NEW LISTINGS- 4190/4232 Sand Flat Road

Check out my listings on Sand Flat Road!

Overlooking a beautiful horse farm, these houses have great rehab potential. With some TLC, these homes could be a great first home or a weekend getaway. Located close to McHenry, Oakland and Deep Creek Lake.

4232 Sand Flat:

4190 Sand Flat:

For more information on 4190, click here.

For more information on 4232, click here.

NEW LISTING- 98 Red Pine Road

Check out my listing on Red Pine Road!

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#tbt- Oakland

Happy Tuesday!

Only one more month!!! Who’s excited?!

Garrett County Health Department one of seven to receive national accreditation

OAKLAND — The Garrett County Health Department recently became one of seven county health departments in Maryland to receive national accreditation from the Public Health Accreditation Board.

“I’d have to say, honestly, Garrett County is not a good health department — Garrett County is a great health department,” Howard Haft, deputy secretary of public health at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said during an accreditation celebration Wednesday. “Incredible leadership, incredible staff that are very dedicated with many, many years of dedicated service.”

The health department received accreditation in November and all the work was done by staff, who worked in each domain, according to Rodney Glotfelty, the health department’s health officer.

“Accreditation is a big deal — only 12 percent of local health departments in the United States have been accredited so far,” Glotfelty said. “Of that 12 percent, only 7 percent serve populations under 50,000.”

Once documentation was submitted to the accreditation board, a site review team visited the health department to discuss the various domains, said Glotfelty.

“When you step back and look at how many health departments in the nation reached this level and most of them being much bigger, the standards don’t change regardless of the size,” said Paul Edwards, chairman of the Garrett County Board of Commissioners. “For us to reach that with the size and scope of the staff here, when others that are much bigger have yet to do that, I think it speaks volumes of the commitment of the staff and Rodney’s leadership.”

The health department earned accreditation after a two-year, multi-faceted peer review assessment process to ensure it meets or exceeds a set of quality standards and measures for public health.

“It’s not just the documentation. It’s really the fact that people put their heart and soul into it and they change how they do things to make them just the absolute best practices in the nation,” Haft said. “You are really the unsung heroes in health care.”

The national accreditation program works to improve and protect the health of the public by advancing the quality and performance of the nation’s health departments. The program, which is jointly supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, sets standards against which the nation’s more than 3,000 governmental public health departments can continuously improve the quality of their services and performance.

“I just wish that everybody in the state legislature, federal legislature, everybody in the community really understood how important the work you do every day is — I understand it,” Haft said.

“If you think about it, you have hit the apex of your industry and that’s something worth celebrating,” said Edwards.

For more information, click here.

Garrett planners to let consultant lead zoning discussion

OAKLAND — The Garrett County Planning Commission has decided to let a consultant lead discussions about possible countywide zoning.

The commission is planning on hiring a consultant once there is money in the budget, Deborah Carpenter, director of the department of planning, said.

“As far as the board of county commissioners go at this point, I don’t think we have any interest in doing anything on countywide zoning. Not to say if something was brought to us we wouldn’t consider any action on it,” Jim Hinebaugh, commissioner and planning commission member, said during a planning commission meeting last month.

The first step in addressing countywide zoning would be to get public input followed by research and recommendations for a plan of action from the consultant, Carpenter said.

The commission is reviewing the comprehensive plan to see what sections may need public comment, more discussion or possible changes, said Carpenter. The planning commission began the review of the 2008 comprehensive plan last year.

“I think there may be more support than there was for countywide zoning 10 years ago or 20 years ago,” said Hinebaugh, who indicated that he didn’t have a position on zoning.

At least 30 percent of county citizens are already subjected to zoning because of living in the Deep Creek Watershed or in one of the municipalities, William DeVore, zoning administrator for the Deep Creek Watershed and member of the planning commission, said.

The Garrett County Board of Realtors supports performance-style zoning in the county, Paul Durham, planning commission member, said.

The commission also decided to give Karen Myers, who was representing Deep Creek Marina LLC, approval for a special exception and variance for an aerial (zip-line-type) adventure park to be located on Deep Creek Drive in McHenry.

For more information, click here.

NEW LISTING- 299 Cherry Heights

Prepare to be awed by the exquisite lake and mountain views from this epic log masterpiece!

Overflowing with character & charm, it will capture your heart as soon as you enter the front door.

A true gourmet kitchen with gleaming hardwood floors, 2 fireplaces, one 2-sided, an expansive great room, 3 car garage with improved loft & much more. Must see.

Boat slip negotiable via separate transaction.

for more information, click here.

PRICE REDUCTION- 1041 Rock Lodge Road

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Homebuying Trends For 2017

Realtor.com has released their findings from their survey of buyer’s preferences, including reasons why they are choosing to buy a home.

Of buyers aged 25-34 the majority of them cited financial stability and the positive investment that home ownership brings. Older buyers, however, primarily cited having features that make the home more physically comfortable or enhance their daily living experiences as their top priority. Also, of the respondents that listed ‘considering retirement’ as their primary reason for moving this year, the age when this started to be top priority was as young as 45.

Other findings include:

• Older buyers would prefer an updated garage over an updated living room

• 40% of buyers age 25-34 think they will buy a townhouse or attached rowhouse

• 43% of shoppers searched for ranch style homes

• At every age group the vast majority of respondents were looking for a two-bathroom house.

Click over to the realtor.com site to see the full results.

For more info, click here.

How To Get A Home Photo-Ready, According To The Pros

The importance of photography in real estate listings cannot be overstated and as such an entire side industry of staging experts has sprung up to support the efforts. If you want to hear some inside tips from the pros, head over to this article in the New York Times that has some ideas that don’t usually make the standard lists of how to get a home photo-ready.

One example they cite is to hang artwork higher than you normally would because it makes the ceilings look taller. Also, sellers can make the bed and bedroom look wider by matching the colors of the pillows to the bedspread so that the edges blend together and don’t create a visual break in the flow of the central focal point of the room.

Check out the rest of the article for more ideas to make the physical spaces of a home translate well into listing photos.

For more info, click here.