & Condos
Chapelgate - Duplexes & single family homes
Chestnut Gable - Condominiums
Courts of Four Seasons - Luxury Single Family Homes      
Crawford's Ridge - Single family homes
Eden Brook - Age qualified condominiums       
Four Seasons Estates - Duplexes & single family homes
Gatherings at Forest Glen - Age qualified condominiums
Hammond Park - Older single family homes
Kings Heights - Older single family homes
Kings Ransom - Townhomes
Lions Gate - Condominiums and townhomes
Maple Ridge - Duplexes & single family homes
Odenton Town Center - Luxury townhomes & condominiums
Peachtree - Single Family Homes
Piney Orchard - Age qualified condos, condominiums, townhomes & single family homes with all the amenities
Seven Oaks - Condominiums, townhomes & single family homes
Two Rivers - Odenton's newest community with age qualified & non-age qualified villas & single family homes

Shopping is close and plentiful from Odenton MD where you're less than 15 minutes from the Arundel Mills Outlet Mall - a huge, regional mall, the Annapolis Mall (so much fun stuff!), and Laurel MD shopping including Walmart and most big box stores.  Additionally you're less than 45 minutes from all of the fantastic shopping in Baltimore and Washington including Ikea and lots of boutique specialty shops.

Odenton is ideal for commuting, with it's very own MARC Station that offers plenty of parking, commuter bus service, a 10 minute commute from most locations to The Baltimore Washington International Airport, and even ride sharing possibilities.  If you work in Baltimore or Washington, you're about 30 minutes from either if you reside in Odenton.

If you're looking for fun things to do near Odenton you have so many options in or close by including the Piney Orchard Ice Arena, parks and walking trails aplenty, a community library, musical theater,  lots of top concert  destinations within an hours drive, and much more.

And let's not forget the best places to eat in Odenton.  I'm going to name a few faves including...

The Hideaway  We went for the famous wings & BBQ, but there are so many menu options with great desserts you will definitely want to check out this hidden gem.

The Orchard Cafe is located in Piney Orchard and it is the "go to" spot for good old fashioned breakfast and anytime comfort food.

Mamma Roma, is also located in Piney Orchard and offers some of the best Italian food around with generous portions and reasonable prices.  

Expressway Pit Beef has the hands down best BBQ sandwich and the sides are to die for!  Nothing fancy here, just outdoor tables and a pick up window but this is a must try for Odenton eateries.  They do deep fried turkeys for the Holidays as well. Trust me and give this place a try.

For Mexican food, you have a couple of great choices but I have to pick a fave, so I'm going with newcomer Lime & Salt Taqueria also in Piney Orchard.

And let's round it out with some fancy at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in the Odenton Town Center.  Hop off the MARC train, walk across the street and grab some dinner.

Odenton Schools have some pretty good ratings and are definitely worth a look if you're planning a move to the area.

Odenton still offers a small town feel with a variety of options for housing and recreation.  If you're commuting to Fort Meade, Baltimore or DC, Odenton is a great place to call home!

Anne Arundel County homeowners, your home values are holding strong and outperforming the national market.  Curious about your home or neighborhood?  Contact The Roskelly Team for a free, no-obligation market value analysis for your home in Odenton, Severn, Crofton, Gambrills or surrounding areas.  You do not need to be selling to request a report!

Infographic courtesy of Keeping Current Matters

Is 2023 the year you plan to sell your Anne Arundel County home? If so, you'll be happy to know that values are holding pretty steady and even if you bought at the peak of the market, values have not dropped by much.  If you purchased your home prior to 2021, chances are you have substantial equity to use, invest or upgrade your home. 

The chart below shows home prices for the past 5 years.  If you're interested in finding out just what your home is worth in today's market, The Roskelly Team would love to help.  You don't have to be in the market to sell to request a valuation.  Just visit us online for a one time market value analysis, or sign in to our home equity tool that will keep you updated monthly with values and show you an up-to-the-minute summary of where you stand with your real estate investment.

If you missed out on buying a home, it's definitely not too late.  Come search homes for sale in Odenton MD and beyond!  Home sellers are more willing to negotiate right now and we'd love to help you get a great deal on your perfect place.

The Odenton real estate market continues to outperform surrounding markets with the average sold price up over 10% and days on market just half of what they were at this time last year.  Inventory is climbing much more rapidly in other part of Anne Arundel county proving once again that Odenton is a top destination for prospective home buyers. 

If you're thinking of buying or selling a home in Odenton MD near Fort Meade, The Roskelly Team would absolutely love to earn your business.  Give us a call today at (410) 721-6694!  EHO

The 2023 BAH rates just came out for Fort Meade MD a few weeks ago and we thought you might like to see how they compare to home prices in the area.  Using your BAH, how much home can you afford to purchase and what features will that home likely have?

2023 BAH Rates for Fort Meade, MD range from $2,499 to $3,700 with dependents.  Without dependents, the enlisted BAH rates range from $2,040 to $3,129.

We'd like to give you some examples of what your BAH will get you if you are planning on buying a home near Fort Meade. We've used properties within 30 minutes in some of our most requested areas as examples here.  If you're willing to commute a bit more than 30 minutes you'll have more options!

Starting with the lowest housing allowance, and at the time of this post, there are just 7 available homes for sale near Fort Meade in the $2,300 - $2,400 price range.  All of these links will update with the latest information for you!

Jumping up to the median enlisted BAH rates, there are currently just 7 available homes for sale near Fort Meade in the $2,500 - $2,650 price range.

And at the top of the enlisted BAH rates you'll find 29 available homes for sale near Fort Meade in the $2,900 - $3,200 range.  

If buying a home near Fort Meade is in your 2023 schedule The Roskelly Team at Berkshire Hathaway would love to put their 20+ years of experience to work for you to make sure you get the very best price and contract terms when you purchase a home.  Sellers are beginning to understand the market changes and we are finally seeing help with closing costs again.  We might just be able to get you in your very own home, and earning equity for little to no money out of pocket.  That's a heck of a lot better than the costs to rent where you can expect to pay two full months of rent out of pocket to occupy plus pet deposit (if applicable).  The long-term hold of real estate is your very best chance for financial freedom.  Use your home while you're here and rent it out when you leave.  Market rents are supporting full coverage of your mortgage payment!

EHO

2023 BAH Rates have been released for Fort Meade, MD and they range from $2,499 to $3,700 for rates with dependents.  Without dependents, the enlisted BAH rates range from $2,040 to $3,129.

We'd like to give you some examples of what your BAH will afford you for a rental home in the area. Check out this blog for information on homes for sale near Fort Meade and how they compare to BAH rates. We've used properties within 30 minutes of the base as examples here.  

Starting with the lowest housing allowance, and at the time of this post, there are 22 available homes for rent near Fort Meade in the $2,300 - $2,500 price range including one condo, many townhomes, a couple of single family homes.

Jumping up to the median enlisted BAH rates, there are currently 26 homes for rent near Fort Meade in the $2,600 - $2,800 price range including a few single family homes and many townhomes.  

And at the top of the enlisted BAH rates you'll find 21 homes for rent near Fort Meade in the $2,900 - $3,200 range.  Again, mostly townhomes, but a larger mix of single family homes worked into this search.

So, do the BAH rates align with the real estate rental market in Maryland?  Not really.  If you're coming from an area where a 3 bedroom 2 bath single family home is the norm, you'll find that hard to match here at Fort Meade within a reasonable commuting distance.  However, as the property value increases of homes for sale near Fort Meade are cooling, we might expect the rental rates to come down a bit as well.  That can't really happen until we have a stronger supply.  

So how can you maximize your housing allowance and find the perfect home? 

We recommend starting at least 90 days in advance of your move date to start exploring areas, and deciding on the first and most important step of your house-hunt by determining what cities and counties will keep you within commuting distance of Fort Meade. Going just a bit further than 30 minutes from the base can have a big impact on your budget as most military members want to keep close to base when possible.

Connect with a local real estate agent.  Of course, The Roskelly Team would love to be your first choice!  You can use our website to search all homes for rent near Fort Meade and start tracking properties that are of interest to you, marking favorites, and keeping an eye on pricing and the amount of time it is taking for properties to rent.  This will give you a good feel of how quickly you'll need to move to secure "the one". Having an experience pro keeping an eye out for you as well is always a good idea.  And best of all?  Our rental locator services are provided at no charge to you.  Every Landlord in our system has offered compensation to the agent securing a well qualified tenant to occupy their property.

We hope this information is useful to you and we'd love to have you "like" us on Facebook to keep in touch with the latest Fort Meade real estate news.

The Anne Arundel county real estate market is seeing some strong changes including a much needed 29% increase/build up of inventory.  At the same time, new listings are down 25% so this build up is cumulative from the last several months as buyers are reacting to increased interest rates and market uncertainty.  

Prices are now holding steady, which is great news, the average days on market is also staying just over 30 days which is what we expect to see with a market that is more equally balanced between buyers and sellers, and homes are selling at 97% of asking price which is down just 2% from the same period last year. 

If you're thinking about buying, or selling a home in Odenton or Anne Arundel county near Fort Meade in 2023, let the friendly experts at The Roskelly Team help you get the very best results.  EHO

We've long told you that our little pocket of real estate here in the Fort Meade / Odenton area is somewhat immune to the normal highs and lows of the national real estate market.  Fort Meade and it's military & government employees, and government contractors ensure us a steady base of homebuyers and sellers pretty much year round.  We don't expect 2023 to be any different.  In fact we're already seeing the market pick up and just had multiple offers on our first listing of the year.

Choosing the right team with the right marketing plan certainly helps that as well.

For 2023 we do predict slow and steady growth after a few months of unprecedented low sales.  Interest rates had everyone spooked but word is really getting out that the artificially low interest rates we had as a result of COVID were an anomaly that likely won't occur again and rates in the 5% - 7% range will continue to be the norm.  Will this put a damper on double digit percentage increase in housing prices?  Yes, yes it will.  But we shouldn't have too far to fall.  Rental rates are rising, the price of everything is rising and smart consumers know that the best way to long-term wealth is through real estate.  They want to protect the cash they have by putting it in an asset that will grow and they are banking on the Odenton real estate market and Anne Arundel county in general to provide those results.  Buyers aren't just tiptoeing into the market, they are coming in hot and looking for very specific wants in a home that they aren't willing to compromise on.

Will you have 20 offers on your home in 2023? Well, that's unlikely but all you need is one great offer to make your home selling dreams a reality.  This year, the focus is going to be on preparation and presentation.  While that's always been our goal at The Roskelly Team (we offer FREE home staging), it's especially important this year and having a team of professionals with 22 years of local market experience is exactly what you'll need to navigate the changing market.  

Give us a call today and consider it SOLD! 

EHO

The Roskelly Team is proud to present our first listing on 2023 and it's a great one!  This single family home in The Courts At Four Seasons is located just 10 minutes to Fort Meade and features almost 3,500 s.f. of living area on three finished levels.

Check out all the details and photos on our website!

The Odenton real estate market is cooling down but The Roskelly Team can help you optimize your home for the best possible sales price and contract terms.  Visit us online for information on selling your Odenton home or buying a home in Odenton near Fort Meade.  We'd love to put our 22+ years of experience to work for you today!  EHO

Avoid the Rental Trap in 2023