deep creek lake – Page 65 – Jay's Real Estate Blog

Traffic Pattern Changes Enacted For DCL Boaters

Support the Republiucan Newspaper! It’s only $9.95/year for the online edition!

May. 20, 2010

Deep Creek Lake State Park officials have announced a new traffic pattern for boaters to use for direct access to the state park boat launch facilities. It is recommended that visitors towing boats or boat trailers go directly to the launch ramp access drive off of State Park Road (third left after crossing the Meadow Mountain Cove bridge) rather than entering the park at the day use gate.

“We have opened the launch ramp gate for 24-hour traffic, which we hope will relieve traffic congestion on State Park Road during the busy summer months,” said Ranger Mark Spurrier, assistant manager for the Deep Creek Lake Recreation Area. “Boaters no longer have to pass through the picnic and beach area entrance just to launch their boat onto the lake for the day.”

In addition to the change of access, boaters will no longer pay the day-use admission service charge, only the launch ramp service charge. There will be an employee at the ramp to collect the launch service charge and to answer questions.

“We feel it is a win/win situation,” said Spurrier. “The boaters will reach the launch ramp staging area faster and save a few dollars, and the beach visitors will not have to wait in boat traffic to enter the park.”

Read the rest 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

Study shows Deep Creek Lake water could be better

Kevin Spradlin
Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — Barbara Beelar pointed at the abundant blue-green algae visible from her dock situated in the southern cove of Deep Creek Lake.

“This is not good,” said Beelar, director of Friends of Deep Creek Lake, a watchdog group of local property owners that aims to protect, preserve and restore the watershed. “Unfortunately, algae is not being sampled (nor is it) scheduled to be sampled.”

While Beelar’s concerns Tuesday have so far not been addressed, a state Department of Natural Resources water quality study on Deep Creek Lake, the state’s largest and oldest lake, was released in draft format to stakeholders. Friends of Deep Creek Lake is one of the groups with a seat at the table.

John F. Wilson of DNR said the study aimed to produce a baseline of information about the 85-year-old lake that boasts approximately 3,900 surface acres. And the data collected from April 2009 through last month suggests the lake’s water quality is pretty good. Beelar agreed.

“Overall, this gives us really good news about the condition of the lake,” said Beelar, who has had an interest in the lake since 1949. “I am very pleased DNR has done the study. Overall, the lake has aged very well.”

Wilson said the study, which cost about $70,000 and was paid for through dock fees that become part of the lake’s operating budget, shows the water quality as being in between poor and great.

Deep Creek Lake is mesotrophic, with a moderate amount of dissolved nutrients, Wilson said — not eutrophic, which contain very high levels of nutrients and are prone to algae blooms.

“Some things are good and some things are worth watching,” Wilson said. “We really wanted to monitor the lake over time to establish some trends. To be honest, we didn’t really have a baseline to compare it to.”

Wilson said one bit of good news is that the lake’s conditions don’t seem to permit zebra mussels, an invasive species, to take root.

“That’s a concern,” Wilson said. “It’s been spreading throughout the country. It appears, currently, that it is not a suitable habitat. That doesn’t mean to say we’re good forever. We’ve still got to be ever-vigilant in making sure boats that are coming from waters that do have zebra mussels aren’t bringing them to Deep Creek Lake.”

Zebra mussels colonize on docks and clog discharge pipes. And while they can’t — at least for now — live at Deep Creek Lake, other invasive species such as aquatic plants, zooplankton and fish could “survive/thrive in the lake,” according to the report.

Wilson said the study shows the need for continued monitoring. In addition to water samples, this year DNR will map submerged aquatic life — which Beelar called “a major step forward.”

Beeler said she was grateful for the study, the first of a handful of reports about Deep Creek Lake that are expected to be released in the next few months. The state Department of the Environment, acting as an agent of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the U.S. Geological Survey also are conducting tests.

Friends of Deep Creek Lake has obtained a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust to cull together information from all available studies into a solid document, Beelar said, in order to gain a true picture of the lake’s health.

While happy with the overall good news, Beelar said the methods used in the 2009 study produced limited results because samples were taken only from the middle of the lake and not near the shoreline.

“What I’m concerned more about is what is referred to as ‘near-shore’ conditions and coves,” Beelar said. “This gives us a real good picture of the middle of the lake but doesn’t give us a picture of the coves.”

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

April Real Estate Update – Deep Creek Lake & Garrett County Maryland

April was a better month for real estate sales at Deep Creek Lake & Garrett County, Maryland. Out of the 17 total sales in April 2010 (up one from last month and ironically, one from last year during the same period), 6 of those sales were for full price – or higher! That seems much more like the real estate market that Deep Creek Lake & Garrett County sellers were accustomed to seeing a few short years ago. My interpretation of this is that sellers, buyers & agents alike are starting to get on the same page in terms of pricing. Prices have come down – everywhere. Now, the buyer activity seems to be picking up, as well. I’ve had more buyer calls about property in the last 2 weeks than….well, it’s been a while. People are looking to buy again. And there are some great deals out there.

There are 49 properties currently under contract compared to 44 last month.

9 of the 17 sales appear to me to be vacation homes, or at least in the Deep Creek Lake area. The rest seem to be primary residential homes.

The average list vs. ORIGINAL sales price was 70.67%, up 1% from last month. The biggest part of this number is the high listing numbers that sellers start with. I blogged about this a few months ago. Sellers are starting to get the picture now, and those who can afford to sell for less, are.

The ADJUSTED list vs sale price is 90.47% – up again from last month. Once the market reacts and adjusts to prices & competition, the Realtors who assist in pricing property can adjust the asking price of properties for sellers who are willing & able to react. This number is a very telling stat – it shows that we are starting to narrow in on the price points for the local real estate market. The best evidence of this stat I can offer is that the 6 sales that were full price or higher. We are narrowing in on the true market values.

The current number of active/for sale residential listings is 665 as of today. This is up from last month (605) and will continue to grow as the spring and summer continue. April & May are huge listing months in Garrett County & Deep Creek Lake – this year is no different. I fully expect 700+ listings by this time next month.

Here are the statistical breakdowns:

Average Sale Price: $332,294 (last month) $404,031

Average Days on Market: 219/219 (last month 220/275) (days on market with current broker/total days on market)

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 Resource Police officer honored for Deep Creek rescue

From Staff Reports
Cumberland Times-News

SWANTON — A Maryland Natural Resources Police corporal was honored recently by the agency for his rescue of a man from Deep Creek Lake while on patrol Aug. 1.

Cpl. Jeffrey Sweitzer was presented a certificate of merit “in recognition of his dedication and professionalism while performing above and beyond the call of duty in a life-threatening situation,” according to an NRP spokesman.

Sweitzer was patrolling the Holy Cross area of the lake after midnight when he observed a vessel traveling at a high rate of speed that passed very close to another vessel that was stationary. Sweitzer attempted to pursue the speeding vessel, but the speed and restricted visibility on the lake prohibited him, so he proceeded slowly in the direction that the vessel was headed.

After he had reduced the speed of his vessel, Sweitzer heard a person calling for help. He located a person in the water who was intoxicated, disoriented and not wearing a personal flotation device.

When safely aboard Sweitzer’s vessel, the unidentified victim advised that he had just fallen off the family’s vessel, but he was unable to provide the address of the residence.

When the vessel failed to return to the location where the person was found and contact with the Garrett County 911 center with the name of the rescued person yielded no reports for assistance, Sweitzer continued to patrol in the direction of the vessel.

Eventually, the person’s residence was located, his family was contacted and the operator of the vessel was charged with negligent operation. Nine other passengers aboard the vessel were unaware that the victim had fallen overboard.

Sweitzer was honored during a ceremony recently in Annapolis.

Also honored were officers of Western Region Area 8, District 6, including Cpl. Harold Cage (Flintstone); Cpl. James Clise (Lonaconing); Cpl. Michael Friend (Friendsville); Officer Gary Crowe (Mount Savage); Officer Curt Dieterle (Rawlings); Officer James Satterfield (Frostburg); Officer Angela Englehart (Big Poole); Sgt. Michael Kueberth (LaVale); Cpl. Jeffrey Herndon (Clear Spring) and Lt. Bradley Stafford (LaVale).

All the officers were cited for “outstanding performance and dedication above and beyond the call of duty in a specific situation or incident.”

Cage was also promoted to sergeant of Garrett County.

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

HAPPY EARTH DAY! Deep Creek Lake & Garrett County Dirt for sale!

Celebrate Earth Day 2010! Buy some genuine Deep Creek Lake & Garrett County dirt 🙂 There are some great lots and land available for sale, ranging from view lots, farms, acreage, hunting land, building lots, lakefront property, lake access parcels, riverfront land and large recreational tracts. ANY KIND OF DIRT YOU WANT, I can help you find it!

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

Smileys Funzone at Deep Creek Lake – DCL FUN!

I was chatting on the phone last night with my good friend Megan Redinger, who is the manager at Smileys Funzone at the lake. For those of you who know Megan, she is a sweetheart & one of my best friends – a true ‘Garrett County All Star’. She also pointed out that the folks at Smileys happen to be fans of this blog 🙂 And the Funzone has ALWAYS been a cool place to hang out for kids (and big kids) of all ages. It was always a central meeting point for kids who went to school at Northern & Southern schools. I practically grew up there, worked there for a summer or two, and have a lot of fond memories of it. In fact, my wife, Jessica, and I met at Smileys when we were teenagers – who knew that we would get married one day? Anyway, I wanted to profile Smileys Funzone here and share a cool video that is ‘virally’ making it’s way around Deep Creek Lake, Garrett County & beyond. Also, I LOVE the fact that they have a Railey Realty race car. (WARNING – shameless real estate plug) I’ve always heard that it was one of the fastest cars on the tracks, so if you really need to WIN, the Railey Realty car won’t let you down 🙂

They have a very creative website, and it screams FUN! You can take a virtual tour here. Some more from their website:

_________________

Smiley’s Funzone & Pizzeria
75 Fort Drive, McHenry, MD 21541
Phone: (301) 387-0059
Fax: (301) 387-0049
www.smileysfunzone.com

Indoor & Outdoor Amusements at Smiley’s
You can never smile or laugh enough! So whether you’re inside at Smiley’s arcade games or outside on our adventure rides, you’ll hear lots of squeals and outright laughing out loud! Don’t be afraid to join in – there’s a game and attraction just waiting to tickle your funny bone.

Indoor Amusements
Rain or shine there is always fun to be had at Smiley’s Fun Zone! Come play at Smiley’s, fun for the whole family!

•Arcade Games
•Old Time Photos
•Parties
•Pizzeria Restaurant
•Lakeside Creamery

Outdoor AmusementsCome play outdoors at Smiley’s Fun Zone! Fun for the whole family with views of Deep Creek Lake!

•Go Carts
•Bumper Boats
•Batting Cages
•Laser Tag
•Mini Golf
•Play Ship

And finally, the viral video. That guy in the costume looks familiar…:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VynuluBlt6M&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00]

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 from the SKY – great aerial shots of the lake!

This is pretty cool to see how everything pieces together at the lake. My good friend Todd Gibson took me up in his plane (prior to his days of flying jets over the Honi Honi:) a long time ago and did the same thing for me. Digital video cameras were ‘newer’ technology at the time (it’s been a while), and I couldn’t get nearly the detail that this guy’s camera gets. BUT, the coolest view was following the Youghiogheny River as it winds through the forests and then….WOW. Muddy Creek Falls. Awesome. I have better equipment now if anyone wants to volunteer the plane or chopper 🙂

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVzZkSa9QyM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00]

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

March Real Estate Update – Deep Creek Lake & Garrett County. MD

The warm weather of March helped to improve the residential real estate market at Garrett County and Deep Creek Lake! There were a total of 16 sales (versus 14 for the same period last year). The stronger spring I spoke of last month has started to take shape. There are 44 contracts compared to last months 33.

7 of the 16 sales were considered Deep Creek Lake area properties, the rest appear to be primary residential.

The average list vs. ORIGINAL sales price was 69.5%, down 10% from last month. The biggest part of this number is the high listing numbers that sellers start with. I blogged about this last month, and it’s a national trend that is very real – EVERYTHING has adjusted in price. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but homes are not worth what they were 2-3 years ago. That’s a HUGE reason why some properties won’t sell – they are overpriced.

The ADJUSTED list vs sale price is 90% – up from last month. Once the market reacts and adjusts to prices & competition, the Realtors who assist in pricing property can adjust the asking price of properties for sellers who are willing & able to react. This number is a very telling stat – it shows that we are starting to narrow in on the price points for the local real estate market.

The current number of active/for sale residential listings is 605 as of today. This is up from last month (575) and will continue to grow as the spring and summer continue. Slowly but surely, our absorption rates are normalizing.

Here are the statistical breakdowns:

Average Sale Price: $404,031 (last month)$309,200

Average Days on Market: 220/275 (last month 164/296) (days on market with current broker/total days on market)

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

US Second-Home Sales Soar as Fractional Market Slumps

New research from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows vacation-home sales in the US rose 7.9% to 553,000 in 2009. Although well off the market peak of 1,067,000 sales in 2006, this represents the first time in three years the US vacation-home market has seen a lift.

Although the median sales price for vacation homes has increased to $169,000, up from $150,000 in 2008, this “may reflect increased sales in higher priced markets, particularly in areas of Florida and California where prices became highly attractive for buyers over the past year”, according to NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.

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

Exploring Deep Creek Lake: Stockslager Road Area

My son Noah and I were exploring the Stockslager Area of Deep Creek Lake the other day. We were hiking along the old railroad path – the railroad was used to transport workers to and from their homes and the dam each day during construction. I actually found out later in the day that my great grandfather Sanders helped to remove the tracks at the completion of the project 🙂 We came to the fence that blocks off the Dam and Noah didn’t seem to understand why he couldn’t keep going – he wanted to move the fence to keep walking. There is a small stream there that feeds into little cove of the lake that I had never noticed before. We saw a few geese and started our hike back. We met Mr. Bill – a Stockslager resident who stopped to visit with his dog, Rags, while walking the trail. Very friendly guy, and the best part – a Redskin fan! I think there are actually 15 of us in Garrett County now 🙂 We ended up taking some photos of Brushy Hollow, another stream that flows from the back of the mountain into the lake. If you haven’t seen it, Stockslager is one of the unique places around the lake to hike and take in some sights – it is one of only a few places that has a lakefront hiking trail – thanks to the railroad path!