Lauren Bunting Broker MD & DE

Lauren's Blog

HB-107 Reserve Study Wrap-Up

Thursday, June 08, 2023 Lauren Bunting

In the past two week’s article, we reviewed the Maryland General Assembly new legislation requiring all condominiums, homeowner associations, and housing cooperatives to undertake regular ...

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More Details on New Reserve Study Legislation

Thursday, June 01, 2023 Lauren Bunting

In last week’s article, we reviewed the Maryland General Assembly new legislation requiring all condominiums, homeowner associations, and housing cooperatives to undertake regular reserve studies ...

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Explaining Dual Agency in Maryland

Thursday, May 18, 2023 Lauren Bunting

Consumers can get confused when it comes to dual agency in real estate. The Maryland Real Estate Commission describes dual agency below: The possibility of dual agency arises ...

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Maryland Withholding Tax Explained

Thursday, April 20, 2023 Lauren Bunting

Anyone who sells a property in Maryland, but is a “non-resident” of the state of Maryland, must pay a withholding tax. Recently the Maryland Association of Realtors released information on various ...

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NAR Publishes 2022 Third Quarter Real Estate Market Recap

Thursday, March 16, 2023 Lauren Bunting

The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) website, www.realtor.org, has information on county median home prices and monthly mortgage payments across the country. NAR applies the House Price ...

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NAR’s Adopt to Adapt Program

Thursday, March 02, 2023 Lauren Bunting

The COVID-19 pandemic kicked adaptations into overdrive, so the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) recently provided a report called Adopt to Adapt, with insight into ...

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Maryland DNR’s Forest Conservation and Management Program Details

Thursday, February 23, 2023 Lauren Bunting

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) offers a Forest Conservation and Management program and there are approximately 1,300 agreements in effect covering approximately 84,000 ...

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Three Helpful Tips to Save on Homeowners Insurance

Thursday, February 09, 2023 Lauren Bunting

Homeowner’s insurance is a necessity if your home is mortgaged, and this type of insurance covers the structure of your home and your personal property, as well as your personal legal responsibility ...

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How RPAC Supports the REALTOR® Party

Thursday, January 26, 2023 Lauren Bunting

 Since 1969, the REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC), has promoted the election of pro-REALTOR® candidates across the United States. The purpose of RPAC is to use voluntary ...

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First Time Home Buyers Hit Record Lows While Average Age Rises

Thursday, January 12, 2023 Lauren Bunting

The National Association of REALTORS®’ 2022 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers report shows that first-time home buyers have dropped to their lowest numbers on record. NAR further ...

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2022 Real Estate Sales Recap for Worcester County

Thursday, January 05, 2023 Lauren Bunting

2022 was a year in which we saw a shift in the real estate market: increasing mortgage rates, reduction in the volume of sales, but no increase in inventory resulting in prices ...

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New Forms Required For Real Estate Transactions

Thursday, December 22, 2022 Lauren Bunting

Back in the beginning of October, Maryland REALTORS® rolled out changes to its statewide forms library, which contains contracts, disclosures and addenda that members of Maryland ...

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How C-PACE Works For Homeowners

Thursday, December 15, 2022 Lauren Bunting

C-PACE is the acronym for Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy. C-PACE programs provide private financing for commercial property owners to upgrade buildings with energy, resiliency, and environmental ...

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Successes of the Weatherization Assistance Program

Thursday, November 03, 2022 Lauren Bunting

Last year, Governor Larry Hogan issued a proclamation that October 30th is Weatherization Day in Maryland. The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is marking ...

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Maryland WholeHome Grants Money for Home Improvements

Thursday, October 20, 2022 Lauren Bunting

The Department of Housing and Community Development in Maryland (DHCD) offers a program called the Maryland WholeHome Program which can help homeowners make valuable repairs ...

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$32 Million Awarded in Maryland Housing Project Awards

Thursday, October 13, 2022 Lauren Bunting

Governor Larry Hogan announced last weeknearly $32 million in project awards through the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) 2022 application round for federal Low Income ...

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Mortgage Rates Are On The Rise

Thursday, October 06, 2022 Lauren Bunting

The talk about town related to real estate right now is mortgage rates are on the rise. To provide some guidance, here’s what industry experts are saying about the present and possible future ...

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Resolutions to Real Estate Transaction Disputes

Thursday, September 22, 2022 Lauren Bunting

The National Association of Realtors explains the differences and the pros and cons to both mediation and arbitration, alternative dispute resolution options when a dispute arises from a real ...

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The New Million Dollar Home Club

Thursday, September 08, 2022 Lauren Bunting

A recent Zillow report is showing that with sales up and values up during the pandemic real estate boom, more homes are selling for over the $1 million mark. The report also detailed that the typical ...

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Maryland’s SmartBuy Program Helps Homebuyers

Thursday, August 25, 2022 Lauren Bunting

Governor Larry Hogan announced last weekthat the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has expanded the state’s landmark SmartBuyinitiative to address rising housing ...

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Tips for Hosting an Open House

Thursday, July 28, 2022 Lauren Bunting

A well-planned open house allows potential buyers to picture how life in this home would be, and in the summer, people tend to be more relaxed; it’s the time of vacations and lazy days. So making ...

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June 2022 Home Sales Update

Friday, July 22, 2022 Lauren Bunting

Maryland REALTORS® released information on statewide June home sales. Their release states that home sales continued to slow down as prices continued to rise, according to ...

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Residential Architectural Styles

Friday, July 15, 2022 Lauren Bunting

Every house has a unique architectural style. Sometimes the architecture is a blend of more than one architectural style due to additions. The National Association of Realtors explains that ...

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Home Showing Trends for May 2022

Thursday, July 07, 2022 Lauren Bunting

The National Association of Realtors provides a monthly home showings report based off showing information taken from Sentrilock lockboxes, which are used by the majority of real estate agents ...

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Appraisal Gaps

Thursday, June 16, 2022 Lauren Bunting

Appraisals in a sellers’ market can be troublesome, and transactions can fall apart when appraisals come up short—creating an appraisal gap. An appraisal gap is the difference between market ...

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2022 Update from the Maryland State Legislature (Part 2)

Thursday, June 02, 2022 Lauren Bunting

In 2022, the Maryland State Legislature convened on January 12th and adjourned on April 11th. Maryland REALTORS® issues a report each year on the Maryland Legislative session to summarize ...

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2022 Update from the Maryland State Legislature

Thursday, May 26, 2022 Lauren Bunting

In 2022, the Maryland State Legislature convened on January 12th and adjourned on April 11th. Maryland REALTORS® issues a report each year on the Maryland Legislative session ...

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New Affordable Housing Opportunities in Maryland

Thursday, May 19, 2022 Lauren Bunting

Governor Larry Hogan announced at the end of April that more than $200 million in financing tools and new programs will be made available to create new affordable housing opportunities in the ...

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What Is A Title Search?

Friday, May 13, 2022 Lauren Bunting

One of the important steps during a real estate purchase is conducting a title search. The title search is just one of the buyer’s closing cost expenses and is usually ordered ...

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The Fair Housing Act Explained

Thursday, May 05, 2022 Lauren Bunting

The month of April this year celebrated the 54th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, the landmark civil rights law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 11, 1968, that made discrimination ...

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Maryland Mortgage Program Announces Two New Loan Products

Thursday, April 28, 2022 Lauren Bunting

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development’s Maryland Mortgage Program announced the launch of two new loan products to provide higher levels of down payment and closing cost assistance. ...

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Interest Rates Are On The Rise

Thursday, April 21, 2022 Lauren Bunting

The shift in interest rates is in motion. According to Forbes.com, mortgage rates have jumped 1.5 percentage points during the first three months of this year. They further communicated that ...

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Understanding Agricultural Transfer Tax

Thursday, April 07, 2022 Lauren Bunting

If a piece of undeveloped land is being sold that has an agricultural use, but it is the intent to change the use to residential, then the Agricultural Transfer Tax and Surcharge applies at the point ...

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3 Tips To Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster

Thursday, March 31, 2022 Lauren Bunting

You know the old tune by Tennessee Ernie Ford: You load sixteen tons, what do you get; Another day older and deeper in debt; Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go; I owe my soul ...

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Buying a Home with Existing Solar Panels

Thursday, March 24, 2022 Lauren Bunting

Solar panels on a home can be a great selling advantage, one that provides very affordable utility bills. This type of technology is called a solar photovoltaic (“PV”) panel system or“Solar ...

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Equitable Interest

Thursday, March 17, 2022 Lauren Bunting

What is equitable interest? An equitable interest is an "interest held by virtue of an equitable title (a title that indicates a beneficial interest in property and that gives the holder ...

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Doc Lite Loan Program: A Local Loan Solution for Investors

Thursday, February 24, 2022 Lauren Bunting

It’s a hot real estate market right now, but we all remember the real estate “crash era” that began in 2008. That real estate downturn brought about many changes in financing and how loans are approved. ...

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Worcester County’s Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Program

Thursday, February 10, 2022 Lauren Bunting

Worcester County’s Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Program, which was adopted in 1990, accommodates future growth within the Critical Area, while providing for conservation of fish, wildlife and plant habitats, ...

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Industry Experts Take on the Market

Thursday, February 03, 2022 Lauren Bunting

The number one question most real estate agents are asked right now is "What is the market doing?". The best way to answer that question is to watch the market statistics and listen to the various industry ...

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Property Reassessments & How To Appeal Them

Thursday, January 20, 2022 Lauren Bunting

With property reassessments going out last month for much of Worcester County, property owners might be wondering what their options are if they disagree with the values the county assessment office has ...

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2021 Market Recap

Thursday, January 06, 2022 Lauren Bunting

2021 was another banner year in real estate that ended very strong—here’s an “at a glance” recap of some of the various market stats.The average sales prices varied monthly throughout the year, but September ...

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October 2021 Market Analysis

Thursday, November 18, 2021 Lauren Bunting

Maryland REALTORS® just released real estate statistics information from the October 2021 housing market analysis. The market continued its monthly trend of a decrease in units sold, down 8,665 in 2021, ...

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Choosing A Tenant

Thursday, November 04, 2021 Lauren Bunting

Landlords have an importantdecision to make when selecting a tenant to rent their investment propertyyear-round. Property owners have traditionally interviewed prospective tenantsin person and asked for ...

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Consumers protected from misconduct with Guaranty

Thursday, January 14, 2021 Lauren Bunting

The Maryland Real Estate Commission is the regulatory agency that provides licenses to real estate brokers and agents.Its office receives 400-500 consumer complaints annually.Maryland Real Estate Commission ...

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LWB Real Estate Report: Bank of America's Grant

Tuesday, April 03, 2018 Lauren Bunting

Real Estate Report: Homebuyers may be eligible to receive up to $5000.00 in closing cost assistance through Bank of America’s Home Grant program. These funds can be usedto help with nonrecurring closing ...

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Real Estate Report: Realtor Ethics

Sunday, April 01, 2018 Lauren Bunting

Real Estate Report: Realtor Education and Ethics RequirementsHave you ever wondered what qualifications your REALTOR® encompasses? To be a licensed REALTOR®, there is a detailed list of requirements, ...

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LWB Real Estate Report: Role of Agent

Saturday, April 01, 2017 Lauren Bunting

The Maryland Association of Realtors has issued a new brochure for the public entitled “Get to Know the Role of Real Estate Agents”. The brochure coversthe role of agents and agency relationships and ...

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Survey shows realtors using new technology

Friday, July 04, 2014 Lauren Bunting

In a recent news release issued by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), it was reported that Realtors continue to invest in new technology for theirbusiness and have spent more than they did in ...

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Detailed list of requirements to become Realtor

Friday, June 06, 2014 Lauren Bunting

Have you ever wondered what qualifications your Realtor encompasses? To be a licensed Realtor, there is a detailed list of requirements, not only to obtain your license initially, but also to maintain ...

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Thank you so much for all of your hard work. We are so excited to move into the perfect house for us, and couldn't have done it without your guidance.

Megan and Brandon Cater

My friend was right, you are the hardest working realtor, bar none. I honestly don't think that I would have gotten through this house selling process without you.

Brenda Burbage

Lauren made first time homebuying extremely approachable, and took the time to educate me on everything involved in the process.

Amanda Hanke and Keri Swigert

Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication that made this purchase possible. You advocate for your clients and I highly regard you for it. You made it possible for me and my family to achieve our goal of homeownership.

Tom Harutyunyan

Thank you so much for the very wonderful, professional job you did with selling our property. You will always be special to me.

Penny Carley

We want to say a sincere "Thank You" for all you've done for us! We know at times the road seemed never ending. Thank you for always staying positive even through our ups and downs of this process. We appreciate all you do!

Mike and Patty Locke

Lauren's extensive knowledge of the local real estate market proved to be invaluable during the purchase of our first home.

Allison Shockley and Patrick Molloy

Lauren is very easy to work with. She has helped me sell and buy homes in the area and has always been hard working and professional.

Jennifer K. Leggour

Lauren went through tremendous lengths to look out for us every step of the way all the way to the very end. If you are in need of a real estate agent who will treat your transaction as if it were their own and provide you with nothing less than A+ service you will be in good hands with Lauren.

Shireen and Mark Ambush

We were referred to Lauren by a good friend, and we couldn’t have been placed in better hands. Lauren went above and beyond in every way, throughout the entire process.

Liz Young

Lauren Bunting was our realtor when we recently sold two homes- one in Maryland and the other one in Delaware. To say we were very satisfied with all she did for us is an understatement!

Janet and Bruce Lathbury

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