Real Estate

Real estate values in Berkeley County are down about 6 percent from 2010, Berkeley County Assessor Patricia A. "Patsy" Kilmer told members of Berkeley County Council Friday. The council had convened as the county Board of Review and Equalization for the first time this year. Although residential values have continued to decline, Kilmer told council members they may hear complaints from taxpayers who saw assessment increases because of the lifting of a freeze on property values to benefit seniors instituted in 2007 by her predecessor, the late Preston B. Gooden.

Name of business: APM Real Estate Professionals & Advantage Property Management Group Owner: Carol Price Address: 19918B Jefferson Blvd., Hagerstown Opening date: Feb. 8 Products and services: Real estate listing and selling, plus an established program to prepare tenants to become home-owners and landlords to sellers. Market area: Tri-State and surrounding area How did you get into your business, or what motivated you to start it?

CLEAR SPRING -- Clear Spring residents will notice an increase to their real estate taxes, and water and sewer rates when the town's budget for fiscal year 2010-11 takes effect July 1. During its meeting Monday, the Clear Spring Town Council voted unanimously to approve the $533,848 budget, which is $8,018 more than the existing $525,830 budget. No one attended a public hearing at Town Hall before the vote was taken. Mayor Paul D. Hose Jr. said the increases are needed to help pay for reductions in financial aid from the county and state governments.

Click here to view all of our finalists! HAGERSTOWN -- It's official. Matt Dattilio is Hagerstown's hottest man. After 1,975 votes were cast Monday night to determine the hottest man during an event at Bulls & Bears restaurant, the Coldwell-Banker Innovation real estate agent came away the winner. Cheers went up from a crowd of about 140 people as Dattilio walked down a staircase and received good wishes from supporters. Despite being Hub City's biggest hunk, Dattilio said he figured life will be "pretty normal" from now on. Was he surprised?

GREENCASTLE, Pa. -- The Greencastle-Antrim School Board has capped real estate tax increases for the 2010 school year, forcing the district to balance its budget this June through careful expenditure control. In a unanimous vote Thursday, the board adopted a resolution that caps real estate taxes for the coming school year at the Act 1 limit, which for Greencastle is 3.2 mills. Each school district much choose whether it will set the cap or not before January of each year, Business Manager Richard Lipella said.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Construction is moving along swiftly on a T. Rowe Price backup data-recovery center being built at the intersection of Downsville Pike and Rench Road south of Hagerstown, a company official said. Crews are putting up the structural exterior walls and steel, and intend to have the building roofed in by winter, said T. Rowe Price Vice President Mark Ruhe, who oversees the company's real estate. Local economic development officials announced the project in February, when the Washington County Commissioners agreed to offer T. Rowe Price an $810,000 incentive.

Though the overall economy has yet to recover, property values in some areas have held up remarkably well in recent years, which can surprise people who plan to buy in one of these communities, real estate specialists say. "High-demand neighborhoods are places where buyer interest is growing, yet housing inventory is limited. They're relatively few in number, but these places do exist -- even now," says Leo Berard, a real estate broker and charter president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (www.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Budget cutting helped Berkeley County finish the year in the black with about $412,000 in the contingency fund, but a new threat -- unpaid personal and real estate taxes -- is looming, County Administrator Deborah Hammond said Thursday. As of June 30, the county commission was owed about $730,000 in unpaid taxes, the largest amount Hammond said she has seen. "That's incredibly troubling," Hammond said. She attributed the gap in revenue to real estate foreclosures and the overall economic downturn.

HAGERSTOWN -- About 170 Washington County properties are expected to go on the auction block Tuesday during a tax collector's real estate sale. The sale, which is to begin at 9 a.m. in the rear of the Washington County Office Building at 35 W. Washington St., is held annually to sell properties on which taxes are overdue, Washington County Treasurer Todd L. Hershey said. Properties are offered for bid if the taxes aren't paid by 4:30 p.m. the day before the sale. When the county began advertising on June 6 that a tax sale would be held, about 315 properties were listed.

Are you and your spouse young professionals who want out of your crowded, one-bedroom apartment? Do you feel a strong itch to buy your first home now, despite your parents' protests that you should wait until the recession is over? If so, you're among many in your demographic group seeking to buy this year, despite continuing uncertainty in the economy, says Merrill Ottwein, a real estate broker and a former president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents ( www.naeba.