As we enter the fourth and final week of February, I am reminded as to where the market was last year at this time versus this year.

I have seen showings become more frequent in the past week and the excitement over spring’s arrival in the next few weeks definitely brings people out to look.

The snow storms we had this month really put a halt to the market, as some homes were inaccessible (all of them for a long period of time) until just recently.

February is not notoriously a great time to sell your house. Often times people wait “until spring” to make sure the snow is over and the buyers are out looking.

This year we have the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit end looming, and sellers are taking notice and attempting to get their homes on the market. The other driving force we have right now is the April 5, 2010 deadline for FHA to avoid the higher up front mortgage insurance premium.

It appears that tomorrow we will have heavy rains which should melt a lot of snow, and may cause some flooding. These are issues that sellers most likely usually don’t have to handle, and buyers need to be aware that these are highly unusual circumstances.

Many gutters have fallen, and one of my clients, who is making a claim on his gutter system said that his insurance company told him they are declaring the Baltimore area a “disaster area”. This means that roofers are overwhelmed and not available, which means this rain tomorrow and possible snow Thursday could be big problems for many Baltimore homeowners who no longer have their usual defense against water coming into their basements and main levels on their homes.

Sellers have to be aware of what is happening, and be prepared. Buyers need to be understanding and patient, and realize that these homes most likely do not usually let the elements enter!

Hopefully March will bring us much needed warmer weather so Baltimore homebuyers can get out and take advantage of these credits and lower upfront PMI, and sellers can have their homes returned to their usual states.